Geography Professor Examines Changing Spaces in St. Catharines

Dr. Michael Ripmeester (GEOG) has been awarded a research grant by the Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS) for a project entitled Caught Between Deindustrialization and the Cultural Economy: Working People and Life Narratives in St. Catharines, ON.  This interview-based project will help him to examine the demise of manufacturing and the  emergence of a cultural economy in St. Catharines.  The point of this project is to investigate how changing spaces that result from deindustrialization affect how people are able to find meaning in an intangible  heritage, or human doing (as opposed to finding meaning solely in material  objects). A graduate student will assist in the design, implementation and transcription of interviews with Municipal and labour leaders.  According to Michael, the CRISS grant "will provide a much appreciated start to getting the interview part of this research started".  Research proposals are reviewed by CRISS on May 1, October 1, and February 1 of each year.