Dr. MaryElizabeth (“M.E.”) Luka is Assistant Professor, Arts & Media Management, at University of Toronto, where she examines modes and meanings of co-creative production and distribution in the digital age for arts, culture, and media. Dr. Luka was the Interim Director of the Knowledge Media Design Institute from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, and a founding member of the UTSC Critical Digital Methods Institute. Luka hosts several open access resources including the sector-sourced resource repository Artifex and the Creative Hubs and Networks database.
Current research includes leading the Cultural Policy Working Group at Archive CounterArchive and activating community engagement at the hyper-local research initiative Urban Just Transitions, as well as working with the international CANUTE network on understanding climate impact. Luka has just completed several SSHRC-funded Expanding Impact roundtables across the country, presenting and sharing knowledge about flexible impact assessment frameworks emerging from the Mitacs-funded Mass Culture Research in Residence: Arts’ Civic Impact research. They recently led policy and scholarly work related to the SSHRC-funded Fair Play: Remuneration, IP Management and Accessibility in the Independent Media Arts Sector, in partnership with independent media arts organizations, and co-produced a swath of outcomes from the collaborative Massive Micro Sensemaking project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research is found in Canadian Journal of Communication; Canadian Theatre Review; Imaginations Journal of Cross-Cultural Images; Public; Qualitative Inquiry; Social Media & Society; scholarly anthologies; and commissioned reports for the Department of Canadian Heritage. Luka has worked with over 100 cultural organizations as a consultant, staff member or advisor and is currently completing the monograph, The First TV Shows on the Internet: How Canada Broke Ground and Lost the Race for Arts and Variety Programming Online, for Concordia University Press.