1. Storytelling, Community, and Covid-19
The project, "Storytelling, Community, and COVID-19," examines how creative practices—particularly documentary cinema and photography—engage experiences of memory, trauma, and cultural documentation during the pandemic. The primary objective is to develop a multimodal documentary and research archive that foregrounds marginalized perspectives, with particular attention to women and female creatives. Drawing on documentary film, photography, and other audiovisual and digital media produced during and after COVID-19, the project undertakes a comparative, transnational analysis (in English or translation) of how trauma is narrated, mediated, and archived. Key questions include: What narrative and visual strategies shape COVID-19 storytelling? How do these works register experiences of marginalization, including racialized and gendered responses to the pandemic? How does pandemic storytelling compare to cultural responses to earlier crises (e.g., 9/11, world wars)? The project combines critical analysis with media-based research outputs. It contributes to scholarship on life writing, visual culture, and digital memory practices, while also producing publicly accessible materials that document and interpret pandemic experience.
Research area, student roles & skills
Research area: My research examines modern documentary arts, literature, and culture, with particular emphasis on cultural biography and research-creation projects across disciplines. I explore how narrative, visual media, and archival practices intersect in the production and circulation of cultural memory. My work brings together cultural history, life writing, and media analysis, with a focus on how creative practices document and reinterpret lived experience. As Director of the Modern Literature and Culture (MLC) Research Centre, I foreground marginalized perspectives, including those of women, Black, Indigenous, and newcomer communities, while supporting research-creation initiatives and curating collaborative creative projects, including those emerging from the pandemic.
Student roles:
The MITACS student will contribute to multiple aspects of the "Storytelling, Community, and COVID-19" project, combining research, analysis, and media production.
Core responsibilities include researching and synthesizing a wide range of materials related to COVID-19 experiences, including scholarly work, documentary film, personal narratives, photography, and digital media. The student will develop structured multimodal entries that document these materials, identify their formal and thematic features, and situate them within broader cultural and historical contexts.
The student will also play an active role in the project’s media outputs, including curated digital content, short-form documentary materials, and video essays that engage key themes of memory, trauma, and self-representation. This includes contributing to practice-based and research-creation components of the project, with attention to audiovisual storytelling, editing, and narrative construction. The work may involve comparative and transnational perspectives on documentary practices, including attention to filmmaker-driven approaches and questions of subjectivity and representation.
Additional responsibilities include writing and fact-checking to ensure clarity, accuracy, and consistency across project outputs. The student may also participate in workshops and public-facing events, gaining experience in knowledge mobilization and community engagement.
Training and mentorship will be provided by the project supervisor and research team, including graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow. Training includes research methods, writing and editing, and technical skills (e.g., WordPress, Adobe Creative Suite, MAXQDA). The role supports both academic and creative development within a collaborative, public-facing research environment.
Skills required:
The MITACS student should have a background in media, communication, cultural studies, or related fields. Experience with audiovisual production, documentary storytelling, or digital media is an asset. The student should demonstrate strong research and analytical skills, alongside the ability to work with multimedia materials and content management systems. Familiarity with tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, video editing software, or qualitative analysis platforms is beneficial. The position supports both scholarly and creative skill development in a collaborative research environment, with opportunities to contribute to both analytical and media-based outputs.