Dr Jean-Rene Leblanc
Positions
Full Professor
Contact information
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 220-5110
Location
Office: Earth SciencesES 834
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Preferred method of communication
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Research partners
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Contact us at: energystorieslab@ucalgary.ca
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy Fine Art, Université du Québec Montréal, 2006
M.F.A. Multimedia, University of Windsor, 1996
B.F.A. Studio Arts, Concordia University, 1993
Biography
Dr. Jean-René Leblanc is a Professor of Visual Research and Digital Storytelling in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Calgary. He is the co-director of the Energy Stories Lab, which aims to empower communities and democratize the telling of energy stories. Born in Montréal in 1967, he attended Concordia University, earning a Bachelor in Studio Arts in 1993. In 1996, he graduated from the University of Windsor, Ontario, with a Master of Fine Arts in Multimedia and Photography. He later completed a PhD in the study and practice of art at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2006.
For over a decade, his SSHRC-funded research has focused on the affordances of Augmented Reality as a tool for digital storytelling. His artworks have been exhibited in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Research
Areas of Research
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 399: Topics in Anthropology | Intro to Digital Storytelling | Fall 2024 |
| ANTH 399: Topics in Anthropology | Intro to Digital Storytelling | Fall 2025 |
| ANTH 399: Topics in Anthropology | Video Digital Storytelling | Winter - Block Week 2025 |
Projects
University of Calgary digital storytelling professor Jean-René Leblanc, has completed a 3-year research and visual art project investigate the role of petroleum culture in imagination. This research-creation study uses notions of gas stations and road trips as a jumping-off point, but does not aim for a historic or literal re-creation. It takes abandoned gas stations as rich points of departure and as sites for digital storytelling fuelled by past and present memory and experience, as well as future-focused imaginings.
https://www.jrleblanc.com/portfolio-item/gasoline-station-ar/
Centred in Fort McMurray, this project takes a bottom-up approach to Alberta’s oil sands communities, by examining Wood Buffalo Municipality residents’ relationships to their community, industry and Canada’s ongoing energy transition. Perić (PI), Leblanc (Co-Applicant) and Dolgoy (Collaborator) are collaborating on a 10-year project that proposes to collect 500-1000 oral histories in the region, and also explore different ways to represent community history in the oil sands, specifically through the usage of AR, digital heritage technologies. and novel digital storytelling practices. This large-scale project foregrounds community, industry, and museum researchers and partnerships. In 2022-2023, we met with over 20 potential local partner organizations, completed 2 pilot projects, secured $15,000 in UCalgary VPR Catalyst Funding, $10,000 from Ingenium - Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, $30,000 from Wood Buffalo Economic Development and $30,000 from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo for 2 MITACS Accelerate post-docs, organized 1 stakeholder workshop and 1 EDI and values-setting workshop. This project has already contributed to the training of 1 post-doc, 1 PhD student, 1 MFA student, 1 BA student, and we have funded 1 RA from Keyano College.
In Alberta, the ‘roughneck,’ or male oil rig worker, has been a persistent archetype. This project rethinks our view of gendered oil labour by highlighting the invisible labour of women, and their active role in the Alberta’s energy transitions. In partnership with the Canadian Energy Museum, we have completed a prototype app, Skid Shack AR, that uses community-authored oral histories to re-narrate the transition to oil in Alberta, specifically the 1947 Leduc oil discovery. Outcomes for this project include 1 AR app, a reinterpreted CEM exhibit and 2 journal articles in progress. This project has contributed to the training of 1 PhD and 1 MFA student.
Awards
- Five-year Insight Grants (234K), SSHRC. 2024
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