Joyce Elizabeth M. Smith

Assistant Professor
School of Journalism
Ryerson University
Toronto, ON
(416) 979-5000 x6394

e-mail: [email protected]

Quickly Jump to:

Education   Research Experience
Teaching Experience   Professional/Administrative Experience
Selected Publications   Panels/Presentations
Grants/Awards   Memberships
Personal Accomplishments

Education

Ph.D

University of Natal (Religious Studies)

1997

 

Reporting Religion in a New South Africa: A Content Analysis of Six South African Newspapers, 1993 - 1994
Advisor: Professor Martin Prozesky

 

M.A.

The University of Western Ontario (Journalism)

1993


B.A. (Hons.)

University of Toronto (awarded with distinction)

1991

  English literature specialist, Religious Studies minor  

Return to top

Research Experience

Research
Associate

Duke University Divinity School Pastoral Leadership Project

2000 -

 

  • responsible for conducting survey of representations of ordained and lay clerics in American news and entertainment media
  • academic and service publications in preparation
 

Postdoctoral 

Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship

1998-99

 

Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto

  • engaged in a year-long analysis of national news media and their reporting of religion, focussing on issues of representation of religious diversity, pluralism, language, communications and multicultural policy
 
 
 

Faith and the Media

May 1998 - Dec 2000

 
  • redesign and relaunch of official Web site, ongoing critiques and sourcing of material on religion and media
  • additional analysis of over 1400 newspaper articles collected and coded by volunteers across Canada in conjunction with the first-ever conference bringing together journalists and members of faith communities
 

Doctoral

University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg

1994

 
  • analysed religious coverage appearing over one year in six South African newspapers
  • interviewed journalists and religious leaders
 

Analyst

Meetinghouse

Nov - Dec 1992

 
  • analysed coverage of sexual abuse and wrote report for editors of American and Canadian Mennonite publications
 
 

Researcher

Graduate School of Journalism

Jan - May 1992

 

The University of Western Ontario

  • assisted faculty research into Yiddish radio in Canada

Return to top

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor

School of Journalism, Ryerson University

Sept. 2001-

 
 
  • responsible for new online journalism program, teaching online and information resources courses and preparing curricula
 
     
Secondary Supervisor MA student thesis, School of Journalism, University of British Columbia 2001 -
     

Teaching Assistant 

Department of Religious Studies, University of Natal

1994

 
 
  • led tutorial groups of first-year students and conducted third-year seminars
  • graded students assignments, essays and exams
 
 

Tutor

Hope Study Project, Pietermaritzburg

1994

 
  • taught English and life-skills to first-language Zulu students
  • assigned and graded papers and tests
 
 

Teaching Assistant  

School of Journalism, The University of Western Ontario

1992-1993

 
  • graded student assignments, essays and exams
 

Return to top

Professional and Administrative Experience

Features Editor

globeandmail.com

June 2000 - July 2001

 
  • working with online team to produce daily breaking news, as well as coordinate special projects
 

Copyeditor

The Toronto Star

April - June 2000

 
  • citydesk responsibilities
 

Project Development
Officer

Parallax Entertainment Inc.

Nov 1997 -

 
  • currently researching a documentary film project on women's religious communities
 

Sr. Site Editor

Bowne Internet Solutions

Apr 1997 - June 1998

 

(formerly Quadravision Communications)

 

Freelance Editor/Writer

 

Aug 1996 -

 
  • religious issues reporting for the Toronto Star, Press Review, the Anglican Journal and The Anglican
  • promotional material for the University of Toronto
 
 

Undergraduate Assistant  

Chemistry Department, University of Toronto

Aug 1995 - Feb 1997

 
  • responsible for undergraduate programme administration, on-the-spot counselling of students, support for faculty, teaching and administrative staff
  • involved in the production of brochures, departmental and alumni newsletters in printed and electronic (Web) formats
 

Correspondent

The St. Catharines Standard

Apr - Jul 1994

 
  • contributed a series of feature articles on South Africa before, during, and following the election of Nelson Mandela
 
 

Production Assistant

L.I.F.E. (London Inter-faith Expression) Media

Feb - Mar 1993

 
  • assisted in production of community television show
 

Return to top

Selected Publications

Book review of Religion and Popular Culture: Studies on the Interaction of Worldviews (ed. Daniel A. Stout and Judith M. Buddenbaum), Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, December 2001, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp 786-7

"Kenneth Woodward: Journalist as Scholar," Religious Studies News, American Academy of Religion edition, Spring 2001, pp 16, 27

"Sikh journalists in Toronto receive death threats," CJFE Reporter, newsletter for Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Issue 2, 2000, p 3

Book review of Reading Religion as News and Reporting News About Religion, ChristianWeek, 2 May 2000

"[email protected]," AGM synthesis for Canada China Business Forum magazine, January-February 2000, pp 15 - 34

"What's in a (new) name?" The Toronto Star, 8 November 1997, L18

"God in the workplace," The Toronto Star, 2 August 1997, L14

"Why do they stay Catholic?" The Toronto Star, 17 May 1997, H14

"Scholar explores stories shared by Jews, Muslims," The Toronto Star, 10 May 1997, L20

"Women urged to get involved to bring about change," The Anglican, April 1997, pp 1, 16

"Media as God's Messenger," Press Review: The National News Media Review, Fourth Quarter, 1996, p 5; reprinted as "Church, media relationship failing — journalists," in the Anglican Journal, April 1997, p 16

"South Africa's transition remarkably smooth," The St. Catharines Standard, 2 July 1994

"South Africans find collective voice," The St. Catharines Standard, 2 May 1994

"Logistical nightmares await South Africa's new government," The St. Catharines Standard, 28 April 1994

Story Lines Editor of and contributor to anthology of short fiction by students of The University of Western Ontario Graduate School of Journalism; published June 1993

"Part of the accountability process," The Mennonite, 27 April 1993, p 10

Return to top

Panels/Presentations

"Mild, moderate and fundamentalist: How Canadian journalism likes its Sikhs," presented at SSSR/RRA meeting, Columbus, Ohio, October 2001

"The media diary of an American priest: Christian ministry in popular and news media," presented at SSSR/RRA meeting, Houston, Texas, November 2000

"Discovering the blessed in the broadcast: scholarship at the intersection of religious and media studies," paper presented at International Association for the History of Religions Congress, Durban, South Africa, 5 -12 August 2000

"In Through the Out Door: Learning About Religion via Analogy in the News Media" presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Annual Meeting, Boston, November 1999

Co-ordinator, Lilly Regional Conference on Religion in the News, 24-25 October 1999, Toronto

Panelist, media seminar, Christian Science Church community, Toronto, November 1999.

"Recent research on religion and media," invited presentation to chapel gathering at World Vision , 18 August 1999, Toronto.

"Sangomas and Sweat Lodges: Reporting of Indigenous Religion in South Africa and Canada," presented at the Third International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture, University of Edinburgh, 20 - 23 July 1999

"Six mediated months in the country: Religion as news in Canada," Rockefeller Seminar Series, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, 29 January 1999

"No such thing as video rasa: Using media to study and teach religion," paper presented to American Academy of Religion, Eastern International Region Annual Meeting, Toronto, 17 April 1998

Moderator, "Spaces Virtual and Real," AAR/EIR Annual Meeting, Toronto, 18 April 1998

Moderator, "Private Lives/Public Scandal: Moral and Cultural Values in an Age of Advanced Capitalism," and "Integrity and Journalistic Pressures," Ethics & the Media colloquium, the University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, 25 October 1997

"On a Wing and a Prayer? Newspapers and their Narration of South Africa's Election Miracle," paper presented at first International Conference on Religion, Media and Culture at the University of Colorado, Boulder, January 1996

Return to top

Grants/Awards

Travel Grant 2001
Faculty of Communication and Design, Ryerson University  
   
Finalist, Online News Awards 2001
Part of globeandmail.com team recognized as top five news sites internationally by the Online News Association for breaking news  
   

Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship

1998 - 1999

Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto

 
 

Applied Arts Award

1997

Best Interactive Web Design  
 

Rotary International Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship

1994
  • represented southern Ontario and upper New York State in South Africa
  • invited speaker at several Rotary and non-Rotary functions in Canada and South Africa
 
 

Graduate Assistant Scholarship, University of Natal

1994
 

Special University Scholarship and the London Magazine Prize

1992 - 1993

The University of Western Ontario

 

Return to top

Memberships

Visiting Scholar, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, 1998-99

Member, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Member, Board of Directors, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (formerly Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists), 1998-2000

Return to top

Personal Accomplishments

Narration of various printed materials including Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, by Walter Dean Myers, The Messiah of Stockholm, by Cynthia Ozick, Strange Heaven by Lynn Coady, and Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai as a volunteer with the Talking Book programme of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind , January 1997 -

Volunteer observer for South African elections, 26 - 27 April 1994

Return to top

Return to my index page.

Last updated: 9 January 2002

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1