Graduate
Faculty List
Gene Allen
B.A. Toronto, M.A. York, PhD (History) Toronto
Gene Allen had an extensive and varied career as a television news and documentary producer and as a newspaper editor and reporter before joining Ryerson's Journalism faculty in 2001. From 1997 to 2001, he was director of research and a senior producer of the CBC/Radio-Canada television series Canada: A People's History. The series was broadcast nationally on CBC in 2000 and 2001 and won a Gemini Award for Best Documentary Series. He also edited both volumes of the best-selling companion book to the series, Vol. I of which was recognized by the Canadian Booksellers Association as Non-fiction Book of the Year for 2000.
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Alexandra Anderson
B.A., (Honours), History, University of Toronto
M.A., Interdisciplinary Studies, York University
Alex joined the film faculty in 1996. She has eighteen years of professional experience in the film and television industries working as a researcher, film editor and director/ producer. Her documentaries (made for British television) have won awards in Europe and Canada and have been seen around the world. Some titles are: Hell to Pay, Chile- Broken Silence and Tales from Havana She has lived and worked in Canada, Europe and Latin America. Her areas of interest include film history, theory of documentary, Latin American film and the National Film Board of Canada. .
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Christopher Aylward
M.F.A., Film and Video Production, York University
M.A., English Literature, University of Toronto
B.A. (Honours), English and German Literature, McGill University
Chris has experience as a filmmaker in the roles of writer, producer, director, editor and cameraman in both drama and documentary formats. Recent productions include Shooting in Rwanda and Malawi: Water is Life. A number of his film productions have involved travel abroad and have been funded by private and public interests. He has nine years of teaching experience including courses in communications, screenwriting, drama and literature at schools such as Simon Fraser University, Douglas College, York University and Humber College.
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Alexandra Bal
Ph.D., Sciences de l’information et de la communication, Université de Paris Nord (XIII)
D.E.A., Sciences de l’information et de la communication, Paris Nord (XIII)
B.A.A., Media Arts, Ryerson University
Alex has worked intensively in production including multimedia educational software development, corporate digital imaging, 3-D animation and experimental film and video. She holds a PhD in information and Communication Sciences from Paris University. She is an associate researcher at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris where her research deals with the critical analysis of the socio-economy of virtual education, the socio-economy of digital arts and use of agent technology in education. She is now trying to understand the societal and economic impact pervasive computing will have on education, arts and commerce.
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Marta Braun
M.A. (magna cum laude), Media Study, State University of New York
B.A. (Honours), Art History, University of Toronto
Marta is an internationally renowned historian of art, film and photography, and a noted expert on E.J. Marey and Eadweard Muybridge In 1994, her book Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne Jules Marey, was short listed for Britain’s Kraszna-Krausz award, given biannually for the best internationally published book in photography. She went on to win this award in 1999, along with four other authors, for the collection of essays Beauty of Another Order: Photography in Science. In 1996 Marta was made a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the Government of France in recognition of her contribution to the cause of French knowledge, culture, scientific progress and education.
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Jean Bruce
Ph.D., Concordia Univeristy
M.A., Theory & Criticism, University of Western Ontario
B.A.(Honours), Film Studies, Brock University
Jean joined the School of Image Arts in Fall 2004.Her educational background is in film studies and cultural theory. Some of her specific research projects have been on early cinema in Quebec, ethnographic cinema, the discourse of multiculturalism in Canadian cinema, melodrama, and queer cinema and she has published in these areas. Ongoing research and teaching interests also include intermedial relationships among film, television and consumer culture. Jean was the recipient of a SRC Grant in 2005 to do further research towards a book on melodrama and Canadian cinema.
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Ph.D., Sciences de l’information et de la communication, Université de Paris Nord (XIII)
D.E.A., Sciences de l’information et de la communication, Paris Nord (XIII)
B.A.A., Media Arts, Ryerson University
Alex has worked intensively in production including multimedia educational software development, corporate digital imaging, 3-D animation and experimental film and video. She holds a PhD in information and Communication Sciences from Paris University. She is an associate researcher at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris where her research deals with the critical analysis of the socio-economy of virtual education, the socio-economy of digital arts and use of agent technology in education. She is now trying to understand the societal and economic impact pervasive computing will have on education, arts and commerce.
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Marta Braun
M.A. (magna cum laude), Media Study, State University of New York
B.A. (Honours), Art History, University of Toronto
Marta is an internationally renowned historian of art, film and photography, and a noted expert on E.J. Marey and Eadweard Muybridge In 1994, her book Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne Jules Marey, was short listed for Britain’s Kraszna-Krausz award, given biannually for the best internationally published book in photography. She went on to win this award in 1999, along with four other authors, for the collection of essays Beauty of Another Order: Photography in Science. In 1996 Marta was made a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the Government of France in recognition of her contribution to the cause of French knowledge, culture, scientific progress and education.
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Jean Bruce
Ph.D., Concordia Univeristy
M.A., Theory & Criticism, University of Western Ontario
B.A.(Honours), Film Studies, Brock University
Jean joined the School of Image Arts in Fall 2004.Her educational background is in film studies and cultural theory. Some of her specific research projects have been on early cinema in Quebec, ethnographic cinema, the discourse of multiculturalism in Canadian cinema, melodrama, and queer cinema and she has published in these areas. Ongoing research and teaching interests also include intermedial relationships among film, television and consumer culture. Jean was the recipient of a SRC Grant in 2005 to do further research towards a book on melodrama and Canadian cinema.
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Robert Burley
M.F.A., School of the Art Institute of Chicago
B.A.A., Media Studies, Ryerson University
Robert is an established photographer who has been photographing the urban environment for over twenty years. His work has been extensively published, exhibited and collected on an international level. Robert’s work can been found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Musee d’lysee in Switzerland. He has lectured about his work at Harvard University as part of the Rouse Visiting Artist Program and his photographs are reproduced in numerous books and periodicals, including, Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander and Geoffrey James. Robert has served as Program Director of Photography Studies (‘97-’99) and as the External Projects Coordinator for the School. Robert is the Program Director for the Photo Preservation & Collections Management Graduate Program.
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Michal Conford
M.J., Documentary Filmmaking, Univ. of California, Berkeley
B.A. (High Honours, magna cum laude), Brandeis University
Michal has worked as a writer, director, producer and editor on both fiction and non-fiction films and television around the world. His first documentary feature, River People, won the IDA’s David Wolper Prize and aired on stations throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Other films include the award-winning Middle East documentaries Not On Any Map and Through the Eyes of Enemies and the short fiction films Terra Firma and Fossils. Michal recently wrote and produced a two-hour television pilot (Ice Planet) for international broadcast and has written and directed theatre productions in both the United States and Germany. He has also worked professionally as a film critic and is a former Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Michal has lived for much of the past decade in Europe and the Middle East; he joined the film faculty in Fall, 2004.
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Brian Damude
M.F.A., Graduate Institute of Film and Television, New York University
B.A., McGill University
Brian has over twenty-five years experience as a filmmaker, and has worked in both film and television as a writer, producer, director and editor. His experience, two years training at the National Film Board and his passion for acting and directing led to the development of the third year joint Film/Theatre project. He has created new courses in Advanced Cinematography and Lighting, Screenwriting and Production. Over the past six years his personal creative work has included fine art photography. Since his first major show in 2001, his work has been exhibited almost continually in a number of Toronto venues.
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M.F.A., School of the Art Institute of Chicago
B.A.A., Media Studies, Ryerson University
Robert is an established photographer who has been photographing the urban environment for over twenty years. His work has been extensively published, exhibited and collected on an international level. Robert’s work can been found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Musee d’lysee in Switzerland. He has lectured about his work at Harvard University as part of the Rouse Visiting Artist Program and his photographs are reproduced in numerous books and periodicals, including, Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander and Geoffrey James. Robert has served as Program Director of Photography Studies (‘97-’99) and as the External Projects Coordinator for the School. Robert is the Program Director for the Photo Preservation & Collections Management Graduate Program.
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Michal Conford
M.J., Documentary Filmmaking, Univ. of California, Berkeley
B.A. (High Honours, magna cum laude), Brandeis University
Michal has worked as a writer, director, producer and editor on both fiction and non-fiction films and television around the world. His first documentary feature, River People, won the IDA’s David Wolper Prize and aired on stations throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Other films include the award-winning Middle East documentaries Not On Any Map and Through the Eyes of Enemies and the short fiction films Terra Firma and Fossils. Michal recently wrote and produced a two-hour television pilot (Ice Planet) for international broadcast and has written and directed theatre productions in both the United States and Germany. He has also worked professionally as a film critic and is a former Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Michal has lived for much of the past decade in Europe and the Middle East; he joined the film faculty in Fall, 2004.
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Brian Damude
M.F.A., Graduate Institute of Film and Television, New York University
B.A., McGill University
Brian has over twenty-five years experience as a filmmaker, and has worked in both film and television as a writer, producer, director and editor. His experience, two years training at the National Film Board and his passion for acting and directing led to the development of the third year joint Film/Theatre project. He has created new courses in Advanced Cinematography and Lighting, Screenwriting and Production. Over the past six years his personal creative work has included fine art photography. Since his first major show in 2001, his work has been exhibited almost continually in a number of Toronto venues.
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Bruce Elder
M.A. (magna cum laude), Philosophy, University of Toronto
B.A.A., Media Studies, Ryerson University
B.A. (Honours), (summa cum laude), Philosophy, McMaster University
Bruce Elder’s professional work is divided into two distinct fields: he works as an artist, making personal films; and as an art critic and art theorist, publishing articles, papers and books on art and culture. His film work has been screened all over the world. Prof. Elder’s films have made increasing use of digital image processing techniques. Prof. Elder has published dozens of articles, has given guest lectures at many universities, film centres and galleries, and has done a considerable amount of curatorial work. He has organized film exhibitions for the Toronto International Film Festival, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canadian Images Film Festival, and Canada House (London, England) and the Fourth International Experimental Film Congress.
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M.A., History of Art, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico B.A. (Honours), History of Art, University of Toronto
From 1989-1996, David Harris was Associate Curator of Photographs at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montréal. Between 1996 and 2004, he worked as an independent curator and photographic historian, specializing in nineteenth-century and contemporary architectural and landscape photography. In 1999 he began teaching at the School of Image Arts, and was appointed Assistant Professor in 2004. In additional to numerous articles, he is the author of Eugène Atget: Unknown Paris (2003; an English language edition of Itinéraires Parisiens, 1999), Of Battle and Beauty: Felice Beato’s Photographs of China in 1860 (1999), Gabor Szilasi: Photographs, 1954-1996 (1997), and Eadweard Muybridge and the Photographic Panorama of San Francisco, 1850-1880 (1993). He is currently preparing a full-length study of Eugène Atget’s photography.
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Katy McCormick
M.F.A., Fine Arts, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
B.A., Fine Arts, The University of California, Santa Barbara
Since completing her MFA studies at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Katy McCormick has taught photography, printmaking, and book arts. Her solo exhibitions have appeared in Toronto at Women’s Art Resource Centre (WARC) Gallery, Premiere Dance Theatre, Alliance Française Gallery, Gallery TPW, and The Photo Passage, and elsewhere at The Photographer’s Gallery, Saskatoon, The Other Gallery, Banff, and at VOX Gallery and The Eleanor London Public Library, in Montréal. An independent curator and writer, she served as Exhibition Coordinator and Managing Editor at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Art, Toronto, for six years (2000–06).
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Wieslaw Michalak
Ph.D., M.A., Spatial Science and Geography, University of Alberta, Canada
M.A., Philosophy, University of Lodz, Poland
B.F.A., Photography, Ryerson University
Graduated in photography at Ryerson, philosophy at Lodz, and geography and spatial science in the graduate programs at the University of Alberta. Originally from Poland, Wieslaw moved to France, then Canada, Australia, and UK before moving back to Canada in 1994. He worked as a faculty member at universities in Australia and the UK before joining Ryerson University. He has written extensively on globalization, organization of space, media, and photographic theory and has been involved in developing two graduate programs at Ryerson. He regularly exhibits his photographic and film projects at galleries and festivals throughout North America and Europe. Wieslaw is also involved in research, publishing and presenting the results at various public and academic venues in Canada and abroad.
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Lila Pine
PhD. Candidate, Media and Communication, European Graduate School
M.F.A., Film and Video Production, York University
B.A., Psychology and Political Science, Mount Saint Vincent University
Lila, Director of the Evolving Stories Project, recently received a major grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, with additional funding from CFI and OIT. The Evolving Stories Project builds database-driven story spaces designed to elicit interaction from a participating public. The stories change and grow with each (re)mediation, much like oral tradition, only now the collective memory resides in the database. Unlike stories fixed in text, ‘storyliving’ is narrated by living memory, constructing history through a multiplicity of memories that make up the stories. The personal is no longer confined to identity politics and history is freed from its role as ‘master narrator.’ Through remembering what we have forgotten, we are enabled to (re)invent our worlds as we imagine them.
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Fotios Sarris
Bio coming soon.
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Edward Slopek
Ph.D., Communications, McGill University
M.A., Mass Communication Research, Leicester University
Assoc. Degree, Fine Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design
Dip., Visual Arts, Montreal Musuem of Fine Arts
Ed has over twenty years of experience as a teacher and practitioner in the fields of Communication Studies, Media and Fine Arts. He has trained in North America and Europe and his areas of expertise include research methodologies, media analysis, social constructionist and reception theory and communications history. Ed has developed courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels at leading institutions across Canada. He actively participates in organizing and lecturing at various arts and media conferences and has been the editor of various publications and journals.
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Don Snyder
M.A., Photographic Studies, Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont
B.A., History of Music, Yale University
Don Snyder studied photography with Walker Evans at Yale and with Minor White in the graduate program at MIT. He originally worked as a professional photographer in the Boston area; he was later appointed Curator of Photography at the Addison Gallery of American Art and a faculty member in the Art Department at Phillips Academy, Andover. He has written on photographic history and criticism for a number of periodicals, and has also held appointments at SUNY Buffalo and Bennington College. At Ryerson he was instrumental in founding the Ryerson Gallery and originating the Photography Workshop in France. Other initiatives have included the Photography Studies Certificate program, the Quebec/Ontario Symposium project, and developmental work on the new Documentary Media MFA program.
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Pierre Tremblay
M.F.A., Art and Technology of Image, Paris University Bibliothèque Nationale Bayard Presse
B.A.A., Still Photography Studies, Ryerson University
B.A.A., Design and Photography, Laval University
Pierre is a Canadian-born multimedia artist who came to Ryerson after twelve years in Paris, France. His work can be found in the collections of the Musée Carnavalet, Bibliotèque Nationale and the Musée Rodin. In France, Pierre was working commercially for Baynard Presse, as an art director for award winning CD-ROMs. His work as an artist has for sixteen years combined new technology and photography and he has exhibited regularly in Canada and France. He has also taught at the Parsons School of Design in Paris.
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Monique Tschofen
Bio coming soon.
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M.F.A., Art and Technology of Image, Paris University Bibliothèque Nationale Bayard Presse
B.A.A., Still Photography Studies, Ryerson University
B.A.A., Design and Photography, Laval University
Pierre is a Canadian-born multimedia artist who came to Ryerson after twelve years in Paris, France. His work can be found in the collections of the Musée Carnavalet, Bibliotèque Nationale and the Musée Rodin. In France, Pierre was working commercially for Baynard Presse, as an art director for award winning CD-ROMs. His work as an artist has for sixteen years combined new technology and photography and he has exhibited regularly in Canada and France. He has also taught at the Parsons School of Design in Paris.
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Monique Tschofen
Bio coming soon.
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