No. 455 - September 21, 2020

  • Coming Events:

    - Anova Instagram Live: "Take Back the Net: A Conversation About Tech-Facilitated Violence"
    - FIMSwrites - Virtual Edition
    - "The Ethics of Emotion in AI Systems"
    - FIMS Graduate Research Day
    - CAIS 2020: Open Virtual Conference

  • Important Dates:

    - Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (1PM, Zoom)
    - Monday, October 12, 2020 - Thanksgiving Holiday (FIMS offices closed, no classes)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Subscribe to the Graduate Research Blog
    - Meet up on the MLIS Discord Server

  • Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Andrea Benoit
    - Jessica Carswell
    - Talia DiMarco
    - Nick Dyer-Witheford
    - Marni Harrington
    - Svitlana Matviyenko
    - Selena Romero
    - Mary Secco
    - Shamiram Zendo

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Jacquie Burkell
    - Amber Matthews

  • In the Media:

    - Romayne Smith Fullerton
    - Liz Sutherland
    - Nadine Wathen

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - LIS 9004: Research Methods and Statistics Poster Presentation
    - New blog launched related to COVID-19 study
    - Tom Streeter

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events

Anova Instagram Live: "Take Back the Net"
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
12:15 p.m. live on Instagram
We've long been fighting to safely stroll down the street, but being a woman on the internet is no picnic either. Join us for a conversation with Chandell Gosse (Media Studies PhD candidate) about how gender-based violence shows up online, and why virtual threats can feel just as real. To watch, visit @anovafuture on Instagram.

FIMSwrites - Virtual Edition
Every Wednesday
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
Do you expect to have paper, story, article, report, thesis, or book deadlines coming up? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. All FIMS graduate students, staff and faculty are welcome to bring their favourite writing devices and join us to write and check in. If you're interested, contact Pam McKenzie.

The Ethics of Emotion in AI Systems
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
Presented by Professor Luke Stark as part of the FIMS Seminar Series.
Abstract: I provide a taxonomy of relevant models and proxy data for emotional expression, and outline how the combinations and permutations of these models and data impact AI systems deploying them. We should not take computer scientists at their word that the paradigms for human emotions they have developed internally and adapted from other fields are ground truth; instead, I ask how different conceptualizations of what emotions are, and how they can be sensed, measured and transformed into data, shape the way human values are built into and expressed by automated systems.

FIMS Graduate Research Day
Friday, October 2, 2020
9:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
FIMS Graduate Research Day is the spiritual successor to the venerable FIMULAW conference. This event is being hosted by CAIS and will use the Zoom platform. Friendly reminder, this event is free of charge and you are welcome to invite attendees to any or all portions of the event. Presenters include Alex Mayhew (LIS), Sarah Cornwell (LIS), Danica Facca (HIS), Dominique Kelly (Media Studies), Nicole Delellis (LIS), Chantale Pard (LIS), Greg Nightingale (LIS), Martin Nord (LIS), and Amber Matthews (LIS). See the full line-up.

CAIS 2020: Virtual Open Conference
September 14 - October 26, 2020
Online/Zoom
This year's conference will consist of 42 presentations (including four panels) divided into a series of 20 live events spread over six weeks. Many presenter names will be familiar to the FIMS community. Already presented (with available video): Sam Vander Kooy (LIS), Nafiz Shuva (PhD'20, LIS), Professor Paulette Rothbauer, Professor Pam McKenzie and Alexandre Fortier (LIS alum).

Still to come: Alex Mayhew (LIS), Arielle VanderSchans (LIS), Amber Matthews (LIS), Celina De Lancey (MLIS alum), Professor Jacquie Burkell, Sam Vander Kooy (LIS), Oluwole Martins Badmus (LIS), Toluwase Asubiaro (LIS), Melissa Seelye (MLIS alum/Instructor), Sara Clarke (MLIS), Marni Harrington (Library Director), Martin Nord (LIS), Professor Pam McKenzie, Sarah Cornwell (LIS), Kelsang Legden (LIS alum), Yimin Chen (LIS), Asen Ivanov (Instructor), Professor Sam Trosow, Eugenia Canas (PhD'19, HIS), Danica Facca (HIS), David Roger Walugembe (HIS), Uche Ikenyei (HIS), Jill Veenendaal (HIS), Anita Slominska (HIS), Professor Victoria Rubin, Chris Brogly (HIS), Davin Helkenberg (PhD'19, LIS). View the program.


Important Dates

- Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (1PM, Zoom)
- Monday, October 12, 2020 - Thanksgiving Holiday (FIMS offices closed, no classes)


News & Announcements

Subscribe to the Graduate Research Blog
Graduate Students are invited to subscribe to the Graduate Student Research Blog. The blog provides research information for graduate students – scholarship, fellowship, internship and other funding announcements, tips on writing scholarship/funding applications, and other research-related tidbits.

Meet up on the MLIS Discord Server
The MLIS Discord Server is a student-run server with individual channels dedicated to courses, hobbies, online & in person meet ups, and the occasional board game over voice call. It's a good way to stay connected with MLIS students in real time and we've used it successfully for the past two semesters to help each other with classes and keep on top of university and program updates. We’ve recently updated to include a channel for every course offered in Fall 2020, so students can easily connect with other people in the same classes. The Discord app is available for PC & Mac, iOS, Android, and Web, so it's easily accessible and easy to check. Join now (and make a Discord account if you don’t already have one).


Awards & Accomplishments

Andrea Benoit, PhD’14 (Media Studies), has been nominated for the National Business Book Award for her book titled, Viva MˑAˑC: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of MˑAˑC Cosmetics, published in 2019.

Jessica Carswell, MHIS candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled, Fostering a Trauma- and Violence-Informed Community: Developing Strategies to Inform Public Education, on August 18, 2020.

Talia DiMarco, MHIS candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled, The enactment of patient education for complex inpatients over the course of a stay in an interprofessional internal medicine inpatient unit, on August 20, 2020.

Professor Nick Dyer-Witheford and colleague Professor Svitlana Matviyekno (SFU) won the 2020 Gertrude J. Robinson Book Prize for their 2019 publication Cyberwar and Revolution: Digital Subterfuge in Global Capitalism. This is Professor Dyer-Witheford's second time winning this award. Read more.

Librarian Marni Harrington has been appointed to Library Director. The new title reflects Harrington's contributions to graduate pedagogy, her research, academic profile and her many innovations in the FIMS Graduate Library.

MMJC (2020) student Selena Romero was the winner of the 2020 HaakSaan Responsible Journalism Scholarship for her piece titled "Media's role battling misinformation is critical," published by the Hamilton Spectator on September 10, 2020. The scholarship is awarded annually to an MMJC student who demonstrates high integrity and has written an op-ed that shows a strong commitment to responsible journalism.

Mary Secco, MHIS candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled, Ongoing Information and Support Needs of Parents of Children with Epilepsy, on August 17, 2020.

Shamiram Zendo, HIS PhD candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled, Realist Evaluation of Health Equity Indicators for Local Public Health Agencies, on August 20, 2020.


Publications & Presentations

Associate Professor Jacquie Burkell co-authored an article titled, "AI technologies - like facial recognition - discriminate against people of colour," published in The Conversation on August 24, 2020.

Amber Matthews, LIS PhD student, published the final installment in her series Theory in Practice: Moving from Systemic Racism to Anti-Racism in Ontario Public Libraries with Open Shelf: Magazine of the Ontario Library Association Part I, Part II and Part III are now available. This series was also featured in public statements by both the Ontario Library Association and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries over the summer during the George Floyd and BLM protests.

Matthews also gave an invited talk titled, "Advancing anti-racism in public libraries" at the Make Good Trouble Now; Teach-In for Racial Equity at the University of Buffalo on September 4, 2020.


In the Media

Associate Professor Romayne Smith Fullerton commented on ethics and sports coverage in an article titled, "NHL postpones playoffs for two days after Hockey Diversity Alliance calls for action on anti-Black racism," published in the Toronto Star on August 28, 2020.

MLIS student Liz Sutherland's work is referenced in an article titled, "Digital mapping uncovers hidden stories," published in Western News on September 15, 2020.

Professor Nadine Wathen is quoted in an article titled, "Researchers respond to gender-based violence, 'the pandemic within a pandemic'," published in University Affairs in the September-October issue.


Additional Activities of Note

LIS 9004: Research Methods and Statistics Poster Presentation
The students of LIS 9004 held their customary poster session at the end of the summer term in August, but due to pandemic precautions they were unable to hold the session in person. They've instead posted it online as a Sway presentation. Check out their work.

New blog launched related to COVID-19 study
Lyndsay Foisey, HIS PhD candidate, together with Professors Anita Kothari and Lorie Donelle (Faculty of Health Sciences), created a new blog intended to translate research knowledge about their CIHR Operation Grant (Titled, “What is the public health risk communication response to COVID-19 in the context of social media?) and related topics.

Professor Tom Streeter appeared on a Zoom panel titled, "'Internet' and 'Hackers': New Threats and Opportunities," on September 11, 2020, as part of a series organized through the University of Melbourne in Australia. A recording of the webinar is available online.


News from the FIMS Graduate Library

Open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11am - 3pm

Policies for socially-distanced use of the library:

  • follow the signs on doors and floors for traffic flow
  • masks are mandatory in the library
  • show your FIMS library card upon entry (you will be provided with a card on your first visit)
  • you must book a study or computer space before or upon arrival (we can help you with that at the service desk)
  • food and drinks are not permitted
  • wipe down your space before and after use

For health and safety reasons, access to the print collections are closed throughout campus. We can retrieve items from our collection for you to use in the library. After use, these items will be quarantined for 72 hours before they are available for others to use.

Email us with any questions - this email will be monitored 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday: fimslib@uwo.ca

Visit our website for access to FIMS resources, including the booking page for reserving a space to work in the library: lib.fims.uwo.ca

Follow us on social media @fimsgradlib.


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 bblue@uwo.ca.

The next issue of the FIMS Graduate Bulletin will be published on Monday, October 5. The deadline for submissions is noon on Friday, October 2, 2020.