Stuart Duncan
Education
PhD, Media and Design Innovation (in progress) – 2021 to Present
Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON
Master of Arts, Communication and Culture – 2021
Ryerson University, Toronto, ON
Project-Paper: News Personalization – Do journalism audiences prefer algorithms over editors?
Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Computing and Information Science – 2001
University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Research Experience
Toronto Metropolitan University – Toronto, ON
Research Assistant, Responsible AI Project – AI Accountability – 2022 to Present
– Development of training materials on effective knowledge mobilization techniques for the next generation of artificial intelligence experts
– Supporting research work examining issues of AI accountability
Research Assistant, Explanatory Journalism Project – 2019 to Present
– Research on the uptake and impact of explanatory journalism
– Computational audience analysis on social media and textual data using linguistic and machine learning tools
– Extensive web scraping and API-based data collection using Python
Program Manager, Explanatory Journalism Project – Jan 2022 to May 2022
– Administrative support work for Ryerson-based SSHRC-supported research project
– Financial budgeting and reporting
– Supporting research assistant hiring and onboarding
– Liaising with external research partners
University of Amsterdam – Amsterdam, NL (remotely)
Research Intern, NEWSFLOW project- May 2022 to August 2022
– Working with Dr. Damian Trilling at the University of Amsterdam, contributing to the NEWSFLOWS project examining the interplay of manual news sharing and algorithmic news recommendation
– Redeveloping news recommendation system using Python and Flask
Professional Experience
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Toronto, ON
Social Media Producer – CBC News – 2016 to 2021
– Facilitate the creation of social media content in one of Canada’s largest newsrooms
– Responsible for assigning editorial tasks to team of content producers
– Writing captions, headlines and description copy tailored for social media success
– Social media analytic reporting for multiple platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
Digital Producer – The Fifth Estate – 2013 to 2016
– Overseeing the digital production of investigative documentary news program
– Creation of content for social media and video on demand platforms
– Leading development of special interactive digital content
Digital Producer – Unscripted Programming – 2009 to 2012
– Coordinating the digital content of entertainment and reality programming including Dragons’ Den and other key CBC properties
– Planning and implementation of sponsored marketing campaigns
Associate Digital Producer – Unscripted Programming – 2007 to 2009
-Supporting the development of digital content for entertainment and reality television programming
NOW Magazine – Toronto, ON
Interactive Assistant – 2006 to 2007
– Editing and post production work on audio material for web streaming
– Web development and maintenance of website using CSS, Flex and Flash
CFRU-FM – Guelph, ON
Technical and Production Coordinator – 2004 to 2006
– Editing and post production work on audio material for web streaming
– Web development and maintenance of website using CSS, Flex and Flash
Teaching Experience
Lakehead University (Orillia) – Orillia, ON
Lecturer – MDST 3610 – Web Design – Winter 2023
– Development of 12-week asynchronous remote learning-based course
– Preparing, editing and delivering recorded lecture series
– Created course shell in D2L online learning platform
– Marking assignments and final papers
Toronto Metropolitan University – Toronto, ON
Lecturer
RTA 963 – Web Design – Winter 2021 & Fall 2022
– Adapted course syllabus
– Created course shell in D2L online learning platform
– Preparing and delivering live-streamed lectures in Zoom
– Marking assignments and final papers
Workshop Facilitator / Lecturer
Applied AI for the Non-Specialist Mini-Course – Fall 2022
– Coordinated a three-part workshop series providing an introduction to artificial intelligence and its application in research.
Communicating complexity and knowledge mobilization workshop series – Spring 2022
– As part of the NSERC-funded Responsible AI project, coordinated a four-part workshop series on how to share technically complex ideas with non-technical audiences.
Teaching Assistant
CMN 600 – Science, Communication & Society – Winter 2022
CMN 432 – Communication for Engineers – Fall 2021
RMG 821 – Research and Analytics in Social Media – Fall 2019
– Marking coursework
– Supporting students during in-class activities
George Brown College – Toronto, ON
Instructor – School of Design
INTR 1002 – Information Architecture 1 – Winter 2021
INTR 2015 – Social Networks – Winter 2019
– Preparing and delivering in-person weekly lectures
– Developing syllabi and coursework
– Creating digital course shells using Blackboard online learning platform
– Marking assignments and final papers
– Leading and creating classroom activities
– Delivering courses in an online environment including delivering pre-recorded and live-streamed lectures
Other Teaching Activities
Guest Lectures
– “Newsomatic: (Re)Introducing Physicality to Audio News Consumption” – University of Amsterdam – June 2022
– “Programming & Audience Research: Part 1” – FCD 912 – Researching Media Audiences – Fall 2021 – Ryerson University
– “Programming & Audience Research: Part 2” – FCD 912 – Researching Media Audiences – Fall 2021 – Ryerson University
– “Social Media Audits” – RMG 821 – Research and Analytics in Social Media – Fall 2019 – Ryerson University
– “Social Media Privacy & Cambridge Analytica” – RMG 821 – Research and Analytics in Social Media – Fall 2019 – Ryerson University
Workshops
– “How to use Google Trends” – As part of coursework in DI-8010 – Fall 2021 – Ryerson University
– “A Primer on SQL” – Explanatory Journalism Project – July 2020 – Ryerson University
Awards
– Ontario Graduate Scholarship – 2022 to 2023
– Ryerson Graduate Fellowship – 2019 to 2022
– Ryerson Graduate Development Award – 2019
Publications
Review of Smartphones and the News, by Andrew Duffy, European Journal of Communication, (October 2021).
Conference Presentations
– “News Personalization: Do Journalism Audiences Prefer Algorithms Over Editors?” (2022) – European Communication Research and Education Association Journalism Conference. Utrecht, Netherlands.
– “Automated Audio News Bulletins: How Text-to-Speech Could Disrupt the News Industry” (2021) – Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference. University of Alberta, Edmonton AB.
– “BulletinBot: How AI-based text-to-speech could change the news industry” (2021) – Transformation of Newsrooms with the Advent of Artificial Intelligence Journalism. Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
– “Will Artificial Intelligence Replace the Journalist?” (2019) – Future Communications Conference. York University, Toronto ON
Academic Service
– Panel moderator, “What is the future of creativity and AI?”, RUBIX 2022 , Ryerson University
– Submission Reviewer, International Communication Association Conference – 2021, 2022
Certifications and Training
– Graduate Teaching Development Program: Level 1 – Teaching Foundations – 2020 – Ryerson University, Toronto ON
– “Evaluating Your Teaching” – Teaching Assistant Training – Fall 2019 – Ryerson University
– “Learning Through Reflection: Teaching Reflective Practice” – Teaching Assistant Training – Winter 2020 – Ryerson University
Professional Memberships
– Canadian Association of Journalists – 2020 to Present
– Canadian Communication Association – 2021 to Present
Skills
– Specialties: Interactive production, content development, analytics, programming, web scraping, video editing, image editing, digital photography, search engine optimization, social media coordination, audio production, live sound mixing, writing, researching, editing
– Web development and programming languages: CSS, Django, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Python, R, SQL
– Content management systems: Drupal, Expression Engine, Joomla, Movable Type, WordPress
– Software: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign