2024-2025 Fall/Winter Work Study RA Program

Faculty Supervisor First Name: Cheryl	Faculty Supervisor Last Name: Thompson
Email Address: cheryl.thompson@torontomu.ca	Phone Number: 4169795000	Fax Number:
Department / School / Centre: Performance/Black Creative Lab	Faculty: The Creative School	Room Number: AOB 921-71

Project Title: Mapping Ontario's Black Archives' Public Engagement

Project Description: Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives (MOBA) is an innovative project that is reimagining how the creative industries, creative arts, image industries, academic, and general public engage with and learn about archives. The project has created a UX-designed website [www.MobaProjects.ca] that features a content management system (CMS) where the public can access via a geospatial map, detailed descriptions and a comprehensive inventory of Black Ontarian archival collections that total 4900 records from 94 archives with Black collections. MOBA is currently launching several public engagement outputs. The first is the MOBA blog, which will launch in July. The Blog will feature monthly posts from contributors around the world on questions related to the Black archive, history, and culture. Second, we are also launching a LinkedIn page that will be linked to the MOBA MailChimp subscribers list. This page/list will feature updates on the project, ongoing works, the MOBA blog posts, and highlights on Dr. Thompson’s work. Third, MOBA is part of Black Creative Lab [www.theBlackCreativeLab.ca], Dr. Thompson’s research lab that is based at The Creative School's Catalyst. Black Creative Lab aims to be an incubator for Black artists, dancers, filmmakers, writers, and creative individuals. Through public engagement, digital content creation, and collaborative projects, the Lab has a Youtube channel and Instagram page dedicated to promoting the Lab’s digital content creation, and as it grows, video shorts and reels will be created to promote monthly blog posts. In terms of research, MOBA has successfully developed a detailed framework for how to collect, describe, curate, and catalogue collections, building on the literature on Black history, archives, and storytelling as pedagogy. In 2024, we conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals with experience engaging with Black collections in the province, and have gathered stories that will inform quantitative findings from a digital survey we circulated in 2023. We are currently working on synthesizing the findings from the interviews/survey and the aim is to translate the themes drawn from the interview/survey data into wider discussions that can be shared publicly in the form of academic articles, and eventually, a book manuscript on Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives, which we will submit to a publisher in 2025-26. We will also curate a public exhibition on these findings in 2026-27.

RA Position Duties and Resposibilities (Include Interaction with Research Team Members, Supervisory Arrangements): The RA will report to Dr. Thompson, MOBA’s Director, Research and Creative Strategy; Lucy Wowk, MOBA’s Research and Creative Lead, and Megan Judd, MOBA’s Promotion and Media Lead. The duties will include assisting Dr. Thompson by responding to emails, Lucy with data synthesis, and Megan with copy writing and publishing content on social media. The RA will also assist MOBA’s Blog editor and video editor by contributing to the graphic design of content (using the MOBA brand kit). The RA will be responsible for attending bi-weekly meetings on Zoom, keeping notes at each meeting, following up with the MOBA team members on agenda items, and being a general overall assistant to MOBA as we roll out our public engagement strategy.

How Many Students Are Currently Under Your Supervision:  Undergraduate: 3   Masters: 4   Doctoral: 1

Animals Will Be Used In Research:       No

Human Subjects Involved:                     No

Hazardous Materials, Equipment, or Processes Will Be Involved in the Research:   No

Research Experience and Opportunites Offered RA: The RA will gain firsthand experience in participatory research facilitation, content creation, public outreach, working in a team environment. They will also engage in design, and analytical work. There will be bi-weekly debrief meetings with the team. Equity is extremely important to MOBA. The RA will gain experience working on a project that reflects a dedication to expose creative students to dancers, choreographers-in-training, and future actors, directors, and as such will be tasked with researching new design techniques, visual/image trends, and storytelling. The RA will learn the imaginative possibilities made possible through archives, an experience that is often not possible within the purview of academic curriculum, and the value of interdisciplinary work.

Specific Skills / Knowledge / Experience Required (Include Any Required Courses, Computer Programs, etc.): The RA must have received Career Boost approval. They must have experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and intermediate-advanced level graphic design skills. They must have social media skills, such as writing posts for Instagram, LinkedIn, and X platforms, and intermediate skills working with video shorts. MOBA seeks an RA who is enthusiastic about working on a project with real-world impact, and someone who is a quick learner. Experience working in a team environment, writing copy, and writing are considered assets.

Start Date: TBA	End Date: TBA
Hours: Maximum Program Hours: 196.00	Hourly Rate: 21.11

Method of Student Application: Mail Telephone Fax Email In Person

Student Application Materials Required: Resume Cover Letter Portfolio Transcript References (How Many:)  Language(s):  Other: