Mammalian Diving Reflex events

The AGO’s current artist-in-residence – Mammalian Diving Reflex – will be presenting the following talks as part of their residency. Join us in the Weston Family Learning Centre for these free events. No registration is required, just drop-in!
Counting Chickens: measuring impact, outcome and deliverables in the youth arts sector
•Wednesday January 21, 2015
•2 – 4 pm
•Weston Family Learning Centre
Youth arts programs are intended to make a difference in the lives of young people and the world they inhabit. Coordinated by Darren O’Donnell, Artistic and Research Director of Mammalian Diving Reflex, this panel brings together some of Toronto’s leading practitioners in youth arts and asks them to share their strategies.

A Very Basic Introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis, a brains-on workshop with AGO Artist-in-Residence Darren O’Donnell
•Saturday, January 24, 2015
•1 – 5 pm
•Weston Family Learning Centre, Seminar Room 3
Designed by American sociologist Charles Ragin to handle both qualitative and quantitative data, Qualitative Comparative Analysis is a research method that uses set relations to study social phenomena. This four-hour introductory workshop is intended for anyone who practices social research or works in fields where mixes of social factors require interpretation to determine relevance. The workshop will be part lecture and part hands-on.

Mammalian Diving Reflex is a Toronto-based research-art atelier, lead by artistic and research director Darren O’Donnell. Social engagement is at the core of the group’s practice with their focus in recent years expanding to concentrate on collaborations with local youth. Mammalian’s art facilitates encounters between groups and people who would not ordinarily interact, a practice they refer to as “social acupuncture.”