The Date: Friday, March 2
The Place: RSU building 55 Gould St — Room G (just past Oakham Café)
The Time: 4:15-6:30 (speakers from 4:15-5:15)
The Speakers:
Lai-Tze (Lychee) Fan, (Communication & Culture), Jamil Jivraj, (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Lacey Williams (Urban Planning)
The Abstracts:
Lai-Tze (Lychee) Fan, (PhD, Communication & Culture): The Adaptation of Eve: Establishing the Female Hero in the Film Adaptation of V for Vendetta
Abstract: This paper examines transformations to the character Evey in the 2006 film adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta. Drawing from feminist criticism of the archetypal hero myth and from analyses of the Damsel in Distress figure, this paper explores the ways in which the adapted Evey’s quest follows the classic monomyth, but also adds new layers in that the film focuses on a woman’s personal attempts at success and on her independence from male figures including the traditional male hero.
Jamil Jivraj, (MASc, Electrical & Computer Engineering): Adaptation & Engineering: How Dogs Can Teach Robots New Tricks
Abstract: Animals of all shapes, sizes and ecological roles have a variety of leg and body designs. A situation of particular interest is when a four-legged animal (quadruped) loses the use of a leg and is forced to walk using the remaining three, often adapting remarkably well. Can we learn something from this behavior, and synthesize it mechanically, to allow robots to complete a mission after sustaining injuries, or create assisted rehabilitation systems for patients with mobility problems?
Lacey Williams (MPl, Urban Planning): The Art of Water – Exposing Buried Urban Streams Through Photography and Painting
Abstract: By using Norval Morrisseau’s Woodlands style of painting to narrate urban water systems, my research provides a rationale for (re)imagining not only how we view water in our cities, but also how visual communication can act as a powerful tool in raising awareness of topical planning issues. The roots of this research are in Toronto, as I document the buried Garrison Creek through a variety of visual mediums, including photography, mapping, and painting. The goal is to underscore the importance of our urban water systems, viewing them as systems within systems, open and always changing, (re)connecting aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians with our natural heritage.