Latest News
Resurrecting a digital relic
Professor Alan Galey and two of his PhD students bring a website that was an aughties pop culture phenomenon back to life.
Obituary: Professor Emeritus and former Dean Brian Cantwell Smith (1950 – 2025)
The Faculty of Information is deeply saddened to share that Professor Emeritus and former Dean Brian Cantwell Smith passed away on September 6, 2025, shortly after his retirement. A visionary scholar, leader, and mentor, Brian leaves behind an extraordinary legacy that has shaped our Faculty, the University of Toronto, and the broader academic community. Brian […]
Cluster Hire: Five New Faculty Positions at the Faculty of Information
The Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto is advancing its academic vision through a strategic cluster hire. We are recruiting five new faculty members in the following areas: Human-Centred Data Sciences; Public Memory and Public Histories; Digital Curation and Cultural Heritage; Public AI and Cultural Institutions; and Knowledge Systems, Infrastructures, Communities, and Cultures. […]
‘Philosopher Dean’ Brian Cantwell Smith retires
Editor’s Note: We are saddened to share that Professor Emeritus and former Dean Brian Cantwell Smith passed away on September 6, 2025. His full academic obituary can be read here. For Brian Cantwell Smith, who officially retires this month, leadership has never been separate from ideas. As Dean of the Faculty of Information, he drew […]
Examining the impact of greenhouse growth
As Canada’s greenhouse sector expands rapidly, it’s become increasingly reliant on migrant labour to keep crops growing. This development has raised questions about the conditions of migrant workers, as well as new agricultural technologies and their impact on labour and the environment. It’s a field ripe for research, as PhD student Olivia Doggett has discovered. […]
Follow the ‘platform’ money
While many of the conversations about the power and influence of “Big Tech” focus on users, algorithms and content, Faculty of Information Professor David Nieborg looks at things through a different lens. His current research examines what he and his fellow researchers call “institutional platform power,” which they define as the ability of companies like […]
Legacy of learning
Family members honour former dean, Ann Schabas, with generous gift to the Faculty of Information The Schabas family has a long, proud history at the University of Toronto, where the late Ann Schabas, a woman who was quietly ahead of her time, served as Dean of the Faculty of Information from 1984 to 1990. Now, […]
Social agentics: Rethinking AI’s role in human worlds
By Michael Strizic, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. As artificial intelligence systems become increasingly embedded in everyday life, the challenge is no longer simply to understand how these systems function but how they shape, and are shaped by, the social contexts in which they operate. That challenge demands not just technical knowledge, but […]
Forging your career in the age of AI: A talk with alumna Elaine Lu
Alumna Elaine Lu (MISt 1997) is convinced that success in tech today depends on bridging disciplines. Lu, who is Vice President, Engineering Operations at the AI infrastructure company, CoreWeave, shared this and other insights with Faculty of Information students when she met with sessional lecturer Mehdi Ataei’s machine learning class (INF2179H) and guests earlier this […]
A tribute to Professor Emeritus Chun Wei Choo
Extraordinary knowledge management scholarship. Huge intellectual leadership. Amazing range and depth of expertise. Quiet clarity. And a spotless desk. By Colin Furness, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information The first course I took with Chun Wei Choo was just about thirty years ago. I still remember it vividly, learning about knowledge use (and non-use!) through examples […]
Faculty of Information is hiring professors
We are pleased to announce that the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto is currently accepting applications for: 1. Full-time teaching stream position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Human-Centred Data Sciences. The application deadline is September 4, 2025. 2. Full-time tenure stream position at the rank of Associate Professor in Public […]
AI’s transforming everything, says alum Elaine Lu
Alumna Elaine Lu (MISt 1997) is convinced that success in tech today depends on bridging disciplines. Lu, who is Vice President, Engineering Operations at the AI infrastructure company, CoreWeave, shared this and other insights with Faculty of Information students when she met with sessional lecurer Mehdi Ataei’s machine learning class (INF2179H) and guests earlier this month. […]
Faculty of Information leads the way in co-op for graduate students
With co-op and experiential learning programs becoming more popular at graduate schools, participants at a major education conference were eager to hear from Faculty of Information experts on how they have grown and revamped the Master of Information (MI) co-op option in recent years. The Faculty of Information launched its co-op option in 2016 with […]
2025 Ian P. Sharp Lecture explores AI through the lens of Indigenous ethics
Watch video from the 2025 Ian P. Sharp lecture
Prof Jia Xue investigates image-based sexual abuse
Jia Xue — who was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor, effective July 1, 2025 — has been announced a winner of the Ontario Government’s Early Researcher Award, a program that supports cutting-edge research benefiting industries and communities in Ontario. The funding will allow Xue to build a research team to examine a growing concern: image-based […]
PhD student’s Connaught fellowship supports research into outdoor gig workers
Ashique Thuppilikkat of the Faculty of Information has been named one of 15 doctoral students at the University of Toronto to receive a Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship for 2025-26. The annual fellowships are designed to offer doctoral students the opportunity to explore the world of public scholarship. Fellows focus on engaging the public through their scholarly […]
Four PhD students named Schwartz Reisman fellows
The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society has announced its 2025-26 graduate fellows including four doctoral students from the Faculty of Information. Along with 11 other PhD students from across U of T, they join SRI’s interdisciplinary community dedicated to ensuring that advanced technologies benefit all of society. SRI fellowships support interdisciplinary research that […]
A ‘feminist firebrand’ plots her post-retirement future
After decades of putting her stamp on policy matters related to communications and emerging technologies, Professor Leslie Regan Shade is officially retiring from the Faculty of Information, effective June 30. But given the number of students she mentored along the way and her extensive network, Shade’s academic legacy is sure to continue to thrive. Shade’s retirement […]