Mother Trouble, the latest book from Prof. Miranda J. Brady (Associate Professor, Communication and Media Studies) delves into the intricacies of motherhood through the lens of media and cultural studies, highlighting how systemic inequalities shape the experience of mothers over decades. Brady draws on media and motherhood studies to explore how care work—both paid and unpaid—has been depicted in media and the exclusions inherent in these portrayals.

COMS Prof. Miranda J. Brady

“Mother Trouble sits at the intersections of media and motherhood studies,” Brady explained. The book traces struggles faced by mothers since the second wave of feminism and how these issues are mediated in popular culture. Her research explores popular narratives around the burdens faced by mothers, from economic impoverishment to a systemic lack of support, while also challenging readers to consider who is left out of those narratives. “Media often hyper-focuses on white maternal angst while ignoring the systemic exploitation of migrant care workers and mothers of color,” she said.

A Personal Connection to a Much Broader Issue

The inspiration for the book arose from Dr. Brady’s own experiences as a mother balancing care work with her career. “I was inspired to write this book when I became a mother myself and found myself struggling to balance paid work with the unpaid labour of care work,” Dr. Brady said. She explained that even as a mother in a privileged position – a white mother with full-time paid labour – finding appropriate supports for her disabled child remains difficult.

During her research, Brady drew connections between popular media portrayals of motherhood and broader societal expectations. From classic feminist horror films like Rosemary’s Baby and The Stepford Wives to contemporary depictions of “momfluencers” on social media, Mother Trouble critiques how these narratives focus disproportionately on white mothers while excluding people of colour and migrant workers doing care work and the work of mothering.

Media and Cultural Critiques

Brady’s book explores varied cultural phenomena, including HGTV’s “mompreneurs” and anti-vaccine memes on Reddit, tying them to broader themes of care labor and societal expectations. For instance, her analysis of HGTV personalities highlights how media glorifies mothers’ entrepreneurial efforts as a solution to systemic inequities. “Mothers are expected to blur the lines between paid and unpaid work,” Brady explained, critiquing how these portrayals often fail to address the instability and inequities such efforts entail.

What’s Coming Next: Research on Selfish Motherhood and Author Meets Readers

Brady’s interest in issues around motherhood and how it is depicted in popular culture did not end with the publication of Mother Trouble. She is already working on a follow-up project exploring society’s fascination with “selfish motherhood,” which includes analyzing social constructs of apparently self-centered motherhood.

Mother Trouble is also the focus of an Author Meets Readers event on January 30, 2025 at Irene’s Pub in Ottawa. This series invites the community to discuss new books published by members of �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Faculty of Public and Global Affairs in an informal setting.

For more information or to purchase Mother Trouble, visit the .

WATCH: Dr. Joan Donovan delivers 2024 Attallah Lecture

On October 3rd at 7:00 PM, Dr. Joan Donovan delivered her lecture “Meme War 2024: Networked Incitement in the Static Age”. Dr. Donovan is an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies at Boston University, the founder of the Critical Internet Studies institute, and a co-inventor of the beaver emoji. Her lecture offered a contemporary analysis of the political communication strategies that leverage the ambiguity of memes to carry out media manipulation and disinformation campaigns.

As a result of some last-minute issues, Dr. Donovan was unable to join us in person, and so Dr. Benjamin Woo (Associate Director, School of Journalism, and Communication and Media Studies Program Head) dubbed it the “first ever Attallah watch party”. While Dr. Donovan delivered the lecture from her home in Boston, faculty, students, alumni, and community members gathered in Richcraft Hall to hear the lecture and enjoy some refreshments.

If you missed this year’s lecture, don’t worry – ! The video also features introductory remarks by Associate Professor Merlyna Lim, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society. You can also see some photos from the evening .

Welcoming new students at Academic Orientation

Every year on the Tuesday after Labour Day, �Ӱ�ԭ�� hosts Academic Orientation Day or “AOD”. This is a day for students to get to know their new classmates and faculty, begin to understand where things are on campus, and learn about the resources and supports available to them during their time as Ravens. Students can also check out Expo �Ӱ�ԭ�� and learn about the clubs, societies, and services they can get involved with.

This year, on September 3, we hosted two orientations: one for our new undergraduates, hosted by Prof. Liam Young, and the other for new Masters and PhD students, hosted by Prof. Sandra Robinson. !

COMS Congratulates MA, PhD candidates on successful defenses

Our whole program extends congratulations to three PhD candidates and two masters candidates who have successfully defended their theses/MREs in recent weeks.

Three of our PhD candidates recently successfully defended their PhD theses: Dr. Elena Kaliberda, whose research concerns the European public sphere and media institutions (radio and television), and Dr. Bethany Berard, whose dissertation connects histories of photography and the idea of information towards an informational account of photography, and Dr. Agnes Malkinson. Congratulations to Drs. Kaliberda, Malkinson, and Berard!

R:Dr. Bethany Berard, L: Dr. Elena Kaliberda

In addition, two MA students successfully defended their work – one their thesis and the other their MA research essay:

• Jen Siushansian MA (thesis) Playing Autistic: A critical examination of autistic characters on-screen from Hollywood to Hallyuwood
• Taryn Rerrie MA (MRE) The ‘Dripping Tap’ of Incivility: Analyzing responses to Mayor Olivia Chow’s posts on X

In case you missed it, over the summer we profiled Dr. Carly Dybka, who graduated with her PhD in June. Stay tuned for profiles on Dr. Kaliberda and Dr. Berard.

Prof. Susana Vargas Cervantes co-curates Cantando Bajito: Chorus exhibition at Ford Foundation Gallery

Assitant Professor Susana Vargas Cervantes is one of the curators of Cantando Bajito: Chorus,��a new exhibition at the in New York. The exhibition, which opened October 8 and runs until December 7, is the final movement of a three-part exhibition series celebrating strategies for resistance in the wake of rising gender-based violence. It assembles archives and artwork from: Hoda Afshar,��Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina (Trans Memory Archive Argentina),��Archivo Memoria Trans México/Hospital de ropa (Trans Memory Archive Mexico/Clothing Hospital),��Chloë Bass,��Tania Candiani,��Fatma Charfi,��Lizania Cruz,��Cyberfeminism Index,��FAQ?,��Cecilia Granara,��Los Angeles Contemporary Archive,��Mai Ling, and��Textiles Semillas (Textiles as Seeds).

Cantando Bajito: Chorus is described as “an invitation to reflect on the importance of collective making, organizing, and care arising from interdependence in shared struggles. The title, which translates into English as “singing softly”, is drawn from a phrase used by now-liberated political prisoner Dora María Téllez Argüello to describe the singing exercises she used to resist and survive while she was held in solitary confinement.

Prof. Benjamin Woo co-publishes new article on the pedagogy of comic book fandom

Associate Professor Benjamin Woo’s newest article was published October 14 in Issue 3 of Popular Communication. The article, titled “,” was co-published with Kalervo Sinervo (Concordia) and Anna Peppard (Trent). Its focus is���¾�����������magazine, which published from 1991-2011. Wizard��played an important pedagogical role as both a gateway to and a gatekeeper of fandom.

Initially launched as a guide to collecting comic books, Wizard later evolved into a lifestyle and entertainment magazine for a loosely defined “fanboy” readership. While arguably more accessible than the comics it covered, it addressed its audience in exclusive terms, assuming a normatively male, heterosexual, and white fan. Based on a close reading of a sample of eight self-reflective “milestone” issues, Sinervo, Peppard, and Woo’s article assesses Wizard��as not merely a purveyor of market intelligence to comic book speculators but as a cultural artifact engaged in defining the meaning of fandom for a generation of comic book readers.

COMS student Danielle Carter selected for Global Undergraduate Awards

The are an annual academic awards program that recognize the top work completed by undergraduate students all over the world. This year, for the first time, the awards included Mass Communication as an entry category.

COMS student Danielle Carter submitted an essay entitled “The All-American Couple Goes Platinum: The Public Relations Campaign of the NFL, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce,” which she wrote in the Winter 2024 semester for COMS 3310: Critical Perspectives of Public Relations. Her essay was selected as one of the top 10% in the Mass Communication category, earning her the . Congratulations, Danielle!

Those interested in reading Danielle’s essay can find it in the .

Prof. Miranda J. Brady publishes new book Mother Trouble

Associate Professor Miranda J Brady’s new book Mother Trouble: Mediations of White Maternal Angst after Second Wave Feminism��was published by University of Toronto Press earlier this month.

Mother Trouble��traces white maternal angst in popular culture across a span of more than fifty years, from the iconic��Rosemary’s Baby to anti-vaxx mom memes and HGTV shows. The book narrows in on popular media to think about white maternal angst as a manifestation of feminism’s unrealized possibilities and continued omissions since the second wave. It interrogates intersecting systems of power which make mothers and their children the most impoverished people in the world and urges a greater appreciation in academic and popular thinking of the work that mothers do.��Mother Trouble is��Dr. Brady’s second book (and her first as sole author) after 2017’sWe Interrupt This Program: Indigenous Media Tactics in Canadian Culture��(co-written with John M.H. Kelly).

If you’re interested in hearing more directly from Dr. Brady, we invite you to join us for a launch event at . Mother Trouble will also be the subject of an event in the Author Meets Readers series at Irene’s Pub in the new year.

Smith and Taunton’s article examines decolonialism as an aesthetic strategy and was a part of a special issue addressing critical heritage studies in Canada.

In conveying its decision, the CSN-RÉC adjudication committee noted: “Sarah E.K. Smith and Carla Taunton’s article “Unsettling Canadian Heritage: Decolonial Aesthetics in Canadian Video and Performance Art” (vol. 52, no.1) showcases the work of artists Leah Decter, Jacqueline Hoàng Nguyêñ, and Caroline Monnet. Smith and Taunton examine the ways that elements of Canadian heritage such as the canoe, the Centennial, and NFB video archives are taken up in the work of these three artists. The authors argue that these contemporary art practices expand heritage away from closed nationalist narratives and toward decolonial aesthetics that centre settler accountability and Indigenous resurgence. In drawing together contemporary art and settler colonial studies, the article provides new insight into the possibilities and limitations of heritage studies.”

Professor Woo will receive $100,000 from the Province of Ontario and a further $50,000 in matching funds from �Ӱ�ԭ�� to study the role of comic books and their audiences within the contemporary cultural industries in the new��Research on Comics, Con Events, and Transmedia Laboratory. A hub for critical industry- and audience-oriented research on comic book culture, the RoCCET Lab will also be the new home of the SSHRC-funded��.

“I’m thrilled to announce the formation of this lab in the School of Journalism and Communication and release the call for the first cohort of RoCCET Fellows,” said Professor Woo.

The RoCCET Fellowships program will provide a mix of fellowships, research assistantships, and scholarships to support MA and PhD students with research interests related to comic books and graphic novels, fan studies, convention cultures, popular media industries and/or transmedia entertainment. For more information, see the����or contact Dr. Benjamin Woo <benjamin.woo@carleton.ca>. Women, candidates of colour, and those identifying as LGBTQ2S are particularly encouraged to apply.

Presented by The School of Journalism and Communication, the Attallah Lecture features experts in communications and media studies who share their ideas, thoughts, and perspectives with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the community.

Through this lecture, the School commemorates the contributions of the late , who was Associate Director of the School of Journalism and Communication and head of the Mass Communication program from 1991 to 2005. Dr. Attallah died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 54.

McGill University Professor Will Straw delivers the 10th Annual Attallah Lecture. [Photo © Chris Roussakis]

McGill University Professor delivered a thought-provoking lecture on Media Forensics: Reading the Canadian Cultural Commodity to a packed room of over 120 people. Focusing on pulp magazines and vinyl records, the lecture explored practices of disguise and deception, through which the Canadian character of certain cultural commodities has been obscured so as to enhance their cultural legitimacy and commercial appeal.

Professor Straw opened his lecture by thanking the School for inviting him to speak on the 10^th anniversary of the event, as a way to celebrate Paul’s life and work.

“I knew Paul Attallah for over 40 years. We went to McGill together as graduate students. It is a great honour to be invited back to �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, at one of the best communications departments in Canada, to celebrate Paul’s life and work.” ��

Professor Straw joins a long list of distinguished international scholars who have delivered the Attallah Lecture over the past decade. School director Josh Greenberg described the decision to select Professor Straw as this year’s speaker as a “no brainer.”

“Will is a long time friend of the communication and media studies program. He taught many of our faculty members, was a close friend to Paul, and is regarded as one of this country’s most influential and important scholars,” Professor Greenberg said. “He was the perfect choice for this year’s lecture and we were thrilled that he so enthusiastically accepted our invitation.”

A questions and answers period took place after the lecture and finished with a reception in the Richcraft Hall Atrium, where attendees carried on in conversation over drinks and food.

The Attallah Lecture is the Communication and Media Studies program’s marquee annual event that was a featured event during �Ӱ�ԭ��’s 2018 Throwback.

Rena Bivens, Assistant Professor

Prof. Rena Bivens has published an article in the latest issue of , a Canadian online journal of arts and culture.

Drawing on personal and professional experiences, Prof. Bivens questions “to what extent can we know or reckon with sexual violence when survivorhood codes have the potential to engulf all that surrounds them.”

The piece, entitled can be read in full online.

Prof. Bivens is an Assistant Professor in the Communication and Media Studies program, whose research investigates social media software, gender, and journalism practice.

She is currently working on a SSHRC-funded project called ‘Imagining the Future with Speculative Design: Reconfiguring How We Think, Talk, and Intervene in the Problem of Sexual Violence.’

Reconceptualising Film Policies (Routledge, 2017)

Prof. Ira Wagman has published a book chapter about Netflix in Canada for a new edited volume entitled .

The chapter is called “Talking to Netflix with a Canadian Accent: On Digital Platforms and National Media Policies”.

“My chapter uses the fact that Netflix has been resistant to regulation in Canada as an occasion to think about the longstanding relationship between the state and media institutions in Canada,” said Prof. Wagman.

“It wonders how digital media have managed to insulate themselves of the forms of cultural nationalism that have served to justify the Canadian state’s involvement in earlier media forms.”

Reconceptualizing Film Policies explores the challenges to national film and media policies that have come a result of the disruptive effects of global digital media platforms, with case studies from a number of different contexts, from China and Japan to Serbia and South Africa.

The collection is edited by Nolwenn Mingant and Cecila Tirtaine, both based at the University of Nantes in France.