quick review and profiling of program director: n.renaud@concordia.ca to help me understand what type of approach I could have for communicating with him.
from Elise:
Also, I see that your questions are quite specific to our First Peoples Studies program and I would suggest, you can also contact the program director: n.renaud@concordia.ca.
I DONT REMEMBER my QUESTIONS !!!
DUring the fact that I dont know where are my questions, I'll search them and you can probably do the more complete survey of him and potential branches (analogies to forking a AI conversations ....
I have not so much energies but need something done now so play the role of the 'scout' first. might have in notion.io related content relevant to my inquiry about M. N. Renaud
Good — found him. Here's your scout report, Mia.
🔍 Scout: Nicolas Renaud — Program Director, First Peoples Studies, Concordia
Who he is: Nicolas Renaud is a filmmaker, video artist, and professor at Concordia University, serving as the Program Director of First Peoples Studies. His background is in art, film, and Indigenous studies — not social sciences or policy — which shapes how he thinks and communicates.1
His Practice & Orientation
He is primarily a practitioner-scholar: he edits documentaries, makes experimental films and installations, and programs Indigenous cinema at Présence autochtone / Montreal First Peoples Festival. He teaches courses like Indigenous Cinema, Film History, and Québec Cinema. One of his PhD students (Joëlle Dubé) is researching "intergenerational injustices and contemporary Indigenous performative art" — which tells you his graduate circle is philosophically engaged with temporal and relational frameworks.21
Approaching Him — Communication Strategy
Because he's a filmmaker and arts-based academic first, your approach should lean into creative and epistemological language rather than administrative inquiry:
- Lead with your creative-technical work, not your admission logistics — he likely responds better to "I'm building relational AI systems informed by Indigenous epistemology" than "I want to apply to your program"
- Reference the intersection of Indigenous cinema + technology — given his festival programming background, he's likely attentive to how Indigenous knowledge circulates in media forms, which is adjacent to your work with narrative AI
- Name Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) explicitly — this signals you've done the intellectual work, not just administrative research
- Be bilingual — his LinkedIn is listed as Français/English, and he's deeply embedded in Quebec cultural institutions; opening or closing in French will land well in Montréal1
Your Questions (Recovered from Notion)
Your Meeting Prep — Élise page already has your list. The questions most relevant to forward to Renaud specifically (vs. Élise the recruiter) are:
- Which courses align with Indigenous research methodologies, Two-Eyed Seeing, or applied AI/technology work?
- Are there research labs, student groups, or faculty doing work at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and technology?
Those are program director-level questions — the kind Élise probably redirected to him. The admission logistics (credits, pathways, letter of intent) stay with Élise.
Tone Fork (your "branching" metaphor)
| Branch | Angle | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Creative peer | Open with your film/music/narrative AI work, reference his festival programming | Might feel too casual for first contact |
| Researcher-applicant | Lead with Etuaptmumk, name your interest in Indigenous epistemology in AI | Safe and substantive |
| Hybrid | One sentence of creative context, then a focused research question | Best balance given your energy level |
Given your current energy state, the hybrid branch is the most efficient path — short email, one grounding sentence about who you are, one specific question about research at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and technology. <span style="display:none">345678910</span>
<div align="center">⁂</div>