Nicholas Bragagnolo, a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry’s Audette Lab at York University, won the 2023 Etter Student Lecturer Award from the American Crystallographic Association (ACA), which represents those working in the branch of science concerned with the structure and properties of crystals.
Nicholas Bragagnolo
The ACA houses 14 scientific interest groups (SIG), each representing a specific crystallographic discipline or area of interest. Among them is the Canadian Division SIG, which had the opportunity to – along with all other groups – invite one student to present a lecture at an ACA conference and receive an award.
Bragagnolo was selected and – after receiving transportation funding from the ACA Travel Award and the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography’s Larry Calvert Award – attended an ACA meeting in Baltimore in July.
There, he presented a 20-minute lecture titled “Solution characterization of the dynamic conjugative entry exclusion protein TraG,” as part of a session about the future of light sources, and won the Etter Student Lecturer Award. He also received honourable mentions for a three-minute thesis presentation.
The event, and the award, are part of the ACA’s initiative to provide young students and scientists with opportunitues to demonstrate their research achievements and work.
“Overall it was a very successful conference and I’m grateful to my lab members Arnold Apostol and Christina Rodriguez and my supervisor Gerald Audette for their support,” Bragagnolo wrote in a LinkedIn post following the event. “I made many valuable connections as well as new friends and gained a lot of insight into new techniques to help complete my thesis.”
Earlier this year, Bragagnolo was recognized by York University’s Association for Graduate Students in the Biological Sciences (AGSBS) with the People’s Choice Student Talk Award (Session 2) during the AGSBS 49th Annual Biology Symposium. Bragagnoloa presented a talk titled “Structural Studies of the Conjugative Entry Exclusion Protein TraG.”
In 2021, he was awarded a York Graduate Scholarship by the Faculty of Science.
Recognizing student influence: Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award winners
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Ariana Mah first knew she was going to attend York University’s Glendon College during a tour in high school.
“I looked around and I decided, ‘This one is my first choice. This is what I’m going to do; this is where I’m going to be,’ ” says Mah, a fifth-year political science major. “It was that moment when I found out that I could have a community here. It’s like a second home.”
Ariana Mah
Despite feeling apprehensive when starting at Glendon, Mah quickly became involved. She entered her first year as a Top Scholar and has since sat on several committees, including serving as the Chair of Glendon’s Student Caucus and as a member of the Faculty Council’s Committee on Academic Standards, Teaching and Learning, where she actively discusses policy planning and academic expectations with her professors and peers.
She has been an undergraduate representative for the Board of Governors since 2022, where she dedicates her time to a multitude of issues, including improving student well-being and advocating for increased diversity at York. Mah also progressed from a section editor of Glendon’s bilingual student newspaper, Pro Tem, to editor-in-chief.
Her impact has not gone unnoticed. Mah, who also has a certificate in law and social thought, is one of 11 recipients of the Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award, which annually recognizes students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of the University.
Now in its 11th year, the award was created in honour of Robert J. Tiffin, who served as York University’s vice-president, students, from 2005 to 2012. University members nominate individuals who demonstrate leadership and make valuable contributions to the York community.
“I’m always impressed by the diversity of ways in which student leadership occurs at York,” says Tiffin. “The importance of active participation in the University, inside and outside the classroom, cannot be overstated. It is through this engagement that student leaders unlock their own potential and empower others to do the same, creating a ripple effect that extends beyond their time at York.”
Mah is honoured by the nomination and recognition.
“As a student leader, we don’t necessarily do the work we do for these awards, but it is always nice to be acknowledged for what we put forward,” she says. “Winning this award will encourage me in the coming year to continue to strive for the betterment of student life on campus and for better representation of students, especially undergraduate students.”
This award recognizes students who have a wide impact on the York community. “We are all grateful for your pride in the institution and desire to be ambassadors for York,” says Yvette Munro, assistant vice-provost, student success. “Your work makes a difference and makes our institution – and, more importantly, the student experience – better.”
Mah says her involvement at York has helped her find her voice and she is motivated to help other students find theirs as well.
“The idea of the student voice inspires me and my work,” she says. “I know a lot of my peers are unsure about navigating student leadership or student governance – it’s kind of a scary thing to sit in rooms full of professors or University staff. I want to continue representing those that may not feel comfortable voicing their opinions, but also encourage others to try these things out, too.”
When thinking ahead to the future, Mah has a few ideas. She says she is interested in eventually pursuing a master’s in journalism, focusing on learning more languages or working within legislature and policy.
This year’s Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award recipients also include:
Alita Gideon, master of science, kinesiology and health science: Gideon has served as a class representative and has mentored underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She has also served on the York Federation of Students, most recently as the vice-president, equity, commissioner, and her contributions as an undergraduate student mentor have had an impact on individual students, both within the Faculty of Health and across the University.
Amireza Nikzadfar Goli,honours bachelor of science, kinesiology and health science: Goli was a founder of the Undergraduate Health Research Exploration Program (UHRE) and also helped to found and co-ordinate York University’s first-ever Conference of Undergraduate Health Research. He has also supported students as the Chair of the Student Advisory Committee and served as a student senator with the Faculty of Health.
Ana Kraljević, bilingual honoursbachelor of arts and bachelor of education: Kraljević has served as the president of Glendon’s Student Union. She has also represented the York community as a president’s ambassador and played a key role in the Glendon Tournament, a web-based initiative to help increase student engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arman Sadr, bachelor of science, biomedical science: Sadr has been involved with Bethune College since his first year at York, most recently serving as the president of the Bethune College Council, where he represented and supported the growth of the community. Sadr has also served as the executive vice-president and vice-president, athletics, for the council.
Christina Da Costa, honours specialized bachelor of arts, Indigenous studies: Da Costa has been actively involved with the Indigenous Student’s Association at York (ISAY). She has served as the president and has made various contributions to Indigenous life at York, including as an ISAY representative on the Indigenous Council of York and by planning and hosting the 20th and 21st All Nations Pow Wow.
Kaye Trishia Canoy, honours bachelor of arts, psychology and linguistics: Canoy has served as both as the president of Calumet College Council and co-president of the Undergraduate Psychology Student Association. She is also the co-founder of Lingua Franca, an initiative that aims to support English as a second language students at York.
Mohamed Elsayed Elghobashy, bachelor of science, kinesiology and health science: Elsayed Elghobashy has served as the president of the Kinesiology and Health Sciences Student Association and is a co-founder of the Undergraduate Health Research Exploration program. He has been involved in other leadership roles as a student senator, and has been equally active in supporting others in the community.
Mustafa Abdulkadhim, honours bachelor of science, biomedical science: Abdulkadhim has served as a class representative for STEM courses and has been a member of the Science Student Caucus and volunteered as a research assistant for multiple labs. Abdulkadhim has also been a peer tutor with the Undergraduate Psychology Student Association and a member of the Committee on Examination and Academic Standards.
Nathi Mbuso Zamisa, master of arts, social and political thought: Zamisa has served as the president of the York University Graduate Students’ Association. He has also served as the Chair of the York Community Housing Association and has been a representative on various committees, including the Advisory Council on Black Inclusion and the Student Representative Roundtable.
Prabhjee Singh, honours bachelor of science, computer science: Singh has served as the Lassonde Student Government president, where he implemented new policies and organized multiple events. He has also actively participated in the Student Caucus and the Student Representative Roundtable, and has volunteered with York International.
The recipients’ names will be added to the awards display wall in the Vari Hall Rotunda.
About the award
The Robert Tiffin Student Leadership Awards recognize students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of York University. Established in 2012, these awards are named after Robert Tiffin, who served as York University’s vice-president, students, for nine years. Through his strong leadership, dedication and integrity, Tiffin transformed his operation into one of the most professional student service organizations in the country, serving one of Canada’s largest student populations.
PhD nursing student receives Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award
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Danielle Washington, the first student in York University’s PhD in Nursing program to be awarded the Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS-D) Award, was honoured for her research, titled “Exploring the Mental Well-Being of Black Women Living in Poverty and at Risk of Intimate Partner Violence.”
The CGS-D is one of the two listed awards within the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Doctoral Research Award program and includes $35,000 of funding to support students pursuing a doctorate in a health-related field in Canada.
Danielle Washington
“I am very grateful for the CIHR doctoral award. The financial support will allow me to increase my focus on my doctoral studies,” says Washington, whose doctoral work is being supervised by Nazilla Khanlou, professor and Women’s Health Research Chair in Mental Heath. “I am also thankful for the support of Dr. Khanlou and the School of Nursing professors at York University who have been and continue to be very instrumental in my graduate journey.”
In the upcoming year, Washington – a registered nurse in the mental health field, with experience working with marginalized populations– will use the three-year funding to carry out research focusing on the mental well-being of Black women who experience poverty and intimate partner violence.
She aims to promote an understanding of the interplay between poverty, intimate partner violence and mental well-being for Black Canadian women, while identifying the facilitators and barriers Black women encounter when accessing support services. Washington plans to engage in knowledge translation and dissemination activities throughout her research career and incorporate her research findings into ongoing advocacy, health policy development and mental health initiatives. She looks forward to seeing how her research will contribute to the Canadian health-care field during and beyond the tenure of her award.
Two York students presented with Autism Scholars Awards
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Alaa Ibrahim and Carly Magnacca, two York University doctoral scholars, are named recipients of the 2023-24 Autism Scholars Award.
The community of scholars fostered by this awards program excel in the creation of new knowledge of child autism that positively increases the province’s capacity for diagnosis and assessment of autism and leads to a strengthened treatment system. Ibrahim and Magnacca will each receive a one-year award of $20,000 to advance their research, which can lead to improved treatments and health-care policies.
Alaa Ibrahim
Ibrahim will begin her PhD in the Clinical Developmental Psychology program at York University in September. Her PhD research focuses on examining flourishing in autistic youth. Flourishing is the term used to describe individuals achieving wellness and is associated with high levels of positive mental health. Her study examines existing positive mental health interventions for autistic youth, in addition to understanding the experience of flourishing in a marginalized/racialized autistic community in Canada.
The important topic undertaken by Ibrahim will help provide better understanding of Canada’s marginalized groups in terms of their flourishing and well-being, as well as inform intervention design for these populations. Additionally, this dynamic study can provide researchers, clinicians and policy-makers with autistic experiences that can help ensure all youth with autism, including those from marginalized groups, are supported to flourish.
Outside of her cutting-edge research, Ibrahim has participated in international collaboration projects with the World Health Organization as a therapist and trainer of a parent-mediated intervention in Canada, Egypt and Jordan. She is also starting her clinical training at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto.
Magnacca will enter her first year of the PhD program in Clinical Developmental Psychology at York in the fall. She has worked with autistic individuals for several years in many different roles, including as a research analyst at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH and Chair of the Kids Brain Health Network’s Policy Advocacy Research Training Committee.
Carly Magnacca
Magnacca’s research aims to better understand the experiences of autistic youth who previously received Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) and explore the impact of these intensive interventions to better inform policy and families’ intervention decisions. IBI is an evidence-based, intensive behaviour-analytic intervention designed to support young children with autism and has been demonstrated to improve cognitive functioning and adaptive behaviours.
Her work is split into two parts. Study A involves comparing the long-term outcomes of individuals who received IBI to those who received other intensive interventions or no intensive intervention. Study B involves interviewing a subset of individuals who participated in Study A regarding their experience of receiving (or not receiving) an intensive intervention.
Magnacca’s study can be essential to help families understand the long-term outcomes of intensive interventions and guide them to make the choice that would benefit them the most. Moreover, the results of the research can aid policy-makers in education and social service systems when making decisions about interventions that should be funded and made widely accessible.
Find out more about the Autism Scholars Awards and the outstanding work the community of autism scholars are undertaking to help increase Ontario’s capacity to diagnose, assess and treat autism.
York team visits Arctic to learn about Mars
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York University astrobiologist, Haley Sapers, an adjunct professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering, has traveled with a team to the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS), an arctic research station situated on a polar desert island in Nunavut where they will study methane gas, execute Mars Rover simulations and more.
Haley Sapers
The station is located on Axel Heiberg Island and, while once travelled by Indigenous people, is currently uninhabited and only used by scientific expeditions and adventure companies. With stark landscapes in one of the northernmost regions in Canada, Sapers says the island is a unique environment, as beautiful as it is illuminating, and not just because of its 24-hour summertime sun, but its parallels to the planet Mars.
“With its permafrost-hosted methane seeps, this is really the only place in the world that you can go to study this phenomenon,” says Sapers. “Additionally, the polygonal terrain here, which looks very similar to polygonal terrain on Mars, is a compelling geological analogue.”
The conditions in the Martian subsurface are consistent with the habitats of some extreme forms of microorganisms here on Earth, such as those that may live in hyper-saline cold springs in the Arctic. The gas released from the island’s springs could function in a similar way to methane gas plumes on Mars, which present one of science’s current greatest mysteries: Where is it coming from? Does methane signal life on Mars the same way its presence on Earth does? Do these plumes give clues to what areas of Mars could be inhabited down the line?
Less than a one-hour hike from MARS, several springs situated near the bank of a river formed by glacial run-off streams emit the methane gas the researchers are interested in.
To measure the seeps, Sapers and the team – which includes scientists from Caltech and McGill, fellow York professors at the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science Mike Daly and John Moores, as well as York graduate students Alex Innanen, Elisa Dong, Grace Bischof and Madeleine Walters – are partnering with Quebec-based technology and engineering company ABB Inc. to create a spectrometer capable of frequent and sensitive measurements of methane gas on the red planet.
“There’s no such thing as definitive proof that we have life on Mars, unless we go there and we can shake hands with the Martians,” says Sapers. “The fact that we see methane on Mars suggests two things: it’s an energy source for microorganisms and, on Earth, it’s produced by microorganisms. So it gives us more clues as to present-day habitability and clues as to where life could be.”
Using geobiology techniques developed for ocean research cruises, the team will combine detailed biological and chemical sampling with methane measurements from the deep sediments of the spring and analyze the microbes to see if they can oxidize methane.
“The oxidation of methane by microbes in deep-ocean methane seeps prevents large amounts of this greenhouse gas from being released into the atmosphere,” explains Sapers. “Understanding if the arctic microbes are capable of methane oxidation not only has implications for possible life on Mars, but would also show the importance of Arctic microorganisms in mitigating increased methane emission as a result of warming temperatures in the Arctic.”
The researchers, whose work is being sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, will also take methane readings in the atmosphere, giving valuable information on how climate change may affect the flux of methane into the Earth’s surface, and Innanen, who has experience with the Curiosity Rover currently on Mars, will lead the group in a simulated mission.
While not her first trip to the island, with MARS now having access to solar-powered WI-FI via Starlink for the first time, Sapers says this year’s trip is a vastly different one.
“It makes interviews and mission simulations possible, but it really changes the character of the experience. It no longer feels like we’re a world away.”
Watch Sapers explain the research and life on MARS, Axel Heiberg Island.
See more ways York University is making headlines at News @ York.
Philippine Studies Group offers research and publishing funds
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York University faculty members engaged in research and research creation related to the Philippines, or its diasporas, are invited to submit applications for funding and publication support by Tuesday, July 25.
The Philippine Studies Group (PSG) at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) is offering up to five minor research grants worth a maximum of $4,500 each, as well as support for faculty members to publish research in the field of Philippine studies – with the number and value of the latter set to fluctuate based on the number of applications received. This opportunity is open to full-time York faculty, with a preference for early career scholars.
Available minor research and research creation grants are intended for faculty members wishing to explore subject that could include, but are not limited to: Filipino arts, history, cultures, languages, politics, society, economics and environments; Filipino Canadian relations; Filipinos in Canada; Filipinos in the diaspora; and Canadians in the Philippines. Applicants from Faculties across the University are invited to apply. Ideal applications show a clear link to Philippine studies. Where possible, applications that offer opportunities for training and professional development to undergraduate or graduate students are also welcomed.
Further grant information and applications for research and research creation can be found here.
Grants for publication support are intended to assist in covering expenses that will enable or enhance the publication of research in the field of Philippines studies. Eligible expenses include research support, indexing, artwork, copyright clearance, cartography, image reproduction, translation or copy editing. The fund might also contribute towards the cost of a publishing subvention required by a university press.
Information and applications for publishing support grants can be found here.
Williams’ research cites eyewitness testimony, stage directions, paintings and even records of payment to explore girls’ appearance in dramatic performances, as well as their contributions to writing and translating plays, singing, dancing and performing music. While previous histories of the actress have begun with the Restoration in 1660, this book charts this history all the way back to the Middle Ages.
Deanne Williams
Through its close analysis of plays from this time frame, as well as the broader cultural environments that produced them, Girl Culture demonstrates that girls were active and influential participants in dramatic culture, rather than passive observers.
“Girls have occupied a marginal role in theatre and cultural history, because of the assumption that performance was largely restricted to boys and men,” Williams explains. “But Girl Culture shows that they played an important role in medieval religious drama, Tudor pageants and royal entries, Elizabethan entertainments, and the Stuart court and household masque.
“My research shows that girlhood was a time of comparatively greater freedom for girls. Performing parts at home or in the schoolroom was a significant part of their education and they participated also in religious as well as civic performances. This book reveals medieval and early modern girlhood as a time of tremendous creativity and intellectual development,” she adds, before girls were “restricted by the expectations placed upon married women to run households and bear children.”
For over twenty years, Williams has devoted herself to research and redefining medieval and early modern girlhood. Her work includes staging readings of Jane Lumley’s Iphigeneia, the first-ever translation of the Greek drama into English, as well as Elizabeth Cary’s Tragedy of Mariam, the first female-authored original play (published in 1613), with Tom Bishop of the University of Auckland. With John Edwards, artistic director of the Musicians in Ordinary, she produced a podcast recording of Milton’s Comus and they are currently working with noted stage director Paul Hopkins on a film production of Elizabeth Brackley and Jane Cavendish’s play, The Concealed Fancies. With her colleague Bernice Neal and research assistant Asra Khonsari, Williams is also putting the finishing touches on a database called the Girls on Early English Stages (GEES) Project.
Girl Culture in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: Performance and Pedagogy (2023) by Deanne Williams
Williams has also explored how even Shakespeare, whose plays were performed on an all-male stage, was influenced by girl culture and the participation of girls in the public sphere. In her previous study, Shakespeare and the Performance of Girlhood (2014), Williams devotes “entire chapters to Ophelia and Juliet, as well as to lesser-known girl characters, such as the Queen in Richard II.
“In [that] book, I argue that girl characters are key to Shakespeare’s plays, and that Shakespeare’s ideas about girlhood developed over the course of his career and shaped our own ideas about girlhood today,” Williams says. “My new book, Girl Culture, takes a very different approach. Rather than exploring the influence of Shakespeare on girlhood, it locates the influence of girls on Shakespeare, whose lived experience of the girl actor, and girls’ significant cultural presence, shaped his conceptualization of girl characters such as Juliet, Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It, Marina in Pericles, and Emilia and the Jailer’s daughter in Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Two Noble Kinsmen.”
Among many other examples Williams hopes readers will be pleasantly surprised by, she highlights Anne Boleyn – whose life was marred by tragedy – as being a far more literary person than sordid histories tend to let on.
“[Boleyn’s] reputation was tarnished by Henry VIII, but her girlhood was bookish, pious and extremely musical,” she says. “I also think readers will be astonished to learn about Hrotswitha of Gandersheim, who wrote six Latin plays to match those of Latin comic playwright, Terence, in order to educate the girls of Gandersheim Abbey. I think she was horrified by what she found in Terence and wanted to provide her girl readers – and actors – with better role models.”
In her graduate and undergraduate teaching, Williams always seizes the chance to share the updated history that’s uncovered in Girl Culture and bring to light the seldom discussed influence on the arts by girls of a bygone era.
Announcement of appointment of new vice-provost and dean, Graduate Studies
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Le français suit la version anglaise.
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to inform the York community that we have successfully concluded the search for the next vice-provost and dean, Graduate Studies.
The search committee, chaired by Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps and comprised of graduate-affiliated faculty, staff and students from across the University, undertook a thorough internal search process which attracted excellent candidates. On June 27, the Board of Governors concurred with my recommendation that Alice MacLachlan be appointed to the position of vice-provost and dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies for an initial period of five years, commencing on July 1, 2023.
Alice MacLachlan
Dr. MacLachlan is associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, where she has been a faculty member since 2007. An experienced graduate supervisor with an established scholarly record and an active interdisciplinary research agenda, Dr. MacLachlan has served two terms as graduate program director for philosophy and is a full member of the graduate faculty at York. She has also taken on academic and administrative leadership roles beyond the department of philosophy, including serving for two years as Chair of SexGen York, a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Human Rights, and two terms as Chair of the LA&PS Petitions Committee.
Dr. MacLachlan’s research considers apologies and moral repair; civility and injustice; and family ethics, focusing especially on LGBTQ+ families, also looking at the broader politics of sexuality. She is co-editor of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, has published widely in the top journals in her field and, alongside her scholarly research, has contributed extensively to public conversations about philosophical research on television, radio, newspapers and other media. Her current SSHRC-funded research project is entitled “Civility and Solidarity.”
With extensive administrative service experience in the department of philosophy, at York University and in her profession, Dr. MacLachlan was honoured in 2017 with the York LA&PS Award for Distinction in Research, Emerging Researcher category, and was awarded a York-Massey Fellowship in 2013 and the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in 2011. She is committed to the scholarly and professional mentorship of graduate students and has developed extensive resources and offered many programs to foster their success inside and beyond the academy.
I would like to thank the members of the search committee for their contributions to this important process. I am deeply grateful to Thomas Loebel, who has ably served the role of dean and AVP, Faculty of Graduate Studies for the past five years.
I look forward to working with Dr. MacLachlan as she brings her energy and expertise to this important role. I hope that all members of the York University community will join me in congratulating and welcoming her as a core member of the University’s academic leadership team as the Faculty of Graduate Studies continues to lead in the advocacy for and training of graduate and postdoctoral students and studies in Canada and internationally.
Please share this announcement with your colleagues as appropriate.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Lenton President & Vice-Chancellor
Annonce de la nomination de la nouvelle vice-rectrice et doyenne, études supérieures
Chers collègues, chères collègues,
J’ai le plaisir d’informer la communauté de York que la recherche de la prochaine vice-rectrice et doyenne, Études supérieures a été couronnée de succès.
Le comité de recherche, présidé par Lisa Philipps, rectrice et vice-présidente aux affaires académiques, et composé de membres du corps professoral, du personnel et de la communauté étudiante à l’échelle de l’Université, a entrepris un processus de recherche interne approfondi qui a permis d’attirer d’excellentes candidatures. Le 27 juin, le conseil d’administration a approuvé ma recommandation de nommer Mme Alice MacLachlan au poste de vice-rectrice et doyenne, Études supérieures, pour une période initiale de cinq ans, à compter du 1er juillet 2023.
Alice MacLachlan
Mme MacLachlan est professeure agrégée au Département de philosophie de la Faculté d’arts libéraux et d’études professionnelles où elle enseigne depuis 2007. Superviseure expérimentée de diplômés, avec un dossier académique bien établi et un programme de recherche interdisciplinaire actif, Mme MacLachlan a assuré deux mandats en tant que responsable pédagogique du programme d’études supérieures en philosophie et est membre à part entière de la Faculté d’études supérieures de l’Université York. Elle a également assumé des rôles de leadership académique et administratif en dehors du Département de philosophie, notamment en tant que présidente de SexGen York pendant deux ans, a fait partie du Conseil consultatif de la présidente sur les droits de la personne, et a présidé le Comité des pétitions de LA&PS pendant deux mandats.
Les recherches de Mme MacLachlan portent sur les excuses et la réparation morale, la civilité et l’injustice, ainsi que sur l’éthique familiale, avec une concentration sur les familles LGBTQ+, mais aussi sur les politiques plus larges de la sexualité. Elle est corédactrice de Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, a publié de nombreux articles dans les meilleures revues de son domaine et, parallèlement à ses recherches universitaires, a largement contribué aux conversations publiques sur la recherche philosophique à la télévision, à la radio, dans les journaux et dans d’autres médias. Son projet de recherche actuel, financé par le CRSH, s’intitule Civility and Solidarity.
Forte d’une longue expérience administrative au Département de philosophie, à l’Université York et dans sa profession, Mme MacLachlan a reçu en 2017 le York LA&PS Award for Distinction in Research, dans la catégorie de chercheuse émergente, ainsi qu’une bourse York-Massey en 2013 et le Prix d’enseignement de la présidente de l’Université en 2011. Elle se consacre au mentorat universitaire et professionnel des diplômés, a développé de vastes ressources et a offert de nombreux programmes pour favoriser leur réussite dans le monde académique et au-delà.
Je tiens à remercier les membres du comité de recrutement pour leur contribution à cet important processus. Je suis profondément reconnaissante à M. Thomas Loebel, qui a assuré avec compétence le rôle de doyen et VPA de la Faculté des études supérieures au cours des cinq dernières années.
Je me réjouis de travailler avec Mme MacLachlan qui mettra son énergie et son expertise au service de ce rôle important. J’espère que tous les membres de la communauté de l’Université York se joindront à moi pour la féliciter et l’accueillir en tant que membre clé de l’équipe de leadership pédagogique de l’Université, tandis que la Faculté des études supérieures continue de jouer un rôle de premier plan dans la représentation et la formation des diplômés et postdoctorants et des études supérieures au Canada et à l’étranger.
Veuillez diffuser cette annonce auprès de vos collègues s’il y a lieu.
Sincères salutations,
Rhonda Lenton Présidente et vice-chancelière
In pictures: York’s Convocation celebrates Class of 2023
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Spring Convocation for York University’s Class of 2023 ran from June 9 to 23, and featured 13 ceremonies at both the Keele and Glendon Campuses.
This year’s Spring Convocation began on June 9 with a ceremony at York’s Glendon Campus, and continued with a dozen more in the following weeks at the Keele Campus. 6,140 graduands received their degrees during ceremonies overseen by the newly inaugurated 14th chancellor of York University, Kathleen Taylor.
View photos from the Class of 2023 ceremonies below:
Graduate students recognized for contributions to Philippine Studies
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Eight graduate students from three Faculties at York University are recipients of Philippine Studies Group funding for research, fieldwork and language acquisition.
“These students collectively received $32,000 in funding in support of their work. Their groundbreaking projects promise to make an important contribution to the field of Philippine studies,” said Ethel Tungohan, associate professor of politics and Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism.
Tungohan is a member of the Philippine Studies Group (PSG) at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), which brings together faculty and students with an interest in the Philippines, Filipinx migration and diaspora, as well as Philippine studies. PSG’s activities throughout 2023, including this latest round of student funding, are made possible by the support of the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.
Recently, the PSG awarded $25,000 for fieldwork in the Philippines and the diaspora to six students in geography, politics and music.
“It is very exciting to read about York University students’ projects, which range from in-depth fieldwork examining the gendered dimensions of the Mindanao peace process to intensive language study and cultural immersion in the Philippines,” Tungohan added.
The Philippine Studies Group awardees are:
Myla Chawla
Myla Chawla,a doctoral candidate in political science whose research examines women’s roles and experiences during the Moro conflict and Mindanao peace process in the Philippines. The project seeks to not only make visible the work women have performed during conflict and peace times, but to further unpack how diverse perspectives from Moro, Indigenous and Christian communities have shaped their experiences and visions of peace.
“My time conducting in-person fieldwork in the Philippines has elevated the project with a richer data sample. I have had the ability to speak to both local and professional women on the ground and have been able to witness women’s work in action. Additionally, I have taken part in events pertaining to peacebuilding efforts in Mindanao led by government agencies, NGOs and local women led grassroots movements,” said Chawla.
Ria Jhoanna Ducusin
Ria Jhoanna Ducusin’s project, informed by a political economy of local urbanization and feminist political ecology scholarship, examines how urban flooding results from political decisions, economic interests and power relations; and the ways in which intersectional axes of gender and class shape differential impacts of flood disasters.
“My goal is to strengthen the understanding of the causes, mitigation and experiences of flood disasters in rapidly urbanizing and industrializing coastal cities,” she said.
Ducusin is a second-year doctoral student in geography and a graduate associate with YCAR. Before joining York, Ducusin worked as a science research specialist on climate-smart agriculture and mining impact assessment projects at the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), and as a lecturer at the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science at Cavite State University.
Romeo Joe Quintero
Romeo Joe Quintero is a doctoral student in human geography. He holds a master’s degree in women’s and gender studies from Carleton University and an honours bachelor of social science in international development and globalization from the University of Ottawa.
His research interests lie around questions of protracted situations of forced displacement and placemaking practices among internally displaced persons in the Philippines. In particular, Quintero will examine the economic and livelihood practices of communities in Mindanao that have been displaced to settlement sties in urban areas by the legacy of violence in the region.
Dani Magsumbol
Dani Magsumbol is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Politics. Her research is an examination of the political economy of emotions, and the affective relationships of citizenship and nationalism; her dissertation focuses this analysis on the multigenerational experiences in families of the Filipino labour diaspora in Canada.
“In my project, I seek to examine not only the immediate effects that being an overseas Filipino worker has on the individual, but also the long-term after effects of how employment and residence outside of national borders alters the experience of citizenship and national membership for members of the Filipino labour diaspora.”
Magsumbol says that fieldwork is vital to this research endeavour. In seeking out Filipino immigrants and members of their family in order to interview them about their individual and familial migration stories, the research actively foregrounds the voices and stories of the migrants who have experienced the disorientation and reorientation of migration and settlement. To this end, she will be collecting data in the form of interviews and focus groups in areas in Canada where Filipinos have chosen to settle in large numbers, such as Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver, as well as lower density provinces such as Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
Nikki Mary Pagaling
Nikki Mary Pagaling’s research examines the labour market transitions that Filipina women make after completing Canada’s temporary foreign caregiver programs.
“I will deploy an intersectional feminist framework to investigate the extent to which immigration to Canada through a temporary foreign caregiver program shapes Filipina women’s entry into the personal support worker labour force in Toronto,” says Pagaling, who is a master’s candidate in geography.
Antoniel Roca is researching the impact of Filipino-North American diasporic identity on the thought and composition processes of musicians in the Manila metropolitan area. “As a Filipino immigrant, I believe in the importance of the study of diaspora,” he said.
Antoniel Roca
A doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology, Roca’s previous fieldwork in the Philippines touched on the music genre kundiman, and the ways in which it was utilized as propaganda during both the Spanish Filipino and American Filipino revolutions. This provided the historical background needed for his primary thesis.
Roca was also a member of Associate Professor Patrick Alcedo’s dance exhibition as part of Toronto’s inter-university CRAM festival. He has worked in many music disciplines, including classical and gospel choral ensembles, Filipino rondalla and angklung groups, as well as jazz/alternative bands.
Kad Marino and Geneviève Minville each received a language subsidy grant to further their Tagalog studies.
“Language training is an essential part of long-term, field-based and people-oriented fieldwork. The Philippine Studies Group was therefore pleased to provide support for students who are committing themselves to learning the Filipino language and/or regional dialects in the country,” says Professor Philip Kelly, who served on the award adjudicating committee.
Kad Mariano
Mariano, a doctoral student in political science, believes that learning Tagalog is an important step towards his doctoral research goals. “Working with the Filipinx community requires one to navigate the multiple worlds that Filipinx migrants regularly traverse and intersect,” says Mariano.
He adds: “An integral part of this research is interviewing and communicating effectively with members of the Filipinx community. Learning and employing Tagalog will grant access to experiential and community knowledge regarding Filipinx migrants’ perceptions of reconciliation, understandings of colonial relations in the Philippines and Canada, and (non)mobilizations of memory.”
Mariano intends to focus on the Filipinx diaspora and its role in the memory dynamics of reconciliation, assessing migrants’ perceptions of and participation in reconciliation, such as cross-cultural coalition building.
Geneviève Minville
Minville’s research in the Philippines will benefit from the language skills that she will gain this summer, thanks to the language subsidy.
“Having language knowledge is essential for me to connect with my research participants and the communities as well as to give me more confidence to undertake my fieldwork in 2024,” she explained.
A doctoral student in critical human geography, she intends to adopt a participatory approach with communities and engage with local experts and NGOs around issues of forced displacement related to disasters and climate change.
