Janice Morris

I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to teach English literature, critical reading, critical writing, and critical thinking at KPU, a place I have called home since 2006. My other research interests include graphic novels, visual culture, film studies, media studies, and critical approaches to historicizing and theorizing “holocomics”—graphic novels and representations of the Holocaust. I am also an Advisory Board Member/Section Editor for Mise-en-scène: The Journal of Film and Visual Narration, KPU's official film studies journal. I was recently honoured as the 2022 recipient of KPU’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Award, as well as a 2020 YWCA Women of Distinction Award nominee (Arts, Culture, & Design), and as the winner of the 2019 Allies of Muslim Women Award from Voices of Muslim Women.

In addition, I am the Founder and Festival Director of KDocsFF, Metro Vancouver's premier social justice film festival, now in its second decade. KDocsFF celebrates the power of documentary film and documentary activism. Its programming is all about engagement, critical thinking, and dialogue—amongst diverse viewers, speakers, and communities. KDocsFF Official Selections are self-curated based on their ability to provoke, not just superficial reactions, but deeper awareness, connections, and collaborations—of/to/with ourselves, each other, and our communities. With these connections, KDocsFF, in turn, explores issues of social justice, anti-poverty, anti-oppression, human and animal rights, equality, diversity, and environmental stewardship and sustainability, near and far, as we educate the leaders and change-makers of tomorrow. At KDocsFF, activism originates in the power of the individual, and the influence of the collaborative collective. Hopefully, our film and programming choices both give a voice—to filmmakers and activists—and nurture a voice—of creative solution-building.

Outside of work, I am a huge Canucks fan (Go Canucks!) who enjoys travel, cycling, and binge-watching my favourite TV series (best ever? The Wire … and Breaking Bad ... and The Office (BBC) ... and Veep ... ).