Welcome back to our CLCF profile series, where each month we interview a CLCF researcher to hear more about their projects (check out our previous profiles here). As the first month of 2026 comes to a close, we’re delighted to introduce Lauren Knight. Lauren is a sound artist and Ph.D. candidate (SSHRC CGS-D) in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, as well as a CLCF Research Assistant. Her research interests include acoustic ecology, cultural sound studies, media history, and research creation.
Rafael: In a nutshell, who are you as a researcher?
Lauren: I’ll start by saying that my answer to this question changes regularly as I’m learning a lot about myself in the process of completing a PhD. Broadly, I’m a sound artist interested in researching the intersections of sound, environment, and culture: podcasts, music, environmental soundscapes, noise pollution. I came to information and communication studies as a media producer, mainly of sonic media and documentary films (i.e. Stereo Toronto, which was featured on CBC). More recently, I’ve actively tried to merge these worlds through research creation projects in my dissertation and in collaborative creative outputs.
My current doctoral research is focused on the cultural and political orientations of environmental recording devices and their use in artistic practice. Essentially, I like to say I’m studying the politics and potentials of listening: How is our listening shaped by the technologies that we use? How do we shape sonic technologies through process and practice? My field work has involved many days sitting beside ponds, rivers, and streams listening to sounds below the surface (tadpoles, insects, bubbles).
Recording with Hydrophones (Left: Recording a stream that trickles into the St.Lawrence River / Right: Recording a stream in Aulus-les-Bains, France)
Alongside my dissertation, I’m a researcher who values collaboration and community. I’ve been extremely grateful to work collaboratively with a number of researchers (many in CLCF) across projects, brainstorming sessions, and co-writing retreats. Collaborating with others and extending research beyond academia through creative practice are priorities in my current and future work.
M.E.: Can you share some of your research creation projects or approaches? How do you integrate these approaches with other elements of your academic research?
Lauren: I have developed a number of research creation projects, many of them unfinished. Most recently, Aline Zara and I co-created and launched BEEP zine, a series of four zines that audibly maps Toronto’s urban soundscapes through collage, field recording, and manifestos. You can find digital copies of this project on beepzine.com. Stay tuned for future writings about the process of developing BEEP zine and possibilities for urban listening. Aline and I are also in frequent email correspondence about research creation as a method. We currently call this project of dialogue “pen pal processes”. We presented this work at the Canadian Communication Association conference this past year and will be continuing this research throughout 2026.
Beep Zine Launch Event
As a field recordist and sound artist, I’m also regularly integrating audio files and journaled reflections into my research. In the context of my dissertation, reflecting on my own processes of listening and recording has shaped how I’m analyzing the technology (from what lens) and informed my semi-structured interviews with other sound practitioners (questions about process, technique, DIY ethics). I’m excited by the iterative nature of research creation through listening, recording, failing, experimenting, listening again and re-recording. In these experiments, I’m always asking more questions which, in turn, shapes my research process and output.
Rafael: Can you tell us a bit about your past and future CLCF projects?
Lauren: This past summer I worked with Dr. Rafael Grohmann as a research assistant to examine public discourse on AI media. This project involved mapping discourse across key case studies (film, music, television, voices). Research outputs included a reference spreadsheet of approximately 100 sources, a video shared to the DigiLabour YouTube channel, and a co-authored publication for The Conversation, written with Rafael and Daphne Rena on the importance of film festivals in the wake of AI. This project offers a snapshot of perceptions around AI use at a specific moment in time and we may revisit this project this coming summer to evaluate changing discourse.
I was also supported by CLCF to work on a co-authored project with Dr. Cate Alexander evaluating the sound design of museum spaces and generative AI logics. We are in the process of writing this research paper (more to come soon)!
This year I am beginning a project with CLCF sampling local perspectives on generative AI technologies from Toronto musicians. While much has been written about AI in the music industry at large, honing in on local communities can make impacts more visible. The intention of this research is to develop a set of guidelines and an accompanying policy brief that would help to inform local decisions about AI use and protections in the music industry from the standpoint of Toronto musicians.
Daphne: What’s your star sign?
I’m an aries sun and a virgo moon, so I like to say I thrive in organized chaos!
Follow Lauren’s work with CLCF on her profile page.
Research Assistant
Lauren Knight (she/her) is a sound artist and Ph.D. candidate (SSHRC CGS-D) in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include acoustic ecology, cultural sound studies, media history, and research creation.
CLCF Co-Director & Postdoctoral Fellow
Daphne Rena Idiz (she/her) is a Co-Director of the Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF) cluster and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC).
CLCF Co-Director & Associate Professor
Dr. MaryElizabeth (“M.E.”) Luka is PI and Co-Director of the Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF) cluster and Associate Professor, Arts & Media Management, at University of Toronto, where they examine modes and meanings of co-creative production and distribution in the digital age for arts, culture, and media.
CLCF Co-Director & Assistant Professor
Rafael Grohmann is a Co-lead and Co-Director of the Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF) cluster and an Assistant Professor of Media Studies (Critical Platform Studies) at the University of Toronto. Rafael is the leader of the DigiLabour initiative and founding editor of the Platforms & Society journal.
