I am an instructional designer and e-learning developer with teaching experience. I would describe myself as widely curious about a range of topics from art production to ways that improve online learning, to environmental causes. The meandering path that has been my career for nearly the last two decades could best be described as nomadic. I have taught art history courses in a variety of modes and places such as Nanaimo and Abbotsford. One year I commuted by air to Kelowna to teach; 181 flights which included one aborted landed at YVR (we nearly hit a plane on the runway). Is it any wonder I prefer the train? These days I continue to teach online courses, reaching students from Calgary to Quebec and as far away as Japan.

My teaching background began in the fine arts where I received a Ph.D in art history from UBC in 2008. I followed that up with a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship studying community building and mosques in Canada in 2010. In 2012, my first book, A Commerce of Taste: Church Architecture in Canada, was published by McGill-Queens University press and I was thrilled to have it included in their international History of Religion series. Along the way I completed an Instructional Design education with the University of Wisconsin. That lead me to an opportunity to work in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) where I met the people who invented Edx and Coursera.

I am eager to continue traveling the world, visiting art museums in new cities and experiencing local culture wherever I go. A lifelong artist, I continue to paint and draw as a passion and show publicly once every few years. I enjoy hiking, cycling and long walks with my family.

Barry Magrill
Educational Developer
Centre for Teaching Excellence
FR402 ex.2015