Mary-Leah de Zwart

I hold a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Pedagogy from the University of British Columbia (2003). The title of my dissertation was Home Economics Education in British Columbia 1913-1938: Through Postcolonial Eyes.

My previous academic qualifications include B. Sc.(Household Economics) from the University of Alberta, and M.A. (Home Economics Education) UBC, and B.C. teaching qualifications.

I was born and raised in Alberta. At the age of almost 21, I went to Ontario to work as a district home economist. There I met my husband, we moved to BC, and lived in various locations around the province, from Prince George to Vancouver to Vernon. Fifty years later, I returned to Alberta to live near extended family, but in my heart, I might belong to British Columbia.

For 25 years I was a secondary school teacher of grades 8 to 12 home economics (foods, family studies, textiles, career and personal planning) in various school districts around British Columbia.

I am most proud of these publications.

Academic writing:

Alice Ravenhill: Never Say Die
http://bcbooklook.com/2016/12/15/alice-ravenhill-never-say-die-by-mary-leah-de-zwart/

General writing:

Hurling Our Marriage Down Crazy Mountain Roads
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2019/03/21/Hurling-Marriage-Down-Mountain-Roads/

Basic Home Cooking
http://www.bcfoodhistory.ca/basic-cooking-skills/

Interests: gardening, poetry, historical research and writing, and up to recently, volunteer work in Malawi, and Peru.