Hi, my name is Sabrina Ward-Kimola (she/her). I’m a SSHRC-funded PhD candidate in Concordia’s Communication program. My research interests lie in the relationship between media history, disability studies and infrastructure studies, with a specific interest in the appropriation of technology into Deaf cultural contexts and the development of accessible telecommunications infrastructure. My doctoral research concerns the dynamics of video-teleconferencing appropriation in Vancouver’s d/Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and American Sign Language community. Former research investigated the role of new media in ASL poetry, with a principal concern on how the modalities of language impacts poetic meaning.

I also do research with Access-in-the-Making Lab at Concordia University, led by Dr. Arseli Dokumaci, Canada Research Chair in Disability Studies and Media Technologies. Through and beyond my participation in research lab-work, some of my work can be found in The Canadian Journal of Communication, First Monday, Media Culture and Society, Social Media + Society, and The Institute of Network Culture’s INC Reader #15: Critical Meme Research.