Dr. Alexandre Sévigny
Associate Professor & Executive Director of COMM-Lab

Dr. Alexandre Sévigny is a graduate of York University (BA) and the University of Toronto (MA - 1996, PhD-2000). He spent a year as a pensionnaire étranger at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France (1998-9).

Reseach Funding.
Dr. Sévigny was awarded a SSHRC post-doctoral fellowship to co-author the Metallic Reference Dictionary of Migmaq and a Chateaubriand Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Science at the École Normale Supérieure (Paris, France). He has also been co-investigator on two SSHRC grants the Multimodal Mìgmaq Cultural Archive (Danielle Cyr, principal investigator, 2003-6) and Mashing Texts (Geoffrey Rockwell, principal investigator, 2006-08). After having worked through those projects, he is shifting gears to apply the techniques he has developed for content analysis to news analysis and political communication, in both French and English (and potentially Mìgmaq, although he would need to work with a native speaker to do this work).

Publications.
Alex Sévigny has published over 20 scholarly articles and book chapters, co-authored a dictionary, co-edited a special issue of Linguistica Atlantica, been co-editor of a communications anthology and co-authored a Communications textbook. He is currently co-editor of TEXT Technology: the journal of computer language processing (http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/jpc) and is currently writing a monograph outlining his approach to computer-aided content analysis of written communication, which will be completed in December of 2009.

Teaching Awards.
In 2003 he was honoured with the McMaster Students Union Teaching Merit Award and in 2006, he was awarded the Petro Canada Young Innovator Award.

Supervisory Work & Pedagogical Innovation/Service
Dr. Sévigny has successfully supervised the theses, major research projects, or capstone projects for 8 M.A. students, 7 in the Department of French and 1 in the Master of Communication Management Program of the DeGroote School of Business.
He is the Founder and On-Going Faculty Advisor, McMaster Journal of Communication – a fully peer-reviewed student-run journal (http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mjc). He founded the McMaster French Contest (currently organised by Drs. Stéphanie Posthumus and Paul Banks) that attracts 200 of the best high school students from across Ontario to McMaster for a day of fun, food and friendly competition.

Dr. Philip Savage
Assistant Professor & Managing Director of COMM-Lab

Philip Savage has a Ph.D. from York/Ryerson Universities’ Joint Programme in Communication and Culture (2006) and lectures and writes on the history and changing roles of audiences and audience research in Canada and around the world.  His recent contribution, ”The Audience Massage:  Audience Research and Canadian Public Service Broadcasting”,  was published in From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Media  ( Goteborg , Sweden : Nordicom Publishing, 2008 ).

A long career in community media, public broadcasting, and professional media research included roles as Head of Research for CBC Radio (through the 1990’s) and then Senior Manager of Planning and Regulatory Affairs for CBC Radio, CBC Television and CBC.ca (prior to his return full-time to the university in 2005).

Philip Savage continues to be involved in public policy formation.  He is a regular expert witness before committees of the House of Commons ( Ottawa ) and has presented regularly before the Canadian broadcast/telecom regulator, the CRTC.  He has undertaken work on broadcasting and new media policy developments for the Commissioner of Official Languages and the Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC). He is a board member and active participant with RIPE (Re-Visionary Interpretations of the Public Enterprise). He is a researcher and author with the Canadian Internet Project’s (CIP) on-going survey of on-line behaviour and attitudes in Canada and in almost 30 countries around the world in partnership with the World Internet Project, (WIP).  

Dr. Fred Fletcher
COMM-Lab Associate

Dr. Fletcher’s interests include mass media and politics, communication policy, election campaigns and public opinion (all with a focus on Canada), also federalism and environmental issues. Publications include articles in many journals and edited books. He is the co-author of Canadian Attitude Trends, 1960-78, The Newspaper and Public Affairs, Canadian Politics Through Press Reports, Media Elections and Democracy, and Reaching the Voter: Constituency Campaigning in Canada. He has worked for three Royal Commissions, including the recent Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, where as Research Coordinator, Media and Elections. His current research focuses on election campaigns -- as principal investigator, an Election Broadcasting Project -- and news coverage of environmental issues.

Dr. Andrew Laing
COMM-Lab Associate

Over the last fifteen years, Andrew has built Cormex into Canada’s leading media analysis company. As a pioneer in introducing standards and measures for public relations and communications in this country, Andrew has developed ongoing media measurement studies for hundreds of Canada’s top organizations. His current client list forms a Who’s Who of the country’s leading private, public and non-profit organizations, including BCE, RBC Royal Bank, Suncor, Health Canada, the University of Toronto, CBC, Ontario Power Generation, Mackenzie Financial, Scotiabank, Toronto Sick Kids Hospital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Heart and Stroke Foundation, and many others. Andrew holds a B.A. from the University of King’s College, an M.B.A. from Royal Roads University and is currently completing his Ph.D. (ABD) in communications studies from York University. Andrew is a frequent speaker, writer and collaborator on media research in Canada and abroad.

Cormex Research
COMM-Lab Industry Partner

Cormex Research is Canada’s leading media content measurement and analysis firm. The firm was founded in 1989 in response to a demand from communications practitioners and issues managers for precise, quantifiable and cost-effective tools to measure the effectiveness of communications efforts. Cormex boasts a Who’s Who list of Canadian corporate, government and non-profit organizations as clients, serving both Canadian and international markets. Located in Toronto, Canada, Cormex has a team of 40 analysts, researchers and support staff with backgrounds in marketing and corporate communications, public relations, business, information technology and semiotics. For more on Cormex, please visit: http://www.cormex.com/

Dr. Sun Dong
Postdoctoral Fellow

Sun Dong is currently doing her post-doctorate on the Chinese Media Analysis project under the supervision of Dr. Sevigny. She interested in literature and cultural studies, particularly in contemporary theatre and poetry. Sun Dong is also interested in cross-cultural and comparative research methodologies. She works to map cultural phenomena such as news and literature on different networks of discourse in order to see the variation and underlying structures that engender their difference. Sun Dong is a huge fan of cooking and rock music and is excited to be involved in the COMM-Lab.

Shelagh Hartford
Lab Manager (Winter 2011)

Shelagh is in her third year of an Honours BA in Communications, as well as completing a Minor in Business. She looking forward to working as the Lab Manager this semester. Prior to this, in her second year Shelagh also volunteered her time conducting coding and qualitative analysis for COMM-Lab.

Douglas Calderwood-Smith
Lab Manager
(Fall 2010)

Doug is a forth year student at McMaster pursuing a Communications Studies major with a minor in Political Science. Doug was honoured to work as the Lab Manager in the fall of 2010 and hopes to continue as a research volunteer in the months to come. Prior to his internship in the lab, Doug was a research volunteer during his third year of study. 

Outside of the COMM-Lab, Doug is the research and policy assistant with the McMaster's Students Union and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance to develop policy surrounding post-secondary education. Doug is also the Vice President (Federal) of the McMaster Young Liberals, and a Society of Off Campus Student representative. His future ambitions include graduate level work within the communications field, public policy or law

Paul Bullock
Lab Manager (Spring/Summer 2010)

Paul is a fourth year Communications Studies student with a minor in Theatre and Film. During the summer, He completed an internship focused on the QP content analysis project alongside Dr. Savage and Dr. Sevigny. Paul is particularly interested in both qualitative and quantitative Communications research and plans to conduct a thesis based around his current research. He hopes to pursue a graduate degree and to find work in a communications or research design field in the future. Paul is thrilled to play a role in the growing COMM-Lab.

Kelly Bacon
Internship

Kelly successfully completed an Integrated Marketing Communications Diploma at St. Lawrence College, in Kingston, before furthering her post-secondary education at McMaster University. She is currently a fourth year honors student, majoring in Multimedia and Communications. Based on the experiences and knowledge that she has gained volunteering with the COMM-Lab, she is looking forward to conducting her own content analysis study for her master’s thesis next year. For more information on Kelly or to view her entire portfolio, please vist: http://www.bacon-press.net

Arun Jacob
Internship

Arun Jacob is pursuing his Masters of Professional Communication at Ryerson University. He completed his Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Communication Studies, Cultural Studies and Critical Theory at McMaster University in 2010. His main areas of interest are contemporary popular culture, social media and critical communication.

Kristen Chodoriwsky
Research Volunteer

I am a second year communication studies and sociology student. I decided to join the COMM Lab coding with my group members from the CMST 2B03 second mini project on content analysis. It has been a great experience and I would encourage anyone who may be thinking about participating in it to do so!

Stephanie Fraser
Research Volunteer

Stephanie is currently in her second year of a double major in Communications and Theatre and Film Studies.  She thoroughly enjoyed her time volunteering with the organization and looks forward to future projects.

Felicia Labriola
Research Volunteer

I am a 4th year student working towards achieving my Honours BA in Communications Studies and will be graduating this April. Upon graduating I hope to obtain my Masters in Corporate Communications. I've enjoyed this experience with Comm-Lab and thank all those involved with the project.

Marie-Agnès Pilon
Research Volunteer

After twenty years of working in the I.T world, Marie-Agnes decided to return to school to pursue an Honours B.A. in Communications. Currently in her fourth year, Marie-Agnes has developed an interest in discourse analysis as it applies to the construction of ideology and differing points of view. Marie-Agnes is planning on pursuing graduate studies in Communications and Linguistics, hoping to grow her understanding of the respective fields and continue to develop her own communicative theories.

Alyssa Lai
Research Volunteer

As a student double majoring in Communication Studies and Theatre & Film Studies, Alyssa enjoys communications research, watching and analyzing theatre performances and films. She previously interned at the CBC by assisting in various audience research projects conducted by CBC Toronto and is looking forward to putting theory into practice through her involvement in COMM-Lab. Alyssa is excited to be part of the dynamic team in COMM-Lab and hopes to explore media-related topics through communications research.

Heather McTaggart
Research Volunteer

Heather graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in April 2010 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts focused in English. Heather currently works for Reach Forth Sports Ministry where she is able to combine her passions for public relations and communications, sports and fitness, and serving the poor and vulnerable in her own community. Heather was recently accepted as the Communications Intern at International Justice Mission Canada and looks forward to starting this role in March 2011. She hopes to return to McMaster in September 2011 to pursue her Masters of Arts in Communication and New Media.

Danielle Gibbons
Research Volunteer

Danielle is currently in her third year of an undergraduate degree in Communication Studies. She has contributed as a research volunteer to the QP content analysis project. She is particularly interested in political and cultural communication. Danielle looks forward to working with the COMM-Lab in future endeavours.

Dustin Manley
Research Volunteer

Dustin is currently a volunteer in his third year, double majoring in Communications and English and minoring in Psychology. he is the current VP of Finance and Admin for the CSMMSS Society, a writer for the MSSS Frontline and a coordinator for the SpeakEasy Program. He also work for the CSD as a writing and learning disability assistant. And plans on getting his MBA at the Degroote School of Business after he graduates.

Sebastian Dobosz
Research Volunteer

Sebastian is a second year student at McMaster University, who is completing a double major in Communication Studies and History. He has worked with COMM-Lab in their analysis of Question Period and is planning to do more volunteer with the organization in the future. Sebastian hopes that his contributions to COMM-Lab will help further the goals of the organization, as well as serve as valuable research experience for his future career path.

Qianxing Lu
Reseach Assistant & Web Designer

Lu is a self-described “media-theory enthusiast” and hopes to work somewhere within the media industry. Lu is originally from Beijing, China but has come to love life here in Canada. He is particularly interested in political, cultural and international aspects of communication and is assisting in both the QP content analysis project as well as the analysis of Chinese and North American news-media. In his leisure time, Lu works creatively with website design and has graciously put his skills to work designing this website! For more on Lu or to view his entire portfolio, please visit: http://www.luqianxing.com.

Jaclyn Manteiga
Research Volunteer

Jaclyn Holly Manteiga is in her fifth year at McMaster University, studying Communication Studies with a minor in English. In Dr. Savages' 2A03 quantitative class She had the opportunity to work with the COMM-Lab for her final content analysis report.  As a past COMM-Lab research volunteer, what really was most valuable to Manteigais was finding the results. It has opened up many questions about parliament and has helped her developed knowledgeable skills both in politics and content analysis.

Vivian Kam
Research Volunteer

Vivian is a fourth year Communications Studies and Economics double major. She has developed a particular interest in public relations and organizational communications, particularly, in the subject of message delivery. She is involved in both a QP content analysis project and a critical comparison of Chinese and North American news coverage working with Dr. Sevigny, Dr. Savage and Dr. Sun Dong. Vivian hopes to use the opportunity to apply her theoretical knowledge as well as to expand her practical experience in the field.

Nathan Nash
Research Volunteer

Nathan Nash is a graduate student in the New Media Program at McMaster University. He is currently completing a M.A degree.