The "Genetics" of Love for Teaching, Learning, and Art

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Hello! My name is Maristela Laforest Petrovic-Dzerdz and I am a Supervisor of Instructional Design at the Educational Development Centre, Teaching and Learning Services, Carleton University. Let me start by saying that teaching and learning are my life-long passions!

I am always asked about my name, so here it is: Maristela is my first name (I was named after my Italian cousin), Laforest is my middle name (after my dear Granny's French family), Petrovic is my family last name (Serbian), and Dzerdz is my married last name (Ukrainian). Apart from Serbian and French, also have Greek, Italian, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh genes. And yes, I am Canadian!

Teaching must be in my genes. I come from a family of educators spanning at least four generations - my mother, now retired, was a professor at the Pedagogical Academy in Yugoslavia (Europe), and my great-grandparents and many cousins were teachers and respected local priests in the 19th and 20th Century Europe. Today, I have in my immediate family professors in both the USA and Europe. Education and life-long learning are at the core of my family's philosophy of life. As you will see browsing my ePortfolio, I love going to school and learning new things!

Art has played a prominent role in my family - we have photographers, painters, sculptors, actors, singers and poets in our ranks. I have dipped my toes in many artistic waters, from acting and singing to drawing and ballroom dancing. I always try to infuse my artistic perspective into my work.

Interesting Family Facts

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Photo Album of Folk Costumes is a work of my great-great-grandfather Francois (Franz) Thiard de Laforest (1838-1911). He was a pioneer French photographer born in Vienna, who lived and worked in today's Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia. His daughter, my dear "granny Mitzi" (Maria Laforest) had a wonderful influence on me as I was growing up and into my young adulthood, and I carry "Laforest" as my middle name, to honor her memory.

This branch of my family is of a distinguished Burgundian descent (Thiard de Bissy family, going back to the beginning of the 16th century).

This is de Bissy Family Coat of Arms. I took a picture of it in 2015 when visiting Francois's grand-daughter and my dear grand-aunt Lidija Laforest in Croatia. My ongoing personal project is collecting historical artifacts related to my family, and organizing translation of family history documents dating back many centuries. This project is surely going to keep me busy for decades!

According to family genealogy books, I am also related to the House of Obrenovic, the Serbian royal dynasty that came to power through the leadership of Milos Obrenovic, Prince of Serbia; the mother of Milos is my direct ancestor.

About Me This page is part of the collection 'Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, M.Eng BEd PBDID OCT'.

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