Academic Leadership
Academic Leadership at AMPD
Our academic leadership team guides the school’s vision, teaching and research. Their work supports students, faculty and the creative community across all areas.
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Brandon Vickerd, Dean
Brandon Vickerd is Dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) at York University in Toronto, where he is also a Professor of Visual Arts (studio) and former Chair of the Department of Visual Arts and Art History. Vickerd’s current research engages in enriching public spaces through the development of public art that challenges citizens to reflect on notions of public space.
Recent public art projects include A Shared Trail commissioned by the city of Hamilton ON (2025), Animals commissioned by the town of Stony Plain AB (2025); Seeing Animals commissioned by the City of Surrey, BC (2024); The Heights commissioned by the Duke Heights BIA and the City of Toronto ON (2023); Float commissioned by the Regional Municipality of Halifax, NS (2023); A state of rest commissioned by the City of Ottawa (2023); and The Wilds of Kingston commissioned by the City of Kingston (2021).
His artistic and research achievements have been recognized with numerous awards and grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.
Sharon Hayashi, Associate Dean, Research
Professor Hayashi specializes in Japanese cinema and media studies. Her research focuses on the intersection of visual culture and history. Her current research interests include digital mapping, architectures of cinema, and the resurgence of artistic and political collectives in urban Japan. She has published articles on Japanese pink cinema and the travel films of Shimizu Hiroshi. She is currently creating Mapping Protest Tokyo, a historical mapping website that analyzes the new media work of artistic collectives and new social movements in relation to artistic performance and political protest in Japan and globally from 1960 to the present.
Dr. Hayashi's teaching and research areas include: film history, historiography and criticism; critical theory; gender and media; digital activism; digital mapping; transnationalism and globalization; colonial, postcolonial and diasporic cinemas; travelling and regional cinemas; and East Asian cinema and media.
Elizabeth Pentland, Associate Dean Academic
Professor Pentland is a distinguished scholar and academic leader specializing in Renaissance literature and drama, with a particular expertise in Shakespeare and early modern transnational literary exchanges. In her current leadership role, she oversees academic strategy, curriculum innovation and student success initiatives across AMPD—a dynamic environment fusing the arts, media, performance and design.
Before stepping into her associate-dean position in 2024, Elizabeth served as Associate Professor of English in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
