Crossing Boundaries Symposium

Logo design by Lidija Sijacic

Crossing Boundaries Graduate Symposium
Friday, April 10, 2026

W857, University of Lethbridge, Centre for the Arts

Crossing Boundaries returns in 2026 as a focused, one-day celebration of graduate research and creative activity at the University of Lethbridge.

This year’s event brings together MA, MFA, MMus, and PhD students for a dynamic day of panels, short presentations, and conversation. Designed to foster interdisciplinary exchange across the fine arts, humanities, and social sciences, Crossing Boundaries is a community-building event for graduate students to share work in progress, test ideas, and foster collegial conversations across our disciplines.

Rather than a large-scale symposium, this year’s format emphasizes lively panels and collegial dialogue.

Symposium Schedule | 9:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. 

 

Welcome to all!

Session Chair: Mia van Leeuwen

  • Derek Novosad, PhD CSPT – Fogo Process & Participatory Documentary

  • Noelle Kuntz, MMus – Absolute Pitch and Embodied Musical Experience

  • Olympia Tomasta, MFA – Through the Poppy Fields: A look at Czech and Slovak Folklore Through a Contemporary Canadian Theatrical Lens

Networking and light refreshments.

  • Brian Young, MA CSPT – Inheritance Beyond Property: Cree–Niitsitapi Kinship and Relational Governance

  • Nathan Fuehrer, MA – Angelic Devil’s Advocacy: Reengineering Debate Incentives to Cultivate Open-Mindedness Under Polarization

  • Shara Merrill, PhD CSPT – Constructal Arcade: An Interactive Exploration of Flow, Extraction, and Counter-Abundance

  • Mary Siever, PhD CSPT – Settler Colonialism and Mothering Neurodivergent Children

Free catered lunch to attendees and participants

Chair: Amy Mack

  • A.K.M. Iftekhar Khalid, PhD CSPT – Artificial Intelligence as a New Dominating Force: Linguistic Homogenization and the Erosion of Bangladeshi English

  • Frank Onuh, PhD CSPT – Communicative Lethality: Platform Governance and the Invisibilization of Death

  • Chelsea White, MFA – A Mirror Made of Pixels: Refracting the Self through Latent Space

  • Michelle Sylvestre, PhD CSPT – A.I.P.I. Following the Breadcrumbs