Sandra Robinson 

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

I am presently on a two-year limited term appointment in the Communication Studies Program at Carleton University.

Research Interests

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

Research Project

Under the doctoral supervision of Professor Myra Hird, I am conducting SSHRC funded 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 (2013 completion)
• Master of Arts, with distinction; University Senate Medalist – 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

• Two-year, LTA-Instructor, Department of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, 2012-2014
• 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

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