Committee member bios

Dr. Ann-Barbara Graff is a feminist scholar of the 19th century who focuses on critical theory, particularly evolutionary metaphorics and the production of hegemonic narratives of Englishness, and digital humanities. Her current research has focused strategies for confronting systemic racism in the academy and removing barriers to participation for historically underrepresented populations. Dr. Graff has been with NSCAD University since 2014 and currently serves as the Vice-President (Academic & Research) and Provost; she is also adjunct faculty in the Graduate Department of English at Dalhousie University. She holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees and a PhD from the University of Toronto, and she completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Higher Education program at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Kara Holm leads Advancement at NSCAD University. Kara is a natural connecter and passionate advocate for the arts in Canada. She is an MFA candidate in creative non-fiction at the University of King’s College, where she is working on a book about her time as a founder, “Upstarts: Founders, Failure and the Startup Paradox”. A past member of the Atlantic Film Festival Board of Directors, Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education Board and Saint Mary’s University Research Ethics Board, she presently serves on the parish council at Saint George’s Church in Halifax. In her spare time Kara enjoys music, cultural tourism, reading, wine, knitting, and Succession.

Fwad Hoho is currently a fabrication lab technician at NSCAD, specializing in digital fabrication, 3D printing, and making almost anything. He completed a Bachelor of Design degree from NSCAD and a Master of Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation degree from Sobey’s School of Business. Fwad likes travelling and drinking a lot of coffee.

Leen Bakri Kasbah is a second-year NSCAD student studying Interdisciplinary Design. Originally from Lebanon, she moved to Halifax to complete her education. As a design student, Leen is interested in user experience, typography, and graphic design. She also likes chocolate cake and learning French.

HaeAhn Woo Kwon is a visual artist whose work centers primarily on drawing, sculpture, and installation. They have been greatly influenced by vernacular architecture and interventions found in the urban and rural context of their homeland in South Korea. Kwon, who recently joined NSCAD as an Assistant Professor, Division of Fine Arts (Sculpture), understands that the work of decolonizing the classroom requires openness, dedication, and a collaborative spirit from everyone to usher in a new era of creative practice. They describe their approach to research and teaching as “working with reality as a collaborator,” after growing up in a divided nation and adapting to life in North America as an international student and immigrant.

Kwon has actively exhibited with solo and group exhibitions in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Seoul, Paris, and Mexico City and they are the recipient of several Canada Council grants. They are also one half of the collaborative duo HaeAhn Paul Kwon Kajander who thread their given and last names together to poke fun at artist branding and question the notion of individualism. Kwon holds a Master of Fine Art degree from the University of Guelph and a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the Cooper Union in New York City.

Jana Macalik’s teaching explores how society is continuously challenged to break down barriers that stand to separate individuals and ideas, which she has pursues for more than 20 years as an academic. Jana is the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Art at OCAD University. She joined OCAD University in 2014, serving in a variety of Associate Dean roles within the Faculties of Design and Art. She is also a doctoral candidate in Higher Education at OISE/University of Toronto, investigating de-differentiation in the context of specialized art and design universities in Canada, particularly the differentiation frameworks that have posed a challenge to the unique model of art and design institutions in higher education.