Island Lecture Series | Time Flies: An Aerial History of Coastal and Ribbon Development on Prince Edward Island with Dr. Josh MacFadyen

Photo of Josh MacFadyen with white texton a navy background reading: Island Lecture Series | Time Flies: An Aerial History of Coastal and Ribbon Development on Prince Edward Island with Dr. Josh MacFadyen. 7pm, January 23rd, 2024. SDU Faculty Lounge, UPEI. Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies

Based on his new book, Time Flies, Dr. MacFadyen will show that development in the coastal zone and along rural roads is accelerating on Prince Edward Island, just as the province is experiencing sustainability challenges in both areas. The talk will offer a unique combination of aerial photographs, historical maps, and more traditional sources, as it describes the province’s journey into modernity.

Meet the Speaker

Josh MacFadyen is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Geospatial Humanities in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Prince Edward Island. He teaches in the Applied Communication, Leadership & Culture Program, and he leads the GeoREACH lab at UPEI which supports Geospatial Research in Atlantic Canadian History.


EVENTS | PAST EVENTS | ISLAND LECTURE SERIES

Island Lecture Series | “Authentic Prince Edward Island Tourism Experiences: What Locals Have to Say” with Dr. Susan Graham

Island Lecture Series | “Authentic Prince Edward Island Tourism Experiences: What Locals Have to Say” with Dr. Susan Graham

7 pm, November 21st, 2023, SDU Faculty Lounge, UPEI

Authenticity in tourism is a hot topic. Can tourism experiences ever really be authentic and truly reflect the character, history, and people of a place? One underrepresented voice in the authentic tourism is that of locals. Using a research panel of 600 islanders, we asked Prince Edward Islanders if it was possible for visitors to experience the ‘real’ PEI, and if so, what kinds of experiences best reflected the place that locals call home. Over 400 respondents enthusiastically proclaimed that indeed it was possible for visitors to glimpse the ‘real’ Prince Edward Island and they identified myriad ways that could happen in areas such as culinary-, cultural-, historical-, and Anne of Green Gables-based experiences. Come on out to the Island Speakers Series on November 21st at 7pm to hear more about this research project.

Dr. Susan Graham
Dr. Graham is an Islander, born and raised (in Summerside). She is an Associate Professor of Marketing with UPEI’s Faculty of Business, where she teaches intro to marketing, integrated cases in marketing, brand management, and the future of marketing. Her research program spans two distinct themes: marketing islands as tourism destinations and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion in business/management education. Dr. Graham lives in Charlottetown with her husband and son. She is a passionate traveler, reader, hiker, chef, and Starbucks fan.

Island Lecture Series: “Camping in the Backyard: Provincial Park Campgrounds and Island Tourism, 1945—2000” with Dr. Edward MacDonald

Join us on October 17th, at 7 PM in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI’s SDU Main Building for a lecture from PEI historian, Dr. Ed MacDonald!
The historical literature on camping in the Western world has been preoccupied with the period between the mid-1800s and the Second World War. It maintains that well-heeled city dwellers camped in order to escape summers in North America’s dirty, polluted, high-stress cities and connect physically and emotionally with the wild Nature. But it was the postwar era and the gradual democratization of tourism that brought camping to the masses. And the experience on Prince Edward Island tells a different story about the motives behind, and the experience of, camping. Focusing particularly on the Island’s provincial parks, “Camping in the Backyard” will unpack the rise and fall (and rise again) of camping in terms of the Island’s tourism industry.

Meet the Speaker

Dr. Edward MacDonald teaches in the History Department at UPEI. His research focus is the social, cultural, and environmental history of Prince Edward Island. Along with Josh MacFadyen and Irene Novaczek, he is co-editor of Time and A Place: An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island, co-published by Island Studies Press and McGill-Queen’s University Press. The best known of his seven books is If You’re Stronghearted: Prince Edward Island in the 20th Century (October 2000).

Island Lecture Series Double Feature: “Sami Educational Viewpoints From the Past and Present” and “The Use of Yoik, Traditional Sami Singing, in Education”

Kicking off this season’s Island Lecture Series Tuesday, September 19th, are two guests who are NOT talking about islands, but rather something that resonates with islands and islanders from the North: Sami culture from Lapland.  

Pigga Keskitalo will present “Sami Educational Viewpoints From the Past and Present.”  In this presentation, Pigga Keskitalo will review Sámi education history and current practices. Currently, there is need for innovative solutions so that everyone can reach education in their Indigenous languages. Endangered Sami languages have developed distance education since the 1990’s, so that children and language learners – despite their location – can learn Sami languages. In Finland, there is a Sami language distance education project. The Academy of Finland-funded research project, ADVOST concentrated on developing this distance education in a small children’s context. The research project also implemented land-based education, storytelling, and playful learning into distance education. Keskitalo will present this project and core results in addition to the new research project LINCOSY (funded by the Finnish Research Council, former Academy of Finland), which concentrates on Sami language teaching in Nordic level.

Laila Nutti will present her PhD project about pedagogical use of yoik with the title: “The Use of Yoik, Traditional Sami Singing, in Education”

Pigga Keskitalo and Laila Nutti are on Prince Edward Island as part of the ConnectED Scholar Exchange, which aims to create connections between early career scholars and researchers across the Arctic. Hosted by Dr. Kathy Snow (Education), David Varis (Education/IKERAS), and Dr. Laurie Brinklow (Island Studies), our guests will be meeting with graduate students and educators across the Island from September 18-21, 2023.

RSVP to the Facebook Event to add it to your calendar and receive reminders!

Meet the Speakers


Pigga Keskitalo
Pigga Keskitalo holds a PhD in Education and is a Professor of education, specifically in Arctic perspectives in education, at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Education, Rovaniemi, Finland. She is also an Adjunct Professor (Title of Docent) at the University of Helsinki. Keskitalo has participated in various national and international research and development projects regarding topics of socially sustainable development, education, and equity in global and Arctic communities, as well as, more specifically, in Sami education and language teaching. She has previously worked for 20 years in Norway as a teacher educator. Learn more…



Laila Nutti
Laila Nutti is a PhD Candidate at the Sami University of Applied Sciences

Learn more…

Island Lecture Series: Dr. Irené Novaczek 

March 21st, 7pm
Faculty Lounge SDU Main Building, UPEI

Join us March 21st for an Island Lecture from marine ecologist Dr. Irené Novaczek on the Ecosystem Restoration Project at Basin Head. Basin Head was designated as a “Marine Protected Area” under the Oceans Act in 2005, to conserve and protect a unique strain of Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) which is thought to exist only within the confines of Basin Head.

The talk will focus on adaptive management of the Marine Protected Area to ensure that the unique giant form of Irish moss at Basin Head is able to survive in the coastal lagoon environment which is challenged by impacts of local agriculture, invasive European green crabs and ongoing climate changes.