Research chairs in Arts

Chris Eliasmith, Philosophy, CRC in Theoretical Neuroscience (NSERC, Tier 1)

Our brains can outperform the best computers at recognizing faces, controlling sophisticated movements and learning about the environment—but we still do not know why. Enter Dr. Chris Eliasmith, Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience, who is developing a mathematical theory to help understand how brains process information.

Eliasmith hopes to apply his theory to a wide variety of systems in specific parts of the brain. He is doing so by building biologically-realistic models that are involved in perception, motor control and several aspects of cognition.

The models will pave the way for a much deeper understanding of how the many parts of the brain work together.

That deeper understanding of the inter-relatedness of the brain will also lead to better understanding of forms of brain damage and unhealthy brains. In both Parkinson’s disease and addiction, a core brain system malfunctions. Eliasmith’s research will help understand precisely how the brain system breaks down.

Eliasmith’s work may not only lead to a better understanding of how the healthy brain can perform its dazzling array of tasks, but also of how damaged or diseased brains may be sped along the road of recovery.

Naila Keleta-Mae, Communication Arts, Race, Gender and Performance (SSHRC Tier 2)

Research on Black freedom has the potential to re-orient the field of Black studies toward how Black artists and intellectuals use the idea, experience and expression of freedom to respond to oppression and assert their agency to combat it. As Canada Research Chair in Race, Gender and Performance, Dr. Naila Keleta-Mae aims to create a body of artistic work that contributes to Black expressive culture and Black studies by examining what Blackness and freedom mean in the 21st century.

She and her research team are studying how Blackness and freedom are imagined in Black expressive culture. They are also creating new artistic works in fiction, video, music and theatre about Blackness and freedom and sharing these works to advance public and academic discourse. By creating these artworks, they aim to demonstrate how Black people exercise agency and assert freedom in the face of various forms of oppression.

Logan MacDonald, Fine Arts, CRC in Indigenous Art (SSHRC, Tier 2)

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) published its final report on the history and legacy of Canada’s residential school system. Professor Logan MacDonald, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Art, is responding to the TRC’s calls to action by introducing Indigenous knowledge and arts practice to the teaching of fine arts at the university level.

MacDonald and his research team have three research objectives. They aim to build Indigenous community engagement within the fine arts institutional environment; establish sustainable, long-term institutional access to Indigenous creative leaders; and create space for Indigenous artists and thought-leaders (with or without traditional educational backgrounds) to self-determine artistic and educational leadership in a fine arts institutional context.

Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher, English Language and Literature, CRC in Science, Health, and Technology Communication (SSHRC, Tier 2)

Millennial and Generation Z adults face long-term risks associated with climate change. These generations are keenly aware of these risks, and many are advocating for climate action. Understanding how they perceive climate change-and what strategies they propose to address it-is important not only so we can consider potential solutions, but because these generations represent a significant proportion of Canadian voters.

Dr. Ashley Mehlenbacher, Canada Research Chair in Science, Health, and Technology Communication, is investigating how millennial and Generation Z adults discuss and debate climate change and action. She and her research team are studying how to communicate more effectively about climate science and action, what sources are trusted, and how to combat misinformation and disinformation.

Nicole Nolette, French Studies, CRC in Minority Studies (SSHRC, Tier 2)

Since the 1960s, theatre has been a major creative force in the development of Canada’s official linguistic minorities. But in recent years, new stage technologies such as surtitles (translated lyrics or dialogue projected above a stage or on a screen) have allowed minority theatres to open their doors to spectators outside their traditional communities.

As Canada Research Chair in Minority Studies, Dr. Nicole Nolette is examining how these recent technological changes have influenced French-Canadian theatre and translation practices and how they’ve been portrayed within theatre productions. Her theory is that while the use of technologies by minorities is a sign of today’s more globalized market, it also allows them to better define themselves and close the gaps between prestige and authenticity, minority and majority, local and global.

Through fieldwork and archival research in Toronto’s French-language theatres, Nolette and her research team will observe the transition of paper- and performance-based modes of translation to multilingual, multimedia productions. They will also combine empirical research on minority theatre infrastructures across Canada with an in-depth look at how these theatres represent past, present and future societies. Nolette and her team will also compare other minority and majority practices across the country to better understand them in the context of the globalization of artistic practices.

Ultimately, Nolette seeks new insights into the minority condition—a condition that is increasingly common in contemporary societies and that touches on a series of important questions, such as the expression of individual and collective identities, national linguistic policies and globalization.

Evan Risko, Psychology, CRC in Embodied and Embedded Cognition (NSERC, Tier 2)

Whether we are counting on our fingers or storing important dates in a smartphone, we often use our body and objects in our physical world to help us think. With the steady march of technology, we face a future where our thinking will be more and more intimately tied to external aids, such as Internet search engines. Taking full advantage of this progress requires a deeper understanding of how the human cognitive system uses external resources to support thinking.  

As Canada Research Chair in Embodied and Embedded Cognition, Dr. Evan Risko is providing new insight into how we use both our bodies and the physical world to think, and how doing so ultimately shapes our thinking.

Risko is particularly interested in the decision-making processes underlying our use of external resources as a means to avoid cognitive demand. In other words, how do we decide when to offload cognitive work from our brains to our body and world? He is also interested in the relationships between these processes and our limits on attention, as well as the potential cognitive consequences of integrating both the body and physical world into our thinking.

Ultimately, Risko’s research may lead to the development of better cognitive technologies and strategies for improving human thinking, such as technology-based educational aids.

Abigail Scholer, Psychology, CRC in Motivated Social Cognition (SSHRC, Tier 2)

Life presents a seemingly unending series of challenges for self-regulation. We hold our tongues when a colleague angers us, we pass up the donut at the office party, we get up early to exercise, and we save for retirement instead of buying the latest technology. Yet, we also often fail to do these things—we lash out, we take another donut for the road, we hit the snooze button one more time, and we tell ourselves we can start saving tomorrow. Our failure to manage these challenges successfully is far from trivial. In fact, the leading causes of death in North America are due to modifiable behaviours involving self-regulation.

Dr. Abigail Scholer, Canada Research Chair in Motivated Social Cognition, is examining the factors that reduce failure and increase success in the face of temptations. Scholer is also looking at the management of change and the pursuit of important long-term goals. She is doing so by using a self-regulation model that can yield new insights about a variety of self-regulation problems.

Scholer's research is examining how hierarchies of self-regulation can be applied to help people better manage challenges and conflicts. She is examining how different ways of thinking about the same conflicts may have major consequences for people’s behaviour and for the development of interventions.

Scholer’s research could transform how self-regulation is studied and how it is applied to real-world problems, and could make it possible for people get the most out of life by helping them avoid self-regulation pitfalls.

John Turri, Philosophy, CRC in Philosophy and Cognitive Science (SSHRC, Tier 2)

One of philosophy’s main tasks is to illuminate concepts that matter in our everyday lives. Twentieth-century philosophers relied mainly on introspection and social observation to accomplish this. But recent psychological research shows that these techniques have serious limitations. Some philosophers have responded by incorporating more powerful methods from cognitive and social science into their research.

Dr. John Turri, Canada Research Chair in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, is a leading figure in this movement, which is known as experimental philosophy. He and his research team hope to continue to increase their philosophical and scientific understanding of important social judgments and categories, including knowledge, morality, agency and communication.