The Perils and Pleasures of "White" Invocations of the "Big Black Lady Inside

VICTORIA MOON JOYCE is a musician, visual artist and educator. She currently teaches music to candidates in the Nunavut Teacher Education Program (NTEP) at Nunavut Arctic College in Canada's high Arctic. She uses an integrated arts approach that is informed by critical pedagogical principles and directed towards general classroom teachers. In addition, she works as a cultural animator, helping groups in cross-cultural work (India and Sri Lanka most recently) and introducing adults to the expressive arts in communication and education. Moon is presently co-authoring a book with Frankie Armstrong of the UK about the social and cultural formation of adult "non-singers" that includes strategies to assist them in developing singing practices for themselves. Moon's recent Ph.D. thesis from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at The University of Toronto involved research into singing as a socially-mediated critical educational practice. She is interested in pursuing further research and teaching opportunities at the post-secondary level with educators and community based programs that seek to integrate music and other arts into their work. One such project she is currently involved in explores the use of singing in adult literacy and ABE programs in Alberta. Her presentation at this symposium comes from her recent work in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE/University of Toronto and incorporates critical race theory and its relevance to the topic of singing as a social practice, and in particular, singing within informal community music making practices.