Patricia Roussel
Meet the Contributor
Area of Study: Dawson City, Yukon (Canada)
Academic Background
Patricia is an MA student in Public History and Curatorial Studies at Carleton University, specializing in histories of commemoration in Dawson City, Yukon, on Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in territory. She holds an Honours BA in History and Religious Studies and a Certificate in Law from Queen’s University.
Her graduate research examines changes in commemorative practice in Dawson City over the past twenty years, as local, federal, and international organizations have increasingly collaborated to move beyond nationalized narratives of the region as solely the site of the Klondike Gold Rush. This work explores how public commemorative spaces and practices have begun to more respectfully centre the voices and perspectives of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Patricia has worked in both federal and local heritage organizations in Ontario, Alberta, and the Yukon. Most recently, she curated the exhibition What You Take With You: Living Tourism in the Tr’ondëk-Klondike at the Dawson City Museum, which highlights visitor experiences of the region through the sky, land, rivers, and town, inviting reflection on how this special place is encountered and what visitors carry with them after leaving.
Research Interests
Beyond her graduate research, Patricia’s interests include historical research and practice related to:
Community-Led Heritage Commemoration
Exhibit Curation & Design
Visitor Experience Design & Public Programming
Archival Accession & Deaccessioning Processes
Material Culture Interpretation
Public Memory, Remembrance, & Belonging
Why Written in the Waves?
Water, as a living body that carries historical remembrance, is central to Patricia’s graduate research and personal life. She grew up on the beautiful shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario and has family roots in the Atlantic through her Acadian ancestry. This past summer, living and working in Dawson City at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers, Patricia gained new perspectives on how rivers act as highways, carrying layers of history and memory. With Written in the Waves, she is excited to extend these storytelling practices to the Atlantic, tracing the currents of her family roots and exploring how memory and history ripple through and are connected by water.
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