Dr. Peter Thompson

Biography

Peter Thompson is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of New Brunswick. Before joining UNB, he served as the Director of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Carleton University. In his role as Dean, Peter is responsible for the overall management of the Faculty, collaborating with department chairs, senior leadership, and various stakeholders to set and implement strategic priorities. He is committed to fostering an open and inclusive environment for teaching and research and deeply believes in the principles of collegial governance. Peter's research primarily focuses on the representations of deindustrialization in contemporary Atlantic Canadian literature and popular culture, with a particular interest in understanding the cultural impacts of closures in Atlantic Canada and Appalachia. He has written extensively on the transition from mining and heavy industry in these regions, examining the impacts on masculinity, environment, work, and cultural memory. His work has been published in notable journals such as Studies in Canadian Literature, Acadiensis, and the Journal of Appalachian Studies. In 2019, he published a book titled 'Nights Foord Street: Literature and Popular Culture in Postindustrial Nova Scotia' with McGill-Queen's University Press. Additionally, Peter is a research affiliate of the Deindustrialization Politics of Time (DePOT) project at Concordia University and currently serves as a member of the Executive Council of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS). He welcomes inquiries from graduate students interested in Atlantic Canadian literature and Canadian popular culture, particularly in the broader context of deindustrialization studies.

Research Interests