Graduate Profiles | Master of Arts

Jody Bauche 

BSW, University of Victoria 

Supervisor: Karrmen Crey 

Jody has been actively working towards Indigenous sovereignty and child welfare since she graduated from the University of Victoria in 2005. Jody's current research interests include the application of Indigenous research methodologies, research for social change and the impact of media on social movements. Jody is also very passionate about cultural resurgence in the arts, which includes media, theatre, film and music. When Jody isn't studying, you can find her working on her next performance. Jody is Metis with family roots in Saskatchewan.

Bronwen Barnett

BA, Sociology and Communication, Simon Fraser University

Supervisor: Enda Brophy

Bronwen completed the Sociology and Communication Joint Major Program to earn her Bachelor of Arts at Simon Fraser University in 2017. Having worked in the labour movement since then in a communications role, her research interests include: how trade unions communicate, postmodernism and the cultural turn, communicative action as well as the discourses of capitalism and the production of common sense.

Hannah Block | LinkedIn

BA, Communication, Simon Fraser University

Supervisor: Gary McCarron

With a Bachelor of Arts (Distinction), majoring in Communication with a double minor in Print and Digital Publishing, and Curriculum and Instruction, Hannah’s research interests include the adoption of communication and information technologies. With agency experience as a PR and Digital Account Coordinator, and as a past member of Canada‘s national rock climbing team, Hannah brings a uniquely informed approach to her Graduate studies.

Thomas Dickson

BA, Rhetoric & Communication, University of Winnipeg

Supervisor: Zoë Druick

Thomas Dickson completed his Bachelor of Arts at The University of Winnipeg in June 2020, where he majored in Rhetoric & Communication and minored in Political Science and Theatre & Film. His research interests include cultural policy and governance, film history, political theory, online discourses and public spheres, and issues related to free speech.

Mozhgan Fazli

BA, Public Relation, Allameh Tabatabaee University

MA, Communication, University of Tehran

Supervisor: Daniel Ahadi

I am interested in studying masculinity, gender history, media representation, and cinema. My current research focus on hegemonic masculinity and how it is challenged in media.

Jamie Hoholuk

BJ, Journalism & Communications, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Supervisor: Stuart Poyntz

Jamie obtained her Bachelor of Journalism at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2019. Prior to joining the program, Jamie has published and presented research focusing on digital ethics and youth voice respectively, and written a course on media and diversity. Her current research focuses on media literacy, youth, and sex education pedagogies. 

Kayli Jamieson | Twitter

BA (Honours), Communication, SFU

Supervisor: Ahmed Al-Rawi

Kayli’s research interests focus upon networked activism, news media analysis, disinformation, & East-Asia studies. Her thesis research will analyze how China is reported upon and framed across the political spectrum in news outlets in Canada and the U.S. Kayli has also been working for the Burnaby Public Library for over six years, and loves to discuss books.

Loh Ann Yie Andrea

BA, International Communication Studies, University of Nottingham, Malaysia

Supervisor: Kirsten McAllister

Andrea's research looks at the Japanese Occupation of Malaya by examining the treatment of war memory in postwar Japanese and Malaysian cinema. In addressing themes of political violence, transnational cinema and social justice, she compares both nations' reconstruction of identities through cinematic narratives and the contexts in which these films were made. 

Firoz Mahmud

MA, English, Jahangirnagar University

Supervisor: Kirsten McAllister

I have close to 30 years of extensive background working in the humanitarian and non-profit sectors. I also served as a faculty member in the Department of English at King Khalid University – one of the largest public universities in the Middle East (2003-2009). Currently, I have been working with the Canadian Red Cross, for the past 11 years as the Provincial Manager, Planned Giving. I am deeply interested in humanitarian communication and my proposed research project revolves around the Rohingya crisis and the representation of the refugees by major humanitarian organizations in their public communication. 

Sadia Nasrin | LinkedIn

BSC, Mass Communication & Journalism, University of Dhaka

Supervisor: Ahmed Al- Rawi

Sadia's research interest hovers around human rights, particularly women and social media sphere. Her current thesis topic focuses on- religious fanaticism in social media against women and how it affects women's online space. 

She has worked on various projects about Rohingya communities, gender based violence, water crisis of coastal areas etc. Sadia is also a photographer with projects on 'Child Marriage' and 'Climate Change'.

Paola Sawaya

BA, Sociology & Anthropology, American University of Beirut

Supervisor: Daniel Ahadi

Paola received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology (with distinction) from the American University of Beirut with two minors in Film and Visual Culture and Gender Studies. Her research interest lies at the intersection between the digital mundane and the construction of national and political identities among the Lebanese diaspora. She’s also interested in popular culture, nostalgia, alternative media, and invisible and informal media labor.

Ryland Shaw

BS, Strategic Communication, University of Utah

Supervisor: Shane Gunster

I will be researching the capability of documentary and fiction films to influence public opinion on climate change, with the long-term goal of providing media industry professionals a practical training framework for messaging effectiveness. I have a personal love for all things filmmaking and have an extensive background in environmental documentary production.

Maria Sommers

BA, Communication, SFU

Co-Supervisors: Aleena Chia & Milena Droumeva

My thesis research is focused on the implications of immersive advertising and the extraction of affective and aspirational labour in free-to-play fashion styling and interior design mobile phone games. My current research interests include critical game studies, digital labour, and feminist political economy.

Nuzhat Tariq

BA, Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, Institute of Business Administration

Supervisor: Cait McKinney

I am interested in examining the representation of friendships between women in crime film and television, which is historically a male-dominated genre that has usually given female characters a misogynistic treatment. My research is interdisciplinary and finds roots in feminist studies, media studies, and criminology. Other interests include: fandom studies and the themes of grief and loss in horror films.

Melanie Vidakis

BA, Communication and Cultural Studies, Concordia University

Supervisor: Katherine Reilly

Melanie received her bachelor’s degree with distinction in June 2021 from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She majored in Communication and Cultural studies. Her research at the undergraduate level was on popular communication platforms and the data generated from them; the impact and creation of algorithms; and culture jamming in digital spheres. Currently focused on data studies, she is interested in making data practices more inclusive. When not occupied with various realms of the internet, she enjoys sketching, poetry, and hiking.

Mia Chi Vu

BA, Communication, Simon Fraser University

Supervisor: Victoria Thomas

Mia completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours with Distinction) in Communication at SFU alongside a double minor in Print and Digital Publishing and Business Administration. Mia is interested in feminist media studies, Asian feminism, Asian queer media studies, and media representation. In her Honours thesis, she explored intersectional discrimination and the ideologies embedded in news media in reporting violence cases against Asian cisgender and transgender women.

Mindy Wong

BA (Honours), Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Supervisor: Sarah Ganter

Mindy completed her Bachelor of Chinese and Bilingual Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2021. Her research interests include social movements, freedom of speech, journalism, self-censorship, and social media. In particular, her future research will be concentrated on the role of social media in social movements. Experienced and witnessed the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement in Hong Kong, she would like to construct an academic study related to that. It seems that the Movement has ended recently but it has brought significant changes to all Hong Kong people’s lives.