Anthropologist

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Marcs' research focus is on the practical and philosophical grounds of how sensemaking is possible. He is a specialist in the social effects of technology and technology change having consulted in various strategic social, organizational and symbolic issues for over ten years. Marc’s particular skills lie in qualitative research, teaching, group facilitation, web-based community development and cross-cultural communication. He has written and presented internationally in the fields of Organizational Management, Organizational Culture, Job Search and Recruiting Technology and New Religious Movements. He holds a BA in Religion and Sociology, an MA in Canadian Studies and a Ph.D. in Sociology (Social Anthropology).

Sense making

Sense making is a phrase that refers to how people make sense of their world and their lives.  As such, it tends to deal with both social trends and cultural symbologies.  In order to get a handle on how people make sense of the world, Marc spent ten years (1993-2003) examining job search behaviour in Canada and, in particular, the shifting relationships between technological change, culture and changing job search strategies.  Between 2000 and 2003, he concentrated on cross-cultural issues amongst job searchers, especially in the telecommunications sector.  As part of this research, he has worked with an international career transition company to help develop new job search seminars tailored to individual cultural groups.

A second, related research area has been on the nature and use of socially constructed structured communications strategies.  Within this area, he has examined two primary forms of structured communications strategies: social ritual (amongst job searchers, HR professionals and the modern Wiccan movement) and multimedia/web design (academic, governmental and e-learning).  Marc’s goal with this research is to produce cross-culturally valid structural models that can then be applied to many different situations.

At the present time, Marc is engaged in several research projects including an examination of the structural relationships between market research and Insurgency / Counter-Insurgency, and how musical symbology helps to shape and define cultural "reality".  He is also an active blogger on a variety of issues at In Harmonium and the CT Lab.

Over the past fifteen years, Marc has presented on many topics at the Academy of Management, the American Sociological Association, the Canadian Anthropology Society and Microsoft Research, as well as publishing in several venues including a chapter in the Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate Sage, 2000).  Marc currently teaches courses out of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies at Carleton University, and is a Senior research Fellow with the Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies.