Emily Kaliel
Arrell Scholar, History
Emily is studying at the University of Guelph as a PhD student in the Department of History under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Carstairs. Emily earned her master of arts at the University of Saskatchewan examining public health services in rural communities, and her PhD focuses on federal and provincial nutrition programs in northern prairie communities.
Emily’s research explores the historical intersection of public health, land and water access, and colonialism in the northern Canadian prairies. Her personal connection through her great-grandmother’s experience with a district nurse at a travelling dental clinic in northern Alberta pushed her to research the relationship between historical public health programming in Canada and how it disconnected northern prairie communities from their local foodways. By looking to the past for examples of community–driven efforts to maintain food security, this research has the potential to provide solutions for the future.
Learn more about Arrell Scholarships“It’s important to recognize health and medical services as an extension of the settler-colonial state. There are historical reasons why we see food insecurity in northern Canada and to move forward we need to understand how we got here.”
Research Interests and Future Goals
Emily has an honours B.A. degree from the University of Alberta and M.A. from the University of Saskatchewan where she studied the Albertan government’s district-nursing program’s role in disseminating scientific methods of mothering to rural, often immigrant communities from 1919-1943.
Her SSHRC funded master’s thesis laid the foundation for her Ph.D. research with Arrell Food Institute where she is specifically examining the response to federal and provincial nutrition-based public health programs in northern Canadian prairie communities over the twentieth century. Her research will also explore how communities create approaches to food by reworking nutritional information and cultural food traditions while responding to changing land access due to industrial expansion.
Why become an Arrell Scholar?
Emily chose to apply for the Arrell scholarship because she believed that Arrell Food Institute and the University of Guelph is the best place to continue to act on her belief in the importance of creating food security education that considers the understanding of nutrition, food cultures, and material access to food. As a scholar, Emily got to experience this when interviewing Leticia Deawuo from Black Creek Community Farms for a scholar podcast episode for the 2020 AFI Summit. Through an insightful and thoughtful conversation, Emily and Leticia discussed the intersectionality of creating community-based food security and justice solutions in urban agriculture. Outside of her studies, Emily is a part of the Trusted Advisor Network of the Growing Stronger project.