Sebastien Despres
Education
BA (Canadian Studies) Mount Allison University
MA (Folklore) Memorial University
Thesis Title: Belief and Identity through the Production of Music in the Roman Catholic Liturgy: An Ethnography of Shaïda, the Sainte Famille Parish Unity’s Youth Musical Ensemble
MA (Religious Studies) Memorial University of Newfoundland
Thesis Title: A Corporeal Ethnography of Canadians at a Marian Apparition Site
Ph.D. Candidate (Anthropology) Memorial University of Newfoundland
Thesis Title: Theological Landscapes and the Politics of the Sacrosanct:
Canadian Pilgrims in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Contact
Email: Sebastien Despres
Phone: (709) 864-2111
Office: QC4011
Research Interests
My current work is on narratives, Memorates, and beliefs shared by Canadians in the context of a Roman Catholic pilgrimage to a Marian apparition site in the rural Bosnian-Herzegovinian parish of Medjugorje. My main interests include: Belief; Pilgrimage; Ritual; Roman Catholicism; Identity; Ethnicity; Ideology; Shrines of Memory; Nationalism; Spirituality; Historical Consciousness; Narrative; Memorate.
Selected Publications and Presentations
2009
- “Denying Cultural Tourism: A Pilgrimage to Medjugorje.” Culture and Tradition.
- “Confirmations of Faith: Experiencing the Sacred in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.” Conference Paper. Folklore Society Association of Canada Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON.
- “The Politics of Identity and Difference in Post-Socialist Yugoslavia.” Conference Paper. Aldrich Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL.
- “Pilgrim Photography in International Contexts.” Poster Presentation. Aldrich Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL.
2008
- "Making it Real: The Narrative Reconstruction of an Eastern European Pilgrimage Centre.” Illumine: a journal from the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, Volume 7. University of Victoria.
- “A Communicating God: The Sacred Aesthetic.” Conference Paper. Mediating the Aesthetic Conference, Memorial University, St. John's, NL (2008).
- “The Things and Spaces of Belief: The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, Harlow, England.” Conference Paper. Folklore Society Association of Canada Conference, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS.
- “A Novel Approach: Ritual Ethnography of the Extreme, the Fieldworker Playing Deep.” Conference Paper. Ethnography: Entanglements & Ruptures: Canadian Anthropology Society Conference, Ottawa, ON.
- “In the Beginning was the Word: The Historization of the First Apparitions at Medjugorje.” Conference paper. Oceans, History and Memory: History Across the Disciplines Graduate Student Conference, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
- “Self-Fulfilling Self-Organized Self-Catechesis: Exploring the Foundations of a Youth-Led Movement.” Conference paper. Underhill Graduate Student Colloquium, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON.
- “Making it Real: The Narrative Reconstruction of an Eastern European Pilgrimage Centre.” Invited presenter. School of Graduate Studies Graduate Student Research Colloquia, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL.
- “A Communist Inheritance: Croatian Reminiscences for a Roman Catholic Audience.” Conference paper. Generation Removed?: Assessing Nostalgia, Memory, and Legacy in Russia, Eastern Europe & Central Asia: Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia Conference, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
- “The Esthetic Ravings of Lunacy: An Anthropology of Fictitiousness.” Conference paper. Aldrich Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL.
2007
- “French Canadian pilgrims to a Marian apparition shrine in Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Ephemeral Intangible Cultural Heritage of Corporeal Belief.” Conference paper. American Folklore Society / Folklore Studies Association of Canada Joint Meeting, Québec, QC.
2006
- “Youth and Faith Pilgrimages.” Invited speaker for the Servantes de Jésus-Marie cloistered sisters, Rimouski, QC.
- “Belief and identity through the production of music in the Roman Catholic liturgy.” Conference paper. Folklore Society Association of Canada Conference, York University, Toronto, ON.
