Tuesday, June 23, 2020

A Mother’s Biggest Fear

By: Kathy Dobson Tori Almond recently had a critically important conversation with her three young sons, a conversation that parents of white children will never have to have. Tori talked to her boys about how to avoid getting killed by the police just because of their skin colour. “My biggest fear is that I... More

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Didn’t you know? COVID-19 is Over!

By Kathy Dobson Seth didn’t always hate his job. The first couple of years he often enjoyed his work as a grocery store clerk, mostly because of the other staff. “I work with a great crew of people, and that makes everything easier, liking the people you work with. Some of the hardest parts... More

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

F*** you very much for not wearing a mask while you buy your organic coffee beans and salad

By Kathy Dobson Brenna and Carey have been working at a local major chain store for the past three years. Brenna is a fulltime student at Carleton University, but tries to work as many hours each week as possible. Carey works fulltime but wishes she could afford to work less hours each week as... More

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Dear White Nova Scotians Posting About Black Lives Matter, From a Fellow White Nova Scotian

By Carmen Warner Imagine that you are shopping in Walmart with your two young children in a stroller. Imagine you buy $90 worth of electronics from the electronics department. The cashier then tells you that you must check out your produce items at a different check out because they have to be weighed. No... More

Saturday, May 30, 2020

If there is nothing people take away from Amy Cooper other than Holy shit she’s racist then we lost the moment

By Terre Chartrand  I have too often backed down out of my own fragility, my own desire for self preservation in sharing and talking about racist violence. My family is a gorgeous blend of shades and races that run from pale Northern European to Indigenous to Black. I used to think it was enough... More

Friday, May 1, 2020

Tracking COVID-19

By Ghadah Alrasheed Whenever there is a crisis, people often go to technology for “help”. It is what historians and cultural scholars describe as “technological optimism”. It means that technology evokes hopeful aspirations for people whenever they struggle with large issues and crises. So when physical communication is interrupted,... More

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Social Distancing for us is not a Nuisance – it is an Impossible Reality

By Zamzam Abdikader My name is Zamzam Abdikadir and I am based in Kakuma refugee camp. Kakuma is located in the north-western side of Kenya and as per UNHCR statistics done on 29th February 2020, there are 194,914 registered refugees living in the camp. In regards to the current COVID-19 situation, there is no... More

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Other Stories of COVID-19

Credit: Globalresearch.ca By Ghadah Alrasheed I write this while at home following my province’s social distancing rules and homeschooling my kids. The furthest I go is our local grocery store. If we ever need to spend any time outside, our backyard will be the main location. Although very unfamiliar, this situation is weirdly nostalgic.... More

Friday, March 13, 2020

ALiGN’s Media Training and Writing Workshop for Refugees from Kakuma Camp

  On March 12, as part of a series on Media Training and Writing Workshops, ALiGN hosted “Storytelling with Impact,” a workshop presented online with refugees from Kakuma Camp in Kenya. The theme of the workshop, presented by interim co-Directors of the lab, Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, included the importance of knowing what... More

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Should you be scared about coronavirus?

Credit: CNN   By Scott Mitchell What’s going on with this coronavirus pandemic? There are some concerning developments, but there is also some cause for optimism. There are some things we don’t know. This may sound like it's oversimplifying a very complex situation - or maybe this piece will offer comforting or useful information to... More

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

ALiGN is Hosting a Workshop for Refuges

Research on the coverage of refugees reveals that less than a quarter of all news articles on migration or refugee issues mention a refugee or migrant, and far fewer directly quote them. Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, Interim co-Directors of ALiGN Media Lab, became more aware of this issue after they visited Nairobi last... More

Monday, March 9, 2020

Dr. Merlyna Lim Honoured for Groundbreaking Research, Teaching, and Community Outreach

On the International Women's Day, Carleton University honoured Dr. Merlyna Lim, among 10 women, who have had impact on our world through their "innovative teaching, ground-breaking research and vital community outreach". The ALiGN Media Lab stands out as one of Dr. Lim’s great and innovative contributions in facilitating community-outreach... More

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Can “We are Halluci Nation” Offer us a Decolonial Future?

By Rebecca Mitchell I was introduced to the work of the Indigenous Canadian DJ collective A Tribe Called Red this past summer. As a long-time Ottawa resident, I had already heard the name of the group due to their Ottawa roots, but had never actually heard their music. After listening to the first few... More

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

EXHIBIT ANNOUNCEMENT January 10 – Feb 12, 2020

You’re invited to “Hands: Medium & Massage”, an art exhibit featuring the works of Dr. Merlyna Lim, Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society at Carleton University. The exhibit will be held from JANUARY 10 to FEBRUARY 12, 2019 | 10 JANVIER AU 12 FÉVRIER 2020 at Atrium Art Gallery Galerie... More

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Graphic CV: Mapping Lived/Research Experiences

Recently, Professor Merlyna Lim was invited by the University of Humboldt in Berlin to deliver a public lecture in which she was asked to "autobiographically reflect on [her] approach, locating [her] work in the larger fields and debates." She was reluctant but eventually said yes! So, in her attempt to help audience understand the... More

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Do political polls have value? Or are they ‘useless’?

By Scott Mitchell Can polls accurately predict future outcomes of elections? Or are they meaningless numbers often disconnected from reality? The latter sentiment is often tied to conversations around the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The story goes that polls were showing Hillary Clinton as a near-certain victor, and so Donald Trump winning... More

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Attention: We Stand in Solidarity with Youth Climate Action

ALiGN stands in solidarity with the global community in fighting climate change. The strikes were started by the Swedish young activist Greta Thunberg in September 2018 and now are happening in different communities around the world. They are joined by people protesting the lack of awareness and action towards climate change. ALiGN is proud... More

Monday, September 30, 2019

Thousands of Ottawa Students March to Protest Climate Change

  ALiGN recently spoke with several students who attended the climate change protest on Friday, September 27th, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, inspired by the strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg. This includes Carmen Warner, a PhD student at Carleton University. “I’ve had many conversations with people about the value of protesting, that... More

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

UNRWA in Canada’s First National Leaders Debate – Wait, What is UNRWA?

By Ghadah Alrasheed  Credit: AFP In the first federal leaders’ debate, three party leaders talked through some of the issues that matter most to Canadians including the economy, health care, and environment. But when the debate shifted to the UNRWA, it seemed strange that an organization unlikely familiar to many Canadians took centre. In... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Becoming Migration Researchers: Disquieting Borders with Auto-Ethnography

An introduction to "Migration Stories" by Laura Bisaillon What do five Canadian women with kinship ties to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this special collection, contemporary experiences with human movement and circulation across borders, both material and conceptual, are... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

From Vietnam to Canada: Exploring through Photographs, Footprints and Fingertips

In July 2017, my family and I returned to Vietnam, thirteen years after our last visit. Duong Bui, my father, took my younger brother, Allan, and I to visit his childhood home. He lived there from birth until he escaped Vietnam after the Vietnam War. Like many others, he became a refugee and made his way to Canada, in search of better... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Language Past, Present and Future: Being Memon, Expressing Life in Kutchi

In this paper, I highlight the significance of language as a key feature supporting cultural and community practices. Starting with my ethnic community, Memon, and the language we speak, Kutchi, I argue that it is important for us to find ways to preserve. Currently, it is only an oral language. Without an official script, I am concerned that this... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

From Asia to North America: Praying Here, There, and Everywhere

This paper aims to explore social belonging for Muslims and Muslim immigrants in North America using the object of a janamaz (prayer mat). I argue that in the face of rising intolerance and an inherent ‘othering’ of Muslims embedded in legal structures and social awareness, being backed by a community creates a sense of social belonging that... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Growing up in a Bengali Kitchen

In this paper, I share how as an immigrant in Canada, I felt detached from my home country of Bangladesh in my early years due to a desire to assimilate into dominant Canadian culture. As I grew older, I actively sought a connection to cultivate my ‘Bengaliness’ by holding onto Bengali food customs and practices. I use my personal narratives... More

Sunday, September 1, 2019

A Song for my Mother: No Turning Back

In this essay, I contest ideas and representations about migrants as “vulnerable” and “other” from a presumed “us”. I argue that migrants are strong figures who deal with uncertainties over which they have little control. I have composed a music composition entitled No Turning Back. This analyses features my mother’s migration to... More

Monday, August 12, 2019

ALiGN researchers participate in the Forced Migration Training camp in Nairobi

ALiGN is proud to announce that, thanks to its partnership with LERRN: the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network at Carleton University, two of our writers and researchers, Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, have been invited to participate in the annual "Forced Migration Training" camp at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi at the... More

Thursday, August 1, 2019

ALiGN Publications & Media Coverage

We're still enjoying our summer break. However, it doesn't mean nothing's going on at ALiGN :-) We're busy working on various things, our own research and, of course, the next special issue! In the meantime, in the last couple months, several publications from ALiGN folks are published. These include: Dobson, K. (2019). Connecting, Bypassing, and... More

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Mobilizing Emotion, Not Knowledge

  May 2019 IN THE SPOTLIGHT MERLYNA LIM Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society Mobilizing Emotion, Not Knowledge As Canada prepares for a federal election, Canada Research Chair Professor Merlyna Lim is analyzing how social media users—human and otherwise—are mobilizing emotions rather... More

Thursday, May 2, 2019

[Workshop] Public Sector Writing

On 11 April 2019 the ALiGN Media Lab held a "Public Sector Writing" at the School of Journalism and Communication Studies, Carleton University. Organized by Ghadah Alrasheed (Postdoctoral Fellow, ALIGN Media Lab, Carleton University) and Aden Dur-e-Aden (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto), the workshop was led... More

Thursday, May 2, 2019

[Workshop] Pathways to Digital Literacy

On 3 April 2019, the ALiGN Media Lab held a "Pathways to Digital Literacy"workshop for the middle grade students (7th and 8th) at Abraar Secondary School. Organized by Ghadah Alrasheed (ALiGN postdoctoral fellow), in four 60-minute sessions, participants learned about media literacy and media production. Two media literacy sessions, facilitated... More

Monday, April 1, 2019

[Millennials’ Voices] Disappearing Comment Sections on News Websites: Cause for Concern?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. A simple saying to remind children that words can’t hurt. But what happens when the children grow into adults and words can do more than hurt? In the real world words can shape perceptions and alter realities. Words become devices used... More

Monday, April 1, 2019

[Millennials’ Voices] Attacking the Political Sphere with Fake News

The indictment last February of 13 Russians for interfering in the 2016 US Election prompted further reports discussing how ‘fake news’ is being weaponized to manipulate political processes by taking advantage of the lack of governance within social media. The CBC (Brown, 2018) published an article in March about a young journalist, Vitaly... More

Monday, April 1, 2019

[Millennials’ Voices] News and Journalism in the Age of Social Media

I am concerned with the alarming rate with which social media is changing conventional news and journalism. Today, there is widespread application of digital technology that allows for the creation and dissemination of information across the Internet. Currently, highly accessible publishing techniques on social media platforms such as Facebook,... More

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Lim’s “10 DON’Ts in Writing”

Merlyna Lim has developed a list of 10 things to be avoided in good writing. Now, we are sharing it with you for your own use in writing or teaching. She said: Don't be Cardi B of writing!", "This thesis is too Kardashian!", "Spidey moment!" Those are among feedback I give students to improve... More

Friday, March 1, 2019

“Braids” and Raids

By Ghadah Alrasheed  A gendered perspective is generally ignored in understanding causes of war. It is equally disregarded in understanding its dynamics and impact.  Attempts to figure out war through a gender perspective have largely been inhabited by, among other factors, the myth that war is a gender-neutral phenomenon, affecting all types of... More

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