Dr. Van Winkle cares deeply about the role of festivals, parks, museums and interpretative centres in our community and as such has dedicated her career as a researcher to exploring visitors' experiences in these tourism and leisure settings. Dr. Van Winkle is currently leading a Federally funded, multi-province research project that looks at the use of mobile devices in everyday and festival contexts. As well, she has recently received funds to explore how people learn about food and agriculture through tourism. 

• Visitors’ experiences at events and attractions
• Exploring the experiences of festival, park and historic site visitors
• Understanding visitor learning in free-choice environments
• Exploring the effects of technology on the visitor’s experience at attractions
• Assessing the impacts and outcomes of visitors to festivals, parks and historic site

• Advanced Program Planning and Leadership
• The Administration of Special Events
• Introduction to Leisure Travel
• Recreation and Leisure: Concepts and Theories (Graduate Course)
• Cultural Tourism (Blended Learning Course)
• Marketing Parks and Recreation Services
• The Administration of Leisure Services
• The Administration of Leisure Services II
• Heritage Tourism
• Concepts of Recreation and Leisure
• Volunteer Recruitment and Marketing

• PhD, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Clemson University (2007)
• Bachelor of Recreation Studies, University of Manitoba (2000)

International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Highly Commended Paper Award, 2015, Sense of community and perceptions of festival social impacts by Van Winkle, C. M., & Woosnam, K. M.

Travel and Tourism Research Association (International), Best Conference Paper Award, 2014, Your Festival in 140 Characters or Less*: Exploring Festivals’ Use of Twitter by MacKay, K.J., Barbe, D., Van Winkle, C.M., Halpenny, E.

Van Winkle C.M., & Falk, J. (2015). Personal meaning mapping at festivals: A useful tool for a challenging context. Event Management. 19, 1, 143-150.

Van Winkle, C. M. (2014). The effects of entertainment and fun on the visitor’s free-choice learning experience. 46, 5.

Van Winkle, C. M., & Woosnam, K. M. (2014). Sense of community and perceptions of festival social impacts. International Journal of Event and Festival Management. 5, 1, 22-38.

Woosnam, K.M., Aleshinloye*, K.D., Van Winkle, C. & Qian*, W. (2014). Applying and expanding the theoretical framework of emotional solidarity in a festival context. Event Management, 18, 2, 141-152.

Woosnam, K.M., Van Winkle, C., & An, S. (2013). Confirming the Festival Social Impact Attitude Scale in the context of a rural Texas cultural festival. Event Management, 17, 3, 257-270.

Van Winkle, C. M., Woosnam, K.M., & Mohammed*, A.M. (2013). Sense of community and festival attendance. Event Management. 17, 2, 155-163.