Elizabeth Curry
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About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Curry teaches media, technology and popular music courses within the Creative Technologies program from a staunchly anti-oppressive, accessible, queer and decolonizing position. Weaving together years of work in the music industry, community outreach and academia, Elizabeth approaches theory and pedagogy to bring together ideas, creativity and the urgency of the current moment. In her classes, Elizabeth addresses technology as both historically pertinent in the formation of societies and cultures, as well as a permeating element of our daily lives.
Elizabeth has held many leadership positions within the music industry and has toured internationally as a musician. She completed her graduate degree in Interactive Media and Performance at the University of Regina, with a thesis entitled “‘When I Get There, I Tend to Live There’: Home and Community in Radio Cyberspace on CBC Radio 3.” This work explored many elements of the (now defunct) music streaming platform CBC Radio 3, including (but not limited to) the colonial history of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, how users find connection and meaning through online music communities, the tension of public media using private sites for networking, and the confluence of radio broadcasting and music streaming that culminates in her theory of “radio cyberspace.” Current and future research interests include radio listening practices in penitentiaries on the Canadian prairies, the perception of hip-hop as “hate music” as demonstrated in court cases in Calgary, Alberta, and how the website “CBC Music” and the accompanying app “CBC Listen” demonstrate how CBC failed at its own digital media plan.
In her courses, Elizabeth seeks to co-construct new ideas through rich dialogue and ample opportunities for interactivity between students and the concepts presented. By responding to calls from Indigenous, Black and Queer scholars to disrupt knowledge cycling that continues to oppress and colonize, theories are explored through a variety of means and media while providing consistent ruptures to the typical canon.