Winter 2018 Positions and Nominees

EXECUTIVE

President

Laetitia Dandavino-Tardif

As the current MUSSA Treasurer and after attending many MUSSA events, Laetitia has seen the great potential that a student association has on the student-body it represents, from professional development to fostering friendships. Through her MUSSA experiences, she was able to meet incredible students and to work with faculty members. For these reasons, she would like to run for President of MUSSA for the 2018-201 9 academic year. Having been involved in student associations this past year and throughout her undergraduate degree (i.e. Graphic Designer of the Marketing Association, Historian of an Honour Society, VP Communication of the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition), she believe she has the skills necessary to serve as MUSSA’s President. Her objectives as President would be to enhance each students’ experience during their Master’s degree, strengthen the Museum Studies community, and help students’ professional development by helping the council organize events, supporting students’ project development, and communicating students’ thoughts and concerns to the Faculty. Some ideas of projects she would like MUSSA to organize include exhibition tours with curators, pub nights, more networking opportunities with alumni and professionals in the field, and more collaboration with MISC! Finally, a little bit about her: she moved to Toronto from Montreal, QC where she grew up; she completed a Bachelor's in Art History and Studio Arts with a Minor in Business Studies at Concordia University; she loves dogs; and her hobbies include going out for coffee or food as well as discovering hidden gems! Vote Laetitia for a fantastic 2018-2019 Masters of Museum Studies year!

Vice President/GSU Representative/Chief Returning Officer

Erica Chi

Currently serving as MUSSA’s secretary, Erica experienced the benefits of engaging in an academic community by forming relationships with faculty and fellow students. She would like to continue this journey with MUSSA as the Vice President/GSU Rep/Chief Returning Officer in the 2018-2019 academic year. She obtained valuable skills by participating in meetings, helping out with social events, and understanding the council’s culture.

MUSSA presented Erica with a unique opportunity to grow with like-minded individuals and expand her knowledge of the iSchool and Museum Studies community. Additionally, she implemented social media strategies including the creation and promotion of MUSSA’s Instagram account (@mussauoft). She aspires to help host future MUSSA events and student workshops that enhance our graduate experience and foster a sense of community.

Erica is a first-year Master of Museum Studies candidate and received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Art History with a minor in French Studies from the University of Guelph. She has worked in a variety of fields including banking and education but her heart lies in museums, galleries, and cultural institutions. 
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Social Chair

Casarina Hocevar

With her first year (nearly) under her belt, Casarina is hoping to step-up her role in the iSchool and within MUSSA by serving as next year’s Social Chair. Throughout her undergrad, Casarina was involved in a variety of student groups and held a seat on McGill’s Senate. Whenever there was an opportunity, Casarina partook in event planning with peers. Events were diverse both in activities and audien ces, including workshops, discussion panels, cocktail parties, policy potlucks, and fundraisers. From the drawing board to execution, Casarina enjoys organizing and bringing people together to share new experiences...And as an avid foodie and mental health advocate, Casarina firmly believes in the importance of creating warm and welcoming spaces, and downtime from our busy lives.

Casarina’s undergrad was completed at McGill in African Studies, with a double minor in Italian Studies/History. Her interests include language, literature, identity, migration, and diaspora. She wishes to explore how these issues relate to community-building and feelings of belonging to heritage sites and in museums. Outside of academia, Casarina loves traveling, baking, searching for flowers, and long conversations over coffee (or wine). She looks forward to another year ahead and hopes to be part of the MUSSA team!

Second Year Representative

Lucy Beale

Lucy moved from England to Toronto last August for the MMSt, and she is happy to report she survived her first real winter. In London she worked at the British Museum, Geffrye Museum, and October Gallery running community engagement programs with minority groups, Visitors' Services at the National Gallery, and right now she is at the AGO in Membership Services (no, I can't get you Kusama tickets).

She is standing for Second Year Rep as it provides the opportunity to represent the entire class, both the student body as a whole and individual views, making sure that we are all heard. She is happy to frequently get up and shout out to everyone what’s going on and ask for feedback. She knows the role is more than town crier and she believes that she can convey our class’ concerns to MUSSA – and the faculty – with confidence, accuracy, and if required, diplomacy. She has run mentorship programs as part of her museum work and sat on the 2017-18 Hart House Good Ideas Fund committee. She aims to be an approachable Second Year Rep that everyone feels able to bring their comments to - and will sell MUSSA swag with great enthusiasm.

Andrew Falcao

Andrew is happy to run for Second Year Representative of MUSSA. He has plenty of student association experience during his undergrad at the University of Waterloo. He studied a mixture of arts and sciences, and He ended up being elected the Vice President Internal of the Student Union (Federation of Students). Through that role he managed many clubs, societies and services along with advocacy and diversity work. It was a very large role, and he learned a lot throughout his time there. He then went on to complete a Masters in Film Studies at Western, and some of a PhD at Laurier. At this level, he served a term as VP Film for the Graduate Students of English and Film Studies Association.

He strongly believes in the power of student politics (and social gatherings!), and is looking forward to rejoining an association. MUSSA does great work, and he hopes to help continue this legacy of professional development, fun events, and student advocacy.

Meghan Drascic-Gaudio

Meghan is interested in the position of second year representative to help her classmates feel empowered enough to express their opinions. She believes that all students should be confident in the fact that their opinions are important and valid. During her first year in the MMSt program she has forged strong bonds and relationships with many of her classmates. For this reason, they often confide in her their concerns regarding the program. In this role, she hopes to empower her classmates to express their opinions, while also being the strong voice required to ensure that their needs and expectations are met. She is also interested in this position because she wants to increase transparency and communication between the faculty, MUSSA, and the second-year students. She would like to incorporate weekly updates where she informs second-year students of any changes, upcoming events, or important issues that impact them or the program. Ultimately, this role would offer her the opportunity to make all second-year students feel valued, important, and included in all matters relating to being a student at the iSchool.
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Musings ​Editor-In-Chief

 Kathleen Lew & Amy Intrator as Co-Editors

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Museum Studies program, and this exciting celebration will involve Musings. Kathleen and Amy believe as co-editors, they can ensure Musings meets the additional demands of anniversary initiatives, as well as solidify the creation of a Copy Editor role for future years. They both have extensive experience on Musings as contributing editors (that have written a post together!) and their involvement on the Musings & Digital Relevance panel at the iSchool Conference. Amy has spent this past school year as the Musings Administrator, where she thrived on social media and assisted with administrative duties. Kathleen was the Editor-in-Chief at an undergraduate arts publication, where she gained valuable experience with online publishing and event-planning. Working as a team, they can bring Musings to new heights by exploring different types of online content and working on outreach initiatives. They want to continue to build structures that result in high-quality and creative posts. They also hope to establish new columns that focus on news and event-coverage in the museum world. To continue with strong faculty and institutional relationships, Kathleen and Amy want to plan journalism/publication events, further utilize their social media presence, and build connections for collaborative projects.

COMMITTEES

Admissions Committee Representative

Aline Zara

Aline is entering her third year of the CRO program this fall. She is currently an executive council member on the Association of Canadian Archivists Student Chapter and is looking to become more involved in the MMSt program. She is excited to nominate herself for the MUSSA Admissions Committee Representative position because she feels that this opportunity would allow her to participate in making positive changes to the faculty.

Alumni Association Representative

Daniel Genis

Dan is running for Alumni Association Representative. He enjoys meeting and getting to know new people, especially new museum professionals. He also has experience coordinating events involving different groups, which will be important for this position.

His professional and friendly demeanor as well as his energetic work ethic ensures that he can be an outstanding Alumni Association Representative for you and he thanks you for your consideration!

Second Year Tech Fund Representative

N/A

Programs Committee Representative

Katlyn Wooder

Katlyn completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto. By majoring in Art History and minoring in English and Rhetoric she has dedicated her academic career to the humanities, but beyond that she has explored how communication is essential to developing relationships. During her time at graduate school she wishes to dedicate herself to improving and building relationships within the community. She would love the opportunity to represent the museum studies students on the standing committee. She guarantees she will be at each meeting prepared and caffeinated. Every student here will have some personal experiences with the academic issues that students face, and the hard work we choose to put forth, and those stressful instances when that hard work is not enough. That is why she will take each case and issue seriously, respectfully and responsibly.