The poet, writer, researcher and educator has served in the interim role since 2023.
Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) is pleased to announce the official appointment of Jacqueline Turner as Dean of the Faculty of Culture + Community. Jacqueline has been acting as interim dean since 2023.
“Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with a huge number of community members to help facilitate the diverse programs and areas for which this role is responsible,” Jacqueline says. “With my role now official, I’m excited to continue this work over the longer term as part of this brilliant, dedicated group of educators, researchers, writers, artists and designers.”
Reporting to the Vice-President Academic + Provost, the Dean of the Faculty of Culture + Community supports undergraduate and graduate students across programs including the Foundation program, the Critical + Cultural Studies curriculum, the Social Practices + Community Engagement and Curatorial Practices minors, and a range of bridge and graduate offerings. The faculty also contributes to building social, political and historical awareness; sustainable practices; and critical engagement through creative practice, research, reflection and communication.
“I am pleased to welcome Jacqueline into the permanent role of Dean of the Faculty of Culture Community,” says Diyan Achjadi, Vice-President Academic + Provost at ECU. “Since 2023, she has developed and enhanced new and existing initiatives, including expanded curricula, collaborative governance, research projects, partnerships with our Host Nations and local institutions, and enhanced services for incoming and prospective learners. She is a habitual collaborator and global thinker, and I look forward to her future successes in the coming years.”
Jacqueline joined ECU in 2003 as a sessional instructor, becoming co-coordinator and writing specialist with the Writing Centre in 2016. In 2020, she was appointed chair of the Academic Planning & Priorities Committee — a position she holds to this day. In 2022, she was appointed associate professor in the Faculty of Community + Culture.
As a part of her work in those roles, Jacqueline has supported or led initiatives including the On Edge Reading Series alongside ECU faculty members Dr. Rita Wong and Mercedes Eng; an NSERC-supported Anti-Racist Writing Workshop and Reading Group series for faculty, students, and staff; the HeadStart program in collaboration with local high-schools; a Tenure Club mentorship program to support faculty development; and a unique curriculum which re-conceives writing as a material, process-based practice as part of a SSHRC-funded, multi-institutional research project, Caring Futures in Art + Design Education.
Jacqueline holds a Master of Arts in English with a specialization in Contemporary Poetry and a Bachelor of Arts in English (First Class Honours), both from the University of Calgary. She also holds a Journalism Diploma from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
A poet, writer and researcher, Jacqueline is the author of five poetry collections and is currently working on a sixth which pairs experimental poetry with images of industrial cranes. Her research investigates the role of generous curiosity in creating conditions for collaboration, and she is a co-researcher in a project exploring critical literacies and pedagogy-as-gift in post-secondary learning environments.
She was a founding member of Filling Station magazine, a member of the Kootenay School of Writing collective, and co-curated an early webzine called The News.
Jacqueline has held writing residencies in Brisbane, Tasmania, Granada and Berlin, and has been selected for the Way Beyond transdisciplinary residency program in Finland, which she will attend in the summer of 2026. Her writing has been published nationally and internationally.
She begins her appointment on May 1, 2026.
More about the Faculty of Culture + Community
The Faculty of Culture + Community provides the academic core for every undergraduate at ECU. All students begin with Foundation Year, an intensive introduction to art, media and design that builds critical thinking, technical skills and creative confidence.
The faculty offers majors and minors that connect cultural theory with studio practice. Courses span history, writing, social and ecological practice, and community engagement. Learning extends into real-world collaborations with public, non-profit, community and academic partners, fostering social awareness, sustainability and cultural transformation.
Visit our website to learn more.
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