SFU will share interdisciplinary research and audio works focused on often-talked about urban issues at a half-day symposium on Saturday (April 23). 

The Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, Environment, and the School of Communication are partnering with Western Front New Music to present alternative perspectives to thinking about how we organize, understand, and archive the city.

The collection of research by students and faculty is set to take a variety of forms. Projects include maps of the dead malls of Vancouver by Tamara Mill as well as a look at sonifying air pollution data by Marc St Pierre.

Sound studies professor Milena Droumeva is one of the event’s moderators and describes the symposium’s desire to expand the livability conversation in Vancouver.

“Aside from the things that city planners usually want to talk about, or the usual big topics, like environmental sustainability, what other issues are there?...Issues of class, gender, histories, all kinds of community things up, like mobility,” Droumeva told the Straight.  

Droumeva acknowledges these topics may not be new, but by looking at them from a different perspective—from embodied or art research methodologies—she hopes the community might engage with the city and issues around the city in new ways.

“Livable Cities” will be a combination of short presentations followed by community dialogue. It is hosted in Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall from 2 to 5 p.m. and is open to the community at no cost.