Gillian Siddall is President and Vice-Chancellor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Prior to taking on this role, she served for three years as Vice-President, Academic and Provost at OCAD University, and for six years as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Lakehead University. Her research area is Canadian literature, with a focus on musical improvisation, both within and outside literary contexts. Publications include Negotiated Moments: Improvisation, Sound, and Subjectivity (co-edited with Dr. Ellen Waterman, Duke University Press 2016); “A Musical Interface for People with Severe Physical Disabilities (co- authored with Pauline Oliveros, Leaf Miller, Jaclyn Heyen, and Sergio Hazard). Music and Medicine (2011); “‘I want to live in that music’: Blues, Bessie Smith and Improvised Identities in Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees.” Critical Studies in Improvisation (2005); and “Nice Work if You Can Get It: Women in Jazz” (co-authored with Ajay Heble), Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance and Critical Practice (Routledge 2000). Siddall is also a jazz vocalist, choral singer, and co-founder of the Guelph Jazz Festival. She holds an Honours BA and MA in English from the University of Guelph and a PhD in English from the University of Western Ontario.
Last updated: July 2019