Kenneth Gariepy joins CFE working group on Intellectual Freedom
The Centre for Free Expression (CFE) at Toronto Metropolitan University announced today that Dr. Kenneth Gariepy is joining its Working Group on Intellectual Freedom. The Working Group guides CFE’s work in assisting libraries across Canada in promoting and defending intellectual freedom and in resisting demands for censorship.
“Dr. Gariepy’s experience and knowledge will greatly benefit CFE at this challenging time when libraries are facing unprecedented demands for censorship of books and programs,” said CFE Director James L. Turk. “We are delighted he is joining our working group.”
Currently, Dr. Gariepy is Director of the School of Library & Information Studies at the University of Alberta (Treaty Six). He plays many leadership, governance, and EDI-related service roles on campus.
His scholarship includes Power, Discourse, Ethics: a Policy Study of Academic Freedom (Sense, 2016), the first Foucauldian study of academic freedom ever published. Before returning to the University of Alberta, he was Head of the Department of Information Studies and Associate Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley (Stó꞉lō territory), where he spent a decade in administration, teaching across library and information technology education, and conducting scholarship.
A Métis and member of the 2SGLBTQ+ community, he is the former volunteer librarian for the Pride Centre of Edmonton and a long-service employee of the Edmonton Public Library, having held various positions in the Collection Management & Access, Information Services, Government Information, Audio-Visual, and Branch Services Divisions.
The Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University works to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression, informed civic engagement, individual self-development, and social justice are a reality for all through public education, advocacy, law reform, research, advisory services, policy analysis, assistance to courts, and organizational collaborations.
