About me

Greetings from Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples' territories, known also as Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula.

My name is Kim Shortreed (he/him). I am currently a PhD Candidate in Media Studies and Digital Humanities at the University of Victoria. I am also a freelance copyeditor for UBCIC (Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs).

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For my dissertation work, I am trying to learn more about the historical, sociopolitical, narrative, and meaning-making aspects of Indigenous and settler place names (toponyms) and how they coexist in the Salish Sea. In particular, I am interested in settler approaches and reactions to Indigenous namescapes and recent efforts to “decolonize” settler namescapes. My goal with this work is to find new ways for settler institutions and allies to make space for Indigenous toponyms, perspectives, histories, and truths.

As part of my dissertation project, called "Contracolonial Practices in Salish Sea Namescapes," I am working with artist TEMOSEṈ, in Tsartlip First Nation, to create what I call a "haptic map," a motion-activated topography and art installation that plays audio clips of spoken toponyms, in SENĆOŦEN and English, of the W̱SÁNEĆ Territory/Saanich Peninsula, respectively. You can read about the haptic map on my Namescape blog.

CURRICULUM VITAE

[PDF version.]

Education

PhD Candidate in Media Studies and Digital Humanities, University of Victoria Department of English, 2018-present

Research interests: I am studying settler approaches and reactions to Indigenous namescapes and attempts to “decolonize” toponymies. As part of this work I study historiographies and narratologies, British Columbia history, cartographic technologies (analogue and digital), anticolonial methodologies and practices, Digital Humanities, and text encoding. Supervisor: Dr. Janelle Jenstad.

MA in English, University of Victoria, 2008

Areas of study: Digital Humanities; BC literature; environmental literature; race and gender in Colonial Law and Aboriginal/Indigenous literature; nature, knowledge, and gender in Middle English poetry; poststructuralism. Thesis title: Representing the “Ghosts” of D’Arcy Island: Evidence of the Uncanny in To All Appearances a Lady and “Refuge: Cordova Bay.”

BA with Distinction in English, Communications Minor, University of Victoria, 2006

Areas of study: Canadian and BC literature; Canadian exploration narratives and narrativization; postcolonialism; historiographies; Shakespeare; Romantic, Victorian, and Canadian poetry. Professional communications: science, government, and report writing; copy editing; web design.

Awards & Scholarships

Faculty of Humanities Strategic Research Grant, UVic, 2022 William Benzie Scholarship, UVic English Department, 2022 Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2018-2021 President's Research Scholarship, UVic, 2018-2019
Colonial Despatches Research Assistantship, UVic, 2018-2019
English Master's Program University Fellowship Award, UVic, 2008
UVic Entrance Scholarship, UVic, 2004
William Geoffrey Ellis Prize, Camosun College, 2003

Refereed Content

Academic paper, "Skateboarding in Place: Creating and Reclaiming Namescapes Through 'Skatescapes',” Pivot: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Thought, Summer 2022, York U.
Conference paper, Somatic Cartography and Stories: Mapping Meaning Onto the Body, York U EGSA Conference, 5 May 2022: "Skateboarding in Place: Creating and Reclaiming Namescapes Through 'Skatescapes'.”
Conference abstract (co-authored), Digital Humanities 2011, Stanford University, 9 Jun. 2011: “The Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia: A Digital Edition of a Large-Scale Document Collection.”
Conference paper, Playing the Angles: Intersections, Margins, and Parallels in Cultural Production, University of Victoria, 9 Mar. 2007: “To All Appearances a Refuge: Examining the D’Arcy Island Lazaretto through Paul Ching Lee and Marilyn Bowering.”

Non-refereed Content

Project presentation, Legislative Library of British Columbia, 28 Jul. 2016: co-presented, with Colonial Despatches colleagues, on the Despatches project to Legislative Library of British Columbia staff.
Biographies, Colonial Despatches, May 2009-Oct. 2014: 154 biographies (roughly 20,000 words of digital text) for Colonial Despatches academic digital history website.
Place-name entries, Colonial Despatches, May 2009-Oct. 2014: 197 “placeographies” (roughly 24,000 words of digital text) for Colonial Despatches academic digital history website.
Vessels entries, Colonial Despatches, May 2009-Oct. 2014: 77 vessel histories (roughly 10,000 words of digital text) for Colonial Despatches academic digital history website.
Poster boards, Government House, BC, 22 Jun. 2010: 6 X 3’x2’ information boards on the Colonial Despatches, presented as part of The Governor’s Letters: Colonial Correspondence 1846-1857 official launch event.

Creative Outputs

Poetry performance, Sport Literature Association, 36th Annual Conference, by the University of Limoges, 19-22 Jun. 2019: read selections from Spoke & Word: 32 Poems About Bikes in an underground, medieval venue in the beautiful city of Limoges, France.

Teaching Experience

ENGL 401: Web Design, UVic Department of English
Two terms: Jan.-Apr. 2013, 2014

This Professional Communications course introduces students, from all faculties, to technologies and skills required to produce websites in HTML5, CSS3, and WordPress. Students learn to produce professional writing and digital content for the web, using cross-platform tools, terms, processes, and standards, with an emphasis on open-source software and best practices for web design and implementation.

English 406: Special Studies in Professional Communication (co-taught), UVic Department of English
Four terms: Sept.-Dec., 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

I co-taught this Professional Communications course with Susan Doyle, from UVic’s Professional Communications program. Through an apprenticeship model, students learned about XML-encoding, TEI guidelines, writing, research, and editing, in order to publish content to the Colonial Despatches project’s website. I created several learning modules that ranged in emphasis from writing and research to XML-encoding and technical editing.

Professional Experience

Freelance Copyeditor: Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), Vancouver, BC, 2021-present

I am an on-call copyeditor and transcriber for UBCIC.

Digital Scholarship Intern: Digital Scholarship Commons, University of Victoria Libraries, Victoria, BC, 2022-present

I work with a team of staff, librarians, developers, and graduate assistants to provide support for student learning and digital exploration, through peer support, consultation, tutorials, digital tools workshops, and special projects.

Remediating Editor (QME) and Copyeditor: Linked Early Modern Drama Online, Victoria, BC, 2021-2022

I worked under the supervision of Dr. Janelle Jenstad, within UVic's Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC), remediating digital texts for an anthology-building platform for Early Modern Drama.

Research Assistant/Instructor: Colonial Despatches Project, Victoria, BC, 2018-2022

I worked under the supervision of Dr. John Lutz, within UVic's Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC), researching academic sources (digital and analogue) for content for biographies, place names, and vessel entries, and then I drafted, edited, and posted content to the Colonial Despatches website. I also co-instructed directed reading students and contributed to project documentation.

Victoria Foundation Grant Project Manager: Colonial Despatches Project, Victoria, BC, 2019-2020

I was the defacto project manager for a Victoria Foundation grant we received to support Indigenous students to find ways to “decolonize” the Colonial Despatches project’s content, database, and workplace practices.

Owner, Web-Design and Editing Business: Ministry of Clarity, Victoria, BC, 2012-2019

The Ministry of Clarity is a business that offered website and WordPress development and management, as well as writing, editing, and copy editing services.

Business Analyst: University of Victoria, Office of the Registrar (OREG), Victoria, BC, 2014-2018

I worked in Registrar Information Systems (RISS) to support internal OREG systems, projects, and operations. This job required writing, research, project management, technical support and consultation, troubleshooting, and creative solutions to complex technological, workflow, and communications problems. I used many of UVic’s administrative systems, including BANNER, FAST, ViewCat, Cascade, Connect (UVic’s SharePoint), and more.

Project Manager, Co-Instructor, Researcher, Writer, Digital Editor: Colonial Despatches Project, Victoria, BC, 2009-2014

I worked under the supervision of Dr. John Lutz, within UVic's HCMC, as a project co-manager, writer, editor, technical editor, encoder, researcher, and co-instructor. I researched academic sources (digital and analogue) for content for biographies, place names, and vessel entries, and then drafted, edited, and posted content to the Colonial Despatches website. In addition, I used TEI schemas, encoded digital content in XML, co-taught directed reading students, and managed project documentation. I also contributed to grant-writing for the project’s funding.

Academic Lab Administrator: Electronic Textual Cultures Laboratory, Victoria, BC, 2008-2009

I did grant writing, academic and web-tools research in the field of digital humanities. I handled budgets, timetables, hiring and interviews, post-doctoral-student orientation, procedures and documentation, web-development and maintenance, reception, and contributed similarly, as needed, to the Digital Humanities Summer Institute.

Digitizer, Technical Consultant: Early Victoria Online (McPherson Library), Victoria, BC, 2007-2008

I worked with a small team of archivists and members of UVic's Special Collections to photograph, scan, and digitize historical maps (19thcentury), texts, and ephemera.

Professional Development Courses

“How-to-Seminar” Seminar (UVic English Department, 2018)
Indigenous Cultural Acumen Training (UVic, 2017)
Awareness and Prevention of Workplace Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination (UVic, 2017)
Mediation in a Box (UVic, 2016)
Creating Spaces: Reflections on Privilege and Power (UVic Equity Office course, 2016)
Intercultural Conflicts (UVic Equity Office course, 2016)
Dimensions of Diversity (UVic Equity Office course, 2015)
Student Mental Health Literacy Program, levels 1 & 2 (UVic, 2015 & 2016)
Issues in Large Project Planning and Management (DHSI course, 2009)

Digital Toolkit

I have varying experience with the following tools and technologies: HTML and CSS, WordPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Audition, Inkscape, GIMP, ImageMagick, Audacity, Garage Band, Microsoft Expressions, iMovie, MS Office, SharePoint, Libre Office, Oxygen (XML editor), Subversion, and Microsoft Office suite (Mac and Windows versions). I also move regularly between and can troubleshoot Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems. For UVic-specific systems, I have worked on or with Banner, FAST, Connect (in-house SharePoint), Viewcat, and RT (ticket system), JIRA, Ask UVic, Oracle Reports, Enterprise (room-booking software), and SSB.

Volunteering

When my schedule allows, I am a poetry workshop guest instructor at the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA).

CONTACT ME

Email: kss at uvic dot ca. | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimshortreed