Dr. April Renée Mandrona is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill. She received her doctorate in Art Education from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Her research interests include the social aspects of artistic production, rural education, participatory methodologies, and asset-based education. Her current post doctoral project involves the use of art-making and digital/cellphone network building as a means to develop youth and community advocacy and as tools to address issues related to poverty, rurality and a lack of opportunities in South Africa. She is an active member of the Institute for Human Development and Well-being and the Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Honours and Awards
2011: Micheal Smith Foreign Study Supplement, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
2011: Concordia University Conference and Exposition Award, Concordia University, Montreal, QC
2009: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Doctoral Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
2009: Special Entrance Award, Concordia University, Montreal, QC
2009: Doctoral Award of Excellence, Concordia University, Montreal, QC
2008: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Master’s Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
2007: Graduate Fellowship, Concordia University, Montreal, QC
2006: Canadian Psychology Association Award of Academic Excellence
2006: First Class Honours with Distinction (cumulative GPA above 3.7), Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
2002-2006: Dean’s List (session GPA above 3.7), Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
2002: Entrance Scholarship, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
Publications
MacEntee, K. & Mandrona, A. R. (In Press). From discomfort to collaboration: Teachers screening cellphilms in a rural South African school. Perspectives in Education.
Mukeredzi, T., & Mandrona, A. R. (2013). The journey to becoming professionals: Student teachers’ experiences of teaching practice in a rural South African context. International Journal of educational Research, 62, 141-151.Mandrona, A. R. (2012). Handmade identities: Girls, Dolls and DIY. Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 5(1), 98-120.
Mandrona, A. R. (2010). Children’s poetic voices. LEARNing Landscapes, 4(1), 143-156.
Mandrona, A. (2010). Book review: The neural imagination: Aesthetic and neuroaesthetic approaches to the arts. Canadian Review of Art Education, 37, 103-106.
Belke, T. W., Mandrona, A. R., Conrad, K. M., Poirier, K. F. and Pickering, K. L. (2008). Effect of light/dark cycle on wheel running and responding reinforced by the opportunity to run depends on post-session feeding time. Psychological Record, 58(3), 391-404.
Other Research Contributions
Mandrona, A. (May, 2011). Handmade identities. Presentation at the 6th International Conference of the Arts in Society, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, Germany.
Mandrona, A. (March, 2011). Dolls, girls and DIY. Presentation at the Second Annual Art Education Symposium, Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
Mandrona, A. (March, 2010). Multum in parvo: Re-imagining the landscape. Presentation at the First Annual Art Education Symposium, Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
Mandrona, A. & Belke, T. W. (May, 2006). The effect of circadian activity rhythm on wheel running and responding reinforced by the opportunity to run. Poster Presentation at Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences, Cape Breton, NS.
Exhibitions and Artistic Contributions
2011: AIRE: 6th Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art (group exhibition, juried), Xalapa, Mexico.
2010: Dialogix (group exhibition, juried), VAV Gallery, Montreal, QC
2009: Space and Displacement (group exhibition, juried), VAV Gallery, Montreal, QC
2009: No Fixed Address (group exhibition), Gallery Connexion, Fredericton, NB
2008: Art Education Studio Exhibition (group exhibition), Concordia University, Montreal, QC