York students learn side-by-side with Colombian classmates

GNL Zamora

By Elaine Smith

Students are easily tempted by courses that include a trip abroad as part of the curriculum, but Hispanic Geopoetics: Geography, Literature, Identity, taught by Alejandro Zamora, offered an extra treat: classmates from the Universidad del Magdalena (UniMag) in the Colombian Caribbean region of the course’s field study.

Zamora, an associate professor of Hispanic studies at Glendon College, York University, has taught the course previously, but the 2023 edition became a joint venture, thanks to the use of a Hyflex classroom that allowed students to participate regardless of location. Throughout the winter semester, the 12 York students and eight UniMag students participated together in class discussions, class projects and assignments. By the time the field visit to Colombia came around, the classmates were fast friends.

Students in the Hispanic Geopoetics: Geography, Literature, Identity course taught by Alejandro Zamora, offered an extra treat visited the Colombian Caribbean region
Students in the Hispanic Geopoetics: Geography, Literature, Identity course taught by Alejandro Zamora, offered an extra treat visited the Colombian Caribbean region

“This was the first time we had a globally networked learning (GNL) component as part of the course and it was fantastic,” Zamora said. “The Colombian students could enrol, attend via Zoom and get course credits.” GNL is an approach to teaching, learning and research that enables students, faculty and non-academic researchers from different locations around the world to participate in, and collaborate on, knowledge-making processes and concrete research projects.

“From day one, I constantly ensured that both sets of students interacted through group work and assignments and it made a real difference when we visited Colombia; relationships and joint projects were already established.”

Geopoetics is a critical approach that investigates the relationships between literature, geography and natural and built environments; how literature can enrich understanding of a place or a territory, and vice versa. Zamora’s course explores One Hundred Years of Solitude, the influential novel written by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez.

“This novel is deeply rooted in the Colombian Caribbean, and is also a synthesis of various regions,” said Zamora. “This course is a unique opportunity to study this novel in relation to the place that infuses its pages and language.”

As part of the Spanish program at Glendon, the course is taught in Spanish and has intermediate Spanish as a prerequisite. Students outside the program have the option of reading the novel in English or French, but still need the ability to converse in Spanish. In addition to Glendon students, it draws students from various Faculties on the Keele Campus.

During Reading Week, the York students travelled with Zamora to Colombia to meet their classmates and visit many of the locations depicted in the book, starting and ending in Santa Marta.

“There was full immersion on both sides,” Zamora said. “We travelled, visited sites and museums together, had meals together and learned about each other’s cultures. The students had meaningful conversations well beyond the scope of the course. What we experienced there surpassed expectations.

“In addition, the trip brought the book to life. We explored the villages and the local narratives that inspired the novel. In order to get a real sense of the history and political struggles of the region, you need to be there, talk to the people, and feel it. As one of my Colombian students put it: ‘We were reading the novel with our five senses.’” Students also got the opportunity to interact with local faculty and artists, “who were decisive to the success of the field trip.”

Two of the York students in the course agreed that the trip and the involvement of Colombian classmates offered invaluable insights into the book.

“It’s a tough read,” said Diego Pereira, a second-year Glendon psychology major who is originally from Brazil, “but I understand things better and everything is clearer after the trip and being where Marquez got his inspiration.”

Nicole Davis, a fifth-year Glendon student is majoring in political science with a minor in Spanish.

“Being in Colombia helped provide a clearer picture of the book and why the geography is so important,” she said. “It’s a great mix of fact and fiction and it probably couldn’t have happened elsewhere.”

They couldn’t say enough about the joys of learning side-by-side with classmates from another culture and the opportunity to travel with them.

“All the students from Colombia enriched the experience and made a difference,” said Pereira. “Examples from their lives helped illustrate the book.”

Davis added, “I really only knew two people going into the course and I cried the last day. It was a really good group and we built the type of relationships where if we haven’t spoken for years and message each other, the bond will be there.

“I’m also really grateful for the Global Skills Opportunity (through CALAREO) bursary that let me go on the trip. I’d never been to South America and I was able to confront all the stereotypes and biases you see in the media and meet all these wonderful people. I didn’t expect a school trip to be the most amazing trip I’ve ever gone on.”


For information on faculty-led programs and GNL project collaborations connect with York International helencb@yorku.ca and swhlam@yorku.ca.  

Graduate students recognized for contributions to Philippine Studies

Philippine Studies Group award winners banner

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 close up portrait
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 portrait
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 portrait
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

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 portrait
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 portrait
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 portrait
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.

Genevie Minville portrait
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.

Study abroad offers unparalleled experiential education opportunity

Klassen and students looking out onto the DMZ and North Korea

Professor Thomas Klassen led students to Seoul for his course South Korea: The Politics of Youth and Old Age, which saw them tour universities, museums, the Canadian embassy, palaces, temples, the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and demonstrated the uniqueness of experiences provided by York University.

York students visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace dressed in traditional hanbok
York students visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace dressed in traditional hanbok, from left: Oshini Gamage, Diana Shytakova, Jedd Kenedy, Sarah Persaud and Parmeen Khaira

Offered amongst an array of courses organized yearly by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) for the newly relaunched summer abroad program, South Korea: The Politics of Youth and Old Age (GLBL 3581) led students through the streets of Seoul as they navigated the political debates of the day, sparked by the friction between competing generations in South Korea – a young country with an aging population.

Common across this year’s summer abroad courses, the global political studies course began with a period of intensive study at York’s Keele Campus, where – in this case – students learned an overview of Korean history, culture and the topography of the current political landscape. The class departed for Seoul in May, where they attended seminars at Yonsei University and Chung-Ang University alongside local students; visited exhibits at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, the Seoul Museum of History, the National Museum of Korea and the Seodaemun Prison History Hall; and met with policy experts in one of the world’s most politically fraught regions.

Central to York’s University Academic Plan is the “goal of providing every student with an experiential learning opportunity, regardless of program,” which inspired Klassen to arrange a personalized briefing from staff at the Canadian Embassy. There, the students asked diplomats questions pertaining to everything from Canada-Korea relations to how to join Canada’s foreign service.

York University and Chung-Ang University students visiting the Korean House cultural centre
York University and Chung-Ang University students visiting the Korean House cultural centre

Rouslan Kats, head of the Political, Economic & Public Affairs Office at the Embassy of Canada in South Korea, said following the visit, “It was such a pleasure hosting you and the students at the Embassy.

“Fantastic to see so much interest for Korea and the work we do here,” Kats added. “The future of Canada-Korea relations is in excellent hands.”

For the students, one element of the trip stood out as the climactic event – a full-day trip to the DMZ separating North and South Korea, where they would enter the iconic blue negotiating building that straddles the border.

While in the northern part of the building the students officially stood on North Korean territory, an accomplishment claimed by an exceedingly small number of people. Visiting one of the most heavily armed borders in the world offered an opportunity for the class to experience the impact of the division of the Korean peninsula.

Klassen and students looking out onto the DMZ and North Korea
Klassen and students looking out onto the DMZ and North Korea

“It was an extraordinary experience… my classmates and I were able to learn about Korean history, politics and culture firsthand,” said Jedd Kennedy, a student who took part in the course. Classmate Oshini Gamage added, “This course will be one of my fondest memories of my undergraduate university education.”

A testament to the breadth of opportunities the course offered, students selected a fascinating range of topics for their individual field research. Topics included the politics of kimchi; the controversial legacy of South Korean dictator Park Chung-Hee; the mix of art and politics in the Comfort Woman Statue Memorial and the role of the standardized national university entrance exam.

The students returned to Canada in June with a collection of unique memories and a broader, heightened understanding of the careers across the globe to which their educations could lead.

Highlighting the enthusiasm and willingness of the students to engage with a new culture, Klassen said, “they were wonderful ambassadors not only for York University, but for Canada, with all those we met in Korea. I am so impressed with the amazing group of young people for taking every opportunity to learn and explore their environment.”

Chef Susur Lee shares life lessons with grads

Susur Lee

Award-winning Chef Susur Lee accepted his honorary degree from York University by sharing his personal and professional journey as the graduands of the June 20 convocation ceremony prepared to continue the next stage of their own.

Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, J. J. McMurtry, introduced Lee by noting his accomplishments. “Susur Lee embodies the spirit of this University. His tenacity, hard work and ingenuity are all hallmarks of this Faculty as well,” McMurtry said, before Lee was presented with his honorary doctor of laws.

Once Lee reached the podium, he shared his personal journey – one reflective of the direct and indirect paths many graduands are poised to experience themselves as their lives continue after convocation.

Lee began by recounting growing up in Hong Kong with four sisters and a brother. His mother worked long hours and was the primary cook of the house, and while he credits her for instilling in him a strong work ethic, he couldn’t do the same for his passion for food.

“My mother came home very late at night – often late as six or seven o’clock. Then she’d start making dinner and her favorite dishes to make were one pot cooking, so I never liked her cooking. She’s a terrible cook,” Lee joked.

TK, Susur Lee and Chancellor Kathleen Taylor
VP Research and Innovation Amir Asif, Susur Lee and Chancellor Kathleen Taylor

Instead, it was his father’s more refined palette that influenced Lee’s culinary path when his father would bring home delicious and savory takeout food from the streets of their neighborhood. “That was the beginning of learning about taste for me,” Lee said, who can remember even at 12 years old smelling the aromas of street food through his window, and longing to understand the mechanics of why it smelled better than his mother’s cooking. “I got very inspired.”

Lee’s palette and budding abilities would develop further at times when his father would take him to a restaurant, especially out for dim sum, and allow him to order whatever he’d like – such as black bean sauce spare rib. Soon, at age 14, he began his food career as a dishwasher in a Pekinese restaurant, then two years later began an apprenticeship at Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel.

In 1979, Lee immigrated to Canada. He knew a lot about being a chef by then, but not much about his new home. A job at the Toronto Sheraton Hotel quickly introduced him to the country’s diversity, with people in the kitchen from Greece, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, and also Korea and Japan. “They didn’t really talk about food. They talked about politics, their religion, their family and how they wanted to integrate. I learned very fast, what Canada is about in terms of food, in terms of culture, and the integrity of different beliefs,” he said. “I feel so proud to be Canadian.”

Lee opened his first Toronto restaurant, Lotus, in 1987, and ran it for 10 years before moving to Singapore in the late 1990s to become a chief consultant for 35 Chinese restaurants. He noted that a recurring theme in his life is an ambition to always be learning and relearning his craft. His experience in Singapore led him back to Toronto – re-inspired, he opened the restaurant Susa, which would be named one of the world’s best 50 restaurants by Restaurant Magazine. Over the next two decades, he would open several more restaurants, succeed on popular cooking competition shows like Iron Chef and Top Chef, and be named one of the top 10 chefs of the millennium by Food & Wine Magazine.

For all his accomplishments, he assured graduands that he experienced obstacles too. “It might sound like there’s a lot of success, but in my journey I went through a lot of periods of challenges,” he said. He explained that what has given him the strength to push through, and be where he is today, is hard work, astute mentorship and having embraced the freedom to learn and – especially – make mistakes, stressing, “It is part of the journey.” Lee emphasized too, the important connection, relevant to graduands embarking on the next stage of their lives, between what we learn and who we are. “In terms of our skill in terms of our knowledge, once you have it, it means you can express yourself,” he said.

That knowledge should also continually keep expanding. “As a chef of many years, I’m still learning,” he said. When he goes on trips abroad with his family, he’ll take, for example, spices from another country to experiment with them in his kitchen when back home. He pointed also to his recent popularity on TikTok with videos where his son hands him fast food meals and challenges him to turn them into a gourmet meal.

Lee ended his address to the graduands by emphasizing what type of success will matter most in their lives. “It’s not about a nice car or having a job where you make a lot of money. Success is what you achieve,” he said. “That achievement will stay for you forever.”

Denis Mukwege spurs grads to endeavour for peace

Dr. Denis Mukwege speaks before an auditorium of York Faculty of Health graduands

Dr. Denis Mukwege, renowned obstetrician/gynecologist, Nobel Prize laureate and recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University, called on Faculty of Health graduands to use their talent to fight injustice and care for those in need.

Mukwege received his honorary doctorate from the newly inaugurated York University Chancellor Kathleen Taylor, who opened the ceremony by addressing the graduating class, acknowledging the hope they represent. “Ladies and gentleman, as we look up today at the graduands of 2023, what we see are the future faces of the leadership of this country. May your successes be our successes in the decades ahead,” Taylor said.

Following Taylor’s remarks, Mukwege spoke to graduands, as well as their family and friends. (Mukwege’s speech was originally presented in French. The story below contains the English translation of his words).

An internationally recognized and decorated medical doctor, Mukwege began his career just as York’s Faculty of Health grads did, with endless potential, ambition and only a vague conception of what the future would hold. Mukwege spoke to the graduating class about the courage of the medical staff at his hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the resilience of the patients who are treated there, and the challenges of the Congolese people who continue to endure violence on a daily basis.

Dr. Denis Mukwege with York University President Rhonda Lenton and Chancellor Kathleen Taylor
Taylor and Mukwege with York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton

“From April 17 to April 30, 2023, Doctors Without Borders teams treated 674 female victims of sexual violence in displacement camps on the outskirts of the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” Mukwege explained. “That’s an average of 48 new victims per day. These figures illustrate the gravity of the humanitarian situation that currently exists in a region already martyred after 30 years of recurring wars.”

Beginning his education in the DRC, before pursuing studies in Burundi, France and Belgium, Mukwege became highly specialized in obstetrics with the intention of bringing world-class maternal care to his home, leading to his founding of Panzi Hospital in 1999. “Our goal was to reduce maternal and infant mortality in a region where many women still risk their lives giving birth,” he said.

As is common among fledgling professionals, Mukwege eventually found that the career he had envisioned and the work he was called to do differed dramatically. He realized that, despite his aspirations to help new mothers and deliver babies, the primary purpose of the hospital would be to serve as a critically important trauma and rehabilitation centre for survivors of extreme sexual violence. Scenes similar to those described earlier by Mukwege in the neighbouring province of North Kivu would also unfold at Panzi Hospital throughout its history.

Driven to put an end to such atrocities, Mukwege, Panzi Hospital and the Panzi Foundation have become leaders in developing specialized treatments for survivors of sexual violence. Mukwege’s patients “receive complete treatment in one place based on four pillars: medical-surgical, psychological, socioeconomic and legal,” with the goal of providing care that goes beyond mere treatment of physical injuries. This model has recently been replicated at hospitals in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, and in other countries enduring conflict, like Ukraine, where non-combatants – especially women and children – face the threat of sexual violence.

By implementing this model, the Panzi Hospital has allowed patients to “become masters of their destiny and change,” with many survivors eventually pursuing careers in law, nursing, social work, and in one case, anesthesiology.

Though he’d have struggled to imagine it at his graduation, the ever-evolving trajectory of Mukwege’s career led not only to the construction of his own hospital, but to the pioneering of a holistic care regimen, which in turn inspired patients to become doctors, nurses and legal professionals. A great deal of work remains to be done, but nevertheless, Mukwege’s mission demonstrates the chain reaction that is sparked when changemakers foster future changemakers.

“By awarding me these York University insignia, you are showing your solidarity with the Congolese tragedy, and you are helping to stir Canadian public opinion and decision makers to work for the return of peace to the heart of the African Great Lakes region,” Mukwege said.

Throughout his speech, Mukwege reminded the University and its graduands of the complexity of the fight for a better future and the importance of protecting human rights. Mukwege made clear that there can be no justice in pursuing a sustainable future without first raising up the various peoples around the world living in crises, like those in the DRC, where conflict is driven by competition for minerals needed to build green technologies developed in the Global North.

“We hope that this honorary doctorate will contribute to raising awareness among the academic world and the Canadian authorities and the Canadian people of the urgent need to pull the Congolese tragedy out of indifference and support the Congolese nation having the right to dispose of its resources and advance on the path of peace through justice,” Mukwege concluded.

Dr. Denis Mukwege joined by friends and members of Toronto's Congolese community at a Glendon College dinner
Mukwege joined by friends and members of Toronto’s Congolese community at a Glendon College dinner

In addition to the convocation ceremony at York’s Keele Campus, Mukwege attended a commemorative dinner at Glendon College, hosted by Principal Marco Fiola, Professor Gertrude Mianda and fellow Nobel Prize-winner Professor James Orbinski. The event also included 75 members of Toronto’s Congolese community.

The event marked many firsts for York University, being the first time that two Nobel Prize laureates had been hosted at Glendon College, and the first time that Toronto’s Congolese community had gathered there to welcome an esteemed countryman.

York profs launch book on international relations

Antique map and compass stock banner image, pexels

York University Professors Ian Roberge and Thomas Klassen – both at the School of Public Policy and Administration in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) – in collaboration with Professor Nara Park at Yonsei University in South Korea, have co-edited a newly published book on international relations and the turbulent dynamics existing between neighbouring countries of disparate size and political influence.

Asymmetric Neighbors and International Relations Living in the Shadow of Elephants
Asymmetric Neighbors and International Relations Living in the Shadow of Elephants (2022)

Asymmetric Neighbors and International Relations Living in the Shadow of Elephants (Routledge, 2023) studies a multitude of relationships between a small country and its more powerful neighbour. Individual chapters examine Canada and the U.S.; New Zealand and Australia; Belarus and Russia; Qatar and Saudi Arabia; Colombia and Brazil; and others. The book opens with a chapter from Roberge, Klassen and Park explaining how relations between neighbours dominate the history of civilization, and follows with chapters by scholars from around the world, each describing a unique international relationship, with Roberge and Park contributing their own chapters as well.

According to Klassen, the title of the volume is drawn from a statement that Canada’s former prime minister Pierre Trudeau made regarding the U.S., stating, “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even tempered the beast is, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

Roberge highlights that this is a highly relevant and timely book, especially in view of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, that illustrates how smaller countries must deal with larger, more dominant neighbours. The book helps to elucidate the ways a less powerful country manages security, economic, trade and identity relationships with these bigger neighbours.

Park additionally explains that the book benefited from “the longstanding network of collaboration that has flourished over the years between faculty members at York University and Yonsei University.” The book is itself a physical manifestation of that collaborative tradition, which made possible a two-day conference in June 2022 at Yonsei University that brought together the contributors to discuss drafts of their chapters.

Ian Roberge (centre); Nara Park (far left); Thomas Klassen (far right) with contributors to the book at Yonsei University, June 2022

The writers of the book are drawn from every continent and bring both applied and academic knowledge of international relations. Several contributors are arriving in Toronto for the sixth International Conference on Public Policy, to be held from June 26 to 29 at Toronto Metropolitan University, which Klassen and Roberge will also attend. Klassen notes that, “There is more research to be conducted on relations between nations, especially in the changing global order. The book and the conference are ways to increase and share knowledge about how countries peacefully, and sometimes not, manage relations.”

LA&PS and faculty look to global future

two people holding a globe

Following the release of York University’s new Internationalization and Global Engagement Strategy, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and Dean J.J. McMurtry consider the future of its global engagement priorities – students, alumni networks and intellectual and research competencies.

LA&PS is currently home to York’s largest population of international students. The Faculty’s student success team is dedicated to ensuring they find a smooth landing at York, working closely with York International. There is a pre-arrival orientation online, an international retreat that invites these students to arrive on campus a few days early to acclimate and meet peers; and a strong peer mentorship program.

Lily Cho
Lily Cho

“We want to get our international students started with the right steps,” said Lily Cho, associate dean, global & community engagement. “We recognize they’ve taken a huge risk coming to a new country to pursue their studies.”

“When we talk about international students, it’s not just about recruiting, it’s about offering a high-quality education,” McMurtry said. “This is an opportunity for them to engage in a whole new set of experiences.

“Ideally, we talk to parents and students in person and engage with them before they apply so we can gauge their dreams and ambitions and connect that to the curriculum, pedagogy and teaching in relevant ways. We can offer a wide variety of courses and opportunities with intention.”

Dean J.J. McMurty
Dean J.J. McMurty

But more can be done too. “I want to do more to support international students,” McMurtry said. “We’re in the process of establishing specific supports for both global and Indigenous students in our colleges to provide more welcoming and supportive spaces for them, and we’d like the topics students study in LA&PS to continue to improve on bringing a diversity of voices and local, regional and international experiences to our curriculum.  We recognize that York is a global university, so we need to act accordingly.”

The Faculty also has a robust study abroad program through international exchanges and courses taught overseas by LA&PS instructors. “We’re proud of our offerings and know that our students are eager to be out in the world, especially after the pandemic,” Cho said.

McMurtry believes internationalization also offers opportunities for further exposing research being done by LA&PS faculty in the future. Both students and research are topics addressed in the LA&PS Academic Plan, which highlights the need to “connect students and faculty scholars to global opportunities.”

We don’t promote our research and faculty enough,” he said. “We need to learn from other universities and understand their approach to these challenges.

“We also need to take advantage of opportunities to build relationships with other institutions and encourage intellectual exchange in a meaningful way: not only relations between institutions but faculty-to-faculty and student-to-student relationships.”

Connecting with alumni networks will also be important, as McMurtry believes that LA&PS “can do more to connect with alumni as they move into the working world and to connect with them throughout the various stages of their lives.”

With 130,000 LA&PS alumni worldwide, he wants to see more opportunities for alumni everywhere to connect with the University and to foster relationships that will make mentorships possible for current students.

“We want our students to recognize that a global mindset is a distinct advantage these days and we need to provide the supports they need to understand how international opportunities can be accessed and engaged with,” he said. “Alumni can be a key to open that door.”

Overarching all of McMurtry’s plans and ideas is the concept of strategic engagement.

“There are some places where we need to be strategically engaged and do more to create dialogue and exchange, such as India and West Africa,” he said. “Africa, in particular, is a place where the world will continue to expand engagement, so we need to strengthen relationships with countries like Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

“We also need to look closer to home, too,” he said. “There are many opportunities to engage with other regions and cultures within Canada and with communities in the United States.”

No matter how and where LA&PS expands its reach, McMurtry emphasizes that it behooves the Faculty to do so strategically and with an emphasis on the value proposition it offers our students, faculty, alums and the global community.

Professor oversees new website exploring Portuguese diaspora

Porto, Portugal

A new website and travelling exhibit that explores the past and present of Canada’s Portuguese diaspora was developed by York University faculty member Gilberto Fernandes.

A former visiting professor in the Faculty Liberal Arts & Professional Studies’ (LA&PS) Department of History, Fernandes is currently a research associate in the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and was recruited by the Portuguese Embassy in Canada to create the project.

The website, titled “Movimento Perpétuo: The Portuguese Diaspora in Canada,” was officially launched on June 1, coinciding with the beginning of Portuguese Heritage Month in Canada and the upcoming 70th anniversaries of the establishing of Portugal Canada diplomatic relations (1952) and the beginning of Portuguese mass migration to Canada (1953).

Gilberto Fernandes
Gilberto Fernandes

The project contains over 70 profiles of Portuguese Canadian individuals and organizations in Ontario and Quebec; more than 80 digitized artifacts (some in 3D) crowdsourced from community members, most of them featuring audio commentary from the participants; 15 virtual tours of locations associated with the participants, featuring their audio commentary; 75 short documentaries from Rádio Televisão Portuguesa – Internacional (RTPi), National Film Board, and other sources; an illustrated timeline of Portuguese Canadian history with over 300 entries; an interactive business and service map of Toronto’s Little Portugal; videos made by community members; various selections of digitized historical records from public archives and personal collections; infographics, and more.

Participants were selected from among 100 short documentaries that Fernandes co-produced in 2015-17 for RTPi’s show Hora dos Portugueses. All of the artifacts and many of the photos, videos and records featured on the website were sourced from these participants. Many were also interviewed for the purpose of producing audio clips to accompany their materials.

A significant number of historical records featured on the website were selected from the archival holdings of the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, including some of the community records donated with the help of the Portuguese Canadian History Project, of which Fernandes is the co-founder and lead director. The York University Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Infrastructure provided photographic equipment, technical training and a studio that helped develop many of the website’s immersive and interactive features.

Amanda Dinally, Ester-Judit-Flores, Madeline Ball and Rui Pascoal – undergraduate students in the Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Public History at the LA&PS and Glendon College’s Departments of History – also made important contributions to this project during their experiential education placements in 2022-23.

The website is intended to become a community-sourced platform going forward, and a reference for researchers, teachers, students, artists, journalists and anyone interested in the Portuguese diaspora in Canada and around the world.

The exhibition with which the website is associated will be shown at the Toronto Metro Hall between Sept.11 and 22 and will be unveiled by a high-ranking official of the Portuguese government.

AMPD and its faculty look to global future

photo of a globe

By Elaine Smith

York University’s new Internationalization and Global Engagement Strategy has led the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) to focus on two avenues of globalization: expanding and re-activating partnerships, as well as promoting AMPD’s excellence abroad to engage both academics and students within a global arts network.

Sarah Bay-Cheng
Sarah Bay-Cheng

“If we do both of these well, it will lead to international engagement and presence on the York University campuses, which enriches everyone’s experience,” said Sarah Bay-Cheng, dean of AMPD.

“Cultural storytellers, artists, designers and scholars must be well-versed in the interconnected meanings of the stories they tell,” she said. “International experience and collaboration are among the most valuable experiences students can have, and it’s important that there can be an opportunity for everyone.”

Post-pandemic, Bay-Cheng says it is especially important to rebuild partnerships that may have languished during that time and to build new ones, which is why AMPD is reflecting on how the School can move forward.

“I’m interested in opportunities to collaborate through York-based initiatives, such as globally networked learning or our cross-campus capstone course (C4), as well as opportunities for travel and welcoming collaborators from around the world. If we enrich our teaching and research relationships by making them reciprocal and being responsive to our partners’ needs and goals, we will build networks that create and enhance shared experience globally.”

Currently, AMPD has several faculty engaged in international research collaborations reflective of the University’s internationalizations ambitions:

Laura Levin, associate dean, research, at AMPD, is principal investigator for Hemispheric Encounters: Developing Transborder Research-Creation Practices a seven-year, $2.5-million project that brings together a group of universities, community organizations, artists and activists across Canada, the United States and Latin America to study “hemispheric performance” as a research-creation methodology, a pedagogical strategy and a tool for social change. 

Moussa Djigo is an assistant professor and award-winning director, screenwriter and producer with a background in journalism and cinema studies. His research and filmmaking include a focus on Canadian Indigenous cinema, African American cinema, city symphony films, and space in cinema. His forthcoming third film is a personal meditation on fatherhood that is a tribute to his father who passed away last year. Djigo shot the film in Senegal, where he grew up, with York AMPD assistant professor of film, Manfred Becker, as his cinematographer.

Joel Ong is an assistant professor, media artist and’ “serial collaborator” whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the environment, particularly with respect to sound and physical space. His work has been shown at festivals and conferences around the world including Ars Electronica, Currents New Media Festival, the Ontario Science Centre, ISEA and Siggraph.

Ian Garrett, associate professor of ecological design for performance, focuses on design and sustainability in arts and culture. His designs have appeared at the Venice Biennale and at the Coachella festival, as well as locally at Harbourfront Centre. As a producer, he has worked on projects at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in Athens and Los Angeles. Currently, he teaches a course with a globally networked learning (GNL) aspect that connects his students with design students in Australian universities.

Patrick Alcedo, chair of the Department of Dance, is an award-winning performer, scholar and filmmaker with particular expertise in Philippine traditional dances. His work focuses on performance of gender, folklorization of religion, and world dance in the diaspora. His documentary film They Call Me Dax about a 15-year-old girl trying to survive as a high school student and ballet dancer won Best Short Documentary at the Cannes Indies Cinema Awards 2021 and Best Dance Short Documentary, Silk Road Film Festival Awards in Cannes, France. It was an Official Selection at the New York Independent Cinema Awards, and International Short Films Festival. Alcedo was awarded the Pamana Presidential Award from the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines for his work, among other honours.

These faculty are representative of the importance of connecting AMPD – and its artists – globally. “Ideas are always on the move across the globe and to be an artist, one needs to keep an openness to these ideas and the many places from which they emerge,” says Bay-Cheng.

At the same time, Bay-Cheng emphasizes the role Canada must play in internationalization efforts and storytelling. “Canada is a complex multilingual, multicultural, multinational state, and so is well positioned to address global problems that are also multinational,” Bay-Cheng said. “Our interdependence is so intricate and vast across the world and manifests itself in a variety of social, political and cultural contexts. We need to be aware at all time of global implications, even in our local contexts.

“All of our students benefit from understanding Canada’s complicated histories and place in the world whether they remain here or travel elsewhere.”

Faculty members interested in exploring global engagement possibilities are encouraged to contact Helen Balderama, York International’s director of global engagement programs and partnerships, at helencb@yorku.ca, for more information.

Research discovers air quality monitoring stations collect critical biodiversity data

Flock of birds

An international team of researchers – including York University Assistant Professor Elizabeth Clare – has found that data in the form of environmental DNA (eDNA) is being collected globally by ambient air quality monitoring stations. The discovery is a gamechanger for global efforts to protect and promote biodiversity.

“One of the single biggest issues facing the planet today is the accelerating loss of biodiversity,” says Clare, who was a corresponding author on the paper published in the journal Current Biology under the title “Air-quality networks collect environmental DNA with the potential to measure biodiversity at continental scales.”

“This could be a treasure trove of biodiversity data. What we found by analyzing filters from these monitoring stations is astonishing. In just two locations, we found eDNA evidence for more than 180 different plants and animals.” 

“The potential of this cannot be overstated. It could be an absolute gamechanger for tracking and monitoring biodiversity,” says Joanne Littlefair of Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, and first author of the published paper. “Almost every country has some kind of air pollution monitoring system or network, either government owned or private, and in many cases both. This could solve a global problem of how to measure biodiversity at a massive scale.”

Elizabeth Clare

Until now, it was thought that the infrastructure for monitoring biodiversity at national and global scales did not exist. Previously, no one had considered that these air quality monitoring stations could be collecting and storing eDNA data on birds, bees, ticks, fungi, insects, plants and mammals across the globe as a byproduct of their regular function monitoring atmosphere pollutants and dust. But it is exactly what’s needed to monitor biodiversity at a scale that’s never been possible before. 

According to the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report, there has been a 69 per cent decline in wildlife populations since 1970. These air quality stations could potentially tap into the decades of historic eDNA biodiversity data on filters squirrelled away for years. 

Governments, scientists and environmental agencies around the world have called for large-scale, standard methods of tracking biodiversity in real time. It has, however, been an impossible task, with no standardized approach and no deployed infrastructure proposed – until now.  

The discovery that these air monitoring stations could be collecting eDNA is even more surprising because they may have been quietly doing this all along.  

It wasn’t until researchers, including Clare and Littlefair, proved it’s possible to determine which species are present using eDNA sampled from air, that scientists at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL), who operate the national air quality sampling grids, realized the potential of what they already had. James Allerton and Andrew Brown at NPL contacted Littlefair and Clare wondering if the national air quality monitoring network in the U.K. was collecting eDNA during normal operation. Together, the unlikely new collaborators have their first answer: a resounding yes. 

“We were routinely collecting particulate matter looking to measure pollutants in air but when we saw the work of Clare and Littlefair, we realized maybe we were sitting on something much more valuable,” says Allerton. 

The team set up a test at an air quality station in London outside a large urban park, collecting samples for an hour, a day and a week, and compared them to eight-month-old samples from a public station in Scotland. 

At Queen Mary University of London, Littlefair handled the samples, while Clare and graduate student Nina Garrett analyzed the data at York University.  

“We were surprised by the diversity of life we were able to survey with one approach, almost unheard in this field of science. In these two locations, we simultaneously detected the eDNA of 34 bird and 24 mammal species, a wide variety of insects, crops, pathogenic fungus, lovely wildflowers, ornamental garden plants and grasses,” says Clare.  

“We found species of interest, such as hedgehogs, along with badgers, deer, dormice, little owls, smooth newts, songbirds and 80 different kinds of woodland trees and plants – oak, linden, ash, pine – it was all there collected on these tiny filters. It’s unbelievably exciting.” 

It represents a mechanism to measure biodiversity on land in a standardized repeatable way across entire countries, continually, every day, every week at thousands of locations.  

“The beauty of the idea is we are making use of something that already exists,” says Brown, who operates the network at NPL. “If networks of air samplers around the world are all collecting similar material – just as a part of their regular functioning – it’s an incredible resource.”  

The team is now trying to preserve as many samples as possible with eDNA in mind. “We do not yet know the true value of these samples, but as they are collected, they could provide an unprecedented view of our natural world. The scale of repeated samples could give us the elusive biodiversity time series data and the ability to measure terrestrial species dynamics in a high-resolution form never considered for biodiversity monitoring before,” says Clare.  

As Littlefair says: “It will require a global effort to collect and evaluate these samples, but this is an extraordinary opportunity to take advantage of a pre-existing, global infrastructure that has been collecting standardized eDNA data for decades and until now, we simply haven’t realized the resource existed.” 

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