From ice cider to erotic testimony: 51 Concordia researchers at Acfas

From 3D technology to digital education, the topics presented by Concordians at the 84th congress of l’Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) are as varied as they are intriguing.

The 2016 edition of this landmark conference — the largest multidisciplinary gathering of research and knowledge in the French-speaking world — runs at l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) from May 9 to 13.

Over five days, academics and other experts will unpack current topics in the fields of science and creativity, nature and culture, imagination and innovation. The 2016 lineup includes 51 Concordia researchers.

Two years ago, Concordia hosted Acfas 2014, welcoming 5,100 scholars and 173 colloquia; in total, more than 3,000 papers explored “Research: Zones of Creativity and Convergence.”

Points de rencontre: Acfas 2016

For this year’s theme, “Points de rencontre,” Acfas is  approximately 4,000 speakers from 42 countries. Each day, there will be up to 69 separate colloquia, all in French.

Seven of Concordia’s 51 researchers gave us this taste of their upcoming Acfas presentations.

The rise of Quebec ice cider

There is plenty of politics behind that bottle of ice cider in your cellar.

Anaïs Détolle, PhD candidate in Concordia’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, co-organized the all-day colloquium, “La transformation du cidre au Québec : perspectives sur les connaissances technico-scientifiques, socioéconomiques, de l’industrie et de la consommation.”

It’s the first convergence of researchers who study Quebec cider. Twenty-one speakers — including associate marketing professor Jordan LeBel, a food marketing specialist and director of the John Molson Executive MBA Program — will analyze it from all angles.

Détolle’s talk will chart ice cider’s social and political evolution from illegal rotgut into a luxury beverage. She attributes the transformation to the Quebec producers’ success in securing quality control and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

La vie sociale du cidre de glace
Wednesday, May 11, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
UQAM, Pavillon Paul-Gérin-Lajoie (N) – N-M450
 

Digital mobility and youth education

How are new mobile technologies and social media redefining learning and teaching spaces?

Juan Carlos Castro, associate professor in the Department of Art Education, and co-presenter Martin Lalonde, PhD candidate in art education, address this question by looking at the social engagement processes of youth in digital culture. They also examine how new digitally mediated practices are influencing the way adolescents and young adults learn and engage in formal and informal educational spaces. 

The new forms of mobility brought by interfaces and social media apps are giving more agency to students in front of curriculum that is delivered through mobile platforms. This enables them to exert a stronger influence on the conceptual trajectories of a course and on how they engage with it, as well as on their own educational path in a given context.

Visual mobile curriculum is, in particular manners, a means to bypass certain of the immobilities lived by students for whom the school setting represents a constraining environment. 

Im/mobilités des processus d’engagement scolaire des jeunes à risque à travers la médiatisation des pratiques artistiques par les technologies mobiles
Monday, May 9, from 1:30 to 2 p.m.
UQAM, Pavillon Paul-Gérin-Lajoie (N) – N-M350

I confess: erotic testimony

Under the topic “Sexualités et société confessionnelle,” Thomas Waugh, professor of film studies in the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, will discuss two queer American video artists, Phillip B. Roth and Colby Keller.

Both direct sexually explicit and autobiographical work that involves a narrative and erotic process — “auto-pornography.” Belonging to different generations (Roth was born in 1963; Keller in 1980), they are from separate sexual communities.

Roth comes from the New York art documentary movement that formed a queer subculture during the 1980s. Keller’s roots lie in the mid-2000s gay porn milieu.

The dialectic between the two directors enriches an understanding of testimony in the sexual culture of gay men, including the signifying operation of explicit sexual imagery, the voice in "I" and autobiographical discourse, and didactic and intimate narratives of the filmed sexual performance.

Waugh will analyze key works by Roth and Keller. The resulting study will probe the corporeal dynamic of confessional discourse that emerges from these works and their erotic testimony, as part of Waugh’s larger SSHRC-funded research project, “I Confess.”

Venez, confessez
Tuesday, May 10, from 11 to 11:30 a.m.
UQAM, Pavillon Paul-Gérin-Lajoie (N) – N-M210
 

How to make almost anything in a makerspace 

At the “makerspace” in Concordia’s District 3 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, participants build prototypes and other creative inventions using digital fabrication equipment like a laser cutter, 3D printers, a computer numerical control (CNC) machine and prototyping equipment.

Responding to the theme “Pédagogie et impression 3D,” Marc-André Leger, part-time lecturer in JMSB’s Department of Supply Chain Business Technology Management, will recall his experience of running two free, non-credit 15-week makerspace courses at District 3. His co-presenter is Kamal Fox, a part-time instructor at the Centre for Engineering in Society and the Concordia Department of Communication Studies.

Leger will also provide tips and observations to help other universities that are interested in creating a makerspace environment.

Retour d’expérience : How to Make Almost Anything au MakerSpace de l’Université Concordia
Monday, May 9, from 4:15 to 5 p.m.
UQAM, Pavillon Paul-Gérin-Lajoie (N) – N-M450

Find out about other Concordia presenters at the 84th congress of l’Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas).