{"id":454,"date":"2026-03-11T14:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/?p=454"},"modified":"2026-03-11T19:44:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T23:44:05","slug":"memory-agents-in-waterloo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/memory-agents-in-waterloo\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Memory Agents in the Canadian Anthropocene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On Friday March 6th, the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University hosted a \u201cPosthumanist Roundtable\u201d at Balsillie School of International Affairs, in association with the Posthumanism Research Institute (Brock) and co-sponsored by SSHRC. Titled &#8220;Digital Memory Agents in the Canadian Anthropocene,&#8221; and moderated by Dr. Russell Kilbourn, the roundtable featured presentations from a diverse group of scholars: Dr. Sandra Annett, Dr. Jenny Kerber, and current PhD student Stephanie Lewis, all from English and Film Studies. Rounding out the roundtable were: Dr. Matthew Cormier (English Studies, Universit\u00e9 de Moncton), Dr. Amanda Spallacci (Gender and Social Justice, McMaster University and EN\/FS alumnus), and Christine Daigle (Philosophy, Brock University). The roundtable was a true posthumanist mash-up, putting two recent publications\u2014Spallacci and Cormier\u2019s Digital Memory Agents in Canada: Performance, Representation, and Culture (University of Alberta Press 2024) and Clara de Massol\u2019s Remembering the Anthropocene: Memorials Beyond the Human (Palgrave Macmillan 2024)\u2014into dialogue, with this diverse group of scholars exploring specific issues, questions, and problems arising from the juxtaposition of the two texts and their respective interventions into debates at the intersection of the Anthropocene, climate change, memory, and posthumanism. Participants offered brief but detailed presentations of projects bringing together Indigeneity, Canadian literature, post-apocalyptic eco-narratives, graphic novels, digital animation, counter memories and counter-archives, and nonhuman memory agents. Conceived independently, all six presentations nevertheless wove together with surprising seamlessness. The highly engaged audience participated in a lively discussion following each half, and the day concluded with the shared recognition of the world in its astonishing capacity as an agent of memory beyond the human and the myriad cultural forms through which our experience of the world is mediated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"183\" height=\"275\" data-id=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Amanda-cover.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-460\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-10-181503-1400x800.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-456\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Russell Kilbourn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"189\" height=\"267\" data-id=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Clara-cover.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-461\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" data-id=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Matthew-Cormier_Credit-Philippe-Lanteigne.jpg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Matthew-Cormier_Credit-Philippe-Lanteigne.jpg.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Matthew-Cormier_Credit-Philippe-Lanteigne.jpg-500x300.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/Matthew-Cormier_Credit-Philippe-Lanteigne.jpg-768x461.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Matthew Cormier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"605\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"463\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg-605x800.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg-605x800.jpeg 605w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg-378x500.jpeg 378w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg-768x1016.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg-1161x1536.jpeg 1161w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot1.jpg.jpeg 1290w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Amanda Spallacci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"601\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"471\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236-601x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236-601x800.jpg 601w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236-376x500.jpg 376w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236-768x1023.jpg 768w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236-1154x1536.jpg 1154w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/02b54068-f983-49ff-a3de-0619b4b8d236.jpg 1442w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Christine Daigle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"459\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg-1200x800.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg-1200x800.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg-500x333.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/6149-Final.jpg.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Jenny Kerber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"639\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"462\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-639x800.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-639x800.jpeg 639w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-399x500.jpeg 399w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-768x961.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-1227x1536.jpeg 1227w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-1636x2048.jpeg 1636w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/DrAnnettShoot0204_crop.JPG-scaled.jpeg 2045w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Sandra Annett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"458\" src=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-646x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458\" srcset=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-646x800.jpg 646w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-403x500.jpg 403w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-768x952.jpg 768w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-1240x1536.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/03\/headshot-2025-1-1653x2048.jpg 1653w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stephanie Lewis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday March 6th, the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University hosted a \u201cPosthumanist Roundtable\u201d at Balsillie School of International Affairs, in association with the Posthumanism Research Institute (Brock) and co-sponsored by SSHRC. Titled &#8220;Digital Memory Agents in the Canadian Anthropocene,&#8221; and moderated by Dr. Russell Kilbourn, the roundtable featured presentations &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/memory-agents-in-waterloo\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Digital Memory Agents in the Canadian Anthropocene&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":473,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialprojects.wlu.ca\/futures-of-memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}