News and events

June 4-6: FSAC Annual Conference

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic
Communication, Popular Culture and Film professors Anthony Kinik and Christie Milliken will be traveling to the University of British Columbia for the 2019 Film Studies Association of Canada (FSAC) annual conference.

They join Peter Lester, Program Chair and FSAC President who organized this year’s conference. The program includes featured speakers, roundtable discussions, screenings, lectures and panel discussions.

June 4
Indigenous Cinemas/Settler Cinemas panel
- Chair: Ezra Winton
- Anne Barnes
- Terrance H. McDonald (Brock University) “The Possessions of Pain: Forms and Rhymes for Young Ghouls“
- Jean-Sebastien Houle
June 5
Industry and Ephemera panel
- Chair: Peter Lester (Brock University)
- Kathryn Armstrong
- Wendy Donnan
- Denise Mok
Eco-cinema and the Environment
- Chair: Chelsea Birks
- Mario Trono
- Christie Milliken (Brock University) “Documenting Scale, Contemplating Magnitude in Anthropocene“
- Charlotte Dronier
- Ilona Juronyte
June 6
Legacies of the NFB
- Chair: Anthony Kinik
- Tricia Close-Koenig
- Mark Barber
- Anthony Kinik (Brock University) “Denys Does Montreal: Denys Arcand’s Documentaries and the Critique of Urban Space, 1962-1972”
Trauma and Torture in Contemporary Television
- Chair: Terrance H. McDonald (Brock University)
- Brett Robinson (Brock University) “Born in Blood: Trauma, Selfhood, and Dexter”
- Mynt Marsellus
Categories: Events
May 11: Dr. Kinik Introduces Expanded Cinema Films From Expo 67 at Anthology Film Archives

Tuesday, May 07, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

Earlier this year, Assistant Professor Anthony Kinik’s publication, The City Symphony Phenomenon: Cinema, Art, and Urban Modernity Between the Wars inspired a film series at Anthology Film Archives showcasing the city symphonies phenomenon from the 1920s-present. As close consultations with the organization’s curator wrapped, Dr. Kinik was invited to introduce four programs of films during the opening weekend of the series.

The highlight was Andre Sauvage’s Etudes Sur Paris (1928). Until now, Kinik had only ever seen the YouTube version. Thanks to Anthology Film Archives, a leading centre for the preservation, study and exhibition of film, he was able to view the newly restored 35mm version.

This weekend marks his return to New York City to introduce some expanded cinema films from Expo 67 at Anthology Film Archives’ “Films for the Fair: The World’s Fair & Cinema” series together with Guillaume Lafleur, Director of Programming at the Cinematheque Quebecois. Dr. Kinik contributed the essay “Celluloid City: Montreal and Multi-screen at Expo 67” to the anthology “Reimagining Cinema: Film at Expo 67” and was part of the research team for the project, Cinema Expo 67.

Film Notes – from Anthology Film Archives

Expo 67 was the most moving-image-saturated Exposition of them all. While the films and installations that attracted the most attention were those that experimented, often boldly, with the possibilities of multiple-screen cinema (and are therefore included in the two multi-screen programs elsewhere in this series), Expo 67’s moving-image works ran the gamut of styles and approaches. This program features some of the single-screen highlights, including William Brind’s city-symphony-like IMPRESSIONS OF EXPO 67, two films exploring the pavilions devoted to Canada’s indigenous culture (as well as the experiences of the Inuit artists and craftspeople who participated in the Fair), John & Faith Hubley’s experimental animation URBANISSIMO, and a section of Jud Yalkut’s film METAMEDIA that was shot at the Expo.

William Brind IMPRESSIONS OF EXPO 67 (1967, 8 min, 35mm-to-digital)
Eva Kolcze & Phil Hoffman BY THE TIME WE GOT TO EXPO (2015, 9 min, digital)
Marc Beaudet THE CANADIAN PAVILION, EXPO 67 (1967, 19 min, 35mm-to-digital)
David Millar AKI’NAME (ON THE WALL) (1968, 22 min, 35mm-to-digital)
Michel Régnier INDIAN MEMENTO (1967, 18 min, 35mm-to-digital)
Hubs Hagen EXPOSITION (1967, 10 min, 16mm. Collection print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.)
John & Faith Hubley URBANISSIMO (1967, 6 min, 16mm)
Jud Yalkut EXPO ‘67 (1967, 2 min, 16mm-to-digital, silent)
Total running time: ca. 100 min.

Categories: Events
Students Take Top Honours in Regional Leadership Competition

Thursday, May 02, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

Brock’s Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC) team members took home the regional championship trophy on Saturday, March 30 in Brantford. The team includes (back row, from left) Ruth Benoy, John Gobin, coach Amber Scholtens, William Durward, Stephanie Lasica (CPCF student) and (front row, from left) Grayson Wadsworth-Hayes and Rebecca Balyk.

Though it was Brock’s first time entering the CLC, the six-member team won the regional competition and later found out they placed 16th overall in a pool of 58 teams when the results for all of North America were released on Thursday, April 25.

The CLC aims to provide students with real-world leadership skills while also teaching them to work collaboratively with others.

Starting in January, the team, comprised of students from several Brock Faculties, practised weekly to prepare for six 45-minute challenges designed to test the abilities of each team member to lead designated tasks and follow processes learned in the previous months.

This year activities included setting up 400 dominos, completing a series of puzzles, silently arranging 100 numbered cards and wagering points before making split-second decisions on questions about the terms and concepts the team had reviewed during their late-night practice sessions.

Coach Amber Scholtens, Manager of Student Leadership and Engagement, said the months of effort the team put in were apparent during the competition. “There were times when my heart was in my throat, and I was not even competing,” she said. “But our team remembered to stay calm and follow the example of each student as they took their turn to lead an activity.”

To learn more about Brock’s CLC team, visit the Student Life and Community Experience website.

Categories: News
Media & Communications Student Receives 2019 Aboriginal Achievement Award

Friday, April 05, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

Congratulations to Nick Printup who was recently named a recipient of Brock’s Aboriginal Student Services 2019 Aboriginal Achievement Award, along with Lyn Trudeau.

Printup is Haudenosaunee and Anishinabe and is about to complete his first year in Media and Communications studies. He’s a transfer student from Niagara College who has already established himself as a published author and accomplished filmmaker who specializes in telling important stories of Indigenous peoples.

“He is very engaged in the community,” said Sandra Wong, Aboriginal Academic Support Co-ordinator. “This is his first year, but he has already made an impact here. We typically don’t hire our first-year students, but he’s so familiar with the culture and does teachings for our students. He’s very deserving of the award.”

Printup said he takes his role as an Indigenous storyteller seriously.

“For so long, Indigenous content has not been produced by Indigenous people,” he said. “I’d like to work in mainstream media, but we’re put into a predicament where we have the ability to tell our own stories so we should be doing that. There’s a void that needs to be filled.”

Wong said the Aboriginal Achievement Awards give staff in the Aboriginal Student Services department an “overwhelming sense of pride.”

“Seeing how these students develop in the growth of their knowledge, we probably learn more from them than they learn from us,” she said.

Read the full Brock News story here

Categories: News
April 9: CPCF student wins Education at Work Ontario award

Monday, April 01, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

Congratulations to fourth-year Communication, Popular Culture and Film (CPCF) student Stephanie Lasica who, along with Rachel Van Herk, received an award from Education at Work Ontario (EWO) for her outstanding efforts.

Presented annually to two university and two college students across the province, the award announcement comes at the beginning of National Co-op and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) week at Brock, which celebrates the many successes and promotes awareness of co-op and experiential learning programs.

Cara Krezek, Brock’s Co-op, Career and Experiential Education (CCEE) Director, said the pair’s top finish kicks off the week’s events with a great example of the calibre of the University’s students as well as the supports they receive.

“Seeing both students recognized at the provincial level is an amazing accomplishment for Brock,” she said. “Their hard work, combined with the support of so many people across campus, has shown just how impactful our co-ordinated efforts to support student success can be.

Lasica earned a provincial nod from EWO while exploring her career options. She took part in CPCF’s This is my Niagara initiative, an eight-month experiential education internship that allows fourth-year students to engage in event planning, digital marketing initiatives, desktop publishing and branding of events for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Thanks to her outstanding efforts co-ordinating events, such as the Grant Dobson Case Competition and Terry O’Malley Lecture, the 21-year-old student from Etobicoke has been awarded the EWO Work-Integrated Learning Student of the Year award.

Along with the prestige of winning a provincial award, Lasica is thankful for the experience she has received during the internship.

“I learned a lot of practical skills about the field of communications, but the exercise also taught me a lot about myself,” she said. “I am now more confident to work with teams and peers in the workplace, and I find it valuable to learn from and alongside people of many different backgrounds to deliver the best result for our projects.”

Lasica, who is preparing to pursue postgraduate studies in public relations, knows the awards she and Van Herk won are reflective of exceptional individual efforts as well as the University’s emphasis on co-op and experiential learning across all Faculties.

“The entire Brock community and all of the resources here on campus have helped me get to this point,” she said. “It’s important that the Experiential Education team is recognized as well as the Co-op team. Having both of our accomplishments on the same level shows that co-op and experiential education are incredible resources for students.”

As she begins her full-time career as a credit reporting analyst at Meridian, Van Herk hopes other students will follow the example she and Lasica have provided by embracing Brock’s co-op and experiential opportunities.

“Taking part in co-op or experiential exercises is the best decision you can make,” she said. “It takes commitment, but it also helps you gain valuable experience and connections and is extremely worth it. By the time you’re done, you’re much more prepared to take your next steps.”

In addition to her EWO honours, Lasica won the University’s Experiential Education Student of the Year award.

All of the award winners will be recognized at the Community Partner Recognition and Appreciation event on April 9.

Categories: News
April 8: End of Semester Party

Friday, March 29, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

Categories: Events
March 22: CPCFSS 24hr Film Festival

Monday, March 18, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

The 24-hour Film Festival is back!

Contestants will have 24 hours to write, direct, film and render their film. All films will be screened on Friday, March 22 from 7 to 10 p.m. in AS 215.

Important dates
March 20 – registration deadline
March 21 – theme released at 8:00 a.m.
March 22 at 8:00 a.m. – film submission due
March 22 at 7:00 p.m. – film screening

For information on registering your team, submission deadlines, judges and prizes, visit the CPCFSS page

Categories: Events
March 13-17: 60th Anniversary of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies

Monday, March 11, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic
Communication, Popular Culture and Film professors Liz Clarke, Anthony Kinik and Sarah Matheson will be traveling to Seattle for the 60th anniversary of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference.

The annual conference includes panels, seminars, roundtables and workshops on diverse topics that encompass game studies, podcasts, animation, reality TV, sports media, contemporary film and early cinema.

On Thursday, March 14 Department Chair and Associate Professor Sarah Matheson will serve as Chair in a panel discussion on Transnational Ethnicities in Television
- CHAIR Sarah Matheson, Brock University
- Thais Miller, University of California, Santa Cruz – “Representations of Refuseniks and Soviet Jewish Emigration in GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling”
- Andree Lafontaine, University of Tsukuba – “The Refracted Gazes of NHK’s Home Sweet Tokyo”
- Richard Mwakasege-Minaya, University of Michigan – “The Cuban Exile Counterpoint: Media Activism, Conservative Latinidad, and Cold War Politics (1960–1980)”
- Sarah Matheson, Brock University – “Transnational Media Studies and ‘Invisible TV’: Canadian Programming in the U.S.”
On Friday, March 15

Assistant Professor Liz Clarke will take part in a panel on Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Mediating War
- CHAIR Giuliana Muscio, University of Padova
- Liina-Ly Roos, University of Washington – “Future Memories of Trauma in Ingmar Bergman’s Shame”
- Nichole Strobel, University of California, Santa Barbara – “‘Chilling Absurdity and Hideous Strength’: Branded Violence in Vice Media’s ‘The Islamic State’”
- Liz Clarke, Brock University – “Preparedness, Propaganda, and World War I in American Film”
- Bradley Schauer, University of Arizona – “No Grand Thesis: Strategic Ambiguity and Peter Berg’s ‘Docbuster’ Trilogy”
and Assistant Professor Anthony Kinik will take part in a panel on Making Music Across Genres
- CHAIR Joy Schaefer, Grand Valley State University
- Hannah Lewis, The University of Texas at Austin – “Cinematic Expectations and the Live Television Musical”
- Anthony Kinik, Brock University – “Minimum and Maximum Rock ’n’ Roll: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Rockumentary Form”
- Curtis Russell, The Graduate Center, CUNY – “Cool Heads Prevail: Pop Music in the Films and TV of Edgar Wright”
- Krin Gabbard, Columbia University – “‘God Comes Here for the Jazz, Not for the Girls’: Jazz as Religious Signifier in Preacher”
On Sunday, March 17, Professor Kinik will take part in the Expanding and Reconsidering the City Symphony seminar.
Categories: Events
March 8: BrockTV RenderThis Student Film Festival

Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

RenderThis is BrockTV’s annual student film festival featuring short (2-15 minute) films written, directed, produced and edited by Brock University and Niagara College students. Entries will be judged by a panel of professors, instructors and industry experts with $1500 in prizes up for grabs.

Join us at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8 in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre.

Dress code: Semi-formal

6:30 – 7:00 p.m – Meet and greet the filmmakers: reception portion of the evening, including refreshments

7:00 p.m. – Screening

Following an intermission, door prizes will be awarded.

The evening concludes with the announcement of the judges’ and audience choice awards.

Founded in 2005 by a group of Communication and Film students, BrockTV is dedicated to providing student produced campus coverage, live sports and original content.

BrockTV YouTube channel

Categories: Events
March 5: Reading and Talk with Award-winning Author Maureen Jennings

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 | By Milica Petkovic

The organizing committee for the third annual Marilyn Rose Lecture at Brock University is very excited to bring author Maureen Jennings to Brock on Tuesday, March 5.

This lecture was launched in 2017 in memory of our colleague Dr. Marilyn Rose who contributed so much to research and teaching in the English, Canadian Studies, and Popular Culture programs at Brock, while also making a notable contribution to the development of Graduate Studies in her role as Dean. Marilyn had wide ranging interests and research expertise, but one of her notable areas of focus was the study of crime fiction in Canada. She collaborated with Dr. Jeannette Sloniowski (recently retired from Communication, Popular Culture and Film) on the Crime Fiction Canada Project. Marilyn helped bring the David Skene-Melvin collection of popular crime novels to Special Collections in the Brock Library, and she and Jeanette co-edited the collection ‘Detecting Canada: Essays on Canadian Crime Fiction, Television, and Film’ (Wilfrid Laurier Press, 2014). In light of Marilyn’s work in this area, we thought that Ms. Jennings’ Murdoch Mystery novels and adaptations for television would make a wonderful topic for this year’s lecture.

Members of the Brock community and the general public are invited to attend. Ms. Jennings talk, “It’s in the Details. How to Make a Crime Story Believable,” will explore the aspects of historical research that are involved in the creation of her crime fiction series.

The Marilyn Rose Lecture will be held March 5, 2019, 11:00am – 12:30pm, Sankey Chamber, Brock University. Attendance is free and everyone is welcome.

The event is sponsored by Council for Research in Social Sciences; Communication, Popular Culture and Film; Canadian Studies; Studies in Comparative Literature and Arts; English; and History.

Learn more – read the Brock News article!

Categories: Events