Join the Faculty of Information’s Crosstalk Series, an informal weekly speaker series in which two faculty members discuss their current research, look for common themes and answer questions from the audience. Learn about diverse research in the field of Information, uncover ‘hidden’ connections and encourage crossectoral collaboration within the Faculty.
All students, staff and faculty are welcome. Talks will take place on select Mondays from 11 am to 12 pm in BL728, 140 St. George Street (Claude Bissell Building). Light refreshments will be served.
Fall 2024
- November 18 | Analyzing & Negotiating Platform Power
David Nieborg and Gustavo Ferreira
There is little doubt among scholars about the political-economic and socio-cultural impact of platform companies. What is less clear, is how to conceptualize “platform power” and how to study its impacts on different stakeholders. In this crosstalk, we survey recent platform scholarship and discuss emerging methods and concepts.
- December 2 | The (Human) Cost of Research: On Working Ethically with Communities
Priyank Chandra and Nadia Caidi
Communities around the world engage in rich sociotechnical practices that are embedded in their cultural, social, and material contexts. Marginalised communities, in particular, often repurpose technologies in innovative and adaptive ways that challenge formal systems. This dynamic complicates researchers’ interactions with these communities, necessitating reflexive practices regarding what constitutes public and private domains. In this Crosstalk, we critically examine the ethics of documenting these practices, alongside the power dynamics inherent in research relationships where scholars navigate their status as either ‘outsiders’ or ‘insiders / outsiders.’ We explore the methodological and ethical challenges of conducting research that is sensitive to the needs and values of the communities, while also contributing to broader academic scholarship.
Winter 2025
- January 6 | Lost in Translation
Fiorella Foscarini and Irina D. Mihalache
This crosstalk reflects the lived experiences of two academics born in Italy and Romania respectively, whose research (but not first) language is English. Fiorella and Irina will share examples from their research and writings, as they move across and in between languages and cultures.
The English language acts as an invisible, hegemonic force, which exerts strong influence over the framing of the global world. What are the consequences of the use of English as a lingua franca in academia and the profession? How is translation performed, and what is its impact on highly culture-dependent domains, such as archival studies and food studies? In this crosstalk, we will reflect what is lost in our daily acts of translation.
- January 20 | Pedagogical Research: Improving Student Success and Studying its Own Classroom Pedagogy
Maher Elshakankiri and Olivier St-Cyr
Pedagogical research (often called SoTL – The Scholarship of Teaching of Learning) is an important part of being a teaching stream faculty member at the Faculty of Information. In this crosstalk, professors Maher Elshakankiri and Olivier St-Cyr will highlight SoTL work they have conducted. Professor Maher Elshakankiri will present his research on how Flexible Deadlines and Timely Reminders Play Crucial Roles in Student Success and will discuss how these approaches can improve both the quality of submissions and student well-being based on recent research findings. Professor St-Cyr will present research on how teaching stream faculty members can study their own classroom pedagogy and discuss research on Monitoring the Short-Term Outcomes of Community-Engaged, Project-Based User Experience Design Courses.
- February 3 | Wayward Cultures
Jessica Lapp and Patrick Keilty
Wayward cultures often exist at the margins making their legibility difficult. In this session we discuss some of the connections between archival and data studies in accounting for wayward cultures and their material expressions.
- February 24 | Living with AI: Critical Labour and Creative Futures
Hadiya Roderique and ME Luka
How can we use AI in ways that lead us towards more equitable futures instead of less? What is the role of creative workers, journalists, information workers, and policy makers in ensuring this future?
- March 10 | Title TBD
Claire Battershill and SA Smythe
Featured News
MMST students, alumna contribute to Governor General’s Award-winning exhibit
Students from the Museum Studies capstone course (2022/23) played a key role in creating an exhibit that has just been named winner of the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. Grace Kovacs, Hanjia Li, Abera Rajendran and Marie Song helped put together “Standing in the Doorway: Lived Histories and Experiences of the Chinese Community”. The exhibit drew on new oral histories, loaned […]
Faculty of Information at ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
Faculty of Information professors and students will have a strong presence at the 27th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW) taking place in San José, Costa Rica next week (November 9-13). CSCW is the premier venue for research in the design and use of technologies that affect groups, organizations, communities, and […]
Remembrance Day: Students explore an RCAF Sergeant’s daring escape from a WWII POW camp
Museum Studies students dig up rare ‘diary’ detailing daily life in German POW camps. It’s on display in a new exhibit at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton Vincent Mancini enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1940 at age 28, training as a navigator. Two years later, his aircraft […]
Congratulations to our newest grads!
The Faculty of Information celebrated its newest grads on October 30. A total of 105 Master of Information students received their degrees alongside one Master of Museum Studies student and five PhD students. Congratulations to all 112 of our Fall 2024 grads. Photos from the ceremony and reception are now available to browse and download.