Dear FIMS Community, 

With the Fall term well underway (really, it's almost complete!), there is plenty to share from FIMS. We welcomed new students, celebrated our fall graduates, and had the pleasure of reconnecting with many of you. Across these activities, a common thread has been nurturing the connections that sustain our community and carry our work beyond the borders of campus. 

Over the summer and into the fall, those connections have taken many forms, including what we have affectionately come to call the annual “LIS Summer School” for African scholars, an inaugural Indigenous Film Workshop on Walpole Island, led by professor and filmmaker Sally Kewayosh, the sharing of inclusive classification methods that highlight Indigenous knowledge on the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, and the recognition of Western’s first SSHRC Impact Awards finalist in the Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research project. These are just a few examples of the ways our colleagues bring people together through their teaching, research, and public engagement. Many of these collaborations have grown out of relationships developed over many years, and it is gratifying to see what those relationships make possible. Our students are making an international impact as well, and we send congratulations to Michelle-Lynn Balderston, who was the Global Winner in the Communication category as part of the Annual Global Undergraduate Student Awards. 

We also want that sense of connection to extend to our students as they move through their time at FIMS and into their lives as alumni. We offer warm congratulations to our fall graduates, who crossed the Convocation stage on October 22, and hope they will stay in touch as they begin their next chapter. Welcoming new students while celebrating those who have successfully completed their degrees is one of the pleasures of the academic year, and we look forward to seeing where a FIMS education takes our newest alumni. 

Our alumni give us plenty to celebrate, and nominations are now open for the 2027 FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence. If you know a FIMS alum whose professional achievements, community contributions or impact deserve recognition, please consider putting their name forward. We have been delighted by the calibre of nominees in our first two years and look forward to learning about more of the remarkable people in our alumni community. 

Our annual FIMS Alumni Reception in Toronto will take place on January 28, timed, as always, to coincide with the OLA Super Conference. This year we also plan to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication (MMJC) program, and we look forward to celebrating with MMJC alumni from across those years. Alumni from all FIMS programs are welcome to attend the reception, and we hope to see many of you there. 

In the midst of these happy occasions, we also have sadness, as we mourn the recent passing of Professor Emeritus Bernd (Bernie) Frohmann, whom many will remember as a highly respected colleague, teacher and mentor. We extend our condolences to Professor Frohmann’s family, friends, former students and colleagues, and remember his immense scholarly achievements and the many contributions he made to the intellectual and community life at FIMS. 

Thank you for also continuing to be part of that life and community. I wish you all the best for the remainder of the fall and look forward to connecting again soon. 

Take care, 

Susan Knabe

Acting Dean
Faculty of Information and Media Studies