Navigating the Digital Frontier

This week, Beyond the Headlines has partnered with Global Conversations. Global Conversations is an online international affairs magazine, staffed by Master’s students from the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Today, on March 8,  they published their Winter 2021 Feature Issue under the theme, “The Digital Frontier.” You can find it on their website at munkgc.com.

In the issue, their writers explore the way digital technologies are transforming social, political, and economic life around the world. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, our reliance on our online connections has only gotten stronger. The internet has been a powerful source of opportunity, but the challenges and risks associated with it are also becoming clear.

Our friends from the Global Conversations podcast team speak with three writers from Global Conversations and one outside expert. They discuss a variety of issues that are shaping our digital world ranging from efforts to improve Internet connection for the people of Nunavut, to Europe’s regulatory battle against the tech giants, to the role of social media algorithms and disinformation in US politics.

Hilary Lawson is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Global Affairs program at the Munk School and the Indigenous Affairs feature contributor for Global Conversations. Before starting graduate school, she worked for five years as a political staffer on Parliament Hill, first for a Member of Parliament and then as an advisor to the Minister of Indigenous Services. She has travelled to Taiwan on a parliamentary staffers’ delegation and contributed amendments to legislation on prisons, national security, and firearms. Her research interests include information warfare, surveillance and privacy rights, Indigenous self-determination, and criminal justice transformation. Hilary is a settler of British and Irish descent living on the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from the University of Ottawa

Pierre Miller is a student in the dual diploma program between Sciences Po and the University of Toronto. He is pursuing both a Master of Global Affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and a Master in Public Policy at Sciences Po. He recently had the opportunity to collaborate with UNESCO New Delhi for a global internship within the Social and Human Sciences team. Pierre Miller completed his undergraduate degree at Sciences Po, receiving a BA in Political Sciences with an emphasis on History while attending the Sorbonne and receiving a BSc in Physics. He was a visiting student at Johns Hopkins University from 2018 to 2019 and has been involved in several multidisciplinary projects focusing on a wide range of issues from art to climate change. Pierre’s main interests are elections, European negotiations, and the implications of global warming.

Kristen Pearn is a first-year student in the Master of Global Affairs program at the University of Toronto. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario in History and Criminology. As an undergrad, she maintained a starting position on the Western Mustangs Varsity Softball team and a part-time position both as a Research Assistant and volunteer at a local charitable organization. She then completed her Master’s degree at the University of Toronto in History. As a Master’s student, she specialized in U.S. Cold War foreign policy and civil rights and worked part-time as a Teacher Assistant.

Dr. Alison Meek is an Associate Professor in History at King’s University College, at the University of Western Ontario. After having initially focused on a career as a professional dancer, including enrolling in professional dance and musical theatre programs in Banff, Alberta and London, England, Dr. Meek switched career paths and enrolled in the University of Toronto/Erindale. After completing her PhD in American history at the University of Toronto, she accepted a teaching position in the history department at King’s University College in July 2001.

Produced by:

Connor Fraser - Junior Producer, Beyond the Headlines

Regina Codera - Director of Podcasts, Global Conversations

Luca Bonifacio-Proietto - Podcast Contributor, Global Conversations

Sky Shi - Podcast Contributor, Global Conversations

Thea Koper - Executive Producer, Beyond the Headlines

Music:

“Lover Come Back” by City and Colour