Concordia’s Vivek Venkatesh will take on a new leadership role at McGill University starting June 2024

Vivek Venkatesh, Professor of Inclusive Practices in Visual Arts and Chair of the Department of Art Education in the Faculty of Fine Arts, will assume the position of Dean of the Faculty of Education at McGill University as of June 1.

Venkatesh is also UNESCO Co-Chair in the Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (UNESCO-PREV) and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP).

Venkatesh, MA 03, PhD 08, has served in several key leadership roles at the university, including Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Development (2012-15) and Associate Dean of Recruitment and Awards (2017-18) at the School of Graduate Studies.

He was also Inaugural Director of the Graduate Certificate in University Teaching (2013-18).

He was full-time faculty in Concordia’s Department of Education from 2008 to 2018 before making a move to the Faculty of Fine Arts as Associate Professor of Inclusive Practices in Visual Arts in the Department of Art Education, before rising to the rank of Full Professor two years later. He has been a member of the CSLP since 2008 and became its director in 2018.

“I am indebted to Concordia and to my colleagues from the Department of Art Education, the Department of Education and the CSLP for their support of our collective teaching and research initiatives over the past 20-odd years,” Venkatesh says.

“I know that we will continue to collaborate and look forward to building new bridges between Concordia and the Faculty of Education at McGill.”

Venkatesh is renowned for his work in promoting community resilience and creating pedagogical as well as artistic spaces for pluralistic dialogues.

He has brought together scholars, creators and practitioners from diverse fields such as political science, psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, instructional design and multimedia art at the CSLP.

Under his leadership as Principal Investigator, the centre secured $2.2 million in funding in 2020 from the Fonds de recherche du Québec and received the Regroupements stratégiques infrastructure grant. This funding supports research and research-creation projects until 2027, while strengthening collaborations between scholars, artists and community practitioners in diverse local, national and international contexts.

‘Immensely grateful’

Venkatesh’s leadership played a pivotal role in his establishing of Project SOMEONE (SOcial Media EducatiON Every Day) in 2014. It’s a multimedia online platform dedicated to reducing hate and violent extremism by promoting critical digital literacy through education. Project SOMEONE has been seamlessly integrated into Venkatesh’s UNESCO Co-Chairpersonship in Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism since 2018.

His unwavering commitment to research-creation and public engagement has garnered his teams at the CSLP and the UNESCO-PREV chair numerous accolades, evidenced especially by his securing of nearly $11 million in external funding as Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on provincial, national and international grants.

“I want to congratulate Vivek on his appointment. He is exceptionally well suited to his new role as Dean,” says Annie Gérin, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts.

“We are immensely grateful for his contributions to the Faculty of Fine Arts and the university at large. Vivek has been a true inspiration for many of us and his dedication and passion will be greatly missed. I wish him continued success in his new position."

Find out more about Concordia’s Department of Art Education and the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance.