No. 540 - October 8, 2025

  • Coming Events:

    - "Rooting Resilience: A Call for Academics to Love Where We Live"
    - Ethics Workshop with Dr. Trevor J. Bieber
    - Salvi Talks: ASALCA x Florecemos
    - "A World Divided into Sheep & Goats: The Scientific Practice of Taxonomy and the Construction of Private Identity"
    - The Museum of Dreams launches Dreamers of the 21st Century
    - FIMS Faculty Pastries & Pedagogy Drop-In
    - Reactionary Futurism: The Rise of Technofascism in Silicon Valley
    - Save the Date - Book Launch for An Alphabet for Dreamers: How to See the World with Eyes Closed

  • Important Dates:

    - Monday, October 13, 2025 - Thanksgiving holiday (no classes, FIMS offices closed)
    - Friday, October 17, 2025 - Senate (Great Hall, SH, 1:30-4:30 PM)

  • News & Announcements:

    - 🎥 Be Part of Our New FIMS Grad Student Video Series!

    Awards & Accomplishments:

    - Charlotte Nau
    - Scott Russell (MA'85, Journalism)
    - Effie Sapuridis

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Larry Cornies, MA'86 (with Brodie Fenlon, MA'99)
    - Giada Ferrucci
    - Kate Johnson, Professor Emeritus
    - Charlotte Nau
    - Selma Purac
    - Sarah Smith
    - Sina Torabi

  • In the Media:

    - Sarah Smith
    - Luke Stark
    - Dennis Trudeau (Dip. Journalism, late 70's)

  • News from the FIMS Grad Library:

    - Thanksgiving Library Closure
    - Upcoming Events at the Library
    - Make of the Month

  • News from Western Libraries:

    - Upcoming Research Skills Workshops

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events

"Rooting Resilience: a Call for Academics to Love Where We Live"
Thursday, October 9, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Lecture Theatre, Museum London
451 Dundas St.
Presented by Brendon Samuels, Western University, as part of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy's Connecting Research to the Public Good: 2025 Annual Fall Lecture Series (co-organized by Alissa Centivany).
Description: Brendon Samuels will discuss how he applied his research locally during his doctoral studies to pursue nature-positive decision making. Building on these experiences, he advocates for laying down roots and nurturing relationships beyond campus –radical acts that humanize the academy and steward the places academics call home.

Ethics Workshop with Dr. Trevor J. Bieber
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Attend in person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Register for Zoom
Presented by Trevor Bieber as part of the FIMS Seminar Series 2025/26.
Graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty and staff are invited to a practical workshop on navigating the research ethics application process. Dr. Trevor J. Bieber, Western Research Ethics Officer, will provide guidance and practical tips to help participants develop protocols, complete applications, and understand key steps in the review process. Participants are encouraged to bring their current protocol and questions for an interactive session.

Salvi Talks: ASALCA x Florecemos Together
Friday, October 17, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Register on Zoom (link TBA)
Description: Salvi Talks is a digital diaspora dialogue series as part of the Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research initiative. This session invites you into a rich, cross-continental conversation between two Salvadorian-led organisations: ASALCA: Asociación Salvadoreña Canadienseone based in Canada and Florecemos Together in Australia. Through shared stories, strategies, and lived experiences, they’ll reflect on the urgent and everyday work of building community and organising across borders (read more).

"A World Divided into Sheep & Goats: The Scientific Practice of Taxonomy and the Construction of Private Identity"
Thursday, October 23, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Community Room, Innovation Works
Presented by Bri Watson, Western University, as part of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy's Connecting Research to the Public Good: 2025 Annual Fall Lecture Series (co-organized by Alissa Centivany).
Description: Based on work done for a book tentatively titled The Kinseys & the Myth of the Sexual Revolution, this talk presents the results of an investigation into the Kinseys (the man and the Institute) in order to examine the profound influence of taxonomy and knowledge organization on the shaping of people’s most private interiorities: gender, sexuality, and personal identity.

The Museum of Dreams launches Dreamers of the 21st Century
Saturday, October 25, 2025
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Moss Park CTS
134 Sherbourne Street, Toronto
Description: The Museum of Dreams (Sharon Sliwinski) is launching its new project, Dreamers of the 21st Century on Saturday October 25. We are celebrating the launch of this project with a pop-up exhibition at Moss Park CTS, one of community partners. The exhibition features testimonies by Moss Park CTS service users and staff and illustrated portraits by Toronto artist Melinda Josie. We will also celebrate the release of the new project website and our co-authored report, Dreaming Together: The Collective Dreamwork of Moss Park CTS. The event is free, and everyone is welcome.

FIMS Faculty Pastries & Pedagogy - Drop-In Session
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
4th Floor Lunch Room
This academic year, FIMS is launching Pastries & Pedagogy for faculty - a series of casual, drop-in morning sessions designed to get you talking about teaching. These informal gatherings will take place monthly on different days throughout the term to accommodate a variety of schedules. The goal is to offer a relaxed space for colleagues to connect over coffee and pastries while discussing teaching strategies, exploring classroom challenges, and sharing what's been working. Looking to exchange ideas? Or, maybe you just want to caffeinate while chatting about teaching. Please pop by! For questions, please contact Assistant Professor Selma Purac at spurac2@uwo.ca.

Reactionary Futurism: The Rise of Technofascism in Silicon Valley
Thursday, October 30, 2025
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (with reception to follow)
Conron Hall, UC
Register now.
Presented by Assistant Professor Becca Lewis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jointly hosted by the FIMS Rogers Chair 2025/26 and the Starling Centre for Just Technologies and Just Societies. Grad students are invited to sign up for a seminar with Dr. Lewis on the morning of October 31. Watch your email for sign up details.
Speaker bio: Becca Lewis is the Old Dominion Career Development Assistant Professor in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. She was previously a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Stanford University Department of Communication, where she obtained her PhD in 2024. Her work examines the ideas and politics that shape Silicon Valley and the internet (read more).

Save the Date - Book Launch for An Alphabet for Dreamers: How to See the World with Eyes Closed
Sunday, November 2, 2025
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Caversham Booksellers
262b Geary Avenue, Toronto
Professor Sharon Sliwinski (author) and Melinda Josie (illustrator) will discuss dreams, attention, and illustration in advance of the release of Professor Sliwinski's upcoming book.
 

Important Dates

- Monday, October 13, 2025 - Thanksgiving holiday (no classes, FIMS offices closed)
- Friday, October 17, 2025 - Senate (Great Hall, SH, 1:30-4:30 PM)


News & Announcements

🎥 Be Part of Our New FIMS Grad Student Research Video Series!
FIMS Communications (Becky & Becky) are launching a new video series to showcase the amazing research being done by FIMS grad students. Each short Q&A-style video will highlight your project (and your personality!) with questions like: 

Coffee or tea while writing? What problem are you solving? What 3 emojis sum up your research?

Interested in being featured? Send a quick email to Digital Engagement Coordinator Becky Horst at becky.horst@uwo.ca, and we’ll set up a short filming session on campus.


Awards & Accomplishments

Media Studies PhD candidate Charlotte Nau successfully defended her thesis titled Social Media Use Among Women Who Make Adult Online Content: Community Building and Social Media Affordances on September 24.

Scott Russell (MA'85, Journalism) was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in March and was the recipient of the Brian Williams Media Award.

Media Studies PhD candidate Effie Sapuridis successfully defended her thesis titled Rewriting Recognition: Networked (Re)Storying on New Media Platforms on September 26.


Publications & Presentations

Larry Cornies, MA'86, Journalism, and retired FIMS LD instructor, authored an article titled "CBC News editor-in-chief a worthy choice as recipient of inaugural Western award" on his blog Momentum on September 25. The article discusses the selection of Brodie Fenlon, MA'99, Journalism, as the first winner of the FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence. Brodie received his award this past Homecoming weekend.

Giada Ferrucci, FIMS Postdoctoral Associate and PhD'24 (Media Studies), presented a paper titled "Ecologías de la Memoria y la Resistencia: Memoria Histórica, Justicia Ambiental y Resiliencia en El Salvador de la Posguerra" at the 12th International Digital Storytelling Conference 2025Lives, Voices, and Knowledge in a World on Fire (October 5th, 2025).

Giada also wrote an article titled “Green” Land Grab Redux in Garífuna Territory: Even “sustainability” can be a tool of displacement". published in NACLA Report on the Americas.

Kate Johnson, Professor Emeritus, published an article related to a project she has been working on for a number of years studying how her uncle was affected by the purge of homosexuals from the Canadian Federal Civil Service in the 1950s/60s. The article is titled "David Moffat Johnson and the Purge of Homosexuals from the Department of External Affairs", published in International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis.

Media Studies PhD candidate Charlotte Nau co-authored an article titled "More than a quarter of Canadian teens have experienced sexual violence online," published in The Conversation on October 6. The article was republished by Yahoo News.

Assistant Professor Selma Purac published the following book chapter:

Purac, Selma A. "Sound, Silence, Horror, and the Hare." Animality and Horror Cinema. Eds. Peter Sands, M.O. Neill, Samantha Hinds. Palgrave, 2025. 135-153.

Associate Professor Sarah Smith gave the presentation “Art, Culture and Global Relations” to the Ontario Arts Council Board of Directors on Oct. 8, 2025. 

Media Studies PhD candidate Sina Torabi published a new book chapter titled "Portrayals of Trauma and PTSD in the Last of Us Storyworld." The chapter appears in the edited collection, The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: The Last of Us (2025), and offers a critical media studies analysis of how the successful video game and TV franchise depicts long-term psychological distress, specifically trauma and PTSD.


In the Media

Associate Professor Sarah Smith's book Trading on Art was reviewed by historian Dr. Tim Cook in the Literary Review of Canada: “Art of the Deals: Negotiating Trade through Culture,” October 2025. 

Assistant Professor Luke Stark participated as a guest on CBC's Quirks and Quarks' 50th anniversary show on October 7. The show will re-air on October 11.

Retired journalist and CBC radio host Dennis Trudeau passed away earlier this month and was profiled in a CBC article titled "Longtime CBC radio host, Montreal news anchor Dennis Trudeau dies at 77," on October 7. Trudeau received a Diploma in Journalism from Western in the late 1970's. The diploma program pre-existed - and then co-existed with for a very short time - the Master of Arts in Journalism program.

News from the FIMS Grad Library

Thanksgiving Library Closure:

The FIMS Grad Library will be closed from Saturday, October 11th to Monday, October 13th, 2025.

*Regular hours resume on Tuesday, October 14th, 2025 at 10am.

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/)

Banned Books Readers’ Advisory

Join us at the FIMS Graduate Library for a special Banned Books Week event exploring readers’ advisory and the fight against censorship. This one-hour presentation will highlight some of the most challenged and banned books in Canada and the United States, including:

  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • Maus by Art Spiegelman
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  • Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
  • This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
  • Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

This presentation will explore how censorship and book banning intersects with racism and the deliberate suppression of marginalized voices and diverse narratives. Attendees will also learn practical ways to defend diverse books, support intellectual freedom, and amplify the voices of educators and librarians.

Why it matters: Book bans have reached historic highs in the past three years in the US and Canada. In the 2023-2024 school year alone, PEN America reported more than 10,000 instances of banned books in public schools, affecting more than 4,000 unique titles. These mass book bans were often the result of targeted campaigns to remove books with characters of color, LGBTQ+ identities, and sexual content from public school classrooms and libraries. This presentation aligns with the 2025 Banned Books Week theme, “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.”

Bring your questions and ideas for the Q&A session following the talk!

Thursday, October 16, 2025
12:00pm – 1:00pm
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020 D/E
Zoom: https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/j/98123697302

Tetris Highscore Leaderboard: October 24 – November 21

Think you've got what it takes to top the leaderboard? From October 24 to November 21, drop by the FGL media lounge to play Tetris and log your highest scores on the leaderboard. It’s a low-pressure, high-fun competition where the top three players will walk away with prizes. Whether you're a seasoned player or just learning the ropes, we invite you to join in the fun!

Make of the Month –October – Safety Pin Skull Charm

Get into the spooky spirit this October with our Make of the Month! Drop by anytime to create your own skull charm using black and white seed beads and safety pins. They’re fun, quick to make, and the perfect little accessory you can clip to your backpack, pin to your jacket, or decorate anywhere you like.

All materials are provided, and you can craft your charm whenever it suits you, all month long!


News from Western Libraries

Upcoming Research Skills Workshops

For all research skills workshops, visit the Western Libraries Events page. If you have questions about workshops, please email rsclib@uwo.ca. 


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, October 22, 2025. Please submit any items by noon on Tuesday, October 21.