Irina D. Mihalache (she/her)
Irina D. Mihalache is Associate Professor & Director, Museum Studies, at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, and the Principal Investigator for the project. She teaches courses in museum interpretation, interpretive planning and histories of exhibitions, as well as food and material culture. In museum studies, her main area of interest is museum interpretation and she is very interested in how collaborations with diverse communities can shape the work of storytelling in museums.
Courtney Murfin (she/her)
Courtney Murfin is an interpretation professional in Toronto, Canada and consulting practitioner on this project. She has worked on exhibitions, apps, and digital projects, on topics from bizarre science to contemporary art, and local histories to world cultures. She uses human-centered design principles as practice to understand changing needs of museum audiences and how interpretive methods must evolve to achieve innovative ways to engage a diverse public.
Hillary Walker (she/her)
Hillary Walker is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. She has worked in education and programing positions in art, regional, and heritage museums across North America. Her research deals with themes of identity, sexuality, and domestic spaces within house museums. Currently, her research looks at how material culture can be used to create a more nuanced understanding of the past.
Caitlin McCurdy (she/her)
Caitlin McCurdy is a second year Master of Museum Studies candidate at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. Her current research interrogates the ways in which 19th century Egyptological practices continue to affect the curating and interpretation of museum collections of Egyptian artifacts today, particularly objects of an erotic and/or contested nature.
Natasha Malik (she/her)
Natasha Malik is a second year Master of Information candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Information, studying both Critical Information Policy Studies and User Experience Design. She is also a student in the Knowledge Media Design Collaborative Specialization at the Knowledge Media Design Institute, and is currently exploring interdisciplinary approaches to information policy, research, and design.
Past Team Members
Natalia Toronchuk
Natalia Toronchuk is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. Her professional experiences include outreach work at the Redpath Museum (Montreal) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), and collections management at the Scottish Opera (Glasgow). Previously, her research focused on the use of metaphors in museums. She is currently researching critical thinking in museums, bringing together meaning-making and cultural theories.
Alexandra Forand
Alexandra Forand is a writer, artist, and a museum studies professional. She graduated from the Masters of Museum Studies program at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto in 2020. Her current work and research explores how land, community, and conflict impact narratives told within cultural heritage organizations.
Interpretation as Field 