Ownership of the Materiality of Stories

June 16, 9 am - 11 am EST

Stories can be shared through material objects such as culturally significant artifacts and digital documentation of heritage spaces. To ensure the stories connected to materials of place aren’t eroded over time, documentation work through photogrammetry, laser scanning, and computer modelling is a common practice. However, who owns the digital archives that become an extension of the material storytelling of place? In the webinar, Ownership of the Materiality of Stories, Mario Santana discusses the ethical dilemmas on data ownership associated with documentation of foreign heritage sites. Stephen Inglis reflects on the use of museums and cultural centres in northern Indigenous communities as sites for reviving and preserving storytelling.

Stephen Inglis

Stephen Inglis was Executive Director of the Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute from 2010 until 2015. Before joining this leading First Nations organization, he was researcher, curator and then Director-General of Research and Collections at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, responsible for the content areas of Canada's national museum of ethnology and history. During this time he helped create an international reputation for the museum and developed an extensive network of national and overseas partners, leading to major acquisitions and traveling exhibitions. He contributed extensively to the museum's research and collections of folk and popular art, fine craft, and ethnic studies. Since completing his PhD in anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Stephen Inglis has taught both Anthropology and Art History at Carleton and, since 2015, has been closely involved with the Curatorial Studies Program.

Mario Santana

Mario Santana-Quintero is a Civil and Environmental Engineering professor cross-appointed with the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism (Carleton University). He is the Director of the NSERC Create program Heritage Engineering and a Carleton immersive Media Studio Lab (CIMS) faculty member. Besides his academic work in Canada, he is a guest professor at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (University of Leuven). Along with his academic activities, he serves as Secretary-General of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). He is one of the ICOMOS Scientific Committee on Heritage Documentation (CIPA) presidents. He has collaborated in several international projects in heritage documentation for The Getty Conservation Institute, UNESCO among others. In recent years he was a Getty Scholar. He was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Liege (Belgium) and membership of the Association of Preservation Technology College of Fellows.

The Omnipresence of Screens: Ideal Projections

June 29, 10 am - 12 pm EST

Daily interaction with screens is unavoidable as they integrate themselves into how we interact with our surroundings and our fictional and real stories. While screens can distort and manipulate reality, they can also increase engagement and understanding. The delivery and point of view determine the outcome. In the webinar, The Omnipresence of Screens: Ideal Projections, Louise Pelletier examines how different points of view negotiate the role of the image in a digital era, while Brian Greenspan explores the concept of narrative transportation through screens and the visualization of ideal spaces.

Brian Greenspan

Brian Greenspan is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, the doctoral program in Cultural Mediations, and the Master’s program in Human-Computer Interaction at Carleton University, and teaches in the M.A. Specialization and B.A. (Minor) in Digital Humanities. He is founding Director of the Hyperlab, Carleton’s premiere Digital Humanities research facility, and an executive member of the Society for Utopian Studies. His scholarship focuses on spatial storytelling and the utopian dimensions of new media, including e-literature and XR media. He invented the StoryTrek locative authoring system for spatial stories, mobile exhibits and digital games, which has been used by artists, scholars, and students in Anchorage, Belfast, Charlottetown, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Montréal, Msida, New York and elsewhere.

Louise Pelletier

Louise Pelletier was trained as an architect. She received her PhD in the history and theory of architecture from McGill University in 2000. She has been teaching at the UQAM School of Design in Montreal since 2006, where she is also Director of the UQAM Design Centre. She is the author of Architecture in Words; Theatre, Language and the Sensuous Space of Architecture (Routledge 2006), and co-author of Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge (MIT Press, 1997) and Theatrical Space as a Model for Architecture (McGill Libraries, 2003). She is also the author of Downfall: The Architecture of Excess (2014), a novel that reflects on issues of contemporary architectural practice.

Absences and Pluralities of Stories

July 7, 1 pm - 3 pm EST


Stories can be a socio-cultural, as well as a political tool that lend themselves to both pronouncing multifaceted dimensions and viewpoints as well to hiding and screening perspectives. In the session Absence and Pluralities of Stories, Zoe Todd, joined by Monique Manatch, discusses institutions and strategies of absentingstories through digital storytelling, Algonquin sovereignty, and how this connects to Carleton's relationships to the Rideau River and the canal. Marc Neveu proposes a plurality in the reading of stories embedded in archival drawings. Together they discuss how absence and plurality are two sides of the same coin. An absence indicates an overlooked plurality while a plurality probes for inherent absences. Stories have to be understood in this perspective to understand subjectivity and inter-subjectivity and question epistemological origins, methodological inadequacies, and hegemonical structures, as well as creative alternatives to promote curiosity, joy, inclusivity, and equity. 

Marc Neveu

Marc J Neveu is the head of the Architecture Program in The Design School at Arizona State University. In that role, he is helping to imagine what it means to be an architecture program within the model of the New American University. Neveu’s research explores the role of storytelling – both in pedagogy and practice. He is currently working on a digital archive of the work of the rhetorical architect, Douglas Darden. He is the past Executive Editor of the biannual peer-reviewed Journal of Architectural Education.

Zoe Todd

Dr. Zoe Todd (she/they) (Red River Métis) is a practice-led artist-researcher who studies the relationships between Indigenous sovereignty and freshwater fish futures in Canada. As a Métis anthropologist and researcher-artist, Dr. Todd combines dynamic social science and humanities research and research-creation approaches – including ethnography, archival research, oral testimony, and experimental artistic research practices – within a framework of Indigenous philosophy to elucidate new ways to study and support the complex relationships between Indigenous sovereignty and freshwater fish well-being in Canada today. They are a co-founder of the Institute for Freshwater Fish Futures, which is a collaborative Indigenous-led initiative that is 'restor(y)ing fish futures, together' across three continents. They are also a co-founder of the Indigenous Environmental Knowledge Institute (IEKI) at Carleton University. They were a 2018 Yale Presidential Visiting Fellow, and in 2020 they were elected to the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars.

Monique Manatch

Monique Manatch is a member of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake. Monique is a Knowledge Keeper working closely with Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont. Currently, Monique is a student at Carleton University taking a doctorate program in Anthropology focusing on the impact, use and creation of digital arts in the Indigenous community. Her Master’s Degree is in Indigenous and Canadian Studies with a specialty in Digital Humanities. Monique also holds a post- graduate diploma in Indigenous Policy and Administration. In 2004, Monique became founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations (www.icmi.ca). ICMI is dedicated to the skills development of Indigenous women and youth through the production media and arts. Monique has facilitated Indigenous artists and community members throughout Ontario and Quebec.  Currently, Monique is working on projects which outreach to the Indigenous community to discuss artistic needs and begin developing a national network. Over the past 20 years Monique has produced several video documentaries about Indigenous issues. Monique also facilitated the production of videos and community radio programming with women and youth from Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg, Barriere Lake, Moose Factory and the Indigenous community in Ottawa.

Translate and Transform

July 14, 9 am - 11 am EST


Translation of stories happens in different media — from one language to the other, from verbal to visual, oral to written, analog to digital, planar to spatial. In the session Translate and Transform, Carolina Dayer and Liam Doherty discuss how translation transforms stories, their audience, places, and lives. Dayer discusses architectural and spatial stories that translate differently in different contexts and transform the life within. Doherty discusses the translation of folk stories into different languages and to the digital. What is the essence of storytelling, what remains constant and what transforms, when we translate? 

Carolina Dayer

Carolina Dayer, Ph.D and Architect, is assistant professor of architecture at the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark and Design Associate Editor of the Journal of Architectural Education. Her research, teaching, and design work centers on the theory and practice of architectural drawing, material culture and habitation. Her co-edited books Confabulations: Storytelling in Architecture (Routledge, 2016) and Activism in Architecture: Bright Dreams of Passive Energy Design (Routledge, 2018) expose the wide range of her research and interests. Her personal drawings and pedagogical work have been exhibited in Argentina, United States and Denmark, and her current research and artist project, Insiders, examines the cultural production of interior space from the view of 19th century female painters.

Liam Doherty

Liam Doherty is a sessional lecturer teaching ASIA 386 & 396 (Chinese Grammar and Usage I & II). He has a background in Chinese as an Additional Language Education and a particular interest in digital literacy and multilingualism, corpus linguistics, and the use of open data-driven digital tools to help better understand, learn, and teach languages. His current research examines peer mentorship among Chinese language learners in an online context. He is a member of the Centre for Research in Chinese Language and Literacy Education (CRCLLE) at UBC.

Narratives of Familiarity: Empathy in Storytelling

July 21, 9 am - 11 am EST

Documentary storytelling can provide viewers with an objective lens into different cultures and socio-economic issues, expanding viewers' knowledge of other people’s points of view and experiences. With the addition of immersive and interactive storytelling techniques, the viewer can become even further immersed in the experiences documented, enhancing their empathic response. However, immersive and interactive documentaries bring new challenges and ethical debates as they create false understanding in the viewer and portray the pain and experiences of others – usually minorities or the disadvantaged. Sojung Bahng and Stephen Foster will discuss the dangers of empathy and other ethical issues as they introduce their work in immersive and interactive documentary storytelling. 

Sojung Bahng

Sojung Bahng is a postdoctoral research fellow at Carleton University in Canada. Sojung holds a PhD from SensiLab at Monash University in Australia. She graduated from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) with a master's degree in Culture Technology and a BFA from Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts), in TV & Film Production and Art Theory. Sojung will be appointed as an Assistant Professor in Media and Performance Production in the Department of Film and Media and the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University in Canada, beginning in September 2022. Sojung explores cinematic media via digital technologies to reflect aesthetic and narrative experiences in cultural and philosophical contexts. Her interactive VR project Sleeping Eyes won the award of excellence at the Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS). Sojung's 360° autobiographical documentary film Floating Walk was nominated for Social Impact Media Awards in Los Angeles, and her film Poetry of Separation was screened at NDC in New York. Sojung's experimentations into architectural cinema and digital storytelling were exhibited at many international symposiums and conferences.

Stephen Foster

Stephen Foster is interim Vice-President, Research & Dean, School of Graduate Studies, OCAD University, Toronto. He is a video and electronic media artist. His work tends to deal with issues of Indigenous representation in popular culture through personal narrative. In addition to his exhibition record, Stephen is a published author, presented lectures and has participated on panels for new media, video art and contemporary Indigenous art at national and international venues. He has taken part in residencies at the Banff Centre For The Arts, Klondike Institute of Art and Culture, Oboro in Montreal and more recently at La Chambre Blanche in Quebec City. Stephen was awarded a large Research/Creation Grant from SSHRC for exploring interactive and experimental approaches to documentary. In 2009 he was nominated Best New Media Project at the ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival for his interactive DVD video project titled The Prince George Métis Elders' Documentary Project.

RESCHEDULED: Soundscapes and the Story of Place


July 26, 10am - 12pm EST 

Storytelling often comprises an auditory component, when narrated orally, or when accompanied by music, drumming, or digital decibels or bytes. Soundscapes may acquire a spatial dimension contributing to stories of spaces, and spatialization of stories, eventually characterizing urban landscapes and communities. In the session titled, Soundscapes and the Story of Place, Vincent Andrisani and David Drury, discuss the opportunities and challenges of documenting and designing urban acoustic environments with emerging tools and technologies, which open up possibilities of realistic acoustic simulation and auralization, facilitating immersive recording and reproduction of acoustic environments, soundscapes and stories of places.

Vincent Andrisani

Vincent Andrisani is an Instructor in the Communication and Media Studies program at Carleton University. He specializes in the area of sound studies, intersecting the fields of soundscape studies, oral history, and popular music studies. Media production is an important dimension of Vincent's research and teaching, and he presently produces a radio show called "The Place of Sound" (www.theplaceofsound.ca), showcasing the audio media produced in his classrooms.

David Drury

David Drury studied electroacoustic composition at Concordia University in Montreal and at

the SARC (Queen’s University) in Belfast. His masters’ thesis explored the ways in which soundscape contributes to a sense of place through location-based sonic experiences. Since 2008 he has been working as a musical director, composer, and creative sound designer as the head of Montreal-based Dubline Studios. The studio specializes in creating immersive soundtracks for both traditional media (film, television, theatre) and a wide array of public installations ranging from large-scale projection mapping shows to bespoke interactive installations. His work has been shown on four continents and been awarded several prizes including the prestigious Golden Nica from Ars Electronica and two Gemini awards.

Immersive Storytelling: Negotiating Identity

July 28, 1 pm - 3 pm EST

How do video games tell stories? How and what do games communicate? On the screen and within a virtual reality headset, video games become an extension and representation of the creator as they determine the game mechanics and aesthetics. Although games are created for an audience, they can reflect on the identity of the creator. Dylan Paré and Maize Longboat ask what it means to create a video game or experience that reflects their identities. As they each navigate what it means to create a queer or Indigenous game, respectively, they explore how game design can create a conversation between creator and user.  

Maize Longboat

Maize Longboat is Kanien'kehá:ka with family at Six Nations of the Grand River and was raised on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation near Vancouver, BC. He is a Partner Relations Manager with Unity Technologies and served as Skins Workshops Associate Director with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF) from 2019 to 2021. He holds an MA in Media Studies from Concordia University. His Master’s research examined Indigenous videogame development through the production of his own game Terra Nova, award-winning cooperative platformer with an interactive narrative. 

Dylan Paré

Dylan Paré is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Learning Sciences at the University of Calgary, Werklund School of Education. They are the Founder and Director of Queer Code, an award-winning studio that designs and researches virtual reality and interactive computer-based learning environments for learning about issues related to gender, sexuality, and intersecting marginalization. Dylan's primary research project reimagines computational literacies by interweaving community storytelling with scholarship on complexity studies, embodied learning, and queer and trans phenomenology.