Toraya (AKA Crankbunny) will discuss her work in illustration, animation and paper engineering as well as her journey as a freelance artist.

Being a fan usually starts with loving a given series, franchise, author, band, game, etc., but it rarely ends there. For many, fandom provides a sense of community, a catalyst for producing original creative content, or both. Flourish Klink and Elizabeth Minkel, creators and hosts of Fansplaining, will discuss their adventures in podcasting and fan culture, and how, perhaps even with a little help from the two of them, fans and the creative industries may have learned to stop worrying and love each other.

Film & New Media Studies major Michael Kristy premieres his first feature length film, Paint the Eyes First. The film follows James, a 20 year old homeless addict searching for a place to stay for the winter. During his journey he is chased and tormented by his drug dealer, but finds friendship and shelter with a janitor and his wife. The film, which represents Wheaton’s first ever feature film stars Kristy with Aileen Archambault, Brendan Geiger and Michael Sadowsky. The production team included more than 15 Wheaton students, 7 Wheaton faculty and 10 other crew members from around the world. Through this project, writer and director, Kristy, attempts to show opioid addicts in a different light, not as troupes but as people facing a challenge which they are trying to overcome.

In this talk, Jer Thorp shares his beautiful and moving data visualization projects, helping audiences put abstract data into a human context. From graphing an entire year’s news cycle, to mapping the way people share articles across the internet, to the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, Thorp’s cutting-edge visualizations use technology and data to help us learn about the way we use digital technologies, become more empathetic in the data age, and ultimately, tell the story of our lives. How can understanding the human side of data lead to innovation and effective change? What value is there in the novel and interactive approaches to data visualization? And what are the business applications of creative data-focused research? Thorp teaches audiences how adding meaning and narrative to huge amounts of data can help people take control of the information that surrounds them, and revolutionize the way we utilize data.