A very warm welcome to VRF, Professor Geoff Bird, from CMNH. We’re really looking forward to finding out more about Geoff’s work. See details below for two upcoming events and how to register.
Public Lecture: Tuesday 25 April, 5.00-7.00pm in M2, Grand Parade.
Exploring Canada’s Sites of War Memory through Film.
Join Professor Geoffrey Bird from Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, for a presentation of short documentary films exploring Canadian heritage linked to the world wars. Dr. Bird initiated the War Heritage Research Initiative (Canada) in 2015, embarking on writing, directing, and producing over 30 short public education films. The breadth of themes demonstrates the impact of the war and how these stories are remembered, forgotten and silenced. The structure of each film is to work with a site of war memory, archival materials and local storytellers. Geoffrey will provide an overview of the research that spans Canada and now steps into Europe. This presentation will present several short films focusing on military and civilian experiences.
To register for the public lecture in-person, click here.
For online attendance, click here.
Workshop: Thursday 27 April, 2.00pm-3.30pm in G14, William Street, City Campus.
And Action! Documentary Filmmaking as Research: Art-based Enquiry and Public Engagement.
Join Professor Geoffrey Bird from Royal Roads University on Canada’s west coast, for a discussion animated by film clips to explore the conceptual and practical opportunities and challenges in producing a documentary film. As a research contribution or educational resource, film work represents an innovative form of academic expression. Arts-based enquiry conveys ideas through narrative, imagery, and sound that can offer a different kind of learning engagement and insight to a broad audience. With a focus on heritage, memory and cultural geography, Geoff has written, directed and produced over 30 short films over the past eight years, working with various communities across Canada. The workshop will also provide some basic templates to facilitate mapping out a documentary film idea.
To register for the workshop in-person, click here.
For online attendance, click here.
Bio:
Dr. Geoffrey Bird has been a Professor in the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University, in Victoria, BC, since 2008. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Memory, Narrative and Histories at the University of Brighton. Geoffrey has over 33 years in the field of education and war heritage, working in Canada and overseas both in the public, non-profit and private sectors. His PhD in 2011 from the University of Brighton explored the relationship between tourism, remembrance and landscapes of war, involving the D-Day sites of Normandy. As Project Lead for the War Heritage Research Initiative (Canada), he has written, directed and produced over 30 short documentary films since 2015. Themes include First Nations experience, Japanese-Canadian internment, heritage warplanes, art, memorial design and war horses. Geoff has held several positions, including working in Vietnam in poverty alleviation, serving as an officer in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, as a heritage guide at the Vimy Ridge National Memorial Park in France, and consulting with Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Heritage Canada and Parks Canada. He will serve as a volunteer consultant on a First World War heritage project in Kenya in August.
