Law Commission of Ontario welcomes a new executive director

Patricia Hughes
Patricia Hughes

After eight years, Patricia Hughes retired as the Law Commission of Ontario’s founding executive director in mid-December. She leaves a Commission that has become a recognized part of Ontario’s legal landscape with its innovative approach to law reform.

Aneurin (Nye) Thomas joined the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) as its executive director designate and assumed the full responsibilities of the role on Dec. 15. Nye has had a distinguished career at Legal Aid Ontario, most recently serving as its director of general, policy and strategic research. “It’s a terrific opportunity to take the LCO forward,” Nye said. “I’ve appreciated the LCO’s evidence-based research, and am excited to be working with all the LCO staff and the Board of Governors to continue producing high quality reports while engaging with the province’s legal and social justice communities.”

In its research program now are projects as diverse as legal capacity, decision-making and guardianship, improving the last stages of life, class actions, defamation and the Internet and the regulation of public space, along with future projects on redefining parentage and a multifaceted approach to community safety.

Determining a project that focuses on an issue of particular concern to Aboriginal communities is a priority in the coming months. The LCO will seek to renew its current five-year mandate in 2016 and Nye said the LCO is keen to work with the Board of Governors engaging with its funders to ensure that the commission will continue to address some of the most challenging and contemporary issues in law reform.

See www.lco-cdo.org for more information on the LCO or email LawCommission@lco-cdo.org.

York University honours B. R. Ambedkar, India’s iconic champion of social justice

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as a young man. Image: Wikimedia Commons
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as a young man. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress women have achieved.” Dr.B.R.Ambedkar (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

York University honoured a pioneering thinker and leader in the realm of social justice and equality, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, with the installation of a bronze bust in the Scott Library. The event took place Dec. 2 at the University’s Keele campus.

Facilitated by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), the bust was donated by the Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) Canada, Toronto. It was unveiled in the Scott Library by the High Commissioner of India to Canada, Vishnu Prakash.

“I am humbled at the opportunity to unveil the bust of Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar at York University, one of the greatest temples of learning in Canada,” said Prakash. “A great son of India and architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar devoted his life to the cause of social justice, gender equality and the promotion of education. York University has not only honoured a great Indian, a jurist, an educationist, a humanist, a social reformer, but it has also honoured 1.2 billion people of India.”

Ambedkar was born in 1891 into a Dalit (untouchable) community in India

“Having begun life as a child who had to sit separately so that other children would avoid his touch, Dr. Ambedkar became a leading voice in India’s anticolonial struggle, its struggle for justice, equality and democracy and freedom from discrimination. He not only overcame the obstacles in his own path, but he changed the path for others,” said Professor Ananya Mukherjee-Reed, dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “For our Faculty, Dr. Ambedkar’s trajectory is of special significance. He derived his understanding of equality and justice from an exploration of many disciplines — history, philosophy, religion, economics and sociology. He then became an academic, an activist, a practitioner of law and finally a legal luminary who drafted the constitution of the world’s largest democracy. Our Faculty tries to achieve exactly this kind of seamless interconnection between liberal and professional education, between scholarship and practice, between active citizenship, activism and critical thought that Dr. Ambedkar’s life portrays.”

In 1990, he was posthumously awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), for his role in supporting justice, freedom, equality and fraternity.

Bhimra Ramji Ambedkar
The bust of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

“Celebrating luminaries like Dr. Ambedkar always serve as a reminder of the work we still need to do to address critical questions of justice, locally, regionally, nationally and globally,” said York’s Vice-President of Research & Innovation Robert Haché said in his speech. “York University has a well-known mandate for social justice, which it strives to realize through its teaching, scholarship, creative activities and engagement.”

After the unveiling, Professor Emeritus Sukhadeo Thorat from Jawaharlal Nehru University delivered his keynote speech. Thorat is a renowned scholar on Ambedkar’s life and is currently Chairperson of the Indian Council of Social Science Research in New Delhi, India. Thorat explored Ambedkar’s thoughts on some of the central contradictions of political equality co-existing with structural inequality in the economic and social realms.

“As a scholar of multiple disciplines, Dr. Ambedkar has inspired many to undertake studies on several issues, particularly on problems of discrimination and on social institutions like the caste system, which exists not only in India, but in many countries around the world,” said Arun Kumar Gautam, president of the Ambedkar International Mission, Canada, Toronto. “We hope that his presence will inspire students and scholars of York University to undertake research on areas to which Babasaheb Ambedkar dedicated his life.” (Babasaheb is the name by which his supporters fondly refer to him.)

Booklet coverProfessor Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and special advisor to the president on Community Engagement, also spoke at the ceremony. He mentioned that in a recent popular opinion poll in India, Ambedkar was voted by the people as the “Greatest Indian since Gandhi.” Twenty million votes were cast in this poll.

The installation “has happened in a very auspicious year — Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary,” said Mukherjee-Reed. “As we step out of this room and go our different ways, let us remind ourselves of the tasks that lie ahead of us. If Dr. Ambedkar’s presence in our midst is to have any real meaning… I hope we will come together as a university, a community, scholars, activists, thinkers to take forward the issues of social justice.”

A commemorative booklet was also released at the event. A digital version of the booklet can be viewed at: http://digital.yorku.ca/i/613632-dr-bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar.

The Mental Health & Wellness Community Consultations at York U are coming to a close

The executive sponsors for the University’s Mental Health initiative (Vice-President Academic and Provost Rhonda Lenton, Vice-President Finance and Administration Gary Brewer and Vice-Provost Students Janet Morrison), along with the Co-Chairs of the Steering Group, would like to thank all members of the York University community for their valuable feedback and support.

Your participation has truly made the consultations a success. Over the coming weeks, an independent researcher will analyze  data from the consultations. Information gathered from your feedback will help inform the University’s Mental Health Framework.

As part of the University’s commitment to a Mentally Healthy Campus, York University will again participate in the 2016 Let’s Talk Day held on Jan 27.

Happy Holidays
The Mental Health Steering Group

York U-CAMH team creates app-based health education tool for people with autism

York University and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have joined forces with a technology startup to help people with intellectual disability and with autism spectrum disorder to better manage their health and mental health, including dealing with stress and anxiety.

The free app, MagnusCards, is used to create e-flashcard decks that serve as easy to understand how-to guides for everyday activities such as cooking, grocery shopping, going to the dentist and picking up prescription medication.

“These multimedia card decks help break down the very common difficulties step-by-step,” says York University Psychology Professor Jonathan Weiss. “There’s a high rate of stress, mental health problems and accessibility issues for people with intellectual disability or autism. Support options like Magnus are important to empower them to manage physical and mental health care.”

Magnus, the central character in the magnuscards app is a magician
Magnus, the central character in the MagnusCards app, is a magician who has lost all his magical powers and needs the help of others to do his daily chores

According to Magnusmode, the app’s creators, Magnus the wizard who has lost all his magical powers, needs the help of others to do his daily chores. Using decks of e-flashcards in various categories, people with autism or intellectual disability teach Magnus how to manage money, prepare healthy food, take care of personal hygiene, as well as have fun, and along the way, they learn too.

York U team led by Weiss partnered with CAMH, to create a collection of 10 digital card decks focused on health and healthcare, for the MagnusCards app. Scenarios in the card decks include: visiting the eye doctor, the dentist, the emergency department, getting blood work done, going for a health check-up, and dealing with sadness and anxiety.

“These digital card decks help users to visualize and think through scenarios before they occur, decreasing stress and anxiety that can be overwhelming during an appointment,” says Yona Lunsky, clinician scientist at CAMH and co-lead of the project. Card deck topics were selected, based on health services research conducted at York U and CAMH with individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

Jonathan Weiss
Jonathan Weiss

“Community research partnerships are important if we are to translate research findings into practical solutions. The more ways we can help people with developmental understand and discuss physical and mental health issues, the healthier they can be,” Lunsky says.

For example, in the card deck about dealing with anxiety, the first card asks, “How do you feel? Is your stomach feeling nauseous or queasy?” The cards progress to more specific questions about the intensity of mood and emotions, and end with a card suggesting how best to get help in such situations.

The idea for MagnusCards is the brainchild of Nadia Hamilton, who was inspired by Troy, her younger brother with autism . “We used to post flashcards around our home to help Troy to complete his tasks, when he was growing up,” says Hamilton, founder & CEO of the social venture Magnusmode. While family support has continued, he faces a lack of external support due to gaps in services for people with cognitive special needs, she points out.

“Thanks to innovative technology, we can create tools that meet the lifelong needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Magnus has the potential to be a companion, tutor, guide, and friend for individuals like my brother,” says Hamilton. The Health card decks can be accessed by creating a free account at magnusmode.com and downloading the MagnusCards app for tablets or smartphones.

The Health card decks initiative was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in partnership with Health Canada, NeuroDevNet, Autism Speaks Canada, the Sinneave Family Foundation and the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance.

Lakes warming at alarming rates, York U-led global study warns

algal bloom in Lake Erie
Sapna Sharma
Sapna Sharma

Climate change has led to warming of lakes at a rapid rate, even faster than the air or the oceans, according to York University researcher Sapna Sharma, professor of biology in the Faculty of Science and the lead author of a new global study.

“We found that lakes are warming at an average of 0.34 degrees Celsius each decade all around the world, threatening freshwater supplies and ecosystems,” Sharma said. “This can have profound effects on drinking water and the habitat of fish and other animals.”

The study predicts that at the current rate, algal blooms, which can ultimately rob water of oxygen, will increase 20 per cent in lakes over the next century. Algal blooms that are toxic to fish and animals would increase by five per cent. These rates also imply that emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, will increase four per cent over the next decade.

“We found that ice-covered lakes, including Canadian lakes, are warming twice as fast as air temperatures and the North American Great Lakes are among the fastest warming lakes in the world,” said Sharma.

In total, 236 lakes were monitored annually for the past 25 years. “While that’s a fraction of the world’s lakes, they contain more than half the world’s freshwater supply,” says Sharma.

Said to be the largest study of its kind, it is also the first to combine manual lake measurements — made by thousands of scientists over more than a century — with satellite measurements of lake temperatures collected by NASA over a quarter century.

The study results were announced today at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, attended by some of the more than 60 scientists from across the world who have contributed to this study.

The study, “Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe,” funded by York, NSERC, NASA and the National Science Foundation, is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

According to Sharma, the study reveals the importance of assessing the impact of climate in global freshwaters, to evaluate the sustainability of global supplies of food and freshwater.

New faces: The Faculty of Science welcomes three new faculty and celebrates three new appointments

Life Sciences Building, Keele campus

The Faculty of Science welcomes three new faculty in the Departments of Science and Technology Studies, Biology and Mathematics and Statistics; and three appointments in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Science and Technology Studies.

“I am delighted to welcome our newly appointed faculty colleagues,” says Faculty of Science Dean Ray Jayawardhana. “Their expertise and contributions will strengthen York Science further, positioning our Faculty as a recognized leader in breakthrough research, pedagogical innovation and broader engagement.”

Hélène Mialet
Hélène Mialet

Hélène Mialet joins the Department of Science and Technology of Studies as an assistant professor. She teaches and conducts research on scientific and technological practice; situated and distributed cognition; the role of the subject’s body in knowledge production; charisma and organizational management; institutional contexts of creativity and innovation; human-machine interaction; post-humanism; object-oriented philosophy; Disability Studies, and the anthropology of medicine. She has held postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and positions at Cornell, Berkeley, Davis and Harvard universities. Mailet has published extensively on creativity, innovation, human machine interaction, and subjectivity most notably in her books L’Entreprise Créatrice (2008) and Hawking Incorporated (2012). She has also published in a wide array of academic journals and publications including Wired and Scientific American. Most recently, she has been a consultant and written the program for Berlioz’s Faust, which will be staged at the Paris Opera Bastille in December. Mialet’s current work is concerned with issues having to do with lay and expert knowledge in the management of chronic disease, the use of prosthetics, computer driven monitoring devices, algorithms and extended medical networks involving assemblages of caregivers, patients, machines, and animals, and on questions of management and control and their relationship to experience, sensation, big data and expertise.

Peter Backx
Peter Backx

Peter Backx will become a professor in the Department of Biology in January 2016. He received his BSc, MSc and DVM from the University of Guelph in biophysics, chemistry and veterinary medicine and completed his PhD from the University of Calgary and postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. Backx joined the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University as an assistant professor in 1991. In October 1993, Backx moved to the Department of Medicine at the University Health Network (Toronto General Hospital), University of Toronto as a staff scientist and assistant professor. He is currently a senior scientist at the University Health Network and was a career investigator with the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario from 1999 to 2002. He is also a Fellow of the American Heart Association and Royal Society of Canada. His research focuses on the role of ion transport, ion channels and myocardial signalling in the initiation and progression of heart disease with a particular interest in cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation. His work also extends into the use of human atrial cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells for the study of the cellular, electrical and molecular mechanisms of atrial fibrillation and its treatment. He has published more than 190 scientific articles and many of his trainees have appointments at leading research institutions and university worldwide.

Yang Shen
Yang Shen

Yang Shen joins the Department of Mathematics and Statistics as an assistant professor. He received his BSc at the Insurance Science from East China Normal University in 2009, MSc in Applied Mathematics from Peking University in 2011, and PhD in Applied Finance and Actuarial Studies from Macquarie University in 2014. Before joining York University, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New South Wales, Australia. His research areas are financial mathematics, actuarial science, stochastic control, and regime-switching models.

New appointments

 

Jill Lazenby
Jill Lazenby

Jill Lazenby has been appointed assistant lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Division of Natural Science. Lazenby had previously taught courses in both natural science and science and technology studies as a member of York’s contract faculty. Lazenby has a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto and MSc in Biological Sciences from Brock University. She is interested in how the human story of science – its history, and its connection to important social issues – can be used to foster a deeper understanding of what science tells us about nature.  She will continue to teach science for general education, with a focus on the biological sciences and to furthering her interests in interdisciplinarity, engaged learning and online education.

Matthew George
Matthew George

Matthew George has been appointed as associate lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. George has previously worked at York as a Postdoctoral researcher, lab technologist and course director. He brings a wealth of experience in the field of curriculum development for undergraduate physics courses and a knack for designing modern, relevant and fun experiments. As a researcher, George has spent much time at the famed CERN facility in Geneva chasing elusive anti-hydrogen atoms trying to unlock their secrets to test the symmetry of the antimatter and matter worlds. He continues his research on this front along with studying the more conventional helium atom to see if it can provide a platform to precisely evaluate physics theory.

Vera
Vera Pavri

Vera Pavri has been appointed as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Division of Natural Science. Pavri received her PhD in the History of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. She currently teaches a variety of courses including Technology and Civilization, Computers, Information and Society and Understanding Cyberspace. Pavri’s research is in the field of communications networks, and her interests include examining the relationship between technology and rhetoric, as well as science and technology policy issues. Her articles have been published in journals such as Technology and Culture, Vaccine, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2015 President’s Staff Recognition Awards: call for nominations

Recognition is important. Do you know someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty, who demonstrates excellence in action? Would you like to acknowledge a deserving colleague or manager?

President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri has issued a call for nominations for the 2015 President’s Staff Recognition Awards.

Now is your chance to nominate a fellow York employee for one of these awards:

  • the Ronald Kent Medal;
  • the President’s Leadership Award;
  • the Voice of York Award;
  • the Deborah Hobson York Citizenship Award;
  • the Phyllis Clark Campus Service Award; or
  • the Harriet Lewis Team Award for Service Excellence.

The President’s Staff Recognition Awards provide the York University community an opportunity to recognize colleagues and staff members for their commitment and service to the University.

If you know of a deserving York employee, visit the President’s Staff Recognition Awards website for additional information about each award and links to online nomination forms.

Questions can be forwarded via email to president@yorku.ca. The deadline for all nominations is Friday, Jan 22, 2016, by 4:30pm.

The synopsis of the 441st meeting of the Board of Governors of York University is now available

board of governors
board of governors

The synopsis of the 441st meeting of the Board of Governors of York University is now available. The meeting was held on Dec. 8.

A PDF copy of the synopsis is now available for download on the Board of Governors webpage.

VP Research reports to the York community on the PIER consultation process at Open Forum

Robert Hache
Robert Hache

Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Haché recently hosted an open forum discussion about the Plan for the Intensification and Enhancement of Research (PIER) for the University. The event took place on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at the Keele campus.

More than 50 members of the York community attended the open forum to learn more about the feedback provided during the community consultations, with respect to the development of PIER.

The forum provided an opportunity for participants to share their thoughts about research intensification at York. Among the comments offered by those present at the open forum included the need to facilitate opportunities for researchers to enable them to advance their scholarly successes, a focus on building local engagement within a unit over time, the university’s commitment and contribution to building regular full-time faculty, the need to further examine strategic research resources beyond Canada Research Chair appointments, as well as improving post-award support.

“Research intensification is key to building York University’s long-term research successes,” said Haché.  “York’s Plan for the Intensification & Enhancement of Research will help to advance opportunities for building research excellence and scholarship.”

PIER will support the institutional integrated resources planning process aimed at promoting research intensification broadly across the institution at the level of the individual professor, department and within a Faculty.

Haché provided a summary of the feedback provided during the community consultations and reiterated the University’s commitment to growing research.

Panel presentation on AMPD eLearning highlights York as a leader

From expanding options for working with images in Moodle to managing information flow for a fully online film course with 800 students, faculty members in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) have creative approaches to adapting eLearning for the arts.

Michael Longford
Michael Longford
Professor David Gelb
David Gelb

Instructors came together on Nov. 27 for a panel presentation to share their trailblazing efforts in this quickly evolving arena.

The celebration was organized by David Gelb, AMPD eLearning lead and professor in the Department of Design, and Michael Longford, professor in the Department of Digital Media and one of the AMPD project champions for Academic Innovation Fund activities.

“This presentation is a model for York University,” said William Gage, associate vice-president, Teaching and Learning, during the event.

Gage said he can “clearly see” that AMPD is a leader on campus, and recent feedback on AMPD projects presented at the Designs on eLearning Conference last September in London is evidence that the content being created in AMPD is world-class.

“We believe there’s a growing appetite for blended courses among our students, and augmenting those with some fully online offerings allows more flexibility in how students engage with course material,” said Longford. “We all have unique learning styles, and there are definite benefits to online teaching, from being able to revisit recorded lectures, to consistent expectations across multiple tutorials, to the instant feedback of an online quiz. Through multiple iterations in design in response to ongoing student feedback, our courses continue to improve.”

Katherine Knight includes video excerpts from her award winning documentaries in her Moodle. Still from Spring & Arnaud (2013)
Katherine Knight includes video excerpts from her award winning documentaries in her Moodle. Still from Spring & Arnaud (2013)

Department of Visual Art & Art History Professor Katherine Knight and Cinema & Media Arts Course Director Gillian Helfield both launched into their presentations by saying “I love Moodle”.

Collaborating with York’s Leaning Technology Services (LTS) and University Information Technology (UTI) divisions, Knight is working to find ways to better integrate images into her Moodle site for her first-year course, Critical Issues in Visual Art.

“Thanks to the incorporation of media galleries into York’s Moodle last September, every assignment now includes making an image in response to course material, and the images are uploaded into a gallery where they can be shared with other students for comment,” said Knight. “Allowing image creation and sharing inside Moodle has also made the course more engaging for all of us.”

Helfield’s first-year Cinema & Media Arts course for non-majors, Hollywood Old and New, was recently redesigned with support from the Ontario Shared Online Course Fund. This fully online course averages enrolments of 600 to 800 students. With 19 tutorials, and seven or eight teaching assistants involved, information management, consistency of experience and fostering a sense of community have become Helfield’s primary goals.

“We’ve created a teaching assistant manual with grading rubrics to support the TAs’ initial training,” said Helfield. “We’ve also established a good balance between essay assignments and quizzes to reduce the grading load and allow the students to get some of their marks immediately.”

The content is revised every year based on student feedback, she said, which allows her to find “that balance of simplifying the information flow without compromising the pedagogy”.

“I’ve really enjoyed the evolution,” Helfield said.

Rock and Popular Music Moodle BannerOriginally hesitant to move to online course delivery, Department of Music Professor Matt Vander Woude was astonished by the student response to critical issues in his Rock & Popular Music course for non-majors, offered online last year.

“We’ve all taught reluctant participants in our classes,” said Vander Woude. “It was amazing to see how much the students became engaged in the Moodle forum – shyness was not an issue. I recognize that heated debate has a lot to do with the content and how you present it, but the high level of thoughtful discourse has me really excited about what an online forum can do.”

Gelb and Longford led the development of Interactive Art + Design Learning Modules, an interdisciplinary eLearning initiative accessible to faculty and students around the world. Created in collaboration with Brock and Ryerson universities, with support from York’s Academic Innovation Fund and the Ontario Shared Online Course Fund, the project features web-based modules that introduce key concepts in the theory and practice of new media at the intersection of art and design, science and the humanities.

A still from one of the Interactive Art + Design Learning Module videos
A still from one of the Interactive Art + Design Learning Module videos

Each module offers a range of recorded audio/visual mini-lectures, interviews with experts, case studies, and suggested learning activities with links to readings and other educational resources. Topics covered include transhumanism, new media history, principles of interaction design, fundamentals of physical computing and programming for hardware and software design, and interactive screens for urban environments. The modules are shared through Creative Commons license at www.iadlm.ca.

“Instructors can use the entire suite of videos and accompanying learning activities, or they can opt to integrate just one module into an online, blended or face-to-face course,” said Gelb. “We want teachers to sign up for the content and tell us how they use it. We’re really excited to get these ideas out there.”

Across all the presentations, a recurring success story is the support for multimedia content generation arising through the participation of work/study students. From shooting and editing audio and video, to helping with graphic design and uploading content to the web, AMPD Instructional Technology Coordinator Lillian Heinson and a team of four work/study students had a hugely successful summer creating highly professional content while providing the students with valuable skills development opportunities.

“Mobile technologies are transforming the ways in which we access and interact with information,” said Longford. “My laptop, phone and tablet are my gateway to news, entertainment, managing my finances and increasingly my primary point of contact with family and friends.

“It is time to be thinking how best to integrate such technology into our teaching too,” she said.