The Communication and Media Studies program congratulates Donald Leone who was awarded a Carleton University Senate Medal for Outstanding Graduate Work at the Fall 2021 convocation ceremony, held virtually on Saturday, November 13th. Leone graduated with his MA in Communication with a specialization in Data Science.
Focusing on colonial governance in relation to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, Leone’s master’s thesis, Data Colonialism in Canada: Decolonizing Data through Indigenous Data Governance, examines how Indigenous data were constructed as colonial objects and asks, “what does it mean to decolonize these data and the practices which produce, manage and govern them?” The thesis maps the foundations of data colonialism, Indigenous data and decolonization as concepts and administrative practices, shows how the Canadian state used data as both a tool for classification and control of Indigenous peoples, and contrasts these practices with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis-led approaches to data governance. Donald’s research was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship. Continue reading here!
For more information about Carleton University’s Institute for Data Science, please visit our webpage.