Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

Leadership Message

Literature in Times of Crisis

When I was interviewed by New York Times journalist Elisabeth Egan in October 2023 about the post-World War I novel Emily of New Moon, I was struck by the international craving for Canadian cultural heritage, especially during times of high conflict.

In periods of crisis and upheaval, literature and art serve as important sources of solace and escape, as well as tools of criticism. At the Modern Literature and Culture (MLC) Research Centre, we advocate for literature’s powerful agency in reconstructing our increasingly complicated world with empathy and care.

In 2023-2024, we ramped up our research program’s triple focus on (1) Operation Canada with focus on Canada’s cultural heritage; (2) Storytelling, Crisis, and Upheaval; and (3) Archives and Community.

Our team delivered 40 international conference papers across five countries—Australia, England, Spain, the United States, and Canada—and published 20 scholarly articles and book chapters, all while engaging with cutting-edge technological disruptions like Generative AI.

Moreover, the year has marked a bold step forward in amplifying the global impact of the MLC scholarship. We hosted 35 prominent international speakers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Susan Chira, editor-in-chief for the Marshall Project; post-9/11 novelist Amy Waldman, author of the haunting novel The Submission; and scholars across the world from Canada to Uzbekistan.

As a powerhouse for hands-on learning, the MLC Research Centre has trained 37 highly qualified personnel (HQP) this past year, in addition to supporting experiential teaching innovations in nine courses across the Faculty of Arts and the Creative School, involving 220 students. Backed by our international advisory board of 6 global thought leaders, we organized numerous workshops and an open house featuring 20 World War II quilts donated to the Centre’s archive in 2023.

Confronting&mdashp;and creatively navigating&mdashp;the current austerity surrounding university education, we forged new partnerships locally with the City of Toronto for the upcoming Threads of History exhibition, and globally with the prestigious Hemingway Society to bring the annual conference to Toronto in 2026, a first for Canada. We forged internal partnerships with TMU Library Collaboratory on sharing our high-tech equipment and we supported the Creative School’s SSHRC-funded Fashion Studies journal, co-edited by long-time MLC Research Associate Alison Matthews David.

I am thrilled to report on the Obama Fellowship award. Being the first Canadian woman scholar to receive this honour is momentous, representing a significant opportunity to forge connections between the MLC Research Centre and the Obama Institute in Germany. As we chart our future, we take inspiration from our achievements, our values, and collective mission.

I extend my deepest gratitude to those who support us, including the Tri-Council granting agencies, Toronto Metropolitan University via the Dean of Arts, the Provost, the Vice-President Research and Innovation, and our donors, stakeholders, and media partners. We share a passionate belief in the power of globally impactful research on cultural heritage and the value of experiential learning for the next generation.

Your support is invaluable for our success.

Irene Gammel, Executive Director


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MLC Annual Impact Report Executive Summary

MLC Annual Impact Report Executive Summary


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Recent News

Attention Students — Call for Student Volunteer Docents

Attention Students — Call for Student Volunteer ...

Become a docent at the MLCRC exhibition Threads of History: Repatriating World War II Quilts at Toronto City Hall.

Payton Knox joins MLC

Payton Knox joins MLC

Payton is involved in providing grading support for the course ENG 240: Contours of Creativity.

MLC Annual Impact Report 2023 - 2024

MLC Annual Impact Report 2023 - 2024

The MLC Research Centre is proud to present a summary of its annual achievements.

Call for Papers for Routledge Book: Life Writing in a Pandemic

Call for Papers for Routledge Book: Life Writing in a ...

We welcome papers that engage with any aspect of life writing during the pandemic.

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

MLC Themes

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

Amid the unprecedented social change of World War I, women renegotiated their identities by dramatically changing the way they engaged with the arts. But how did they do so? And how did everyday citizens engage with the war?

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

MLC Themes

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, considered by many to be the mother of Dada, was a daringly innovative poet and an early creator of junk sculpture. “The Baroness” was best known for her sexually charged, often controversial performances.

Modernism in the World

MLC Themes

Modernism in the World

Recent research has departed from the Euro-centric and national view of Modernism to include approaches and methods studying Modernism across national boundaries and across different art forms to include fashion, dance, performance, technology, and visual culture.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

MLC Themes

Lucy Maud Montgomery

L.M. Montgomery is perhaps Canada's most important literary export. She was prolific writer of over 500 short stories and poems, and twenty novels, including the beloved Anne of Green Gables.

Canadian Modernism

MLC Themes

Canadian Modernism

The works of numerous Canadian authors who lived during the modernist era may well constitute the most central and experimental articulation of Canadian modernism in prose, allowing authors to stage cross-cultural, controversial, and even conflicted identities.

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

MLC Themes

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

Life writing, including autobiographical accounts, diaries, letters and testimonials written or told by women and men whose political, literary or philosophical purposes are central to their lives, has become a standard tool for communication and the dissemination of information.