Culture Fest Celebrates Student Research

Undergraduate students from a range of culture-related programs in the Faculty of Arts gathered on March 5 for Culture Fest, to share research that they had completed for one of their classes. There were 10 presentations, spanning a great variety of topics including Polish horror cinema, the policing of Hijab, the collective memory of the Salvadoran diaspora, and China beyond the headlines. Each student had three minutes, supported by two slides, to explain their research, followed by time for questions from a receptive audience. The presentations were rich and diverse, prompting lively discussions during the informal social time that concluded the event.

Culture Fest was organized this year by Alicia Batten (Religious Studies) and Joan Coutu (Fine Arts), and in earlier years by Jeremy Bergen (Religious Studies) and Bojana Videkanic (Fine Arts), with support from a variety of faculty members in Arts programs, as well as the Departments of Fine Arts, Religious Studies, and Conrad Grebel University College.  After three successful years, the organizers plan to keep Culture Fest going, as it is important to share and celebrate some of the wonderful research that undergraduates are doing. Here is a list of this year’s participants and their topics.

Salma Aldeeb – (Religion, Culture, and Spirituality/Studies in Islamic and Arab Cultures)“The Policing of Hijab through Gendered Islamophobia and its Colonial Roots”

Natalie Conrad – (Religion, Culture, and Spirituality) "Killed as a Jew, Canonized as a Catholic: The Contested Martyrdom of Edith Stein"

Amelia Mara Dreyer - (Medieval Studies) “DRAGEN Tales: Making Research Accessible”

 Serin Enver - (Visual Culture) “Public Assistance for Artistic Creation: The Ontario Arts Council”

Emma Liske - (Cultural Identities) “Transcultural Identity and Indigenous Relationality in Braiding Sweetgrass”

Yvonne Ly - (East Asian Studies) "China Beyond the Headlines: Deconstructing the Western Lens"

Tessa Nazaruk - (Visual Culture)  “Religion, Folklore and Unconscious Fear in Polish Horror Cinema”

 Mia Rose Paolo - (Music)  “Changing Perspectives on Music and Culture”

Madelynne Parish – (Classical Studies) “Weaving Epic Threads: Creative Engagement with the Ancient World”

 Anjelina Ramirez-Biggar - (Spanish and Latin American Studies) “Where is My Heart? The Salvadoran Diaspora's Collective Memory and Disjoint”

Watch for Culture Fest 2027 next March!