I completed my M.A. in Sociology in 1988 and went on to earn my Ph.D. in Sociology at Carleton with Wallace Clement and Vincent Mosco [who returned to Queen's eventually].
Upon completion of my thesis I was 'exiled to Gorky' -- a two year appointment at the University of Saskatchewan, followed by a year at Carleton. In 1995 I came to the Eastern Townships of Quebec to serve a life sentence in the Department of Sociology. I've leapt through all the hoops here and have been a Full Professor for the past 8 years.
I have been Chairperson of the department for a total of seven years and during my time here have given papers [including two key note addresses] at 44 conferences. I have published in many journals and have authored two books: 1)Jean Baudrillard: From the Ocean to the Desert -- Poetics of Radicality (2012) And 2)Art In/After Poststructuralism: Surviving Baudrillard's Challenge [forthcoming March 1, 2014]. A third book is in process for 2015: Baudrillard's "People" is the working title -- a book about his influences as a thinker and writer.
My history degree has been a part of my life everyday since Queen's. The lessons learned about research, organizing materials, and writing have proved invaluable and today I still pass them along to my own students. The best teacher I ever had was in your program in the early 1980s [Dr. Bernard Lightman of York University who has gone on to many successes]. Your department's dominant view against intellectual history in the 1980s cost you a lot in that you let that great man and teacher get away.
My best to History at Queen's.
