GPHY 401 students at the lower burial ground 2023

Course Design
GPHY 401- Honours Seminar in Human Geography

Place(ing) Memory: identity, memory, landscape

How do places hold our stories, our histories, and our collective memories? This course explores the relationship between place and memory. It examines how memory practices shape the landscapes we live in and how the narratives they communicate contribute to our personal and collective geographic imaginaries. In it, we navigate the contours of national memory and the power structures that shape what is remembered and deliberately forgotten. We delve into everyday places of personal and urban memory alongside grand memoryscapes and monuments, investigating their creation and interpretation. We explore resistance and counter-memory, focusing on how individuals and communities challenge and reimagine public memory. From graffiti to ghosts, this course covers special contemporary and historical topics in urban geography and memory studies.

Teaching Experience

  • GPHY 101- Human Geography

    GPHY 229- Space, Place, Culture, and Social Life

    GPHY 327- The Geographical Imagination

    GPHY 227- Geography, Planning, and Urban Life

    GPHY 368- Environments & Society

    GPHY 336- Geographic Imaginations

  • Writing Consultant
    Queen’s University Student Academic Support Services

    Help Desk Staff & Peer Helper
    Carleton University Learning Support Services

  • Conference Presentations

    Nelson, E. (2023, March 26) The Cultural Organization of Care. AAG Annual General Meeting. Denver, Colorado.

    Nelson, E. (2022, April 8) Designing intercultural cities: Understanding public memory and marginalization in municipal cultural heritage practice. Robarts Graduate Conference. York University.

    Nelson, E. (2021, April 9) Decolonizing Public Memory and Public Places: Kingston Ontario. Robarts Graduate Conference. York University.

    Nelson, E. (2018, August 7). Designing Spaces of Indigenous Expression and Reconciliation. Presented at International Geographic Union Conference (IGU)/ Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting (CAG). Quebec City.

    Invited Panels, Lectures, Talks

    Invited Talk. (2023, October 30). Care-full Research Communication Through Zine Work. GradTalks: Communicating Research Through Non-Traditional Mediums. Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston.

    Podcast Guest. (2023, September 7). Grad Chat. Queen’s University. CFRC Podcast Network. https://podcast.cfrc.ca/2023/09/elizabeth-nelson-phd-in-geography-designing-intercultural-cities-community-organizations-care/

    Invited Panelist. (2023, April 3). Emerging Themes. Sustaining Connections– The Participatory and Intercultural Potential of Digital Learning. 2nd Joint Conference on Digital Learning and Teaching. Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh.

    Guest Lecture. (2021, October 6). Out of Place in Outer Space? Exploring Orbital Debris Through Geographic Imaginations. GPHY 327 Geographical Imaginations. Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston.

    Guest Lecture. (2021, January 18). Representation in Public Space: Heritage and Exclusion. GPHY 227 Online. Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston.

    Invited Talk. (2019, November 21). Decolonizing Public Memory and Public Places: Kingston Ontario. GSC Seminar Series: Indigenous Research. Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston.

    Guest Lecture. (2018, January 25). Haunted Canada: Commemoration, Official Histories, & Indigenous Erasure. GPHY 327 The Geographical Imagination. Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston.

Contact

I welcome the opportunity to explore teaching engagements, guest lectures, and project consultation possibilities. If you are interested in partnering on research or writing projects, I would be delighted to explore potential collaborations together.