Public scholar: Jacob Pitre

Jacob Pitre (he/him) is a doctoral candidate in Concordia's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master of Arts in film studies from Carleton University.

Jacob researches and critiques tech futures, aiming to untangle the narratives about the future that are created by tech companies to help the rest of us envision alternatives. Through his work, Jacob hopes to chart the politics of digital capitalism, using discourse analysis, material-semiotic analysis, and methods of critical future studies to better understand how power is built and wielded in today's culture and economy.

Jacob is also the coordinator of The Platform Lab, a research group at Concordia. He is an active journalist, writing when he can for The Globe and Mail, The Atlantic, Jacobin, and many other publications. His research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).