Professor Anna Hudson champions Inuit food sovereignty through international collaboration

An interdisciplinary project team led by AMPD Professor Anna Hudson and Dr. Nancy Wachowich at the University of Aberdeen, is made up of Inuit and non-Inuit academics, Elders and youth, whose collective expertise spans various fields including Inuit nutrition, public health and epidemiology, social anthropology, and more.
The team hopes to translate Inuit country food knowledge through social media, visual and performing arts and Indigenous curatorial practice, and to digitally document food preparation and preservation to support food sovereignty and climate change adaptation.

Laura Levin named York Research Chair in Art, Technology and Global Activism

Laura Levin, Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies and Director of Sensorium, was appointed York Research Chair in Art, Technology and Global Activism. Her research focuses on the use of emerging technologies, such as extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) in performance to address political polarization and misinformation.
Levin is one of ten researchers named in the 2024–25 cohort of York Research Chairs, an internal program that supports faculty members pursuing high-impact research. The YRC program was established in 2015 and aligns with the University’s Strategic Research Plan, supporting work that contributes to both local and global communities.

Celebrating 20 Years of Gospel Music at York University

This year marked two decades of gospel music education at University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD).
Since its inception, the program has grown from only 20 students in its first year to a vibrant community that has had as many as 100 students enrolled each term. The YUGC has become a standout ensemble, regularly performing to sold-out audiences. In 2005, York became the first in Canada to offer a gospel music curriculum.

“I didn’t realize at the time how seminal my hire at York was,” says Professor and current Chair of the Music department, Karen Burke. “Little did I know that this was the first gospel music curriculum available at a post-secondary institution in Canada.”

AMPD partners with Schulich ExecEd to launch the Schulich Mini-MBA: Media Mastery in the Digital Age

AMPD has partnered with Schulich ExecEd to deliver the Schulich Mini-MBA: Media Mastery in the Digital Age. This collaboration brings together the creative expertise of AMPD and the business acumen of Schulich ExecEd, offering a unique program tailored to professionals who are ready to thrive in today’s dynamic media landscape.

This is the first program of its kind, crafted with inspiration from media entrepreneurs and storytellers around the world and led by top professors and industry leaders, including AMPD Dean, Sarah Bay-Cheng.

Markham Campus holds a grand opening event with AMPD students taking centre stage in the celebrations Markham Campus

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, as well as other notable guests and partners celebrated the official grand opening of the new Markham Campus in November.

The event served as a celebration of years of collaboration and teamwork that have led to the new Markham Campus building, which features state-of the-art equipment and spaces, as well as programming representing the future of post-secondary learning.

AMPD faculty member Anne Sullivan named 2024 Higher Education Video Game Alliance Fellow

Anne Sullivan, who joined the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) as an assistant professor in January 2025, was named a 2024 Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA) Fellow.

Established in 2017, the HEVGA Fellows Program recognizes senior scholars in the gaming domain for their contributions to the fields of design, theory and research. HEVGA Fellows are elected by their peers based on outstanding contributions to games-based research and design in higher education. Sullivan has over a decade of software engineering experience, mainly with Electronic Arts (EA). Her research connects various fields and communities through a humanistic, artistic and technical lens, focusing on critical game design, co-creative AI and human-computer interaction. 

AMPD Professor Brenda Longfellow’s restorative art project helps former inmates heal through creativity

Women who have served time in Canadian prisons are imagining more hopeful futures and reclaiming a sense of joy through a restorative art-making program co-led by filmmaker and Professor Brenda Longfellow.

The Circle Project brings together artists and formerly incarcerated women to produce art in a variety of mediums that is then featured in public venues to help change public perceptions about incarcerated and criminalized people. More recently, the project has been expanded to include men currently serving time in Victoria’s William Head Correctional Institution.

Satellite crashes to Earth in Professor Brandon Vickerd’s latest art installation

Professor and sculptor Brandon Vickerd has turned heads in Boston’s financial district with his latest public art installation, which depicts a full-scale replica of the 1962 Canadian satellite Alouette as if it crash-landed into a parked sedan.

The installation was featured as part of Winteractive, an outdoor art exhibit aimed at revitalizing downtown Boston during the quieter winter months, and garnered significant press attention for its concept and dramatic visual impact. The piece plays on themes of destruction, human intervention and the intersection of space exploration with everyday life. The installation is the latest in Vickerd's Alouette series, which began in 2018 and has been exhibited in several locations across Canada and the United States.

Celebrating AMPD Alumni at the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards

At the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards, York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) alumni were celebrated for their outstanding achievements in film, television, and digital media. Collectively, they earned more than a dozen awards, with 40 alumni nominated across 28 categories.

One of the major highlights was the success of BlackBerry, which earned three Canadian Screen Awards, including the prestigious Best Motion Picture. Leading this achievement were AMPD alumni Matthew Miller (BFA ’03, MFA ’16) and Matt Johnson (BFA ’06, MFA ’16), who played pivotal roles in bringing the film to life. Notably, the BlackBerry team included an impressive group of 16 AMPD alumni, whose combined talent was instrumental in securing the film’s Best Motion Picture win at this year’s ceremony.

AMPD alumni and students shine at TIFF

This year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) served as a spotlight for the exceptional talent fostered within the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University.

AMPD alumni, faculty and students made their mark at the 49^th edition of this prestigious film celebration is no exception. The AMPD community continues to create films that push boundaries, challenge norms and captivate audiences on a global scale. 

AMPD alum’s musical journey leads to Juno Award

Jeremy Ledbetter, a graduate of the music program, has always let music guide his path. It recently led him and his band, the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio, to win a Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year (Group) at this year’s ceremony.

His work has earned him an Independent Music Award and a nomination for Producer of the Year at the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards. He also won a previous Juno for Global Music Album of the Year as producer of Okantomi by OKAN, a Canadian Afro-Cuban jazz group.

AMPD Alumni Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival

The 46th annual Toronto International Film Festival features alumni talent  from AMPD on screen. "From Matt Johnson & Matt Miller’s Blackberry in wide theatrical release, Salar Pashtoonar’s Bad Omen receiving a Student Academy Award, countless invitations to the Berlinale, TIFF, HotDocs, and essentially every other film festival around the globe – each recognition of a work by a York graduate from the BFA or MFA program is also an endorsement of the creative collaboration between faculty, staff and students at York University’s production and screenwriting program to nurture creative talent in an inclusive and supportive environment."