Welcome from our Director Eric Fillion

Welcome to the website for the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI for short)! Thank you for stopping by!!

Generously funded through the Partnership Grant program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and hosted at the University of Guelph, our Institute acts as a central hub for a vibrant interdisciplinary field of inquiry that centres on improvisation’s resonance across the arts and beyond, in accordance with our goal to research, imagine, and implement new paradigms for confronting the pressing issues of our time.

On this website, you will learn about IICSI’s network, which is comprised of partner sites at McGill University, University of British Columbia, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Regina, Carleton University, 17 – Instituto de Estudios Críticos, and Queen’s University Belfast. They—along with the Musagetes Foundation—are our executive partners, and play vital roles in both high-level and on-the-ground Institute activities.

IICSI traces its origins, in part, to the Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice (ICASP) project, a SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiative from 2007 that established the field of Critical Studies in Improvisation. The foundation of the Institute followed in 2013. The past decade has seen the consolidation and expansion of our large-scale partnership-based vision, which now includes 70+ researchers, and an equal number of community partners (from social service organizations to music festivals, health care organizations, arts collectives, and government agencies, among others), engaged in projects that span 20+ cities and 10+ countries.

Joining them are the many students currently pursuing graduate studies in Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of Guelph, a PhD program that incorporates foundations in critical inquiry, multidisciplinary improvisatory practices, performative agency, and community engagement.

On our website, you will find information about that program as well as our events, activities, projects, and many research and creative outputs, including the colloquiums and festivals that we and our partners organize each year. Browse its content to learn more about our efforts to create positive social change through the confluence of improvisational arts, innovative scholarship, and collaborative action. Come back too, as we regularly upload new content from the IICSI Archive or about recent and upcoming initiatives.

Thank you for visiting, and please subscribe to our ImprovNotes newsletter for the latest news and updates from the world of improvisation.

 

Eric Fillion
Director
International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation