Katrina Dunn
QUOTE FROM KATRINA DUNN
“I am greatly honoured to be recognized by the scholars of the Canadian Association of Theatre Research for the paper I presented at the 2015 conference. The paper, and all of my research pursuits, have been inspired by the fantastically stimulating environment that is the Theatre Studies Department at UBC. Thanks so much to my fellow students for their support, and thanks to my teachers, especially Kirsty Johnston who taught the class that this paper emerged from.”
Katrina Dunn, MA Candidate
ABOUT THE PRIZE
Robert G. Lawrence Prize, for the best paper presented at the 2015 CATR/ACRT conference by an emerging scholar.
OFFICIAL CITATION FROM THE COMMITTEE
We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Prize has been awarded to Katrina Dunn (Katrina@touchstonetheatre.com) for her paper, “Turning Our Backs On The City We Look On Water: Canada’s National Arts Centre Considered.” Focusing on the place – historic, ideological, and physical -‐ that the National Arts Centre has occupied in nation’s capital since the time of its erection, the committee considered this paper outstanding in its combination of layered theoretical arguments with architectural images to trace the shifting forms and meanings that the NAC as a cultural building-‐monument has occupied in speaking to Canada’s iconic understanding of itself as a nation. Building on a strong basis of archival research and close consideration of the physical building itself as shaped by aspects of art and architectural theory, Dunn eloquently expands her examination of the building into a more nuanced and far-ranging analysis of its function as expression of nation, integrating the thought of Canadianists Filewod, and Hurley, with internationalists like Foucault and Carlson in a lucid, convincing fashion. She ends the paper on a powerful yet moving note with a trenchant commentary on the ambivalence she feels towards the proposed changes to the building, with their promise of more transparency and openness, and the rapidly changing reality of the city and nation beyond it. In doing so, the paper, while grounded in history, resonates strongly with the present, reflecting a time when the ideas of Canadian nationalism are being re-‐evaluated again, and when we’re witnessing the rise of neo-‐nationalism in Europe. Its impact was further enhanced by an excellent, lively presentation as effectively illustrated and supported by a striking series of slides.
