On this page
Research areas: Algorithmic Media, Critical Approaches to Social Media and Big Data, Internet Policy, Digital Political Communication, Network Neutrality
Postdoc, Communication Studies, University of Washington PhD, Communication and Culture, Ryerson University and York University MA, Communication and Culture, Ryerson University and York University BA, Multidisciplinary Studies (Political Science, International Development Studies and Spanish), Dalhousie University
Fenwick McKelvey is an Associate Professor in Information and Communication Technology Policy in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University. He is co-director of the Applied AI Institute and leads Machine Agencies at the Milieux Institute. He studies digital politics and policy. He is the author of Internet Daemons: Digital Communications Possessed (University of Minnesota Press, 2018) winner of the 2019 Gertrude J. Robinson Book Award. He is co-author of The Permanent Campaign: New Media, New Politics (Peter Lang, 2012) with Greg Elmer and Ganaele Langlois.
Artificial intelligence, Internet policy and governance,social media policy and politics, platform studies, digital media activism, digital political communication, internet history, algorithms, elections, data-driven campaigning, posthumanism, cybernetics, computer history
Fenwick McKelvey est professeur agrégé au département de communication de l’Université Concordia. Ses travaux portent sur les aspects politiques des médias numériques, y compris leurs traductions et cadrages réglementaires. Il intervient fréquemment en tant qu’expert dans les médias et dans les audiences réglementaires sur les médias. Il est l'auteur d’Internet Daemons (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), lauréat du Gertrude J. Robinson Book Award 2019. Il est membre du comité d'examen de l'éducation du magazine Walrus.
2024
COMS225: Media Institutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies,ConcordiaUniversity(OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.25outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 2.14outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS610:MASeminarin Media Studies program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University(Overall Student Evaluation: 1.25outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2023
COMS610:MASeminarin Media Studies program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University(Overall Student Evaluation: 1.89outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
INDI698: TheSocial Life of AI summer class offered by the School of GraduateStudies, co-taught with Dr. Tristan Glatard.
2022
COMS642: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms and AI inMedia Studies program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.27outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS605: Media Research Methodsin Media Studies program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University(Nostudent evaluations due to COVID-19)
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (Nostudent evaluations due to COVID-19)
2021
COMS225: Media Institutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (Nostudent evaluations due to COVID-19)
COMS460:Political Communication,Bachelor of Arts program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University (Nostudent evaluations due to COVID-19)
2020
2019
COMS225: Media Institutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.43 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS460:Political Communication,Bachelor of Arts program of the Department of Communication Studies,Concordia University (Overall Student Evaluation: 2.33outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2018
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.78 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS644: Media Policy, Masters of Arts in Media Studies program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 2.00 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2017
COMS225: Media Institutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.53 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS460: Political Communication, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University
COMS460: Political Communication, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.85 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2016
COMS225: Media Institutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.88 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 2.41 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS422: Perspectives on the Information Society, Bachelor of Artsprogram of the Department of Communication Studies, ConcordiaUniversity (Overall Student Evaluation: 1.92 out of 5 with 1 meaningExcellent)
COMS627: Political Economy of Communication, Masters of Arts in MediaStudies Program of the Department of Communication Studies, ConcordiaUniversity (Overall Student Evaluation: 1.33 out of 5 with 1 meaningExcellent)
2015
COMS 893 (Concordia)/ FCM918G (UQAM) / COM7191 (U de M): Special Topic : Approaches tointellectual property and media piracy / Séminaire avancé encommunication : propriété intellectuelle et piratage des médias,Joint Doctorate in Communication program in the Department ofCommunication, Concordia University
COMS 225: MediaInstitutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of the Departmentof Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.95out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS 642E : SpecialTopics in Media Studies: ARRRGH! Approaches to Media Piracy andIntellectual Property, Masters of Arts in Media Studies Program ofthe Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University(Overall Student Evaluation: 1.33 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS352: Media Policy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of theDepartment of Communication Studies, Concordia University (OverallStudent Evaluation: 1.75 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2014
COMS 506: Approachesto Media and Technology, Diploma of the Department of CommunicationStudies, Concordia University (Overall Student Evaluation: 1.71 outof 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS 352: MediaPolicy in Canada, Bachelor of Arts program of the Department ofCommunication Studies, Concordia University (Overall StudentEvaluation: 1.95 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
2013
COMS 225: MediaInstitutions and Policies, Bachelor of Arts program of the Departmentof Communication Studies, Concordia University (Overall StudentEvaluation: 1.32 out of 5 with 1 meaning Excellent)
COMS 495: SpecialTopics in Communications, Department of Communication, University ofWashington
COM 407:Communication Technology and Politics, Department of Communication,University of Washington
2021-2022,Heritage Department, Government of Canada, “What to Watch Next,”$90,536,Primary Investigator,Co-applicants:Jonathan Roberge, Ganaele Langlois & Greg Elmer.
2020-2024,Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada InsightGrant,“Media Governance After AI,”$218,383,Primary Investigator. Co-PI:Jonathan Roberge.
2020-2023,Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Open Research Area, “Shaping 21st Century AI: Controversies and Closure in Media, Policy, and Research”. Canadian team co-lead with Jonathan Roberge, $368,777 (Canadian budget).
2020-2021,Heritage Department, Government of Canada, “Digital Disinformation and Citizenship Network,” $230,000,Primary Investigator,Co-applicants:Ganaele Langlois, Wendy Chun & Ahmed Al-Rawi.
2020-2027,FRQSC Program: Strategic Cluster (Network), “Hexagram”,$1,827,000, Collaborator.
2018-2019,Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge, “The GreatCanadian Encyclopedia of Political Memes”,$49,000,Primary Investigator.
2018-2019,Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connections Grant, “Democracy in disruption? Engaging Canadians to face emerging threats to democracy,” $49,853, Primary Investigator.
2018, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Engage Grant, "Identifying effective policies to respond to online interference in elections,” $24,954,collaborator.
2016-2019, Fonds derecherche du Québec – Société et culture, Établissement denouveaux professeurs-chercheurs, “Le vote programmé, ou comment la politique est devenue affaire de calcul”, $37,638, PrimaryInvestigator .
2016-2018, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant, “Publicizing the Canadian Internet”, $71,929,Primary Investigator (Dr. Light, Co-applicant, Dr. Rajabiun,collaborator)
2016-2018, Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship Seed Grant, “One Person, One Vote? Blockchain Technologies and Experiments in Voting and Party Governance”, $6,831 Primary Investigator (Dr. Jeremy Clark,Co-applicant)
2014-2015,Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Digging into Data, “Project Arclight: Analytics for the Study of 20thCentury Media”, $204,066, Internal Co-Investigator (Dr. Charles Acland and Dr. Eric Hoyt, Primary Investigators).
McKelvey, F. (2018) Internet Daemons: Digital Communications Possessed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Elmer, G., Langlois, G. & McKelvey, F. (2012). The Permanent Campaign: New Media, New Politics. New York: Peter Lang.
McKelvey,F. Elmer, G. & Langlois, G. (2023)From disinformation to speculation: The pitch, the playbook & the buy-in. Bulletin of Technology & Public Life.
McKelvey, F., DeJong, S., Kowalchuk, S.& Donovan, E. (2022).Are the alt-rights popular in Canada? Image sharing, popular culture, and the alt-rights inCanadian social media. Canadian Journal of Communication.47(4),pp. 702-729 [Correctunredacted version with memes included]
McKelvey, F. (2022)When the New Magic was New: The Claritas Corporation and theClustering of America. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 44,(4), pp.44-56, 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2022.3214223.
McKelvey,F. &Neves, J.(2021).Introduction: optimization and its discontents.Review of Communication. 21(1).pp. 95-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2021.1936143
McKelvey,F., DeJong, S. & Frenzel, J. (2021).Memes, Scenes and #EXLN2019s: How Partisans Make Memes During Elections. New Media &Society. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F14614448211020690
McKelvey,F. (2020).Cranks,Clickbait and Cons: On the Acceptable Use of Political Engagement Platform.Internet Policy Review, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.4.1439
McKelvey, F., & Macdonald, M.(2019). Artificial Intelligence Policy Innovations at the Canadian Federal Government. Canadian Journal of Communication,44(2),43–50. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2019v44n2a3509
McKelvey,F., & Hunt, R. (2019). Discoverability: Toward a Definition ofContent Discovery Through Platforms. Social Media Society, 5(1).https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118819188
McKelvey,F., & Piebiak, J. (2018). Porting the political campaign: TheNationBuilder platform and the global flows of political technology.New Media & Society,20(3),901–918. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816675439
McKelvey,F. (2015).We Like Copies, Just Don’tLet the Others Fool You: The Paradox of The Pirate Bay. Televisionand New Media. 16(8).734-750.
McKelvey,F., Tiessen, M. & Simcoe, L. (2015).A Consensual Hallucination No More? The Internet as Simulation Machine. European Journalof Cultural Studies.18(4-5).577-594.
McKelvey, F. (2014). Algorithmic Media Need Algorithmic Methods: Why Publics Matter. CanadianJournal Of Communication,39(4).597-613.
McKelvey,F. (2011). A Programmable Platform? Drupal, Modularity andthe Future of the Web. Fibreculture,(18).
McKelvey, F. (2010). Ends and Ways: The Algorithmic Politics of Network Neutrality. GlobalMedia Journal — Canadian Edition,3(1). 51-73.
McKelvey, F. & O’Donnell, S.(2010), Out from the Edges: Multi-site Videoconferencing as a Public Sphere inFirst Nations. Journal ofCommunity Informatics. 5(2)
McKelvey,F., Lalancette, M., Kowalchuck, S., & Fitzbay, S. (2024). La« mèmification » de la politique canadienne: Les mèmesInternet comme outils de communication politique. In M. Lalancette &F. Bastien (Eds.), Médiatisation de la politique: Logiques etpratiques (pp. 311–334). Presses de l’Université du Québec.
McKelvey, F., & Roberge, J. (2023).Recursive Power. In S. Lindgren (Ed.), Handbook of critical studies of artificial intelligence (pp. 21–32). Edward ElgarPublishing.
McKelvey, F. (2021).The Other Cambridge Analytics: Early “Artificial Intelligence” in American Political Science. In J. Roberge & M. Castelle (Eds.),The cultural life of machine learning: An incursion into critical AIstudies(pp. 117–142). Palgrave Macmillan.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56286-1
McKelvey, F., &Piebiak, J. (2019). Does the Difference Compute? Data-Driven Campaigning in Canada. In M. Lalancette, V. Raynauld, & E.Crandall (Eds.), What’s trending inCanadian politics?: Understanding transformations in power, media,and the public sphere (pp. 194–215).Vancouver: UBC Press.
McKelvey, F. (2018).Hillary 2016. In J. W. Morris & S. Murray (Eds.), Appified:Mundane Software and the Rise of the Apps(pp. 246–256). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
McKelvey, F., Côté, M., &Raynauld, V. (2018). Scandals and Screenshots: Social Media Elites in Canadian Politics. In A. Marland, T. Giasson, & A. Lawlor (Eds.),Political Elites in Canada: Power and Influence in InstantaneousTimes (pp. 204–222). Vancouver: UBC Press.
McKelvey, F. (2015). Openness Compromised? Questioning the Role of Openness in Digital Methods and Contemporary Critical Praxis. In G. Elmer, G. Langlois, & J.Redden (Eds.), Compromised Data: From Social Media to Big Data(pp. 126–146). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
McKelvey, F. (2011).Making Traffic Public: A Proposal for a Public Study of InternetUsage in Canada. In M. Moll & L. R. Shade (Eds.), TheInternet Tree: The State of Telecom Policy in Canada 3.0(pp. 143-152). Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Elmer, G., Langlois, G, & McKelvey, F. (2012). The Permanent Campaign: New Media, New Politics. New York:Peter Lang.
Powell, A., & McKelvey, F. (2024).AI policymaking as drama: Stages, roles, and ghosts in AI governance in the United Kingdom and Canada. Journal ofDigital Social Research, 6(4), Article4. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v6i440468
Dommett, K., McKelvey, F., &Kefford, G. (2024). The platformisation of party politics? A comparative study of party websites’ technological infrastructures2012-2021. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media,4. https://doi.org/10.51685/jqd.2024.018
Dandurand, G., McKelvey, F., &Roberge, J. (2023). Freezing out: Legacy media’s shaping of AI as a cold controversy. Big Data & Society, 10(2),20539517231219242. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231219242
Hunt,R. & McKelvey, F. (2019).Algorithmic Regulation in Media and Cultural Policy: A Framework to Evaluate Barriers to Accountability. Journalof Information Policy, 9,307-335.
Dubois, E., & McKelvey, F. (2019).Political Bots: Disrupting Canada’s Democracy. CanadianJournal of Communication,44(2),27–33. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2019v44n2a3511
McKelvey, F., & Driscoll, K.(2018). ARPANET and its boundary devices: modems, IMPs, and theinter-structuralism of infrastructures. Internet Histories,3(1), 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2018.1548138
Gehl, R., & McKelvey, F. (2019).Bugging out: darknets as parasites of large-scale media objects.Media, Culture & Society, 41(2), 219–235.https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443718818379
McKelvey, F. & Beyer, J. L. (2015).You are Not Welcome Among Us: Pirates and the State. International Journal of Communication. 9.890-908.
Jones,M., & McKelvey, F. (2024). Deconstructing public participation in the governance of facial recognition technologies in Canada. AI &SOCIETY. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-01952-w
Webber,V., MacDonald, M., Duguay, S., & McKelvey, F. (2023). Pornhub andPolicy: Examining the Erasure of Pornography Workers in Canadian Platform Governance. CanadianJournal of Communication,48(2),381–404. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjc.2022-0044
DeJong,S., McKelvey, F. & Kowalchuk, S. (2023).Memes, partisanship and the pandemic: Existing tropes and mounting disinformation related to how partisans have politicized COVID-19through memes. Global MediaJournal. 14(1), 5-27.http://gmj-canadianedition.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/02_DeJongKowalchuk-Fenwick-Volume-14-issue-1_Paper-FINAL.pdf
Ferrari,F. & McKelvey, F. (2022) Hyperproduction: a social theory of deep generative models, Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory,https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2022.2137546
Lepage-Richer,Theo. & McKelvey, F. (2022). States of Computing: On GovernmentOrganization and Artificial Intelligence in Canada. Big Data &Society. 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221123304.
French,M., Guta, A., Gagnon, M., Mykhalovskiy, E., Roberts, S. L., Goh, S.,McClelland, A., & McKelvey, F. (2020). Corporate contact tracingas a pandemic response. CriticalPublic Health.http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581596.2020.1829549
Rajabiun,R., & McKelvey, F. (2019). Complementary realities: Public domain Internet measurements in the development of Canada’s universal access policies. TheInformation Society,35(2), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2019.1574533
Langlois, G., McKelvey, F., Elmer, G, &Werbin, K. (2009). MappingCommercial Web 2.0 Worlds: Towards a New Critical Ontogenesis.Fibreculture14.
Langlois, G, Elmer, G., McKelvey, F., &Devereaux, Z. (2009). NetworkedPublics: the Double Articulation of Code and Politics on Facebook.Canadian Journal of Communication 34(3). pp.415-434.
Elmer, G., Langlois, G., Devereaux, Z.,Ryan, P. M., McKelvey, F., Redden, J., & Curlew, B. (2009).“Blogs I Read”: Partisanship and Party Loyalty in the Canadian Political Blogosphere. Journal of Information Technology &Politics, 6(2).
Elmer, G., Ryan, P.M., Devereaux, Z., Langlois, G., Redden, J., & McKelvey, F.(2007). ElectionBloggers: Methods for Determining Political Influence. First Monday, 12(4).
McKelvey,F., Redden, J., Roberge, J., & Stark, L. (2024). (Un)stablediffusions: The publics, publicities, and publicizations ofgenerative AI. Journalof Digital Social Research,6(4),Article 4. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v6i440453
McKelvey,F. &Neves, J.(2021).Optimization: Towards a Critical Concept. Reviewof Communication.
Langlois, G.,Elmer, G.,Coulter, N. &McKelvey, F. (2021) The Alt-Rights inCanada. The Canadian Journal ofCommunication
Blanchett, N., McKelvey, F., &Brin, C. (2022). Algorithms, platforms, and policy: The changing face of Canadian news distribution. In J. Meese & S. Bannerman (Eds.),The Algorithmic Distributionof News. Palgrave Macmillan.http://link.springer.com/book/9783030870850
Dubois, E., & McKelvey, F. (2018). Canada: Building Bot Typologies. In S. Woolley & P. N. Howard(Eds.), Computational propaganda: political parties, politicians,and political manipulation on social media (pp. 64–85). NewYork, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press.
Acland, C., & McKelvey, F. (2016). Terminological Traffic in the Movie Business. In C. Acland,&E. Hoyt (Eds.)The ArclightGuidebook to Media History and the Digital Humanities.Falmer: REFRAME/Project Arclight. http://projectarclight.org/book.
Elmer, G., Langlois, G. & McKelvey,F. (2013). The Permanent Campaign: Online Political Communication. in K. Kozolanka (Ed.), Publicity and the Canadian State: CriticalCommunications Perspectives.(pp. 242-263). Toronto:University of Toronto Press.
Langlois, G., McKelvey, F. & Elmer,G. (2011). Networked Publics: Methodological Reflections on the Double Articulation of Code and Politics on Facebook, in Oliver Leistert & Theo Röhle(Eds.), Generation Facebook:Über das Leben im Social Net (pp. 253-278). Bielefeld: transcriptVerlag.
Reports McKelvey, F. & Hunt, R. (2019). Algorithmic accountability and digital content discovery, prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Tenove, C., Tworek, H. & McKelvey, F. (2018) Poisoning Democracy: How Canada Can Address Harmful Speech Online, Public Policy Forum. McKelvey, F. & DuBois, E. (2017). Computational Propaganda in Canada: The Use of Political Bots as part of Computational Propaganda Worldwide working papers, The Computational Propaganda Project. McKelvey, F., & Curlew, B. (2011). Canadian Culture in an Open Internet Age. In S. Anderson & R. Yeo (Eds.), Casting and Open Net: A Leading-Edge Approach to Canada’s Digital Future (pp. 85-101). OpenMedia.ca. From 2006 to 2008, I participated in three research projects. Each project published weekly reports for the public and media. The list below details the projects’ authors, dates and topics. Elmer, G, Langlois, G., McKelvey, F., Prior, E., Ryan, P. M., Devereaux, Z., Curlew, B. & Werbin, K. (September to October, 2008). Code Politics: Federal Election 2008. http://www.infoscapelab.ca/federalelection2008 Elmer, G., Ryan, P. M., Devereaux, Z., Langlois, G., Curlew, B., & McKelvey, F. (September to October, 2007). Code Politics: Ontario Election 2007. http://www.infoscapelab.ca/ontarioelection2007. Elmer, G., Ryan, P. M., Devereaux, Z., Langlois, G., Redden, J., Curlew, B., Seko, Y. McKelvey, F. (March to June, 2007). Code Politics: Party Leaders and Partisans on YouTube. http://www.infoscapelab.ca/videopolitics. Elmer, G., Ryan, P. M., Devereaux, Z., Langlois, G., Redden, J., & McKelvey, F. (September to November, 2006). Code Politics: Canadian Liberal Leadership Race 2006. http://www.infoscapelab.ca/gritrace.
© Concordia University