Research Grants

2000 Research Grant Recipient - Emily Addison

Cruising Cape Breton Culture
Winding along highways and dirt roads from Glencoe to Brook Village, N.S., Emily Addison has travelled off the beaten path to research her thesis. What the Trent University geography student found were dance halls in Cape Breton's Inverness County that are essential to the survival of the region’s culture. Inspired by a personal passion for the island and with the aid of a Society grant, Addison started the project last April and spent three weeks last summer observing the dances and getting in a little step-dancing. When her thesis is completed later this spring, it will document the historical and cultural value of the county’s dance halls, where Cape Bretoners gather to dance to traditional Äddle and piano music.

“The dance halls are places where people can get actively involved in the music and the culture,” says Addison, a pianist who’s not afraid to try her hand at the fiddle. “I'm really excited about being able to contribute to the community.”

— Stefan Norman

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“I grew up hearing all about the Sydney steel mill, the tar ponds and the controversy over the cleanup. The more I read and learned, the more my curiosity was piqued. It seemed a natural area for me to take my studies.”

— Hannah MacDonald,
Mount Allison University

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