Communications student deconstructs Calgary's wild west image

Why do Calgarians don cowboy hats, alter business hours and drink excessively for ten days each July? How did the rest of the world come to think of our city as "Cow Town" for the other 355?

Jessica Huggins, a second year communications studies student spent last summer researching why Calgarians celebrate western culture during the Calgary Stampede. She has presented her findings in an original documentary film, How the West Went Wild: The Stampede Effect.

"What I found is that through the Stampede we are celebrating a mythical idea of what our city is based on," says Huggins. "We needed an identity so it was created for us through the Stampede."

On a mission to uncover the roots of our city's Wild West image, Huggins applied for one of the U of C's inaugural undergraduate student research awards in spring 2006. She was one of only five first year students and 59 undergraduates granted an award. Valued at $6,000, the award provided funds and living expenses for Huggins to complete original research over the summer months.

"The experience of doing research was the best way to learn," says Huggins. "I could have read books and studied, but the being on the stampede grounds every day and asking questions gave me a chance to think about it in a way I never had before."

Doug Brent, associate dean for the Faculty of Communication and Culture and Huggins' faculty sponsor says the research awards were intended to give undergraduate students an opportunity to experience the benefits of a research-intensive university.

"Undergraduates don't often get to dedicate four months of full-time study to a research project," says Brent. "This is usually reserved for graduate students. It is a rare opportunity to get involved with what the university is intended to do as a research institution and to learn that research can be a lot of fun."

Huggins' conducted her research while simultaneously taking a one-of-a-kind summer session course dedicated to the Calgary Stampede and the city's identity, culture and history. She was also a novice in film-making, but the experience has inspired her to pursue a major in Film Studies, a program the faculty plans to launch in fall 2007.

"Jessica conducted the same sort of research as one would for an academic paper," says Brent. "But knowing she had a film audience to tell the story to, hers is much more vivid. The fact that this is for a wider audience makes it a more important learning experience."