Research Areas

Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies offers three strongly interconnected areas of focus—studies, production, and curation/programming.  The curriculum is designed to stimulate inventive dialogue in ways that ensure their respective influence, and open access to multiple disciplinary formations, primarily based in arts, humanities and creative practice methods and theories. This collaborative tripartite structure is not offered in any other film, media, cinema, art or communication Master’s or PhD program in Ontario.

Archives, Curation and Remediation

We study the practices, material histories and politics of the preservation and digitization of film, video, audio and new media. We develop methods and processes to ensure media are preserved and made available according to culturally specific and ethically driven forms of access, thus engaging in new conversations about cultural heritage.  Curatorial and programming practices build access to media archives. We study “born digital media” alongside a variety of “obsolete” and analog media, all of which share their own kinds of material histories and ecologies. We have expertise in community archives and artist-run-centres, Indigenous, women’s, Canadian and LGBTQ+ collections.

Faculty members: Tamara de Szegheo Lang; Susan Lord; Scott MacKenzie; Gabriel Menotti.

Curatorial Studies

Curatorial studies is an embryonic discipline, given curating’s brief history as a vocation and set of methods and practices. We approach "the curatorial" as a mediator of art’s public dimension and explore it as a tool of cultural agency. Research involves both project-based experimentation and analyzing diverse perspectives toward the critical examination of curating in the material and virtual spaces it activates.

Faculty members:  Sojung Bahng; Alicia Boutilier; Tamara de Szegheo Lang; Jenn Kennedy; Sunny Kerr; Gabriel Menotti.

Environmental Film and Media

Environmental film and media undertakes of the critical examination of works that address global concerns such as climate change, resource extraction, land claims, and the way in which film and media mediate these crises. We examine activism media, works produced by NGOs, experimental media, data visualization, documentaries and other forms of work that engage with the environment. We are guided by Indigenous cosmologies, and decolonial approaches to environmental issues in Canada specifically. We also have faculty members who are creative practitioners in environmental media.

Faculty members: Mél Hogan, Scott MacKenzie, Weixian Pan.

Experimental Media

Experimental media engages with the theory and practice of a wide range of alternative and experimental production, with expertise in both historical and contemporary forms from a global perspective. Particular strengths include experimental animation, video and digital media, VR/VR, experimental film and media history, Canadian experimental media, non-narrative works, and nonsense.

Faculty members: Sojung Bahng; Gary Kibbins; Scott MacKenzie, Dorit Naaman; Jenn E Norton; Emily Pelstring; Matt Rogalsky.

Film, Media and Performance Studies

We approach performance, media, and film from myriad perspectives. Scholarship, creation, and/or curation include: live performance with technology, performance as approach to film and/or media, performativity of self through media, the performance of media and/or technology, theatre and media/film/technology, media installation as performance, performances as representation in media, and documenting performance.

Faculty members: Sojung Bahng; Eric Chalfant; Gabriel Menotti; Ali Na; Emily Pelstring; Ian Robinson; Matt Rogalsky.

Film, Media and Screen Cultures

Film, Media and Screen Cultures links the three of adjacent disciplines in the Department: film and media studies and, more generally, the study of screen cultures, film and media production, and curatorial studies and practice. We encourage work has connections across multiple areas of the program, but it is not required that applicants’ work spans both screen cultures and curatorial studies.

Faculty members: Sojung Bahng; Karine Bertrand; Eric Chalfant; Tamara de Szegheo Lang; Mél Hogan; Gary Kibbins; Susan Lord; Scott MacKenzie; Gabriel Menotti; Ali Na; Dorit Naaman; Emily Pelstring; Weixan Pan; Ian Robinson; Dan Vena.

Feminist, Critical Race, Indigenous and LGBTQ2+ Screen Cultures

Film, Media and Screen Cultures are examined from Feminist, Critical Race, Indigenous and LGBTQ2+ perspectives, often using intersectional approaches. We study the politics of representation in media and cultural texts, acknowledging the historical formations, responses and critiques of mainstream culture, as well as independent production and self-representation.

Faculty members: Karine Bertrand; Tamara de Szegheo Lang; Mél Hogan; Susan Lord; Scott MacKenzie; Ali Na; Dorit Naaman; Emily Pelstring, Dan Vena.

Historical and Contemporary Film and Media

The study of different modes of expression across the history of cinema and other technical media, attentive to their underlying social, economic, political, and material conditions. Encompass pre-modern forms and practices, stretching far back into the “deep time” of media, as well as the new ones emerging within computational and networked communication systems.

Faculty members: Karine Bertrand; Eric Chalfant; Tamara de Szegheo Lang; Susan Lord; Scott MacKenzie; Gabriel Menotti; Ali Na; Dorit Naaman; Ian Robinson; Dan Vena.

Moving Image Production (Narrative, Documentary, Experimental, Animation, Open Media)

We approach production of media from within a Research-Creation framework, producing creative work in tandem with intellectual/critical writing. Our focus is on producing artwork that expands the range of generic conventions, pushes open new perspectives, and offer multi-and cross-media experiences when appropriate.  

Faculty members: Sojung Bahng; Adonay Guerrero Cortes; Gary Kibbins; Gabriel Menotti; Dorit Naaman; Emily Pelstring; Matt Rogalsky.

National Cinemas, Cultural Institutions and Curatorial Events

A critical focus on national cinemas and institutional funding and distribution structures, from national funding agencies, film festivals, art galleries and national competitions. We have experts in the cinemas and media cultures of Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Korea, Palestine, Quebec, Scandinavia, the UK, the USA, as well as expertise in regional cinemas and media more broadly.

Faculty members: Karine Bertrand; Frank Burke; Alicia Boutilier; Jen Hosek; Jenn Kennedy; Sunny Kerr; Susan Lord; Scott MacKenzie; Gabriel Menotti; Ali Na; Dorit Naaman; Ian Robinson; Dan Vena.