Connie Russell
Professor | Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, ON, CANADA
Author, researcher, teacher with expertise in environmental and social justice education
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Biography
Connie Russell is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Canada where she teaches courses in environmental and sustainability education, social justice education, and humane/interspecies education. An award-winning author and editor, her overarching goal is to help make the world a place where all people, all creatures, and the land can flourish. Education is key to that and she is interested in not only what happens in elementary and secondary schools and universities but also in places where informal learning happens such as on wildlife-focused trips and in zoos.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Weight-Based Oppression & Size Discrimination
Environmental Education
Social Justice Education
Animals and Education
Wildlife Tourism
Accomplishments (2)
2017 Outstanding Book Award (professional)
2017-04-01
Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award for The Fat Pedagogy Reader: Challenging Weight-Based Oppression Through Critical Education (eds., E. Cameron & C. Russell, 2016, Peter Lang)
2016 Critics' Choice Award (professional)
2016-09-12
American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Critics’ Choice Award for The Fat Pedagogy Reader: Challenging Weight-Based Oppression Through Critical Education (eds., E. Cameron & C. Russell, 2016, Peter Lang)
Education (3)
OISE/University of Toronto: PhD, Education 2001
York University: MES, Environmental Studies 1993
York University: BA, Psychology 1988
Links (1)
Languages (1)
- English
Media Appearances (4)
The Other "F" Word: Fat Oppression and Finding Ways to Fight It
Chronicle Journal print
2017-03-10
Newspaper article
Fat-Shaming, Sexism and Rob Ford: A Discussion on Fatphobia and Bullying
rabble online
2014-01-08
Blog post
Critical Work: Human-Animal Voices in Education
Animal Voices radio
2008-02-26
An hour-long interview by Animal Voices host Lauren Corman
Animals, Ecotourism, and Representation
Animal Voices radio
2006-02-14
An hour-long interview by Animal Voices host Lauren Corman
Event Appearances (9)
The Other "F" Word: Fat Oppression and Finding Ways to Fight It
In Conversation Speaker Series Waverly Public Library, Thunder Bay, Canada
2017-03-11
Unpacking Wildlife Tourism
Cross-Cultural Anthropology, Canisius College Buffalo, New York
2016-10-20
“Fatties Cause Global Warming!” Fat Pedagogy and Climate Change Education
Climate Change Education, Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Canada
2016-07-18
Outdoor Education and Social Justice
Keynote for Horwood Canadian Student Outdoor Education Conference Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
2016-01-29
The Other “F” Word: Fat, Fitness, and Education
Humanities 101 Thunder Bay, Canada
2015-11-12
Fat Shaming and Fatphobia
Brownbag talk for Faculty of Education, Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Canada
2015-11-02
Connecting the Dots Between Sexism, Sizeism, and Speciesism
Talking Sustainability Speaker Series University of Saskatchewan, Canada
2015-10-08
Wildlife-Focused Tourism: An Educator’s Perspective
Student Wildlife Society Thunder Bay, Canada
2011-11-24
Secondary School Integrated Environmental Studies Programs: An Alternative Approach to Environmental Education in Canada
Keynote for Environment and Health in Science Education: International Conference Zurich, Switzerland
2010-08-19
Articles (2)
“Fatties cause global warming”: Fat pedagogy and environmental education
Canadian Journal of Environmental Education2013-12-01
Environmental education is one site of many that reinforces dominant obesity discourses and weight-based oppression through privileging fit, able bodies. Using personal narratives and insights from the nascent field of fat studies, we offer a critical analysis of obesity discourse in environmental writing in general and environmental education in particular. We argue that intersectional analyses of embodiment, abjection, and crisis rhetoric could be generative for both environmental education and fat studies.
The impact of integrated environmental studies programs: Are students motivated to act pro-environmentally?
Environmental Education Research2014-09-01
In Canada, there exists a noteworthy educational initiative referred to as Environmental Studies Programs (ESPs). These secondary school programs are interdisciplinary, helping to link subject matter and encouraging student responsibility. The results of two case studies of Ontario ESPs that analyze the impact of ESP participation on students’ attitudes to, and relationships with, the environment and the extent to which program participation informs domestic pro-environmental behaviors and/or emancipatory social and environmental actions are presented. The results from the focus group sessions indicate that students believe that they can effect environmental change but that they struggle with ways to meaningfully enact that change in light of "real world" constraints.
