No. 536 - June 18, 2025

  • Coming Events:

    - FIMSWrites - Summer Edition
    - Western Farmers Market
    - Workshop: Navigating Forms & Requesting References
    - Save the Date - Celebrate Trading on Art at Museum London!
    - Save the Date - LIS 9004 Research Methods Poster Showcase

  • Important Dates:

    - Thursday, June 26, 2025 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)
    - Monday, June 30 - Friday, July 4, 2025 - MLIS Research Week
    - Monday, June 30 - Friday, July 11,  2025 - Data Science for Information Professionals Summer School
    - Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - Canada Day holiday (no classes, FIMS offices closed)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Online petition to stop cuts at the Peterborough Public Library

    Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Chris Arsenault
    - Jesse Butler
    - Dominique Kelly
    - Pam McKenzie
    - Sodiq Onaolapo

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Revna Altiok
    - Hillary Anderson
    - Juan Bello
    - Mars Brint
    - Alissa Centivany
    - Anastazia Csegeny
    - Danica Facca
    - Sara Falahatpisheh
    - Giada Ferrucci
    - Selena Gignac
    - Erin Isings
    - Meli Limani
    - Jared Lindzon (BA'10, MIT, MA'11, Journalism)
    - Julie Lowe
    - Takuya Maeda
    - Charlotte Nau
    - Anabel Quan-Haase
    - Sananda Sahoo
    - Sarah Smith

  • In the Media:

    - Chris Arsenault
    - Emily Austin (MLIS'13)
    - Pinar Barlas
    - Tim Blackmore
    - Alison Hearn
    - Anabel Quan-Haase
    - Luke Stark

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Alissa Centivany
    - Anabel Quan-Haase

  • News from the FIMS Grad Library:

    - Reading Week Library Closure
    - Upcoming Events at the Library

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events

FIMSWrites - Summer Term Edition
Wednesdays
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4110
Attend online: Check your Western email for the Zoom link (or contact Pam McKenzie)
Do you expect to have assignment, story, article, report, thesis, and/or book writing deadlines coming up in the Fall term? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join us for FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. What it is: a group of people sitting silently together working on their individual writing projects, a mid-morning coffee, snack, and socializing break. What it's not: a writing tutorial or workshop. Open to FIMS faculty, librarians, postdocs and grad students who have writing to work on.

Western Farmers Market
Wednesdays
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Open space in front of McIntosh Gallery
The Western Farmers Market returns! Pick up fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and other local treats or grab lunch from the on-site food truck.

Workshop - Navigating Forms & Requesting References
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Attend in person: FNB 4110
Attend online: Check your Western email for a Zoom link
Presented by FIMS Research Officer Chantal Lemire. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.
Short Summary: This workshop provides a detailed overview of the application process for Tri-Agency scholarships, including the CGS-M, CGS-D, and OGS. Topics include navigating the online systems and portals used for application submission, understanding eligibility requirements, and breaking down the components of both Master’s and Doctoral-level applications (read more).

Save the Date - Celebrate Trading on Art at Museum London!
Thursday, July 24, 2025
6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Attend in person: Museum London (421 Ridout St) - Register now.
Attend online: Register now
A book launch by Associate Professor Sarah Smith, and co-hosted by Museum London and Words: The Literary and Creative Arts Festival.
Abstract: The 1989 Canada–US Free Trade Agreement and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement reinvented the concept of North America as a cohesive whole, united by free trade. But within the bold concept of continental unity lay a paradox. While art was mobilized to frame the new narrative, culture itself was explicitly excluded from the agreements that implemented this vision (read more).

Save the Date - LIS 9004 Research Methods Poster Showcase
Friday, August 8, 2025
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
FIMS Graduate Library (FNB 3020)
MLIS students enrolled in LIS 9004 will showcase their posters. Please join us in welcoming them to the FIMS research community!
 


Important Dates

- Thursday, June 26, 2025 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)
- Monday, June 30 - Friday, July 11, 2025 - MLIS Research Week
- Monday, June 30 - Friday, July 11,  2025 - Data Science for Information Professionals Summer School
- Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - Canada Day holiday (no classes, FIMS offices closed)


News & Announcements

Online petition to stop cuts at the Peterborough Public Library
Three specialist librarians (Information Systems Librarian, Adult/Teen Programming Librarian, and Children's Librarian) are being laid off at the Peterborough Public Library following a budget decision from Peterborough City Council. These cuts are being made without public consultation, despite the immense negative impact they will have on the community—especially families, children, teens, and seniors. For more information about these cuts and how you can respond, please see the Open Letter from Our Future Peterborough and the Change.org online petition titled Stop the Cuts at Peterborough Public Library.


Awards & Accomplishments

Assistant Professor Chris Arsenault, MMJC Chair, received the 2025 Michener-L. Richard O'Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education for his project How They Did It, which examines the realities of how investigative reporting is conducted. Professor Arsenault received his award from Mary Simon, Canada's Governor General, at a ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday, June 5. On the same day, Arsenault won Gold at the 2025 National Magazine Awards B2B for Best Topical Feature for his June 2024 article "The Canadian city betting on recycling rare earths for the energy transition," published in Climate Change News.

MLIS student Jesse Butler has been selected as one of the 2025-26 writers in residence at Berton House in the Yukon. Writers in residence spend two months living at Pierre Berton's childhood home in Dawson City, receive a stipend to continue their work, and are expected to give two public readings and interact with the community over the course of their stay.

Dominique Kelly, Media Studies PhD candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled Youth Perspectives on Privacy Dark Patterns on May 29, 2025.

Professor Pam McKenzie was the recipient of the 2025 Research in Information Science Award by the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T). The award recognizes a researcher for a “systematic ‘program of research’ in a single area at a level beyond the single study, but not at the level of a lifetime’s work.” The Association of Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is the largest research organization in the library and information science field, with thousands of members from 50 countries. Read the announcement.

Sodiq Onaolapo, LIS PhD candidate, successfully defended his thesis titled Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization (EDID) Initiatives in the Collection Management Practices of Canadian University Libraries: Performative or Action-Based Commitments? on June 2, 2025.


Publications & Presentations

Media Studies PhD candidate Revna Altiok has been invited to speak at Anime Expo, the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. It will take place from Thursday, July 3 to Sunday, July 6, 2025 in Los Angeles. Revna will be presenting as part of the Academic Program, officially known as the JAMS@AX Symposium, a collaboration between Anime Expo and the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies. The presentation is titled "Designing an Anime Studies Syllabus: Teaching Monstrosity and Tolerance". She'll be presenting the syllabus she has designed, which explores how anime can be used to examine themes of otherness, monstrosity, and cultural tolerance.

Assistant Professor Juan Bello was the archival producer for this year's Canadian Screen Awards. Professor Bello produced the "In Memoriam" section on the late Donald Sutherland, introduced by his son, Kiefer. The awards show is available on both CBC Gem and Crave.

Professor Bello was also the archival researcher for "'More Than a Game' - Black Sports Figures in the 20th and 21st Centuries," an educational resource developed by the Canadian Museum of History, in collaboration with Black Life Impact Foundation. You can view the site in English or in French.

MLIS student Mars Brint presented a lightning talk titled Archival Architectural Records Discovery Layer Project on June 12 at the CARTO 2025 Conference at Queen's University. The talk covered the ongoing project at Western's Map and Data Center, in collaboration with Western's Archives and Special Collections, to develop and create an application to showcase the attribute information from the Murphy Moore architecture collection in an interactive online map.

Assistant Professor Alissa Centivany gave the following presentations:

Presentation and panel discussion: "Legal and Commerical Considerations of the Right to Repair", at the G20 summit, invited by G20 Presidency of South Africa and the United Nations

Presentation and workshop: "Everything is Sand?! Sensemaking around AI's making and unmaking" at the Extractive AI workshop held at the Queens biological station

Publication and presentation: "A window into Generative AI under Canadian Copyright Law and Policy", Canadian Association of Information Science

Presentation and panel discussion: "The Author is Dying: AI and possible futures of scholarly publishing" at Canadian Communications Association conference

Presentation and panel discussion: "Think Globally, Act Locally: right to repair in Canada", at the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance, and Dalhousie Faculties of Law and Computer Science


Anastazia Csegeny, PhD student in Media Studies, presented the following conference papers:

"Dead Patriarchs and Surrogate Caregivers in the Transitional Economy of Duncan Campbell Scott's In the Village of Viger" at the Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures annual conference on May 25.

"Reconciling Feminine Identity in the Contemporary Gothic: Fluid Wives, Mothers, and Selves in E.M. Carroll's A Guest in the House" at the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics annual conference on June 5, held at Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at George Brown College in Toronto, ON.


HIS PhD candidate Danica Facca published the following paper:

Facca, D., & Jacobs, A. (2025). Bloody Frontier Politics: Menstrual Equity, Military Inclusion, and the Canadian Workplace. Diversity & Inclusion Research, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/dvr2.70029

Media Studies PhD candidate Sara Falahatpisheh presented a paper at the 12th European Conference on Social Media in Porto Portugal, which has now been published in the conference's proceedings:

Falahatpisheh, Z. (2025). International students: Challenges, social media use, and adaptation. Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Social Media, 12(1), 356–363. https://doi.org/10.34190/ecsm.12.1.3457 

FIMS Postdoctoral Associate Giada Ferrucci presented the research poster titled "Toward a Pedagogy of Solidarity" at the Annual Conference of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) at Carleton University, Ottawa (June 9-12, 2025).

Assistant Professor Erin Isings will give a presentation titled A teaching innovation and research study: Teaching communication skills through a Schulich-FIMS collaboration at the Research on Teaching and Learning Symposium on June 26. The online event is hosted by Western's CTL.

HIS PhD student Meli Limani presented a paper titled "Conspiracy, Crisis, and Confidence: Understanding Public Trust in Canada's COVID-19 Response" at the 2025 CSA-SCS Annual Conference for at the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) Congress at George Brown College on June 3.

Jared Lindzon (BA'10, MIT, MA'11, Journalism) co-authored a new book set to be released in January 2026 titled Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek. The book was discussed in a CTV Lifestyle article titled "You can do more in a four-day workweek than five, authors of new book say," published on March 30, 2025.

Assistant Professor Julie Lowe gave a presentation entitled "Bringing Middle East Librarianship into the Classroom: Towards Meaningful Diversity" at the Middle East Librarians Committee (MELCom) annual conference.  The conference took place from May 20-23 in Paris, France.

Media Studies PhD candidate Charlotte Nau presented two papers at the 75th Annual ICA Conference in Denver on June 14-15. Both papers were co-authored by other FIMS scholars, including Jinman Zhang (PhD'24, Media Studies), Professor Anabel Quan-Haase, and Brittany Melton (PhD Media Studies):

Towards Feminist Social Media Research Ethics
Charlotte Nau; Kaitlynn Mendes (Sociology); Jinman Zhang; Anabel Quan-Haase
TradwifeTok: An Exploratory Study of Online Identity Among “Tradwives” on TikTok

Charlotte Nau; Meaghan Furlano (Sociology); William Hollingshead (TMU); Effie Sapuridis; Kaitlynn Mendes (Sociology); Brittany C. Melton; Sophia Attema (Sociology)


Professor Anabel Quan-Haase and PhD students Hillary Anderson (LIS), Takuya Maeda (Media Studies), and Selena Gignac (LIS) co-presented a poster at the 2025 Generative AI in Libraries (GAIL) virtual conference held on June 9-12. The conference poster, titled The Role of Librarians in Improving AI Literacy and Awareness, offers select findings of a systematic review of studies examining AI literacy in the general public and makes recommendations applicable to the activities of the four main library types.

Sananda Sahoo, FIMS postdoctoral associate, presented a paper and chaired a panel at CCA 2025:

Sahoo, Sananda. “The Question of Representation of Minorities: Rethinking the Ways of News Writing.” Paper presented at 94th Canadian Congress for Social Sciences and Humanities/Canadian Communication Association annual conference, Toronto, Ontario (June 3, 2025).

Chair of the session “Framing Contention in Media: Representation and Analysis in News” at the 94th Canadian Congress for Social Sciences and Humanities/Canadian Communication Association annual conference, Toronto, Ontario (June 3, 2025). 


Associate Professor Sarah Smith gave an invited lecture titled “Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America,” on May 13 at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, University of Southern California.

She also presented the paper “Exhibiting Diplomacy: Art, Museums and the Canadian Cultural Scene” at the inaugural NACDI Summer Academy Imagined Futures in Cultural Diplomacy at Universidad Pan Americana in Mexico City on May 29. This was part of a four-day summer school Dr. Smith helped to organize on public and cultural diplomacy hosted by Universidad Pan Americana, Universidad Iberoamericana, and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.

Professor Smith launched her new book Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America at a book panel The Art of Foreign Policy at the International Studies Association-Asociación Mexicana de Estudios Internacionales conference in Huatulco, Mexico, on June 5.


In the Media

Chris Arsenault, Assistant Professor and MMJC Chair, was featured in a Western News article profiling his recent Michener Award and planned project aimed at teaching journalism students the realities of conducting investigative journalism. The article is titled "The art and reality of investigative journalism," and was published on June 5. It was reprinted by Education News Canada on June 9.

MLIS alum (2013) Emily Austin's novel We Could Be Rats was included in a list of "25 Canadian books to read for Pride Month," published by CBC Books on June 9.

Pinar Barlas, LIS PhD candidate, and Assistant Professor Luke Stark, were included in a Western News article titled "Western challenge explores, demystifies AI tools" that covered a Centre for Teaching and Learning initiative to encourage exploration and deep thinking about artificial intelligence.

Professor Tim Blackmore was quoted in an article titled "Un dessin animé qui dérange," published by La Presse on June 8.

Professor Alison Hearn was quoted in an article titled "Senate mixed on Navitas proposal," published by the Western Gazette on May 22.

On June 10, Professor Hearn was quoted in a second Gazette article titled "Senate to recommend Navitas to Board of Governors."

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase is quoted in an article titled "Is texting 'k' hurting your relationships? Here's the truth about those abbreviated chats," published by the Toronto Star on June 10.

Assistant Professor Luke Stark joined 13 CBC Radio morning shows, including CBC Daybreak in Montreal, to discuss Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Soloman’s comments about moving away from strict regulations for AI. 


Additional Activities of Note


Professor Anabel Quan-Haase spent two weeks at Symbiosis University, Pune, India as a visiting scholar, to complete work on the collaborative SPARC project “Re-articulating India’s Soft-Power Narrative and Cultural Diplomacy: An Investigation of Consumption Cultures created by Indian Content on Video Streaming Platforms”. During her stay, Dr. Quan-Haase taught a course on Digital Media Theory at the Symbiosis Institute for Media and Communication (SIMC).

Assistant Professor Alissa Centivany provided policy consultations on the Right to Repair for the Governments of Ontario and Manitoba, as well as on AI for the Government of Alberta, Competition Bureau, and Surete du Quebec. She also filed a Right to Repair affadavit with the Competition Bureau Tribunal.

Professor Centivany served as a Scientist Delegate in the inaugural Science Meets Parliament - Ontario program, hosted by the Canadian Science Policy Centre and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. She was also selected for continuing appointment to the AI Insights for Policymakers Program (CIFAR & Mila - Quebec).

News from the FIMS Grad Library

Reading Week Library Closure

The library will be closed over Reading Week (June 30 – July 4)
Please email fimslib@uwo.ca for any library-related inquiries.

Regular summer hours resume Monday, July 7th at 10:00 AM.

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/)

(HYBRID) The Time Vault - How to Locate and Access Canadian Historical Data (Pre-1980)

Join MLIS candidate Settia Roh as she teaches us how to find pre-1980s Canadian historical census and non-census data, along with how to navigate key publications from Statistics Canada and its predecessors. We will learn how to use essential research tools and resources for historical data including the Historical Catalogue, the Internet Archive, the Government of Canada publications website, and guides and tools from the Statistics Canada Library and Library and Archives Canada. All students are welcome, whether they aspire to be librarians helping others in finding historical data or plan to use these resources for their own research projects.

Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Friday, June 20, 2025
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020D/E
Zoom: https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/j/91811824672 
Passcode: 1980

(HYBRID) Challenging Library Neutrality through Reflexivity and Citation by Isobel Flindall

Join Isobel Flindall in a critical examination of the concept of library neutrality through the lens of scholarly output. Drawing on their undergraduate studies as a Gender and Social Justice major, as well as relevant LIS literature, Isobel will frame the persistent conceptualization of librarianship as neutral as inaccurate and harmful. Then, they will highlight some of the ways that critical reflexivity and citation practices might be used to disrupt that conceptualization. This presentation will invite you to contemplate big questions about the structures that shape libraries and the information that we provide access to, as well as some practical possibilities for doing better. Isobel's talk will be followed by an informal discussion of the topic between attendees.

Sandwiches and refreshments will be provided for in-person attendees. If you are planning on attending in person, please RSVP by emailing fimslib@uwo.ca.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020D/E
Zoom: https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/j/98666599754 
Passcode: 425744

Glass Room Exhibit in the Library

The FIMS Grad Library is proud to be hosting the widely praised Glass Room Exhibit. The Glass Room is a public installation that offers an engaging, thought-provoking experience, shedding light on the most urgent issues facing individuals and the tech industry today. As technology becomes increasingly pervasive and integrated into our daily lives and surroundings, The Glass Room invites visitors to reflect on its effects and discover practical ways to address them.

It’s travelled from Berlin to New York, London and San Francisco and now it’s at your FIMS Grad Library, so come check it out! And stay tuned for upcoming Starling Centre programing, hosted in the library, that will offer deeper insights into this important topic.

Board Game Night at the Library, Hosted by Matt Ward

Join us for 🎲Board Game Night! 🎲
Grab your friends and join us for an evening of fun and games!

✔️ Three tables, three challenges:
🔹 Easy-to-learn games for beginners
🔹 Medium-level adventures for casual players
🔹 Advanced-level games play

✨ Do you have a favourite board game? Bring it along and share the fun!

📅 Date: Thursday, July 17, 2025
🕒 Time: 5-8 PM
📍 Location: FIMS Graduate Library
🍿 Snacks provided

Come solo, or bring a team- there’s a seat for everyone!


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.

This is the second of four summer issues of the FIMS Bulletin. Future publication dates include July 9, and August 6.