Three TMU professors begin prestigious research leave

Sarah Henstra, of the Department of English, Carolyn Kane, of the School of Professional Communication, and Atefeh Mashatan, of the Department of Information Technology Management, have been selected as the 2022/2023 Massey Toronto Metropolitan University Visiting Fellows.

Massey College, external link (external link)  is a postgraduate residential college affiliated with, but independent of, the University of Toronto. The college brings together scholars, distinguished professionals and full-time graduate students into a stimulating, interdisciplinary intellectual community.

The Massey Toronto Metropolitan University Visiting Fellowship is the result of a partnership between TMU and the college, facilitating the annual appointment of TMU faculty members for a one-year research leave.

Sarah Henstra will pursue researching and writing a fictional novel centred around eco-terrorism during time as Massey College Fellow.

Sarah Henstra is a writer and scholar specializing in 20th-century British fiction. She is the author of four novels, including The Red Word, external link (external link) , which won the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction, and the forthcoming  On Seeing.

“Receiving this fellowship means one significant thing to me: it’s a recognition of the creative work being done at TMU alongside more traditional scholarship and research,” says Henstra. “It was gratifying to see that Massey College felt the same way.” 

In 2021, Henstra received a $50,000 grant from the Canada Council in support of her novel DRAGONFLY, which she will focus on during the fellowship. Combining her scholarly expertise in public memory, feminist activism and contemporary literature with her creative interest in representations of mother-daughter relationships, DRAGONFLY explores the complex ethical and socio-political questions surrounding “domestic terrorism.” 

Henstra acknowledges the return to the campus is nostalgic. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in 2002 and has fond memories of being a student there. As she returns as a fellow, Henstra plans to be on the college campus frequently and will seek opportunities to become involved in other creative activities – including checking out Massey’s antique printing press. “I enjoy any form of craft, it’s a way of cross-training for writing fiction,” said Henstra.

Professor Carolyn Kane will spend the 2022-23 academic year working on a SSHRC-funded book project, Electrographic Architecture: New York Color, Las Vegas Light, and America’s White Imaginary.

Carolyn Kane is a professor of Professional Communication in the Creative School. She is the author of High-Tech Trash: Glitch, Noise, and Aesthetic Failure, external link (external link)  and the award-winning monograph, Chromatic Algorithms: Synthetic Color, Computer Art, and Aesthetics After Code, external link (external link) .

Kane’s current project, which will be the focus of her next year, is her monograph, Electrographic Architecture: New York Color, Las Vegas Light, and America’s White Imaginary. The book looks at the  

aesthetic development of large-scale electric signs in Times Square over the last century and how whiteness has played a central but understudied role in this process. 

During her first sabbatical year, Kane will travel to other universities and countries to enhance and promote her research. She has already visited Penn State University to speak about her research and will next travel to Brussels to present to a group of artists and scientific researchers.  

As a scholar who studies the history, theory and philosophy of color across media disciplines, Kane says her work is “located at the intersection of aesthetics and technology” and crosses the fields of fashion, interior design, architecture, film, photography, new media, digital media and computer art. 

Atefeh Mashatan is a professor of the Ted Rogers School of  Information Technology Management at TMU where she is training the next generation of cybersecurity experts

Atefeh Mashatan is the founder and director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab at TMU and is recognized as a leading expert in cybersecurity globally. She also holds a Canada Research Chair, external link (external link)  (Tier II) position in Quality of Security Framework for IoT.

Broadly, Mashatan’s research focuses on human-centred cybersecurity and looks at the impact of emerging technologies and designs cybersecurity solutions that respond to the needs of the end user. With an academic background in mathematics and cryptography, and informed by her professional experience in the cybersecurity industry, she approaches her work, from cybersecurity research to teaching and training the next generation of professionals, from a multidisciplinary lens.

Due to this multidisciplinary nature, Mashatan is most looking forward to the collegial environment that Massey College offers bringing together distinguished scholars and prominent members of society from around the world. “Sometimes as academics and researchers in a certain discipline it can feel like you are in an echo chamber,” said Mashatan. “This fellowship opportunity will provide me an exceptional opportunity to facilitate collaborations between distinguished researchers from other disciplines who I might otherwise not have met.”

In addition to researching, Mashatan looks forward to “giving back” and mentoring a Junior Fellow, a U of T doctoral student, whose research interests align with her expertise through the college’s mentorship program, Meeting of the Minds. 

“I’d like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to professors Sarah Henstra, Carolyn Kane and Atefeh Mashatan on being named Massey Fellows from TMU for 2022/23,” said Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, interim provost and vice-president, academic. “Their work in literature and creative writing, media and communication, and cybersecurity respectively exemplify the breadth of scholarly, research and creative activity happening at TMU.”

TMU has a long history with Massey College. Previous appointees include:

• Dan Horner, Department of Criminology
• Farzin Vejdani, Department of History 
• Sepali Guruge, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing 
• Marco A. Fiola, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures 
• Anthony Bonato, Department of Mathematics
• Maria Gurevich, Department of Psychology
• Frank Russo, Department of Psychology
• Michael Coutanche, RTA School of Media
• Mehrunnisa Ahmad Ali, School of Early Childhood Studies
• Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Department of English
• John Shields, Department of Politics and Public Administration
• Dae Kun (Rilla) Hwang, Department of Chemical Engineering