Jessica Thompson, MFA | Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business

Jessica Thompson is an Associate Professor of Hybrid Media at the University of Waterloo and Director of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. Her artistic research investigates the ways that sound reveals spatial and social conditions within cities, and how the creative use of urban data can generate new modes of citizen engagement. She has been making interactive artworks since 2003.

Her projects have shown in exhibitions and festivals such as the International Symposium of Electronic Art (San Jose, Dubai, Vancouver), the Conflux Festival (New York), Thinking Metropolis (Copenhagen), Beyond/In Western New York (Buffalo), New Interfaces in Musical Expression (Oslo), Artists’ Walks (New York), Locus Sonus (Aix-en-Provence), the Art Gallery of Windsor Triennial (Windsor), InterACTION (Kitchener), HASTAC (Vancouver), Re:Sound (Aalborg), Entorno Encuentro Exploración (Pamplona) The Politics of Sound (Lethbridge) and CAFKA (Kitchener-Waterloo). She has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Government of Ontario.

Prior to joining the Stratford School in 2013, she held administrative and managerial positions in both the corporate and not-for-profits sectors, including academic administration, marketing and fundraising, and project management. At Stratford, she served as Associate Director, Undergraduate from 2015-2016, and Associate Director, Graduate from 2018-2020. She is a founding member of the University of Waterloo's Black Faculty Collective and a member of the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-racism Office's Sankofa Think Tank.