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Welcoming more Black and Indigenous excellence
This article was originally published by the Faculty of Arts.
The Dean of Arts, along with members of the departments of Communication Arts, English, Philosophy, and Political Science, are very pleased to welcome four new faculty members who join Waterloo as part of the Black Excellence and Indigenous Excellence hiring initiative.
“I’m so delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the Faculty of Arts,” says Sheila Ager, Dean of Arts. “The Indigenous Excellence and Black Excellence hiring initiative marked a significant step for the University of Waterloo in recognizing our responsibility to shape a more equitable and inclusive academic community. We still have a long way to go in our journey toward greater diversity in our Faculty and in our goal of institutional decolonization. But our four new colleagues, through the substantive contributions they have made and will continue to make in scholarship, practice, and teaching, already show how much richer our community becomes with diverse membership. So, a warm welcome to Jay, Laura Mae, Rowland, and Paul!”
Jay Havens
Professor Jay Havens, (BFA 2008 University of British Columbia, MFA 2016 Emily Carr University of Art and Design) joined the Department of Communication Arts as Assistant Professor on January 1, 2023. A member of the Six Nations of the Grand River and of Kanien’keha:ka and Scottish Canadian ancestry, Havens is a multi-media 2-Spirit artist-practitioner and scholar. Their research and teaching interests intersect Indigenous studies; historical, cultural, and linguistic identities; business and entrepreneurship; technology and design; as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Their artistic background is strongly rooted in critical design-practice, working in the world of professional theatre and contemporary art, paired with expertise in scenography and storytelling. More broadly, Havens is a communication scholar with interest in making critical and conceptual interventions, which are deeply rooted in their historical and cultural identities. Within the Department of Communication Arts, Havens will contribute to the programs of Theatre & Performance, Communication Arts and Design Practice, and Digital Arts Communication.
Laura Mae Lindo
Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, (BA 1998 University of Toronto, MEd 2005 PhD 2011, York University), joins the Department of Philosophy on July 1, 2023. Lindo has extensive experience in post-secondary teaching, senior academic leadership, and high impact public service as a Member of Provincial Parliament and Official Opposition Critic for both Colleges and Universities and Anti-Racism and Equity, and was the inaugural Chair of the Ontario NDP's Black Caucus. In her previous work, she developed expertise in knowledge mobilization, public engagement, and conducting research with an applied and public-facing focus.
She has an exciting research plan, including a project on anti-racism in education, a proposed Critical Race Institute, and planned book project on being Black in politics. She has served as Director of Diversity and Equity at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she also taught courses in Women and Gender Studies and in the Faculty of Arts. Lindo’s forthcoming book has the working title, Unthinkable Laughter: (Re)Imagining Anti-Racist Education (University of Toronto Press). She brings to Philosophy programs, which include the Gender and Social Justice and the PhD in Applied Philosophy, scholarly, pedagogical, and practical expertise in philosophy of education, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of race.
Rowland Keshena Robinson
Dr. Rowland Keshena Robinson, (BA 2010, MA 2011, PhD 2020 University of Waterloo), joined the Department of Political Science as Assistant Professor on August 1, 2022. Rowland is Menominee and was born and raised in Bermuda. Their research has concerned itself with issues Native identity and what it means to be “authentically” Native, as well as the conspicuous consumption of Native story-telling in the post-Truth and Reconciliation era and the role of Nativeness within settler-colonial ideological, narrative, and meaning-making systems.
In addition, Rowland has interests in critical and postmodern theory, contemporary decolonial thought, critical legal studies, race/racialization, continental/post-continental philosophy, sovereignty, political economy, and autoethnographic and decolonizing methodologies. Currently Rowland is working on multiple analyses of the form and origin of historical and contemporary fascism in North America and the meaning of such movements considering existing settler colonialism and white supremacy, as well as the intersections of such movements with postmodern meme culture and post-truth politics, and the possibility of such forces to violently rupture into the off-line world.
Paul Ugor
Dr. Paul Ugor, (BA 1996 University of Calabar, Nigeria, MA 2002 University of Ibadan, Nigeria, PhD 2009 University of Alberta), joined the Department of English Language and Literature as full Professor on January 1, 2023. Ugor’s research and teaching interests are concerned with new social processes—in global politics, the economy, information and communication technologies, cultural/textual representations, and in everyday life—and the social responses which these social changes elicit, especially from marginal groups like youth and women in postcolonial settings.
Ugor specializes in 20th and 21st century postcolonial anglophone world literature; African literature and cinema; African popular culture; cultural theory; media cultures in the global south; and postcolonial theory. He is the author of Nollywood: Popular Culture and New Narratives of Marginalized Youth in Nigeria as well as nearly twenty articles and chapters, and three edited collections. Ugor is well positioned to teach numerous existing courses, including Global Literatures, Race and Literary Tradition, as well as contribute to the revision of survey courses on historical literatures around the world, and integrate Black rhetorical and literary traditions as part of needed curricular development.
Have your say in the Inclusive Physical Space Framework Survey
The University of Waterloo is conducting a survey of our physical campus environment – grounds, buildings, infrastructure, and experiences of the Waterloo community.
We would like to understand your views on how you experience the UWaterloo campus and how we might improve its physical accessibility, how it can be designed to promote health and well-being, and how sustainable development continues on campus.
Your feedback will help to develop an Inclusive Physical Space Design Framework, a performance-based, open-resource document used to guide and empower post-secondary institutions to plan and build physical spaces on campus, address accessibility needs, environmental sustainability, and well-being.
Have your say in the Inclusive Physical Space Framework Survey. You also have the opportunity to be included in a draw for $50.00 on a WatCard.
This survey will be collecting responses until midnight on April 21, 2023.
Participation is voluntary and responses will be kept confidential. Public reports will include only summarized results, ensuring that no individual can be identified.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact us at inclusive.space@uwaterloo.ca.
Schedule now available for Teaching and Learning Conference
A message from the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE).
The 14th annual University of Waterloo Teaching and Learning Conference is set to take place on Thursday, May 4 in the Science Teaching Complex and Federation Hall.
The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) has announced that the 2023 Conference Schedule is now available. The schedule for the day of pre-conference workshops, taking place on Wednesday, May 3, is also now available.
To register, please visit the Conference Registration webpage.
The 2023 conference theme is Teaching and Learning with Kindness and Care. We are excited to welcome Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall, Professor in the Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences Program, and Director, PhD Studies, in the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, at Trent University, as our keynote speaker, as well as Sanjeev Bedi (Professor and Director, IDEAs Clinic) and Tamara Maciel (Program Director in the School of Anatomy), who will each recreate a successful instructional approach in our Igniting Our Practice plenary session, which showcases some of the excellent teaching being done on our campus.
The registration deadline is Wednesday, April 19.
W Store launches Nesting Season Collection
A message from Print + Retail Solutions.
Each year, W Store releases a goose-inspired collection to celebrate the return of the University’s iconic geese during the beginning of nesting season starting in April. A campus-wide design contest was held for students, faculty, staff and alumni to submit an original design to represent the geese at Waterloo.
The top submissions were featured on an Instagram poll for voting and the winning design was done by Roni Wu, a third-year computer science student, who enjoys digital art as a hobby.
The Nesting Season collection allows University students, staff and faculty to take home a piece of campus life – goose included. The collection includes a tee shirt, tote bag, pin, mug, and postcard, alongside other goose-inspired campus favourites. The full collection is now available in-store and online.
I Don't Know It Lights Up Or Something and other illuminating info
The final show for the interdisciplinary Tech Art course is happening in the coming week in East Campus Hall.
The Tech Art course has been running on and off for almost 20 years now, with various different instructors over the years, and has been offered to a mixed group of undergraduates completing their 3rd and 4th years across Engineering, Fine Art, and (occasionally) Knowledge Integration. The course has been offered as a technical elective for Engineering students and was recently revamped with the help of the team at the Pearl Sullivan Engineering Ideas Clinic.
"The final show has been hosted in a variety of locations across KW, including at the Artery gallery when it was downtown, at Communitech, in the SLC Multipurpose Room, the DC fishbowl, and now (for the first time) in the Fine Arts area of ECH," writes Dr. Brandon DeHart, who co-teaches the course. "Over the years, the groups have been made up of anywhere from 3 to 8 students for the final projects and have ranged from a wall-sized Etch-A-Sketch to a zen garden inside an arcade machine to a steampunk garden to entire rooms of lights, sounds, and smells that transport the audience to other places, times, and embodied emotions."
The exhibition features work by students Aashan Meiyappan, Abby Chan, Ali Zaidi, Audicy Giroux, Behnaz Fatemi, Bennet J Pincus, Bonnie Li, Courtney Loui, David Nguyen, Diana Zhang, Elizabeth Drew, Erin Ly, Haochen Shen, Hari Selvarasa, Jakob Zerbs, Jason He, Jennifer He, Johyeon Lee, Kaaru Selvarasa, Kate Leung, Kayley Ting, Leah Veldhuis, Lucas Dondertman, Lyn Michelle Cruz, Mai Nguyen, Martin Naud, Natalie Szwec, Nathan Allen, Noah Luyt, Quinn Hodges, Rock Benjamins-Laniyi, Rosemarie Miles, Saif Hafeez, Samantha Tu, Steven Wang, Thomas Zerbs, Thompson Nguyen, Tristan Gervais, Vanessa Noia, Wen Li and Yuyao Cheng.
Opening night is Thursday, April 6 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and the exhibition is available for public viewing from April 10 to April 12, 12 noon to 6:00 p.m. in the Flex Studio (Room 1237) of East Campus Hall.
While we're on the topic of all things artistic, the Fine Arts program is showcasing the Fine Arts MFA thesis work of two graduate students next week: Christine De Vuono and Sarah Martin.
Christine De Vuono
Care Packages
Care Packages is a series of textile installations that focus on elements of caregiving: caring for the sick and elderly; caring for those growing into new identities or life situations; and caring for each other in times of distress or loneliness. Sourcing materials from local thrift stores, I repurpose scrubs worn by caregivers, tablecloths and lace decorations, bedsheets, and pillowcases, to symbolize our universal need for care, safety, and intimacy. As cultural signifiers these second-hand textiles are meant to evoke the feminine, since the act of caregiving has been traditionally performed by women. Through my artwork I celebrate women of the past and the present, inviting all, regardless of gender, to embrace the labours that lead to a healthy and resilient society.
Christine De Vuono is a multimedia artist working with drawing, sculpture, collage, installation, and photography. The materials of each project are chosen specifically to engage viewers in new ways to examine societal norms and values. Her work utilises antiquated practices and mindful labour, emphasising the disparity between past traditions and present efficiencies. Often focusing on the transitions we face in life, her work celebrates the needs of the psyche for beloved care and lived beauty.
Sarah Martin
Something to soften the blow
Something to soften the blow is an installation incorporating textile, photography, and video to challenge the horror genre and the concept of the Final Girl. The research leading to this body of work critically explores tropes and traditions of slasher films, specifically looking at the first victim, to consider notions of consumption and disposability, and how this relates to narratives concerning gender, sexism, and race.
Sarah Martin works in a photo-based practice to investigate pop culture and media through a critical feminist lens. Themes of her current work consider the vernacular of the horror genre through manipulating archives of film footage and performing death in staged photographs. Alongside her studio work is an active interest in curatorial practices, most recently curating work at the Homer Watson House and Gallery, Marilyn I. Walker Gallery, and Rodman Hall Art Centre.
The exhibition runs from April 13 to 29. The opening reception will take place at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery on Thursday, April 13 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Finally, tonight marks the Jewish holiday of Passover, which commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian captivity as told in scriptures. Passover is celebrated with seder meals, candle-lighting, songs, and the eating of matzah. This year, Passover is observed from April 5 to April 13.