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Of Interest - Faculty News

FIMS launches new digital communication certificate
This Fall, FIMS will welcome students into the new Certificate in Digital Communication program.  Designed to address the growing need for students to graduate with skills and knowledge in social media, courses will cover subjects like social networking, virtual worlds and creating and overseeing digital content. Based on practical explorations of media theory, this program will allow students to augment their professional or academic pursuits with a powerful set of digital tools and competencies.

Thomas Carmichael participates in roundtable
On Tuesday, March 20, a roundtable discussion titled “London, a Creative City?” was held at Museum London.  Participants came together to discuss the creative relationship between the University and the City of London, and how it might be possible to capitalize on or facilitate new ideas by playing off one another’s strengths.  Along with FIMS Dean Thomas Carmichael, the roundtable included Robin Armistead, from the Culture Office, City of London, Josh Lambier, Western PhD student, and Patrick Mahon, Chair of Museum London’s Board of Directors. The roundtable was a public event that kicked off the two-day conference “Culture, policy, urban space and the city”.

LIS professor Sam Trosow testifies before Parliamentary Committee
Professor Samuel Trosow, who holds a joint appointment in FIMS and the Faculty of Law, was recently invited to testify before the Parliamentary Committee on Bill C-11, which was holding hearings on the proposed revisions to the Canadian Copyright Act.  He appeared before the committee on February 27th, and again the following week.  Trosow’s presentation focused on the fair-dealing provisions in the Bill, which have the strong support of the Canadian educational and research communities.  To learn more about Trosow’s appearance, or to read details of the completed committee work.

Students go abroad in Rwanda
On February 16, Assistant Professor Amanda Grzyb left for a 12-day trip to Rwanda with five FIMS graduate students.  Indranil Chakraborty (Media Studies PhD), Gemma Richardson (Media Studies PhD), Erin Johnson (MLIS), Veronika Lukacs (Media Studies MA) and Justin Raymond (Media Studies MA) accompanied Grzyb on the journey.  The educational trip is a component of Grzyb's new Special Topic Media Studies (9223) course, "Representing Rwandan Genocide". The majority of the students' travel costs were supported by a generous grant from Western's International Curriculum Fund.  While they were in Rwanda, the students visited the six national genocide memorial sites in Kigali, Nyamata, Ntarama, Bisesero, Murambi, and Nyarabuye.  They met with local educators, genocide survivors, and museum guides. They also participated in a workshop on transitional justice with Rwandan students at the Kigali Institute for Education, and attended a panel on Canadian perceptions of the genocide featuring Professor Grzyb, Rwandan Senator Wellars Gasamagera, and Jean de Dieu Mucyo, Executive Director of Rwanda's National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide.

FIMS in the News
FIMS Professor Diane Neal was recently featured in a variety of media sources, discussing the ins and outs of Justin Bieber’s online footprint.  Neal and her colleagues, who are researching the broader subject of social media, presented several posters at the 2012 Research Day.  But first Neal joined radio host John Biggs on Newstalk 1290 CJBK the afternoon of Friday, March 16.  She also discussed her research in the London Free Press article "Belieb it or not, profs study hearthrob's tweet success". The London Community News also spoke with Diane and MA Media Studies student Kayley Viteo, along with Assistant Dean (Research) Pam McKenzie in "Western researchers looking at everything from Bieber to tattooed teachers".  

FIMS Associate Dean (Academic) Nick Dyer-Witheford and lecturer Keith Tomasek can be found in the London Free Press story “Social media adds to degree of success”.

Current MLIS students Shannon Marrinan and Monica Gagne, along with FIMS grad Melanie Sellar, discuss a Librarians Without Borders trip to Guatemala in the Londoner article "Librarians promote literacy abroad."

FIMS Journalism instructor Meredith Levine, along with recent 2011 MAJ alumni Alexander Ballingall, Lauren Pelley and Adela Talbot, were featured in the article “Journalists share end-of-life stories at conference on geriatric care” on London Community News.com on Thursday, May 3.