Latest News
As Jackman Fellow, PhD student Hassan Asif will explore underground Islamic media
PhD student Hassan Asif, who has just been named a Chancellor Jackman Graduate Fellow in the Humanities, plans to use his fellowship to advance his dissertation, which explores the intersection of digital media, remix culture and Islamic devotional music in Pakistan. His project examines the digital remixing of na’at, which are hymns in praise […]
AI expert speaks on its transformative role in democracies
You’re invited to the 2024 Ian P. Sharp Lecture With Speaker Beth Simone Noveck Beth Simone Noveck is the State of New Jersey’s first Chief AI Strategist and a professor at Northeastern University, where she directs the Burnes Center for Social Change and its partner project, the Governance Lab. Her lecture will address AI’s transformative […]
Professor SA Smythe receives multiple arts awards
Faculty of Information Assistant Professor SA Smythe, who is also a poet and transdisciplinary artist, has recently been recognized with two important awards for artists. Earlier this month, it was announced Smythe, who teaches Black Studies and the Archive, has received a much coveted fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), […]
Assistant Dean Andrea McGee wins top U of T award
Andrea McGee, the Faculty of Information’s Assistant Dean of Registrarial and Student Services, has won the Northrop Frye Award for her outstanding contributions to advancing academic advising across the university. McGee was part of a team that has worked together for several years to share best practices in student advising and to ensure that students […]
Virtual influencers in three minutes or less
Congratulations to PhD student Julia Jeonghyun Parke, a top 20 finalist in the SSHRC’s 2024 Storytellers Challenge. This annual contest challenges postsecondary students to show Canadians, in up to three minutes, how social sciences and humanities research is affecting our lives, our world and our future for the better. For her research, Parke tracks the […]
Museum Studies students show off their work
The Master of Museum Studies (MMSt) is delighted to celebrate the opening of the Museum Studies Capstone Projects 2023/2024 season! In the full year Capstone Projects course, teams of MMSt and CDP students collaborate with partners from the cultural and heritage sectors on a variety of exciting and innovative projects. The partners propose the […]
AODA Compliance & Practical Applications Panel
The Accessibility Interests Working Group (AIWG) will be hosting an educational panel on Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Compliance and Practical Applications. Event description: As the focus of the Faculty of Information is on the training and preparation of new information industry professionals, this event will expose students to AODA implementation realities that […]
Prof Christoph Becker’s book, Insolvent, makes finals at 2024 PROSE Awards
Congratulations to Professor Christoph Becker whose book, Insolvent: How to Reorient Computing for Just Sustainabilty, published by MIT Press, was named a finalist in the Engineering and Technology category at the PROSE Awards honoring scholarly works. Presented by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the 48th annual PROSE awards “illustrate the extraordinary depth, breadth and […]
Illuminating the Past
Claire Battershill’s latest research project explores how special collections, often seen as exclusive spaces, can be opened up to the public through new ways of seeing. Claire Battershill, a book history scholar, began her academic journey by pursuing her love of physical manuscripts, but along the way she reached a fork in the road. One […]
Talking sense into Artificial Intelligence
Every week, the researchers in Assistant Professor Anastasia Kuzminykh’s lab get together to update each other on their work. While they are all investigating human-AI communication, there is a wide range of topics. Some of the students are researching how chatbots like Siri and Alexa are perceived by users. Others are exploring the influence of […]
Edit-a-thon amplifies Black history in GLAM
On February 7, students from the Faculty of Information led a Black History in GLAM Edit-A-Thon, updating and creating Wikipedia, Wikimedia and Wikidata entries on Black history within galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. This event, part of a Black Histories Edit-A-Thon campaign across Toronto, was organized by students in INF1005 Exploring Outreach, a workshop class […]
Alumni Thesis: African American Ancestry Reveals
As Black History Month wraps up, we talk to Faculty of Information alumna Halle Fetwi Imam, who wrote her 2022 Master of Information thesis on the phenomenon of African Americans taking consumer DNA tests to discover their ancestry and then revealing the results in online videos. What first piqued your interest in this topic? I […]
Rethinking the Bissell Building
The plans were discovered deep in the bowels of the Faculty of Information. They show a Bissell Building with windows where there are now concrete slabs, a front entrance with a courtyard at the northeast corner, and fourth floor access to the Robarts building. But somewhere along the way, for reasons that no one can recall, these […]
GLAM Incubator seeks new projects
The Faculty of Information’s GLAM Incubator has put out a call for projects for 2024-2025. The GLAM Incubator is a research and support hub that connects galleries, libraries, archives and museums with the University of Toronto and its industry partners to lend resources and expertise to projects benefitting the broader GLAM sector, such as cutting-edge programming, […]
In Memoriam: Robin Breon (1943-2023)
In his two decades with the Museum Studies Program, Robin Breon committed himself to student success. As an administrator and internship coordinator, he developed and maintained relationships with diverse members of the museum community and secured funding to support work experience opportunities for students. One of his proudest achievements was securing a major donation from […]
Online hub celebrates Indigenous history, culture and language
The Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture (GRASAC) recently launched a public platform that seeks to benefit Indigenous communities, cultural institutions and scholars alike. The GRASAC Knowledge Sharing Platform houses digital records of 5,000 Great Lakes heritage items and two online dictionaries with 17,000 Anishinaabemowin and Cayuga words. The site catalogues […]
Slow down, Professor Andrew Clement tells AI lawmakers
Professor Emeritus Andrew Clement recently told a parliamentary committee that he doesn’t think the proposed Artificial Intelligence Data Act (AIDA) will adequately protect Canadians. In his testimony late last month, Clement cautioned against hasty legislation, reminding stakeholders that effective governance of AI demands ongoing learning and collaboration, rather than a race to implementation. Clement, who has […]
Collaboratory for Black Poiēsis releases debut newsletter
The Collaboratory for Black Poiēsis (CBP), under the direction of Assistant Professor SA Smythe, released its first newsletter this week. Since its launch at the Faculty of Information last October, the CBP has been a hive of activity. The newsletter offers a glimpse into what the Collaboratory has been up to, featuring introductions to three […]