Sandra Smeltzer
Biographic Data
| ID | 640398 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sandra Smeltzer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Smeltzer |
| SIGNATURE | SMELTZER S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Western University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Teaching Communication and Media Studies in Polarized Times
Artistic Creativity, Community, and Well-Being
We, the three coauthors, met at our favorite coffee shop, exhausted by being pulled in too many directions. Our original intention was to talk about outcomes emerging from our team-based research project, Building a Creative Campus: Learning Through Performance. Instead, we found ourselves engaged in familiar discussions of burnout. We bemoaned our shared experiences of wading through various illnesses and angst derived from the state of contempo…
Experiential Learning in the Canadian Communications Landscape
Background: This article critically analyzes the results of an online survey about curricular experiential learning (EL) completed by 36 Canadian communication studies programs. Analysis: Attention is focused on internships, co-ops, and community engaged learning. Six key areas illuminate the current EL terrain: types and scope of EL endeavours, pedagogical requirements and hourly commitments, student remuneration, logistical and scholarly oversi…
Activism and Communication Scholarship in Canada
Activism and Communication Pedagogy: A Conversation with Becky Lentz and Mark Lipton
Interrogating Course-Related Public Interest Internships in Communications
This article examines the benefits and drawbacks of for-credit, unpaid internships geared towards the public good. Attention is focused specifically on communication internships with non- governmental, non-profit, and community-based organizations. Drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews with students, staff, faculty, and host organizations, the author advances a critical model of service learning that more fully recognizes the labour o…
Scholar-Activist Terrain in Canada and Ireland
No abstract
Student Rights in an Age of Austerity? ‘Security’, Freedom of Expression and the Neoliberal University
In this profile, we examine a worrying trend taking place in institutions of higher education around the world: a notable increase in their managerial corporatization and neoliberalization, combined with greater repression of freedom of expression on campuses under the aegis of 'securitization'. We focus attention specifically on how these twinned trends have impacted student activism in a post-2008 austerity-driven economic environment. Drawing …
Chalk of Fame: A symbiosis of new and old media
In the spring of 2011, the leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, Jack Layton, led his party to Official Opposition status in parliament before succumbing to cancer. An outpouring of elegiac tributes followed, creating a national media moment as stories, images, and information about Layton were shared via a range of social media and widely circulated by mainstream media outlets. However, the most powerful medium – and the one that became the f…
Asking Tough Questions: The Ethics of Studying Activism in Democratically Restricted Environments
In this article I examine the ethics of researching media-related activism in democratically restricted environments. Given that research participants in these locales often place a lot on the line to engage in their chosen political pursuits, including enduring government harassment and persecution, the ethics of conducting research about their activism deserves serious critical attention and analysis. Drawing on fieldwork examples from Southeas…
Consumer Databases, Neoliberalism, and the Commercial Mediation of Identity: A Medium Theory Analysis
This paper argues that the systemic nature of contemporary consumer surveillance undermines the most fundamental principle of free market economics: consumer sovereignty. Specifically, this paper argues that the rise of an ‘information’ or ‘knowledge’ society in conjunction with neoliberal capitalism has entrenched routine forms of surveillance within commercial strategies by employing networked databases as a primary medium for the articulation …
Won't You Be My (Political) Friend? The Changing Face(book) of Socio-Political Contestation in Malaysia
Using Malaysia as a case study, this article explores the potential of Facebook (the social networking website) as a tool for political change within restricted media environments. In countries with little or no freedom of the press, citizens often turn to alternative forms of media to express dissent, connect with like-minded individuals, and organize. Facebook's integrated privacy controls can help facilitate such connections and may lend thems…
Foregrounding technology over politics? Media framings of federal elections in Malaysia
Mainstream and alternative media play an important role in circulating powerful narratives within and often beyond a country's borders. This article specifically examines how Malaysia's media have framed the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the country's electoral process. To this end, the authors conducted a content analysis of selected domestic mainstream and alternative media sources for two weeks befo…
A Malaysia–United States free trade agreement: Malaysian media and domestic resistance
This article examines Malaysia's civil society resistance to a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, focusing specifically on the role played by domestic mainstream and alternative media in raising awareness of trade negotiations. While challenges to a Malaysia–United States FTA may appear muted – especially if compared with the outpouring of dissent witnessed on the streets of Thailand and South Korea against similar deals…
Probiotics in Tanzania: A Multi-Partner Development Project
This article critically examines an HIV/AIDS development and research project in Mwanza, Tanzania. A group of women produce a type of probiotic yoghurt that has provided evidence of lowering the incidence of HIV infection. The yoghurt is consumed by the women, their family members, and local citizens living with HIV/AIDS; surplus is sold within the community. While the project's multi-partner, multi-disciplinary composition allows for varied expe…
Biotechnology, the Environment, and Alternative Media in Malaysia
The Malaysian government has embarked on an ambitious path to make biotechnology a key driver of the country’s economic future. This burgeoning sector is being developed by a state with a problematic environmental track record, which does not bode well for the future. As mainstream Malaysian media are heavily controlled through a range of restrictive laws and hegemonic pressures to self-censor, critical coverage of biotechnology and its implicit …
Student Rights in an Age of Austerity? ‘Security’, Freedom of Expression and the Neoliberal University
In this profile, we examine a worrying trend taking place in institutions of higher education around the world: a notable increase in their managerial corporatization and neoliberalization, combined with greater repression of freedom of expression on campuses under the aegis of 'securitization'. We focus attention specifically on how these twinned trends have impacted student activism in a post-2008 austerity-driven economic environment. Drawing …
Asking Tough Questions: The Ethics of Studying Activism in Democratically Restricted Environments
In this article I examine the ethics of researching media-related activism in democratically restricted environments. Given that research participants in these locales often place a lot on the line to engage in their chosen political pursuits, including enduring government harassment and persecution, the ethics of conducting research about their activism deserves serious critical attention and analysis. Drawing on fieldwork examples from Southeas…
Consumer Databases, Neoliberalism, and the Commercial Mediation of Identity: A Medium Theory Analysis
This paper argues that the systemic nature of contemporary consumer surveillance undermines the most fundamental principle of free market economics: consumer sovereignty. Specifically, this paper argues that the rise of an ‘information’ or ‘knowledge’ society in conjunction with neoliberal capitalism has entrenched routine forms of surveillance within commercial strategies by employing networked databases as a primary medium for the articulation …
A Malaysia–United States free trade agreement: Malaysian media and domestic resistance
This article examines Malaysia's civil society resistance to a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, focusing specifically on the role played by domestic mainstream and alternative media in raising awareness of trade negotiations. While challenges to a Malaysia–United States FTA may appear muted – especially if compared with the outpouring of dissent witnessed on the streets of Thailand and South Korea against similar deals…
Won't You Be My (Political) Friend? The Changing Face(book) of Socio-Political Contestation in Malaysia
Using Malaysia as a case study, this article explores the potential of Facebook (the social networking website) as a tool for political change within restricted media environments. In countries with little or no freedom of the press, citizens often turn to alternative forms of media to express dissent, connect with like-minded individuals, and organize. Facebook's integrated privacy controls can help facilitate such connections and may lend thems…
Foregrounding technology over politics? Media framings of federal elections in Malaysia
Mainstream and alternative media play an important role in circulating powerful narratives within and often beyond a country's borders. This article specifically examines how Malaysia's media have framed the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the country's electoral process. To this end, the authors conducted a content analysis of selected domestic mainstream and alternative media sources for two weeks befo…
Probiotics in Tanzania: A Multi-Partner Development Project
This article critically examines an HIV/AIDS development and research project in Mwanza, Tanzania. A group of women produce a type of probiotic yoghurt that has provided evidence of lowering the incidence of HIV infection. The yoghurt is consumed by the women, their family members, and local citizens living with HIV/AIDS; surplus is sold within the community. While the project's multi-partner, multi-disciplinary composition allows for varied expe…
Biotechnology, the Environment, and Alternative Media in Malaysia
The Malaysian government has embarked on an ambitious path to make biotechnology a key driver of the country’s economic future. This burgeoning sector is being developed by a state with a problematic environmental track record, which does not bode well for the future. As mainstream Malaysian media are heavily controlled through a range of restrictive laws and hegemonic pressures to self-censor, critical coverage of biotechnology and its implicit …
A Malaysia–United States free trade agreement: Malaysian media and domestic resistance
This article examines Malaysia's civil society resistance to a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, focusing specifically on the role played by domestic mainstream and alternative media in raising awareness of trade negotiations. While challenges to a Malaysia–United States FTA may appear muted – especially if compared with the outpouring of dissent witnessed on the streets of Thailand and South Korea against similar deals…
Probiotics in Tanzania: A Multi-Partner Development Project
This article critically examines an HIV/AIDS development and research project in Mwanza, Tanzania. A group of women produce a type of probiotic yoghurt that has provided evidence of lowering the incidence of HIV infection. The yoghurt is consumed by the women, their family members, and local citizens living with HIV/AIDS; surplus is sold within the community. While the project's multi-partner, multi-disciplinary composition allows for varied expe…
Consumer Databases, Neoliberalism, and the Commercial Mediation of Identity: A Medium Theory Analysis
This paper argues that the systemic nature of contemporary consumer surveillance undermines the most fundamental principle of free market economics: consumer sovereignty. Specifically, this paper argues that the rise of an ‘information’ or ‘knowledge’ society in conjunction with neoliberal capitalism has entrenched routine forms of surveillance within commercial strategies by employing networked databases as a primary medium for the articulation …
Won't You Be My (Political) Friend? The Changing Face(book) of Socio-Political Contestation in Malaysia
Using Malaysia as a case study, this article explores the potential of Facebook (the social networking website) as a tool for political change within restricted media environments. In countries with little or no freedom of the press, citizens often turn to alternative forms of media to express dissent, connect with like-minded individuals, and organize. Facebook's integrated privacy controls can help facilitate such connections and may lend thems…
Foregrounding technology over politics? Media framings of federal elections in Malaysia
Mainstream and alternative media play an important role in circulating powerful narratives within and often beyond a country's borders. This article specifically examines how Malaysia's media have framed the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the country's electoral process. To this end, the authors conducted a content analysis of selected domestic mainstream and alternative media sources for two weeks befo…
Asking Tough Questions: The Ethics of Studying Activism in Democratically Restricted Environments
In this article I examine the ethics of researching media-related activism in democratically restricted environments. Given that research participants in these locales often place a lot on the line to engage in their chosen political pursuits, including enduring government harassment and persecution, the ethics of conducting research about their activism deserves serious critical attention and analysis. Drawing on fieldwork examples from Southeas…
Chalk of Fame: A symbiosis of new and old media
In the spring of 2011, the leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, Jack Layton, led his party to Official Opposition status in parliament before succumbing to cancer. An outpouring of elegiac tributes followed, creating a national media moment as stories, images, and information about Layton were shared via a range of social media and widely circulated by mainstream media outlets. However, the most powerful medium – and the one that became the f…
Interrogating Course-Related Public Interest Internships in Communications
This article examines the benefits and drawbacks of for-credit, unpaid internships geared towards the public good. Attention is focused specifically on communication internships with non- governmental, non-profit, and community-based organizations. Drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews with students, staff, faculty, and host organizations, the author advances a critical model of service learning that more fully recognizes the labour o…
Scholar-Activist Terrain in Canada and Ireland
No abstract
Student Rights in an Age of Austerity? ‘Security’, Freedom of Expression and the Neoliberal University
In this profile, we examine a worrying trend taking place in institutions of higher education around the world: a notable increase in their managerial corporatization and neoliberalization, combined with greater repression of freedom of expression on campuses under the aegis of 'securitization'. We focus attention specifically on how these twinned trends have impacted student activism in a post-2008 austerity-driven economic environment. Drawing …
Activism and Communication Scholarship in Canada
Activism and Communication Pedagogy: A Conversation with Becky Lentz and Mark Lipton
Experiential Learning in the Canadian Communications Landscape
Background: This article critically analyzes the results of an online survey about curricular experiential learning (EL) completed by 36 Canadian communication studies programs. Analysis: Attention is focused on internships, co-ops, and community engaged learning. Six key areas illuminate the current EL terrain: types and scope of EL endeavours, pedagogical requirements and hourly commitments, student remuneration, logistical and scholarly oversi…
Artistic Creativity, Community, and Well-Being
We, the three coauthors, met at our favorite coffee shop, exhausted by being pulled in too many directions. Our original intention was to talk about outcomes emerging from our team-based research project, Building a Creative Campus: Learning Through Performance. Instead, we found ourselves engaged in familiar discussions of burnout. We bemoaned our shared experiences of wading through various illnesses and angst derived from the state of contempo…
Teaching Communication and Media Studies in Polarized Times
Political science (13 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Law (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Media studies (6 works) · Mainstream (4 works) · Asian Studies and History (3 works) · Business (3 works)