No. 532 - March 5, 2025

  • Coming Events:

    - The Glass Room Exhibit at Weldon
    - You are not here: coordinating repair under occupation
    - Computers and You: Black Women and Early Digital Culture in Essence
    - FIMS Graduate Formal
    - Conversations on Access: Disability Art Activism & Institutional Critique
    - Canadian Politics in the Eye of the Storm
    - Save the Date - Whether and How Humans and AI Collaborate
    - Save the Date - International Students: Challenges, Social Media Use and Adaptation in Canada

  • Important Dates:

    - Friday, March 14, 2025 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 PM, SH)

  • News & Announcements:

    - FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence - Nominations open until April 11

    Awards & Achievements:

    - Alissa Centivany

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Jumoke Ajanaku
    - Chris Arsenault
    - Juan Bello
    - Edward Comor
    - John Kausch
    - Santasil Mallik
    - Myrna Moretti
    - Mark Rayner
    - Sarah Smith

  • In the Media:

    - Emily Austin (MLIS'13)
    - Natalie Petozzi (BA'07, MIT)
    - Mark Rayner

  • News from the FIMS Grad Library:

    - Upcoming Events at the Library

  • News from Western Libraries:

    - Upcoming Research Skills Workshops

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


The Glass Room Exhibit at Weldon
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Weldon Library 113
Open during library hours
Brought to Western by the Starling Centre. What happens when you rely on social media for information? How do you know if a picture or tweet is truthful? What data is being collected about you and why? What power do you have to shape your relationship with technology? Examine these questions and more at The Glass Room exhibit, running at Weldon Library until April (continue reading).

You are not here: coordinating repair under occupation
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Register on Zoom
Presented by Professor Alissa Centivany as part of the 2024/2025 FIMS Seminar Series.
Abstract: This research challenges dominant understandings of ubiquity, mobility, and connectivity and explores the limits ICTs through a qualitative study of a collaborative capacity‐building initiative to localize the repair of medical devices and equipment in the Gaza Strip. Dominant perceptions of ICT affordances rely upon taken‐for‐granted political, economic, and social systems that are neither universal nor guaranteed (continue reading).

Computers and You: Black Women and Early Digital Culture in Essence
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
4:30 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4070
Attend online: Zoom link TBA
Presented by Myrna Moretti, FIMS post-doctoral fellow as part of the 2024/25 Mediations Lecture Series.
Abstract: In the 1980s, the magazine Essence published numerous columns and articles about the changes and opportunities of the burgeoning computer age. This paper offers an overview of how the coverage evolved over the course of the decade with particular attention to the ways that habits and time management were evoked (read more).

FIMS Graduate Formal
Friday, March 14, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:45 p.m.)
Great Hall, Somerville House
Buy Tickets.
Join us for a Night of Great Change at the FIMS Graduate Formal! This theme reflects the idea that engaging in change can happen in the most beautiful of places. This event is open to all FIMS graduate students (master's and doctoral students in LIS, MLIS, HIS, Media Studies and MMJC), faculty, staff, FIMS postdocs, and more. Guests may bring a plus one (non-FIMS friends, partners, etc.) 

Conversations on Access: Disability Art Activism & Institutional Critique
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom - Register
Presented by Dr. Amanda Cachia (University of Houston) and Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware (McMaster University).
Description: Join us for a conversation about disability art activism and institutional critique in this third event in a series of conversations in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies aimed at bringing scholars, activists and practitioners together to consider issues and topics around accessibility and disability (read more).

Canadian Politics in the Eye of the Storm
Thursday, March 20, 2025
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W, Toronto
Cost: Free for the FIMS community.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and FIMS invite you to this special panel featuring leading voices in Canadian news. As we head towards the next federal election, analysts will try to answer some of the most important political questions of our time. Featuring Carol Off, Ian Bailey, Brodie Fenlon (MA'99, Journalism), Luke LeBrun, Justin Ling, Nicole McIntyre (MA'02, Journalism) and Matina Stevis-Gridneff (read more).

Save the Date - Whether and How Humans and AI Collaborate
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Register on Zoom
Presented by Assistant Professor Shengnan Yang as part of the 2024/25 FIMS Seminar Series.

Save the Date - International Students: Challenges, Social Media Use, and Adaptation in Canada
Wednesay, March 26, 2025
4:30 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4070
Attend online: Zoom link TBA
Presented by Sara Falahatpisheh, Media Studies PhD candidate, as part of the 2024/25 Mediations Lecture Series.
Abstract: Social media are an inseparable part of our lives, offering tools for communication, information sharing, and social interaction. For international students, these platforms can help overcome challenges such as cultural adaptation, academic pressures, and social isolation (read more).  


Important Dates


- Friday, March 14, 2025 - Meeting of the Senate (1:30 PM, SH)


News & Announcements

FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence - Nominations open until April 11
Nominate a deserving FIMS alum for the new FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence. The first winner will be recognized at Western's 2025 Homecoming celebrations. Nominations are open to all, so if you know a FIMS alum from any program or era who deserves to be highlighted for their outstanding professional achievement, community service, service to the university, or social impact or innovation, please consider nominating them. Full details can be found at: https://www.fims.uwo.ca/alumni/alumni_awards.html  


Awards & Achievements


Assistant Professor Alissa Centivany was named a delegate of the first edition of Science Meets Parliament - Ontario, organized by the Canadian Science Policy Centre. The appointments were made in partnership with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Honourable Ted Arnott. The program provides an opportunity for Ontario researchers to learn about the process of policymaking at the provincial Legislative Assembly.


Publications & Presentations

FIMS Postdoctoral Associate Jumoke Ajanaku's paper entitled "An Evaluation of Technological Readiness for Big Data Analytics in Canadian Higher Education Institutions" has been accepted for presentation at the upcoming ISEC conference (IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference 2025), on March 15 at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.

Assistant Professor Chris Arsenault will present a paper and moderate a panel at the AEJMC Midwinter Conference at the University of Oklahoma in March.

Arsenault C. (2025). Analysing Canadian media workers’ self-perceptions of their independence under the Local Journalism Initiative. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Midwinter Conference, University of Oklahoma, March 7-8.

Arsenault, C. (2025). Panel moderator: Adapting to change: Innovations, strategies and models in local journalism. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Midwinter Conference, University of Oklahoma, March 7-8.


Assistant Professor Juan Bello was the archival researcher on Mafia: Most Wanted, a true-crime documentary series premiering on Crave on Friday, March 7. The three-part program explores organized crime in Toronto and across Canada.

Professor Edward Comor published the following book:

Edward A. Comor, ed., Tom Easterbrook, Harold Innis's Final Course. New York: Peter Lang.

LIS PhD student John Kausch's paper titled, "Knowledge Translation as an Interdisciplinary Method for Information Science" was published in the Journal of Documentation.

Media Studies PhD student Santasil Mallik will participate in and present his research in a Winter School, themed "Correspondences: Photography in Contemporary Literature," at the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen, Germany, from March 10th-14th.

FIMS Postdoctoral Fellow Myrna Moretti published an article titled "Part of Our Lives Now: The Personal Computer on 'Family Ties'" in Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture, Vol 6.

FIMS Instructor Mark Rayner published his latest book The Gates of Polished Horn. Many of its stories centre on the notion of the Datasphere. This is more than the internet, more than virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. It imagines a world where all these things have come together and control not only our culture and economy, but our essence as human beings. It's available anywhere people buy books, or ask your local library to acquire a copy.

Associate Professor Sarah Smith gave two presentations at the 2025 International Studies Association 66th annual convention Reconnecting International Studies. On March 2 she presented the paper "The Global Work of Museum Diplomacy" and on March 5 the paper "Exhibiting Diplomacy: How Diasporic Communities Mobilize the Museum."


In the Media


Emily Austin's (MLIS'13) novel We Could Be Rats was included in CBC's "30 Canadian books to read in winter 2025," published online on February 21.

Natalie Petozzi (BA'07, MIT) was featured in a profile titled, "Binbrook native helping get the word out in Hollywood," published by the Hamilton Spectator on February 28.

Instructor Mark Rayner's latest book The Gates of Polished Horn was reviewed by the Toronto Star in an article titled, "Climate disaster, a new Dark Age and more to look forward to in our roundup of science-fiction books," published on March 2.


News from the FIMS Grad Library

Upcoming Events at the Library

The FGL hosts workshops, lectures, and community events each term to support graduate teaching, learning, and research. Events are posted to our website (https://lib.fims.uwo.ca/events/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fimsgradlib/) 

Women in Red Edit-a-thon

Did you know that only 20% of biographies on English Wikipedia are about women? This imbalance reflects a systemic bias—but you can help change that! Join us in transforming red links into blue by creating Wikipedia articles for notable women and gender-diverse individuals. No experience? No problem! Hands-on support will be available for new editors. Plus, enjoy light refreshments while making a difference.

  • Learn how to create a Wikipedia article
  • Improve the depth of information about women and gender diverse people available through Wikipedia
  • Engage in critical editing praxis as a tool to counteract gender bias on Wikipedia

March 17-24, 2025
12:00pm – 1:00pm
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020 D/E

Make of the Month – March – 3D Print Something!

Curious about 3D Printing? The FIMS Grad Library invites members of the FIMS graduate community to try out our brand-new 3D printer! All required materials and training will be provided. Staff will be on hand all month long to guide you through your 3D print. No registration is required, and drop-ins are encouraged. If you’d like to reserve a specific date and time, please contact staff to set up an appointment.

Can’t think of something to print? Check out the useful prints below or thingiverse.com for thousands of prints to choose from.

Cable repair (lighting & USB-C) Flat pocket whistle Finger Chopsticks for snacking while gaming Table Side Data Cable Clamp


News from Western Libraries

Upcoming Research Skills Workshops

You're invited to join the upcoming Research Skills Workshops hosted by Western Libraries. From data collection to publishing, get expert help at all stages of the research cycle.

To find more upcoming Western Library events and workshops visit the Western Library Events page. If you have questions about workshops, please email rsclib@uwo.ca.

Kindred Spirits Exhibit - January 6 - March 26, 2025

This unique exhibit, hosted in Weldon Library, showcases a collection of handcrafted book art and celebrates the life and work of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables.


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.

The next issue of the FIMS Bulletin will be published on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Submit any items you have by noon on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.