Sandra Robinson 

B.A. (Alberta), M.BA. (Royal Roads), M.A. (Carleton)
Ph.D. Candidate

Background

My research interests spring from twenty years of working in the information, communications and technology sector as a manager, producer and analyst on projects involving imaging devices and specialized IT systems, the open source software model, embedded systems, and digital media. My MBA in digital technologies focused on IT, innovation and strategic partnerships. I have additional post-graduate training in computer graphics, animation, object-oriented programming, and database development.

Prior to coming to Queen's I completed a Master of Arts in Legal Studies and thesis in which I examined privacy, identity, databases and networks. I received a Carleton University Senate Medal for Academic Achievement for this project.

Research Interests

My background and experience has contributed to my interdisciplinary research approach encompassing subjects such as science and technology studies, biophilosophy, actor network theory, communications and information technology, and privacy law and technology.

Research Project

Under the doctoral supervision of Professor Myra Hird, I am conducting research into concepts of self-organization and emergence in complex, dynamical systems which have been observed in nature and emulated in computational systems. Of particular interest are swarm intelligence, intelligent agents, and bacterial quorum sensing and their application in digital networks as a model of self-regulation and control.

Education

• PhD in Sociology, Queen's University, in progress (2012 completion)
• Master of Arts, with distinction – Legal Studies, Carleton University (2008)
• Master of Business Administration - Digital Technologies, Royal Roads University (2001)
• Bachelor of Arts – Anthropology, University of Alberta (1987)

Academic Teaching and Research Experience

• Instructor, COMM 4409E, Mechanisms of Control, Communication Studies, Carleton University, Fall 2011
• Instructor, LAWS 3908A, Approaches to Legal Studies II (method and theory), Department of Law, Carleton University, Fall 2011
• Instructor, COMM 4409D, New and Emerging Media, Communication Studies, Carleton University, Winter 2011 Instructor, COMM 4409A, Law, Technology, and the Information Society, Communication Studies, Carleton University, Winter 2011
• Deptartment of Sociology, Queen's University, Research Assistant, New Transparency Project – IRSP-1, Winter Term 2009
• Deptartment of Sociology, Queen's University, Teaching Assistant, SOCY122, September 2008 – April 2009
• Department of Law, Carleton University, September 2007 – April 2008
• Research Assistant in law and media (for Prof. Sheryl N. Hamilton, CRC in Communication, Law and Governance)

Conferences

• 2011 - “From Bacteria to Bionets: The Vitality of Self-Organizing Digital Systems.” paper presentation for 25th Annual Conference of the SLSA (Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts), Kitchener, September 2011.
• 2011 - “Smart Homes: Autonomously-enabled Spaces for Living,” paper presentation for Canadian Communications Association Annual Conference, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Fredericton, June 2011.
• 2011 - “A Little Matter of Networks,” paper presentation at Carleton University CGC Conference, Ottawa, March 10, 2011.
• 2010 - “Networks of Vitality,” paper presentation at Canadian Communications Association Annual Conference, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Montreal, June 1, 2010.
•  2009 “The Doppelganger Effect: The Consequential Outcomes of Perfect Writing Machines,” paper presented at Canadian Communications Association Annual Conference, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Ottawa, May 28, 2009.
• 2009 “Spaces, Traces and Databases in Cyberspace,” paper presented at Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Graduate Symposium, April 30, 2009.

Publications

• 2011. Book Review of Panoptic Dreams: Streetscape Video Surveillance in Canada, by Sean Hier. Canadian Journal of Law & Society
• 2010. Book Review of Diane M. Rodgers, Debugging the Link between Social Theory and Social Insects. Canadian Journal of Sociology 35, 2.
• 2010. “Epistemic Values and Epistemologies of the Eye.” A review of Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison's Objectivity. parallax

Awards

• Social Science and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Award (SSHRC) 2010-2012
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2009-2012
• Queen's Graduate Scholarship 2008-2009
• Carleton University Senate Medalist for Academic Achievement 2008
• Carleton Department of Law Graduate Bursary 2006-2007