I am a media & archives researcher, consultant, and educator based in Toronto, Canada.
I am currently a FOCAS Postdoctoral Fellow (Community Archives and Accessibility) in the School of Information Studies at McGill University. I have PhD from the joint Communication and Culture program at York University and Toronto Metropolitan University. I hold an MA in Literatures, Arts, and Histories of English-Speaking Societies from the Université de Nantes, France.
My research and teaching interests include critical archival studies, media and television history, queer and feminist histories, critical pedagogy, disability studies, and Canadian studies.
- In my work, I broadly examine how underrepresented communities use media and technology, as well as archival infrastructures, to produce new knowledges and circulate information, assert their historical presence and political relevance, and create spaces of belonging. In particular, my research considers what I have termed “queer access mobilization,” which denotes a community-driven effort in which queer people collaboratively build pathways to greater access—to media, information, and/or vital social, cultural, and political networks.
- In parallel, indeed, my research emphasizes the need to support community-based archives for and by historically underrepresented groups across North America in preserving and making accessible their histories, as well as the need for accessibility and disability justice in archival practice and archival spaces.
- I am equally interested in improving access to marginalized archival material and, in turn, in improving pedagogical approaches to archives and archival studies.
- My research primarily relies on qualitative methods, namely archival research, interviews (oral history, semi-structured interviews, focus groups), and close reading.
I am currently working on several research projects which span a variety of topics: archival education, disability/accessibility, cable access television histories, experimental film and video art…You can also browse my recent and upcoming publications and talks and read more about my professional background.
When I am not actively thinking about media & archives, I like to consume 1990s and early 2000s television: Star Trek DS9, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Twin Peaks, and The Sopranos are among my favourites. I also enjoy analogue photography/film and playing around with cameras.
I am open to interviews, guest lectures, writing collaborations (academic articles & public scholarship), peer review and copyediting, conference panels, curation & exhibitions/screenings, project advising/consulting, and translation work. These activities can be conducted in English or French. You can reach me at: axelle.demus@gmail.com
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