Café-Philo (Kitchener) was a community philosophy project active between 2020 and 2024. Conceptualized as a way of promoting connection and critical thought in the early days of the pandemic, our small group went on to program both in-person and online events, including twelve interdisciplinary panels, two film screenings, and one philosophy lecture throughout our four years of activity.

The project began as a pilot during my summer internship at the interdisciplinary arts organization, Inter Arts Matrix, whose guidance and support allowed us to secure our own funding. We are grateful for support from by the City of Kitchener's Tier 2 Community Grants, without whom this project would not have been possible.

A full list of programming (2020-24) is archived below.

Poster art by Ida Lutzenberger. 

PANELS

ON BEAUTY: Sadie Berlin, Firas Mansour, Charles and Daphne Mauer, Cindy Zhuang, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2020)
ON NEGATIVE CAPABILITY: Luke Hathaway, Gwenessa Lam, Jeff Wilson, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2020)
ON GIFTS: Isabel Cisterna, Joe Mancini, Isabella Stefanescu, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2020)
ON EMBODIMENT: Brad Cook, Chanel Huinink, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON CREATION/DESTRUCTION: Madhur Anand, Kathryn Lawson, Joel Ong, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON FRIENDSHIP: James Butler, Ann Marie Rasmussen, Yasemin Sari, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON TASTE: Andrew Coppolino, Amanda Huyhn, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON JOY: Carla Beharry, Selam Debbs, Christine Werkele, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON THE ARTS: Catherine Mellinger, Aitak Sorahitalab, Eunju Yi, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2021)
ON PETS: Carla Fehr, Kathleen Mccaughley, Cree Toner, moderated by Katy Fulfer (2022)
ON WORK: Sean Campbell, Allie Libertini, moderated by Shannon Lodoen (2022)
ON CIVIC BEAUTY: Rick Haldenby, David Hobson, Isabella Stefanescu, moderated by Martinus de Groot (2023)

FILM SCREENINGS

CLOSE-UP (1990): hosted at the KPL, moderated by Marinus de Groot (2023)
TAMPOPO (1985): hosted at Apollo Cinemas, moderated by Hannah Gardiner (2024)

LECTURES

ON POWER AND PLEASURE AT THE DINNER TABLE: hosted at Inter Arts Matrix, lecture by Dr. Katy Fulfer, moderated by Haley Down (2024) 

PRESS/MEDIA

"An Invitation to Pleasure and Power at the Dinner Table." Katy Fulfer: Philosophy in the World, September 10, 2024.
https://www.katyfulfer.com/an-invitation-to-power-and-pleasure-at-the-dinner-table/

"Café Philo's Hannah Gardiner: Close-Up," Promenade Community Radio Magazine, August 23, 2022.
https://marinus.substack.com/p/august-23-2022-promenade-community-bda

"Isabella Stefanescu on Café Philo," Promenade Community Radio Magazine, October 19, 2021.
https://marinus.substack.com/p/21-10-19-promenade-community-radio-0f4

“From theatre to public health: Online talk looks at the role of masks during pandemic and beyond.” CBC News, October 27, 2020.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/philosophical-mask-discussion-1.5777148

The MacGregor-Albert Giraffe Parade took place in the fall of 2024 to honour the late Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, a pioneering Canadian zoologist, feminist activist, and former MacGregor-Albert neighbour. Over the course of three weeks, neighbours came together to build and paint twenty-five wearable papier-mâché giraffe sculptures, which were then publicly paraded through Waterloo Park to celebrate Anne's legacy. 

After the parade, select sculptures were displayed in the Anne Innis Dagg exhibit Giraffe: A Heightened Experience at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener.

We are grateful for support for this project from the City of Waterloo's Neighbourhood Fund. This project would not have been possible without the support of MacGregor-Albert Community Association, Haley Down, Gabrielle Gardiner, Eric Almberg, Ellen Siebel-Achenbach, The Anne Innis Dagg Foundation, and the Dagg Family, for allowing us to celebrate Anne's legacy in this public way. 

Original poster art by Ida Lutzenberger. 

PRESS/MEDIA

“Sparking Possibility: Meet the Community Leaders Transforming Parks Across Ontario.” Park People Blog, November 12, 2025.
https://parkpeople.ca/sparking-possibility-meet-the-community-leaders-transforming-parks-across-ontario/

“Giraffes on Parade to Honour Anne Innis Dagg.” The Record, October 4, 2024.
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/giraffes-on-parade-to-honour-anne-innis-dagg/article_ed3f8aaf-8437-55e4-b105-5a646764d22f.html

Additional event photos here. 

In 2024, I was selected as one of 8 80 Cities' Ontario Community Changemakers, a microgrant and leadership program intended to help spark new ideas and invigorate change in local communities. For my project, I wanted to build off the success of the MacGregor-Albert Giraffe Parade and continue exploring ways of bringing people together in Waterloo Park. 

To do this, I collaborated with different community groups to host two microparades and one afternoon of karaoke, all in Waterloo Park. The microparades were integrated into community events: the first, a bubble parade, took place on the more populated east side of Waterloo Park and led people to a hidden area on the west, where the MacGregor Albert Community Association, Uptown West Neighbourhood Association, and the Uptown Tree Coalition hosted a celebration of an old oak tree. The second parade, a lantern procession at dusk, followed a day-time lantern-making workshop, hosted by local artist Agnes Niewiadomski (Mindful Makers). People returned to the park at dusk to parade their work, accompanied by student flutists from Wilfrid Laurier’s Faculty of Music. 

These projects were possible thanks to funding from 8 80 Cities and the Balsam Foundation, as well as additional funding from TD Park People Grants. 

PRESS/MEDIA

"A Year in the life of #OCChangemaker Hannah Gardiner." Ontario Community Changemakers Blog, December 2025.
https://ontariocommunitychangemakers.org/39397/

“Sparking Possibility: Meet the Community Leaders Transforming Parks Across Ontario.” Park People Blog, November 12, 2025.
https://parkpeople.ca/sparking-possibility-meet-the-community-leaders-transforming-parks-across-ontario/

Additional event photos here.

The Brubacher Poetry Project began when Jakob-Michael Stephan and I were selected as the 2022-23 Artists-in-Residence at the Brubacher House Museum, a restored 1850s Pennsylvania German Mennonite Farmhouse. We held an open call for previously unpublished German-language Mennonite poetry and received many poems written in the first half of the twentieth century by Mennonite men and women from the Chortitza and Molotschna colonies. Their poetry had a tragic relevance to the time we worked in, given Eastern Ukraine, where many of the poets had lived, had once again become a battleground. 

We selected and translated these poems, honouring the poets' words that call attention to the inescapable effects that war and political injustices both past and present have on the lives of the people who endure them. We were grateful to have had a chance to share our translations during a poetry reading at the Brubacher House (attended by descendants of some of the poets), as well as on a community radio program, in the "Memories of Migration: Russlaender 100 Train Tour," and finally, as a chapbook published by Pandora Press, titled From Shore to Shore: Ukrainian Mennonite Poetry in Translation (2025).

This residency would not have been possible without the support of the Brubacher House Museum, Conrad Grebel University College, the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, and the University of Waterloo. We acknowledge additional support for our chapbook publication from the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario through J. Winfield Fretz Special Projects Fund in Ontario Mennonite Studies. We would also like to thank Laura and Josh Enns, the late Dr. Waldemar Scholtes, and Dr. Maxwell Kennel of Pandora Press for all their counsel and support, as well as the families who submitted their relatives' poetry. 

Please get in touch if you are interested in purchasing one of the limited edition chapbooks. 

PRESS/MEDIA 

"From Shore to Shore Poetry Book Launch," February 2, 2026.
https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/news/shore-shore-poetry-book-launch

“From Shore to Shore: Ukrainian Mennonite Poetry in Translation Book launch at the Brubacher House.” Promenade Community Radio, January 26, 2026.
https://marinus.substack.com/p/january-26-2026-promenade-community 

“Poetry reading by Hannah Gardiner and Jakob-Michael Stephan.” Promenade Community Radio Magazine, June 19, 2023.
https://marinus.substack.com/p/june-19-2023-promenade-community-486

"2022-23 Artists-in-Residence." Brubacher House Museum, November 25, 2022.
https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/news/2022-23-artists-residence