Judith Ellen Brunton is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto’s Department for the Study of Religion. Judith’s current project explores how legacies of oil extraction allow for specific contemporary imaginaries of the good life in Alberta. Judith follows how oil companies, government agencies, and community organizations in Alberta use oil to describe a specific set of morals and values. This includes case studies on: Imperial Oil’s publications on history and culture, Energy Heritage sites, The Calgary Stampede, and various corporate aspirational initiatives in Calgary. Judith held a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Scholarship to pursue her research and is currently a Jackman Humanities Institute Graduate Fellow exploring the theme ‘Strange Weather’.
Lectures:
“A Mile below the Wheat: a Western Imaginary and a Canadian Empire in the Imperial Oil Archives”