Telling unheard stories: unlocking museum collections

The soul of a community is embodied by culture and the telling of stories, but what happens when the stories told are not aligned with lived experiences? Partnering with the Association of Nova Scotia Museums and communities across Nova Scotia, Dr. Kirrily Freeman is working to help museums unlock their collections and ensure that history is told accurately. Her students gain experience ensuring that the history and heritage of African Nova Scotian, Acadian, Gaelic and Mi’kmaq communities are better represented in Nova Scotian museums.  

“Community engagement is integral to the whole process,” says Dr. Freeman. “Communities are telling us what is needed, what is missing and what needs to be done to move forward. This knowledge will influence not just how we proceed but hopefully will shape the future of museum work in the province.” 

Maggie MacIntyre, Executive Director of the Association of Nova Scotia Museums, is excited about the short and long-term benefits of this partnership with Saint Mary's.

“Working with students is giving us the capacity to move community-centered work forward,” she says. “In the long run, we see it playing a big role in creating the next generation of museum professionals.”   

Dr. Freeman says their priority is to ensure marginalized groups have access to their communities’ histories and material culture. “We all benefit from having a more inclusive, more nuanced, more comprehensive representation of the past.”

Did you know? Dr. Kirrily Freeman is piloting two new courses, ‘Museum Fundamentals: Unlocking Community Collections’ and ‘Heritage Field Placement’, as part of a newly proposed Public Humanities and Heritage major in the Faculty of Arts.  

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50 years of research, education and outreach

A quick 22-storey elevator ride is all it takes to be transported from the heart of a bustling campus into another galaxy at the Burke-Gaffney Observatory. Currently celebrating 50 years in operation, the observatory recently welcomed a new management team in Dr. Vincent Hénault-Brunet and Tiffany Fields BSc’17 MSc’19. Operating one of two professional-grade telescopes in Atlantic Canada, this duo is steadfast in fulfilling their mission to provide astronomy and astrophysics education, research and outreach to communities locally and worldwide. 

“We are incredibly lucky to have the Burke-Gaffney Observatory here on campus,” says Fields. “It allows students to participate in science outreach and it also allows our community to experience the universe here at Saint Mary’s.”  

Fields has always felt the gravitational pull of the observatory. During her time as a student at Saint Mary’s, she worked at the observatory before becoming its technician. Similar to her own experience, she wants to give students the opportunity to learn how to use the state-of-the-art observational astronomy equipment with the hopes of preparing them for careers in astronomy and data science. Dr. Hénault-Brunet agrees.

"For generations, Nova Scotians have been enlightened by the universe after a visit to the Burke-Gaffney Observatory," he says. "We also know students come to study astronomy and astrophysics at Saint Mary's because of our observatory." 

Sitting atop the Loyola building for half a century, the Burke-Gaffney Observatory has celebrated many milestones and continues to look to the future. The observatory is the location where the first supernova was discovered and continues to sit high in the sky as a beacon of generosity and the pursuit of a better understanding of our universe. 

Did you know? The Burke-Gaffney Observatory has allowed many to explore the universe thanks to the generosity of our supporters, including Dr. Ralph Medjuck LLD’13, whose philanthropic gift in 2014 helped upgrade the telescope.

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Building more inclusive workspaces

To see the change, you need to be the change. This is the mentality that Dr. Vurain Tabvuma, Sobey Professor in Management, and his PhD student Katelynn Carter-Rogers BA’11 CertHON’12 MSc’15 bring to their teaching and research practices. Their research, focused on understanding how inclusion within organizations can increase well-being and performance, has been built into the Sobey School of Business Management 1281 curriculum —a foundational course for all Bachelor of Commerce students.  

“My research with Dr. Tabvuma has taught me a lot about current practices in organizations and the changes that need to be made to make them inclusive," says Carter-Rogers. "It’s one thing to be included, it’s another thing to feel like you truly belong.”

This addition to the course curriculum reinforces the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion in the minds of tomorrow’s business leaders. This is a big step forward in fostering more inclusive workplaces.  

“It’s important that organizations are able and ready to support people who come from very different perspectives, and include people who understand the world in very different ways,” says Dr. Tabvuma.

Did you know? The Sobey School of Business is a proud signatory of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative. The school is also one of just two in Canada to be selected as a PRME Champion (2020-23), a leadership group committed to advancing corporate social responsibility in education and research.

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• Saint Mary’s University Signs Charter on Black Inclusion and Fighting Anti-Black Racism

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