Keynote

DH@Guelph Summer Workshops 2026 keynote lecture

TIKA

Healing Futures Through Sound, Storytelling, and Innovation.

Rest as Resistance in Distressing Times: Embodied Digital Humanities for Collective Liberation

Note: This is a free, open talk. All are welcome. Please register here!

Abstract: In an era defined by constant connectivity, crisis fatigue, and emotional overload, rest has become both a personal necessity and a political act. This keynote explores rest as a form of “emotional technology” — a set of practices that support regulation, creativity, and collective resilience. Drawing from film scoring, community facilitation, and healing-centered pedagogy, TIKA examines how rest, creativity, and digital culture intersect. She invites participants to consider how creative practice can move beyond productivity and performance toward sustainability, nervous-system literacy, and collective care. This talk offers a framework for understanding rest not as disengagement, but as a tool for imagination, resistance, and future-building within digital humanities and beyond.

Date: Tuesday, May 19th at 5:30pm

Location:  TBD

Bio: TIKA is an Academy Award–winning composer, writer, educator, and cultural strategist working at the intersection of storytelling, emotional technology, and community-centered learning. She is the founder of Iverna Island, a multidisciplinary creative ecosystem devoted to healing-centered practice, Black diasporic storytelling, and collective imagination.

Her work spans film scoring, workshops, and public speaking across Canada, the U.S., the UK, and the Caribbean. TIKA’s facilitation practice focuses on emotional literacy, creative sovereignty, and restorative approaches to learning and collaboration. She is currently completing an MBA in Arts Innovation at the Global Leaders Institute. You can find out more about her work here: https://withlovetika.com/