Pia Russell

Position
Contact
Credentials
BA (UBC), MISt (UofT), MEd (OISE/UofT), MA (UVic)
Area of expertise
Comprehensive areas: Canadian history (pre- and post-confederation), history of British Columbia, history of children and childhood, comparative history of gender in early modern transatlantic world. Additional areas of focus: Indigenous-settler relations, history of education, history of the book and textual culture, public history, digital humanities, and curation and cultural heritage in the GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums).
Bio
ÍY SȻÁĆEL. Cultural heritage is my professional passion and I have worked in the field of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (“the GLAM sector”) for over twenty years. I am trained as a historian, archivist, librarian, curator, and educator. Currently, I work as UVic's librarian for Education and Children's Literature, where I am a member of the Special Collections and University Archives team. Until 2023 I serve as the Primary Investigator of a Social Science and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Insight funded grant titled Unsettling History: An Interactive Digital Library of British Columbia’s Historical Textbooks, 1871-1921. Our research team won the 2022 British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) Champion of Intellectual Freedom Award. Born and raised in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory, I am grateful to now live and work in the homelands of lək̓ʷəŋən and SENĆOŦEN-speaking communities. My ancestry is Danish, Scottish, and English and I use she/her pronouns. HÍ,SW̱ḴE SIÁM.
Learn more about my research and professional work on my subject specialist librarian webpage.
Office hours by appointment via email or through the UVic Libraries’ ‘Book a Librarian’ calendar.