Alison Reiko Loader
- Part-time Faculty, Cinema
- Part-time Faculty, Design and Computation Arts
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Biography
Bio
Alison Reiko Loader currently teaches animation history and digital production. A media artist and a media historian, her past lives include 3D game design in Tokyo, directing animated shorts at the National Film Board of Canada, and artistic collaborations with entomologists. Her exhibitions and publications have explored anamorphosis, camera obscuras, stereoscopy, scientific visual culture, race, gender, and animation. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Alison completed her PhD – a feminist history of 19th century optical media – in Communication Studies in 2018 and co-chaired the Society of Animation Studies annual conference with Marc Steinberg the same year. She has taught part-time at Concordia University since 2001 in the Cinema, Design and Computation Arts departments and as permanent faculty in the 3d Animation and CGI program at Dawson College, which she joined in 2011. In 2022 and 2023, she and engineering professor Carole El Ayoubi co-directed a STEAM summer camp at Concordia, which introduced teens from underrepresented communities to university workshops and labs. Her commitment to equity in education also led to volunteer efforts, such as tutoring early readers as part of a neighbourhood literacy program, facilitating community research projects as a board member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians – Quebec chapter and establishing a student award in Animation Studies. Alison also contributes as a peer reviewer and writer for various academic publications and activities.
Education
Research interests
old optical media, video installation, animation studies, plant and insect-based art
Areas of expertise
feminist media history, critical visuality studies, archival research, media archaeology, digital animation & video, media installation, stereoscopy, anamorphosis, camera obscuras
Possible Movements/Grey Nuns Chapel, FOFA Gallery Vitrines, 2010
Anamorphic Cinema, Centaur Workshop, 2011
En Masse, FOFA Gallery Vitrines, 2015
Guy L'Heureux