No. 483 - March 23, 2022

  • Coming Events:

    - mediations: Data Imaginaries 
    - Climate Crisis & Multi-generational Resilience Wisdom Council 
    - Reflecting on Canada's Trucker Convoy & Pandemic Protests
    - Disinformation on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence and journalistic challenges

  • Important Dates:

    - Friday, April 8, 2022 - Undergraduate classes end
    - Sunday, April 10, 2022 - Saturday, April 30, 2022 - Undergraduate Exam Period
    - Thursday, April 14, 2022 - Graduate classes end
    - Friday, April 15, 2022 - Good Friday holiday (FIMS offices closed)

  • Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Danica Facca
    - Romayne Smith Fullerton
    - Hugh Samson 
    - Effie Sapridis
    - Nafiz Shuva
    - Anita Slominska
    - Sarah Smith

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Tanaz Javan
    - Percy Sherwood

  • In the Media:

    - Romayne Smith Fullerton
    - Heather Hill
    - Griffin Jaeger
    - Percy Sherwood
    - Sam Trosow

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Dispatches from the Place of Imminence: a blog from Ukraine

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

    - [RE-SCHEDULED] Working in the Knowledge Management Field: A Discussion with Sarah Morrison
    - Copy/Print/Scan credits

  • FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up:

    - FIMS Career Conference 2022 - Destinations & Detours
    - Future Mustang Day - March 26

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


mediations: Data Imaginaries 
Thursday, March 24, 2022
4:30 pm
Zoom
Talk presented by Melissa Adler, Sananda Sahoo and Luke Stark as part of the FIMS mediations Lecture Series. If you would like to attend this event, email fimsmediations@gmail.com to request the Zoom link.
Abstract: This panel will examine the role of information and its attendant technologies in social, cultural, psychological, and political contexts. Sananda Sahoo’s paper provides a frame for thinking about the history of data imaginaries, how data becomes legitimized, and what that data can do. Luke Stark asks, How did Silicon Valley companies get to a point where it seemed normal and desirable to develop “emotional artificial intelligence,” and what does that story tell us about the role of emotion in American society over the past century? Melissa Adler will talk about knowledge organization as a technique in cultivating a settler colonial imaginary, and how information infrastructures have been essential for empire expansion (continue reading).

Climate Crisis & Multi-generational Resilience Wisdom Council 
Thursday, March 24, 2022
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Zoom (by registration)
Abstract: FIMS is a supporter of the 2nd Intergenerational Wisdom Council, which gathered Traditional Knowledge Keepers, elders, and youth from across Turtle Island and Alba (Scotland) to share perspectives that come from the land and are rooted in our relationships to the territories we are from and those where we now stand, connecting us to powerful teachings to mitigate climate and ecological crises locally, recanting the knowledge that comes from the land to heal our relationships with it. For more information, visit The Alliance for Intergenerational Resilience website. 

Reflecting on Canada's Trucker Convoy & Pandemic Protests
Friday, March 25, 2022
9:30 am - 10:30 pm
Zoom Webinar (by registration)
Western Law, FIMS, Arts & Humanities, and Social Science is pleased to host a multidisciplinary series of panels reflecting on Canada's trucker convoy and pandemic protests (continue reading).
All are welcome to attend. Please register for each panel separately.
Panel 1: Identity, Culture and Politics (9:30 am)
Featuring Cody Barteet (Arts & Humanities), Kate Korycki (Arts & Humanities), Patrick Mahon (Arts & Humanities), and Laura Stephenson (Political Science). Register for Panel 1.
Panel 2: Trade, Economics and Security (11 am)
Featuring Akis Psygkas (Western Law), Gal Raz (Ivey Business), Tom Streeter (Information & Media Studies), and Wade Wright (Western Law). Register for Panel 2.

Disinformation on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence and journalistic challenges
Thursday, April 28, 2022
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Zoom
A panel discussion presented by Anabel Quan-Haase, the FIMS Rogers Chair in Studies in Journalism and New Information Technology, featuring Ahmed Al-Rawi (Simon Fraser University), Alfred Hermida (University of British Columbia), Lauren Pelley (CBC News) and Craig Silverman (ProPublica). All are welcome to attend. 
Abstract: Social media has been a strategic tool used by governments, health agencies, and experts during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing rapid updates on topics such as health regulations, safety recommendations, and disease risk. Yet, with its unmoderated and fast-paced nature, social media has contributed to the spread of disinformation, fears, and distrust of experts and the mainstream media. A 2021 CBC Marketplace investigation identified hundreds of social media posts spreading disinformation and no initiatives on part of tech giants to deal with the problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of an ‘infodemic’ that impairs effective health policy and requires immediate intervention. This panel will discuss many of the challenges confronted by journalists today with identifying and combatting disinformation (continue reading).


Important Dates


- Friday, April 8, 2022 - Undergraduate classes end
- Sunday, April 10, 2022 - Saturday, April 30, 2022 - Undergraduate Exam Period
- Thursday, April 14, 2022 - Graduate classes end
- Friday, April 15, 2022 - Good Friday holiday (FIMS offices closed)


Awards & Accomplishments


HIS PhD candidate Danica Facca (HIS PhD) was elected as SOGS 2022-2023 president, beginning her tenure in May 2022. 

Romayne Smith Fullerton, recently promoted to the rank of Professor (to take effect July 1, 2022), has been awarded a Faculty Scholar appointment (2022-24) by the University committee, which celebrates significant recent scholarly achievements in teaching, research or service/leadership. Romayne’s award recognizes her long-standing project on comparative crime reporting, including the recently-published monograph (with Maggie Jones Patterson) Murder in our Midst: Comparing Crime Coverage Ethics in an Age of Globalized News (Oxford, 2021).

LIS PhD candidate Hugh Samson was elected to the University Senate for the July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 term.

Media Studies PhD candidate Effie Sapridis was elected to the Western Board of Governors Graduate seat, representing the Graduate Student constituency for two years starting in July 2022. 

FIMS faculty member Nafiz Shuva recently accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, City University of New York, starting August 25, 2022.

Anita Slominska, HIS PhD candidate, successfully defended their PhD thesis titled, "The Hepatic Happening: Confronting Waitlist Death in Liver Transplantation" on March 11, 2022. 

Assistant Professor Sarah Smith and her collaborator Kirsty Robertson, Associate Professor of Visual Art and Director of Museum and Curatorial Studies, have received a Strategic Priorities Fund award from Western University for their project, Teaching and Sharing Strategies for Sustainability in the Museums Sector. Affiliated with the Visual Art Department’s Centre for Sustainable Curating, the project explores the reduction of the museum sector’s carbon footprint.


Publications & Presentations


HIS PhD candidate Tanaz Javan's PhD thesis titled, "Organizational Implementation of Trauma and Violence Informed Care" has been published within the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository.

Media Studies PhD candidate Percy Sherwood presented an overview of his doctoral project entitled "Indigenous voices in the digital age" at the Western Research Forum's poster session on March 16, 2022.


In the Media


Associate Professor Romayne Smith Fullerton's Faculty Scholar appointment (2022-24) was mentioned in the Western News article, "Three Western researchers named Distinguished University Professors" published on March 17, 2022.

Associate Professor and Chair of the MLIS program Heather Hill joined CBC London Morning to discuss the changing role of librarians and how the MLIS program at Western trains future librarians to provide support to their community on March 16, 2022. Hill was also quoted in the CBC News article, "Do libraries need social workers on staff? Some librarians say yes" published on March 16, 2022.

MMJC student Griffin Jaeger is featured in the FIMS News piece, "MMJC student Griffin Jaeger named 2022 Joan Donaldson CBC News Scholar," published on March 23, 2022. 

Media Studies PhD candidate Percy Sherwood joined Global News AM900 CHML’s Hamilton Today with Scott Thompson on March 9, 2022 to discuss the defamation lawsuit between CTV News and Patrick Brown.

Associate Professor Sam Trosow joined London Live with Mike Stubbs on AM980 on March 17, 2022 to discuss whether there would be large crowds for St. Patrick’s Day and potential risks (Part 1). Trosow also discussed how the increase in rent prices affects commercial buildings in downtown London (Part 2).


Additional Activities of Note


Dispatches from the Place of Imminence: a blog from Ukraine
Professor Svitlana Matviyenko, a former FIMS instructor and a recent research collaborator with Professor Nick Dyer-Witheford, is publishing a war blog from inside Ukraine. She is currently in her home town of Kamianets-Podilskyi, writing about what she is experiencing first-hand. Her blog is currently being hosted on the Platforms, Populisms, Pandemics and Riots (PPPR) website.


News from the FIMS Graduate Library


[RE-SCHEDULED] Working in the Knowledge Management Field: A Discussion with Sarah Morrison
Monday, March 28, 2022 from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Join us for a discussion with Sarah Morrison, a graduate of FIMS’ MLIS program, as she talks about her experiences working in the knowledge management (KM) field and the practical application of KM concepts. Sarah will also share her tips on finding employment within the field. New to KMt? No problem! All are welcome to learn more about what the field entails and the opportunities available within it.

Email fimslib@uwo.ca to register and to submit questions that you’d like Sarah to address in the workshop. A Zoom link will be sent to you before the event. If you registered for the original session, you will be automatically registered for the new date as well.

Copy/Print/Scan credits
Graduating this term? Have money on your print account? Want to transfer that money to a friend or make the day of an incoming student? You can do that. Login to your Papercut account and click on the Transfers button on the left-hand menu. Enter the amount you want to transfer and the username of the person to whom you want to transfer it and that's it. 


FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up


FIMS Career Conference 2022 - Destinations & Detours
This year's FIMS Career Conference is taking place virtually on Friday, March 25 from 2 pm - 6 pm. This is an undergraduate student event that brings students together with established FIMS alumni to talk about the world of work and navigating the decisions, opportunities, and challenges of working in media-related industries. To access this event, eligible students will have received an invitation to their uwo.ca inbox. For more information, visit the FIMS Career Conference Western Events page or careerconference.fims.uwo.ca. 

Future Mustang Day - March 26
Saturday, March 26, 2022 is Future Mustang Day at Western, where prospective students can experience what it's like to live, learn and play at Western through in-person academic sessions, special presentations and campus tours. FIMS is hosting Information Sessions for MIT, MPI and CAP (11 am - 11:30 am and 1:30 pm - 2 pm) and Self-Guided Tours of FNB from 11:30 am - 2:00 pm.

Know a future undergrad? Invite them to discover Western. Register for Future Mustang Day here.


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 final issue of the FIMS Graduate Bulletin for the Winter 2022 term will be published on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The deadline for submissions is noon on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.