Contact the Faculty of Arts

My research and teaching interests revolve around Indigenous-Settler relations, contemporary colonial cultural forms, and the anthropology of space and place. I approach the investigation of Indigenous-Settler relations ethnographically through those moments where complexes of cultural values, and historical and contemporary power relations come together to make themselves visible. Scanning contemporary political and cultural landscapes for those moments where Indigenous-Settler relations play out, our gaze is most often directed towards issues of land, territoriality, and place. Tensions often run high on these terrains, understood, valued, and experienced differently. As a result I am interested in how places are produced, maintained, contested and shifting while often being taken for granted as fixed givens. Most recently I have been exploring the production of touristic places like ski resorts and campgrounds as particular articulations of settler colonial desires on unceded Indigenous territories in the place most dominantly known as British Columbia.

Approach your studies with an open mind and a respect for the knowledge of those who are teaching you. The world is changing rapidly, and you will never know beforehand what you will need to understand in the future. Courses and programs are well thought out by experts to provide you with skills and knowledge that can be extended to new areas of application. Have trust in your professors as guides. We are rooting for your success all the way.

Robin has worked professionally as a stage-manager, lighting designer, dramaturge, actor, director and playwright and has worked for companies across Canada. She received her BFA in theatre from UVic and her MFA in directing from UBC and has been a faculty member in the theatre program at TRU since 2004. In 1995 She, along with 5 other actors in Vancouver who had all recently become mothers, created a show about motherhood called Mom’s the Word which has been produced in over a dozen other countries, translated into as many other languages, is still touring and has played to over 2 million people across Canada and internationally. It was followed in 2005 by Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged and in 2009 by Mom’s the Word: Remixed, and 2016 by Mom’s the Word: Nest Half Empty which has played in Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Kamloops.

Whether in the classroom or in the lab, what I love most about teaching is witnessing students connect with psychology - whether they have found a topic that is their passion, are feeling the satisfaction of having worked through a difficult challenge, or have stopped by my office to chat about research.