Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) begins the fall 2024 term with the addition of three new full-time faculty positions.
The University warmly welcomes faculty members Caitlin ffrench, Troy Patenaude and Narges Rezaian.
"They are a diverse and exceptionally talented group that brings a variety of skills and experiences to our students and our community at AUArts. We are thrilled that these impressive scholars and artists have decided to make AUArts their creative home base."
- Dr. Janis Goldie (Dean, Academic Programs)
Caitlin ffrench
LTA Faculty, Visiting Artist, Fibre, School of Craft and Emerging Media
Caitlin ffrench holds an MFA from Emily Carr University and a BFA from UBC-Okanagan. ffrench's research maps the parallels between the anthropogenic world and the ongoing impacts of multiple sclerosis on her body. Her ritual practice explores natural materials and processes, including natural plant dyes and ochre pigments, along with textiles, ceramics and documentary photography of important sites affected by climate change.
Troy Patenaude
Assistant Professor, School of Critical and Creative Studies
Troy Patenaude is a scholar, educator, curator and hiking guide who explores the intersections between nature, arts, culture and social change. He holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from the University of Calgary and an MA in Art and the Age of Revolutions from the University of York, England. Troy is from a community referred to as the Georgian Bay Métis Community but has spent most of his life in the Blackfoot and Ktunaxa territories, living off-the-grid in the Rocky Mountains. For over 20 years, he has facilitated cross-cultural sharing, land-based education and decolonization programs with Indigenous knowledge keepers and leaders through various organizations, schools, museums and galleries throughout western Canada.
Narges Rezaian
Assistant Professor, School of Communication Design
A woman filmmaker and artist from Iran who holds a master's degree in Animation from the Tehran University of Arts and an MFA in Media Production from the University of Regina. Throughout professional collaboration and academic interdisciplinary research, borrowing ideas from philosophy, psychology and fine arts, she has developed her idiosyncratic artistic language that focuses on the expressive quality of the body as the main narrative element in various storytelling contexts. She specifically applies cinematic language and animation vocabulary in developing narratives to touch on contemporary phenomena from an alternative point of view.
Caitlin ffrench (Photo credit: Cory Grandfield), Troy Patenaude (Photo credit: Kyla Jayne), Narges Rezaian
