معرفی
Karis Shearer is an Associate Professor in English & Cultural Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO), where she also holds the Principal's Research Chair (Tier II) in Digital Arts and Humanities. She is affiliated with the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and plays a significant role in the Digital Arts & Humanities Theme of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program.
Dr. Shearer earned her PhD and MA from the University of Western Ontario in 2008 and 2004 respectively, and her BA from McGill University in 2003. Her academic journey has led her to become a prominent scholar in Canadian literary studies with a specialization in digital approaches to literary archives.
Dr. Shearer's research focuses on the intersection of literary studies and digital technologies, with particular attention to literary audio, literary archives, and feminist approaches to sound studies. Her work examines how digital tools and methodologies can transform our understanding of literary production, particularly in Canadian contexts. She explores how gendered labor operates within literary communities and how audio recordings can preserve and transform literary events. Her scholarship demonstrates how digital humanities approaches can illuminate previously overlooked aspects of literary history, especially regarding women's contributions to poetry communities.
Analysis of Dr. Shearer's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on Canadian literary history through the lens of digital humanities and sound studies. Her work increasingly emphasizes feminist perspectives on archival practices, particularly examining how women's labor shapes literary communities. There's a clear trajectory toward community-centered research that engages directly with audio archives and digital preservation, highlighting how these approaches can recover marginalized voices in Canadian literary history. Her scholarship bridges traditional literary studies with innovative digital methodologies, creating new pathways for understanding literary production and reception.
Dr. Shearer has received numerous prestigious awards and fellowships, including:
- UBCO Excellence Fund (2019-2021)
- Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant (2019-2020)
- Humanities and Social Sciences Small Research Grant (2019-2020)
- Raymond Klibansky McGill University Library Fellowship (2019)
- FCCS Teaching Innovation Award (2013)
- SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008-2010)
- SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2005-2008)
Dr. Shearer is an active mentor who has supervised numerous graduate students working at the intersection of literature, digital humanities, and sound studies. Her current and former students have pursued innovative research on topics ranging from technology and gender in humor perception to Indigenous computing frameworks and artistic language revitalization. She leads the AMP Lab and serves as the lead UBCO researcher for the SpokenWeb SSHRC Partnership Grant, a major collaborative project focused on literary audio archives. Her supervisory approach emphasizes interdisciplinary research creation, encouraging students to develop projects that combine scholarly inquiry with creative practice.
As director of the AMP Lab and lead researcher for the SpokenWeb SSHRC Partnership Grant, Dr. Shearer oversees significant research infrastructure that supports digital humanities scholarship. The AMP Lab provides a space for experimentation with audio, multimedia, and digital publishing, while the SpokenWeb project has created a national network for preserving and studying literary audio recordings. She also hosts and co-produces "SoundBox Signals," a podcast that brings literary archival audio to life through close-listening and conversation, extending her research impact beyond traditional academic channels.
