No. 484 - April 6, 2022

  • Coming Events:

    - Lost Utopias/Islands of Abandonment
    - Disrupting Colonial Narratives in Newsrooms: Caring for Indigenous Stories
    - Disinformation on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence and journalistic challenges
    - Trinity3: Screening & Discussion with Mary Kavanagh and Sara Matthews

  • 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)
    - Friday, April 22, 2022 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 pm)
    - Thursday, April 28, 2022 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10:00 am)
    - Monday, May 9, 2022 - First day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
    - Friday, May 13, 2022 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 pm)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Call for Submissions: Black Student Art
    - Voting open for Spirit of Librarianship and Fantastic FIMS awards
    - In Memoriam: Diane Halpin 

  • Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Juan Bello

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Billie Anderson
    - Nicole Dalmer (LIS PhD'18)
    - Karen Nicholson
    - Michael Ridley

  • In the Media:

    - Billie Anderson
    - Basil Chiasson
    - Anabel Quan-Haase
    - Sarah E.K. Smith
    - Liz Trinnear (BA'10)

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Dispatches from the Place of Imminence: a blog from Ukraine
    - ICA 2022 Pre-conference: Communicating Multi-Modally: Research & Expressive Culture

  • News from the FIMS Graduate Library:

    - Inter-session and Summer Hours
    - Photocopy Bank

  • FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up:

    - MIT student & environmental activist Hannah Alper for Western

  • News from Western Libraries:

    - Digital Scholarship Centre Survey

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


Lost Utopias/Islands of Abandonment
The Centre for Sustainable Curating and Museum London present: Jade Doskow and Cal Flyn
Thursday, April 7, 2022
1:00 pm
Zoom (by registration)
Presented in partnership between the Centre for Sustainable Curating and Museum London, this event builds from Jade Doskow's Lost Utopia photographic series, on view now in the exhibition From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, Speculative Futures (March 5, 2022 - May 15, 2022, curated by Kirsty Robertson and Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations [Tier 2] Sarah E.K. Smith).
Abstract: From the crumbling remains of the lost utopias of world's fairs to the uncanny landscape of regrowth in a former landfill, and touching on ghost towns, exclusion zones, no man’s lands and post-industrial hinterlands, this discussion between New York-based artist Jade Doskow and Scottish author Cal Flyn considers broken landscapes (partially) reclaimed by nature (continue reading).

Disrupting Colonial Narratives in Newsrooms: Caring for Indigenous Stories
A Conversation with Journalist & Author Angela Sterritt
Friday, April 8, 2022
2:00 pm
Zoom Webinar Link (no registration required)
Limited in-person attendance. If you would like to watch live in the broadcast studio, please get in touch with Nikki to make arrangements at nmitche7@uwo.ca. Keep in mind that vision might be obstructed at times in the studio due to equipment. This event will also be streamed in the FIMS Creative Commons in FNB, where seating will be available.
About the event: A conversation with CBC journalist and Indigenous author Angela Sterritt, who is currently serving as the FIMS 2022 Asper Fellow. Sterritt will focus on the theme of the FIMS graduate course she is currently teaching, titled "Decolonization, Reciprocity, and Healing." There will be a particular focus on healing or mitigating the trauma that journalists have and can cause through their reporting on Indigenous stories.
Joining Sterritt for the conversation will be Sara Mai Chitty, a member of Alderville First Nation, a FIMS alumna (MA in Journalism, 2015), and the Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy Advisor in the Office of Indigenous Initiatives at Western University (continue reading).

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).

Trinity3: Screening & Discussion with Mary Kavanagh and Sara Matthews
Thursday, May 5, 2022
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Zoom Webinar (by registration)
Presented in partnership between FIMS and Museum London, this event builds from Mary Kavanagh’s work on view now in the exhibition From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, Speculative Futures (March 5, 2022 - May 15, 2022, curated by Kirsty Robertson and Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations [Tier 2] Sarah E.K. Smith).
Abstract: Mary Kavanagh is a Lethbridge, Alberta-based artist whose work explores the material evidence of war, weaponized landscapes, and the nuclear era. Through her art practice Kavanagh has examined the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. Join us for a screening of Kavanagh’s 2020 documentary Trinity3, which addresses this site and its impact. Following the screening there will be a discussion between the artist and scholar Sara Matthews, whose research addresses the dynamics of conflict and social change (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)
- Friday, April 22, 2022 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 pm)
- Thursday, April 28, 2022 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10:00 am)
- Monday, May 9, 2022 - First day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
- Friday, May 13, 2022 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 pm)


News & Announcements


Call for Submissions: Black Student Art
"Uplifting Blackness: A Showcase of Art by Western's Black Student Community" is an initiative organized by Health and Wellness in Western Student Experience focused on celebrating Black culture, history, and experiences and uplifting the voices of Western’s Black Student Community.

They are accepting submissions of all artistic forms from all Black and Afrocentric-identifying students at Western. Submissions close April 8, 2022. For more details, visit Uplifting Blackness: A Showcase of Art by Western's Black Student Community.

Voting open for Spirit of Librarianship and Fantastic FIMS awards
Voting is now open for their Spirit of Librarianship and Fantastic FIMS awards. This semester's nominees include: Arielle VanderSchans, Alex Mayhew, Sarah Cornwell, Melissa Seelye, Lynne McKechnie, Robert Craig and Victoria Rubin (Fantastic FIMS) and Joyce Cheung, Sarah Albers, Jacqueline Gratton, Caity Austin, Annalisa Gatti, Elizabeth Cameron and Paul Hickling (Spirit of Librarianship). Check your Western email for details about the nominees.
Voting is open until Tuesday, April 12 at 11:59pm at: Winter 2022 Spirit of Librarianship and Fantastic FIMS Awards Voting.

In Memoriam: Diane Halpin 
Diane Halpin, former part-time MLIS storytelling instructor, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2022 in her 70th year. Her obituary can be found online.


Awards & Accomplishments


"The Chalatenango Massacres," a documentary project produced by FIMS instructor Juan Bello, was selected for the Festival international du film d'histoire de Montréal [Montreal International History Film Festival - FIFHM]. The project was produced in collaboration with the Sumpul Association, and with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts (two consecutive grants: Research and Creation, and Concept to Realization), and the London Arts Council (Community Arts Investment Program). The online program will be available starting May 18, 2022. 


Publications & Presentations


Media Studies PhD candidate Billie Anderson published the article, "Despite its Oscar win, CODA is still a film that depicts deafness as a burden," in The Conversation Canada on March 30, 2022. The article was also republished by Western News.

Nicole Dalmer (LIS PhD'18) co-authoured the following article:
Dalmer, N. & Griffin, M. (2022). "Still Open and Here for You": News Media’s Framing of Canadian Public Libraries during COVID-19. The Library Quarterly, 92(2). https://doi.org/10.1086/718599 

Faculty member Karen Nicholson co-authored the following article:
Hicks, A., Nicholson, K.P., & Seale, M. (2022). Make Me Think! Exploring Library User Experience through the Lens of (Critical) Information Literacy. The Library Quarterly, 92(2). https://doi.org/10.1086/718597 

LIS PhD candidate Michael Ridley recently published the chapter "Machine Information Behaviour" in The Rise of AI: Implications and Applications of Artificial Intelligence. He also presented the lecture "Artificial Intelligence and Information Policy: Regulating AI" to Victoria Owen’s Information Policy course at the iSchool, University of Toronto.


In the Media


Media Studies PhD candidate Billie Anderson joined The Morning Show with Devon Peacock on AM980 on April 4, 2022 to discuss her The Conversation article on areas for improvement when representing disability in film, including Oscar-winning film CODA. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.

Assistant Professor Basil Chiasson was featured in the QS international report, "Perspectives on Online Learning" (pages 19 to 23) about experiences with online learning in higher education during the pandemic, published in March 2022. He was also interviewed for the Western Gazette article, "Western sets up new program for Arts, FIMS, Music students," about teaching the prerequisite course, "Introduction to Creative Arts," for Western's new Creative Arts and Production (CAP) program.

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase was quoted in The New York Times article, "Canada Introduces Bill Requiring Online Giants to Share Revenues with Publishers," published on April 5, 2022.

Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations (Tier 2) Sarah E.K. Smith's exhibition From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, Speculative Futures at Museum London was reviewed on Akimbo on March 31, 2022. 

MIT alumna Liz Trinnear (BA'10) interviewed fellow Western graduate Simu Liu (HBA'11) and gave a shoutout to Western during Etalk’s red carpet interview at the Oscars on March 27, 2022. 


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.

ICA 2022 Pre-conference: Communicating Multi-Modally: Research & Expressive Culture
Registration is open now for an International Communication Association (ICA) pre-conference on multimodal scholarship, to be held on Thursday, May 26, 2022 at the American University of Paris. The promotional video for the pre-conference can be viewed here.
This event is co-organized by FIMS Dean Lisa Henderson, with sponsorship from FIMS, the School of Communication and Film at Hong Kong Baptist University, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and the College of Media, Communication, and Information at the University of Colorado Boulder. 


News from the FIMS Graduate Library


Inter-session and Summer Hours
April 18, 2022 – May 6, 2022 (Intersession)
Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

May 9, 2022 – August 12, 2022 (Summer term)
Monday to Thursday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and Friday 8:30 am to 1:30 pm.

Photocopy Bank
If you are finished with your paper copies of required readings, consider donating them to the Grad Library. It’s a great way to recycle and help out a future colleague. To donate your unwanted articles/book chapters, drop them off at the service desk and we'll file them for reuse in our photocopy bank.


FIMS Undergraduate Round-Up


MIT student & environmental activist Hannah Alper for Western
This year’s Maclean’s University Guidebook includes a Western ad featuring first-year MIT student and environmental activist Hannah Alper. Alper is also featured in the Western video, "The Formula for Changing the World - Hannah Alper, Activist & Influencer," uploaded to YouTube on March 28, 2022.


News from Western Libraries


Digital Scholarship Centre Survey
Western Libraries is seeking insight on the proposed Digital Scholarship Centre (DSC) in Weldon Library. The DSC will be a space dedicated to supporting research and teaching that makes use of new and emerging digital technologies, or uses existing technologies in new ways, through the provision of services, supports and equipment. Your thoughts are critical for success in making a space for digital scholarship that is inclusive of the needs of Western’s faculty, staff, and students.

To provide feedback, please complete the Western Libraries – Digital Scholarship Centre Survey by April 29, 2022 at 11:59 pm. This survey will take no more than 10 minutes.


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.

This is the final issue of the FIMS Graduate Bulletin for the Winter 2022 term. The once-monthly summer bulletins will be released on May 11, June 15, July 20, and August 10, 2022. The first summer publication is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The deadline for submissions is noon on Tuesday, May 10, 2022.