Research in Focus is designed to spotlight faculty, staff, and student research, spark meaningful dialogue, and strengthen engagement across our campuses. In this session, we were inspired by two insightful and amazing presentations:

🔹 The Linguistic Quandary of Environmental Hermeneutics by Andrew Fuyarchuk explores a philosophical problem in environmental interpretation: if non-human animals lack language, how can they be understood within hermeneutic frameworks? Fuyarchuk examines contradictions in hermeneutic theory, traces them back to Heidegger’s dualistic ontology, and proposes a solution that establishes continuity between humans and animals by drawing on ancient philosophy, biological research, and a synthesis of Kantian thought with evolutionary theories of mind.

🔹 Escape Fantasy by Alexander Carson is a practice-based research project that began as support for Carson’s incomplete essay film but evolved into broader investigation of surveillance, gentrification, and Toronto’s escape room boom through the “Amateur Research League” – a collaborative group of artists and students. The project shifted focus to examine the politics and power dynamics involved in co-creative, intermedia artistic processes, raising questions about collaborative and interdisciplinary art practice.