York University gains two new and three renewed Canada Research Chairs

December 16, 2020

Two new Canada Research Chairs have been appointed at York University and three existing CRCs have been renewed. These commitments by the Government of Canada will support research on topics ranging from the many uses of artificial intelligence to what a self-determined climate future would look like for Indigenous communities.

The awards were announced Dec. 16 by Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and are among 259 new or renewed CRCs across the country to support innovation and research excellence.

The new CRC appointments at York are Pirathayini Srikantha and Jennifer Pybus. The announcement also included CRC renewals for Deborah McGregor, Douglas Van Nort and Graham Wakefield.

“We are grateful to the Canada Research Chairs program for investing in the innovative and impactful work being done by York’s researchers, who are enriching our imaginations and contributing to the building of more equitable and sustainable communities,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “These talented individuals are leaders in their fields and undertake the type of groundbreaking work needed to drive positive change across Canada and around the globe.”

“We congratulate the Government of Canada on the 20th year of the CRC program, foundational to a national strategy to make our country one of the world’s top in research,” said Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif. “The range of Faculties represented in York’s new CRCs speaks to the tremendous diversity at York University and provides recognition and resources to our star researchers to maintain research excellence.”

The new Canada Research Chairs

Pirathayini Srikantha, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Lassonde School of Engineering, has been awarded a Tier 2 CRC in Reliable and Secure Power Grid Systems for research that has important national security implications for Canada’s critical power grid infrastructure. Srikantha will build on her foundational contributions to smart distribution systems by using the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and transactive technologies. To enhance reliability in the increasingly volatile and vulnerable electricity grid, her research will address two specific challenges: giving devices that are controlled by the electric power utility the ability to automatically infer, predict and respond to power disturbances, and secondly, designing trustworthy energy markets that incentivize power producers and consumers to provide grid support during congestion or fault conditions.

Jennifer Pybus, who will join York in January 2021 as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, has been awarded a Tier 2 CRC in Data, Democracy and AI. Her globally recognized, interdisciplinary research intersects digital and algorithmic cultures and explores the capture and processing of personal data. Her work focuses on the political economy of social media platforms, display ad economies, and the rise of third parties embedded in the mobile ecosystem which are facilitating algorithmic profiling, monetization, polarization and bias. Her research contributes to an emerging field, mapping out datafication, a process that is rendering our social, cultural and political lives into productive data for machine learning and algorithmic decision-making. Pybus has cultivated strong European links with public organizations and will use her chair to engage Canadians with innovative tools, resources and pedagogy for increasing critical data literacy and democratic debate about artificial intelligence.

The renewed Canada Research Chairs

Deborah McGregor, cross-appointed with Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, has received a renewal of her CRC in Indigenous Environmental Justice. What does it mean to live well with the Earth in the face of climate/ecological crisis? What does a self-determined climate future look like for Indigenous communities and peoples? McGregor’s research recognizes Indigenous-derived solutions must be generated based on knowledge and legal systems that have fostered Indigenous survival despite centuries of environmental upheaval affected by colonization. Her research program will capture desired Indigenous climate change futures, described by Elders and other knowledge holders, and shared through peer-reviewed journal articles, workshops, podcasts, videos, presentations and a project website. She will also produce a documentary with a curriculum guide and an edited volume on Indigenous climate justice.

Douglas Van Nort, an associate professor cross-appointed between the Departments of Computational Arts and Music in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, has been renewed as CRC in Digital Performance. In his first term, Van Nort and his team examined new forms of performance that integrate improvisation, artificial intelligence and networked environments and created projects focused on collective co-creation in digitally-mediated performance contexts. In this next phase of his work he will deeply engage with methods from artificial intelligence, virtual acoustics and biophysical sensing to introduce new modes of sociality, improvised play and distributed creativity in performance, for both professional performers and the general public.

Graham Wakefield, an associate professor in the Department of Computational Arts, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, has been renewed as CRC in Computational Worldmaking. Wakefield’s program of interdisciplinary research-creation applies a deep commitment to the open-endedness of computation − as an art material − toward technologies of artificial intelligence within immersive mixed reality. The research and training program will result in new software for artists to co-create immersive worlds as art installations. As collaborative improvisations enacted with the whole body, this will radically change how we sculpt complex forms and behaviours. Moreover, these worlds will be more responsive, playful and curious. Disseminated in public venues, they will share a different conception of the cohabitation of human and artificial beings.

Three of York’s CRCs will receive funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), which is investing $14 million for research equipment and infrastructure for 58 CRCs across Canada. Srikantha will receive $100,000, Van Nort will receive $59,000, and Wakefield will receive almost $115,000 in JELF funding.

Remote Teaching Support Fund strengthens York’s approach to virtual learning

December 16, 2020

When the pandemic first hit, the move to remote learning was a challenge, but one that could be tackled with the tremendous efforts of faculty and staff, and the help of programs and infrastructure in place at York. When it became clear that the shift to online learning would extend to additional terms, more investment was needed to enhance virtual offerings. To help the York University community meet this unprecedented demand, the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic launched the Remote Teaching Support Fund.

Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps

“In the first wave, Faculties did an incredible job of delivering the winter term virtually,” said Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps. “As we began to look ahead at upcoming terms however, we wanted to make sure that they were able to apply for funds to help instructors and students respond to any pressures they faced and have what they needed to be successful.”

With this investment, the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) was able to bolster support for instructors through AMPD Computing services. The help was needed as faculty expanded their online course complement from 80 to 800 virtual courses in the fall and winter 2020/21 terms. Staff were also able to work closely with an instructional technology coordinator to support course delivery with Moodle, create online course structures and engage more directly with students.

Similarly, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professionals Studies was tasked with the virtual delivery of over 2,400 undergraduate and 420 graduate courses in the summer, fall and winter terms. Hiring an online educator to work with the associate dean of teaching and learning allowed them to have the technical training needed to deliver virtual seminars, large format lectures, tutorials and graduate teaching. Extra eLearning support team members were also hired to help staff understand how to better engage in online platforms like Moodle and Zoom.

The Faculty of Science created virtual labs for biology, chemistry and physics courses. They were able to hire a student from the School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design specializing in film production and editing, as they recorded procedures and lab activities for online courses.

A woman on the couch with a laptop — To help the York University community meet demand for virtual learning tools, the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic launched the Remote Teaching Support Fund

In the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, over 30 instructors and teaching assistants accessed one-on-one supports for remote teaching and learning. Help centred around creating online assignments, recording lectures and tips to keep students engaged in remote learning.

The Schulich School of Business planned to take 130 courses online in the summer and over 300 courses virtual in the fall of this year. With a significant number of international students accessing programming from different time zones, live sessions were balanced with asynchronous elements. The fund supported them in hiring champions to work over the summer to help convert courses to these new formats.

Osgoode Hall Law School used funds to host many one-on-one Zoom and Moodle training sessions for instructors and students. This support allowed Osgoode to ensure that their Information Technology Service remained highly responsive to students’ needs as they navigated the Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other platforms.

At Glendon Campus, two bilingual faculty members offered personalized support to 40 instructors and helped them both navigate Teaching Commons resources and create eClass pages in Moodle. These services have benefitted close to 1,500 students who have accessed over 80 online courses.

The Lassonde School of Engineering launched an Educational Innovation Studio and they have been bringing together experts with backgrounds in instructional, assessment and experience design, as well as skillsets ranging from academic integrity, educational technology, videography, animation, digital media and gamification. Their initial focus was on creating safe spaces for innovation and trying out new techniques in teaching and learning to improve student experiences at the course level. The next phase of this work will involve hiring educational innovation champions and shifting to greater refinements at the program and departmental level.

York University Libraries also has plans to create new online government and policy learning eLearning modules for political science and policy students that will include video resources and interactive features. A new position is being created to focus on leveraging content from existing research resources, such as the Government Information Research Guide and finding ways to enhance critical thinking and engagement with these materials.

As more projects like these are happening across campus, supporting the York community with the shift to virtual remains a top priority. As much awaits for 2021, some important groundwork has been laid to ensure that instructors and students can adjust and stay closely connected.

York journal explores academic motherhood and COVID-19 in special double issue

December 13, 2020

Black single frustrated woman hold her head with hands sitting on chair in living room, playful kids jumping on couch on a background. Tiredness, depression difficult to educate children alone concept

Twenty-seven female scholars have contributed to a special double issue of York University’s Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (JMI) exploring the theme of ‘Academic Motherhood and COVID-19.’

Published as the double issue for fall 2020 and spring 2021, the journal features 18 articles that investigate different lines of inquiry as to how COVID-19 affects motherhood for those in an academic role.

Andrea O’Reilly, York University professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is the journal’s founder and editor-in-chief.

There has been little research on the specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers and motherwork, says O’Reilly, adding that this special double issue is the first to explore the impact of the pandemic on academic mothers’ care and wage labour.

With a global perspective (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan and the United States) and from the standpoint of single, partnered, and racialized mothers in the academe as graduate students and faculty, the issue examines: the increasing complexity and demands of childcare, domestic labour, elder care and home schooling under the pandemic protocols; the intricacies and difficulties of performing wage labour at home; the impact of the pandemic on mothers’ academic employment and/or study; and the strategies academic mothers have used to manage the competing demands of care and wage labour under COVID-19.

Contributing to this issue is Tracey Norman, a contract faculty member in the Department of Dance, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design. Norman is a Toronto-based choreographer, educator, producer, performer, researcher and mother of two young children. Her choreography has been presented on stages across North America. She holds a MFA in choreography and dramaturgy, and is current president and resident artist of the Intergalactic Arts Collective (IGAC), an artist-run organization that focuses on research and creation.

In her contribution, titled “Problematic Intersections: Dance, Motherhood, and the Pandemic,” she discusses her experience of mothering and working through the pandemic. Largely presented in the form of testimonials, the article shares insights from her interviews with 40 mothers who are scholars and artists working in either or both academic dance and professional artist work.

“This article examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on an already vulnerable group of Canadian artists and scholars in the field of dance,” the article’s introduction reads. “The aim of this article is to interrogate the systemic problems mothers have always faced in the dance field, which have now been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to highlight the positive contributions coming out of this time of crisis, including requesting reasonable and honest support as well as eliminating the social stigma around motherhood in dance.”

For a full outline of the special double issue and access to all of the articles, visit the issue link.

JMI is a product of The Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI), a peer-reviewed feminist scholarly and activist organization on mothering-motherhood developed from the former Association for Research on Mothering at York University (1998-2010). The initiative houses JMI (formerly the Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering), Mother Outlaws, The International Mothers Network, The Young Mothers Empowerment Project, The Motherhood Studies Forum and is partnered with Demeter Press.

JMI was developed to be an integral part of community building for researchers, academics and grassroots, as well as mothers interested in the topic of motherhood. The mandate of the journal is to publish the most current, high-quality scholarship on mothering-motherhood and to ensure that this scholarship considers motherhood in an international context and from a multitude of perspectives including differences of class, race, sexuality, age, ethnicity, ability and nationality.

Archive/Counter Archive will present a two-day symposium Dec. 10 and 11 on Black Lives and Archival Histories in Canada

December 8, 2020

In 2017, York Research Chair in Media Art and Social Engagement Janine Marchessault received a Partnership grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to the tune of $2.499 million for her multi-faceted project Archive/Counter-Archive: Activating Canada’s Moving Image Heritage. It had 43 co-applicants and collaborators from across Canada and globally, nine from York University across a variety of Faculties. It also involved 24 partner organizations from across Canada. The work emanating from this project began in 2018 and will span all the way to 2024.

As part of the project, Archive/Counter-Archive will present a 2020 online symposium Dec. 10 & 11. This year’s theme is “Black lives and Archival Histories in Canada.” Due to COVID-19, this year’s symposium will consist of one keynote talk and two panels that will be presented entirely online. The talks will not be recorded so participants are urged to register for the keynote and panels through Eventbrite.

Day 1

On Dec. 10, day one of the symposium, there will be a keynote the keynote presentation by award-winning multimedia artist Deanna Bowen. The title of Bowen’s talk is “Berlin, Berlin.” The presentation will be moderated by Monika Kin Gagnon.

Bowen’s presentation involves self-reflection and presentation of two interdependent exhibitions presented at the 2020 Berlin Biennale and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, from Sept. 18, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021. Respectively, the exhibitions titled, “The God of Gods: Berlin, Berlin” and “Black Drones in the Hive” extend critical interventionist research of the White nationalist ambitions that inform Canada’s cultural history and national narrative. To register for the keynote, visit the Eventbrite symposium site at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/archivecounter-archive-2020-symposium-keynote-deanna-bowen-tickets-129363133615.

Bowen is a descendant of two Alabama and Kentucky born Black Prairie pioneer families from Amber Valley and Campsie, Alberta. Bowen’s family history has been the central pivot of her auto-ethnographic interdisciplinary works since the early 1990s. She makes use of a repertoire of artistic gestures to define the Black body and trace its presence and movement in place and time.

She is a recipient of a 2020 Governor General Award for Visual and Media Arts Award, 2016 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and the 2014 William H. Johnson Prize. Her writing, interviews and art works have been published in Canadian Art, The Capilano Review, The Black Prairie Archives, and Transition Magazine. Bowen is editor of the 2019 publication Other Places: Reflections on Media Arts in Canada. Her work addresses issues of trauma and memory through an investigation of personal and official histories related to American slavery, migration, the Civil Rights Movement and the Ku Klux Klan. Bowen is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada. She lives and works in Montreal, QC.

Day 2

On Dec. 11, day two of the symposium, there will be two panel discussions. The first will take place from 12 to 1:30 p.m. and is titled “Place-based/Institutional Engagements with Black Histories.” The panel features Janie Cooper-Wilson, Melissa Nelson and Andrea Fatona in conversation. It will be moderated by Warren Crichlow. This panel will discuss caring for diverse Black Archives from inter-generational perspectives. Panelists will explore the range of contemporary practices with community and institutional archives, their creation, and presentation. The discussions will engage with various types of preservation, research, archival pedagogy and training practices from Black practitioners in community, academic, artistic, and professional archival contexts. Each will speak from their own experience in archives: both material place-based practices and online engagements. Cooper-Wilson’s presentation is titled “Proactively Dealing with Racism in the Archives.” Fatona’s presentation is titled “Collecting and Re-coding Black Canada,” and Nelson will speak about “Critical Archival Thought: Integrating Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Pedagogy and Training.” To register for this event, visit the Eventbrite symposium site at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/panel-1-place-basedinstitutional-engagements-with-black-histories-tickets-129369933955.

The afternoon panel will run from 2:30 to 4 p.m. It is titled, “Artistic Engagements with Archives” and features Debbie Ebanks Schlums, Nadine Valcin and Cara Mumford and in conversation. The panel, which is moderated by Malini Guha, will bring together artists engaging with Black and Indigenous archives and histories, individually but also in relation to each other. Remediation is a practice that creates tension between the “official” archive and the archive that is generated from the artistic process. What is created for community out of these remediations is a way to remedy the erasure and/or misrepresentation of Black and Indigenous histories in the colonial archive. The panelists will speak to questions about missing archives and the creation of accidental archives that emerge out of their creative processes. Through the act of revaluation, there is room to challenge national discourses. Ebanks Schlums will speak on “Locating Archives in the Jamaican Diaspora.” Valcin will speak about “The Accidental Archive: Searching for Blackness in Canada’s National Audio-visual Archive” and Mumford will speak on “Treble and Bass: Layering Archival VHS with Phytograms in the creation of René Highway’s Prism, Mirror, Lens.” To register for this panel, visit the Eventbrite symposium site at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/panel-2-artistic-engagements-with-archives-tickets-129370628031.

Order of Canada appoints 15 individuals with York University connections

December 8, 2020

Fifteen individuals with an affiliation to York University have been appointed to the Order of Canada, as announced on Nov. 27.

The individuals from the York University community are among 114 new appointees to the Order of Canada and includes two invested as officers (O.C.) and 13 invested as members (C.M.).

Officers of the Order of Canada

William C. Graham was appointed for his sustained contributions to politics and academia, and for his philanthropic endeavours. Graham is a York University donor. This appointment is a promotion within the Order.

Sheldon Levy was appointed for his exceptional leadership as an education administrator and for promoting student entrepreneur incubators on university campuses across the country. Levy is a York University alumnus, honourary alumnus and former vice-president of institutional affairs.

Members of the Order of Canada

Daniel R. Bereskin was appointed for his leadership in the field of intellectual property law and trademark law in Canada and abroad. Bereskin is a York University donor.

B. Denham Jolly was appointed for his contributions to the promotion of equity and opportunity within the Greater Toronto Area’s Black community. Jolly is a York University donor.

James M. Drake was appointed for his leadership in the field of pediatric neurosurgery and for his contributions to the treatment of complex childhood disorders. Drake is a York University donor.

Philip Michael Epstein was appointed for his leadership in Canadian family law and for pioneering programs in dispute resolution now emulated across the country. Epstein is a York University donor.

Anthony Olmsted Hendrie was appointed for his volunteerism and philanthropy in support of a wide range of causes over the past 60 years. Hendrie is an alumnus and York University donor.

William Macdonald was appointed for his distinguished career as a law practitioner and for his expert counsel on national public policy issues. Macdonald is an alumnus and York University donor.

Judy Matthews was appointed for her groundbreaking contributions to Toronto’s cultural and urban landscapes, as an urban planner and philanthropist. Matthews is an alumna and York University donor.

Sarah Milroy was appointed for promoting Canadian art and artists through her roles as editor, publisher, critic and curator. Milroy is a York University donor.

Peggy Nash was appointed for her contributions to women’s employment equity, human rights and gender representation in all levels of public office. Nash is an alumna.

Glenn O’Farrell was appointed for his vision for education and for his leadership in communications, having positioned a media outlet as a global symbol of French language and culture. O’Farrell holds a certificate from the Schulich Executive Education Centre.

Christina Petrowska Quilico was appointed for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist, and for championing Canadian music. Petrowska Quilico is a faculty member.

Allan Michael Rock was appointed for his contributions to the advancement of human rights and global humanitarian issues, and to the fields of law, politics and education. Rock is a College Fellow (McLaughlin College) and a York University donor.

Stefan Glenn Sigurdson was appointed for his dexterous relationship-building skills and for his contributions to alternative dispute resolution across Canada and beyond. Sigurdson is an alumnus and York University donor.

Join in this holiday-themed dance workshop, Dec. 2

December 1, 2020

Vanier College Productions (VCP) will host a holiday-themed dance workshop for students on Dec. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

Students are encouraged to register for Jingle Bell Fiesta, an end-of-term celebration that includes a fun Latin dance warm-up, followed by learning the Mean Girls “Jingle Bell Rock” choreography.

Jingle Bell Fiesta will be led by Kristen Pepper, associate theatre producer for Vanier College Productions in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Pepper is a Toronto-based dancer, singer, actor, model, choreographer and director, and a York BFA alumna. Her film/TV credits include: Sharee in Killer Affair (Oxygen), Allison in Deadly Deception (DiscoveryID) and Brazilian Samba Dancer in the Pan Am Games Opening Ceremony (CBC). Stage works include: The Silent Goodbye and White Light Follies (High Society Cabaret), DJAA in Fall For Dance North (Lua Shayenne Dance Company), and Hooked (Pepper Dance Projects).

To sign-up for the dance workshop, Jingle Bell Fiesta, click here.

Hariri Pontarini Architects wins bid to design new stand-alone Art Gallery of York University

November 25, 2020

The Art Gallery of York University’s (AGYU) new stand-alone art gallery, to be designed and constructed by winning architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, will embrace a vision of art and connectedness.

The bold new winning design will help the art gallery magnify its reach into the local community and the world beyond, enhancing its visibility and prominence, as well as increasing its accessibility.

Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) was one of three shortlisted firms out of a wide show of interest from the architecture community. The online design competition invited community members from York faculty and students to extended community members to attend and comment on the shortlisted proposals before a committee selected the winning design.

The new stand-alone art gallery is possible through a $5-million donation in October 2019 by philanthropists and art collectors Joan and Martin Goldfarb, igniting this expansion and re-centering the arts on campus. The gallery will also carry their name, the Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery, in honour of their long history of supporting the arts at York University.

“The new, stand-alone art gallery at York University will be an important hub for artistic engagement and the pursuit of creative excellence at the University, in our community and beyond,” says President & Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “The new design reflects our vision of an accessible and collaborative art gallery that serves as a space for creation, exhibition and appreciation of diverse art and culture. I would like to thank the Goldfarbs for their generosity and unfaltering commitment to the arts, which made this project possible.”

The new building will sit at the heart of the School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design and become a centerpiece at York’s Keele Campus. Just steps away from the York University subway station and adjacent to the Harry W. Arthurs Common, between the Accolade East Building and the Centre for Film & Theatre, the gallery will stand out as an icon with Hariri’s signature curves.

The three-storey building will highlight architectural innovativeness and define a space for the exhibition of contemporary and historic art, including a ground level event space with four separate gallery spaces set within a redefined xeriscape garden.

“The AGYU has a long history as a leader in presenting and supporting artists. As a contemporary art gallery, it strives to serve an aesthetic and social function,” says AGYU Director/Curator Jenifer Papararo. “Our goal with this ambitious new building is to establish both liveness and legacy by maintaining a critical contemporary art program and giving prominence to the University’s collection.”

The gallery will be a versatile yet distinctive space for a multiplicity of artistic voices and forms. It will also enhance the gallery’s ability to continue its advocacy of underrepresented communities, contribute to artistic production and help amplify artists’ voices.

“We are thrilled to be working with York University to build upon the AGYU’s rich history and help reimagine its future,” says Siamak Hariri, founding partner at Hariri Pontarini Architects. “To signify this transformation, we were inspired by metaphor and nature. Like a butterfly, each of the five wings of the new gallery extend their reach out to the campus and of course beyond. Responding to the AGYU’s aspiration to expand the social and civic role of the gallery, the building will have a powerful presence, a new presence, embracing the full University Common, and welcoming and attracting visitors to all the wonder it has to offer.”

HPA’s design, led by Hariri, was selected for its visual strength and magnetizing draw with a vision to generate flow and connection while centering the arts on campus. The design expressed a nuanced understanding of art, its role in society, and the framework needed to support art and the curatorial process.

HPA has worked with many Canadian universities and cultural organizations, most recently opening the Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford, which has received high accolades. In addition, Hariri has received international praise for his design for the Bahá’í Temple of South America, which won several awards including the RAIC International Prize.

Moriyama and Teshima Architects and gh3* were also on the shortlist for their designs for the gallery. All three firms have received Governor General Medals in Architecture.

Combined with the AGYU’s current spaces, the new building will form a unified art institution that will magnify the breadth of the gallery’s scope, with a re-envisioning of the University’s art collection.

The AGYU opened in 1988 and moved into its current 3,000-sq.-ft. space in 2006.

The art gallery’s collection currently contains 1,700 works, including a donation by the Goldfarbs of 76 artworks in the early 2000s. It includes prominent donations of works by Norval Morrisseau and Andy Warhol, 200 prints and sculptures by renowned and influential Inuit artists including Kenojuak Ashevek and Kananginak Pootoogook, as well as paradigmatic work by Canadian “Automatistes” Jean-Paul Riopelle and Paul-Emile Borduas. American Modernists such as Helen Frankenthaler and Kenneth Noland are also part of the collection, as is the recent acquisition of RISE, an internationally acclaimed film by Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca, featuring performances from some of Toronto’s most influential spoken word and rap artists.

Shakespeare Authorship Coalition elects Professor Emeritus Don Rubin as president

November 25, 2020

York University Professor Emeritus Don Rubin has been elected president of an organization that seeks to legitimize the Shakespeare authorship question by increasing awareness of reasonable doubt about the identity of William Shakespeare.

Prof. Rubin at the Mark Twain House and Museum holding a copy of a 1565 volume that may have been owned by Shakespeare. The volume was purchased at auction for $65,000

Announced earlier this month, Rubin will serve as president for the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC) and lead the group of authorship “doubters” into its 14th year. He will also serve SAC as its principal public spokesperson.

Rubin was a founding member of the Department of Theatre at York University, where he became Department Chair and then Founding Director of the Graduate Program in Theatre Studies. His areas of specialization include Canadian Theatre, African Theatre, Criticism, Theatre Theory, Modern Drama, and the Shakespeare Authorship Question.

He worked as a print, radio and television critic for the Toronto Star and CBC Radio. He was a founder and long-time editor of Canadian Theatre Review, editor of Canadian Theatre History: Selected Readings, and founding editor of the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre.

He was president of the Canadian Centre of Unesco’s International Theatre Institute, president of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Theatre Critics, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship. In 2015, he became managing editor of the well-regarded online journal Critical Stages.

He has taught and lectured at universities and theatre schools in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Russia, China, Japan, France, England, Sweden, Mexico, and universities across North America. He created and taught a course titled “Shakespeare: The Authorship Question” that had students investigate the mystery surrounding who wrote the plays ascribed to “Shakespeare.” In 2019, he edited a special topics section on the authorship issue for Critical Stages, including contributions by leading doubters Sir Mark Rylance and Sir Derek Jacobi, plus several international critics and scholars. He has organized Shakespeare authorship conferences in Toronto, Chicago, and at Mark Twain’s House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut.

For more on the SAC, visit doubtaboutwill.org.

Home Made Visible shortlisted for Governor General’s History Award

November 17, 2020

Home Made Visible

The Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF) Home Made Visible (HMV) project, in partnership with York University Libraries and Charles Street Video, has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. The Governor General’s History Awards are Canada’s top honours in the field of history and heritage. Shortlisted organizations represent remarkable and inspiring initiatives that encourage public engagement in Canadian history.

Launched by the Regent Park Film Festival, Home Made Visible was led by the vision of artistic director Ananya Ohri, a graduate of the master’s degree in Cinema and Media Studies program at York University. Ohri formed partnerships with Charles Street Video and York University Libraries to initiate a conversation about gaps in Canada’s collective memory by engaging in activities to promote diverse representation in archives.

Bridging the archival and artistic community together, Home Made Visible commissioned seven films by IBPOC artists; organized a nationwide tour of 51 exhibitions, workshops, screenings and installations across Canada; and facilitated the donation of 36 families’ home movies to the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections for access and preservation purposes. This contribution of nearly 300 selected clips is now available for research.

Earlier this year, HMV was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation on Feb. 20.

Vanier College Productions presents workshops, cabaret show in November

November 11, 2020

With its move to an online season, Vanier College Productions (VCP) will produce and host a series of free skill-building workshops and cabaret shows this year. Both cabarets and workshops are open to all students who are interested in participating.

The next workshop focuses on communication skills and will be held Nov. 19 at 12:30 p.m. via Zoom, while the next online cabaret show will take place Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

The workshop will cover valuable communication skills applicable in school, in the workplace and in life. The session will also highlight some common pitfalls, and how to avoid these mistakes. It will be led by Brian Goldenberg, the artistic director/producer for Vanier College Productions in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Goldenberg is a professional theatre/event producer, music director, songwriter/arranger, performer and educator. He has worked on more than 100 productions/events, coordinating communications and collaborating with teams of all sizes, including staff, students, and volunteers.

To sign up for the communication skills workshop click here.

The upcoming cabaret show merges the traditions of past cabarets and fun houses held by VCP and provides opportunities for students to showcase their talents in a virtual online show. Songs, dances, comedy acts, poetry and video submissions are all welcome.

To sign up to perform, fill out the linked Google form here. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased here.

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