No. 505 - August 9, 2023

  • Coming Events:

    - FIMSWrites - Summer Edition
    - Cross-Border Connections - Stratford Festival

  • Important Dates:

    - Friday, August 11, 2023 - Last day of FIMS graduate classes
    - Monday, September 4, 2023 - Labour Day holiday (FIMS offices closed)
    - Tuesday, September 5 - Wednesday, September 6 - Orientation days for new FIMS graduate students
    - Thursday, September 7, 2023 - Classes begin for FIMS graduate and undergraduate students
    - Friday, September 15, 2023 - Senate (1:30 PM, AHB 1R40)
    - Thursday, September 21, 2023 - Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Applications open to join the inaugural FIMS Film Festival Critics Lab
    - New program chairs announced for MMJC, HIS and CAP
    - FIMS welcomes new Graduate Student Services Manager
    - New face in the Associate Dean, Graduate & Postdoctoral role at FIMS
    - ELIP 2023: Call for submissions!

  • Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Yimin Chen (PhD'22, LIS)
    - Santasil Mallik
    - Najibullah Naeemzadah
    - Danica Pawlick-Potts
    - Amara Pope
    - Sarah Sharpe

    Publications & Presentations:

    - Jacquelyn Burkell
    - Grant Campbell
    - Brad Hiebert (PhD'18, HIS)
    - Michelle Foggett-Parker (MLIS'22)
    - Nataleah Hunter-Young
    - Mark Kearney
    - Alex Mayhew
    - Calin Murgu (MLIS'18)
    - Karen Nicholson
    - Martin Nord

  • In the Media:

    - Alissa Centivany
    - Jeremy Copeland
    - Mark Kearney
    - Anabel Quan-Haase
    - LIS 9160 (Amber Matthews)

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Western Academy for Advanced Research (WAFAR) announces new theme (Anabel Quan-Haase)
    - Birth of Bangladesh: Glimpses of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence exhibit (Sananda Sahoo)

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

    - Intersession Hours
    - Let the FIMS Grad Library help with your Course Readings

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


FIMSWrites - Summer Edition
Every Wednesday
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
New this term: attend either in person or online.
Check your Western email for the link (or contact Pam McKenzie) or drop in to FNB 4070.
Do you expect to have assignment, story, article, report, thesis, and/or book writing deadlines coming up in the Winter term? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join us for FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. What it is: a group of people sitting silently together working on their individual writing projects for 25-minute Pomodoro sessions, with short breaks between and a longer mid-morning coffee, snack, and socializing break. What it's not: a writing tutorial or workshop. Open to FIMS faculty and grad students who have writing to work on.

Cross-Border Connections - Stratford Festival
Saturday, August 19, 2023
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre
Each season, the Stratford Festival welcomes many Americans and others from around the world to our theatres, both in the audience and on stage. Join Susan R. Crystal, US Consul General in Toronto, Sarah Smith, Canadian Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations at Western University and Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma as they celebrate and consider the cross-border connections that have made the Stratford Festival such a success (get tickets).


Important Dates

- Friday, August 11, 2023 - Last day of FIMS graduate classes
- Monday, September 4, 2023 - Labour Day holiday (FIMS offices closed)
- Tuesday, September 5 - Wednesday, September 6, 2023 - Orientation days for new FIMS graduate students
- Thursday, September 7, 2023 - Classes begin for FIMS graduate and undergraduate students
- Friday, September 15, 2023 - Senate (1:30 PM, AHB 1R40)
- Thursday, September 21, 2023 - Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)


News & Announcements

Applications open to join the inaugural FIMS Film Festival Critics Lab
Film festivals are dynamic non-profit ecosystems where creative practitioners (filmmakers, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, composers) meet industry (sales and talent agencies, distributors, investors), the press (critics), and public audiences. The FIMS Film Festival Critics Lab will offer 20 graduate and upper-year undergraduate students the opportunity to attend up to eight films at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Participants will be introduced to the practice of film criticism through reading and writing festival coverage and film reviews, and then participants will have an opportunity to publish excerpts of those reviews via the FIMS Instagram account and MakerThinker.org (more details).

New program chairs announced for MMJC, HIS and CAP
Three new people have been appointed program chairs in FIMS. As of July 1, Professor Tom Streeter is now in the role for MMJC, Professor Sharon Sliwinski is in place for CAP, and Health Sciences professor Joy MacDermid has stepped in for the HIS program.

FIMS welcomes new Graduate Student Services Manager
FIMS is excited to welcome Chris Circelli as the new Manager of Graduate Student Services, as of August 8. Chris is a graduate of the MLIS program and has been working in various roles at Western for a number of years. He has previously occupied posts in SGPS as Graduate Program Design Coordinator, and as the Graduate Experiential Learning/Community-Engaged Learning Coordinator for Western Student Experience. You can find him in the Graduate Student Services office suite.

New face in the Associate Dean, Graduate & Postdoctoral role in FIMS
As of July 1, 2023, Professor Anabel Quan-Haase has stepped into her new role as FIMS Associate Dean, Graduate & Postdoctoral. Professor Quan-Haase is on board for a three year term, taking over for Professor Pam McKenzie who was serving in the role on an interim basis.

ELIP 2023: Call for Submissions!
ELIP (Emerging Library and Information Perspectives) Journal will start accepting submissions for its 6th volume on July 18. All submissions are due by August 25, 2023.

Emerging Library & Information Perspectives (ELIP) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal managed by students in the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program at Western University. The journal aims to further research and scholarship in the field of library and information science by way of fostering a publishing community among emerging librarians and information professionals.

ELIP is currently accepting submissions from the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) students and PhD Students in Library and Information Science (PhD LIS) at Western University, who are currently enrolled or got their degrees within the last 3 years. MLIS and PhD LIS alumni who got their degrees in Winter 2020 or before are not eligible for submission.

For its 6th volume, ELIP will accept five types of submissions: Articles, For the Field, In the Field, Interview, and Reviews. For further details about each category and submission guidelines, please visit the journal’s website and/or attend the ELIP information sessions. You can also send your questions to elip@uwo.ca.

ELIP’s managing editor team will organize information sessions next week for those who are interested in leaning more about the journal’s mission, content, and submission and review process.


Awards & Accomplishments

Assistant Professor Yimin Chen (PhD'22, LIS) won this year's Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS) doctoral dissertation award for his dissertation titled "Recreational nastiness of playful mischief? Contrasting perspectives on internet trolling between news media and avid internet users." More information about the Doctoral Dissertation Award can be found on the CAIS website.

Santasil Mallik, Media Studies PhD candidate, was one of three recipients of the Dwindling Traditions Filmmaking Grant, recently launched by the Serendipity Arts Foundation in New Delhi. Winners of the grant are provided with funding to produce a documentary film that seeks to record and document dwindling artforms, festivals, and folk traditions in India.

Najibullah Naeemzadah, HIS PhD candidate, successfully defended his thesis The News Media's (Re)framing of Intimate Partner Violence During the Covid-19 Pandemic and its Implications for Policy Development in Canada: A Critical Content Analysis on July 12.

Danica Pawlick-Potts, PhD LIS candidate, was selected as the winner of the Summer 2023 Fantastic FIMS award. The award is given out each term by the MLISSC and more information is available on the FIMS website.

Amara Pope, Media Studies PhD candidate, successfully defended her thesis Canadians Redefining R&B: The Online Marketing of Drake, Justin Bieber, and Jessie Reyez on July 12.

MLIS student Sarah Sharpe was selected as the winner of the Summer 2023 Spirit of Librarianship award. The award is given out each term by the MLISSC and more information is available on the FIMS website.


Publications & Presentations


Professor Jacquie Burkell, along with Brad Hiebert (PhD'18, HIS) and others, co-authored an article titled "An investigation of media reports of digital surveillance within the first year the COVID-19 pandemic" in Frontiers in Digital Health in July.

Associate Professor Grant Campbell and Martin Nord, LIS PhD candidate, co-authored a paper, “Structured Data and Human Rights Violation,” which Professor Campbell presented at the International Conference on Information Ethics in June 2023, at the Université de Lille, France. The paper was an expansion of the presentation Professor Campbell gave at Western’s Queer Research Day, and will be published in a forthcoming issue of Knowledge Organization.

Additionally, Professor Campbell and Alex Mayhew, LIS PhD candidate, co-authored a paper, “Repositioning the Base Level of Bibliographic Relationships; or, A Cataloguer, a Post-Modernist and a Chatbot Walk Into a Bar,” which they presented at the biennial meeting of the Canada/United States Chapter of the International Society for Knowledge Organization in June 2023. The paper was named one of the two Best Papers of the Conference, and will be published in a forthcoming issue of Knowledge Organization.

Michelle Foggett-Parker (MLIS'22) published the following article, based on work she produced in a Guided Research project supervised by Professor Pam McKenzie:

Foggett-Parker, M. “Getting Warmer: A Refined Taxonomy For Assessing Public Libraries’ Response to the Climate Crisis ”. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, vol. 18, no. 1, July 2023, pp. 1-9, doi:10.21083/partnership.v18i1.7255.

Assistant Professor Nataleah Hunter-Young published an interview with Haitian-Canadian director Myriam Charles, produced for Criterion Channel. The piece is titled "Anything Is Possible Here: A Conversation with Miryma Charles" and it was published on May 19.

Additionally, Professor Hunter-Young published an essay (an excerpt from her dissertation/book project) titled "Between the work and the world" on the Museum of Dreams website on June 1.

FIMS instructor Mark Kearney published a book titled Al Christie: Hollywood's Forgotten Film Pioneer through Bear Manor Media on July 27. Al Christie, born and raised in London, Ontario, had a large impact on early Hollywood over a 30-year career making movies.

FIMS instructor Calin Murgu (MLIS'18) published an article titled "Every Appearance of Common Sense?: Applying Pierre Bourdieu's 'Sociological Gaze' to the Profession of Librarianship" in the Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship in August. The article began as a term paper for Associate Professor Grant Campbell's Critical Theory class in 2017. 

Together with Rafia Mirza and Maura Seale, Karen Nicholson (Assistant Professor, Limited Duties), published “Acting 'as if': Critical pedagogy, empowerment, and labor," in The Critical Library and Pedagogy Symposium: Reflections, Revisions, and New Works (ACRL, 2023). 


In the Media


Assistant Professor Alissa Centivany was interviewed for an article titled "Right-to-repair movement gains momentum" published in Cottage Life on July 21.

FIMS instructor Jeremy Copeland was interviewed for an article titled "Missing news on Meta? London journalism profs weigh in on how to find local news" on CBC.ca on August 2.

FIMS instructor Mark Kearney was interviewed for an article titled "Al Christie was a Hollywood star in the 1920s. A new book aims to revive the Ontario man's legacy" published by CBC News on August 3.

Kearney's book was also featured on Global News in an article titled "New book sheds light on 'forgotten Hollywood legend' from London, Ont." published on August 7, 2023.

Lastly, Kearney joined London Live with Mike Stubbs on AM980 to discuss his book in Part 1 and Part 2 on August 4.

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase joined the Shaye Ganam Show on 630 CHED in Edmonton and Calgary on August 2 to discuss Meta's move to disallow sharing of news to their platforms. Professor Quan-Haase also appeared on the A Little More Conversation with Ben O'Hara radio show on July 17 to discuss the perils of taking risky selfies.

On August 8, Professor Quan-Haase was quoted in an article titled "CBC, media groups ask Competition Bureau to investigate Meta's move to block news in Canada," published on the CBC News website. Her comments were also included on CBC Radio's The World at Six.

Amber Matthews (LIS PhD candidate) and the students enrolled in her class LIS 9160 - Special Topic: Antiracism in Library and Information Science, were mentioned in an article titled "Emancipated doesn't mean free: Western prof's message on Emancipation Day," published in Western News on August 1. The class organized an event that was held at the London Public Library on the evening of August 1, featuring speakers Anton Allahar and Carl Cadogan. 


Additional Activities of Note

The Western Academy for Advanced Research (WAFAR) announced they are planning to launch a new theme under the heading "Interdisciplinary Research to Address Technical and Social Barriers in Smart Cities and Communities" in January 2024. Professor Anabel Quan-Haase will work on the team as a fellow. 

On August 3 and 4, Media Studies PhD student Sananda Sahoo organized and hosted an exhibition of newspapers covering the Bangladesh Libertarian War from 1971-1972. These were prints from East Pakistan (1971), wartime Bangladesh (December 1971), and post-war Bangladesh (1971-1972). The newspapers represent first-hand accounts of critical events, with rare photographs, captions, cartoons, and commentary. Of the ~25 newspaper pieces, about 70% are in Bengali, and 30% are in English. Sananda collaborated with Muntasir Kamal, a University of Toronto researcher, Bangladesh Publishing House Toitomboor, and Toronto-based Bengali bookseller Grantha Kunja to organize the exhibition.


News from the FIMS Graduate Library

Intersession Hours

August 12th – 20th, 2023 (CLOSED)
August 21st – September 1st, 2023 (M-F, 1-3pm)
September 2nd – 4th, 2023 (CLOSED)

Let the FIMS Grad Library help with your Course Readings

Remember the FIMS Grad Library can help with your Course Readings. We can help as much or as little as you need. Just email fimslib@uwo.ca with your syllabus, reading list or even a single title, and we will digitize, track down, or purchase copies of the materials you need. We can email these materials to you or upload them to the Course Readings tab of your OWL site.

Bear in mind if we do not own the materials, acquiring them can take up to 3 weeks.

You may also receive communication about Course Readings from Western Libraries. Our library works closely with Western Libraries in fulfilling your readings requests. Whether you follow Western Libraries’ instructions or ours, rest assured your Course Readings will be fulfilled.

Due to holidays, fulfilment of Course Readings requests will begin the week of August 21. If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything at all, just let us know. We're happy to communicate through email, phone or arrange a meeting.


Next Issue


The FIMS 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 .

This is the final issue of the FIMS Bulletin for the Summer 2023 term. The Bulletin will return to its normal publication schedule starting on Wednesday, September 20. The deadline to submit content is Tuesday, September 19 at noon.