Day: April 17, 2012

Class, not chivalry, determined who was saved

“The truth is that the Titanic’s passengers and crew who survived were nearly entirely those able to board the 20 available lifeboats (of which, only 18 were launched) ,” wrote Michael Friendly, psychology professor in York’s Faculty of Health, in a letter to the National Post April 17, replying to a column about the sinking. “In this chaotic scene, the only role for chivalry was for the few brave souls who had an option to board, yet chose to remain. The vast majority of those who perished had no such option. As it happened, women and children were much more likely to survive overall, as reported, but this hides the more subtle story: survival depended heavily on class, for both men and women. Read full story.

Coke’s touchy-feely campaign: Hug a vending machine for a free can
Never mind the smile Coke advertisers once encouraged; the savvy beverage manufacturer now wants consumers to get more intimate with the soft drink, wrote the Toronto Star April 17. The company has rolled out a “Cola-Cola Hug Machine” which delivers a free can to people who physically embrace one of their vending machines. “It’s a good way to foster strong and enduring affective bonds between consumers and the brand,” said Schulich School of Business marketing Professor Markus Giesler. “A brand that’s high up on a billboard wants to dominate me, but a brand that can be hugged wants to be my friend.” Read full story.

Rose-colored glasses: are optimistic consumers more likely to trust salespeople?
People who believe the world is a just place trust salespeople more than consumers who don’t – but only after they’ve made a purchase, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, wrote ScienceDaily.com April 16. “As consumers, we make many decisions each day that may or may not turn out the way we hope. Since we know salespeople may have their own reasons for the advice and recommendations they give, trusting a salesperson may put us at further risk of making a bad decision,” write authors Peter Darke, of the Schulich School of Business at York University, and Andrew Wilson, of Saint Mary’s College of California. Read full story.

Former Haaretz Gallery editor named as Tel Aviv’s culture department head
Literary editor and former Haaretz Gallery editor Iris Mor (MA ’83) was appointed on Monday as the director of Tel Aviv Municipality’s Department of Cultural Affairs. Currently managing editor of Keter publishing house, she was editor of Haaretz’s Gallery section between 1995 and 2008. Before that, she was cultural editor and editor of the daily supplement of the now-defunct Hadashot daily. She holds a master’s degree in philosophy of cinema from Canada’s York University. Read full story.

Deadline approaching for staff and faculty to register for brand workshop

York University redefine the possible sign

York University is a destination where more than 7,000 faculty and staff come to work, teach and conduct research.

Every day, each member of the University community works hard to ensure that York’s strategic academic priorities of student success, academic and research excellence, and community engagement are realized.

“We have much to be proud of at York in terms of the quality of the education we provide and in the research we produce,” said Mamdouh Shoukri, president and vice-chancellor. “But if we are to continue to attract the best and the brightest, and encourage further investment to positively build our overall reputation, we need to focus on the things that truly set us apart.”

Over the past few months, under the president’s direction, Susan Webb, executive director of Communications & Public Affairs, has been leading a comprehensive review of York’s current brand positioning. “A brand is ultimately a promise that defines – for ourselves and our consumers, who are principally the students – what we stand for and what is unique about us,” said Webb.

“To arrive at the draft brand positioning, we have leveraged student research findings, have involved deans, vice-presidents and numerous members of the Board of Governors, and have additional plans that include tapping into our current students and alumni. This candid input has proven invaluable in terms of developing the proposed renewed brand positioning,” said Webb.

Now it is your turn.

“We are pleased and excited to be able share and discuss with faculty and staff, the proposed renewed brand positioning at an open forum on Monday, April 23, from 10am to 12pm, at the Underground Restaurant,” said Webb.

“York faculty and staff are valued and important stakeholders, and we are looking forward to getting your input as we further shape and refine York’s brand and positioning to best tell our impressive York story,” said Shoukri.

Light refreshments will be served. Participants need to RSVP by April 19.

Recipient of the 2011 President’s Leadership Award is a team builder

Sheila Forshaw

Over the past few weeks, YFile has featured short profiles of the five winners of the 2011 President’s Staff Recognition Awards. This year’s recipient of the 2011 President’s Leadership Award is Sheila Forshaw, executive officer for the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, and Sport & Recreation.

“It’s pretty simple. Here’s the ball, there’s the net. Put the ball in the net.”

Words of wisdom from Sheila Forshaw’s coach during her successful career as a field hockey player at York University – wisdom she brings to her role as an executive officer for the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, and Sport & Recreation. A staff member since 1995, the attributes she cultivated as a professional athlete have been put to great use over the last 17 years.

Sheila ForshawSheila Forshaw

Forshaw is noted by her colleagues as being an adept manager, one who leads without being overpowering. They say that she does not need to be highlighted as the leader and demonstrates a strong approach to her team. She takes the lead when necessary, but also does not shy away from supporting others in the same role. Nominators note that she possesses a calm and quiet strength. She leads by example and is always willing to give guidance and share her knowledge.

An alumna of York University, Forshaw is personally committed to the University and takes pride in its students, faculty and staff. She is a fixture at varsity games and events, often seen cheering loudly. This commitment sometimes puts her on the Keele campus seven days per week, but as a self-proclaimed “great fan”, she says that she wouldn’t have it any other way. As a University citizen, she often volunteers to lead pan-University committees and does her part to support a community where students, faculty and staff can give their best.

Her nominators say she is a role model for other senior administrators on our campuses. Forshaw invests a great deal of time in mentoring and coaching those she works with or supervises. They say that her example is followed by many of her colleagues because she embraces innovation and positive change, encourages fresh ideas and opinions, and is extremely generous with her time. Her reputation for being collaborative, her positive approach, and her vision and pride in the York community allow others to view her as a trusted ally.

The President’s Leadership Award recognizes individuals who are committed to excellence at York University. It celebrates those that perform at a level which inspires high levels of professionalism across campus. Forshaw is most deserving of this recognition. Her reputation as a calm, sensitive and confident administrative leader is evident in the nomination package that supported her win of the 2011 President’s Leadership Award; her value to the York community is evident in the students, faculty and staff she mentors and her desire to see each individual do their very best.

VPRI reports on the research impact of the 2012 Federal Budget

headshot of Robert Hache

Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation, has issued this commentary providing more details on the impact of the 2012 federal budget on research funding agencies and what it means for the York research community:

Vice-presidents of research from across Canada converged in Ottawa on April 13 to meet with the presidents of the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Natural Sciences & Engineering Council (NSERC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), regarding the impact of the 2012 budget on their funding programs.

While the complete details of the consequences of budget 2012 remain to be fully worked out, the overall tone of the message emphasized the efforts being made by Tri-Council to protect and promote fundamental research, to describe where the new investments in the budget will be rolled out, and to give a first look at where the mandated cuts in programming and operations will occur.

Initial discussion emphasized new investments being made and the expression of support for basic research in the budget language (if not directly in the dollars being distributed). Not only was the overall budget to Tri-Council preserved in a budget cycle where five to ten per cent cuts in overall budgets were the norm, but new investments were committed to support a number of new and existing programs. Thus CANARIE, Genome Canada and the CFI all received major infusions of funding that were accompanied by focused investments (in mental health etc.). While there is no explicit new funding for basic research in this budget, the lack of an overall funding reduction place Tri-Council in rare company around the federal budget table this year.

Over the last number of years, Tri-Council agencies were asked to undertake a strategic review of their expenditures, a process which required a review of all program spending and assessment of savings. The review process identified areas where savings could be achieved in order to redirect funding within the organization for new initiatives or to other government priorities.

While these are clearly no longer the heady times of the early 2000s, when Tri-Council budgets grew rapidly in a largely unrestricted manner, overall support for university-led research by the federal government remains comparatively strong and researchers should be encouraged by this. However, it is clear that at all levels, the funders of university research continue to move towards an emphasis on how the results of university-led research translates into tangible benefits for Canadian society and the Canadian economy. Here it is important for researchers to continue their efforts to explain and educate government and other funders on the need to support fundamental research as the bedrock on which university-led research is built.

It is also crucial to emphasize the need for programing that provides funding for making connections amongst researchers and sustaining the basic infrastructure needed for individual research programs. We can all, in following up on the steps presently been taken by Tri-Council, encourage the continued protection and development of core people and basic research programing within Tri-Council, and emphasize at every opportunity that the development of Canada’s Innovation Agenda can only be successful if done in partnership with development of our discovery agenda.

For the full commentary, which includes specific details of anticipated programming changes, please click here.

York joins research information consortia

York University has joined the Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information (CASRAI), a not-for-profit standards development organization specializing in standardizing research data.

“York University is pleased to partner with CASRAI and support its initiatives to streamline the research administration process,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president research & innovation. “The continued development of these standards will help our researchers save time and improve efficiency during the funding application process.”

CASRAI provides both a forum and the mechanisms required to standardize the data that researchers, their institutions and their funders use to describe research activity.  Key benefits for the research community include saving time for researchers, improving access to quality data for institutions and funders, and clarifying the measurement of research impacts on society.

“We are very pleased to see York joining this initiative,” said David Baker, executive director of CASRAI. “Their expertise and innovative contributions to the CASRAI mandate will be highly valued. We look forward to this collaboration.”

The York membership with CASRAI provides the University and the Office of Research Services with access to information on standards that will help streamline the grant application process.  The information can also be applied to the way researchers describe their research activities on their CVs.

By standardizing the data that researchers use to describe research activity, the University can further pinpoint its strengths and challenges. This in turn, will help York University move forward with research planning.

For more information, contact David Phipps, director, Office of Research Services, at ext. 55813.

York’s 20-Minute Makeover cleans up for Earth Day

garbage bags

The snow has gone and with it, any disguise that hid the litter and garbage that’s collected in bushes and green spaces. As part of its annual spring clean up prior to Earth Day, everyone in the University community is challenged to help out for just 20 minutes on April 20 to collect all the litter and make a difference.

The clean up is part of York University’s annual 20-Minute Makeover and the Grounds Department in Campus Services & Business Operations has some big plans to clean up several areas on the Keele and Glendon campuses and make them free of litter.

Last year’s makeover was a big success.

Everyone is invited to come out to designated meeting spots at 2pm on Friday. The focus on this year’s makeover will be these locations on the Keele campus:

  • Sentinel and Pond Road
  • Arboretum
  • Boyer Woodlot
  • Danby Woods
  • Boynton Woods

Glendon community members are asked to meet at 2pm outside Glendon Hall Manor.

For a map indicating the meeting locations, click here. At each location, you can join with co-workers and classmates to help spruce up the University. York staff, faculty and students already do a good job in limiting litter, but an extra push is needed to give some areas of the campus a fresh look.

The Grounds Department will supply work gloves and garbage bags for anyone at the desgnated meeting spots on the Keele and Glendon campuses.

Safety Tips

  • Wear appropriate and protective clothing (boots, gloves etc.).
  • Wear a hat or sunscreen if necessary.
  • Pick up litter in your gloved hand and carry the trash bag in the other.
  • Do not pick up strange articles that may be dangerous. Don’t pick up anything that looks sharp (e.g. used needles).
  • Do not take any risks attempting to reach litter in hard-to-get-to places (up a tree, down a steep incline, in rapidly flowing water, on slippery surfaces etc.)

For more information, visit the Clean Toronto Together website. For more earth-friendly initiatives, visit the Sustainability at York website.

Goldfarb Institute examines the real and the political

Public talks poster - head shotsnof ken Lum, Ruth Noack, Amelia Jones and Ariella Azoulay

Leading guest curators, artists and cultural theorists explore “The Real and the Political” in York University’s fourth annual Joan and Martin Goldfarb Summer Institute in Visual Arts, running April 24 to May 4.

Public talks poster - head shotsnof ken Lum, Ruth Noack, Amelia Jones and Ariella AzoulayArt-making and contemporary art theory at the nexus of culture and politics are the focus of this year’s event, produced by the Graduate Programs in Visual Arts, Art History and Visual Culture in York’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

The Summer Institute culminates in a free public lecture by Israeli cultural theorist, curator and writer Ariella Azoulay. Her talk, titled “Potential History”, is presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and takes place at MOCCA on May 3.

The Institute also features public presentations on campus by Canadian conceptual artist Ken Lum, independent Vienna-based curator Ruth Noack, and Amelia Jones, Grierson Chair in Visual Culture at McGill University.

In “Potential History”, Azoulay will address the possibilities that motivate and direct civic actions that critique or supplant without being exhausted by state order. She will discuss these issues in relation to two photographic archives she has assembled that deal with Israel’s representation of the state and its history.

Azoulay is director of the Photo-Lexic International Research Group at the Minerva Humanities Center at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Her research focuses on the theory and history of photography, cinema, museum studies, visual culture and history of political regimes. Her work in visual culture is informed by her research in contemporary philosophy and political theory, and by questions of gender, citizenship and disaster. Among her groundbreaking studies of photography and politics are Death’s Showcase (MIT Press, 2001), The Civil Contract of Photography (Zone Books, 2008) and the forthcoming Civil Imagination: A Political Ontology of Photography (Verso, 2012).

As a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist, Lum is best known internationally for his large-scale public commissions that speak to issues of personal and cultural identity in a globalized world. He gives an illustrated talk on his work, titled “Art in the Public Sphere”, at York on April 24.

Noack, a curator whose exhibitions on the theme of “Die Regierung/The Government” have been shown in the United States and across Europe for the past decade, speaks on “Making Exhibitions in a Global Context” April 26.

As a professor at McGill University, Jones has written widely on contemporary art and on feminist, queer and anti-racist approaches to visual culture. She discusses her research findings in her April 30 talk, “Queer Feminist Durationality: The Trace of the Subject in Contemporary Art”.

As part of their residency in the Goldfarb Summer Institute, all four presenters will meet with graduate students in visual arts and art history at York’s Keele campus for informal discussions, seminars, critiques and studio visits.

The  Joan and Martin Goldfarb Summer Institute in Visual Arts offers York University graduate students and the wider community the opportunity to engage with prominent international artists, curators, cultural theorists and critics through seminars, workshops, courses and public lectures.

The Summer Institute is named in recognition of Joan and Martin Goldfarb, longstanding supporters of York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, whose generous gift has made this annual residency program possible.

Ariella Azoulay: “Potential History”
Presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA)
When: Thurs. May 3, 7 to 9pm
Where: MOCCA, 952 Queen Street West, Toronto
Admission: Free

Ken Lum: “Art in the Public Sphere”
When: Tues. April 24, 2:30 to 4pm
Where: Room 334, Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, York University, 4700 Keele St.
Admission: Free

Ruth Noack: “Making Exhibitions in a Global Context”
When: Thurs. April 26, 2:30 to 4pm
Where: Room 334, Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts
Admission: Free

Amelia Jones: “Queer Feminist Durationality: The Trace of the Subject in Contemporary Art”
When: Mon. April 30, 2:30 to 4pm
Where: Room 338, Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, York University, 4700 Keele St.
Admission: Free

Students shine at President’s Creative Writing Awards ceremony

Yorks presedent recognizing creative writing

York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri told students at the annual President’s Creative Writing Awards ceremony that he hopes they will continue to follow their passion for writing long after they graduate.

President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, Stefan Ellison, winner of the screenplay award, and Rishma Dunlop“It is great to see that York has so many incredibly talented students,” said Shoukri. “I am always impressed by people who have artistic creativity.” In addition to having so many “gifted leaders on our campuses,” York has a “phenomenal creative writing community,” he said.

Right: President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, Stefan Ellison, winner of the screenplay award, and Rishma Dunlop

As English and education Professor Rishma Dunlop said, “Our students are a source of pride to York University.”

Some 16 students were honoured at the reception for their writing in everything from poetry and stage play to screenplay and short fiction through the Office of the President, as well as for their creative endeavours through the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and private donors.

Dunlop said in the five years she has been coordinator of the Creative Writing Program “it has become increasingly clear to me that our Creative Writing Program is immensely successful because we deliver experiential education in small classes that nurture potential and talent, and the evidence of our success is abundant.

From left, Rishma Dunlop with co-winners of the stage play award, Alexi Aslanidis and Robbie Woods, Professor Patricia Keaney next to the second co-winners of the stage play award, Mark Jordan Manner and Jessica Bebenek, and Mamdouh ShoukriLeft: From left, Rishma Dunlop with co-winners of the stage play award, Alexi Aslanidis and Robbie Woods, Professor Patricia Keaney next to the second co-winners of the stage play award, Mark Jordan Manner and Jessica Bebenek, and Mamdouh Shoukri

Our graduates have gained admission to top creative writing and English graduate programs in Canada and internationally. They have published books and been recognized through many literary awards.”

The following is the list of this year’s award-winning students:

Screenplay
Winner: Estefan Ellison for Around the World with Buddy and Manfred.

Judges – Marie Rickard and David Sobelman, who called the work a “lyrical, highly ambitious feature-length animated children’s musical.”

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Mark Jordan Manner, Jack Hostrawser, Rishma Dunlop and Michael HelmFiction
Winner: Jack Hostrawser for Chores.

Honourable mention: Mark Jordan Manner for How to be Good People.

Right: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Mark Jordan Manner, Jack Hostrawser, Rishma Dunlop and Michael Helm

English Professor Michael Helm, who judged the fiction category with contract faculty member Ray Robertson, called Hostrawser’s entry “a remarkably assured story for so young a writer.” The story’s elements are at “once both fully contemporary and ancient. The writer takes the ways of a very particular world, the ways of farm work, of young love, Facebook connections and family tensions and names them,” said Helm. “The result is as real as any tool we might take up or any living thing we might hold.”

Manner “takes readers deep into a family desperately at odds with luck. By turns darkly funny and moving, the story draws us into the love of one brother for another, who goes missing after a childhood misadventure,” said Helm.

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Justin Walmsley, Raymond Kocur and Rishma DunlopPoetry
Winners: Justin Walmsley for “J” and Raymond Kocur for “Birthday Cake”.

Left: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Justin Walmsley, Raymond Kocur and Rishma Dunlop

Judges, English Professor Priscila Uppal and Dunlop, called “J” a “sophisticated experimental take on identity and the abecedarian form,” while “Birthday Cake” was a “tightly written, gut-wrenching poem on a child’s view of adultery.”

Stage Play
Winners: Robbie Woods and Alexi Aslanidis for Imperfect Moment and Mark Jordan Manner and Jessica Bebenek for Like Nature.

“Imperfect Moment did something for me that play scripts rarely do,” said English Professor Patricia Keeney, who judged the stage plays with theatre Professor Rob Fothergill. “It kept me reading through its nearly 200 pages.” Keeney described the stage play as a “contemporary coming-of-age parable” with “deftly interwoven symbolism.”

Like Nature, said Keeney, is a “dark and disquieting comedy” and an “accomplished piece of off-beat, edgy dialogue where more is unmasked than the characters seem willing to recognize.”

The following awards were presented by York’s Creative Writing Program in the Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies:

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Ekraz Singh, Rishma Dunlop, Martin Singer, dean of York's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional StudiesbpNichol Award
Winner: Ekraz Singh.

Right: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Ekraz Singh, Rishma Dunlop, Martin Singer, dean of York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

The bpNichol Award is named after the experimental poet who taught at York in the 1970s and early 1980s before his untimely death in 1988. The award is for a graduating student who has developed the most over the course of the program.

Sorbara Award in Creative Writing
Winners: Sarah Flemington and Jessica Bebenek.

Left: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Sarah Flemington, Jessica Bebenek, Rishma Dunlop and Martin Singer

The Sorbara Award is sponsored by Gregory and Kate Sorbara and their six children, all of whom have a strong dedication to the creative arts and music. Gregory Sorbara, a former Ontario finance minister, is a graduate of York’s Glendon College and Osgoode Hall Law School. This award was established to provide financial assistance to students with proven talent and commitment in the area of creative writing.

Judith Eve Gewurtz Memorial Poetry Award
Winner: Sarah Flemington
Honourable mentions: Matthew Walsh and Jessica Bebenek.

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Professor David Goldstein, Matthew Walsh, Sarah Flemington, Jessica Bebenek, Michelle Gewurtz, Shalom Gewurtz and RishmRight: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Professor David Goldstein, Matthew Walsh, Sarah Flemington, Jessica Bebenek, Michelle Gewurtz, Shalom Gewurtz and Rishma Dunlop

The Judith Eve Gewurtz Memorial Poetry Award was established and presented by York humanities Professor Margo Gewurtz in memory of her daughter Judith, honouring the best poem by a creative writing major who is completing their third year of study.

Sylvia Ellen Hersch Memorial Award
Winner: Justin Walmsley.

The Sylvia Ellen Hersch Memorial Award was established in memory of Seymour Hersch’s late wife, who graduated from York with a degree in creative writing. The award offers financial assistance to a fourth-year student majoring in creative writing with proven talent, achievement and commitment in the area of creative writing. Faculty members in the program nominate fourth-year students based on their academic work for the session.

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Danica Fogarty, John Nyman, Rishma Dunlop, Michael Helm and Martin SingerBabs Burggraf Award in Creative Writing
Winners: John Nyman and Danica Fogarty.

Left: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Danica Fogarty, John Nyman, Rishma Dunlop, Michael Helm and Martin Singer

The Babs Burggraf Award in creative writing offers financial assistance to a fourth-year student majoring in creative writing with proven talent and achievement in the area of short story writing. Faculty members in the program nominate students who have submitted short stories as part of their academic work for the session.

From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Charlene Grant-Stuart, Professor Priscila Uppal and Rishma DunlopStanley Fefferman Prize
Winner: Charlene Grant-Stuart.

Right: From left, Mamdouh Shoukri, Charlene Grant-Stuart, Professor Priscila Uppal and Rishma Dunlop

The Stanley Fefferman Prize is awarded for the best all-round achievement in the second-year Introduction to Creative Writing course and for the best original portfolio of coursework.