No. 463 - February 16, 2021

  • Coming Events:

    - FIMSwrites - Virtual Edition
    - "An Exercise with Hannah Arendt: Looking at Public and its Collective Responsibility for Government Violence"
    - "An Afternoon with Eternity Martis"
    - "Online Activism and Decolonizing Minds"
    - "Digital Policing: Facial Recognition Software and Community Resistance"
    - "Anger, psychic institutional pain and silencing in academia"

    Save the date for these upcoming March events:

    - "Transmutation: From Influence to Originality"
    - "'I Was Trying to Drag People Into Caring': Governance, Diversity, and Controversy in Open Technology Projects"
    - "Indigenous voices in the digital age"
    - FIMS Workshop: Research Funds & Accounts
    - "A Conversation with Author David A. Robertson"
    - "Making Poverty Pay: Digital Creditors, Gentrifying Landlords & Financial Capitalism Today"
    - "Something Had Been Ruined Forever: Interrupting AI Ethics"
    - "Social Selection of Algorithms"
    - "Digital piece work: the new workers and geographies of the digital economy"
    - FIMS Seminar Series: Alissa Centivany

  • Important Dates:

    - Monday, February 15 - Friday, February 19, 2021 - Reading Week
    - Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - FIMS Faculty Council Strategic Plan Consult (12PM, Zoom)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Latest COVID update from Western about university operations moving forward
    - New FIMS Public Events listing online

    Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Chandell Gosse

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Magnus Berg
    - Kane Faucher
    - Chandell Gosse
    - Kamran Sedig
    - Romayne Smith Fullerton

  • In the Media:

    - Daniel Robinson
    - Luke Stark

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Sara Mai Chitty

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

  • FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up:

    - Students prepping for the annual Media Arts Festival

  • News from Western Libraries:

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


FIMSwrites - Virtual Edition
Every Wednesday
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
Do you expect to have paper, story, article, report, thesis, or book deadlines coming up? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. All FIMS graduate students, staff and faculty are welcome to bring their favourite writing devices and join us to write and check in. If you're interested, contact Pam McKenzie or Lola Wong for further information.

"An Exercise with Hannah Arendt: Looking at Public and its Collective Responsibility for Government Violence"
Thursday, February 18, 2021
4:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
Presented by Sananda Sahoo, Media Studies PhD candidate. Part of the mediations lecture series.
Abstract: In her work On Violence, Hannah Arendt challenges the notion of power as has been passed down to us through thinkers such as Voltaire, Max Weber, and Robert Strausz-Hupé as a tool to dominate and rule by domination. I argue that one cannot conceive of power without it being framed within a certain mode of responsibility. I explore, through Arendt, the relationship between power and responsibility and what such a framework might look like (continue reading).

"An Afternoon with Eternity Martis"
Monday, February 22, 2021
5:00 p.m.
Zoom Webinar
Hosted by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities. Please join us in welcoming Eternity Martis (BA’14) for her talk on what it means to be a student (and woman) of colour on a Canadian university campus today. Eternity will be drawing on her experiences as discussed in her highly acclaimed book: They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up.

"Online Activism and Decolonizing Minds"
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Zoom Webinar
Featuring Alicia Elliott, Haudenosaunee Writer-in-Residence at Western University. Hosted by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Indigenous Studies Program. In a world that is increasingly convincing people that we must "earn" survival through capitalism and colonialism, how do we fight back? How do we change minds? How can we utilize social media to not only speak back to power, but also convince others that radical social change is in all of our best interests? Join Alicia Elliott for a discussion of ways that Indigenous groups have utilized social media to do just that, and why individual contributions to this cause do matter.

"Digital Policing: Facial Recognition Software and Community Resistance"
Thursday, February 25, 2021
7:00 p.m.
Zoom Webinar
Featuring Tawana Petty, Deborah Raji, Ann Cavoukian, with Luke Stark as host. Part of the Big Data at the Margins event series. How can we come together to push back on the deployment of facial recognition technologies by police forces, schools, and other civic institutions? What are the best strategies for the successful abolition of these and other carceral technologies (more information)?

Anger, psychic institutional pain and silencing in academia
Friday, February 26, 2021
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Zoom (RSVP to socevent@uwo.ca)
Presented by Shirley Anne Tate, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Feminism and Intersectionality, University of Alberta.
Abstract: I am a ‘wounded body stranger’ (Tate and Wahidin 2014) removed from myself so I do not feel psychic pain. However, pain emerges and I use it here drawing from Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals as an analytic frame to explore how as Black women we cope with an imposed silencing from within white feminism whilst maintaining subjective and Black feminist community cohesiveness (continue reading).

Save the date for these upcoming March events:

March 3
"Transmutation: From Influence to Originality"
Basil Chiasson - More Info.

March 5
"'I Was Trying to Drag People Into Caring': Governance, Diversity, and Controversy in Open Technology Projects"
Christina Dunbar-Hester - More Info/Register.

March 5
"Indigenous voices in the digital age"
Percy Sherwood and Joy SpearChief-Morris - More Info.

March 9
FIMS Workshop: Research Funds & Accounts
Sandy Smeltzer, Karen Kueneman and Sharon Waters - More Info.

March 9
"A Conversation with Author David A. Robertson"
David A. Robertson - More Info.

March 10
"Making Poverty Pay: Digital Creditors, Gentrifying Landlords & Financial Capitalism Today"
Rob Aitken and Susanne Soederberg - More Info TBA.

March 18
"Something Had Been Ruined Forever: Interrupting AI Ethics"
Anna Lauren Hoffman.

March 24
"Social Selection of Algorithms"
Alex Mayhew - More Info.

March 25
"Digital piece work: the new workers and geographies of the digital economy"
Lisa Nakamura, Lilly Irani and Greig de Peuter - More Info TBA.

March 31
FIMS Seminar Series
Alissa Centivany - More Info TBA.


Important Dates


- Monday, February 15 - Friday, February 19, 2021 - Reading Week
- Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - FIMS Faculty Council Strategic Plan Consult (12PM, Zoom)


News & Announcements


Latest COVID update from Western about university operations moving forward
Western's most recent update regarding how the university hopes to move forward in the near future were published on February 4, 2021. For the latest thinking on the remainder of the Winter 2021 term, the upcoming Summer 2021 term, and the Fall 2021 term, visit the COVID-19 website.

New FIMS Public Events listing online
A new public events listing was recently launched on the FIMS website that allow people planning events or attending events to see what's scheduled at a glance. It's intended for events that are open to the general public, such as the FIMS Seminar Series, Roger's Chair events, mediations lectures, guest lectures and other series or collaborations that might arise. You can find it at: https://www.fims.uwo.ca/about/events.html. Help keep it up-to-date by sending your upcoming event details to bblue@uwo.ca (you don't need complete details to list an event - just a date and time).


Awards & Accomplishments


Chandell Gosse, Media Studies PhD candidate, and colleague Jaigris Hodson (Royal Roads University) were the successful recipients of a SSHRC knowledge synthesis grant titled, "A New Glass Ceiling: The Impact of Online Harassment on Research Innovation and Public Education Workers."


Publications & Presentations


Magnus Berg, MLIS student, will be co-presenting a talk titled, "'Heritage from Below': Building and Developing the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA)" at the Chesapeake Digital Humanities Consortium on February 26.

Assistant Professor Kane Faucher published the following article in February:

Faucher, K.X. 2021
Field Notes: Three Ontario Devonian Sites.
The Trilobite Papers, 24:11-16
LINK: http://paleonet.org/TTP/TTP24.pdf 

Chandell Gosse, Media Studies PhD candidate, co-authored an article titled, "Support for scholars coping with online harassment: an ecological framework," in February in Feminist Media Studies.

Professor Kamran Sedig published the article, "Forming Cognitive Maps of Ontologies Using Interactive Visualizations" the latest issue of Multimodal Technologies and Interaction.

Associate Professor Romayne Smith Fullerton (along with colleague Maggie Jones Patterson) published a new book titled, Murder in Our Midst: Comparing Crime Coverage Ethics in an Age of Globalized News, through Oxford University Press.


In the Media


Associate Professor Daniel Robinson appeared as a guest on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin on February 10. He joined Paikin for a segment titled, "How Canada Became a Country of Smokers," and the two discussed Professor Robinson's recently release book, Cigarette Nation: Business, Health, and Canadian Smokers, 1930-1975.



Assistant Professor Luke Stark was a guest on CBC's The Current with Matt Galloway on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 for a segment titled, "We look at the implications of AI that can detect your emotions." Professor Stark discussed the growing interest in using artificial intelligence to identify people's emotions and the reasons why interested companies, interested parties and organizations are seeking to employ such technology.


Additional Activities of Note


Sara Mai Chitty's new podcast titled Mbwaach'idiwag is now available to listen to on Soundcloud, Spotify and Amazon Music. Podcast description: "Embedding Indigenization and decolonization promises into institutional practice is difficult and nuanced work, join Western’s Office of Indigenous Initiative’s Sara Mai Chitty as she visits with Indigenous Peoples and allies who seek to bridge the long-held divides between Euro-Western and Indigenous communities through their work in the areas of curriculum, research and beyond (continue reading)."


News from the FIMS Graduate Library


Contact us!
Although our physical location is closed, we are still here to help you with any library-related questions.
We can help with access to resources and services for your teaching, learning and research.
You can email us (fimslib@uwo.ca) or call and leave a message (519-661-2111 x88488).
We are available to offer assistance Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm.
If you require assistance after these hours, please use Ask a Librarian service available through Western Libraries.

***NEW*** FIMS Graduate Library Drop-In Hours
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays - 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, Kendall, Carolyn or Sara will be sitting at our virtual service desk from 12-1pm. Ask us anything: from citation help to finding the best resources for your assignments. Whether you have a library-related question or just want to check in and see our friendly faces, we hope you'll join us. A Zoom invitation will be sent to your email on before drop-in hours, reminding you to drop by.

FIMS Graduate Library presents… email fimslib@uwo.ca to register for any of our workshops or events.

Kelli Jerome, Regional Librarian for correctional facilities, jails and detention centres
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.
Are you curious about the kinds of jobs that might be available to you after you graduate? Join us for a talk by Kelli Jerome, Spring 2020 MLIS and FIMS Graduate, as she discusses her role as Regional Librarian, for the Ministry of the Solicitor General. Kelli supervises and runs libraries within five correctional facilities, jails and detention centres across the Western Region of Ontario. We're excited to welcome Kelli back and to hear about this unique position. Bring your curiosity and questions!

A Conversation with Author David Alexander Robertson
Thursday, March 9, 2021 - 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This FIMS’ event, hosted by the LIS-9370 class (Introduction to Indigenizing and Decolonizing LIS) and the FIMS Grad Library, is a conversation with bestselling author David A. Robertson. He is the author of a new memoir, children’s books, graphic novels, and novels whose works educate and entertain readers about Indigenous Peoples, reflecting their cultures, histories, communities, as well as illuminating many contemporary issues.

Bookclub: The Barren Grounds by David Alexander Robertson
In conjunction with David Robertson’s virtual visit to FIMS, your FIMS Grad Library is also hosting a book club! Please join us on zoom for a discussion of David A. Robertson's The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book 1. We encourage you to register for book club and we’ll have a dissuasion online, before David’s visit. All are welcome! Anyone with an interest in the book, indigenous issues or specifically in the decolonization and indigenization of the library will no doubt benefit from this discussion. Copies of the book are available at your local public library, free with an Audible trial and four copies will be available at the FIMS Grad Library. Please contact us if you are having difficulty finding a copy.

Marissa Tippet, Western Libraries - Literature Review
Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
More details to follow.

ELIP - Looking for volunteers
(ELIP stands for Emerging Library & Information Perspectives, our MLIS student-run, open access, peer-reviewed journal published through the FIMS Graduate Library)
Our peer reviewers and editorial advisors have been working hard to review submissions for publication this term, and in March we will be ready to move on to the copy editing phase. We are looking for reliable MLIS students with strong writing and grammatical skills to assist us with this important stage of the editorial process. If interested, email Aarushi Mohan our Managing Editor, and she will send you a a quiz. The purpose of this quiz is to determine the level of experience that potential volunteers have with copy editing, so that we can make appropriate assignments. Volunteering with ELIP is a great way to learn more about scholarly communication and open access publishing and it looks good on resumes, so please don’t hesitate to contact Aarushi if you’re interested in this opportunity.


FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up


Students prepping for the annual Media Arts Festival
FIMS undergraduate students are gearing up to put on their third annual Media Arts Festival in March. Last year's festival was moved online due to COVID and the event will continue in an online format this year. MAF was developed with the goal of sharing students' creative endeavours with the greater FIMS community. Stay tuned for details on the launch of the event.


News from Western Libraries


Western Libraries is excited to offer a series of free Research Skills Workshops to help you navigate scholarly publishing, access data sources including social media and COVID data, systematic reviews, geospatial tools and analysis (GIS), reference management tools and more! We expect these offerings to be of particular interest to graduate students. Faculty, staff, and undergraduate students are welcome to attend. Register now.

  • Feb 23: Introduction to Qualitative Analysis with NVivo
  • Feb 25: Tips & Tools for Building/Promoting Your Scholarly Identity
  • Mar 2: Introduction to GIS Dashboards
  • Mar 9: Tips & Tools for Building/Promoting Your Scholarly Identity
  • Mar 11: Introduction to Story Maps
  • Mar 16: Social Media Data for Research: Twitter and Others
  • Mar 18: Ins and Outs of Publishing Fees

Next Issue


The Grad Bulletin is your source for news, announcements, and events pertaining to FIMS graduate programs. Submissions from the FIMS community are always welcome and may be sent via e-mail to bblue@uwo.ca.

The next issue of the FIMS Graduate Bulletin will be published on Monday, March 1, 2021. The deadline for submissions is noon on Friday, February 26, 2021.