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Adèle Garnier is an Associate Professor at the Department of Geography, Université Laval's Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics. She serves as Director of undergraduate geography programs and the certificate in sustainable tourism. Her research focuses on political geography, migration dynamics, and humanitarian governance, particularly examining refugee labor market participation, temporary migration policies, and technological impacts on immigration systems. Education : PhD in Political Science (Macquarie University/Universität Leipzig, 2012), MA in Political Science (Universität Leipzig, 2006), Diploma in Political Science (Paris, 2002) Her research integrates political geography , migration studies , and geographies of inequality , analyzing power structures in migration governance. Recent work explores Canada's digitalization of immigration, multiscalar impacts of refugee policies, and settler-colonial migration frameworks. Current research trends focus on technological governance of migration , refugee resettlement , and marketization of humanitarian services , with interdisciplinary approaches bridging political science and geography. Research Units : Graduate School of International Studies (ESEI), Immigration Research Team (ERIQA), Cultures-Arts-Societies Center (CELAT) Collaborations : Study Group on Ethnic Relations (Flers), Center for Refugee Studies (York University), Peace Research Institute Oslo She supervises graduate students in geography and co-leads multiple funded projects, including Liberating Migrant Labour (2023-2030) and digital migration governance research (2023-2028).

• Political Geography
• Migration and Territory
• Migration, Inequality and Power
• +11 more

Claire Battershill is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the Faculty of Information and the Department of English at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and a BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the history and future of the book, with a particular emphasis on feminist experimental publishing, literary aesthetics, and 20th/21st-century publishing practices. She is Co-Director of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP), a critical digital archive of early 20th-century publishers’ records, and Co-Creator of the SSHRC-funded 'Make Believe' research-creation project. Her publications include Women and Letterpress Printing: Gendered Impressions (2022) and Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom (2022). Dr. Battershill has held prestigious roles such as Wendy M. Cecil Professor in VicOne at Victoria College and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has secured grants including the SSHRC Impact Award (2017) and funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her teaching spans courses like INF2228H (The Future of Things: Digitization and Remediation) and BKS1002H (Book History in Practice), blending theory with hands-on engagement in digital humanities and book studies. Her research interests span digital humanities pedagogy, collaborative publishing projects, and the intersection of feminist theory with material book culture. She actively contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives like the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) at the University of Toronto.

• Book and Publishing History
• Creative Writing
• 20th-Century Literature
• +4 more

Rafael Grohmann is an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), with a graduate cross-appointment at the Faculty of Information (iSchool). He leads the DigiLabour Initiative and is a researcher with Fairwork, focusing on Critical Platform and Data Studies. His research emphasizes platform labour, the platformization of work, and resistance strategies among workers in Latin America. Grohmann holds a PhD in Communication from the University of São Paulo and has held prior academic positions at institutions in Brazil, including Unisinos University. His research interests span platform cooperativism, public policies for technology and labor, AI's impact on work, and data-driven labour practices. He is an editorial board member for Big Data & Society and Work, Employment and Society , and contributes to UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). His work examines intersections of technology, labour precarity, and solidarity economies, with a focus on global South contexts. Recent publications analyze click farm labour in Brazil, gender dynamics in platform cooperatives, and global-local trends in platform worker organizing. Grohmann’s work bridges critical theory with action research, advocating for fair work standards in digital economies. He participates in initiatives like the Platform Cooperativism Consortium and the Labor Tech Research Network.

• Critical Platform and Data Studies
• Platform Labour
• Platform Cooperativism
• +7 more

Sarah Sharma is a Professor of Media Theory at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information and Director of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT). Her work interrogates intersections of technology, temporality, and labor through a feminist lens. She has held leadership roles in the McLuhan Centre (2017–2022) and is recognized for advancing critical media theory. Research focuses include: • Temporality’s role in cultural politics • Feminist reimaginings of McLuhan’s media theory • Digital platforms’ socio-political impacts • Labour dynamics in gig economies (e.g., TaskRabbit). Her upcoming book Insufferable Tools: Big Tech and the Broken Machine critiques tech industry failures. Key achievements: • 2024 Desmond Morton Research Excellence Award • 2014 NCA Critical Cultural Book of the Year for In the Meantime: Temporality and Cultural Politics . Her edited volume Re-Understanding Media (2022) exemplifies feminist extensions of media theory. Recent engagements include keynote addresses at the Canadian Communication Association (June 2025) and University of Michigan’s Digital Ideas Workshop (June 2025). She critiques ‘accelerationist’ narratives about technology and advocates for rethinking media through marginalized perspectives.

• Media Theory
• Cultural Politics
• Feminist Media Studies
• +3 more

Priyank Chandra is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information and Director of the STREET Lab (SocioTechnical Resistance and Ethical Technologies Lab). His interdisciplinary research focuses on sociotechnical practices of marginalized communities, leveraging HCI, CSCW, STS, and development studies to design inclusive technologies. He holds a PhD in Information from the University of Michigan, along with MS in Economics and BE in Electronics Engineering. Chandra has received awards at ACM CHI and CSCW for his work on labor movements, digital resistance, and accessibility. Education: PhD in Information, University of Michigan (2019) MS in Economics BE in Electronics Engineering Research Interests: Chandra explores how marginalized communities reconfigure technologies to foster self-organization and resistance. His work bridges HCI/CSCW with theories from development studies and institutional analysis, emphasizing ethical, socially just systems. Recent projects include studying farmer movements in India, gig economy platforms, and weather risk communication for visually impaired Ontarians. Grants & Awards: SSHRC Grant: Repertoires of Contention in Digital Labour Platforms (2023-2024) NSERC Grant: Designing Inclusive Platforms for the Gig Economy (2022-2027) Connaught New Researcher Award (2023) ACM CHI/CSCW Awards for contributions to labor studies and accessibility Advising & Labs: Supervises students in ICTs, design, and marginality. Directs the STREET Lab at KMDI, focusing on ethical tech for vulnerable communities. Teaches courses on inclusive design and marginalized communities' ICT practices.

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
• Sociotechnical Practices
• +6 more

Christian Lévesque is a Professor at the Department of Human Resources Management, HEC Montréal, and Co-director of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT). His expertise spans Labour Relations, Conflict Management, Unionism, and Public Policies in Industrial Relations. He holds a Master’s and Ph.D. from Université de Montréal and Laval University respectively. Research interests focus on digital transformation in work environments, regional governance dynamics, and union strategies. Recent work examines unions’ use of digital technologies, algorithmic management, and cross-border labour policies. He has advised one PhD (Sara Perez-Lauzon) and one MSc student (Jessica Dumouchel). Teaching includes courses on industrial relations theories and comparative HR systems. His publications reflect interdisciplinary engagement with AI ethics in workplaces, regional industrial clusters, and institutional experimentation in global labour contexts. Prominent collaborations include co-editing Trade Unions and Regions: Better Work, Experimentation, and Regional Governance (2022). Current research explores better work frameworks via human-centered AI and regional governance innovations.

• Labour Relations
• Conflict Management
• Unionism
• +6 more

Julie Yujie Chen is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology (ICCIT) at the University of Toronto Mississauga, with a graduate appointment at the Faculty of Information. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, and previously served as a Lecturer at the University of Leicester's School of Media, Communication, and Sociology. Her research focuses on the intersection of culture, digital technologies, and economic structures in shaping work experiences, particularly in China's platform economy. Key areas include ride-hailing and food-delivery sectors, worker resistance in digital capitalism, and the sociocultural impacts of platforms like WeChat. She is the lead author of *Super-sticky WeChat and Chinese Society* (2018), the first academic work analyzing WeChat's societal and political influence. Research interests: Digital labour, platform capitalism, AI-driven work, global labour patterns, and socio-technological change. Current supervision: Hiu-Fung Chung and Mathew Iantorno. Her recent work examines platform labour dynamics, national employment policies in China, and comparative studies of global digital economies. Articles often explore themes like worker agency, algorithmic management, and socio-technical resistance strategies.

• Artificial Intelligence
• Digital Labour
• Platform Economy
• +3 more

Dr. Yujie (Julie) Chen is an Associate Professor (on leave) at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information, affiliated with the Department of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology (CCIT). Her work focuses on digital media's political economy, platform capitalism, and digital labour studies. She authored Super-Sticky WeChat and Chinese Society , analyzing WeChat's societal integration and platform power dynamics in China. Her research critiques how labour is marginalized in datafication discourse, particularly in platform-mediated sectors like ride-hailing (DiDi) and food delivery. Key themes include algorithmic control, worker resistance, and the interplay between technology, state policies, and labour conditions in China. Dr. Chen’s work bridges sociotechnical systems analysis with critical political economy frameworks. Her recent studies explore temporal exploitation in platform labour (e.g., food delivery workers’ time management), gamification of work processes, and the 'digital utility' concept deployed by platforms to justify market dominance. She frequently presents at conferences like AoIR and ICA, emphasizing global platform capitalism’s socio-economic impacts. Dr. Chen is completing a book manuscript examining labour’s erasure in datafication narratives and advocating for analytical frameworks that foreground embodied labour experiences. Her research also intersects with global South labour comparisons, notably between China and the Philippines in platform economies.

• Digital Media
• Digital Labour Studies
• Platform Studies
• +3 more

Dr. Sylvie Albert is a Professor of Strategy and Leadership at the University of Winnipeg, former Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, and past Associate Dean of Laurentian University's Faculty of Management. With 15 years in academia, she has extensive experience in municipal/provincial governance, management consulting, and economic development. A leading expert in smart cities and digital urban innovation, her work bridges academia, policy, and practice through roles like Senior Advisor to Infrastructure Canada's Smart Cities Challenge and lead jurist for the Intelligent Community Forum. Her research focuses on sustainable urban development, digital governance, and community telecommunication networks, informed by activism on local-to-international boards and think tanks. She is authoring her fourth book on smart cities and has led projects nationwide through her consultancy, Planned Approach Inc. Education & Experience: 12 years in government roles 10 years in management consulting Founder/owner of Planned Approach Inc. (economic development consulting) Leadership roles in Northern Ontario economic development corporations Research Interests: Her interdisciplinary work examines strategy development , entrepreneurship , innovation ecosystems , and the intersection of digitalization with urban policy. Key themes include: Smart/intelligent/sustainable city frameworks Community wireless networks and ICT adoption Online learning pedagogy in business education Labour market barriers for immigrant professionals Grants & Advising: Her advisory contributions include: Global Forum on Digitalization in Europe (yearly participation) Infrastructure Canada's Smart Cities Challenge (Senior Advisor) UN Voluntary Local Reviews methodology development Her consultancy work emphasizes economic development projects and smart community planning across Canada. Labs & Collaborations: Engaged with global networks like the Intelligent Community Forum and cross-sectoral partnerships to advance urban innovation, digital equity, and participatory governance models.

• Smart Cities
• Sustainable Urban Development
• Digital Innovation in Governance
• +4 more

Signy Lynch is an Assistant Professor in English and Drama at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and a graduate faculty member at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. Her research focuses on contemporary intercultural/diasporic performance, Black theatre, participatory performance, audience research, and critical theatre criticism in Canada. Education : PhD and MA from York University, Hon. BA from Queen’s University Her work explores the intersections of digital media and intercultural performance, including immersive theatre practices and audience dynamics in pandemic-era performances. She co-edits Canadian Theatre Review and investigates epistemic violence in traditional criticism frameworks. In the 15 most recent publications , Lynch examines topics like racial dynamics in theatre criticism, intermedial performance technologies, audience complicity in Indigenous storytelling, and pandemic-era performance adaptations. Her articles appear in Theatre Research in Canada , Contemporary Theatre Review , and New Theatre Quarterly . Awards : Barbara Godard Prize (2021), Governor General’s Gold Medal (2022), CTCA Outstanding Critical Essay runner-up (2022) Lynch co-directs the Centre for Spectatorship and Audience Research and serves on Cahoots Theatre’s board. Her SSHRC-funded research addresses hiring equity in Canadian theatre academia and reimagines critical dramaturgy for digital futures.

• Contemporary theatre
• Intercultural and diasporic performance
• Black theatre
• +4 more

Margaret E. Schotte is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at York University. She holds appointments as a YCAR Faculty Fellow and IHPST Associate Member in the Graduate Faculty. Her academic roles include serving on the Faculty of Graduate Studies and co-organizing the Joint York-University of Toronto Seminar in French History (2021–present). Schotte earned a PhD and MA from Princeton University, an MA from the University of Toronto, and a BA from Harvard University. Research Focus: Early modern history, history of science/technology, maritime history, colonial trade networks, and digital humanities. Key Project: Principal Investigator for the SSHRC Insight Grant-funded project "Sailing for the French: Labour, Trade, and Mobility in the Indian Ocean World" (2022–2027), leveraging ArcGIS and digital humanities. Publications: Award-winning book Sailing School: Navigating Science and Skill, 1550-1800 (2019), analyzing nautical knowledge development among early modern sailors. Her research explores how mariners acquired scientific expertise through manuscripts, classrooms, and shipboard practices, emphasizing the interplay between practical skills and societal impacts. She also investigates colonial trade networks and reinterprets 18th-century merchant records using digital tools. Schotte serves on advisory boards for the International Journal of Maritime History , ERC Rutter Project, Prize Papers Project, and Navy Records Society (UK). Teaching and leadership include roles at the Canadian Nautical Research Society as Councillor and editorial board member (2018–2025). Her work bridges historical scholarship with modern digital methods, focusing on maritime labor, globalization, and knowledge dissemination.

• Early Modern History
• History of Science and Technology
• Maritime History
• +3 more

Charles Smith is a Professor of Political Studies at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. He specializes in Canadian political economy, provincial politics, and labour law, with a focus on workers' rights, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the intersection of law and class struggle. His research spans historical analysis of Canadian labour movements, modern legal challenges faced by unions, and the political economies of Canadian provinces. Education: Ph.D. in Political Science from York University. His work emphasizes critical engagement with neoliberalism's impact on labour rights and the evolving role of the Canadian state in regulating industrial relations. Research Interests: Labour history, provincial politics, constitutional law applications to labour rights, and the socio-political dynamics of Western Canada. His analysis often critiques legal frameworks that constrain workers' collective freedoms, advocating for a more equitable interpretation of Charter rights for unions. Publications Trends: Recent work focuses on Saskatchewan's political developments (2025 paper), historical labour legislation (2024), and digital-age workplace boundaries (2022). Earlier publications analyzed back-to-work laws (2020), anti-union legal architectures (2018), and landmark strike cases like the Pepsi Strike (2014). His 2017 book Unions in Court co-authored with Larry Savage remains a seminal text on constitutional labour rights. Awards: SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2012-2014) Teaching & Grants: Taught courses on public law, political economy, and Canadian democracy. His grants supported research into provincial political transformations and the socio-political impacts of austerity policies. Active in curriculum development around social justice and the common good. Labs/Teams: Co-editor of Labour/Le Travail , Canada's leading labour studies journal. Collaborates extensively with scholars like Larry Savage, Tom McIntosh, and Andrew Stevens on projects examining workers' legal rights, neoliberalism, and Western Canadian politics.

• Canadian Political Economy
• Provincial Politics
• Public Law
• +6 more

David Butz is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies at Brock University. He holds roles as Core Faculty in the Geography , Social Justice and Equity Studies , and Popular Culture graduate programs. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Social Justice and contributes to editorial boards of ERDKUNDE , Journal of Autoethnography , and Pakistan Geographical Review . His research focuses on social and cultural geography, qualitative methodologies (e.g., autoethnography), mobility justice, and the socio-spatial impacts of road construction in northern Pakistan. He supervises graduate students exploring topics like road impacts in Ghana, rural decline, fat activism, and music’s role in spatiality. His work integrates ethnographic fieldwork, photovoice methods, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Key publications include studies on Shimshal, Pakistan’s road project (e.g., Road Construction, Mobility and Social Change ), mobility justice frameworks, and reggae music’s spatial dimensions. He hosts a weekly reggae radio show, Riddim Come Fawaad , and has authored/co-edited books on mobilities and social justice. Dr. Butz has advised over 50 graduate students since 2000 and served as an external examiner for global PhD committees. His research spans Pakistan, Ghana, and global South contexts, emphasizing community voices and epistemic justice.

• Social and Cultural Geography
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Mobility Justice
• +5 more

Karun Karki is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, University of British Columbia (UBC), joining in July 2024. He previously held positions at the University of Fraser Valley (2020-2024), Memorial University of Newfoundland (2019-2020), and Wilfrid Laurier University (2016-2018). His education includes a PhD in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University, alongside multiple master's degrees in Sociology, English Literature, and Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His research focuses on critical theories addressing anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and intersectional social justice. Key themes include biopolitical governance, migration crises, and the marginalization of racialized communities, LGBTQ+ populations, and refugees. He explores topics like ethno-racial labor market segregation and health disparities among diasporic groups. Recent publications (2020-2025) analyze pandemic impacts on migrant workers, racialized immigrants' socioeconomic challenges, and the mental health of healthcare professionals during crises. His work often employs collaborative methodologies like autoethnography and community-based participatory research. Awards/Grants: SSHRC grants totaling over $100K, including studies on skilled immigrant integration and HIV-related gender-based violence. Teaching: Courses span foundational social work theory to advanced clinical practice, with a focus on decolonizing education and mental health interventions. Practice: Engages in community capacity-building, policy advocacy, and psychosocial support for BIPOC communities. His current affiliations include leadership roles in transnational social work research and collaborations with organizations addressing refugee resettlement and healthcare equity.

• Critical Race Theory
• Biopolitics/Necropolitics
• Social Determinants of Health
• +6 more

Nicole Cohen is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, affiliated with the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information . Her research focuses on the political economy of communication , media labor precarity , and cultural worker organizing , with a particular emphasis on journalism , alternative media , and digital labor . Institution : University of Toronto Primary Affiliation : Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology Secondary Affiliation : Faculty of Information Academic Rank : Associate Professor Her research explores: Worker Empowerment : Unions, co-operatives, and collective action in digital journalism Platform Labor : Exploitation on Substack, social media, and freelance platforms Media Precarity : Gendered and racialized dimensions of insecure work Alternative Media : Resistance, autonomy, and labor activism Recent research trends identified in her publications include: 2025 Focus : Platform governance, writers of color, and labor education reforms 2024-2023 : Intersectional analysis of media labor, audience commodification theories 2020-2015 : Unionization strategies, unpaid internships, and coworking politics Scientific awards: Gertrude J. Robinson Book Prize (2017) CWA Canada/CAJ Award for Labour Reporting (2013) She supervises graduate students like Christine H. Tran and Darsana Vijay , and participates in the SSHRC-funded Cultural Workers Organize project.

• Political Economy of Communication
• Media and Cultural Industries
• Journalism Studies
• +5 more