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Connie Russell - Lakehead University. Thunder Bay, ON, CA

Connie Russell

Professor | Lakehead University

Thunder Bay, ON, CANADA

Author, researcher, teacher with expertise in environmental and social justice education

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Publications:

Connie Russell Publication Connie Russell Publication

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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

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

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Fat-Shaming, Sexism and Rob Ford: A Discussion on Fatphobia and Bullying

rabble  online

2014-01-08

Blog post

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Critical Work: Human-Animal Voices in Education

Animal Voices  radio

2008-02-26

An hour-long interview by Animal Voices host Lauren Corman

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Animals, Ecotourism, and Representation

Animal Voices  radio

2006-02-14

An hour-long interview by Animal Voices host Lauren Corman

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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 Education

2013-12-01

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.

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The impact of integrated environmental studies programs: Are students motivated to act pro-environmentally?

Environmental Education Research

2014-09-01

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.

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