News

Dr. Naila Keleta-Mae’s Black And Free Project is engaging with the public, showcasing Ontario-based Black artists

By Claire Francis

In the Canadian academic landscape, scholar, artist, and professor, Dr. Naila Keleta-Mae (Communication Arts) is a visionary. Her Black And Free Project explores Black expressive culture through various mediums — and this year, Keleta-Mae’s work is going beyond academia and being brought to life for the public. A series of events, classes, and exhibits are planned which explore the themes inherent in her multi-year research-creation project on blackness and freedom.

Vershawn Young is many things: a professor in the department of Communication Arts and English Language and Literature; the director of the new Black Studies program, a program in which he led in the development; a solo performance artist, translating all of his academic work into stage productions; and a writer of books and articles.

He is now participating in the leading role of Sir Robert Chiltern, in the production of An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde at Firehall Theatre.

You are warmly invited to the Fall 2022 edition of Communication Speaks! The in-person event takes place at 1:00 pm on Wednesday November 30^th in EV1 and features two recent additions to our department: Dr. Mina Momeni and Dr. Reuben Martens.

On October 11th, Toronto’s Studio 180- named after the University of Waterloo’s black box theatre in Hagey Hall, announced that artistic director, Joel Greenberg will be retiring after the current 2022/23 season.

The Theatre and Performance program is excited to announce that Award-winning Canadian director and actor, Tanja Jacobs is directing the Fall Production, 

EVERYBODY by Black American playwright, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

EVERYBODY is a fourth wall defying contemporary adaptation of the 15th-century morality play, EVERYMAN. Jacobs-Jenkins’ secular take on the idea of morality and the journey to one’s demise is brilliantly written as a comedic adventure to the afterlife, where the protagonist, EVERYBODY, must answer to DEATH and bring a presentation of their life to GOD. EVERYBODY, terrified of completing this endeavour alone, seeks out the help of various figures in their life to accompany them into the unknown potential afterlife.

Gerald Voorhees is the principle applicant on a successful SSHRC Connections Grant, “ADE for Games Communities: Enculturing anti-racism, decolonization, equity, diversity, and inclusion (ADE) in games research and creation” that has been awarded $47,300. The grant will fund a year-long knowledge mobilization initiative in collaboration with the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo that consists of a series of 8 speakers and 8 workshophanas (including in-person and online events) taking place over the course of the 2023 academic year. 

The Theatre and Performance program is excited to announce that Ontario-based multi- disciplinary theatre artist, Liza Balkan, is the director of our winter production of Mustard  by

“I love the balance of having a semester where I can study a variety of subjects that will go towards my majors and minors.”

Over the lockdown(s), the Humanities Theatre in Hagey Hall quietly changed hands from being centrally managed for all its years of operation to Faculty of Arts management. Given its location and name, many might have assumed the theatre had always lived under the administrative umbrella of Arts, but that’s not the case — until now.

Dr. Lennart Nacke, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Arts and of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Director of the HCI Games Group, was awarded $350,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in the Active and Assisted Living Program as a Canadian partner to fund EXERGETIC, a research program aiming to develop innovative digital solutions that utilize exercise games (Exergames) to improve physical and cognitive functions. EXERGETIC researchers will create exergame training experiences in an ecologically valid and safe setting for geriatric populations, called the ExerCube.