Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

Ella Altena (she/her) is a 2024 graduate of University of Toronto with a BA in Equity Studies and Anthropology, working as the MLC Research Coordinator. Her academic interests include digital anthropology of social media and online identity formation, as well as equitable information access, both online and off. As an avid reader and writer, Ella shares the Centre’s passion for spotlighting female creatives and their work. Ella plans to build from her hands-on experience working with archival materials at the MLC Research Centre to continue her studies with a MA in Library Science at the iSchool at University of Toronto in 2026. 

See Ella’s full bio

Recent News

Ella Altena joins as MLC Research Coordinator

Ella Altena joins as MLC Research Coordinator

Ella will be working as the MLC Research Coordinator and shares her knowledge of digital anthropology and online identity formation.

Dr. Jimmy Tran joins MLC

Dr. Jimmy Tran joins MLC

At the MLC, Tran consults on fashion and archival studies–related research.

Eishvinder Gill joins MLC

Eishvinder Gill joins MLC

Eishvinder’s research interests include fashion design, design psychology, and the emotional affect of objects and garments.

Louisa Law joins MLC

Louisa Law joins MLC

Louisa is a research intern to the MLCRC through the MITACS Globalink Research Internship programme.

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

MLC Themes

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

Amid the unprecedented social change of World War I, women renegotiated their identities by dramatically changing the way they engaged with the arts. But how did they do so? And how did everyday citizens engage with the war?
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

MLC Themes

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, considered by many to be the mother of Dada, was a daringly innovative poet and an early creator of junk sculpture. “The Baroness” was best known for her sexually charged, often controversial performances.
Modernism in the World

MLC Themes

Modernism in the World

Recent research has departed from the Euro-centric and national view of Modernism to include approaches and methods studying Modernism across national boundaries and across different art forms to include fashion, dance, performance, technology, and visual culture.
Lucy Maud Montgomery

MLC Themes

Lucy Maud Montgomery

L.M. Montgomery is perhaps Canada's most important literary export. She was prolific writer of over 500 short stories and poems, and twenty novels, including the beloved Anne of Green Gables.
Canadian Modernism

MLC Themes

Canadian Modernism

The works of numerous Canadian authors who lived during the modernist era may well constitute the most central and experimental articulation of Canadian modernism in prose, allowing authors to stage cross-cultural, controversial, and even conflicted identities.
Modernist Biography and Life Writing

MLC Themes

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

Life writing, including autobiographical accounts, diaries, letters and testimonials written or told by women and men whose political, literary or philosophical purposes are central to their lives, has become a standard tool for communication and the dissemination of information.