Monday, November 17, 2025

The work of art in postcolonial imagination: Notes towards globalizing curriculum and aesthetics with Dr. Cameron McCarthy

Wednesday, November 19th聽(Azrieli Pavilion room 238, 2:00 to 3:30 PM); Dr. Cameron McCarthy will deliver a talk entitled, "The work of art in postcolonial imagination: Notes towards globalizing curriculum and aesthetics." Dr. McCarthy's talk will explore the significance of postcolonial art for thinking about the challenges of modern life and the... More

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

An RMPP Dialogue: Filmmaker and Geographer Dr. Brett Story and Dr. Malini Guha

Please join us for a dialogue between filmmaker and geographer Dr. Brett Story and Professor Malini Guha on the subject of geographical filmmaking and thinking. The event will include a screening of Story鈥檚 renowned short film, Camperforce (2017) and a Q&A to follow the dialogue on Thursday, September 25th at 5:30 in Tory Building,... More

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Memorial Gathering for Mark Salber Phillips

Faculty, former students and those who worked with Mark are invited to a memorial gathering for Mark Salber Phillips (1946-2024), who was an esteemed member of 杏吧原创鈥檚 History Department and Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture. The event will take place at the 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre on Saturday,... More

Thursday, January 23, 2025

ICSLAC Remembers Dr. Mark Phillips (1946-2024)

We mourn the death of Mark Salber Phillips, who died peacefully in Toronto on December 30. His death ended a life devoted to teaching, historical research and writing, and a politics of social justice. Equally important to him were his wife Ruth and his daughters Sarah Casteel and Emma Phillips, whom he loved and... More

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Philip Kaisary, From Havana to Hollywood, Slave Resistance in the Cinematic Imaginary

Please join us on聽Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 6 p.m. at Wise Town Caf茅 to celebrate the release of Philip Kaisary鈥檚 new book, From Havana to Hollywood. Philip Kaisary is the current holder of the Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship in Cultural Mediations and will be in conversation with Adrian Harewood, Stacy Douglas and... More

Monday, June 24, 2024

CHARACTERS: A (mostly) One-Person Show by Jesse Stewart

June 27-29, 2024 7:30 Thursday-Saturday Join award-winning interdisciplinary artist Jesse Stewart for a one-person show that weaves together storytelling and music to celebrate individuals who have left an indelible mark on the playwright鈥檚 life. With a blend of humour, emotion, and introspection, each character comes to life through engaging... More

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Dr. Birgit Hopfener Publishes Article in Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual Journal

Professor Birgit Hopfener's co-edited special issue Towards a Multi-Temporal Pluriverse of Art. Decolonizing聽Universalized Historiographic and Temporal Frameworks聽on 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual . Dr. Hopfener's work is the outcome of the Ruth and Mark Phillip... More

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Exhibition opening reception for Weaving Together: The Art of Shirley Bear curated by the 2024 cohort of the Curatorial Studies 5002 seminar

Please join us for a vernissage on Monday, 22 April 2024, 1:00pm for opening remarks and light refreshments in MacOdrum Library, Room 252 to celebrate the opening of Weaving Together: The Art of Shirley Bear curated by the 2024 cohort of the Curatorial Studies 5002 seminar. Weaving Together: The Art of Shirley Bear Curatorial... More

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Sarah Phillips Casteel, Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art Release

Please join us on聽Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm EST聽to celebrate the release of Sarah Phillips Casteel鈥檚 new book,聽Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art. Phillips Casteel will be in conversation with Aboubakar Sanogo and the conversation will be moderated by Ming Tiampo. The event will... More

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

2024 Chris Faulkner Lecture in Cultural Mediations: Immediacy, Or the Style of Too Late Capitalism

We are pleased to announce the 2024 Chris Faulkner Lecture in Cultural Mediations, titled Immediacy, Or the Style of Too Late Capitalism, presented by Dr. Anna Kornbluh (University of Illinois Chicago) on Thursday, April 18th, 2024, in Paterson Hall, 303 from 5 - 7 pm. Q & A to follow. Organized by Dr. Philip... More

Monday, March 18, 2024

Canadian Studies Research Talk – Assembled Bodies: Museum Curation as Apparatus of Bodily Production in Canada and the United Kingdom

PhD Cultural Mediations Candidate Casey Gray will present a Canadian Studies Research Talk titled Assembled Bodies: Museum Curation as Apparatus of Bodily Production in Canada and the United Kingdom on March 20th at 2:30 pm in Dunton Tower 1216. This presentation examines the curatorial decision-making process made by museums to display or not... More

Monday, March 18, 2024

Talk & Book Launch: Andrew Gayed, Queer World Making: Contemporary Middle Eastern Diasporic Art

The Centre for Transnational Cultural Analysis (CTCA) presents聽Talk & Book Launch:聽Andrew Gayed,聽Queer World Making: Contemporary Middle Eastern Diasporic Art聽on聽Thursday, March 21, 2024 6:30 pm 鈥� 8pm at Club SAW聽(67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa) . Doors open at 6pm, Free event organized by the Centre for Transnational Cultural Analysis... More

Friday, March 1, 2024

2024 Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship (RMPP) Lecture by Dr. Auritro Majumder

For the 2024 Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship (RMPP) Lecture, Dr. Philip Kaisary welcomes Dr. Auritro Majumder, University of Houston, for his talk entitled 鈥�(Third) World Literature and Decolonization: Humanist Internationalism and Contemporary Literary Studies." Please join us聽on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024, in Patterson 303. Doors... More

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Rebecca Friend Writes Article for Muse

Curatorial Studies graduate, instructor, and Ph.D. candidate in Public History, Rebecca Friend, wrote for the Canadian Museums Association鈥檚 magazine, Muse. The article, 鈥淐onsidering Children in Museums鈥� is available... More

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Virtual Book Talk: Black Lives Under Nazism

Join Montreal Holocaust Museum online on February 28th at 12 PM EST for a riveting and enlightening virtual book talk, 鈥淏lack Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art,鈥� as part of our Black History Month celebrations. Led by the esteemed Sarah Phillips Casteel, author of this groundbreaking book, professor of English... More

Monday, February 12, 2024

Congratulations Dr. Anna Paluch!

Congratulations to Dr. Anna Paluch on the successful January 15, 2024, defence of her dissertation, titled, From Turtle Island to Vistula鈥檚 Shores: Indigenous North American and Eastern European Futurisms in Dialogue. The project was supervised by Dr. Allan Ryan (ICSLAC, 杏吧原创 University). Visit Dr. Paluch鈥檚 profile for more information on... More

Monday, February 12, 2024

Congratulations Dr. Jessica Marino!

Congratulations to Dr. Jessica Marino on the successful December 6th, 2024 defence of her dissertation, titled, Holocaust Memory, Aesthetics and the Dictatorships of the Southern Cone of Latin America: Interconnecting Memories and Traumas. The project was supervised by Dr. Sarah Casteel (ICSLAC, 杏吧原创 University). Visit Dr. Marino鈥檚 profile... More

Monday, February 12, 2024

Congratulations to Sarah Phillips Casteel on the release of her new book, Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art!

In a little-known chapter of World War II, Black people living in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe were subjected to ostracization, forced sterilization, and incarceration in internment and concentration camps. In the absence of public commemoration, African diaspora writers and artists have preserved the stories of these forgotten victims of the... More

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Brand new to the SUNY Press: Dr. Philip Kaisary’s book, From Havana to Hollywood

From Havana to Hollywood聽examines the presence or absence of Black resistance to slavery in feature films produced in either Havana or Hollywood鈥攊ncluding Gillo Pontecorvo's聽Burn!, neglected masterpieces by Cuban auteurs Tom谩s Guti茅rrez Alea and Sergio Giral, and Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning聽12 Years a Slave. Philip Kaisary argues that,... More

Monday, January 15, 2024

Graduate Diploma in Curatorial Studies Info Session

We are hosting a hybrid Information Session for聽Curatorial Studies聽interdisciplinary 3-credit graduate diploma. Our program can be combined with many of 杏吧原创鈥檚 MA and PhD programs or taken on its own. We hope that you will join us on Friday, January 19th at 2 pm in St. Patrick鈥檚 room 201D. Interested applicants may also email... More

Monday, January 8, 2024

Scaffold: Journal for the Institute of Comparative Studies in Literature, Arts and Culture Vol. 1 No. 1

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023): The Cultural Inbetween: Exploring Distinctions Between Popular, High, and Low Culture 2023-12-22 With this inaugural issue, we are pleased to launch an exciting new era for the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture (ICSLAC) community! Scaffold: the Journal for the Institute for Comparative Studies in... More

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Call For Papers – The Scholarly In-Between: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Culture, Literature, and the Humanities

This one-day Zoom conference aims to explore the challenges, rewards and necessities of working between fields, and the ways in which such an approach can reinvigorate the humanities for our times. One of the promises of interdisciplinary research is the potential to pull pre-existing but independent fields into productive conversation with one... More

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

2023 Chris Faulkner Lecture: Dr. Mieke Bal, 鈥淯npacking: concepts and artworks speaking together鈥�

The聽Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture (ICSLAC) is delighted to announce that the 2023 Chris Faulkner Lecture in Cultural Mediations will be delivered by distinguished cultural theorist Dr. Mieke Bal,聽professor at the University of Amsterdam.聽This year's lecture is聽also held in celebration of Dr. Ruth Phillips, on... More

Monday, October 2, 2023

New Book on Toronto鈥檚 Casa Loma Co-Edited by Michael Windover

Professor Michael Windover鈥檚 book聽Casa Loma:聽Millionaires, Medievalism, and Modernity in Toronto鈥檚 Gilded Age, co-edited with Matthew M. Reeve, was recently released by McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press. From the publisher: Leading architect E.J. Lennox designed Casa Loma for the flamboyant Sir Henry Pellatt and Mary, Lady Pellatt as an... More

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

RMPP Film Club and Reading Group

Dear ICSLAC community, You are cordially invited to join us every second Wednesday beginning on September 13th from 2:30-5:30 pm at St. Pats 201D for our new RMPP Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship) film club series titled "Cinema of the World System: Rethinking 'Law and Film,'" hosted by Dr. Philip Kaisary. The first gathering... More

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Congratulations to SSHRC 2022 Winners

Congratulations to ICSLAC cross-appointed faculty members who have recently received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight grant awards. Ming Tiampo (Art History), 鈥淢obile Subjects, Contrapuntal Modernisms鈥� 鈥� Collaborators: Eva Bentcheva, Liz Bruchet, Joshua Cohen, Susan A.R. Collins, Paul Goodwin, Michele Greet,... More

Friday, June 30, 2023

Cultural Mediations Doctoral Student Xiaofan Wu Awarded a Sigg Fellowship for Chinese Art Research

Congratulations to Cultural Mediations doctoral student Xiaofan Wu聽who, together with co-members of the Shanghai-based Grey Matter research group, was awarded a Sigg Fellowship-for Chinese art research! Awarded by Hong Kong鈥檚 M+ Global Museum of Visual Art Culture, the fellowship 鈥渟upports new research on Chinese art in dialogue with the M+... More

Friday, June 16, 2023

Patricia B茅rub茅 Awarded Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement

ICSLAC is tremendously proud to share the announcement of a聽Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement being award to Dr. Patricia B茅rub茅, a recent graduate from the Cultural Mediations PhD program. Co-supervised by Professors聽Jesse Stewart and Lois Frankel, Patricia鈥檚 doctoral dissertation focused on developing multi-sensory... More

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

ICSLAC faculty member and Cultural Mediations alumnae and one ICSLAC faculty member recognized by the Canadian Historical Association with a Clio Prize (North) and Indigenous History Book Prize

Congratulations to 杏吧原创 professor Dr. Carol Payne (SSAC/ICSLAC) and Cultural Mediations Alumnae Drs. Annette de Stecher and Christina Williamson, whose publications received recognition from the Canadian Historical Association (CHA). Drs. Carol Payne and Christina Williamson are the recipients of a CHA Clio Award (North) for their... More

Thursday, April 20, 2023

2023 Interface Graduate Conference: The Cultural Inbetween (April 27, virtual event)

ICSLAC is delighted to announce聽the 2023 Interface Graduate Conference, to be held virtually on April 27. The Cultural Inbetween: Exploring Distinctions Within聽Popular, High and Low Culture聽seeks to draw together interdisciplinary presentations to create a generative and multidisciplinary understanding of popular culture. Presentations of 15... More

Monday, April 17, 2023

Anne Meredith Barry: Force of Nature exhibition at MacOdrum library

Curatorial Studies seminar students invite all to visit a captivating exhibition,聽Anne Meredith Barry: Force of Nature, presented on the main floor of MacOdrum聽Library (the large wall nearest the big windows, to the left of the main doors) from April 11 to May 30, 2023.聽 The exhibition features聽selected prints聽by the renowned... More

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Celebrating the Retirement of Ruth B. Phillips

In honour of our esteemed colleague Ruth B. Phillips, her years of knowledge production and committed service, members from the departments of Art and Architecture History, the Institute of Comparative Studies in Literature, Arts and Culture and other former collaborators pay tribute to Dr. Ruth B. Phillips with a special online Festschrift as a... More

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Distinguished cultural theorist Dr. Mieke Bal to deliver the 2023 Chris Faulkner Lecture

The聽Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture (ICSLAC) is delighted to announce that the 2023 Chris Faulkner Lecture in Cultural Mediations will be delivered by distinguished cultural theorist Dr. Mieke Bal,聽professor emerita at the University of Amsterdam. 鈥淯npacking: concepts and artworks speaking together鈥� 聽Dr.... More

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Welcoming Sigrid Thomsen to ICSLAC!

ICSLAC would like to extend a warm welcome to Sigrid Thomsen! Sigrid Thomsen is a visiting PhD student at ICSLAC. She is doing a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Vienna, where she is writing a dissertation on imaginative mobilities in Caribbean diaspora literature. She holds an MA in Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia)... More

Friday, March 24, 2023

Welcoming Rui Ji to ICSLAC!

ICSLAC would like to extend a warm welcome to Rui Ji! Rui is a scholar of art history and an artist. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Bologna. Her main area of research is the history of Chinese artists' exhibitions at the Venice Biennale from a cross-cultural perspective. Based on Asac... More