Biography
Lynda Jessup holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and is a professor in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University. Dr. Jessup’s research is in the field of visual cultural studies. Her practice is interdisciplinary, and she has written extensively on Canadian and Indigenous North American visual culture in exhibitions, the history of museums and collecting, and art historiography. More recently, her research focus has expanded to the field of cultural diplomacy, with special consideration to the role of art exhibitions in advancing Canadian foreign policy and international cultural relations. Dr. Jessup is Vice Dean in the Faculty of Arts & Science (2021-), where she oversees Faculty Relations across the faculty’s 30 departments and interdisciplinary programs. Previously, she was Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science (2014-2021) and Director of Cultural Studies, Queen’s University’s interdisciplinary graduate program (2009-2014).
As co-founder and Director of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI), Dr. Jessup leads diverse research projects that examine cultural diplomacy as a critical practice. With the support of a recent SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (2019-2025), Dr. Jessup led a series of three research summits: Cultural Diplomacy as Critical Practice (2020); Players: We Are All Practitioners (2021); and Policies as Discourse (2022) in collaboration with partners in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and beyond.