Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Narrative

Welcome to the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Narrative. CIRN is based at St. Thomas University, a liberal arts institution located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

In 2003, St. Thomas approved a Strategic Research Plan which identified narrative as one of six key areas for research across the institution. That interest in narrative has taken root at STU is not surprising, given its collegial environment and accessible size, its tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration, and its commitment to the integration of scholarship, teaching, and practice. In 2007, a group of us made application to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding through its Aid to Small Universities Program, and in April 2008, a grant was awarded. Later that year, CIRN was established.

Our mission at CIRN is to serve those working with narrative ideas and approaches in various disciplines within St. Thomas University and beyond:

• by facilitating research on the role of narrative in human experience;
• by assisting the development of theory on the narrative complexity of human life; and
• by encouraging the use of narrative approaches to practice in a variety of fields.