The Faculty of Arts has announced Dr. Janis Thiessen, Kimberley Moore, Kent Davies, and Hope McIntyre as recipients of the 2025 Faculty of Arts Excellence Awards.
Excellence in Research Award
Dr. Janis Thiessen, Professor in the Department of History; Kimberley Moore, Adjunct Professor and the Programming and Collections Specialist at the Oral History Centre; and Kent Davies, Adjunct Professor and Technician at the Oral History Centre, are the recipients of the 2025 Faculty of Arts Excellence in Research Award. This award recognizes a singular achievement in the form of a single contribution in research or creative activity during the past academic year (September 2023 to August 2024).
Dr. Thiessen, Moore, and Davies were nominated for their book mmm… Manitoba: The Stories Behind the Foods We Eat (University of Manitoba Press, 2024).
In 2018, Dr. Thiessen, Moore, and Davies refashioned a used food truck into a mobile oral history lab. Together they embarked on a journey around Manitoba, gathering stories about the province’s food and the people who make, sell, and eat it. Through the sharing and preparing of food, the authors investigate food security and regulation, Indigenous foodways and agriculture, capitalism’s impact on the agri-food industry, and the networks between Manitoban food producers and retailers. The book also explores the roles of gender, ethnicity, migration, and colonialism in Manitoba’s food history.
In their deliberation, the adjudicating committee agreed that “mmm…Manitoba is the wonderful culmination of a living research project, one that engages with traditional and non-traditional forms of knowledge mobilization and scholarship.”
Dr. Emma Alexander, Chair of the Department of History, said of the Research Award recipients and their work, “Janis Thiessen, Kimberley Moore and Kent Davis published their innovative and exciting book mmm… Manitoba last year. It showcases oral history as an important way of doing food history. The book demonstrates the brilliance of collaboration and encourages others in Canadian history to take more methodological risks and cross disciplinary boundaries and write histories for and, most importantly, with communities.”
One of the award nominators, Dr. Leah Kuragano, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, noted that, “The excellence of Dr. Thiessen’s research contribution cannot be overstated. Her book has not only introduced new knowledge into our community and to multiple research fields but has also brought significant funding and publicity to the University of Winnipeg. Mmm… Manitoba is a publication that represents the kind of work that makes me proud to be a researcher at the U of W: community-focused, inclusive, innovative, collaborative, and cutting-edge.”
Excellence in Teaching Award
Hope McIntyre, Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film, is the recipient of the 2025 Faculty of Arts Excellence in Teaching Award.
The Committee was extremely impressed with McIntyre’s dossier. They believed her work went beyond the criteria listed on the website for the award. They were particularly impressed with her work with the Walls-to-Bridges program and with the two open-sourced textbooks she has published. The first, “The Business of Theatre: Pathways to a Career in Theatre” (2023), grew out of a course she developed on the topic. The students clearly love the course, based on the reviews. The second, produced with three colleagues under the auspices of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research, was titled “A Guide for Environmental Stewardship in Theatre and Performance Training Programs” (2024) and it is the first of its kind in Canada.
Chair of the Theatre and Film Department Adam Parboosingh described McIntyre’s impact on the department: “Whether through exploring and implementing sustainable practices in theatre production, championing accessible performances with ASL interpretation and live audio description, or teaching within the Walls-to-Bridges program, her unwavering commitment to making theatre inclusive for all is truly commendable. Her impact in the classroom is clearly reflected in the students she trains and mentors, whose passion for building a better community shapes the next generation of theatre artists. Through her work in the classroom and her outreach in the community, she continues to elevate the reputation of the Theatre and Film Department.”
McIntyre was the founding Artistic Director of Sarasvàti Productions, a company dedicated to social change that she helmed for 22 years. During this tenure, she developed multiple new theatrical works, produced FemFest (an annual festival), worked as a dramaturg for emerging playwrights, and developed community-based play creation methods. She has received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Bra D’Or, the Women Helping Women Award, and Mahatma Gandhi Social Change Award.
Dr. Dennis Gupa, colleague and mentee of McIntyre in the Department of Theatre and Film, nominated McIntyre for the award. According to Dr. Gupa, “Prof. McIntyre is truly deserving to receive this prestigious award for her innovative teaching pedagogy, unwavering commitment for a creative and critical learning environment, and her visionary ability to cultivate ethical and healthy relational pedagogy between her, as a professor, and her students… her resolute commitment for excellent teaching and meaningful educational engagement which empowers students to become not only skilled artists but also well-rounded global citizens.”
