Student Profiles

Kate Fedchun

• Year
  • 1st Year PhD Student
• Hometown
  • St. Catharines
• Studying from
  • Ottawa (Byward Market)
• Study interests
  • I’m interested in feminist video game studies, how players connect in video games and political narratives in games.
• What brought you to grad studies at Carleton?
  • Falling in love with the city of Ottawa & hearing amazing things about this program!
• Best article/book from the past year?
  • Video Games Have Always Been Queer – Bonnie Ruberg
• Pets?
  • Yes! A hamster named Almond who is a few months old. Also, my family has a pup named Frankie who is a sassy 4 year old miniature schnauzer.
• Which historical figure would you like to hear at CGC Conference?
  • Roxane Gay, Judith Butler, or Bonnie Ruberg.

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Carly Dybka

• Year
  • 3rd year PhD
• Hometown
  • Ottawa
• Studying from
  • Ottawa
• Study interests
  • I’m interested in the intersections between technology and public administration in a communication context; in particular the collection and use of citizens’ data by government organizations, and how that is communicated and managed. My dissertation will examine government social media monitoring practices and their implications for individual privacy and government decision-making.
• What brought you to grad studies at Carleton?
  • After a decade in the public service and seven years since my MA, I was feeling an itch to return to academics.
• Best article/book from the past year?
  • Discipline and Punish (yeah I know)
• Pets?
  • I have an English Bulldog named Sven. He’s 7 years old and his hobbies include napping and cuddling.

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Shoshana R. Cohen

• Year
  • MA 1
• Hometown
  • Montreal
• Studying from
  • Ottawa
• Study interests
  • I’m interested in minority representation in pop culture. My thesis looks at gender and sexual representation in Wonder Woman media and its impact on audience.
• What brought you to grad studies at Carleton?
  • Firstly, I heard that Carleton was great. I also have family in Ottawa, so that was a big plus. There is also a comics research lab, and I was really excited about having the opportunity to work with other students who were interested in comics, and with the professor running the lab.
• Best article/book from the past year?
  • This is hard. I read so much I can’t usually remember any specific book. One of the most illuminating articles I’ve read recently is “White Jews: An Intersectional Approach” by David Schraub. I love this article because it’s a crystal clear discussion of a topic that tends to get muddied with illogical reasoning on all sides of the debate (note that I didn’t say “both,” as there are more than two sides here). I’m a total sucker for arguments that are clear, reasoned and sound.
• Pets?
  • I have a pet squid. Her name is Sally Calamari, and I received her as a present from my aunt four or five years ago. (She is totally real, and professionally handknitted out of old tshirts.) She likes doing weird sneaky squid things, as you can see in the picture.

• Which historical figure would you like to hear at CGC Conference?
  • Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

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Lowell Gasoi

• Year
  • 5^th year PhD
• Hometown
  • Roxboro, QC
• Studying from
  • Ile-Perrot, QC
• Study interests
  • I study how artists communicate with governments and how the art world works. I write, teach, and think about performance, presence, and liveness in communication and media studies. I think about things this way because I have spent 30 years as a theatre maker and arts administrator. Oh, and I’m a Vanier Scholar.
• What brought you to grad studies at Carleton?
  • It’s about the money, stupid! But seriously folks, I came from my MA and BA at Concordia in Montreal and wanted to explore a new research culture. Carleton was incredibly welcoming (shout out to Chris Russill, Ira Wagman and Sheryl Hamilton!) and the feeling in this place is warm, inviting, rigorous, and just plain awesome.
• Best article/book from the past year?
  • Every time I read Speaking Into the Air it gets more and more awesome. Stuart Hall’s retelling of Foucault’s Power/Knowledge stuff makes the unreadable super-engaging and is perfect for undergrads who want to get a good handle on Foucault. And for cultural policy stuff, anything by Clive Gray, Jim McGuigan, or Eleanora Belfiore.
• Pets?
  • No pets, just children. Close enough, no? Eric and Ryan, for the record.
• Which historical figure would you like to hear at CGC Conference?
  • McLuhan, but mostly just so I can hear him blather and then pause elegantly and mutter under my breath… “bullsh*t”.