(RAS2) Creating Communities of Care: Addressing Vulnerabilities in Conducting and Disseminating Research Online

This panel, facilitated by MediaSmarts, will build on previous conversations about the opportunities and challenges of doing research online. As we continue in this digital age, researchers may feel pressure to maintain an online presence and disseminate their research online. However, not all researchers have the necessary digital literacy skills to protect themselves online, which may leave them vulnerable to threats like online harassment and hate. Not only may they be unprepared for these challenges, but the burden of resolving them typically defaults to individual researchers. It is not always clear how to seek resources, where to find support, and how to proceed in the face of these challenges. This session will address how Departments and Universities can build communities of care for researchers working online. Panelists will provide practical suggestions for how to support collective online resilience while also recognizing the primarily gendered, invisible, and emotional labour that goes into developing these communities. Panelists will discuss the creation of communities of care, their purpose, and how they can be used to share knowledge, foster trust and support, and engage in meaningful dialogue about research. This includes knowledge that specifically serves researchers from equity-deserving communities, considering the influence of factors such as gender, race, and sexuality. A focus on existing promising practices, such as mentorship programs that pair early career scholars with more senior researchers, will illustrate effective strategies for creating safer environments for researchers. Building collective online resilience can help researchers navigate the risks they face online, including challenging online hate, in sustainable, supportive, and shared communities.

Moderators: Kara Brisson-Boivin, MediaSmarts and Khadija Baig, Media Smarts

Panelists:

Dr. Sonia Chiasson, Professor, Co-Director of the Graduate Program in Human-Computer Interaction, Carleton University.

Dr. Zoey Jones, Ph.D. Sociology Alumni Carleton University and AUPE research officer

Dr. Kaitlynn Mendes, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender, Western University

Ms. Archana Sridhar, Assistant Provost, Office of the Vice-President and Provost, University of Toronto

Tags: Connaissance, Développement professionnel, Études digitales, Méthodes de recherche

Organizateurs: Khadija Baig, MediaSmarts/Carleton University, Kara Brisson-Boivin, MediaSmarts/Carleton University