Meghan is a PhD student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, with a focus on Media Cultures. Her research interests include gamification, the study of apps and social media, as well as examining the types of discourse that emerge from them to inform everyday life and culture. Her other research interests include cultural theory, discourse analysis, and global flows in media (specifically in international music). Her previous projects have focused on examining the visible implementation of gamification elements in mobile dating apps and their relation to sustaining user engagement, as well as examining social platforms such as LinkedIn as virtual spaces which perpetuate neoliberal tendencies.
Meghan is originally from Branchton, Ontario. She holds a Master of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University in Communication and Media Studies, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English: Literature and Rhetoric from the University of Waterloo.
MIT 2200G: Mapping Media & Cultural Theory
January 2022-May 2022
Supervisor: Dr. Joanna Redden
Role: Teaching Assistant
- Managed and mentored 25 students through weekly tutorial classes, and if required, online Zoom sessions during COVID-19 surges. This work included grading assessments, recording attendance, and holding office hours, as well as responding to student questions and concerns about course content.
- Developed engaging and education content for weekly tutorial classes and sessions, as well as managed semester tutorial page on OWL, related to that week's lecture discussions and readings.
- Attended and contributed to weekly lectures and advised supervisor on student progress throughout term.
MIT 2500: The Meaning of Technology
January 2020--May 2021
Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Streeter
Role: Teaching Assistant
- Monitored 5 student participation forums for questions, concerns, and participation on OWL.
- Answered and Managed tutorial groups throughout the duration of the term. This work included grading all assignments and exams, answering e-mail query responses, hosting office hour or special student drop-in sessions, and providing extra tutoring if requested by student.
- Attended meetings with and developed strategies for online engagement with Teaching Assistant team in weekly-led meetings alongside supervisor.
DC 2309A/B: Digital Media Marketing Fundamentals
September 2020--December 2020, September 2021-December 2021, September 2022-December 2022, January 2023-May 2023
Supervisors: Erin Isings/ Michelle Lau-Edwards (Jan-May 2023)
Role: Teaching Assistant
- Attended lectures and weekly meetings with supervisor to discuss course content, and devise strategies, assignments, and methods for enhancing engagement in a previously "in-person" lecture.
- Aided devising new and engaging assignments to test student knowledge towards end of term.
- Held office hours and grade disputing sessions with supervisor to attend to student concerns and questions.
- Held special office hours during busy seasons of the course.
- Marked student papers, projects, and other assignments, and recorded weekly Zoom attendance.
- Project to be Started November 2022: Hot Assets: A Value Network Analysis of User Assetization and Exploitation in Mobile Dating Applications
- January 2023: Research Assistant to Dr. Joanna Redden and her team looking at Data Harms and Age in Canadian Contexts. Project website can be found here: https://agingindata.ca/projects/data-harms/
November 2022-Present: Involved on the Editorial Board of GradCast, the official radio show and podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University
- GradCast Host: Conducted interviews with graduate student guests from diverse faculties to simplify complex research topics for public audiences, entailing front-end professional communication with guests and addressing any concerns. Assisted with special episodes such as GradCast Live and GradCast at Science Rendezvous (2022), entailing direct communication with London public in a professional and caring manner.
- Social Media Manager: Designed creative and engaging organic content for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) channels to promote new episodes and guests from various faculties to London community, radio listeners, and graduate followers, in addition to responding to community/public inquiries on these channels. Organized successful public outreach campaigns like giveaway contests and promotional collaborations with Western departments and SOGS partners to expand brand awareness and listenership among graduate student audiences and broader London community.
January 2023-Present
- GradCast Recruiter: Served as public liaison for GradCast at SOGS Graduate Orientation and public GradCast events, and effectively used clear communication skills to articulate GradCast’s value to the Western graduate and wider London communities, with the aim of recruiting new guest and listeners. Organized successful recruitment campaigns through social media and department mailing lists, requiring effective communication to state in lay terms GradCast’s purpose and value to prospective guests.
January 2024-Present: Communications and Social Media Manager for Science Rendezvous Western
- Served as Communications and Social Media Manager for X and TikTok.
- Pitched campaigns for engagement and promotion of Science Rendezvous event
- Contacted and coordinated with booth partners for campaigns
- Created video and reel mockups for promotion and website
April 2022
- Do You Accept These Conditions?: Data Ethics on Mobile Dating Apps
- Informal Talk given to MMJC (Media Master's in Journalism & Communications) class regarding data ethics in End-User Licensing Agreements and Terms of Service Agreements on mobile dating apps.
- Discussion of how user-data is shared, monetized, and traversed in unclear and complex pathways online, and ethical concerns related to this sharing.
June 2022
-
Participant at: HYPE, HYPER OR OVER-HYPED: A STUDENT SYMPOSIUM ON CRITICAL AI STUDIES IN CANADA at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
October 2022
- Value, Values, & Visibility: Investigating Public Value Conflation in Mobile Dating Apps
- Public talk given on successful Comprehensive Fields Examination discussing linking threads among the history of Mobile Dating App Intermediaries, Political Economy of Communication, and Data and Information as Power (a subset of Critical Data Studies). This paper indicates a research gap to how publicly desirable values in the mobile dating industry is being "confused" with economically profitable understandings benefitting platform owners, and presents possible directions for future research in terms of dissertation.
- YouTube Link to Recorded Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy1aRQCrGLs
March 2024
June 2024
- Global Digital Intimacies Panel Presentation of upcoming paper: Hot Assets: User Exploitation in Mobile Dating Applications with University of Toronto co-author, Blair Attard-Frost [forthcoming]
- Canadian Communications Association: Panel talk given about research findings in the Data Harms and Aging Project led by Dr. Joanna Redden, in collaboration with researchers from Concordia University [forthcoming]
September 2024
- Participant at Data Power Conference in Graz, Austria
