• Elizabeth Beaton (full time in another department)        
• Office: CA-101-1
• Phone and voice-mail: (902) 563-1426
• E-mail: elizabeth_beaton@capebretonu.ca
 

     Elizabeth comes from a farming family in rural Antigonish. She trained at St. Martha's Hospital as a Medical Lab Technologist, worked in Newfoundland, and spent six years in Guyana, first working as a CUSO volunteer, then staying to work on her own. On her return to Canada, she attended St. Francis Xavier University (B.A. Literature and Celtic Studies), Memorial University in Newfoundland (M.A. Folklore), and University of Manitoba (Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Studies). She worked at UCCB's Beaton Institute through the 1980s and '90s.  During 1999-2000, Elizabeth was on leave to study religion and social ethics at the Toronto School of Theology (U.of T.)  She is Director of the Centre for Housing Initiatives.  She is presently an Advisor in the Problem Centred Studies Department in the School of Community Studies.

     Specialty Areas: geography, religion, and social history; specifically rural development, housing, immigration, religion and social ethics, history and culture of industrial work.

     Community Service: Elizabeth is involved in cooperatives, in rural community economic development initiatives, in housing issues, and in promoting rural and farming potential.  She sits on a number of community boards and contributes to policy planning by government bodies.

     Research: Elizabeth's earlier research focused primarily on ethnic and race relations, especially in Cape Breton. More recently, she has done applied policy research dealing with agriculture, immigration, and housing.  She is revising her Ph.D. thesis for publication: Housing, People and Place: A Case Study of Whitney Pier. Her publications appear in refereed history and ethnic-studies journals, and as chapters in various books.  She was director, researcher, writer and co-producer (with the National Film Board) of the video Making Steel.