Team
The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation brings together a dynamic international research team of 58 scholars from 30 academic institutions. The project team includes postdoctoral fellows, students, research associates, as well as over 40 community research partners. Currently, there are eight formal research sites: University of Guelph; Carleton University; McGill University; Memorial University; Queen’s University Belfast; 17, Institute of Critical Studies; University of British Columbia; and University of Regina. Below are the Research Team members involved in some capacity during some or all of the grant periods listed below.
Director
Researchers
Roger Dean
MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University; and austraLYSIS, Sydney/London
Postdoctoral Fellows
Partners
Students
Current Staff
The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation is an independent research institute housed in the College of Arts at the University of Guelph. Our collective efforts rely, in part, on the hard work of an incredible and dedicated team of staff.
Research Associates
Lauren Michelle Levesque
Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality, Saint Paul University (Ottawa, ON)
Tracey Nicholls
Graduate School of International Peace Studies at Soka University in Hachioji (Tokyo, Japan)
Advisory Board
Past Staff
Ariel Oleynikov
Managing Editor of Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation
CFI: ImprovLab Research Team (2017–present)
ImprovLab is IICSI’s new multi-million dollar research and performance facility located in the ARC (North Wing of the MacKinnon Building) on the University of Guelph campus. The publicly accessible, multi-use venue was enabled by core funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
Founding Director
ICASP Research Team (2007–2013)
The Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice (ICASP) initiative, supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: Major Collaborative Research Initiatives Grant, played a vital role in defining a new field of interdisciplinary inquiry, hypothesizing that musical improvisation is a crucial model for political, cultural, and ethical dialogue and action. ICASP played a leading role in defining a new field of interdisciplinary inquiry.
Roger Dean
MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University; and austraLYSIS, Sydney/London
IICSI: A Partnered Institute Research Team (2013–2023)
IICSI: A Partnered Research Institute is a 10-year SSHRC-Funded Partnership Grant (2013-2023), housed at the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) at the University of Guelph. Premised on a genuinely reciprocal exchange of ideas and strategies, the partnered institute—the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI)—brought together 56 scholars from 19 institutions while fostering innovative partnerships with 30+ community-based organizations. IICSI’s five initial sites included the University of Guelph, McGill University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Regina, and Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Roger Dean
MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University; and austraLYSIS, Sydney/London
Improvising Futures Research Team (2022–2027)
Improvising Futures (IF) is a 5-year SSHRC-Funded Partnership Grant (2022-2027), housed at the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) at Guelph University, that asks questions about the future of our world: can we improve the social, environmental, cultural, and spiritual well-being of everyone through improvisatory practices? IF builds on work carried out previously by IICSI, namely through the ICASP project (Improvisation, Community and Social Practice, 2007-2012) and our previous partnership grant (2012-2022), through which we established IICSI.
