CV
Dr. Brianna I. Wiens
Assistant Professor in Digital Media and Rhetoric,
Department of English Language and Literature,
Cross-Appointed with the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Faculty of Health
University of Waterloo
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Co-Founder and Co-Director, qCollaborative
Feminist Design Research Lab
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Degrees
PhD – Joint Program in Communication and Culture
Specializations: Media and Culture, Technology in Practice
York University and Toronto Metropolitan University, 2022
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MA – Communication: Rhetoric and Culture
University of Colorado Boulder, 2016
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BA - Speech Communication
Minors: French, Gender and Social Justice
University of Waterloo, 2014
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Dissertation Title:
Moving with Stories of ‘Me too.’: Towards a Theory and Praxis of Intersectional Entanglements
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Thesis Title:
Home Is Where the Spray-Painted Heart Is: Graffiti as Rhetorical Resistance on Skid Row
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Publications
Edited Collections:
Wiens, Brianna I., Michelle MacArthur, Shana MacDonald, and Milena Radzikowska (eds.). 2023. Stories of Feminist Protest and Resistance: Digital Performative Assemblies. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
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MacDonald, Shana, Brianna I. Wiens, Michelle MacArthur, and Milena Radzikowska (eds.). 2021. Networked Feminisms: Activist Assemblies and Digital Practices. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Chapters in Books:
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. 2024. “Back to the Future of Postfeminist Film: Hallmark, Netflix, and the ‘New’ Woman’s Holiday Film.” In Critical Perspectives on the Hallmark Channel, edited by Carlen Lavigne. Routledge Advances in Popular Culture Studies. New York, NY: Routledge, 42- 52.
Wiens, Brianna I. Invited book chapter in press for 2024. “‘Media Matrix Mapping: A Feminist Small Data Methodology for Digital Media Ecologies.” In Clever Design in Critical Times: Conceptualizing the Collidocene, edited by 5 Guillaume Englert Correa Meyer, Milena Radzikowska, and Stan Ruecker. Lanham: Lexington Books.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Invited book chapter in press for 2024. “We Still Don’t Understand We’re at War”: Media Toxicity and Social Media Disinformation Ecologies.” In Clever Design in Critical Times: Conceptualizing the Collidocene, edited by Guillaume Englert Correa Meyer, Milena Radzikowska, and Stan Ruecker. Lanham: Lexington Books.
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Roberts-Smith, Jennifer, Shana MacDonald, and Brianna I. Wiens. In Press. “‘I Can(‘t) Do That’: The Multi-Mangle of Theatrical Vibrancy.” In Théâtre et Nouveaux Matérialismes, edited by Hervé Guay, Jean-Marc Larrue, and Nicole Nolette. Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 199-215.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Book chapter under peer review. “Back to the Future of Postfeminist Film: Hallmark, Netflix, and the ‘New’ Woman’s Holiday Film”. Countdown to Hallmark (Routledge Advances in Popular Culture Studies), edited by Carlen Lavigne.
Wiens, Brianna I. Invited book chapter under peer review. “(Re)designing Feminist Futures: ‘Vital Structuring’ as Critical Praxis. In Design in the Collidocene, edited by Milena Radzikowska, Guillaume Englert Correa Meyer, and Stan Ruecker. Routledge.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Invited book chapter under peer review. “We Still Don’t Understand We’re at War”: Media Toxicity and Social Media Disinformation Ecologies.” In Design in the Collidocene, edited by Milena Radzikowska, Guillaume Englert Correa Meyer, and Stan Ruecker. MIT Press.
Wiens, Brianna I., Michelle MacArthur, and Shana MacDonald. 2023. “Assemblies of Resistance: Feminist Stories, Protest, and Dissent in the Digital Age.” In Stories of Feminist Protest and Resistance: Digital Performative Assemblies, edited by Brianna I. Wiens, Michelle MacArthur, Shana MacDonald, and Milena Radzikowska. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 1-17.
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Wiens, Brianna I. “How To Use Creative and Embodied Digital Methods.” In SAGE Research Methods: Doing Research Online, edited by Kasia Figiel. Sage Publications. Invited Chapter.
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MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. 2022. “Feminist Memes: Digital Communities, Identity Performance, and Resistance from the Shadows.” In Materializing Digital Futures: Touch, Movement, Sound and Vision, edited by Toija Cinque and Jordan Beth Vincent. Bloomsbury.
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Wiens, Brianna I. 2021. “Virtual Dwelling: Feminist Orientations to Digital Communities.” In Networked Feminisms: Activist Assemblies and Digital Practices, edited by Shana MacDonald, Brianna I. Wiens, Michelle MacArthur, and Milena Radzikowska. Lexington Books.
Wiens, Brianna I., Shana MacDonald, Michelle MacArthur, and Milena Radzikowska. 2021. “Introduction: Feminist Takes on Networking Justice.” In Networked Feminisms: Activist Assemblies and Digital Practices, edited by Shana MacDonald, Milena Radzikowska, Michelle MacArthur, and Brianna I. Wiens. Lexington Books.
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MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. 2021. “Not Influencers, but Amplifiers: @Aesthetic.Resistance as Feminist IG Hack.” In Visualizing Objects, Places, and Spaces: A Digital Project Handbook, edited by Beth Fischer and Hannah Jacobs. Duke University Press. Doi: 10.21428/51bee781.2d81fe0d
Articles in Refereed Journals:
McWebb, Anna, Melanie Lim, and Brianna I. Wiens. Abstract Accepted, Manuscript due March 20, 2205. “Curating Digital Femininity: Disentangling the Politics of Fem(me)ininity in #TradWife.” Special Issue of the Journal of Femininities: Digital Femininities.
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Wiens, Brianna I., Kate Bradley, Nevetha Kugathas, and Shana MacDonald. Revise and Resubmit due January 20, 2025. “‘Men are Very Scary Out There’: Reflections on Rape Culture, Misogyny, and #MeToo in the Bear vs. Man Social Media Trend.” Special Issue of Feminist Encounters: Digital Activisms and Intersectionality in Context.
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Wiens, Brianna I. and Anna McWebb. In press 2025. “#Girlhood: Why Memetic Aesthetics of Hyperfemininity Matter for Feminist Media Studies.” Special Issue of the Journal of Femininities: Why Femininity Studies Matter.
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MacDonald, Shana, Brianna I. Wiens, and Nick Ruest. 2024. “Dwelling with Feminist Media Archives in the Age of Big Data. Special Issue of Internet Histories: Gender and Internet/Web History.
 https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2024.2431799
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Vernon-Wilson, Elizabeth, Rand Hussein, Moses Tetui, Adrian Poon, Nancy Waite, Brianna Wiens, Shana MacDonald, and Kelly Grindrod. 2024. “Fertility Concerns and COVID-19 Vaccines: Community-Informed Infographic Design in Urban Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.” Journal of Community Systems for Health 1(1), https://doi.org/10.36368/jcsh.v1i1.1041.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. “‘It’s Okay to Not be Okay During a Pandemic’: A Critical Data Approach to Feminist Memes and Community Formation During the Covid-19 Pandemic,” Journal of Gender Studies (Forthcoming, 2023).
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Wiens, Brianna I. and Shana MacDonald. 2024. “Dwelling as Method: Lingering in/with Feminist Curated Data Sets on Instagram” with Shana MacDonald. Special Issue of JDSR: Methodological Developments in Visual Politics & Protest 6(2): 27-45.
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Wiens, Brianna I. and Shana MacDonald. 2024. “Witches in Swamps, Sirens at Sea, and Leviathans of the Deep: Feminist Figures that Haunt Social Media.” Special Issue of PULBIC: The Witch Institute.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Submitted. “Signs of the Resistance, from Placards to Memes: The Changing Technologies of Feminist Reproductive Justice Protest Media.” Special Issue of Journal of Gender Studies: BACK TO THE FUTURE Feminist Media Activism in Transition.
MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Submitted. “Dwelling with Feminist Media Archives in the Age of Big Data. Special Issue of Internet Histories: Gender and Internet/Web History.
Wiens, Brianna I., Shana MacDonald, and Aynur Kadir. Forthcoming. “Feminist Shadow Networks: ‘Thinking, Talking, and Making’ as Praxes of Relationality and Care.” Digital Studies/Le Champ Numérique.
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MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. Invited article under peer review. “Meme-ifying Data: The Rise of Public Health Influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter during Covid-19.” JDSR: Journal of Digital Social Research.
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Wiens, Brianna I. and Shana MacDonald. 2021. “Living Whose Best Life? An Intersectional Feminist Interrogation of Postfeminist #Solidarity in #SelfCare.” NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies, Special Issue on #Solidarity 10(1), 219-242. https://doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/16254
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Wiens, Brianna. I, Stan Rucker, Jennifer Roberts-Smith, Milena Radzikowska, and Shana MacDonald. 2020. “Materializing Data: New Research Methods for 4 Feminist Digital Humanities.” Digital Studies/Le Champ Numérique 10(1): 13, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.16995/ dscn.373
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Wiens, Brianna I. and Shana MacDonald. 2020. “Feminist Futures: #MeToo’s Possibilities as Poiesis, Techné, and Pharmakon.” Feminist Media Studies 21(7): 1108-1124.
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MacDonald, Shana and Brianna I. Wiens. 2019. “Mobilizing the ‘Multi-Mangle’: Why New Materialist Research Methods in Public Participatory Art Matter.” Leisure Sciences, Special Issue on Posthumanism 41(5): 366-384.
Invited Talks and Guest Lectures
“Feminist Shadow Networks: Finding Feminist Networks in Academia.” Invited Speaker at the Academic Career Conference, University of Waterloo, October 17, 2024.
“From Moments to Movements: (Dis)Connecting through Feminist Shadow Networks.” Keynote Speaker for SAGE Symposium, University of Waterloo, October 5, 2024.
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“(En/De)coding Media Literacies: Developing Multimedia Tools to Address COVID-19 Misinformation.” Invited Guest Lecture for Social Detriments of Health, HLTH 260), University of Waterloo, July 4, 2024. 0
“Meme-ifying Public Health Data.” Invited talk for Information Studies, University of Toronto on public health information access to vulnerable communities, February 13, 2024.
“Data, Power, and Embodied Digital Methods: Virtually Dwelling with Stories of Mixed-Race Experience.” Invited Talk for Gender, Race, and Data Activism, Bowling Green University, March 19, 2024.
“Moving with Digitally Mediated Stories: A Method of Virtual Dwelling.” Invited Presentation for the Visual Methods for Digital Research Online Symposium, White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Program for the UK Economic and Social Research Council, December 14, 2023.
“Deciphering Media Representation: Developing Media Literacies for the Infodemic.” Invited Guest Lecture for Pharmacy (PHARM 230: Cultural Safety), University of Waterloo, October 18, 2023.
Invited Panelist for “Supporting Female Leaders, Our Story, Our Future,” in partnership with Alumni Relations and the Women’s Centre, University of Waterloo, September 28, 2023.
“(En/De)coding Media Literacies: Developing Multimedia Tools to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Fertility Concerns.” Invited Guest Lecture for Health Communication (HLTH 304), University of Waterloo, September 27, 2023.
Invited Panelist for New@Waterloo panel discussion for the New Faculty Planning Committee, University of Waterloo, August 30, 2023.
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“Witches in Swamps and Sirens at Sea: Feminist Figures that Haunt TechBroTopias” English Faculty Workshops. March 30, 2023.
“Alexa, who do you work for? Unpacking TechnoSolutionist Rhetorics in the Age of AI.” English Sample Lecture for the March Break Open House. March 18, 2023.
“From IG Grids to IRL Tables: Feminist Design Praxes for Small-Scale Community Building.” Invited Speaker. Invited Public Research Talk at the Games Institute, University of Waterloo. December 2, 2022. See Event Page.
“Critical Design Praxis for Critical Times: Feminist Research-Creation Instagram Hacking.” Invited Speaker and MFA critic. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s School of Art + Design 2022-2023 Visiting Series Program, November 17, 2022.
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“Invisible Labour in the Academy.” Invited Panelist. Hosted by the Mount Royal University Diversity and Equity Committee: March 4, 2022.
“Critical Tech Talk: Wendy Chun–Discriminating Data.” Invited Respondent. University of Waterloo, February 10, 2022.
“#MeToo: Beyond the Binary–On the Necessity of Reflecting on Media Representations of Feminism and Activism.” Invited Guest Lecture for Advanced Intercultural Communication (SPCOM 402), University of Waterloo, November 30, 2021.
“Misogyny in Games and Gaming Culture.” Invited Speaker at the Panel Discussion hosted by the UW Women’s Centre. University of Waterloo, November 10, 2021.
“Research-Creation and Critical Feminist Design Processes.” Invited Guest Lecture for Critical Design Practices (SPCOM 149), University of Waterloo, October 29, 2021.
“Design Justice: Practices for Reshaping the Future.” Invited Respondent for the Roundtable Discussion with the Design Justice Network steering committee (Sasha Costanza-Chock, Denise Shanté Brown, and Wesley Taylor). York University, April 9, 2021.
“Post to Protest: Digital Feminist and Queer Solidarities.” Invited Keynote at the Institute for Research on Digital Literacies. York University, December 11, 2020.
“Creative Research Design for the Resistance” with Shana MacDonald. 2020. Invited Public Research Talk at the Games Institute. University of Waterloo, February 27, 2020.
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Public Outreach and Knowledge Mobilization
“Feminist Think Tank x Women in Math.” Zine Workshop, University of Waterloo, October 9, 2024.
“Intergenerational Feminist Futures” Humanities Research Institute, workshop participant and facilitator, Brock University, July 22-26, 2024.
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“Feminist Techno-Imaginaries: Utopic Refusals and Feminist Visual Media.” Invited Workshop Presentations for Combining Two Cultures, University of Waterloo. January 14, 2024.
Anti-Racism, Decolonization, Equity Committee, Invited Moderator for Dr. Ashlee Bird’s “From Custer's Revenge to Red Dead Redemption: Changing the Language of Indigenous Representation in Video Games.” Games Institute, University of Waterloo. May 10, 2023.
Counterspeech Lab, “Safer and Vital Communities” Workshop Session with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW: How To Combat Online Hate for Ages 18-25. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator with Shana MacDonald. January 5-6, 2023.
Counterspeech Lab, “Safer and Vital Communities” Workshop Session with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW: How To Combat Online Hate for Grades 11- 12. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator with Shana MacDonald. August 23, 2022.
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Data Jam: “Feminist Think Tank Presents: Solidarity as Method.” Games Institute, University of Waterloo. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator. Upcoming: April 8, 2022.
Feminist Think Tank with waterworks.digital. “Digital Cartographies and Affect Circulation.” Games Institute, University of Waterloo. Organizer. Upcoming: April 6, 2022.
Counterspeech Lab, “Safer and Vital Communities” Workshop Session with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW: How To Combat Online Hate for Ages 18-25. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator with Shana MacDonald. January 5-6, 2023.
Counterspeech Lab, “Safer and Vital Communities” Workshop Session with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW: How To Combat Online Hate for Grades 11-12. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator with Shana MacDonald. August 23, 2022.
Counterspeech Lab “Safer and Vital Communities” Workshop Session with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW: How To Combat Online Hate. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator. Upcoming: March 15, 2022.
Networked Feminisms Speaker Series: “Digital Activism in Practice." University of Waterloo. Co-Organizer and Host.” Upcoming: March 14, 2022.
Networked Feminisms Speaker Series: “Networked Identities and Communities. University of Waterloo.” Co-Organizer and Host. February 16, 2022.
Data Jam: Feminist Think Tank in Collaboration with the Critical Tech Talk Series: Wendy Chun––Discriminating Data. Co-Organizer. February 10, 2022.
Networked Feminisms Speaker Series: “Conceptual Frameworks for Networked Feminism.” University of Waterloo. Co-Organizer and Host. January 27, 2022.
Data Jam: “Feminist Think Tank Presents: Small Data vs. Big Data.” Games Institute, University of Waterloo. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator. December 8, 2021.
Data Jam: “Feminist Think Tank Presents: Everything But The Kitchen Sink.” Games Institute, University of Waterloo. Co-Organizer and Co-Moderator. November 25, 2021.
Colouring Book: “Feminists Coloring Feminists” Vol. 2. Curator and Contributor. November 23, 2021.
Colouring Book: “Colouring Feminist Activists” Vol. 1. Curator and Contributor. May 2021.
“Feminist Research Methodologies.” Workshop at the Games Institute Research Assistant Workshop, University of Waterloo. Speaker and Facilitator. January 16, 2021.
“GI Playbook: Publishing in the Humanities.” Live broadcast talk with Q&A, hosted by the Games Institute, University of Waterloo. Co-Moderator and Speaker with Shana MacDonald. May 2020.
Conference Presentations
“Platformed Visual Misogyny.” ECREA: European Communication Research and Education Association. University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Upcoming September 24-27, 2024.
“The Siren Song of Feminist Rhetorical Refusal” in Where’s the #Joy? Digital Visual Rhetorics of Feminist Pleasure, Community, and Resistance panel. The Canadian Society of the Study of Rhetoric, Montréal, Canada. Upcoming June 13, 2024.
“Virtually Dwelling with Mixed-Race Memes” in Emerging Perspectives on Social Media in Theory and Practice panel. Film and Media Studies Association of Canada, Montréal, Canada. Upcoming June 15, 2024.
“Re-Thinking, Re-Mixing, Re-Making: Mediated Stories of Mixed-Race Embodiment and the Ethos of the ‘In-between.’” Rhetoric Society of America, Denver, Colorado, United States. Upcoming May 22-26, 2024.
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“Activists Archiving the Internet: Social Justice Informed Approaches to Digitally Born Content” with Shana MacDonald, Mina Momeni, Nick Ruest, and Shawn Walker. Shake Up the Archives Conference, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. June 24, 2023.
“Storming the TechBro-stille: Breaking Down Technology’s Exclusionary Gates.” Panel discussion with Lai-Tze Fan, Susan Flavelle, and Shana MacDonald. Canadian Communication Association, York University, Toronto. May 30-June 2, 2023.
“The Feminist Urge to RESIST: Feminist Memes as Affective Socio-Political Vernaculars” with Shana MacDonald. Panel presentation in “Methodological Developments and Challenges in Visual Politics and Protest.” International Communication Association, Toronto, Ontario. May 29, 2023. See Conference Program.
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"Exploring Feminist Media Archives in the Age of Big Data” with Shana MacDonald. International Data Power Conference. Upcoming: June 24, 2022.
“Social Justice Oriented Critical Design Pedagogy in Urgent Times” with Aynur Kadir, Shana MacDonald, Milena Radzikowska, Jennifer Roberts-Smith, and Stan Ruecker. Curated Panel. DH Unbounded. Upcoming: May 2022.
“Coming Together while Staying Apart” with Shana MacDonald. Presentation at the Gender, Activism, and Political Theory in Covid Times conference, Online: September 24, 2021.
“Amplifying Activist Influence: @Aesthetic.Resistance as Feminist IG Hack” with Shana MacDonald. Methods, Theories, and Taking Action Through Gender and Feminisms in HCI workshop, Online: September 8, 2021.
“‘Maybe it’s a basic and trendy or maybe it’s a global feminist awakening: Witch Memes as Feminist Shadow Resistance” with Shana MacDonald. Presentation in Media, Activism, and Politics panel at The Witch Institute, Online: August 20, 2021.
“Reflections on Collaboration, Intersectionality, and Feminist Praxis in Networked Feminisms: Activist Assemblies and Digital Practices.” Presentation in the qLab panel, “The Hermeneutic of Generativity” at the Canadian Studies of Digital Humanities Conference, Online: June 2, 2021.
“Collaborative Methods for Digital Responsibility: Orienting towards Feminist Digital Resistance through Virtual Dwelling, Vibrant Ethos, and Vital Structuring.” Presentation in the qLab panel “The Hermeneutic of Generativity” at the Canadian Studies of Digital Humanities Conference, Online: June 2, 2021.
“(Re)Situating Mediations of #SelfCare: Mobilizing Black Feminist Politics for Intersectional Futures.” Panel presentation on Contemporary and Historical Feminisms: Continuities, Comparisons, and Contradictions. Society of Cinema and Media Studies, Denver, CO, Online: March 2021.
“Digital Feminist Research Hacks: Undermining Platform Capitalism on the ‘gram” with Shana MacDonald. Chesapeake Digital Humanities Consortium 2021 Conference: Social Justice and Online Activism, Online: February 26, 2021.
“Recovering #SelfCare for Intersectional Feminist Futures: Neoliberalism, Self-Care, and Whiteness in Hashtag Communities” with Shana MacDonald. Chesapeake Digital Humanities Consortium 2021 Conference: Social Justice and Online Activism, Online: February 25, 2021.
“Fostering Feminist and Queer Futures: Instagram ‘Hacking’ for the Resistance” with Shana MacDonald. Futures of Feminist & Queer Solidarities: Connectivity, Materiality, and Mobility in a Digital World. International Online Conference, University of Gothenburg, Sweden: September 30–October 2, 2020.
“Remixing Technocultures: Feminist Interventions into Platform Conformity” with Shana MacDonald. International Conference on Communication and Media Studies, Online: October 3, 2020.
“Dwelling Together: Performances and Orientations to Feminist Digital Hashtag Communities.” Canadian Association for Theatre Research, Online. August 6, 2020.
“Performing #MeToo.” Panel on Performing Feminism in Networked Spaces Online and Offline. Canadian Association for Theatre Research, Montreal, QC: May 2020.
Media Appearances
“Video is now the medium of our lives.” MIT Tech Review. August 24, 2024. Interview with Clive Thompson.
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“The complicated ethics of digital piracy.” CanCulture Magazine. April 27, 2024. Interview with Hannah Mercanti.
CBC: The National. Interview with Anya Zoledziowski for a segment on social media activism. “Trump Criminal Trial Beings.” Aired April 15, 2024.
“Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish—‘girlhood’ rule the 2024 Grammys. Here’s why it matters.” The Toronto Star, February 4, 2024. Interview with Aisling Murphy.
“Hyperfemininity: Is it Feminist?” The Gazette, December 7, 2023. Interview with Shanze Zaeem.
“Social media sparking new feminist wave, say Waterloo researchers.” The Record, July 31, 2023. Interview with Johanna Weidner
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“UW Games Institute holds panel on feminist and responsible design.” Discussion with Eduardo Matzumiya from UW Imprint. December 7, 2022.
“Radical Self-Care.” Podcast episode with Lisa Bush from Stories Within Us. Air Date: May 25, 2022.
“Feminism, Media, and Aesthetic Resistance.” Podcast episode with Jessica Albrecht and Leandro Wallace from En-Gender Conversations on social media and community building. Upcoming airdate: March 2021.
“Grappling with Invisible Labour.” Podcast episode with Lisa Bush from Stories Within Us. Upcoming: April 2022.
‘Perception is Reality’: Best Political Performers Forge a Personal Connection with Audience. Interview with Alice Chen from The Hill Times on social media and politics. December 2021.