elina lex

Education

Concordia University, Montreal: PhD Communication Studies, 2020-present

York University, Toronto: MA Cinema and Media Studies, 2017 - 2019

York University, Toronto: BA Cinema and Media Studies, Minor Anthropology, 2013-2016

Fanshawe College, London: Diploma, Broadcasting - Television, 2011-2013

Awards / Grants

• Digital Now Grant - Canada Council for the Arts (2022-23)

• SSHRC - Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (2021-present)

• Concordia Merit Scholarship (2020)

• CIBC Fine Arts Award (2019)

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2018)

• SSHRC – Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Master's (2017)

• York Graduate Scholarship (2017)

• York University Continuing Student Scholarship (2015)

• York University International Mobility Award (2014)

• Dean’s Prize for Excellence AMPD (2014)

• AMPD Merit Award (2014)

Selected Work Experience

Technical Producer, Talking Archives 2 (Archive/Counter-Archive), Concordia University, Montreal (March 2024-present)

Led technical production for “Talking Archives 2” an interview series by Archive/Counter-Archive featuring conversations with artists, archivists, and researchers working across archival genres. Included pre-production, video recording, and post-production video editing for 8 episodes.

Lab Teaching Assistant, COMS 384: Moving Images II, Concordia University, Montreal (September 2023-April 2024)

Supported weekly technical labs for undergraduate students of the Moving Images stream in Communication Studies. Instruction included SONY X70 camera, sound, lighting, studio, and post-production workflows. Provided constructive feedback on documentary video projects.

Co-Manager, Working Paper Series (Archive/Counter-Archive), York University (September 2022-present)

Organized Archive/Counter-Archives’ Working Paper Series, an event series showcasing PhD candidate’s work-in-progress in relation to different practices and understandings of archives and archiving. Managed outreach, event communications/design, and moderated events that were held over zoom.

Lab Teaching Assistant, COMS 475: Intermedia III, Concordia University, Montreal (September 2022-December 2022)

Instructed weekly labs for upper year undergraduate students of the Intermedia stream in Communication Studies. Instruction included 3D design in Unity, 3D scanning, VR/AR design.

Research Assistant, expo 67 AR|chives, Concordia University, Montreal (July 2022-October 2022)

Assisting Monika Gagnon on the research and development of the Expo 67 AR|chives app, a geo-located app engaging the lively tensions of colonial & decolonizing narratives through archival artifacts & contemporary accounts on the Expo 67 islands.

Lab Teaching Assistant, COMS 374: Intermedia II, Concordia University, Montreal (September 2021-April 2022)

Instructed weekly labs on multimedia design software for the second year undergraduate course of the Intermedia stream in the Communication Studies program. Teaching instruction included interactive design in Max MSP, 3D spatial design in Mozilla Hubs, photogrammetry and 3D modeling in Agisoft Metashape, and 360 video production.

Research Assistant, Archive/Counter-Archive, Concordia University, Montreal (September 2020-April 2023)

As a student researcher of the Technology: Innovation working group of the Archive/Counter-Archive partnership project, I assisted in the coordination, research, and mobilization of digital strategies for various case studies of Canadian, community-based, and independent archives and collections. Deliverables included a technical needs survey for different case studies of the Archive/Counter-Archive project.

Student Lead + Communications Coordinator, Archive/Counter-Archive, Concordia University, Montreal (September 2020-June 2022)

Acting as the communications coordinator and Student Lead for Concordia University’s branch of the Archive/Counter-Archive project, I coordinated communications, events, activities and media projects across the multi-institutional network.

Freelance Digital Content Producer, Toronto (January 2020-April 2020)

Began work freelancing digital services for various cultural institutions. Key deliverables included producing a 360° video capture of "Into the Light: Eugenics and Education in Southern Ontario" exhibit at the Guelph Museum. Freelance work also included assisting on the launch of the updated VUCAVU Expanded website, a digital distribution and streaming platform promoting Canadian film and video art. Tasks included back and front-end content management in Kentico and quality assurance testing.

Research Assistant, Art and Cartography Commission, International Cartography Association, Toronto/Tokyo (July 2019– present)

Consulted on the research project and collaborative workshop Reclaiming Through Mapping: The Olympic Sites of Tokyo which investigated questions of place, displacement and urban development on the Olympic sites of Tokyo. Using experimental site-specific, performative and sensory ethnographic methodologies developed in collaboration with Prof Sharon Hayashi and the art-research collective Hamilton Perambulatory Unit, I assisted with the implementation of field research excursions and oversaw digital production, including 360 video production and the creation of an interactive multi-media website documenting and archiving the research content.

Teaching Assistant, York University, Toronto (January 2019 – April 2019)

Organized and led weekly tutorials for a second-year undergraduate course Film and Television as Social Practice. Reinforced lessons by identifying critical information from lectures or readings and elaborating to help students understand and engage with the material. Worked with students on a one-to-one basis as well as managed marking and evaluation of course assignments.

Visitor Services & Memberships Associate, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto (February -August 2017)

Provided front-end visitor services including processing ticket requests and annual memberships, facilitating public and school group admissions, and providing administration and special events support.

Exhibitions

2023

Looking Back While Looking Ahead, Sky Fine Foods + Geary Art Crawl, Geary Ave, Toronto

Digital Intimacies, Research-Creation Collective Exhibition (DIGS + FMS), 4th Space, Concordia University, Montreal

Intense Interiors: Architecture and Film Symposium, Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto

2021

Screening Scholarship Media Festival, CAMRA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

2020

Fabulous Festival of Fringe, Durham, ON (cancelled)

Telegenic Program, Artist Project + Radiance VR, Toronto

Conference Presentations / Public Talks

• Panelist, Roundtable on Research-Creation, Digital Intimacies Exhibition, 4th Space, Concordia University, Montreal (July 2023)

• Presenter, Future [of] Archives, IAMHIST, Montreal (June 2023)

• Presenter, Arts, Cultures, Industries: Shifting Heritage Objects for STS, 4S, Cholula (December 2022)

• Presenter, Virtual Heritage Panel, NECS Conference 2022, Bucharest (June 2022)

• Panelist, Deep Mapping the McCord Museum’s Archives, Student Highlights Panel, Archive/Counter Archive Symposium, Online (December 2021)

• Co-presenter, Sharon Hayashi, Mapping Olympics 3.0: Archaeologies of the Future, International Cartographic Conference, Online (December 2021)

• Presenter, Gentrification Panel, Screening Scholarship Media Festival, CAMRA, University of Pennsylvania, Online (April 2021)

• Co-presenter, Monika Gagnon, AR/chives: Augmented Reality & the Expo 67 Islands, SCMS Conference, Online (March 2021)

• Panelist, Augmented Reality Art in Public Space, Performative Urbanism Lab, Concordia University (March 2021)

• Participant/Presenter, Toasterlab Mixed Reality Performance Hackathon, FoldA, Online (June 2020)

• Speaker, Tempelhofer: Human Scale, International Cartographic Conference, Tokyo (July 2019)

• Panelist, Traversing New Media: An Afternoon of Research-Creation, York University (January 2019)

Invited Teaching/Workshops

• Guest Speaker, Virtual Reality as Research-Creation, COMS 423/523: Media Art and Aesthetics, Concordia University (November 2022)

• Workshop Facilitator, Mississippi Water Map: Locative Sound Mapping Workshop, AMES, University of Minnesota (October 2022)

• Guest Speaker, FILM 4711: Politics of the Archive, York University (October 2021)

• Guest Speaker, FILM 4711: Politics of the Archive, York University (March 2021)

• Guest Speaker/Workshop Facilitator, FILM 4310: The Interactive Documentary, York University (February 2020)

Skills

• Research and writing, project coordination, grant writing, administration

• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

• Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign, Premiere Pro, Audition)

• Avid Media Composer

• Digital Storytelling Tools (Mozilla Hubs, Styly, Wonda VR, Klynt, Echoes, BlippAR)

• 360 video production, sound production

• 3D production (Agisoft Metashape, Polycam, Blender, Unity)

• Content Management Systems (Kentico, Wordpress, Squarespace)

• Social Media platforms

Involvement

• Archive/Counter-Archive Working Paper Series, Co-Manager (2022-present)

• Center for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, Member (2022-present)

• Feminist Media Studio, Member (2022-present)

• Hexagram Network, Member (2021-present)

• Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Member (2021-present)

• Post-Image Research Cluster, Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology, Member, 2020-present

• Art and Cartography Commission, ICA, Member, 2019-present

Professional Development

• Certificate, Graduate Seminar in University Teaching, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Concordia University (December 2023)

• Certificate, NEWVIEW XR School Toronto (August 2022)

• Certificate, Curating Sound Art: Exhibiting the Auditive, Berlin University of the Arts (September 2018)

• Certificate Courses in Digital Media Skills, OCAD University (2016)