Sheila Martin Watson was born in New Westminster, British Columbia on the 24th of October 1909. Professionally, she worked as a teacher, author and professor of English. Watson was born into a Roman Catholic family but was non-practicing most of her adult life until, in August of 1966, she returned to the Church. One of her best known pieces of writing is The Double Hook, lauded today as one of the first modern, Canadian novel. Watson earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of British Columbia in 1932 and her Masters in English and teaching certificate the following year. Watson married the dramatist and poet Wilfred Watson in 1941 and spent the years between her Masters and PhD teaching at a number of schools in different parts of the country. In 1961, she earned her Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Marshall McLuhan, for her thesis titled “Wyndham Lewis and Expressionism”. Watson went on to teach English as a professor at the University of Alberta between 1961 and 1975. After she retired, she stayed active in the arts community advising former students and fledgling writers and serving as a jury member for the Canada Council for Arts Grants and the Governor General Awards for Poetry and Fiction. She died on February 1st 1998 at the age of 89.
Header Image: Sheila Watson, photo by Rowland McMaster.
Sheila Watson and the Catholic University
Sheila Watson, as a pragmatic woman described by one of her students as, “deeply embedded in history,” challenged the exclusivity and oppression of the traditional, Western-centric, increasingly corporatized ‘multiversity’. Many of the themes that she developed in her writing suggest that she believed in the need for accessible, post-secondary education that taught a locally rooted liberal arts curriculum and aimed to produce critical, morally driven liberal democratic citizens. Watson believed in, “The need to walk as if one walked in the presence of God-that is, without evasion or deception” but, unlike McLuhan, was not convinced that the universe had been redeemed, once describing how her mind, unlike McLuhan’s did not move, “in the same light, or in light at all” verify. Watson’s skepticism, or grounded pessimism, combined with her persistent belief in, nevertheless, acting as if one was “in the presence of God”, offers a vision for the contemporary Catholic university grounded in intent educate the whole student while simultaneously challenging the unjust, status quo both inside and outside of the academy.
Sheila Watson “Remedial Reading”
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In her essay “Remedial Reading”, Watson argues that English classes have, “the function of providing the child with the common body of literature which is his heritage and the critical judgement to appreciate and estimate the writings of today (because) a mastery of some common body of knowledge- “the all in each of all men” as Colderidge called it-is an essential tool in the process of communication.” Watson argues that English has a central role to play in education because it is essential for individual participation in community. This essay further elucidates that Watson considered a robust knowledge of personal and collective history also an integral part of education.
Watson, Sheila. “Remedial Reading”, 1945, Box 7 File 01, Sheila Watson Fonds, University of St. Michael’s College Special Collections and Archives, Toronto, Canada This essay can be found at the University of St. Michael's College, Sheila Watson Fonds |
Shelia Watson, 'Day planner from Paris and Toronto'
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Watson’s day planner from 1956 contains several entries that shed light on her perspective and relationship to Catholicism. In one entry, Watson describes how her mind does not move “in light at all” or with faith in a redeemed world, but continues on to describe her dedication to acting as if one is “in the presence of God-that is, without evasion or deception”. Thus, Watson recounts how she acts with honesty, good intentions and humility, as if God is present, although the unjustness and inanity of the world pushes her towards doubt in God’s presence on earth.
Waston, Sheila. Day planner from Paris and Toronto, 1956, Box 1 File 2006 017, Sheila Watson Fonds, University of St. Michael’s College Special Collections and Archives, Toronto, Canada. This essay can be found at the University of St. Michael's College, Sheila Watson Fonds |
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Shelia Watson, 'Reading Journal: 1965-66'
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Reid - Note says "insert from old document" not sure what this means...
Watson, Sheila. Reading Journal, 1965-1966, Box 2 File 2006 01-18, Sheila Watson Fonds, University of St. Michael’s College Special Collections and Archives, Toronto, Canada. This essay can be found at the University of St. Michael's College, Sheila Watson Fonds |
F.T. Flahiff, always someone to kill the doves: A Life of Sheila Watson
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Flahiff’s always someone to kill the doves is a biography of Sheila Watson. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand Watson’s perspective on and approaches towards education. In this book, by drawing on anecdotes about and documents and journals of Watson’s, Flahiff identifies five key themes that Watson considered important for education: community, diversity, teaching grounded in regional and national histories and realities, autonomy and breadth. This biography illuminates how, for Watson, all human growth and learning is premised on the fulfilment of the fundamental human needs for both independence and community, making it essential post-secondary education is organized around these principles.
Flahiff, F. T. Always Someone to Kill the Doves: A Life of Sheila Watson. Edmonton, Canada: NeWest Press, 2005. Print Read the Book: WorldCat UofT |
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