Creative Humanities is a platform for applied research and innovation at Sheridan College. Founded in 2016 by Dr. Brandon McFarlane, the Creative Humanities pursue new approaches that promise to enhance the community impact of arts and humanities research.
This website features our projects, celebrates the accomplishments of student researchers, and invites community members to reach out to explore opportunities for collaboration.
We’re trying to discover and document the extent of banned and challenged books in Canada. Insofar as literary works communicate the values, aspirations, and anxieties of a society, the censorship of those texts might be taken as a bellwether for the overall health of that society, a measure of its citizens’ willingness to engage in unorthodox ideas or even their complicity in inequitable systems of power.
Data from the American Library Association show that literary censorship disproportionately targets authors and audiences of systemically marginalized groups: people of colour and those who identify within the LGBTQ2S community are, historically, much more likely to have their literary works censored. In Canada, however, there is currently no comprehensive, systematic, or readily-searchable compilation of censored literary works. Led by Prof. Alexander Hollenberg (Principal Investigator) with support from Dr. Brandon McFarlane (Co-investigator), and Dr. Owen Percy (Co-Investigator), we seek to remedy this knowledge gap.
A partnership between the School of Humanities and Creativity & School of Visual and Creative Arts which piloted a new model for the creation of illustrated children’s books that explore themes of social justice. Breaking from current industry practices, the publisher, author, and illustrator collaborate throughout the creative and publishing process.
Check out A Glitch in the Garden a prototype illustrated book created by student researchers Shelby Forma, Daisy Sheps, Elisar Haydar, Samuel Phippen, Robyn Miller, and Téa Smith
Inspired by the Covid-19 lockdown and the desire to foster a sense of community, this project asks Sheridan community members open-ended, emotion-driven questions to get to the heart of their stories. The narratives will be published in an online, interactive map which shows how people from around the world converge at Sheridan College to explore their creativity. Once campus reopens, the stories may also be shared in an installation at the Creative Campus Galleries.
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A partnership between the School of Humanities and Creativity & the School of Visual and Creative Arts that synthesized innovation management and artistic practices to help undergraduates better understand critical theory, and apply insights to solve challenges pertaining to equity, diversity, and inclusivity in their industries.
Be sure to check out the pilot critical theory zines made by Melodie Downey and Elisar Haydar, Martin Gallagher and Robyn Miller, and Alex Siklos and Wilson Chan.
Partnered with the Toronto Fringe Festival to enhance and expand its Theatre Entrepreneurs’ Networking and Training (TENT) program. Researched and formalized curriculum to provide year-to-year efficiencies and enhance rigor. Applied Creative Problem Solving to eliminate factors that were preventing equity-seeking communities from participating in TENT programming and recommended models for long-term fiscal sustainability.
Synthesized existing research to identify key obstacles to gender equity in the North American film and television sector. Three undergraduate researchers facilitated CPS sessions with Breakthroughs Film Festival’s Board of Directors to create the organization’s first strategic plan which reimagined the not-for-profit’s mandate from the perspective of intersectional feminism.
