Four faculty members from York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) were recognized at the annual President’s Research Awards, celebrating real-world impact and scholarly achievement across York’s research community.
"York University is an institution that offers educational experiences to our students that are informed by this deep research, scholarly and creative excellence; and a place where we also make it part of our mission to reach outside the metaphorical walls of the University to share and collaborate with communities, industry, policy-makers, the media and the wider public," says Lisa Philipps, interim president and vice-chancellor.
This year’s awards ceremony recognized the following AMPD honourees:
Professor Ali Kazimi
Department of Cinema & Media Arts
Award: Book Awards, Literary and Artistic Achievements
Recognized for: Fire Horse Award, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
Professor Ali Kazimi was recognized as the recipient of the 2025 Fire Horse Award from the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. The award honours an Asian Canadian changemaker whose work has made a lasting contribution to film and media arts.
An award-winning filmmaker, author, educator and media artist, Kazimi’s work explores race, social justice, migration, history and memory. His films, including Continuous Journey and Beyond Extinction: Sinixt Resurgence, have received national and international recognition and are taught across universities. As a professor in AMPD’s Department of Cinema & Media Arts, Kazimi has mentored generations of filmmakers and helped shape socially engaged approaches to documentary and media practice.
Professor Jennifer Fisher
Department of Visual Art & Art History
Award: Book Awards, Literary and Artistic Achievements
Recognized for: Art Basel Award, Media & Storytellers category
Professor Jennifer Fisher was recognized as an inaugural recipient of the Art Basel Award in the Media & Storytellers category.
Fisher is an art historian, critic and curator specializing in contemporary art and curatorial studies. Her research focuses on exhibitions, display practices, contemporary art, feminist performance, affect theory and the aesthetics of the non-visual senses. She is also the co-founder and joint editor of the Journal of Curatorial Studies, an international, peer-reviewed publication that explores the cultural functioning of curating and its relation to exhibitions, institutions, audiences, aesthetics and display culture.
Her writings have been featured in several anthologies, and she has authored numerous catalogue essays, exhibition reviews and interviews.
Professor Laura Levin
Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance
Award: Other Learned Societies, Fellowships and Awards
Recognized for: Distinguished Scholar Associateship, Canadian Association for Theatre Research
Professor Laura Levin was recognized with the Distinguished Scholar Associateship from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. The honour recognizes scholars whose body of work has made a significant contribution to the study of drama, theatre and performance in Canada.
Levin is a leading scholar in theatre and performance studies whose research spans site-specific, immersive and digital performance, feminist and queer performance, activist practice, human rights, environmental justice and research-creation. She is also Director of Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts & Technology and has played a major role in advancing performance research through publications, mentorship, curatorial projects and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Professor Susan Blight
Department of Visual Art & Art History
Award: Royal Society of Canada & Governor General Awards
Recognized for: Meritorious Service Medal, Governor General of Canada
Professor Susan Blight was recognized with the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada for her work with Ogimaa Mikana, an artist collective she co-founded to restore Anishinaabemowin place names across Toronto streets, trails and landmarks. Blight is an Anishinaabe interdisciplinary artist from Couchiching First Nation whose practice spans public art, site-specific intervention, wearable art, film and social practice. Her work explores personal and cultural identity in relation to space, with a focus on Indigenous presence, language and place.
About the President’s Research Awards
York University’s President's Research Awards are among the institution’s highest honours, recognizing faculty members for outstanding research excellence, leadership, and community impact. Awarded annually by the President and Vice-President Research & Innovation, they celebrate both established and emerging scholars.
Read the full YFile article for the complete list of York recipients.