Meet MUSSA!

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 

​PRESIDENT/
FACULTY COUNCIL REP
​

​Natalie Scola

​Natalie Scola is a first year student in the Master of Museum Studies Program at the University of Toronto. She holds a honours degree in Art History & Museum Studies and a major in the Arts and Humanities from Western University. Natalie is interested in museum education and programming – especially getting people to think about art! When not visiting museums, Natalie spends her time thinking about cooking and baking, and how food can be a connecting point for people, heritage and museums. In her spare time, Natalie love to cook, read lots of books and garden. 

VICE PRESIDENT/
​CRO/UTGSU REP/FACULTY COUNCIL REP

Rebecca Ford
Rebecca is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student at the iSchool. She has a BA from Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), with joint majors in History and Classics. At MUN, she spent her time serving as VP of the MUN History Society, and taking as many ancient history courses as she could get her hands on. Her museum passions focus on education & public programming, event planning, and interpretation, and she has a self-confessed love of proofreading. Rebecca also has a passion for accessibility, inclusion, and improving readability - particularly when it comes to making museums more accessible and enjoyable for children. If she has any free time, Rebecca enjoys gaming, discovering new takeout places with her fiancé, and video calling with her family in NL.

SECRETARY

​​

Meg Sutton

​Originally from Halifax, Meg is a second year Combined Degree Program (CDP) student at the iSchool concentrating in Archives and Records Management. Pre-pandemic, she completed her Bachelor of Journalism and Law at Carleton University with High Distinction. This love of storytelling and social justice led her to pursue a path of accessible education through immersive exhibitions. 
Meg is also an avid arts lover with a focus in dancing, acting, and theatre. She hopes she will be able to continue to engage with these mediums in the museum world and beyond.
In her (limited) spare time, you will probably find her outdoors with animals or people. Meg loves working out, hiking, beach-ing, and drinking tea on benches. Random fact, she also is quite interested in dinosaurs. She is very excited to be working with MUSSA this year and looking forward to writing all the notes!

TREASURER
​

Marcel Robitaille 

I’m a first year Master of Museum Studies student filling the position of secretary. Before I became involved in the MMSt program, I attended Athabasca University and earned my Bachelor of Arts in History. A few years prior to my undergrad, I was granted a diploma in radio broadcasting at Fanshawe College. I’m keenly interested in how media and interactable technologies can create visitor led educational experiences within museums. I’m excited to build upon my knowledge and pursue a career within museums and historical education. My free time usually consists of playing my instruments, aimlessly hiking through the trails surrounding Toronto or watching b-horror films.

SOCIAL CHAIR
​

Elyse Richardson

Elyse is a second-year Master of Museum Studies Student. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) at Queen’s University majoring in Classics and Archaeology with a minor in Art History. She is interested in Collections Management and solving museum mysteries using research and archives. Elyse has experience working on archaeological digs as well as creating digital exhibitions. She has a love for discussing UNESCO Heritage sites, and her three cats love making appearances on any zoom calls. Elyse hopes to be able to plan some in person as well as online events this year to include as many people as possible in MUSSA events.
​Feel free to contact Elyse at 
elyse.richardson@mail.utoronto.ca 
​with any event ideas or requests! 

SOCIAL ASSISTANT
​

Renée Engelke

​Renée is a first year student in the Master of Museum Studies program. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Archaeology, with minors in Anthropology and Environmental Biology from the University of Toronto. Renée is interested in collections management and making collections accessible to everyone. In her free time she likes to knit, explore downtown Toronto and try out gluten free dessert recipes! 

SOCIAL MEDIA
​MANAGER

Sarah Cavaliere

Sarah is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student. Before coming to the iSchool, Sarah completed her undergrad at the University of Toronto. She has a Bachelor of Arts in French Linguistics and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, with a focus on Egyptology. Because of her studies in Egyptology, her favourite part of any museum is the Ancient Egyptian gallery! Sarah volunteers at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Hands-On Biodiversity Gallery. She loves to talk to people about the bees that live in the gallery’s live beehive. While she loves living in the heart of the city, one of Sarah’s dreams is to be a beekeeper someday. When she isn’t in class or talking about bees, Sarah spends her free time reading (and she’s always looking for new recommendations!) and hanging out with her cat, Leo. ​

SOCIAL MEDIA
​ASSISTANT

Abera Rajendran

​Abera is a first-year Master of Museum Studies student. Before coming to the iSchool, Abera completed her undergrad at the University of Toronto. She has a Bachelor of Arts with a Double Major in Archaeology and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, with a primary focus on Egyptology and a Minor in Anthropology. She became interested in Ancient Egypt when she was five years old and watched The Mummy movie for the first time, years later here she is studying Egyptology! Abera Volunteered as a Gallery Interpreter at the Royal Ontario Museum during most of her undergrad in the Ancient Egypt Gallery and the Dinosaurs Gallery. Her favourite part of being a Gallery Interpreter was answering all the questions children had and seeing how excited they would get when they found out that some of the mummies and dinosaurs were real. Being born and raised in Toronto, Abera had yearly school trips to many institutions like the ROM, AGO, Bata Shoe Museum and the Ontario Science Centre which, inspired her to become a museum professional. When she isn’t in class or talking about mummies and museums, she plays volleyball with her intramural team and going on bubble tea runs!

SECOND-YEAR
​REPRESENTATIVE

Annabelle Kolomeisky

Annabelle is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in History and a double minor in Renaissance Studies and Material Culture. In addition to her enthusiasm for museums and history, Annabelle is very passionate about Jewish studies and hopes to incorporate her passions into her work one day to develop a broader understanding of Jewish history and culture!  
 
When she isn’t on Zoom calls, Annabelle is either teaching her youth Karate classes, playing with her dog, Kai, or enjoying a theatre show (but not all at the same time)! Annabelle is very excited to be your First-Year Representative this year and is looking forward to representing the first-year students of 2020!

FIRST-YEAR
​REPRESENTATIVE

Jessica Fisher 

Jessica is a first year student in the Masters of Museum Studies Program. Last spring she
graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Art
History, with a minor in English. Her interests in museums focus on digitisation and its
impact, particularly in the context of art galleries. When not studying, Jessica likes to explore the city, cook and cross country ski. Jessica is excited to represent this year's cohort and looks forward to getting to know everyone!

MISC-MUSSA ​LIAISON
​

Sarah Cozzarin

Sarah Cozzarin is a third year CDP student concentrating in Archives and Records Management. She joined MISC in 2021 to represent CDP students. Sarah plans on expanding CDP student engagement and events for the coming year. Academically, Sarah is interested in various topics from museum and archive management, public programing, collection management, repatriation, and digitization. She hopes to expand her knowledge of data management and digital interfaces.

Outside of school, Sarah is a mother to a hilarious and beautiful 3 year old. During her summers, Sarah spends her time mostly outside enjoying the beautiful weather. In the winter, she is cuddled up with one of her 5 dogs or trying to perfect another soup or chili recipe. Sarah is also an avid tv and movie watcher, watching almost anything and everything in her spare time usually with a glass of wine or tea in her hands. Her top favourite movies are Jurassic Park and Bridget Jones' Diary.
  

MUSINGS ​

MUSINGS
​ADMINISTRATIVE EDITOR

Molly Gosewich

Molly is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student with a Jewish Studies Collaborative Specialization. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication and Music & Culture from Ryerson University, with a specific focus on visual culture, musicology, and image-based art.

She is passionate about the intersection of Jewish, European, and Photographic Studies — and hopes to address the capabilities of memory and museality regarding portrait photography in Jewish visual culture. Outside of school, Molly enjoys drinking chai lattes in parks and thrifting. She is excited to travel to her favorite museums and galleries abroad, but in the meantime, she is looking forward to working with Musings for the 2021-2022 year.

MUSINGS
​COPY EDITOR​

Jefimija "Mia" Vujcic

​Mia is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student in the thesis stream. She also recently completed her undergrad degree at the University of Toronto with a double major in socio-cultural anthropology and history, as well as a minor in French. Her research is focused on the ways in which museums might better collect objects and stories related to immigrant community memory. More broadly, her museum interests include exhibitions, heritage and place, and oral histories.

This year, Mia is excited to continue working with Musings as the Copy Editor and to be organizing the MUSSA book club. In her spare time, she also loves exploring libraries and bookstores (preferably with an iced coffee in hand!) and learning too many languages at once.

MUSINGS  COMMUNICATION OFFICER

Ana Villegas

Ana is a first-year Master of Museum Studies student, concurrently doing a collaborative specialization in Jewish Studies. Before coming to UofT, she did her undergrad at Trent University and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History with a focus in Modern European history. Her passion for museums stems from her visits to museums/historical sites with her family while on vacation. This past summer, she worked at the Thunder Bay Museum researching local history. Her dream job would be to one day work in a Holocaust museum/centre. One of her goals, as an emerging museum professional, is to discredit Holocaust denial and misinformation. 
​
She loves learning languages. She practices her German and Russian every day. She buys more books than she reads, and yes, it is a problem. If she cannot start her day with coffee, then it will not be a good day for anyone. History makes up half of her personality, and the other half is made out of movies. She is very much looking forward to work with MUSSA this year!

COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES

SECOND-YEAR TECH FUND REPRESENTATIVE

Loren Wang

​Loren is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student. Before coming to the University of Toronto, she majored in Public Administration and Visual Art at the University of Ottawa, with a concentration in Arts Administration and a certification in French immersion. Her favourite museum topics are curating, writing, and art history, and her favourite non-museum topics are noodles, novels, and grass-type Pokémon. Please give your recommendations if you have them (for all three categories)! In her free time, she likes to learn languages and draw silly pictures of frogs.

FIRST-YEAR TECH FUND REPRESENTATIVE

Johanna Hill

​Johanna is a first year CDP student with a B.A. in history and geography from Trent University. As the First Year Tech Fund Rep, she recognises the needs and potential technological gaps between students and will use her position to bridge them with the Tech Fund. Her passions include jazz, language learning, and the Chicago Manual of Style. 

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVE

Megan Mahon

My name is Megan Mahon, and I’m excited to be MUSSA’s Alumni Association Representative for this year! I am a second year MMSt student in the exhibition stream, and I’m really interested in repatriation, public memory, and museum decolonization. I completed my undergrad in history at the University of Manitoba, primarily focusing on Renaissance and medieval history - although the whole reason I’m in Museum Studies is that I simply couldn’t pick an aspect of history I liked best! My not-so-secret dream is to one day work at UNESCO. On the personal side, I’m a huge foodie and I’m really excited to be living in Toronto, where the restaurant scene is so varied. I enjoy reading, yoga, and knitting, although thus far I can only make scarves or really big squares. If you want to get me out of the house, promise me a good artisanal coffee and I’ll be there. I can’t wait to get to know my cohort this year as your Alumni Association Representative!

RECRUITMENT & ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE

Sarah Cavaliere

Sarah is a second-year Master of Museum Studies student. Before coming to the iSchool, Sarah completed her undergrad at the University of Toronto. She has a Bachelor of Arts in French Linguistics and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, with a focus on Egyptology. Because of her studies in Egyptology, her favourite part of any museum is the Ancient Egyptian gallery! Sarah volunteers at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Hands-On Biodiversity Gallery. She loves to talk to people about the bees that live in the gallery’s live beehive. While she loves living in the heart of the city, one of Sarah’s dreams is to be a beekeeper someday. When she isn’t in class or talking about bees, Sarah spends her free time reading (and she’s always looking for new recommendations!) and hanging out with her cat, Leo. ​​

PROGRAMS COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE
​

Jessica Parsons

Jessica is a second-year Masters of Museum Studies student. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Canadian Studies from Trent University. After graduating in 2019, Jessica took on an internship at the Canadian War Museum as well as a volunteer position at the Nepean Museum in Ottawa where she worked with collections. Jessica is fascinated by the idea of collective memory and the politics of commemoration and is hoping to pursue a career that combines her love for event planning, programming, and collections management. 

Last year, Jessica served as MUSSA’s treasurer, where she learned a lot of valuable information about how to best use excel. When not in school, Jessica works for the nonprofit Dragon Boat Foundation as an event assistant and a social media assistant. In her spare time, Jessica loves to play golf, go thrifting, and explore new places in Toronto with friends. She is very excited to be working with MUSSA this year! 

COMMITTEE ON STANDING REPRESENTATIVE

Louisa Simmons
​Hi! I’m MUSSA’s Committee on Standing Representative and a second year MMSt student with a collaborative specialization in book history and print culture. My path to museum studies has been a little winding – I completed a Bachelor of Journalism and an MA in English Literature before beginning this program at U of T. I’ve always loved storytelling and what are museums if not sites of storytelling? I hope to integrate that love into interpretative planning for museum and heritage spaces. In my free time I like to cycle around Toronto, weave textiles, and read good books - recommendations are always welcome!
Position descriptions can be found in MUSSA's Constitution.

View past MUSSA Council members here.
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CONNECT WITH US
mussa.ischool@gmail.com
@mussauoft
MUSSA acknowledges the past and ongoing role of museums in colonialism and are committed to overcoming and reforming oppressive practices within the iSchool and larger museum community. MUSSA operates on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Wendat peoples, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe. We are thankful to be situated on Turtle Island and for the opportunity to learn and work on the land.
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MUSSA is a student association of the University of Toronto and as such is committed to the university’s goals of equity, human rights, and respect for diversity. All members of the learning environment should strive to create an atmosphere of mutual respect where all members of our community can express themselves, engage with one another, and respect one another’s differences. The University of Toronto does not condone discrimination, violence or harassment against any persons or communities. As University of Toronto students, MUSSA members are bound by the University of Toronto’s Code of Student Conduct and are expected to act in a manner that is appropriate and respectful while fulfilling their role on MUSSA.
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