Nutritional Science, Educator/Dietitian Ventures Across Borders with New Book

We were pleased to receive news today about Jacqui Gringras, Ph.D, RD and her recently released book "Longing for Recognition", York, UK: Raw Nerve Books.

"Longing for Recognition offers a radical new way of understanding nutritional health practices. In contemporary food culture, the work of dietitians has accrued new and urgent meaning, and "Longing for Recognition" is addressed to that group of practitioners. The author, herself a dietitian, crafts an autoethnographic fiction that presents a critical and thought-provoking argument for a more self-reflexive, relational, and embodied profession. Her compelling narrative draws the reader into its timely call for rethinking what counts as knowledge in
dietetic education. "Longing for Recognition" will be invaluable for dietitians and other health care professionals who wish to enhance their practice as one that considers first and foremost what it means to be human."

Jacqui's progressive research engages autoethnographic, phenomenological and arts informed methods as a means for understanding dietetic theory, education and practice. She has also taught courses at Ryerson University School of Nutrition, among them, "The Art of Storytelling: Advances in Nutrition Counselling Practice." CM




Information about this book

Life Writing and Translations theme for International Auto/Biography Association Conference

IABA International Auto/Biography Association Conference

Honolulu, Hawaii

June 23 to 26, 2008

Life Writing and Translations

Call for Papers Deadline November l, 2007

The Center for Biographical Research and the International Auto/Biography Association invites scholars from around the world to attend the sixth IABA conference, which will be held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu.

The theme for this conference is Life Writing and Translations, in the widest sense of the term. We welcome papers dealing with the following kinds of translation, and others as well

• Linguistic­-Accounts of language acquisition, and their relation to senses of identity, of relations with others, of community, of separateness.

• Immigrant life writing narratives, Indigenous peoples and life writing, Poly-lingual texts, polyphonic and heteroglossic, texts, the translation of life writing texts from one language to another.

• Generic­-Life writing texts from one literary, artistic,disciplinary, technological, or rhetorical form to another.

Papers can deal with representing peoples’ lives in any medium­...film, graphic, text,writing, image, performance. They can examine the adaptation of one representational form to another ­from book to film, from film to musical, from orature to literature, from page to stage to page, from popular confession to autoethnography, multi-generic works, ­online life writing, incorporating visual, aural, and textual dimensions, or performance works, combining presence and representation in several media.

Papers should be limited to fifteen minutes in length, to insure time in all sessions for questions and full discussion. Panels on a single topic and submitted together are welcome.

Abstracts can be submitted by mail or fax to:

IABA Conference Call for Papers , c/o The Center for Biographical Research, Department of English, 1733 Donaggho Road, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822 USA Fax number: 1-808-956-3774

e-mail: biograph@hawaii.edu

Organizer: Professor Craig Howes
Department of English
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
1733 Donaghho Road, Honolulu
Hawai'i 96822, USA
Email: craighow@hawaii.edu or biograph@hawaii.edu
Tel: 808-956-3774
Fax: 808-956-3774

Website: http://www.iaba.org.cn/conference.htm

Qualitative Research, References and Approaches, Handbook of Qualitative Research Essential Resource

Some have called the growing interest in qualitative research today a revolution. We are seeing this progressive work increasingly applied in education as well
as in health by educators, nurses and social work educators, in mental health and in participatory work for social change.

CCAHTE Journal frequently features contributions from leading educators and researchers engaged in qualitative research actively involved in projects related to education, health and humanities. Among qualitative researchers are those using arts influenced methodologies to help raise awareness about true stories and lived experiences in the context of environment while opening the way for social change or changes in health policy.

In our work in arts, research, health, training and education many of our projects involve some form of qualitative research (narrative approaches, phenomenology, autoethnography). Many researchers will have access to a reference copy of "The Handbook of Qualitative Research" by Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln..a book that is accessible as well as informative and includes contributions covering a range of approaches and methods in field work, data collection and assessment.

http://www.sagepub.com/refbooksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book225664

"Qualitative research is a field of inquiry in its own right. It crosscuts disciplines, fields and subject matter...

Qualitative research, as a set of interpretive practices, privileges no single methodology over any other. As a site of discussion, or discourse, qualitative research is difficult to define clearly.

...multiple theoretical paradigms claim use of qualitative research methods and strategies from constructivism to cultural studies, feminism, Marxism and ethnic models of study. "

(Pg. 3 introduction/ Handbook of Qualitative Research)

"In discipline after discipline, old models, methods and theories of research have been supplanted or supplemented by new paradigms, strategies and techniques based on
naturalistic study of people in their social and culture environment. The Handbook
of Qualitative Research is the first attempt to synthesize the vast world of activity.
.....Contributors to this authoritative volume represent disciplines as diverse as sociology and education, medicine and communication, anthropology and policy studies and come
from three continents."
From Handbook of Qualitative Research,
Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, editors
Sage Publications

"The Handbook of Qualitative Research" an excellent reference book for students as well as seasoned "explorers".
Cheryl.

Nutritional Science, Dietitians, Educators Venture Across Borders

Raising Awareness About Nutrition and

Health Issues Through Story and the Arts

Food for Thought

Jacqui Gingras was trained in a positivist tradition

but found her dietitian's training did not prepare

her for comments like,

"I hate my body! I won't eat that. It has too much fat.

I'm overwhelmed. I don't want to be here. I want to die."

Jacqui Gingris Ph.D., RD is an Assistant Professor at Ryerson

University's School of Nutrition and her research engages

autoethnographic, phenomenological and arts informed methods

as helpful approaches in understanding dietetic theory,

education and practice. The winner of the Ted Aoki Prize

for Outstanding Dissertation in Curriculum Studies

courageously ventured across traditional borders to

offer a progressive course for students at Ryerson called

"The Art of Storytelling Advances in Nutrition

Counselling Practice."

"The main text (story) used in this course

is an autoethnographic fiction written by

the instructor about dietetic students/practitioners,

education, and practice called, "Longing for Recognition."

This story will ideally provoke critical thinking about

food and nutrition practice and position storytelling

as a powerful medium to understand others with

whom the student will engage during her/his own

nutrition counselling practice. "2.

1. Quote from Gingras, Jacqueline R. Unkept Promises, Secrets

and Perils Within Dietetic Education and Practice, thesis Feb. 06

Visit www.ryerson.ca/~jgingras

2. From http://www.ryerson.ca/~jgingras/teaching.htm

And in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The

University of Toronto a new pilot arts module was

introduced to graduate students in order to help explore

the arts as a means of raising awareness about food

and community health issues.

Ann Fox Ph.D., MHSc, RD developed the arts module

which was incorporated into the existing nutrition

program to determine how the arts could be used

in nutrition education.

Many arts based approached were used

such as using photo essays to explore urban

landscape related to physical activity, collage,

painting and poetry approaches..

Ann Fox reports, "for both the students and for me

the engagement of dimensions that often

remain untapped in conventional science-based

health studies contributed significantly to our

shared sense of discovery...Student feedback,

as well as my own reflection throughout, indicated

that the module was successful, not just in terms of

meeting the intended objectives, but also in

inspiring students to think and learn in different

ways."

For article "Giving Voice to My Own Astonishment"
by Jacqui Gingras, PhD. RD.
(New Paradigms in Nutritional Sciences)
see CCAHTE Journal, March 07,
http://www.cmclean.com, pg. 12

For the full article "Implementing a Pilot

Arts Module in Graduate Community Nutrition

Training" by Ann Fox see CCAHTE Journal, March 07

issue http://www.cmclean.com, pg. 13.