Prospective Students
I’m currently accepting MA and *PhD students. I'm happy to consider supervising projects that take a critical, environmental, humanistic, cultural, social, and/or historical approach to data, communication, media, and technology. I can also be available for supervisory committees and exams, especially over Zoom (I’m at Queen’s - in person - for Winter 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025 and all of 2026).
I work well with students from interdisciplinary backgrounds – though I imagine there’s paperwork required for those outside of the SCCS program, in the Film and Media department.
I’m an especially good fit for students whose research interests draw on qualitative, exploratory, research-creation, speculative, or ethnographic methods, and who work within communication and media studies; environmental humanities; environmental media; archival theory; elemental media; infrastructural studies; critical data studies; media archaeology; algorithm studies; science and technology studies (STS); history of technology; critical theory; “AI”.
I’m most excited about working with students interested in extractive AI — AI used in contexts of industries like big tech, mining and oil & gas. I’m also interested in supporting projects looking at the various and vast environmental impacts of AI and other data infrastructures.
I am not suited to projects primarily focused on solving technical problems (around AI and algorithms, for example) or looking for expertise in quantitative social sciences methods.
I normally teach undergraduate and graduate courses on topics that intersect media and the environment. I’m currently teaching a grad seminar called “Curating Ends Times” in the Film and Media department at Queen’s University (winter 2024).
Recent grad students that I’ve supervised include: Tessa Brown, PhD, (current, UCalgary) on neoliberalism and health technologies; Crystal Chokshi, PhD, (defended, UCalgary) on writing in the age of AI; Drew Thomas, MA, (defended, UCalgary) on the ownership and communication of heritage value in Canadian archives; Madeleine Mendell (defended, NYU) on DNA as media in the archive; Sean Willett (defended, UCalgary) on the sociotechnical imaginary of digital game cloud streaming services.
* Please note that I’m at capacity for PhD students, but would consider a student working on extractive AI topics.
I’ve modeled this section on Sun-Ha Hong and Anne Pasek’s ideas.
—> Phd in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies: https://www.queensu.ca/filmandmedia/graduate/phd-program
Funding
The minimum funding guarantee for Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies PhD students is $22,000 per year, throughout years 1-4. The funding package is created from Queen’s Graduate Awards, Teaching Assistantships, and named internal Fellowships. All students in the program who qualify must apply for external awards (OGS, SSHRC and other sources). Queen’s will automatically issue a $10,000 award to incoming PhD students who have won federal government tri-council awards (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). For more information, see the School of Graduate Studies and Post-Doctoral Affairs information on awards and scholarships. This funding does not cover all living expenses, but rather covers the tuition and contributes to living expenses.
Selection of Supervisor
The SCCS Graduate Committee generally identifies a preliminary supervisor at the application stage. With the Graduate Coordinator, the supervisor assists the student in planning the first semester of courses and investigating and deciding on a Supervisor.
—> MA in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies: https://www.queensu.ca/filmandmedia/graduate/masters-ma-program
Funding
The Department of Film and Media provides financial support for MA students. The current minimum level of funding is $16,000 for the academic year. Financial support is derived from a combination of internal and external awards and in most cases a Teaching Assistantships. This funding does not cover all living expenses, but rather covers the tuition and contributes to living expenses.
Supervision & Mentorship
Graduate Supervision (Primary)
Doctoral
Supervisor PhD - Noah Scheinman, PhD, Film & Media, Queen’s University (Start date: January 2024. Anticipated completion date: April 2026) Title: tbc
Supervisor PhD - Tessa Brown, PhD, CMF, University of Calgary (Start date: September 2021. Anticipated completion date: 202x) Title: tbc
Supervisor PhD - Crystal Chokshi, PhD, CMF, University of Calgary (Start date: September 2018. Completion date: August 2023) Title: “Doing Things with Words: The New Consequences of Writing in the Age of AI”
Masters
Supervisor MA - Drew Thomas (Start date: September 2019. Completion date: August 27, 2021) Title: “Ownership of Canadian material heritage and the communication of heritage value in archives”
Supervisor MA - Tessa J. Brown (Start date: September 2019; Completion date: June 21, 2021) Title: “What’s ‘app’ening to the human genome? Apps, neoliberalism, and the emergence of a gene-based ‘lifestyle’”
Supervisor MA - Madeleine Mendell (NYU, Moving Image Archiving and Preservation) (Start date: September 2020; Completion date May 21, 2021) Title: “DNA as Media in the Archive: Memory, Life, and Death in Data Storage”
Supervisor MA - Sean Willett (Start date: September 2017; Completion date: July 2019) Title: “Platformless Platforms: The sociotechnical imaginary of digital game cloud streaming services”
→ Graduate Supervision Committees
202x Supervisory Committee Member: Katy Anderson, PhD, CMF, University of Calgary (Start date: January 2023. Anticipated completion date: April 2026)
202x Supervisory Committee Member: Janna Frenzel, Phd, Communications, Concordia University
202x Supervisory Committee Member: Sam McCracken, Phd, Department of Comparative Literature, University of Michigan
2023 Supervisory Committee Member (External Examiner): Steven Gonzalez Monserrate, Phd, History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS) MIT “Cloud Ecologies: An Ethnography of Data Centres” (Defended August 28, 2023)
2023 Supervisory Committee Member (External Examiner): Alexander Jenseth, Phd, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Did not defend)
2020 Supervisory Committee Member (Internal-External Examiner): Kristy Myles, MA, University of Calgary, Geography “Opening-up to broaden out: A case study of representational practices as inputs for social assessments of genomic selection technologies for forestry” (Defended December 4, 2020)
2019 Committee Member (External Examiner): Alice Jarry, Doctorat en études et pratiques des arts, UQAM. “Dust Agitator: L’agir distribué de la poussière résiduelle de verre recyclé avec une pratique de l’installation” Codirection de recherche: Gisèle Trudel et Jean Dubois (Defended Novembre 22, 2019)
2019 Committee Member (Internal-External Examiner), Madyson Kjosness, CMF, University of Calgary, “Environment, Energy, and Policy: Multifarious Perspectives of Canadian Social Groups on the Topic of Energy and How Energy Policy Should Be Communicated”, (Defended June, 2019)
2019 Committee Member (External Examiner): Anne Pasek, PhD, NYU "Fixing Carbon: Mediating Matter in a Warming World" (Defended May 2, 2019)
2019 Committee Member (Neutral Chair): Madison Bryanna Bischoff, CMF, University of Calgary, (Defended January 8, 2019)
2018 Committee Member (Internal-External Examiner): Xioyu Sun, Art History, University of Calgary, MFA Thesis defense (Defended August, 2018)
2018 Committee Member (Internal Examiner): Alax Carey, CMF, University of Calgary, Masters Thesis defense (Defended May, 2018)
2017 Committee Member (Internal Examiner): Carla McCutchin, CMF, University of Calgary, Masters Thesis Defense (Defended May, 2017)
→ Undergraduate Supervision Committees
2022 Committee Member Alison McReynolds, CMF, University of Calgary, Honors exam committee (Defended April, 2022)
2019 Co-supervisor (with T. Shepherd): Leann Leung, COMS 595 / COMS 597 (Honours Seminar) Honours Program Thesis (Sept-Jan 2019)
2019 Committee Member: Sylvana Crosby, CMF, University of Calgary, Honors exam committee (Defended April, 2019)
2018 Committee Member: Andrew Thomas, CMF, University of Calgary, Honors exam committee (Defended April, 2019)