Kathleen Sitter

Dr. Kathleen Sitter is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary, and an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Community Health and Humanities of the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University. Her research primarily focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of participatory media, which includes the use of still and moving images in collaborative frameworks. In her research, she gives particular attention to: 1) the affordances and limitations of participatory research relating to community engagement and human rights; 2) the role of radical incrementalism and its intersection with process, content, and outcome, and; 3) knowledge translation, and the ways in which participatory visual representations unfold and take shape in social media spaces. 

Through her research, Dr. Sitter has worked with a variety of adults and youth in the areas of disability, sex work, mental health, and health care. Her scholarly activities include over 70 arts-based participatory works as well as over 40 juried screenings and exhibitions. Dr. Sitter’s scholarship also involves creative forms of visualizing academic research, such as cartoon abstracts, social media photograph exhibits and online participatory videos.

•  Sitter, K. C.(PI). (2016 - 2018). Using participant-generated photography and social media to understand the social location of sex workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant (SSHRC – IDG).
• Sitter, K. C. (PI), Beausoleil, N., Cameron, E.; Mathieson, A., McGowan, E., Walsh, G., & Wideman, G.  (2016 - 2018). Making decisions about surgical treatment: Using digital stories to explore the experiences of breast cancer patients. NL Support, Patient-Oriented Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (SPOR SUPPORT – CIHR).
• Sitter, K. C. (PI). (2015 - 2017). #Sexwork and social media: A Twitter study on Bill C-36. Funded by Memorial University SSHRC/VP Research (MUN – SSHRC/VP).
• Sitter, K. C. (PI). (2015 - 2017). Making the journey: A photovoice study about transportation and quality of life for persons with disabilities. Funded by Memorial University in Partnership with Empower: The Disability Resource Centre.
• Whitley, R. (PI), Adamson, G., Kutcher, S., Sitter, K. C. (CIs). (2014 - 2017). Stopping the stigma: Creating and assessing an anti-stigma and pro-recovery educational intervention using participatory video with people with mental illness. Operations Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Faculty of Education, University of Calgary

Masters of Social Work (MSW), University of Calgary

Masters of Communication Studies (MCS), University of Calgary

Bachelor of Public Relations (BPR), Mount St. Vincent University

Alberta College of Social Workers (Member)

Canadian Association of Social Work Education (Member)

American Educational Research Association (Member)

Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education (Member)

Dr. Sitter has received over $1.1 million in research funding. She is also the recipient of several awards, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant (SSHRC-IDG), Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship (SSHRC), NL Support Patient Oriented Research, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (SPOR SUPPORT - CIHR), NL Support Knowledge Translation Award (SPOR-CIHR), American Educational Research Association International Outstanding Dissertation Award (AERA SIG – DSE), Dean’s Excellence Award (University of Calgary, FGS), Research Award (University of Calgary, FGS), Best Short Film Award (Calgary Fringe Festival), and IN: Camera Film Production Award (Canadian Council for the Arts). 

The Overcast (May 29, 2017). Photo exhibit shows transportation in St. John’s through the eyes of persons with disabilities. https://theovercast.ca/st-johns-through-the-eyes-of-persons-with-disabilities/

CBC Radio St. John’s Morning Show (October 26, 2016). Disability and transportation.

CBC Radio St. John’s On the Go. (October 21, 2016). Photography exhibition at First Space Gallery about accessible transportation.

Memorial Gazette (October 2016). The big picture: Exhibit on transportation and quality of life for persons with disabilities. https://gazette.mun.ca/research/the-big-picture/

Memorial Gazette (January 2016). Another way of knowing: Social work class uses art to reflect professional encounters,  https://gazette.mun.ca/teaching-and-learning/another-way-of-knowing/

Ethnography, Media, Arts, Culture (2013). Public ethnography: Connecting new genres, New Media, New Audiences [Film] Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Global Calgary (2012, February 13). Health FYI. Segment about Sexual Human Rights and Disability

Rice, B. (2012, Feb. 14). Adjusting the lens. UToday, University of Calgary. http://werklund.ucalgary.ca/node/1166

Articles (Refereed)

Sitter, K. C. (2017). Taking a closer look at photovoice as a participatory action research method. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 28(1), 36-48. 

Sitter, K. C., Wideman, G., Furley, J., Gosine, K., & Skanes, C. (2016). Social work, gerontology, and the arts: A creative approach to teaching undergraduate students. Learning Landscapes, 10(1), 271-288. 

Nusbaum, E., & Sitter, K. C. (2016). Disrupting the able-bodied normativity of shared power in the duoethnographic process: A critical, disability studies lens. Critical Questions in Education. 7(3), 289-301.

Klein, R., & Sitter, K. C. (2016). Troubled seas: The politics of activism related to the cruise industry. Tourism and Marine Environments, 11(3/4), 147-160. 

Sitter, K. C., & Curnew, A. H. (2016). The application of social media in social work community practice. Social Work Education, 35(3), 271-283.  

Sitter, K. C. (2015). Disability, sexual health, and participatory video: Advocating for sexual rights. Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry, 7(1).1-15. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/cpi/index.php/cpi/article/view/25932

Sitter, K. C. & Burke, A. C. (2015). Praxis with self-advocates: Exploring participatory video as radical incrementalism. Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, 6(1) http://trace.tennessee.edu/catalyst/vol6/iss1/6

Sitter, K. C. (2015). Participatory video analysis in disability research. Disability & Society, 30(6), 910-923 

Sitter, K. C. (2012). Participatory video: Toward a method, advocacy, and voice (MAV) framework. Intercultural Education, 23(6), 541-554.

Walsh, C. A., Shier, M. L., Sitter, K. C., & Sieppert, J. D. (2010). Applied methods of teaching about oppression and diversity to graduate social work students: A case example of digital stories. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(2) http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol1/iss2/3

Beatty, R., Bedford, J., Both, P., Eld, J., Goitom, M., Heinrichs, L., Moran-Bonilla, L., Massoud, M., Van Ngo, H., Pyrch, P., Rogerson, M., Sitter, K. C., Speaker, C. E., & Unrau, M. (2008). Recording action research in a classroom: Singing with chickadees. Educational Action Research, 3(16), 335-344

Book Chapters 

Sitter, K. C. & Nusbaum, E. A. (in press). Critical disability studies and community engagement. In D. Lund (Ed.), Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice. Wiley. 

Sitter, K. C. (in press). Learning to engage in social action using photovoice: A participatory action engagement to transform learning. In B. Shapiro (Ed.), Actions of Their Own to Learn: Changing Learning Culture. Sense Publishers: The Netherlands.

Sitter, K. C. (in press). Adapting photovoice in the classroom: Guiding students in the creation of a photovoice project. In B. Shapiro (Ed.), Actions of Their Own to Learn: Changing Learning Culture. Sense Publishers: The Netherlands.

Lund, D. E., Holmes, K., Hanson, A., Sitter, K. C., Scott, D., & Grain, K. (2016). Exploring duoethnography in graduate research courses. In J. Norris & R. D. Sawyer (Eds.). Theorizing Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education and Research Through Duoethnographic Pedagogy (pp. 111-129). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sitter, K. C. (2016). Social work with women in Canada. In S. Hick & J. Stokes (Eds.). Social Work in Canada: An Introduction 4th Edition (pp. 242-271). Toronto: Thompson Publishing. 

Sitter, K. C. (2016). Emerging digital platforms in social work: Risks and benefits of online spaces. In S. Hick & J. Stokes (Eds.), Social Work in Canada: An Introduction 4th Edition (pp. 26-27). Toronto: Thompson Publishing.

Sitter, K. C., & Hall, S. (2012). Professional boundaries: Creating space and getting to the margins. In J. Norris, R. Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.), Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and Educational Research (pp. 243-260). Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Este, D., Sitter, K. C., & MacLaurin, B. (2009). Using mixed methods to understand resilience. In L. Liebenberg & M. Ungar (Eds.), Researching Resilience (pp. 201-224). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Refereed Conference Papers/Presentations (Selected)

Sitter, K. C. (2017, May). Critical disability studies and community engagement. Symposium, Service-Learning for Social Justice. Moderators: D. Lund & K. Grain. Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education. Congress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2016, May).  Engagement with the arts: An innovative approach to teaching undergraduate social work. Conference Paper. Canadian Association of Social Work Education. Congress. Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Sitter, K. C. (2016, May). How “participatory” is participatory research? Exploring the facilitators and barriers of participatory video. Conference Paper. 12th Annual Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A.

Sitter, K. C. (2015, June). Using digital platforms in community-based research: The process of participatory video. Conference Paper. Canadian Association of Social Work Education. Congress. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2014, May). Participatory media methods in research. Conference Workshop. Canadian Conference on Developmental Disabilities and Autism. Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2013, June). Advocating for sexual rights using participatory video. Panel Presentation. Chair: Dr. Cecille DePass. Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2012, June). Practical and ethical challenges of collaborative research and public ethnography. Paper Presentation. Public Ethnography: Connecting New Genres, New Media, New Audiences. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2012, June). Love bytes: Stories about the right to love. Paper Presentation. Public Ethnography: Connecting New Genres, New Media, New Audiences. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2012, April). Adjusting the lens: Disability pride, disability identity, and video-action research. Paper presentation. 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Sitter, K. C. (2011, April). Ethics, participatory media, and people with disabilities. Round Table Session. 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). New Orleans, LA, USA.

Sitter, K. C. (2010, June). Using visual methods and dialogic research with marginalized communities/Le recours à des méthodes visuelle en vue d’ouvrir des espaces de dialogue avec des group marginalisés. Paper presentation. The XXXVIII Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Sitter, K. C. (2009, October). Connecting visual methods and dialogical research. Paper presentation. The 10th Advances in Qualitative Methods Conference of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 

Sitter, K. C. (2009, October). Visual methods in community research: Digital storytelling. Paper presentation. The 10th Advances in Qualitative Methods of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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