Sheila Petty is Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Professor of Media Studies at the University of Regina (Canada). She is also an Adjunct Scientist (New Media) at TRLabs, Regina. She has written extensively on issues of cultural representation, identity and nation in African and African diasporic cinema. She has curated film and television series and exhibitions for galleries across Canada and has a forthcoming book on African diasporic film with Wayne State University Press. Her current research focuses on interdisciplinary investigations of new media narrative strategies. In particular, she is exploring the intersection of film-based montage theory and computer-based aesthetics. Leader of an interdisciplinary research group and New Media Studio Laboratory spanning Computer Science, Engineering and Fine Arts, she is the recipient of the 2001 University of Regina Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Research and a University of Regina President's Scholar (2002-2004).