معرفی
Professor Susan Gingell is a distinguished scholar in the Department of English at the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in Canadian, Indigenous, and diasporic literatures with a focus on textualized oratures. Her career spans four decades of influential research, mentorship, and editorial leadership in postcolonial and decolonizing literary studies.
Her research centers on orality-literacy interfaces across Indigenous, Caribbean, and African diasporic contexts, with particular attention to sound identity, decolonial aesthetics, and the politics of voice. Gingell has pioneered methodologies for engaging with oral traditions in written form, examining how Cree-Metis, Inuit, Mohawk, and Caribbean writers navigate colonial legacies through literary innovation. Her work consistently bridges theoretical rigor with practical applications for decolonizing education.
Gingell's publication trajectory reveals an evolution from foundational studies of Canadian poets E.J. Pratt and Robert Finch toward groundbreaking work on Indigenous and Caribbean oralities. Since 2000, her research has increasingly centered Indigenous knowledge systems, culminating in co-editing the seminal 2012 anthology Listening Up, Writing Down, and Looking Beyond and organizing the eVOCative oral performance festival. Her scholarship demonstrates sustained engagement with how marginalized communities reclaim narrative sovereignty through literary expression.
- University of Saskatchewan Master Teacher Award (1994)
- Students Union Women's Centre Award (2003)
- Special M.A. Scholarship (Canada Council, 2012)
- Sabbatical Leave Fellowship (SSHRC, 1983-84)
- Doctoral Fellowships (Canada Council, 1974-77)
As a dedicated mentor, Gingell has supervised seven graduate students to completion between 2005-2011, including award-winning dissertations on Indigenous literature and disability studies. Her co-supervision model demonstrates collaborative academic practice, while her postdoctoral mentorship of Wendy Roy on Carol Shields' work highlights her commitment to advancing emerging scholars. Gingell has secured significant research funding including SSHRC fellowships and Canada Council awards, supporting her editorial projects like the Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada contributions and the Gendered Intersections textbook.
Gingell spearheaded the 2008 conference The Oral, the Written, and Other Verbal Media: Interfaces and Audiences alongside the eVOCative performance festival, creating vital interdisciplinary space for exploring oral traditions across academic and community contexts. Her leadership in the Canadian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies continues to shape national conversations about decolonizing literary studies.
