No. 475 - November 3, 2021

  • Coming Events:

    - "Inscribing creditability: finance, letter-writing manuals and the rise of a plausible public 'self' in the long 18th century"
    - Create/Collaborate! Virtual Coffeehouse
    - The Tolerance Project - Event and Exhibition Launch
    - Research Ethics Workshop: "Conducting research with or about human participants"
    - "Forest City Memories: A Critical Mapping and Visualization of the Past across London's Cityscape"

  • Important Dates:

    - Monday, November 1, 2021 - Friday, November 5, 2021 - Undergraduate Reading Week & MMJC/MLIS Research Week (no classes)
    - Friday, November 12, 2021 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 p.m.)
    - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10:00 a.m.)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Angela Sterritt announced as 2022 FIMS Asper Fellow
    - FIMS Career Central Site

  • Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Andrea Benoit (PhD'14, Media Studies)
    - David Walugembe

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Jacquelyn Burkell
    - Nicole Dalmer (LIS PhD'18)
    - Brad Hiebert (HIS PhD'18)
    - Karen Nicholson
    - Effie Sapuridis
    - Lucia Cedeira Serantes

  • In the Media:

    - Angela Pollack (MLIS'06, LIS PhD'15)
    - Effie Sapuridis

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Sharon Sliwinski
    - Mark Kearney
    - Canadian Association of Journalists' Mentorship Program Applications

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

    - Bookbind to Unwind in the FIMS Library 
    - Maker Spaces in Libraries - A joint discussion and demonstration
    - FIMS Graduate Library Fall Book Club
    - Holiday Making Event
    - Check out our helpful videos created for FIMS grad students

  • News from Western Libraries

    - Upcoming GIS Days 2021 Event
    - Grad Club Trivia is Back

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


"Inscribing creditability: finance, letter-writing manuals and the rise of a plausible public 'self' in the long 18th century"
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom (by registration)
Presented by Professor Alison Hearn as part of the FIMS Seminar Series.
All are welcome to attend. Contact Karen Kueneman for the Zoom link at kueneman@uwo.ca.
Abstract: This presentation comprises the first chapter of a book project entitled Reputational Capital: An episodic history, which focuses on the ways mediated forms of self-presentation and reputation-seeking have functioned within, against, and as foundational to capitalist economies of credit and debt over the past three centuries. The talk provides a pre-history to our current economic moment, where perpetual networking and self-promotion have become compulsory, enforced as "a survival discipline" (Gilligan & Vischmidt 2015), in the context of deepening economic precariousness and data-extractive platform capitalism (Srnicek 2017, Zuboff 2019), by examining the role of personal and commercial letters informed by didactic letter-writing manuals in Europe and North America during the long 18th century (continue reading).

Create/Collaborate! Virtual Coffeehouse
Monday, November 15, 2021
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Zoom Webinar (register here)
Grab your favourite beverage, sit back and enjoy our 2nd annual Create/Collaborate! Virtual Coffeehouse, presented by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, the Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Information & Media Studies. The virtual coffeehouse features a variety of collaborative musical, spoken and creative performances from alumni, students, and faculty. More information and a complete list of collaborators can be found here.

The Tolerance Project - Event and Exhibition Launch
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Zoom Webinar (link TBA)
The Tolerance Project is a travelling poster collection that celebrates and honours the starting point of all meaningful discourse: tolerance. The exhibition has brought a message of social acceptance to more than 300,000 people in 38 countries worldwide and has showcased the work of over 185 designers. Each iteration of The Tolerance Project features posters by local artists, whose only direction is to illustrate the word "tolerance" in their native language. The posters appear in public spaces - in parks, on university campuses, even on buses - thus engaging with a wide cross-section of the population. It’s all part of starting a conversation about inclusion, which can only begin with a foundation of tolerance - and spreading respect in a divided world.

Andrew Lewis, FIMS instructor, has brought The Tolerance Project to Western's campus, co-curating the exhibition with FIMS. The show will be displayed in the FIMS & Nursing Building (FNB) for a limited time. The launch of the exhibition will be marked by an event in the Creative Commons space in FNB on Tuesday November 16, which will be livestreamed on Zoom. More details upcoming.

Research Ethics Workshop: "Conducting research with or about human participants"
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Zoom (by registration)
Are you considering a Guided Research Project, a Major Research Project or starting your thesis research next term? If your research involves collecting data from or about people, attendance at this human research ethics workshop is required before submitting any Guided Research, Major Research or thesis research proposal for the Winter 2022 term. You can also attend if you're considering a research project in a subsequent term, though the same workshop will be offered in the Winter 2022 and Summer 2022 terms. If you have already received ethics approval for your research/data collection, attendance is not required. Faculty researchers are also welcome to attend. To register, please email Shelley Long at slong@uwo.ca.

"Forest City Memories: A Critical Mapping and Visualization of the Past across London's Cityscape"
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom (by registration)
Presented by Professor Basil Chiasson, and MIT students Kaitlyn Adam and Athena Nadalin as part of the FIMS Seminar Series.
All are welcome to attend. Contact Karen Kueneman for the Zoom link at kueneman@uwo.ca.
Abstract: This presentation describes our on-going research project as that examines the use of the City of London's civic landscape to re-construct the past and produce collective memories for both residents and visitors. With this project, we have been mapping existing sites, both commemorative and memorial in nature, in order to (a) create a digital and pictorial visualization of the historical artefacts and narratives that are currently on display, (b) identify historical silences that are eliding nevertheless real and significant pasts, and (c) critically appraise those existing artefacts and narratives and re-inscribe those silences into the civic landscape (continue reading).


Important Dates


- Monday, November 1, 2021 - Friday, November 5, 2021 - Undergraduate Reading Week & MMJC/MLIS Research Week (no classes)
- Friday, November 12, 2021 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 p.m.)
- Thursday, November 18, 2021 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10:00 a.m.)


News & Announcements


Angela Sterritt announced as 2022 FIMS Asper Fellow
FIMS is pleased to announce that Angela Sterritt, an award-winning multimedia journalist, author and visual artist, has been named as the 2022 FIMS Asper Fellow. A member of the Gitxsan nation, Sterritt is based in Vancouver and has worked at the CBC since 2003. She brings an enormous wealth of expertise and experience to the appointment and will be an invaluable resource for students in the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication (MMJC) program over the winter term. More information about Sterritt's appointment as Asper Fellow can be found in the FIMS article, "Angela Sterritt announced as 2022 FIMS Asper Fellow." 

FIMS Career Central Site
Formerly known as the LIS JobWeb, the FIMS Career Central site was redesigned to help current students and alumni of all FIMS graduate programs with the job search. Alumni and industry employers are encouraged to submit their postings using the Post An Opportunity tool.



Awards & Accomplishments


Andrea Benoit (PhD'14, Media Studies) has been awarded the 2021 CBHA/ACHA Award for Best Book in Canadian Business History for her publication VIVA M·A·C: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of M·A·C Cosmetics (published in 2019 by University of Toronto Press). Benoit and her accomplishments are featured in the article, "Andrea Benoit receives award for Best Book in Canadian History," on the FIMS website.

David Walugembe, HIS doctoral student, successfully defended his PhD thesis titled, Exploring variations in the implementation of a health systems level policy intervention to improve maternal and child health, on October 22, 2021.


Publications & Presentations


Associate Professor Jacquelyn Burkell and Brad Hiebert (PhD'18, Health Information Science) co-authored the article:
Donelle, L., Hall, J., Hiebert, B., Shelley, J. J., Smith, M. J., Gilliland, J., Stranges, S., Kothari, A., Burkell, J., Cooke, T., Long, J., Shelley, J. M., Befus, D., Comer, L., Ngole, M., & Stanley, M. (2021). Digital technology and disease surveillance in the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review protocol. BMJ open, 11(10), e053962. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053962.

Faculty member Karen Nicholson published the following article:
Nicholson, K.P. (2021), "Spatial thinking, gender and immaterial affective labour in the post-Fordist academic library", Journal of Documentation, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2020-0194

Effie Sapuridis, Media Studies PhD student, co-moderated a roundtable titled "Digital Methods and Digital Fan Practices" at the Fan Studies North America Conference on October 23, 2021.

FIMS instructor Lucia Cedeira Serantes and Nicole Dalmer (LIS PhD'18) presented the following two projects at the virtual conference, CAG2021: Hindsight 20/20: Looking Back for a Vision Forward in Gerontology:
Dubious ports, missing mice, and stashed passwords: Learning from a workshop series about older adults' digital hygiene and online privacy practices, and Imag(in)ing Aging Futures in Comics and Graphic Novels (part of the ALA funded project "SEEniors: Visual representations of older age in illustrated materials"). 

Serantes was also part of a panel on the role of GLAM in the preservation and communication of the history of Canadian comics for the first symposium of The Society for the Promotion of Canadian Comics, Beyond 80 Years!: Virtual Symposium on Canadian Comics. 


In the Media


Angela Pollack (MLIS'06, LIS PhD'15) was recently recognized for community development and featured in the articles, "South Algonquin business group hosts Provincial Minister of Seniors and Accessibility," published by My Bancroft Now on October 25, 2021, and "South Algonquin companies showing the way for inclusive business through commitment to accessibility," published by Pembroke Observer on October 20, 2021.

Effie Sapuridis, Media Studies PhD student, was featured in the Q&A, "Five Things Effie Said," with the Organization for Transformative Works on October 26, 2021. 


Additional Activities of Note


A Q&A with Professor Sharon Sliwinski on the Guardians of Sleep podcast is available on the FIMS website, along with podcast episodes and details about the project's origins. Sliwinski is the creator and editor of the Museum of Dreams, partnering with the Museum of London (UK) and the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London to collect and curate Londoner's (UK) pandemic dreams for The Guardians of Sleep.

Faculty member Mark Kearney recently signed a contract with American publisher BearManor Media for the biography he’s writing of Al Christie, a silent film pioneering director who was born and raised in London, Ont. The book is scheduled for publication in 2023. In 1911, Christie directed the first-ever comedy film in the town of Hollywood. Five years later, Christie set up his own studio in Hollywood and produced hundreds of short films through the 19-teens and 20s. He died in 1951 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Applications for the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ)'s mentorship program are due on November 12, 2021. The program pairs CAJ members with established professionals working in radio, television, digital, and print publications across the country. Student journalists, those starting their career, and professionals at any career stage looking to develop new skills are encouraged to apply.


News from the FIMS Graduate Library


Contact us!
In the library: Monday to Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm
Via Zoom drop-in: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 12-1pm
Email: fimslib@uwo.ca
Call: 519-661-2111 x88488

FIMS Graduate Library presents...
Take advantage of your chance to learn beyond your classes.
Have ideas for future workshops that you'd like to attend? Email us at fimslib@uwo.ca. We'd love to hear from you!

Bookbind to Unwind in the FIMS Library: Friday, November 12th 12-1pm  
Thanks to all who participated in the Bookbinding for Inmates Workshop with Regional Librarian Kelli Jerome! Kelli did a fantastic job of instructing us on how to rebind books for institutional libraries, and we're pleased to announce that we will be continuing this partnership with Kelli and hosting regular bookbinding meet-ups. 

Our next bookbinding meet-up will be held on Friday, November 12th from 12:00-1:00 pm in the library. All are welcome to come help us rebind donated books that will be distributed to institutional libraries in the region. Additionally, we have set up a cart with bookbinding supplies that will be available for use during library hours. If you need a break from course work, why not stop by to bind some books and gain hands-on volunteer experience supporting institutional libraries?

Maker Spaces in Libraries - A joint discussion and demonstration with Liz Anderson and Eric Bell from Stratford Public Library and Mandy Forbes from the FIMS Grad Library: 1pm on Wednesday, November 17th on Zoom
Join us for an informal and lively discussion about maker spaces with Stratford Public Library's MakerSpace librarians Liz Anderson and Eric Ball. Liz and Eric will show off popular making and tech tools and discuss what it's like to work in a maker space. Learn about programming ideas, outreach, and helpful resources that can be used in a variety of library contexts. You'll also be introduced to some of the new and popular offerings at the Bibliotech maker space at the FIMS Graduate Library. If you have any questions about this event, please contact library staff at fimslib@uwo.ca.

Please RSVP by emailing us at fimslib@uwo.ca and we will send you Zoom details.

FIMS Graduate Library Fall Book Club: 2-3pm on Thursday, November 25 (synchronous on Zoom and FNB 3020)
As part of our effort to highlight the selections from this year's First Nation Communities Read (FNCR) Awards, we've chosen Michelle Good's Five Little Indians as the focus of our Fall Book Club. Good's novel tells the stories of Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie, five friends who have been released from a church-run residential school and "chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward" (from the book jacket). In addition to being shortlisted in the YA/Adult category of FNCR, Good's novel has become a National Bestseller and has won numerous awards, including the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction.  

Copies of Five Little Indians are available for loan in the FIMS Graduate Library and are widely available in many public and academic libraries.

Holiday Making Event: 12-3pm on Wednesday, December 8 AND Friday, December 10 (if there is interest) in the library (FNB 3020)
No need to RSVP, just drop into the library to get your hands on some materials for crafting holiday goodies. We'll be turning paper, yarn and repurposed materials into homemade gifts using library equipment like the Cricut cutting machine and button maker. You'll take home a beautiful homemade card, gift tag, or ornament that you can give away or keep for yourself. If you've been meaning to try out one of these popular tools, this would be a great opportunity. All supplies provided. No making experience required (but some may be gained). If you have any questions about this event, please contact library staff at fimslib@uwo.ca.

Check out our our website for helpful videos created for FIMS grad students
For example: Watch our video about searching in Web of Science and Scopus to learn how to find seminal articles on your topic, measure an author's impact in their field and find the top journals in a given subject area. If you still have questions about using these powerful databases, stop by the library or email fimslib@uwo.ca.



News from Western Libraries


Upcoming GIS Days 2021 Event
Celebrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Days 2021 at this week of free virtual, interactive events. GIS Days 2021 is truly a global event, with presenters joining us (virtually) from South Korea, Scotland, Northwest Territories, and more! Presentation topics range from the Geography of Pokémon Go to underwater gliders, from COVID-19 dashboards to galaxy mapping.

What is GIS Days? GIS Days offer you the chance to learn more about geography, mapping and real-world applications of GIS that impact our communities. Drop in and out depending on what presentations pique your interest and listen to presenters from around the world.

When is GIS Days? November 15-19, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day (come and go as you please).

Who can attend? Everyone from anywhere in the world is welcome to attend GIS Days, whether you're a high school student, university staff, faculty, graduate, undergraduate or community member. Not technical? That's okay, presentations will be offered by a variety of speakers ranging from GIS professionals to GIS newbies. Short lightning talks (7-min) offer you a quick taste of a topic, while longer demonstrations (20-min) and tutorials (1-hr) provide a deeper dive into a GIS project or software.

All event information is posted through our GIS Days event page. Feel free to explore the interactive program to see what presentations are on offer, and don't forget to register for reminders about the event and to add it to your calendar. Tweet using the #GISDay and share what presentations you're most excited to see and help us spread the word to friends and colleagues.

Grad Club Trivia is Back
In-person trivia is back up and running at the Grad Club every Tuesday at 7 p.m. 


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 fims-communications@uwo.ca.

The next issue will be published on Wednesday, November 17, 2021. The deadline for submissions is noon on Tuesday, November 16, 2021.