ALLab Research assistants

Andrea Diaz Cardona

In my practice, I capture non-fiction situations and stories through different documentary formats as a way to expand our collective memory and oral history. I experiment with the possibilities that the medium of audio, film, and web offers for expression, storytelling and collective creation. I have a double BA in Philosophy and in Journalism. Currently, I am doing an MFA in Film Production at Concordia and, as part of the ALlab team, I coordinate and explore the use of spaces, equipment and technologies to help the creation and research projects plan and build their best outcome. At the Lab, I have found a perfect environment to explore research-creation related to memory, oral history, identity and the role of listening in the process of sharing difficult stories, especially in the post-conflict context.

Marie Jou Comilang-Costales (MJ)

is currently a student in Electroacoustic Studies major with a minor in Theatre at Concordia University. She is a sound engineer, sound technician and sound designer. Her electroacoustic piece entitled "Mi2" was presented at the Women's in Music conference in December 2018. MJ also volunteers with Rock Camp for Girls and Non-Conforming Gender youth in the sound department and hopes to set an example for girls and NCG youth pursuing music. She is the sound  technician/designer for all your sound related needs at the Acts of Listening Lab.

Seluna Fernandez

Bachelor’s degree, Fine Arts in Design and Art History from Concordia University. My main interest lie in designing for print and web. I am passionate about telling stories with the images I capture. As a woman designer, I’m constantly wondering how my creations are shaped by the cultural values of the society to which I belong. I define myself as feminist, as a person that cares about human and others beings. As designer, I want my work to both convey my own values and challenge some common assumptions regarding gender. I believe that design may be employed to bring about societal changes, and for this reason my creations are a reflection of my values: equality, respect of nature, and community engagement.

Zoé Bailly-Stetson

Zoé assists in building oral history performance archives and making floor maps. A Communications major, Zoé is interested in the ethics around collecting stories. She is inspired by set-ups that invite listeners to play with testimony.

This year, she co-created “Marie and Your Aquarium”, a documentary theatre piece which stages the story of Marie, a 60-year-old woman who feels climate change in her body. When directing for the stage or for the screen, Zoé tries to create an environment where growth is cooler than perfection.

Susie Showers

Susie Showers is a performer and installation artist from England. Her MA research in Drama Therapy at Concordia looks at how theatre techniques can access body memories and transform symptoms of PTSD from sexual trauma. As a research assistant with the Acts of Listening Lab, she is gathering sources to connect testimonials from victim-offender encounters at the Centre for Restorative Justice with the research-creation of verbatim theatre in oral history performance. Designing workshops for the Lab, she reaches across disciplines to explore ways to train performers in gaining resilience in mind and body to hold traumatic narratives. This role feeds her interest in the body as a vessel for stories, and ways of gaining flexibility to release those stories playfully. Susie has presented talks and created art centred on creativity in sexuality, and the nervous system's role in emotional regulation.

Ana Maria Garcia

Art therapy student, researching how to establish dialogues between art practices in the context of post-conflict Colombia and the public practice of art therapy in Canada. My experience working as a psychologist in Colombia and my curiosity for discovering art pieces for social change, contribute to my work at the Acts of Listening Lab as an active listener to the audience and in building a database of art in different post-conflict contexts around the world.

Caite Clark

Caite Clark is a graduating student in Concordia’s Theatre and Development BFA program. Her interests lie in Shakespeare and puppetry, and the relationship between text and images. Caite was first introduced to COHDS through the Right to the City project, leading a team of theatre and oral history students in creating a new work of verbatim theatre about the working class community in the Pointe St. Charles neighbourhood. In Concordia Theatre’s Dwellings, Caite designed and performed an oral history piece in collaboration with indigenous artist Floyd Favel, using shadow puppetry to communicate personal testimonies from living on a Cree reserve. Caite was first introduced to Luis Sotelo in his undergraduate oral history and performance class, where she designed the inaugural headphones verbatim production of Untitled, a collaboration with Centre de Justice Reparatrice. Caite designs the lighting for events and performances in the Acts of Listening Lab, visually realizing how voices giving testimonies would like to be listened to.

Jad Chami

Jad is in his last year of BFA at Concordia University. He is a composer and musician, notably for film, theater and contemporary dance. His other field of practice is in aesthetics. His focus in the question of the auteur in art and its contemporary controversies. He is interested in the role of music and instrumentation in the listening of testimonies in Oral History Performance.

Audrey Doyle

My name is Audrey-Anne Doyle, and I am a first year Master’s student in Political Science at Concordia. My research interests are violence, informality, and resistance in Latin America. I am involved with various research groups and organizations in Montreal, such as RÉLAM, ÉRIGAL, and Concordia’s LLACS. I am assisting Professor Sotelo Castro with his work on various projects related to Colombian refugees in Quebec, including upcoming events related to the Colombian Truth Commission. My position involves, but is not limited to, translating, researching data on Colombian migration to Canada, researching and writing literature reviews, and supporting events. The research I must conduct on the topics of violence, conflict, resistance and resilience in Latin America by occupying this position is closely linked to the fieldwork I plan to conduct in Latin America next year, as well as my intended Master’s thesis. Although oral history performance, memory studies and listening are unknown territory for me as a political science student, I am excited to have been granted the opportunity to delve into the field by learning as much as I can.