Early Newfoundland Women's Imaginative Literature and the Problem with Escape

Early Newfoundland women's published works have been innocuously labelled "escapist fiction" but they aren't harmless reading

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HSS Researchers in the News
Jennifer Selby, Arn Keeling, Lisa-Jo van den Scott, Mahyar Masoudi, and Nicole Whalen

Research in the wild Nexus Centre fellows bring academic ideas to an everyday space: Tim Hortons

December 11, 2025

Not every research talk takes place in the glow of a bustling Tim Hortons kiosk. But, in a memorable end to Memorial's recent Research Week, the Nexus Centre's four fall fellows embraced the unconventional. Before an audience of roughly 30 onlookers, the researchers took to the Arts and Administration atrium, with each delivering a focused, five-minute presentation on their respective recent work on the subject of environments. "The goal was to go where people are," said Dr. Jennifer Selby, director of the Nexus Centre. "And in this building, that's Tim Hortons, right? Beyond that, we wanted to do something fun. Nerdy fun!"
Daniel Kudla

Renters consider leaving N.L. after no-fault eviction 'upheaved' their lives

December 15, 2025

After moving to St. John's from Peterborough, Ont. a couple built a comfortable life in a two-bedroom apartment with their cat. Two years later, they say a no-fault eviction forced them to start over. It was the end of June when Memorial University graduate student Kerri Mozessohn received an email from a realtor saying the property they lived in was about to go up for sale. Mozessohn and their partner Paige Jackson received word an investment buyer was interested in purchasing the house. The realtor assured them they'd be kept on as tenants.
Kelly Blidook

Why is NL's House of Assembly still closed? Opposition critical after a month without sitting

November 25, 2025

Liberals, NDP raise questions on Churchill Falls MOU and government promises; political scientist points to tight margins and procedural norms Lisa Dempster, Liberal MHA for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair and Opposition House Leader, said that when her party was the sitting government, the Progressive Conservative members were always quick to ask for more time to debate important issues in NL whenever the Liberals closed the House of Assembly early. "I remember one time now Premier Tony Wakeham actually released a statement denouncing the closure of the House after several days, saying it leaves no forum for public accountability," said Dempster. ... While opposition parties are critical of the House of Assembly's opening, a political scientist at Memorial said this timeframe is still "within the norm." "First of all, we have a new government. There's a lot of transition that needs to happen," said Kelly Blidook. "You don't have people who are familiar with the portfolios. There's a lot for the new government to try to figure out before it meets the legislature."
Patrick Gamsby

Podcast: Patrick Gamsby - Henri Lefebvre, Metaphilosophy, and Modernity

November 30, 2025

Henri Lefebvre is a writer who has had many competing claims for ownership, from sociology to philosophy to urban geography, different scholars have attempted to grasp the nature of his thought. These competing attempts have been encouraged by Lefebvre's rejection of systematicity in his thought and his eclectic, discursive writing style. In his book Henri Lefebvre, Metaphilosophy and Modernity (Routledge, 2025) Patrick Gamsby provides a new, interdisciplinary way of viewing Lefebvre's work through the category of 'metaphilosophy'. This, the term Lefebvre used to categorise his own perspective, emphasises the link between thought and action and therefore encourages us to foreground Lefebvre's critique of alienation. The role of alienation as the 'blockage of the possible' also leads Gamsby to emphasis the utopian nature of Lefebvre's thought as one directed to what could be. In our conversation we discuss how Gamsby came to this topic through his previous explorations of Lefebvre's sociology of boredom, the importance of happiness for Lefebvre, the problems of technology and why Lefebvre saw great hopes in a new romanticism. We also discuss why we should be wary of packets of sweetener encouraging us to be happy.
Aaron Tucker

'Embedded in the everyday' English professor Dr. Aaron Tucker is researching frontier AI

November 24, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) is permeating almost every aspect of our society. You may be a fan of using AI to help you choose a colour to paint your house, but a professor at Memorial is researching the technology at the cutting edge - think deep fakes and generative AI. The Gazette caught up with Dr. Aaron Tucker to hear about how he is working to protect the most vulnerable in our society from the harms of the technology and how we might imagine using it differently.
Elizabeth Schwartz

Opinion: Vancouver goes small: The city risks big new problems with its proposed turn to austerity

November 17, 2025

The job of a mayor is to think big. They need a vision for their city that transcends the mundane factionalism pervading politics. To be successful, mayors must have a sense of how the community can grow. Most of Vancouver's mayors, for all their faults, understood this. Phillip Owen challenged the views of his Non-Partisan Association (NPA) base in confronting the challenge of drug addiction in a more holistic fashion. Larry Campbell pushed against COPE skepticism in encouraging market housing development. Sam Sullivan bucked NPA orthodoxy on the need to take climate change seriously. Gregor Robertson charted a business-friendly path to action on issues of environmental sustainability and homelessness. Kennedy Stewart worked with both OneCity and the NPA to create more housing for the city via the Broadway Plan.
Sean Gray

'It's my fault': N.L. commissioner for legislative standards neglected to file annual reports since 2022 appointment

November 19, 2025

In the lead-up to October's provincial election, and after nearly three years in office, the province's Commissioner for Legislative Standards still had not filed an annual report, in violation of legislative requirements. As of early November, Ann Chafe still had not filed annual reports for 2023 or 2024, despite having been appointed as the province's acting commissioner in December 2022. That failure left a void on the commissioner's website where annual reports dating back to 1993 are publicly available. "They're not online, mostly 'cause they're not done, and that's all on me," Chafe said Oct. 9 after The Independent requested the reports. ... Memorial University Political Scientist Sean Gray isn't surprised by the fact Chafe has not been held to account for what he calls "professional negligence".

Angela Carter

Climate change will hurt Canada's GDP more than previously thought

November 14, 2025

At a time when fossil fuel projects are part of Ottawa's nation-building agenda, new research shows climate impacts driven by burning fossil fuels could cause more damage to GDP than previously thought. The cost of inaction to curb growing greenhouse gas emissions could mean a 21 per cent hit to Canada's GDP by the end of 2070, according to a new economic analysis by Timothy Neal, senior lecturer in the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales.
Daniel Kudla

What would it look like if N.L. enshrined housing as a human right?

November 5, 2025

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham has affirmed his belief that housing is a human right. Following his Oct. 29 swearing-in as the province's 16th premier at Government House in St. John's, Wakeham said housing is "absolutely" a human right in response to a question from The Independent. But the new premier didn't answer whether he would enshrine that right in provincial legislation. Daniel Kudla, an associate professor in the sociology department at Memorial University, says no province or territory has followed the federal government's lead in recognizing housing as a human right in law. If the Progressive Conservatives were to enshrine the right to adequate housing in legislation, it would be "a very significant step."
Amanda Bittner

Politicians, candidates reflect on busy election year

December 1, 2025

First-time candidates say lack of financial resources and support result in fewer people getting into politics. In 2025 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians went to the polls three times, for the federal election in April, the municipal elections in early October, and the provincial election on Oct. 14. Among the hundreds of candidates who put their names forward, some-perhaps many-were new to the world of politics. Last week a few of those candidates gathered in St. John's to talk about their experiences. Moderated by Memorial University Political Science Professor Amanda Bittner, the panel featured first-time candidates from all three elections, including: Lynette Powell, federal Liberal candidate for Central, Otis Crandell, federal Green Party candidate in St. John's East, and Laurabel Mba, who ran provincially for the NDP in Mount Scio. Kate Cadigan and Nikita Ryall, who ran for St. John's city council, also joined.

Arn Keeling and John Sandlos

As Carney pushes major projects, he must heed a cautionary tale from Canada's past

November 12, 2025

Arn Keeling (Geography) and John Sandlos (History) address the federal government prioritizing new major projects by reflecting on past projects such as Giant Mine (the subject of their book, The Price of Gold). "No doubt the rush to shore up the domestic economy in the face of trade threats makes sense, and the frustrations of the business community with project delays is understandable. But our research on the history of resource extraction in Canada provides many cautionary tales about rushing headlong into lightly regulated development."