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Cultureplex

CulturePlex

Your Data, Your Story

FOCUS AREAS

Cultural Networks

AI and Digital Transformation

Innovation in Peace Building

CULTURAL NETWORKS

We study people in their beautifully complex interactions with cultural objects. These interactions give insight into human aspirations and leave traces of people’s motivations, ideas, and desires. They make up the basis of human behavior. We probe into these networks of objects and humans using a methodology that includes modeling, designing, framing, big data analytics, and AI. We research these phenomena to find answers to the most pressing questions about what human life will look like in the future.

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AI AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

AI and the Digital are reshaping our understanding of innovation and creativity. We help people transform their organizations, activities and models to leverage the engagement of digital technologies in a strategic way, taking present day and future needs into consideration. They are part of our present, and our aim is to help others learn how to work with these tools to better engage their audiences and acquire competitive advantages. Our approach covers the technology, the people and the ethical, offering a comprehensive perspective that empowers leaders to transform their organizations.

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INNOVATION IN PEACE BUILDING

We approach peace building from a pragmatic and multidisciplinary point of view, using technology, innovation and knowledge from research findings to improve and design processes, models, and practices. Our approach custom-applies digital technologies, data analytics, AI, and design thinking to propose effective solutions to complex peace problems. We bridge our varied skills toolbox to create best practices in order to engage with peace building in the 21st Century.

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TEAM MEMBERS

Ana Ruiz-Segarra

Ana Ruiz-Segarra

Engineer & Humanist, Video Game Enthusiast, YouTube

I am a first-year PhD student in the Hispanic Studies program. My research focuses on video game fans and online communities. I work at the CulturePlex as a data analyst, and graphic designer. My previous experience working at the Complex Systems Modelling group in Quito, inspired me to dive deep into the humanities.

Zeina Dghaim

Zeina Dghaim

PhD Student, and Artist the Old-School Way, Training Specialist, Community Programs

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

My PhD work is an act of creating beauty. An unimaginative and aesthetically starved life diminishes hope and humanity. I like to analyze needs and find solutions. In the words of the great Canadian poet Anne Michaels, we need to find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful.

Daniel Varona-Cordero

Daniel Varona-Cordero

Computer Scientist, AI Specialist, Believer in the Law of Attraction

I work in design techniques that prevent traditional bias and foster equity in AI processes. Graduated from the University of Informatic Sciences in Havana, Cuba. Over ten years of teaching and industry experience in software engineering, software project management, software quality and research methods.

Tata Méndez-Mahecha

Tata Méndez-Mahecha

Hispanic Studies M.A. Student, Digital Creative

My curiosity led me to immerse myself in the digital world. I understand the relationships between Multimedia Communication, Design and Digital Humanities as the roots of creativity. They allow me to create user experiences that inspire design and strategic decisions in different scenarios.

Juan-Luis Suárez

Juan-Luis Suárez

Director, Curious, Explorer, Reader, Runner, Food Aficionado

Juan-Luis Suárez started the CulturePlex Lab in 2007 with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation with the goal of establishing a creative place to help define the digital transformation. His work focuses on advancing digital innovation and building a theory of cultural networks.

María Paula Espejo

María Paula Espejo

PhD Student in Hispanic Studies, Peace Building, Government, Partnerships

I am building a trans-disciplinary method that leverages innovation to strengthen reconciliation in post-conflict contexts. I hold a Master of Arts from Universidad de Los Andes in Peacebuilding, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis on Conflict Resolution and Peace Research from Universidad Javeriana.

Yadira Lizama-Mué

Yadira Lizama-Mué

Computer Scientist, Project Manager, Passionate About Science

I am a PhD student in Hispanic Studies with specializations in Scientific Computing and Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Resolution. I have a degree in Software Engineering from the Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas in Havana, Cuba.

Bárbara Romero-Ferrón

Bárbara Romero-Ferrón

Art Historian, PhD Student, Digital Collections, Exhibitions

I am an Art Historian interested in cultural networks and data analysis. I use a data driven methodology to unearth the Spanish art shown in exhibitions in the UK, US, and Spain during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Emilio Calderón

Emilio Calderón

Avid Reader, and Coffee Aficionado, Big Data in the Humanities

I am in my first year of the PhD in Hispanic Studies at Western University working on digital innovation and cultural networks. I completed my undergraduate studies in Literature and Humanities at Los Andes University, Bogotá, and my M.A. at Western on Natural Language Processing and civic journalism.

PUBLICATIONS

Curation, Content, Creation: Computer Approaches to the Fine Arts

Curation, Content, Creation: Computer Approaches to the Fine Arts

by Juan Luis Suárez, Javier de la Rosa | Mar 30, 2020

  The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities and Art Historyh  ArticlePublication AuthorsAbstractThe Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities and Art History offers a broad survey of cutting-edge intersections between digital technologies and the study of art...

Victims of Language: Language as a Pre-condition of Transitional Justice in Colombia’s Peace Agreement

Victims of Language: Language as a Pre-condition of Transitional Justice in Colombia’s Peace Agreement

by Yadira Lizama-Mué, Juan Luis Suárez | Mar 1, 2020

  Transitional Justice in Comparative Perspective. Preconditions for Successh  Book sectionPublication AuthorsAbstractThis chapter focuses on the specific language used to talk about victims during the peace negotiations in Havana, and in the Final Agreement. The...

Entrepreneurship and the Mass Media: Evidence from Big Data

Entrepreneurship and the Mass Media: Evidence from Big Data

by Juan Luis Suárez, Roderick E. White, Simon Parker, Antonio Jiménez-Mavillard | Feb 28, 2020

  Academy of Management Discoveries h  ArticlePublication AuthorsAbstractDoes the mass media promote entrepreneurship? Using big data in combination with a machine learning aided analysis we discover a positive sentiment bias associated with entrepreneurship present...

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DATA POINTS

The Four Components of the Waterfront Doctrine

Author: Juan Luis Suárez

The CulturePlex has identified four areas of interest in the still emerging Waterfront Doctrine. These areas result from the set of decisions adopted by the three-levels-of-government (municipal, provincial and federal) corporation as well as from the positions taken by each of the different stakeholders.

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The Waterfront Doctrine

Author: Juan Luis Suárez

The CulturePlex proposes that the current multi-stakeholder, multi-phase process being used to decide the future and scope of the development of Toronto’s eastern waterfront by Sidewalk Labs, is best described as the Waterfront Doctrine.

PDF ENGLISH

PDF SPANISH

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The Waterfront Doctrine

Author: Juan Luis Suárez

The CulturePlex proposes that the current multi-stakeholder, multi-phase process being used to decide the future and scope of the development of Toronto’s eastern waterfront by Sidewalk Labs, is best described as the Waterfront Doctrine.

PDF ENGLISH

PDF SPANISH

V
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4

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PARTNERS

Z 

ACADEMIC & RESEARCH

Juan Luis Suárez
jsuarez@uwo.ca

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PARTNERSHIPS

Zeina Dghaim
zdghaim@uwo.ca

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GENERAL INQUIRIES

Emilio Calderón
ecaldern@uwo.ca

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VISIT US

Western University
University College 3304
London, ON, Canada, N6A3K7

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