Bibliography

General-Interest Publications

Solo-Authored Books

In progress. Apocalypse Then: COVID, Past Pandemics, and the Lessons We Haven't Learned. Represented by The Margret McBride Literary Agency.

In progress. The Other Five Senses. Represented by The Margret McBride Literary Agency.

Articles and Op-Eds

2024. "The Best Way to Talk to a Child in Pain." PsychologyToday.com. September 30.

2024. "What Your Favorite Movie Genre Reveals About Your Brain." PsychologyToday.com. September 25.

2024. "Back-to-School Sensory Overload and How to Prevent It." PsychologyToday.com. September 12.

2024. "Illegal to be ’ugly’? The history behind one of America‘s cruelest laws." National Geographic. August 9.

2024. "Antidepressants and Heat Stroke Risk: What You Need to Know." PsychologyToday.com. June 20.

2024. "The elite ancient Greek fighting force made up entirely of gay couples." The Washington Post. June 1.

2024. "Teens Who Are Good Friends Become Great Parents." PsychologyToday.com. May 22.

2024. "Could You Recognize Your Dog by Scent Alone?" PsychologyToday.com. April 15.

2024. "Does Sense of Order Distinguish Humans From Other Animals?" PsychologyToday.com. March 31.

2024. "The 'cousin deficit' is why chosen family is so important to millennials and Gen Z." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 31.

2024. "Why Disliking a Partner's Smell Could End a Relationship." PsychologyToday.com. March 30.

2024. "Childhood Trauma Increases the Long-Term Risk of Chronic Pain." PsychologyToday.com. January 20.

2023. "Blue Light May Not Be Keeping You Awake After All." PsychologyToday.com. December 31.

2023. "Scent Diffusers Improve Memory in Seniors." PsychologyToday.com. December 31.

2023. "Red and green with a bit of literal gaslighting: The story of our Christmas colours." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 25.

2023. "Bannerman Park's biggest tent city happened 131 years ago in the wake of a stunning fire." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 17.

2023. "A Poor Sense of Smell Is Linked with Depression in Seniors." PsychologyToday.com. December 17.

2023. "The quest for the Northwest Passage was based on philosophy, not evidence." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 10.

2023. "Half an hour later in Newfoundland: The origin of Canada's 30-minute time zone." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. November 4

2023. "The More Things Change..." WORD Magazine: 5.

2023. "Why is the English language packed with nautical slang?" CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. October 22. 

2023. "One Narcissistic Trait You Probably Haven't Heard Of." PsychologyToday.com. September 28.

2023. "Dying People May Remain Conscious an Hour After Flatlining." PsychologyToday.com. September 25.

2023. "Newfoundland's Labour Day has its own distinct history." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. September 4.

2023. "Fighting an aggressive weed made me realize my garden is full of invasive species." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 26.

2023. "5 Offbeat Tricks for Cooling Down In High Heat." PsychologyToday.com. July 27.

2023. "The dying tradition of the funeral cortege." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 23.

2023. "This phantom island was once believed to lie in the Strait of Belle Isle." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 2.

2023. "How to Use Music to Reconnect with a Dementia Patient." PsychologyToday.com. June 30.

2023. "Could You Be Time Blind?" PsychologyToday.com. June 29.

2023. "Three other subs visiting Titanic almost suffered the same fate as Titan." The Weather Network. June 25.

2023. "Three other submersibles visiting Titanic almost suffered the same fate as Titan." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. June 25.

2023. "Newfoundlanders aren't the only baymen out there." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. June 17.

2023. "Mental Illness Makes You Age More Quickly." PsychologyToday.com. May 24.

2023. "Waiting for Sheila's Brush? Here's some of N.L.'s other weather lore." The Weather Network. March 24.

2023. "Waiting for Sheila's Brush? Here's some of N.L.'s other weather lore." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 24.

2023. "Why Some People Just Have No Rhythm." PsychologyToday.com. March 22.

2023. "How Nfld. became the first country in the Americas to adopt daylight time." The Weather Network. March 11.

2023. "How Newfoundland became the first country in the Americas to adopt daylight time." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 11.

2023. "Elephants Speak in Voices Too Deep to Hear." PsychologyToday.com. February 8.

2023. "How to Tell if You're a Super-Recognizer." PsychologyToday.com. January 23.

2022. "Guns, parades and superstitions: A host of forgotten New Year's traditions in N.L." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 31.

2022. "For most of history, we haven't had abortion laws, and we don't need them now." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 28.

2022. "The places where witches, not Santa Claus, are the Christmas visitors." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 26.

2022. "How do pandemics end? COVID-19 could end several ways, and they're all messy." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 4.

2022. "Craving Fatty Foods? Your Intestines May Be to Blame." PsychologyToday.com. September 30.

2022. "Babies Can Taste Their Mothers' Food in the Womb." PsychologyToday.com. September 29

2022. "When good intentions go wrong: A Newfoundland pony's death should teach us all a lesson." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 21.

2022. "Abortion is ancient history: A medical story that dates back further than you might think." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 23.

2022. "What to Do When Your Child Has Sensory Processing Disorder." PsychologyToday.com. July 23. 

2022. “Wave over wave: How water imagery has helped us understand (and predict) disease.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 2.

2022. "How the Ukraine crisis reveals our racial empathy gap." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 12.

2022. "From Nalujuit to the Yule Cat, here's a look at the monsters of the holiday season." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. January 1.

2021. "Yowling cats and murdered frogs: The bizarre Victorian origins of Christmas cards." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 26.

2021. "A is for … ox? How the Latin alphabet is descended from Egyptian hieroglyphs." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 18.

2021. "Like polio, the long-term impact of COVID will be measured in disability." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. September 26.

2021. "A mystery in Victorian London paved the way for the techniques we use to track COVID-19." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. September 12.

2021. "This isn't the first time a pandemic has made the rich even richer." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 22.

2021. "The last time the Olympics went viral." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 1.

2021. "The century-long debate over vaccine passports." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 25.

2021. "A century ago, there was a race against time to fight a deadly outbreak." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 11.

2021. "Today's vaccines are the result of centuries of experimentation." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. June 20.

2021. "Germ warfare: Weaponizing an illness is older than you might think." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. June 6.

2021. "Pandemic Stress Supercharges Personal Growth." PsychologyToday.com. May 27.

2021. "Learning a pandemic lesson: Here's one habit we now avoid like the plague." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 23.

2021. "Why do we call it 'Jiggs dinner,' anyway?" CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 9.

2021. "The story behind the blistering speed of COVID vaccine development." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 2.

2021. "Why have Indigenous communities been hit harder by the pandemic than the population at large?" CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. April 25.

2021. "Think wearing masks in everyday life is a new concept? Think again." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. April 4.

2021. "When is a face not a face?" PsychologyToday.com. March 31.

2021. "Writing in isolation: How pandemics can lead to wonderful art." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 21.

2021. "Plague upon the waters: How a disease-ridden steamboat spread yellow fever." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 7.

2021. "Canadian Teenager Wins New Prize at Prestigious Prix de Lausanne." The Dance Current. March 3.

2021. "An election in a pandemic? Let's take and old, old-school look at that." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. February 28.

2021. "Why Your Mind Can See Faces Where They Don't Exist." PsychologyToday.com. February 10.

2021. "Pandemics and labour: COVID-19 isn't the first time there's been upheaval at work." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. February 6.

2021. "Made in BC Celebrates 15 Years with an Interactive Virtual History." The Dance Current. February 3.

2021. "Quack cures: How fraudulent claims and pandemics sadly go together." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. January 24.

2021. "LEGO Braille Bricks Help Blind Children Learn to Read." PsychologyToday.com. January 17.

2021. "The Christmas season, not Hallowe'en, was once considered the spookiest time of year." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. January 1.

2020. "It's Not Autism. It's Sensory Processing Disorder." PsychologyToday.com. December 31.

2020. "Say Goodbye to 2020 by Screaming into the Void." PsychologyToday.com. December 31.

2020. "Having Strange Dreams During the Pandemic? You're Not Alone." PsychologyToday.com. December 30.

2020. "Health-care workers and everyday heroism: A case study in curbing disease." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 20.

2020. "Pandemic shaming is far from a new problem." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 6.

2020. "From hard pants to consumptive chic: How pandemics influence fashion." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. November 22.

2020. "Being high-risk for COVID complications looks different than most people think." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. November 15.

2020. "Here's why disease outbreaks create perfect conditions for the rise of conspiracy theories." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. November 8.

2020. "Athletic Art." (Feature) The Dance Current (Nov/Dec): 20-23.

2020. "The kids are all right: We can learn about resilience from children in earlier pandemics." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. October 25.

2020. "If we want to reform our police forces, we have to overcome their history of racial violence." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. October 17.

2020. "A brief history of bubbling: Why quarantine habits are much older than you might think." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. October 4.

2020. "What's Another Word for Pandemic?" Word Magazine. October 1.

2020. "Most Authors Can Hear Their Characters Speaking to Them." PsychologyToday.com. September 30.

2020. "Horror Fans Cope Better with the Pandemic, Study Finds." PsychologyToday.com. September 30.

2020. "In the Brains of Foot-Painters, Feet Become Hands." PsychologyToday.com. September 23.

2020. "Plague doctors and PPE: Today's gear has nothing on the medical garb of the Renaissance." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 23.

2020. "A pandemic is a perfect time for serious social change." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 16.

2020. "This extinct N.L. dog is the ancestor of all modern retrievers." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. August 2.

2020. "On our own: Social distancing is making our loneliness visible." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 19.

2020. "COVID’s Assault on Senses More Extensive than First Thought." PsychologyToday.com. June 30.

2020. "The Myth That Endangers Black Lives." PsychologyToday.com. June 8.

2020. "The Ode to Newfoundland, just not as you ever heard it." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 31.

2020. "Is Craft Booming in COVID Because We're Starved for Touch?" PsychologyToday.com. May 23.

2020. "Adaptive Dance Teacher Adapts to a Virtual Classroom." The Dance Current (online). May 7.

2020. "Tanya Burka: The Science of Silks." The Dance Current (May/Jun): 9-10. 

2020.  "Pandemic groceries: 1 person, once a week may be the ideal, but it shouldn't be the law." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. April 26.

2020.  "NL’s Last Great Pandemic: Lessons from the 1918 Flu." TheIndependent.ca. April 15.

2020.  "In a public health crisis, let's look at an unsung hero: the sidewalk." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. April 12.

2020. "Loss of Smell or Taste Could Be a Symptom of COVID-19." PsychologyToday.com. March 26.

2020. "Officials Discourage Ibuprofen for Symptoms of COVID-19." PsychologyToday.com. March 17.

2020.  "You don't need to travel to Ireland to find fairies." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 15.

2020.  "Sorting out the confusion of service dogs — and the rights they hold." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. February 23.

2020. "10 Songs That Will Give You Chills." PsychologyToday.com. February 12.

2020. "Have You Ever Had a Skin Orgasm?" PsychologyToday.com. February 11.

2020. "In the midst of adversity, NE Avalon health care workers continue to show heart." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. February 2.

2020. "This Shirt Enables the Deaf to Feel Music." PsychologyToday.com. January 16.

2020. "When every January is dry: The surprising appeal of living without alcohol." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. January 11.

2019. "Celebrate Christmas the old-fashioned way: with drunken mayhem." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 21.

2019. "Church attendance is diminishing as multiculturalism is rising, and that's no coincidence." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. October 21.

2019. "When friends marry friends: Why one-time officiants are becoming a thing." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. September 22.

2019. "Burlington Tooshkenig Brings Rare Indigenous Art Form to Newfoundland and Labrador." Newfoundland Quarterly Online. September 13.

2019. "From Dildo to Witless Bay: Where did N.L. get its unusual place names?" CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. September 1.

2019. "All the lovely Juanitas: How did a Spanish name find such popularity in Newfoundland?" CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. July 21.

2019. "Gender neutrality doesn’t hurt children – it’s part of our history." The Globe and Mail. July 4 (online), July 6 (print).

2019. "Tea, Travel, Track and Field: Meet the Owners of Formosa Tea House." Newfoundland Quarterly Online. June 6.

2019. “Why do we call Middle Eastern dance ‘belly dance’?Edinburgh University Press Blog. May 23. 

2019. "Let's it hear for the nans: Here's why we all need a (grand) Mother's Day." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. May 11.

2019. "Chilling with Brent Beshara." Newfoundland Quarterly Online. April 18.

2019. "There's value in preserving religious structures — even for the religiously unaffiliated." CBC National.  April 18.

2019. "The college admissions scandal is shocking, but the rich have always bought their way into elite universities." National Post.  April 4.

2019. "In the shadow of Mount Cashel: The tipping point of disillusionment with the Catholic Church." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. March 17.

2019. "Priests and pastors shoulder a huge emotional burden, but they're burning out ... alone." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. January 20.

2018. "Chill out, folks; there's no need to be so defensive about Christmas." CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. December 26.

2004. "So You Want to Go to Grad School." Laureate Handbook. Montréal, QC: Millennium Foundation of Canada. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

2003. "Aislinn and the Problem with Names." Queen’s Feminist Review 11: 21-23. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

2003. "Where the Seas Roll Up Their Thunder." Culture Shock 3: 9-10. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

Articles in Translation

2024. “La mejor forma de hablarle a un niño que tiene dolor.” Psychology Today en español. October 3.

2024. “‘Ugly laws’: la storia delle leggi che negli Usa punivano chi aveva disabilità e menomazioni.” National Geographic Italy. August 26.

2024. “「醜いのは犯罪」、そんな法律が50年前まで米国にあった.” National Geographic Japan. August 26.

2024. "Být „ošklivý“ bylo v USA trestné ještě v 70. letech, norma vytlačovala postižené lidi z veřejných míst." National Geographic Czech Republic. August 25.

2024. “长得丑也违法?美国曾禁止他们走进公共场所.” National Geographic China. August 23.

2024. "Aux États-Unis, il était illégal d'être 'moche'." National Geographic France. August 14.

2024. "Qué eran las 'leyes de fealdad', cuando Estados Unidos ilegalizó a los 'feos'." National Geographic Spain. August 12.

2024. "Los dueños de perros los reconocen solo con el olor." Psychology Today en español. April 18.

2024. "¿El sentido del orden nos distingue de otros animales?" Psychology Today en español. April 16.

2024. "¿Tu pareja huele mal? La relación podría estar llegando a su final." Psychology Today en español. April 2.

2024. "Los difusores de aroma mejoran la memoria en personas mayores." Psychology Today en español. January 8.

2023. "Las personas podrían estar conscientes hasta una hora después de morir." Psychology Today en español. October 2.

2023. "Οι άνθρωποι που πεθαίνουν μπορεί να έχουν συνείδηση έως και μία ώρα μετά την ακινησία τους!" Εναλλακτική Δράση. October 1. 

2023. "Come usare la musica per riconnettersi a un paziente con demenza." Trans. Franco Pellizzari. Alzheimer-riese.it. July 18.

2023 La música para reconectar con pacientes con demencia.” Psychology Today en español. July 15.

2023. "Implosion der Titan: Drei weitere Tauchboote hätten beinahe ein tragisches Ende erlebt." DayFR Deutsch.  June 26.

2023. "Implosion du Titan : trois autres submersibles ont failli connaître une fin tragique." Radio Canada International. June 26.

2023. "¿Eres un súper reconocedor?" Psychology Today en español. January 28.

Creative Non-Fiction

2024. “On the Back Shift.” In Tales I Was Told, edited by Dianne Coffey and Kelley Power, 1-6. St. John’s, NL: After Books.

Short Fiction

Forthcoming. “The Sea, Like Glass.” On Spec Magazine.

Forthcoming. “Some Say in Fire.” In Terror Nova 4, edited by Mike Hickey and Matthew LeDrew. Chapel Arm, NL: Engen Books. 

2024. “The Dumb Supper.” In Soul, edited by Kelley York and Hannah Graves, 363-76. Graveside Press.

2024. “Big Cats of Newfoundland.” In Cryptids from the Rock, edited by Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance, 327-46. Chapel Arm, NL: Engen Books. 

2024. "The Sea, Like Glass (abridged)." Off Topic Publishing. January 28.

2023. “Every Child a Changeling.” In Fairy Tales from the Rock, edited by Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance, 261-70. Chapel Arm, NL: Engen Books. 

2021. "The Patchwork Skin." In Mythology from the Rock, edited by Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance, 42-51. Chapel Arm, NL: Engen Books.

2005. "In Grandmother’s House." In Jabberwocky 1, edited by Sean Wallace, 103-12. Gaithersburg, MD: Prime Books. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

Reports

2022. Quadrangle 2SLGBTQIA+ Data Summit Report. St. John’s, NL.

2022. Canadian Public Arts Funders Annual Meeting Report. St. John’s, NL. 

2014-2017. Newfoundland and Labrador’s Vital Signs. St. John's, NL: Community Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University. 

Oral History

Dicks, K. 2018. "Kathleen + Gus." Interviewed by A. Hawthorn. In Stories from the Heart, Oral History Roadshow Series 6, edited by K. Harvey and D. Jarvis, 23-30. St. John's, NL: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Poetry

2006. "the string." In Jabberwocky 2, edited by Sean Wallace, 110-11. Gaithersburg, MD: Prime Books. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

2004. "Crossing the Break". Queen’s Feminist Review 12: 71. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

2004. "Identity Theory." Queen’s Feminist Review 12: 37. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

2004. "The Red Shoes." Queen’s Undergraduate Review 16: 13. Published under the name Ainsley Dicks.

Academic Publications

Edited Volumes

2019. Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns.  With A.-C. Rendu Loisel. 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

2020. "La popularisation de « la danse du ventre ». Origine et transmission d’un nom vulgaire." Recherches en danse 9. 

2020. "Wherefore art thou Juanita? The Life of a Spanish Name in Newfoundland." Names.

2019. "Belly Dance, Persona Non Grata of Cultural Dance." Conversations across the Field of Dance Studies 39: 8-11.

2019. "Camels, Temples, and Jewels: Representing Middle Eastern Movement in Canadian English." Journal of Intercultural Studies 40 (6): 772-88. 

2019. "Middle Eastern Dance and What We Call It." Dance Research 37 (1): 1-17.

2018. "Newfoundland and Labrador's Vital Signs: Portrait of a Foundation-University Partnership." The Foundation Review 10 (1): 113-29. With S. Brennan and R. Greenwood.

2015. "‘You Are Just Like Me’: The Motif of the Double in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Agushaya Poem." KASKAL 12: 451-66.

Book Chapters

2020. "Your Clothes Should Be Clean! Your Head Should Be Washed! Body Cleaning and Social Inclusion in the Epic of Gilgamesh." In Cleaning and Value: Interdisciplinary Investigations, edited by I. Bredenbröker, C. Hanzen, and F. Kotzur, 167-80. Leiden: Sidestone Press.

2020. "The Fish and the Tamarisk: Sexual and Celestial Symbolism in 'Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird'." In Cult Practices in Ancient Literatures: Egyptian, Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Narratives in a Cross-Cultural Perspective. Proceedings of a Workshop at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York, May 16-17, 2016, ISAW Papers 18, edited by F. Naether.  

2019. "The Shifting Gaze: Looking and Seeing in the Neo-Assyrian Royal Inscriptions." In Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East, edited by A. Hawthorn and A.-C. Rendu Loisel, 105-21. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. 

2019. "The Senses in the Ancient Near East: An Introduction." In Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East, edited by A. Hawthorn and A.-C. Rendu Loisel, 1-20. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. With A.-C. Rendu Loisel.

Dissertation

2012. Catching the Eye of the Gods: The Gaze in Mesopotamian Literature. Ph.D. diss. Yale University. Submitted under the name A. A. Dicks.

Audio

Hosting

2020-21. Apocalypse Then, CBC Radio NL. With Andrew Hawthorn.

2021. “Religion After the Pandemic.” Crosstalk, CBC Radio NL.  July 19. With Andrew Hawthorn.

2016-17. No Time for Heroics podcast, episodes 59-100. With Andrew Hawthorn and Anthony Murphy.

Narration

Forthcoming. “Western Star Editorial 1919” and “Recruitment – An Enthusiastic Response.” Axes for the Allies, Digital Museums Canada.

Contributed Reporting

2022. Abortion Panel Discussion. CrossTalk, CBC Radio NL. October 17. 

2022. “Abortions have been performed for millennia.” Labrador Morning, CBC Radio NL. July 26.

2022. “Pandemic Waves.” St. John’s Morning Show, CBC Radio NL. April 22.

2019. “These are the Juanitas I Know.” St. John’s Morning Show, CBC Radio NL. July 22.

2019. “Wedding Officiating.” St. John’s Morning Show, CBC Radio NL.

Film and Television

Guest Expert

2023. The Dogs of Petty Harbour, Episode 2. Directed by Justin Oakey (The Hunting Party). 

Performance

2024. Calamus Variations. Directed by Kenneth J. Harvey.

2020. Calamus. Directed by Kenneth J. Harvey.

Event Hosting and Facilitation

2024. St. John’s Storytelling Festival September Story Circle. The Battery Café, St. John’s, NL. September 11.

2022. 2SLGBTQIA+ Data and Engagement Summit. Quadrangle NL, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 25. 

2022. “Belonging Here” Author Panel. Ochre Fest, Ochre Pit Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador. July 9.

2022. Toil and Trouble. Here Kitty Kitty Productions. St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. April 9.

2021. Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards for Poetry. Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. September 30. (Virtual)

2021. Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards for Non-Fiction. Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. September 29. (Virtual)

2020. “Digitizing Medieval Sussex." Bader International Study Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. December 3. (Virtual)

2020. “Making Change with COVID: Possibilities for Living and Learning.” NEXUS Centre, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. November 25. With Andrew Hawthorn. (Virtual)

Public Presentations

Keynote Speeches

2022. “Symptoms May Include Labour Organizing." Atlantic Canada Labour Law Conference, Lancaster House, Halifax, Nova Scotia. May 27. 

Workshops

2024. "Pitch Perfect: How to Write for Magazines and Newspapers." Off Topic Publishing, October 13. (Virtual)

2023. “How to Write Someone Else’s Story.” Solidari-Tea Training, NL Queer Research Initiative, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, September 10.

2022. "Short Memoir: How to Write Your Own Story." CB Nuit, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. September 17.

Storytelling

2023. Homespun, St. John’s Storytelling Festival, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. September 29.

2022. What’s All That Noise?, Sparks Literary Festival, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. May 15.

Readings

2024. “The Sea, Like Glass.” Coming Out: Storytelling and Panel Discussion on Identity in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community, Quartz Fest, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 17.

2022. "Mapping a Diverse Newfoundland and Labrador." Belonging Here Author Panel, Ochre Fest, Ochre Pit Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador. July 9.

2022. "Orientation." Northern Labrador Outreach Event, Quadrangle NL. February 25. (Virtual)

2021. "What’s Another Word for 'Pandemic'?" Writing in the Time of COVID, Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. March 26. (Virtual)

Talks

2024. “Providing 2SLGBTQIA+ Healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador." NL Health Services. June 5. (Virtual)

2024. “Check-Up on 2SLGBTQIA+ Healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador." Labrador Friendship Centre, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. March 28.

2024. “Meet the Author: Ainsley Hawthorn." The Rooms, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. March 21.

2024. “Check-Up on 2SLGBTQIA+ Healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador." St. John’s Community Market, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. March 11. With D. Lombeida. (Live and Virtual)

2021. "Talking Belly Dance: Orientalism and Anti-Orientalism in Dance Terminology." Mahin's Bellydance Quickies, Phoenix, Arizona. May 30. (Virtual)

2020. "Where the Words Come From: How Belly Dance Movements Got Their Names." Art in the Time of COVID Dance Series presented by ArtsNL, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. December 12. (Virtual)

2019. "The Other Five Senses: Using Our Lesser-Known Senses to Connect with Our Bodies and Our Spirits." Vertical Xpression, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. April 28.

2019. "Agnosticism and Reimagining Church." St. Mark's Anglican Church, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. April 10. With A. J. Hawthorn. 

2018. "Mesopotamia and the Invention of Writing." Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific, Victoria, British Columbia. November 15. (Virtual)

2018. "'Writing about Research for a General Audience." People, Place, and Public Engagement Conference, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 25-27.

2017. "Canada's Vital Signs 2017: Community Systems and Belonging." 2017 NL Vital Signs Launch, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 19.

2016. "Canada's Vital Signs 2016: Social Participation and Belonging." 2016 NL Vital Signs Launch, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 4.

2015. "Canada's Vitals Signs 2015: Belonging - Exploring Connection to Community." 2015 NL Vital Signs Launch, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. October 6.

2013. “Defining Community,” 2017 Starts Now, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. June 3. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

Panels

2023. "The Legacy and Heritage of Eastern Dance/Belly Dance." Eastern Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance, New York, New York. December 10. (Virtual)

2023. “Hello, Goodbye Academia.” Nexus Exchange, Nexus Centre, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. May 10.

2018. "Cross-Cultural Collaboration, Study, and Creative Practice." Ori, post-performance discussion, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. November 2.

Academic Presentations

Invited Talks

2021. "Pandemics and Social Change." University in the Community, University of Toronto, Ontario. October 6. (Virtual)

2020. "Listening with the Body: The Raqs Sharqi Dancer as Musical Interpreter." Music & Culture Lecture Series, Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. February 25.

2017. "Hacking Sumerian: A Database Approach to the Analysis of Ancient Languages." Digital Classicist Berlin seminar series, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin, Germany. November 27.

2017. "The Shifting Gaze: Vision in the Neo-Assyrian Royal Inscriptions." Research Training Group “Early Concepts of Man and Nature: Universal, Local, Borrowed,” Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. February 2. 

2014. "Enkidu, Ṣaltu, and the Motif of the Double in Akkadian Literature." Advanced Seminar in the Humanities, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Venice International University, Venice, Italy. September 30. 

2014. "Vicious Vision: Anger, Envy, and the Evil Eye in Mesopotamia." Institute for Assyriology and Hittitology and Distant Worlds: Graduate School for Ancient Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany. July 14. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

2014. "Seeing, Staring, Peering, Glaring: The Vocabulary of Vision in Sumerian and Akkadian." Department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Institute for Ancient History, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany. July 3. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

2014. "The Eye of Death: Malevolent Gaze in Mesopotamia." Institute for Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna, Austria. June 24. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

2004. "Nietzsche, Plato, and the Overman." Humane Studies Research Colloquium, Institute for Humane Studies, Arlington, Virginia. May 13-15. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

Workshops Organized

2015. "Representing the Senses in the Ancient Near East: Between Text and Image." 61e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Bern, Switzerland. June 25.  With A.-C. Rendu Loisel. 

Conference Presentations

2018. "From danse du ventre to raqs sharqi: Middle Eastern Dance and What to Call It." Dance Studies Association Annual Conference, Valetta, Malta. July 5-8. 

2017. "Speaking of the Grassroots: Representing Oriental Dance Movement in North American English." World Dance Alliance Global Summit, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. July 23-28. 

2017. "Body Cleaning, Social Norms, and Value in the Epic of Gilgamesh." Cleaning and Value Interdisciplinary Workshop, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany. June 8-11. 

2017. "NL’s Vital Signs." C2U Expo Community Jam, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, British Columbia. May 1-2. With S. Brennan.

2016. "Camels, Snakes, and Jewels: Talking Belly Dance in the English-Speaking World." The Uses of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Challenges and Perspectives, Québec City, Québec. May 19-22. 

2016. "The Fish and the Tamarisk: Symbolism and Ritual Instruction in ‘Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird’." Cult Practices in Ancient Literatures: Egyptian, Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Narratives in a Cross-Cultural Perspective, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, New York. May 16-17. 

2013. "Divine Visions: Sight and Gaze in Mesopotamian Literature." Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Baltimore, Maryland. November 23-26. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

2013. "igi du8 vs. igi bar: Semantics, Subject-Specific Usage, and Theological Implications." 59e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Ghent, Belgium. July 15-19. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

2004. "My Voice Far Off: Sappho and the Impossibility of Lyricism." Presented at the University of Alberta Undergraduate Classics Conference, Edmonton, Alberta. March 12-13. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

Guest Lectures

2022. “Diversity and the Musical Experience.” Contexts of Music Education with David Buley, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. January 26.

2018. “Dance Studies and Historical Methods.” Research Methods and Problems in Ethnomusicology with Kati Szego, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.  November 14.

Departmental Seminars

2009. "Look Steadfastly Upon Me: The Gaze of the Gods in Mesopotamian Literature." Presented at the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Roundtable, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. March 26. Presented under the name A. Dicks.

Panels

2015. "Where Words Fail: Challenges of Representing and Teaching Movement." Symposium on Embodiment, Gesture and Dance, Research Centre for Music, Media and Place, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. May 24. 

Visual Art

Solo Exhibitions

2019. Formative. Craft Council of NL Gallery, St. John's, NL. March .

Group Exhibitions

2019. Various Works. Body Images. Vertical Xpression, St. John’s, NL. July.

2018. “Sampler.” Feminisms (Re)Framed. St. John’s, NL. August.

Publications

2020. "Bumble Bees"; "Honey Bees"; "The Hive." Riddle Fence 35: 33, 36.

Other

2019. “Here There Be Monsters” selected to appear on Quidi Vidi Brewery labels in October to promote the 30th anniversary of the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival.