Job Opportunity: Graduate Students for People's Archive of Rural Ontario (PARO)

People’s Archive of Rural Ontario (PARO)
Hiring Graduate Student Assistants for Spring/Summer 2022

About PARO

The People’s Archive of Rural Ontario (PARO) is a knowledge mobilization initiative led by faculty at the University of Guelph. It mobilizes and amplifies rural voices and stories and contributes to the revitalization of rural Ontario. PARO takes inspiration from the people’s archives of rural India (PARI) and Nova Scotia (PARNS) to establish a freely accessible online archive and community, where everyday people can tell everyday stories about everyday lives in and about rural Ontario. PARO is engaged in collecting stories highlighting personal and community stories from a broad range of sources to be produced for the archive as text, audio, video, and/or photography.

The Role: PARO Assistant

We are currently recruiting 1 or 2 graduate students for a 12-week contract (approximately 8 hours per week, flexible, with the possibility of extension) working closely with the PARO Coordinator and the PARO team. The pay rate is $24-27 / hour depending on prior experience.

The tasks include:

• Curating and writing stories
• Increasing the pool of storytellers and curators, through outreach with U of G faculty, students, staff and course instructors
• Supporting PARO’s engagement with the Rural Ontario Institute’s ROI Connect platform
• Communicating and mobilizing knowledge using a variety of strategies.

Research Assistants will receive training from the PARO team and will build skills in ethical research, oral history methods, journalistic editing, knowledge mobilization, grant application development, interviewing, editing/producing content (written, audio, video, photography).

About You
Interested candidates must be currently enrolled in a graduate study program at the University of Guelph; must have excellent writing skills, with an interest in storytelling and listening to/ valuing the lived experiences of others. Knowledge of rural Ontario and being able to engage in fluent conversation in Spanish are desirable. Prior experience in interviewing and content editing (writing, audio/podcasting, videography, or photojournalism) are considered an asset.

To Apply
Please submit the following:

• Up-to-date CV
• A short statement of interest (not exceeding 250 words) describing relevant experience and your interest in PARO.
• Writing sample (or a sample of your audio, video, or photographic work)

Please email your application to: paro@uoguelph.ca with the subject heading “Application for PARO Assistant” by May 18, 2022.