Rob McMahon, PhD
Pronouns: he, him, his
Contact
Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts - Political Science Dept
- rdmcmaho@ualberta.ca
- Address
-
12-9 Tory (H.M.) Building
11211 Saskatchewan Drive NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H4
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
digital self-determination; data sovereignty and governance; community-engaged technology co-design; political economy of digital infrastructure; communications policy and regulation; digital extractivism; community informatics
About
Dr. Rob McMahon is an Associate Professor in the Media & Technology Studies Unit and the Department of Political Science. He holds a BA (History and Creative Writing) from the University of Victoria, a MJ (Masters of Journalism) from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD (Communication) from Simon Fraser University. His PhD Dissertation, a community-engaged research project highlighting the digital self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, received a Dean's Convocation Medal. Prior to joining the University of Alberta in 2015, Dr. McMahon was a postdoctoral researcher with the First Nations Innovation Project at the University of New Brunswick. He co-founded the First Mile Connectivity Consortium, a national nonprofit association of First Nations technology organizations engaged in federal policy and regulatory consultations on Indigenous-led digital inclusion and equity. In 2020, Dr. McMahon received the Killam Accelerator Research award from the University of Alberta for exceptional research impact.
Research
Dr. McMahon’s transdisciplinary, community-engaged research focuses on the development, appropriation, adoption, and use of emerging digital technologies by rural, Northern, and Indigenous communities. His approach involves working with communities to ensure that their voices are heard in all stages of research. He and his partners regularly contribute to digital policy and regulation, and are involved in codesigning digital technologies and teaching/learning resources in ways that meet the desires and interests of involved communities. This work includes critically examining how corporations and states reproduce extractive and exclusionary relationships through digital platforms and infrastructures, and how communities challenge these relations through digital self-determination.
Dr. McMahon's research and teaching interests include: critical political economy of telecommunications and data infrastructure, Indigenous data sovereignty and governance, community co-design of digital technologies, and communications policy advocacy. He is particularly interested in community-based and participatory research and practice.
Recent publications in the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2026) and New Media & Society (2026) examine how Canadian telecommunications corporations deploy reconciliation rhetoric to legitimize extractivist practices, and how the rapid adoption of satellite internet systems rural/remote contexts risks exacerbating online harms. His research has been published in venues including International Journal of Communication, Telecommunications Policy, Canadian Journal of Communication, and AlterNative.
Dr. McMahon serves on the University of Alberta's Research Ethics Board (REB1).
Current research projects include:
2011 - present: First Mile Connectivity Consortium (Canada) -- Working with First Nations technology organizations to develop policy and regulation supporting Indigenous-led broadband and digital equity in Canada. Formally recognized by the Assembly of First Nations in 2024 as a Network of Professionals for the Support of First Nations Telecommunications (Resolution 66/2024).
2017 - present: Piikani Cultural and Digital Literacy Camp Program and Piikani Digital Archives Project (AB) -- Collaborating with Elders and educators in Piikani Nation to use digital technology to engage youth and preserve knowledge and history in ways that foreground Indigenous data stewardship and cultural sovereignty.
2025 - present: Extending Extractivism? -- critical discourse analysis of the 'reconciliation' rhetoric employed by commercial telecommunications corporations in Canada.
Past projects include:
2023 - 2026: Connecting Indigenous Families (NWT) -- Invited research with the Native Women's Association of the NWT to assess the sociocultural impacts of rapid adoption of satellite Internet services by households in fly-in Northern communities.
2018 - 2023: DigitalNWT (NWT) -- Using a ‘train the trainer’ approach, DigitalNWT equipped a team of community-based instructors with the skills to offer digital literacy training in communities across the NWT. This project also generated community-engaged research that was mobilised in CRTC proceedings focused on telecommunications in the Far North.
2016 - 2018: SweetgrassAR (AB) -- Exploring Indigenous-Settler Relations through Augmented Reality storytelling with Dr. Diana Steinhauer and Stewart Steinhauer from Saddle Lake Cree Nation.
2017 - 2018: Digital Literacy Workshops with Gwich'in Tribal Council (NWT) -- Researching innovation in Gwich’in contexts through workshops and the creation of open educational resources that focus on the development, sustainability, and use of digital technologies.
2015 - 2019: Digital Futures (AB) -- Shaping rural broadband in Alberta and Understanding Community Broadband: The Alberta Broadband Toolkit (with Dr. Michael McNally and Dr. Dinesh Rathi, School of Library and Information Studies)
2016 - 2017 : Community Leadership Mapping Project (with Dr. Mary Beckie and Dr. Kevin Jones)
2016 - 2017: Technology Stewardship to Promote ICT Adoption in Sri Lanka (with Dr. Gordon Gow)
Teaching
Dr. McMahon teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in communications policy, the political economy of media, research design, strategic communication, and community engagement.
Graduate student supervision is through the MA in Communications and Technology (MACT) program. Dr. McMahon is interested in working with students on community-engaged research projects related to communication and technology, critical approaches to communication policy/regulation, sociocultural impacts of emerging technologies, and the political economy of communication.
Courses
COMM 509 - Advanced Seminar in Research Design
Advanced seminar on qualitative and quantitative approaches for conducting research in communications and technology. This course provides students with in depth study of research design and guides them in preparation for commencing their culminating project. Offered by asynchronous Internet communication. Restricted to MACT course-based students. Prerequisite: COMM 501 or consent of the department.
MST 310 - Political Economy of Media
Theoretical and cultural issues surrounding the political-economic structures, institutions, and power relations of media. Prerequisite: MST 100.
POL S 470 - Topics in Comparative Politics
Selected topics of current interest in comparative politics and government. A variable content course, which may be repeated if topics vary. Prerequisite: One of POL S 235 (or 230 or 240) or Department consent.
POL S 559 - Topics in Comparative Public Policy
Selected topics and approaches in comparative public policy; content may vary from year to year.
Featured Publications
Rob McMahon, Oluwatoyin Ogunbela, Michaela David, Brenda Norris, Katłı̨̀ą (Catherine Lafferty)
New Media & Society. 2026 June; 10.1177/14614448261452616
Rob McMahon, Aidan Trembath, Taofiki Okunola
Canadian Journal of Political Science. 2026 March; 10.1017/S0008423926101048
Rob McMahon, Murat Akçayır, Brenda Norris, Lyle Fabian
Telecommunications Policy. 2025 March; 10.1016/j.telpol.2025.102912
Rob McMahon, Amy C Mack, Herman Many Guns
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 2024 December; 10.1177/11771801241274775
Rob McMahon, Michael B McNally, Eric Nitschke, Kyle Napier, María Alvarez Malvido, Murat Akçayir
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2023 November; 10.1093/jcmc/zmad042
McMahon, R., Hudson, H.E. & Fabian, L.
The Shifting Terrain: Nonprofit Policy Advocacy in Canada. 2017 January;
McMahon, R., LaHache, T., & Whiteduck, T.
International Indigenous Policy Journal. 2015 January; 6 (3)
McMahon, R.
International Journal of Communication. 2014 January; 8 (1)
McMahon, R., Almond, A., Steinhauer, D., Steinhauer, S., Whistance-Smith, G., Janes, D.P.
International Journal of Communication. 13 (1):4530-4552
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