Jennifer Phenix
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Biography
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Teaching & Research Interests
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Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
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Jennifer Phenix is a Professor of Humanities in the School of Humanities and Creativity, within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a faculty Peer Coach at Sheridan College. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Classics from Brock University and a Master of Arts Degree in Classics from the University of Toronto.
Jennifer teaches courses on Greek and Roman mythology, the heroes of classical and contemporary myth, and the Greek and Roman epic traditions. She also teaches creativity courses in Sheridan’s Board Undergraduate Certificate in Creativity and Creative Problem Solving. In November 2009, Jennifer created Medea Monologues, a community gathering and creative space for storytelling and personal narrative, where people gather to share public and private stories that recall, reinterpret and re-image mythic themes. The inspiration for Medea Monologues is Medea herself, a complex figure charged with conflicting desires, and the stories woven about her. In 2013 and 2014, Sheridan’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences presented Medea Monologues: Creative Fires and Medea Monologues: Dream Narratives. In 2020, together with the Faculty of Animation, Arts, and Design, Jennifer created and hosted Blackbox Dialogues, a community event and gathering of creative practitioners, sharing how "real life" and relationships have influenced and inspired their creative works and practices.
Jennifer’s teaching, research, and creative interests focus on how the myths of antiquity, and the images and messages they express, continue to influence and inform community, culture and creativity; particularly, the meanings of creativity and the value of story and storytelling to one’s personal narrative and creativity.
Teaching Interests
- Greek and Roman Myth, Homer and Hesiod, Greek Epic Poetry, Virgil, Roman Epic Poetry, Reception Studies, Women in Classical Myth and Literature, Heroes and Hero Myth (Classical and Contemporary), Narrative Identity, Positive Psychology and Creativity, Awe and Wonder, Nature, Biophilia, and Creativity, Hermetic Traditions and Creativity.
Research Interests
- Examining how myths of antiquity continue to influence and inform popular culture. Exploring the connections between classical literature (Homeric poetry, Greek myth and philosophy) and creativity. For example, the tenet to "know thyself" (inscribed at the Oracle at Delphi) and the philosophical observation that "wisdom begins in wonder" (Plato Theaetatus 155d, c. 369BCE) as a guiding principle for investigating, promoting, and nurturing creativity and creative thinking.
Conference Presentations
Phenix, J. (2013). “Pandora and Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things: Women as Bringers of Ruin”.. Popular Culture Association National Conference. Washington D.C. , U.S.A.
