Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

Overview

During the 2022-2023 period, the MLC Research Centre achieved remarkable milestones and generated impactful outcomes through research discoveries, collaborative partnerships, groundbreaking initiatives, community engagement, and global recognition. These accomplishments reinforced our commitment to advancing knowledge, driving innovation, and making a positive difference in society.

With lifted restrictions, the MLC Research Centre experienced a substantial surge in in-person attendance, building new connections. Throughout the year, we welcomed over 500 in-person visitors—student participants, new graduates, high school students, public figures, scholars, and creative practitioners. We hosted 37 international and national speakers and set best practices in research and training in the arts and humanities. Our projects received prestigious recognition, including the C.P. Stacey Award for Best Military Book for I Can Only Paint: The Story of Battlefield Artist Mary Riter Hamilton and the prestigious Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries Award for the international touring exhibition The Baroness Elsa Project, highlighting queered aesthetics and bold avant-garde ideas.

We launched numerous new projects, workshops, and symposia. Our accomplishments include: 38 highly skilled personnel (HQP) trained, 25 published articles, 28 international conference papers, keynotes, and talks and the remarkable monograph Dressing and Undressing Duchamp by Ingrid Mida. It was thrilling to witness the enthusiasm of our students and the strength of our projects as they explored, discovered, and found inspiration in new ideas.

The MLC team actively engaged with the national community in the arts, humanities, andeven science. We represented the MLC Research Centre at prominent public events suchas the RBC Innovators Ball at the Ontario Science Centre and the Royal Society of Canada, delivering a plenary talk on utilizing humanities strategies to address the pandemic’s effects.

In the past year, we continued to lead in humanities discovery by prioritizing diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism. Notable achievements included Jason Wang’s impactful essay on anti-Asian racism and public accountability in TTC in Toronto Life magazine, Anna Krentz’s work on disability in the archives, and the repatriation of war quilts made by Canadian women. We believe that research and training should be inclusive and accessible to all, a guiding force behind our actions to shape the future.

With the unwavering support of our international community and MLC International Advisory Board, comprising scholars and public intellectuals from renowned institutions, we strive to make far-reaching contributions to feminist practice and participatory action research. We thank our esteemed partners, generous donors, supportive sponsors, community stakeholders, and dedicated team members. Your unwavering belief in our work fuels our mission as a thriving centre of innovation and scholarship. Without your invaluable contributions, we would be unable to fulfill our vision for excellence and diversity. Thank you for being instrumental in our journey and for championing our cause.

Irene Gammel, Executive Director

Impact by number

impact report stats

MLC Annual Impact Report Executive Summary

MLC Annual Impact Report Executive Summary

Sponsors And Partners

Recent News

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi aspires to articulate the centre’s core values and vision through her contributions to the centre’s social media platforms.

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

At the MLC, Caitlin is excited to explore modernist women artists, the modernism archive and collection of modernist ephemera.

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem joins the MLC and will be involved in research administration, exhibitions and events.

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina assists Dr. Irene Gammel with her course ENG 710 Special Topics in Canadian Literature: Contemporary Life Writing.

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.