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Michele Lawson is an internationally recognized journalist and social justice media producer. Since graduating from Queen’s University with a BAH in Film, she has worked primarily in the charitable sector advocating on behalf of highly vulnerable individuals. As an MA student, she is interested in the ethics of representation and consent as it pertains to engaging those with lived experience in social justice media projects and programs. Her current focus includes building a case for supporting social change to help abandoned children in Muskoka by employing community-based participatory research (CBPR).

Michelle Bunton is a practicing artist, curator, and roller derby player currently residing as an uninvited guest in Katarokwi-Kingston, Canada. They are a PhD Candidate in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies, with a BFA (Western University) and MA (Queen’s University). Bunton works with the Vulnerable Media Lab and Ayatana’s Biophilium: Science School for Artists, and they previously held a curatorial position at Agnes Etherington Art Centre. 

Bunton considers collaboration to be a necessary condition of their curatorial, artistic and academic praxis, prioritizing kinship-building with both human and nonhuman interlocutors. Their research includes speculative design, queer coding and science fiction, working toward a critical queer-ying of the Slime Mold Algorithm (SMA). 

Access more of their work here: 

Student email: 11mkb7@queensu.ca
Work email: m.bunton@queensu.ca

Mikhel Proulx is the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Vulnerable Media Lab. Mikhel is a historian of contemporary Canadian art and digital culture. He recently defended his doctoral dissertation—a study of network-based art by Canadian women—which was awarded the 2022 Leonardo Journal top thesis prize. His research considers network culture from queer-feminist and settler-colonial perspectives, and has been recently presented at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute; the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York; Goldsmith’s College, London; Yale University; and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. In recent projects, he has collaborated with the artists Margaret Dragu, Skawennati, Anna Boghiguian, Vera Frenkel, Anna Banana, and Rita McKeough. His forthcoming book—part of the Queer Films Classics series—considers how Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret represents Queer sexualities of Weimar Berlin. 

Miranda Ramnares is an aspiring artist, writer and graphic designer from Toronto, ON. Her research interests include post-colonial theory, feminist film theory, and contemporary art; with a focus on how these topics interact with themes of representation, colonial legacy, and identity politics. Her work in arts administration is focused on promoting diversity and advocating for marginalized and racialized peoples. She previously served as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors at Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, and is a recent graduate of Queen’s University, completing a BAH in Art History with a minor in Film & Media.

Naomi Jaye is an artist, filmmaker, educator and PhD candidate in the Screen Cultures and Curatorial studies program at Queens University. Naomi's main research interest lies in research-creation, through which she explores the architecture of installation and immersive experiences. Naomi holds a MFA from York University and is a lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Naomi Okabe is a media artist, writer, and creative researcher working at the intersection of documentary and speculative fiction. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies program (Film and Media, Queen’s University), where she is thinking about space media and decolonial outer space imaginaries. Naomi’s films have premiered at festivals such as Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival and Kingston Canadian Film Festival, and her writing is soon to be published by Silver Press, Mattering Press, and KOSMICA Magazine. Naomi also co-runs , a record label and publisher.

Nasrin Himada is a Palestinian writer and curator currently based in Kingston, on Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. Their writing on contemporary art has appeared in many national contemporary art publications, including Canadian Art, C Magazine, MICE, and Fuse. They have collaborated with film festivals and art institutions in Canada and the US, among them the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco; Trinity Square Video, Toronto; Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain, Montreal; Mercer Union, Toronto, SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Montreal; and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal. Dr. Himada’s recent project For Many Returns typifies their current curatorial interests. The series is designed to explore the possibilities of art writing as a relational act. Since its debut at Dazibao in Montréal, it has toured across Canada, the US and Europe. From 2019–21, Nasrin held the position of curator at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, in Winnipeg on Treaty One Territory. 

I am an MA student in the SCCS program with a specialization in Media and Performance production. My main research and interests include advocating for mental health through experimental and narrative media, serving as outlets to cope with these issues. Alongside this, I am also interested in integrating part of my Latin American culture through my projects, paying homage to my Mexican roots and exploring immigration effects via mental health disorders. 

Neven Lochhead is an artist, filmmaker, curator, educator and PhD candidate in the Screen Cultures and Curatorial studies program. His research and theoretical writing examine the relation between art and knowledge, the open possibilities of curatorial education, and artist-led pedagogy and workshops.

Nicola is an MA student in the Film and Media department at Queen’s. Following the completion of a BA in Film and Media, Nicola gained experience through various associate producing roles. Her current research focuses on the use and preservation of archival footage, reflecting a strong interest in film history and media preservation.

Noah Berc is a filmmaker, curator, and researcher pursuing an MA in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies at Queen’s University. His research examines transgressive bodies and the politics of degradation in contemporary North American horror cinema, building on his Joint Honours BA in Film and English from Queen’s. Noah’s work bridges scholarship and practice: he curated the film series Beyond the Flesh, which explored Queer, theological, and abject theory in body horror cinema, and directed the short film Pimple Patch, which has screened at festivals in the UK, Austria, the US, and across Canada. As a Dene (Deninu Kųę́, Treaty 8) scholar, he has also contributed to public history as the commissioned writer of Unmarked Waters, an Indigenous history tour for the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. Alongside his academic work, Noah is a professional actor with ACTRA Toronto and a core board member of the Cinema Society of Kingston, where he programs and introduces screenings.

Paris-Marae Smith is an MA student in Screen Cultures and holds a BAH in Film and Media at ����ֱ��. She has experience as a director and producer with her production company, Her Siren Cinema. As a practising artist and filmmaker, her work is driven by feminist perspectives and a commitment to addressing women's and queer issues. Her research as an academic explores divine feminine prehistory and its reflection, symbolism, and impact on modern feminist communities and activism within film and media culture. 

Peggy is an animator, illustrator, and teaching artist.  After studying digital design at Pratt Institute, she gained professional experience in post-production, creating animation and special effects for film and television. An interest in film and video festivals led to a position in the education department at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. She has training in a variety of museum pedagogies and has created accessible experiences with art & media for all ages and abilities.

Between joining the Department of Film Studies in 1976, and retiring from what had become the Department of Film and Media in 2013, I taught courses at every undergraduate level from first to fourth year. Whether it was our introductory course, FILM 110, or courses in film criticism or theory, I always brought a historical perspective to the subject at hand.

In his research, Philippe explores complex narratives in popular media franchises; revisits transmedia storytelling and social media through concepts such as interface, playfulness and immersion; and thinks a lot about animation, seriality and popular culture.

Dr Qanita Lilla is a South African curator, researcher and writer with a PhD in Visual Arts from Stellenbosch University. She is currently Associate Curator, Arts of Africa at Agnes Etherington Art Center, Queens University situated on Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. At Agnes, Qanita cares for the Lang Collection of African Art, one of the largest collections of its kind in Canada. She is interested the life and after-life of objects in collections, representations of racialised minorities and depictions of traumatic histories. Qanita is the curator of With Opened Mouths and the associated podcast. She has published in various peer-reviewed publications and has also contributed book chapters to anthologies.

Ryan Randall is the Senior Technician and Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Film & Media as well as the Technical Director of the Vulnerable Media Lab and an award winning cinematographer.

Sam Sunwoo is a producer and interdisciplinary artist with over six years of experience in South Korea’s animation industry. She has produced award-winning, internationally recognized animated series. Her current interest lies in working across various media such as VR, motion graphics, and exhibitions, with a focus on interactive storytelling.

Sana Kazemirashid (she/her) is a PhD student in the Screen Culture and Curatorial Studies program. With a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MA in Animation, she is a filmmaker and animator whose doctoral research explores women’s emotions, narratives, and struggles through immersive and innovative storytelling. 

Sarah is a PhD student in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies. Her SSHRC-funded dissertation takes up the figure of the serial killer as a discursive construction key to establishing and securing interconnected categories of criminality, deviance, and identity in the popular imagination throughout the 20th century. Her other research interests include monstrosity, true crime, and horror media.