Latest News
Matt Ratto named fellow at new sustainable development think tank
Five University of Toronto scholars, including Faculty of Information Professor Matt Ratto, will be the first to join a think tank focused on “convergence research” to study the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On April 16, they became Fellows in the SDGs Scholars Academy. The Academy is part of SDGs@UofT. This Institutional Strategic Initiative brings together faculty, […]
In rethinking the role of archives, food helps
As a visual artist and a newly minted archivist, Lenora Huynh wants to challenge traditional archival theories while bringing to life the voices of the marginalized. One of the ways the Master of Information graduate is doing this is by putting her work in food studies to use and bringing food into the archives. “Food […]
Introducing the Toronto Data Workshop summer series
Introducing the Toronto Data Workshop (TDW) Summer Series, bringing together academia and industry to share data science best practice. TDW is a joint initiative between the Faculty of Information and the Department of Statistical Sciences and is organized by Assistant Professor Rohan Alexander, Professor Kelly Lyons and MI student Michaela Drouillard. All workshops are held […]
UX students tackle Canada’s housing crisis
The Faculty of Information proudly partnered with the 2024 Seneca Housing Hackathon. Seventeen of our talented students participated, with over half advancing to the finals. MI student Cindy Cao and team members from Seneca Polytechnic took on the housing tech challenge and earned third place among 150 finalists with their design for LeaseLens, an online platform […]
Students take over Learning Hub for 24-hour designathon
It was a Hackathon with a difference. Students entered the Learning Hub, armed not only with laptops and notebooks but also with bulky sleeping bags slung over their shoulders, ready to embark on an intense 24-hour design challenge. Their mission: to develop products and services to improve team collaboration. Sponsors, including the Faculty of […]
Faculty of Information ranks among world’s best for Library and Information Management
The University of Toronto has been named as one of the world’s top universities for the study of 50 subjects, including Library and Information Management, in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Library and Information Management ranks number 13 in the world this year, up from number 15 in 2023. […]
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 capstone project work
The Master of Museum Studies (MMSt) program is delighted to show off Museum Studies Capstone Projects from 2024. In the full year Capstone Projects course, teams of MMSt students collaborate with partners from the cultural and heritage sectors on a variety of exciting and innovative projects. The partners propose the project idea and outcomes, and […]
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 […]