Tag: VP Research and Innovation

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York researchers publish new book on employment standards enforcement

The Closing the Enforcement Gap research team, headed by York Politics Professor Leah F. Vosko and involving York Sociology Associate Professor Mark P. Thomas and Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Eric M. Tucker, has published a new co-authored book from the University of Toronto Press.

Closing the Enforcement Gap. Book cover image provided by the authors

Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Protections for Workers in Precarious Jobs is the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of the enforcement of employment standards in Canada – with a focus on Ontario – in comparative context. The nature of employment is changing: low wage jobs are increasingly common, fewer workers are represented by unions, and workplaces are being transformed through the growth of contracting-out, franchising and extended supply chains.

Precarious employment is pervasive, and enforcement strategies have not kept up. In particular, the upheaval caused by COVID-19 has brought into stark relief the precarious nature of work in the 21st century. According to Deena Ladd from the Workers’ Action Centre in Toronto, a central community partner on the SSHRC-funded Partnership Grant from which the book originated, workers such as cleaners, now doing work deemed essential to public safety, have long been considered “low-skilled,” subject to low wages, and, as Ladd specifically points out, hired as “independent contractors” rather than employees, meaning they are not covered under the Employment Standards Act (ESA).

A similar situation has surfaced recently in the case of pizza delivery drivers; as reported in the Toronto Star in early April, delivery drivers have launched a class action law suit against a major pizza chain, arguing they were incorrectly classified as independent contractors and thus denied basic workplace protections under the ESA. Delivery is also now an essential service in the world of COVID-19. Furthermore, as labour market insecurity is shaped by the social relations of gender, race, (dis)ability, and citizenship and migration status, a large portion of the precariously employed are women, people of colour, and migrants.

Closing the Enforcement Gap explores issues like employee misclassification in extraordinary depth. Based on an extensive analysis of administrative data provided to the team by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, as well as interviews with workers and enforcement staff and archival and policy research, the book situates employment standards within the context of the rise of precarious employment, outlines the system for making an employment standards claim (and why workers would be hesitant to make one), mechanisms (often ineffective) of wage recovery, the reactive (not proactive) approach to inspections, the (limited) use of deterrence measures, and options for the inclusion of non-state actors in enforcement.

Chapters on Britain, Australia, Québec, and the United States situate Ontario and Canada more broadly within an international context, identifying best practices that could be used in the province. A key contribution of the book, as Professor Sara Charlesworth from RMIT states, “is the attention paid to structural barriers…in particular, feminization, racialization, and migration and citizenship status. The analysis draws attention to the ways in which these barriers intersect and exemplifies the benefits of using critical and feminist political economy as conceptual frames.” Consequently, Gerhard Bosch from Universität Duisburg-Essen calls the book “a must read” and Janice Fine from Rutgers University states it is “an incredibly important book…exhaustively researched and nuanced.”

As we begin to collectively imagine a post COVID-19 Canada, the book offers a number of recommendations for improving labour protections, ensuring that workers no longer fall through the enforcement gap. Recommendations include:

  • allowing third parties to file complaints on behalf of workers,
  • eliminating performance measures based on quantity for Employment Standards Officers,
  • expanding liability for payment of monies to employees to address fissuring,
  • moving towards proactive inspections with limited advanced notice, and
  • actively using the deterrence tools provided for in the ESA and using them in more strategic ways.

Measures such as these would provide stronger labour protections for the increasing numbers of workers, particularly those already vulnerable, engaged in precarious jobs.

The book is co-authored by Leah F. Vosko, Guliz Akkaymak, Rebecca Casey, Shelley Condratto, John Grundy, Alan Hall, Alice Hoe, Kiran Mirchandani, Andrea M. Noack, Urvashi Soni-Sinha, Mercedes Steedman, Mark P. Thomas, and Eric M. Tucker. International/Québec contributors are Nick Clark, Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, Tess Hardy, John Howe, Guylaine Vallée, and David Weil. The research was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Grant. The book is available from University of Toronto Press.

York University offers up to $250,000 for COVID-19 research proposals

Featured illustration of the novel coronavirus
Featured illustration of the novel coronavirus
An illustration showing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

In these unprecedented times, York University is issuing a call for time-sensitive, special research proposals with a COVID-19 focus. The University has committed $250,000 to this call as a demonstration of its ongoing commitment to research and innovation in this most difficult period. Applicants from across the University are encouraged to apply with a focus on any aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rui Wang
Rui Wang

“As communities around the world struggle to face this pandemic, we have seen the devastating impacts ripple through society,” said Rui Wang, interim vice-president Research & Innovation. “Members of York University’s exceptional interdisciplinary research community are called to respond to this unique challenge with proposals that span all aspects of the pandemic management and its affects and effects: from the personal, social and human health impacts, to the public health and emergency management challenges, and beyond.”

Applicants should be in a position to initiate the work immediately. The competition is open to all disciplines and submissions can be from individual researchers or teams taking an interdisciplinary approach. Matching funds from industry, non-profits or other partners, while not necessary, are welcome. Research results may range from publications to all other forms of scholarly and creative production.

Objective: The University is seeking innovative and original projects that engage with a made-in-York question/solution interrogating some aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic. This question, its investigation and outcomes should take up the challenges we face in a unique way.

Value: Funding level is open dependent on project needs.

Duration: 12 months.

Deadline: Submission of applications to Vice-President Research & Innovation are due April 22, by noon (12 p.m.)

Announcement(s) of award recipients: April 30.

The proposals will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee of scholars. For this reason, it is important to make the proposal as clear as possible to an informed, articulate reader who may not know your field. To submit a proposal, complete the hyperlinked MACH form and include the following information:

  • What is the COVID-19 related challenge you hope to address? (Describe the scope of the problem.) Limit to one-half page.
  • What do you expect to accomplish within 12 months, how do you plan to do it and why is it innovative? (Outline details of the methodology/feasibility/risk.) Limit to two pages.
  • What community or communities will be impacted by your research and its outcomes? Limit to one-half page.
  • Budget and budget justification. (Overhead is not an eligible expense.) One page.
  • References. One page (maximum).
  • Research biographical sketch. How are you (and your team members) uniquely positioned to lead and accomplish this work? Limit to one page.

Proposals will be judged on originality, clarity, soundness of design and the biographical sketch as detailed in the sections above. The goal will be to distribute the funds equally (approximately) across the three broad areas to encourage the exploration of diverse perspectives and issues. These are:

  • Arts/humanities/social sciences
  • Health
  • Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

However, depending on the number of proposals, their ranking and funds approved, the distribution may vary.

Use the MACH form to submit your application.

For questions or additional information, contact Celia Haig-Brown, associate vice-president Research, in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, by email to haigbro@yorku.ca.

Primary symptoms of coronavirus are fever and cough, don’t ignore fatigue and muscle aches

Image: CDC
An image of the COVID-19 virus. Image: CDC

A comprehensive review of studies on COVID-19, including clinical, epidemiological, laboratory and chest imaging data, shows that the most common symptom was fever (82 per cent), followed by a cough (61 per cent), then muscle aches and/or fatigue (36 per cent), says York University Postdoctoral Fellow Nicola Bragazzi, a co-author on the paper.

Shortness of breath appeared in 26 per cent of the cases, followed by a headache in 12 per cent and a sore throat in 10 per cent. Gastrointestinal symptoms appeared in nine per cent of patients.

A rendering of the novel coronavirus
A rendering of the novel coronavirus

The review, considered one of the first and covering up to Feb. 24, was published in the Special Issue Real Time Clinical and Epidemiological Investigations on Novel Coronavirus of the Journal of Clinical Medicine. The research looked at 60 studies with a total of 59,254 patients from 11 countries.

“It’s important to not to overlook non-respiratory symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, sore throat and gastrointestinal symptoms,” says Bragazzi of the Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics at the Faculty of Science.

“COVID-19 symptoms are indistinguishable from other viral respiratory illnesses, making it difficult to diagnose, especially as the amount of time before a fever manifests is unknown. This may cause patients to be missed initially and some may be asymptomatic.”

Chest imaging for SARS-CoV-2, however, does show a different pattern, which is becoming a hallmark of COVID-19 infection.

The review found the most prevalent co-morbidities were hypertension, diabetes, chronic liver disease and smoking.

To understand the infection better, more research is needed, especially on the rate of asymptomatic patients and beneficial treatments, says Bragazzi.

Do you have a story to share about how you are coping, or what you are doing differently, during the COVID-19 pandemic? Email us at yfile@yorku.ca.

Jeffrey D. Schall appointed inaugural scientific director of the York Visual Neurophysiology Centre

VISTA image showing an eyeball

York Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps and Interim Vice-President Research & Innovation Rui Wang issue the following announcement to the York University community:

We are delighted to inform the York community that Professor Jeffrey D. Schall will join York University on Jan. 1, 2021 as the inaugural scientific director of the York Visual Neurophysiology Centre and professor in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science.

Jeff Schall
Jeffrey Schall

Professor Schall comes to York University from Vanderbilt University, where he is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Neuroscience; he has served as founding director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience since 2000. From 1998 to 2015 he also directed the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center; he was principal investigator of a “core grant” from the National Eye Institute, which funded staff and services designed to facilitate vision and eye research in laboratories across departments and schools at Vanderbilt.

Professor Schall is an innovative, prolific and internationally renowned scholar in the field of visual neurophysiology. He earned his PhD in anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine (1986) and subsequently completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. His research, which has been supported by grants from the National Eye Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Science Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, explores how the brain makes decisions and controls actions using cognitive neurophysiology, anatomical and computational approaches. His scholarly accomplishments have been honoured with awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience, as well as the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and he was president of the Vision Science Society for its 2019 meeting.

At Vanderbilt University, Professor Schall has been responsible for supporting the operations and compliance of a similar neurophysiology facility since 1993; over the years, this facility has supported the research of between five and 10 faculty members at any given time. He has taught courses in a range of areas including visual systems, neuroscience and law, neuroethics, and psychology of human motor control, brain and behaviour.

Professor Schall will be a core member of the Vision: Science to Application (VISTA) program. VISTA is a world-leading institutional research program, located at York University and partially funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF); it expands and integrates York’s strengths in visual neuroscience, computer vision, arts and humanities to address 21st century opportunities and challenges. As scientific director of the York Visual Neurophysiology Centre, he will be charged with bringing to life a strategy for the neurophysiology facility, positioning the centre to make an impact locally and globally. He will have responsibility for the development of a new $32-million research facility devoted to neurophysiology, which will incorporate facilities for molecular biology, and serving as principal investigator with oversight of planning, execution and success of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation-funded project. He will also coordinate research activities and scientific staff in the facility, work collaboratively to recruit outstanding junior faculty to strengthen York’s research capacity in this area, and interact with health and industry partners. 

We look forward to welcoming Professor Schall to York University in 2021.

The new Dahdaleh COVID-19 Global Health Portal offers clarity in a time of uncertainty

Image: CDC
An image of the COVID-19 virus. Image: CDC

The novelty, speed, scale, and the differing, evolving patterns of the COVID-19 pandemic make it difficult to stay informed. The purpose of the new Dahdaleh COVID-19 Global Health Portal is to provide some clarity in this time of uncertainty, and to allow users to find the information they need.

The Dahdaleh COVID-19 Portal offers:

  • Regular updates on the state of the pandemic prepared by Dr. James Orbinski, a medical doctor, professor and the inaugural director of the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research at York University, and Dahdaleh Fellow Aria Ilyad Ahmad.
  • Credible, intelligible, and useable sources of information.
  • The Dahdaleh Institute’s framework for understanding COVID-19 as a global public health emergency.

The Dahdaleh COVID-19 Global Health Portal can be found at: https://dighr.yorku.ca/covid19/.

An interview with Dr. James Orbinski about the new portal will appear in the April 9 issue of YFile.

York Research Leaders celebrated; President’s Awards announced

ResearchLeadersCelebration
ResearchLeadersCelebration

The President’s Office and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI) would like to acknowledge our researchers for their outstanding contributions this year. York University is deeply committed to supporting and recognizing the success of our researchers and scholars.

“It is our great pleasure to acknowledge this year’s President’s Award winners: Professors Christopher Perry, Theodore Noseworthy, Debra Pepler and Eric Hessels,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “All four of these researchers are deeply committed to the University’s mission and vision to advance academic and research excellence for the benefit of all. At the same time, they are helping to establish York among the country’s leading research-intensive universities through their visionary research, leadership and mentorship.”

To see this year’s booklet, which showcases all of the researchers, visit the VPRI website.

“This year, over 70 researchers and academics were acknowledged across all Faculties and professional schools for their outstanding contributions in 2019. We wish to extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes to all for their continued success,” said Interim Vice President Research & Innovation Rui Wang.

The President’s Research Awards

President’s Emerging Research Leadership (PERLA) Award 2020

Christopher Perry

Christopher Perry, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, Faculty of Health, was selected for this award (Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine Cluster), as a reflection of his outstanding leadership in and contribution to the fields of exercise physiology, metabolism and skeletal muscle health.

Since 2012, when he came to York, Perry has contributed significantly to the success of the University, both internally and externally. He established the only human muscle biopsy lab at York, where he investigates the basic cellular mechanisms of muscle fitness and applies these discoveries toward developing novel therapies to treat muscle weakness disorders.

In 2016, he was elected to serve as a Director Academic for the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, Canada’s major authority in exercise science and prescription. This society focuses on integrating state-of-the-art research into best practice. It is comprised of professionals interested and involved in the scientific study of exercise physiology, exercise biochemistry, fitness and health.

Perry was the recipient of the 2017 Faculty of Health Research Award (early career). He has also received multiple internal and external awards, including funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Research Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the James H. Cummings Foundation, the Rare Disease Foundation and industry funding.

Theodore J. Noseworthy
Theodore J. Noseworthy

Theodore Noseworthy, Schulich School of Business, was chosen for this award (Social Science, Art & Design, Humanities, Business, Law and Education Cluster), for his extraordinary leadership and contribution to the fields of marketing and consumer studies.

As the Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good, he develops insights that inform business and policy-makers about the benefits of properly communicated innovation and the potential costs to susceptible consumers and society. He examines how marketers can better communicate product and service innovations to maximize adoption and awareness. This work focuses on new product design and innovation, as well as product categorization, category ambiguity and visual processing.

In 2012, Noseworthy was appointed Scientific Director of the NOESIS: Innovation, Design, and Consumption Laboratory, a world-class behavioural lab at Schulich to extend his primary research programs. The NOESIS lab is intended to foster innovative research into consumption, consumer behaviour and design. Noseworthy has developed this lab with the specific goal of conducting high quality research, training skilled personnel and facilitating knowledge mobilization.

Broadly speaking, Noseworthy’s research program is designed to help combat Canada’s innovation deficit by helping the private sector transfer knowledge into commercialized products and services to grow the economy.

President’s Research Impact (PRIA) Award 2020

Debra Pepler

Debra Pepler, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, was selected for this award for her innovative contributions to psychology and mental health in the areas of bullying, aggression and violence, especially among marginalized children, youth and families. In recognition of these contributions, Pepler was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by the Governor General.

She is the only psychologist recognized by the Canadian Psychological Association for Distinguished Contributions to both Psychology as a Science and Public or Community Service.

Pepler received a Network of Centres of Excellence grant to establish PREVNet – Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network, funded from 2006-2019. She built this interdisciplinary network with her former PhD student Wendy Craig (Queen’s University), with over 120 researchers, 150 graduate students and 62 national organizations. PREVNet’s researchers and partners co-created over 150 resources for bullying prevention and healthy relationships. PREVNet was the culmination of Pepler’s decades of research linking science with practice and public policy for children’s healthy development and healthy relationships.

Pepler’s research embedded in clinical and community settings has real impact on the lives of children, youth, and families. She has a strong publication record, having written or co-edited 10 books, and more than 200 journal articles, chapters, and reports. In 2007, Pepler was recognized as a Distinguished Research Professor by York for her ground-breaking research.

President’s Research Excellence (PREA) Award 2020

Eric Hessels

Eric Hessels, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, was chosen for his award (Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine Cluster), for his exceptional contribution to atomic, molecular and optical physics.

Hessels, York Research Chair in Atomic Physics and a York University Distinguished Research Professor, has led numerous research projects that have far-reaching consequences for the understanding of the laws of physics. He is leading a collaboration whose goal it is to use ultra precise measurements of the electron to study one of the fundamental unresolved questions of physics.

In 2019, Hessels led a study published in the esteemed journal Science, which found a new measurement for the size of proton at just under one trillionth of a millimetre. The study confirmed the 2010 finding that the proton is smaller than previously believed.

The year before, Hessels led a team that achieved the most precise measurement of the fine structure of helium ever recorded. His researchers had been working on this for eight years. Hessels is now leading a collaboration (EDMcubed) that is attempting to measure the shape of the electron — or, more specifically, whether its charge is evenly distributed. This measurement will try to shed light on one of the fundamental mysteries of physics: why the universe is made entirely of matter (electrons,protons, etc.) and, unexpectedly, has no antimatter (anti-electrons, antiprotons, etc.). 

To see this year’s booklet, visit the VPRI website. To watch the new video, featuring Celia Haig-Brown, Associate Vice President Research discussing research and academic work across the University and aspiration areas for this work, visit VPRI’s playlist.

Research Commons now accepting applications for new Grant Clinic

research graphic

The Research Commons at York University is now accepting applications for its new Grant Clinic. The Grant Clinic is a pilot program set to begin this May. A group of 32 researchers will be selected to receive a comprehensive package of tailored supports to create applications for Canada’s core operating grant competitions in fall 2020: The Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Projects and the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Exploration competitions. Eight researchers will be selected for each of the four competitions.

The selected researchers will be enrolled in a series of workshops, one-on-one tailored pedagogy and external peer reviews for their grant applications. The goal of the Grant Clinic is to create competitive, high-quality applications for submission in Fall 2020.

Applications are due noon on April 17 and successful applicants will be notified by April 27.

Who is this the Grant Clinic for?

  • Faculty available to commit weekly to grant development throughout May, June and July 2020 (schedule will be tailored to an individual’s commitments).
  • Faculty who meet at least one of the three below criteria:
    • Faculty who have never held a SSHRC Insight, NSERC Discovery, CIHR Project or NFRF Exploration;
    • Faculty who want to apply to a new Tri-Council for the first time;
    • Faculty who have not held a Tri-Council grant in the past three years.

If I am accepted into the program, what is my commitment?

Mandatory engagement in the following components:

  • Two workshops in May 2020 with independent grant related work in between workshops (approximately 6 hours in May);
  • Five meetings with your personal Grant Development Instructor over June and July 2020 (approximately 10 hours in June and July);
  • You will need to have a complete grant draft by August 1, 2020 to allow for external peer review process (time to vary between individuals); and
  • You will need to thoroughly review external peer reviewer comments with your Grant Development Instructor in August-September.

Why should I participate in the Grant Clinic?

  • You will work with distinguished researchers and have your own tailored grant writing program with highly experienced Grant Development Instructors;
  • You will gain valuable insights and transferable skills for Canada’s leading research programs that will foster a successful academic career.

How do I apply?

Visit https://bit.ly/3dTd4T8 to complete the brief application form, submit your CV (any format) and a 250-word summary of your proposed research.

Faculty Associate Deans Research will participate in VPRI’s adjudication process.

Successful applicants will be notified by April 27.

Work smarter not harder with the Research Commons.

Virtual Town Hall answers community’s questions on University pandemic plans

Vari pond

A Virtual Town Hall meeting held April 2 and led by York University President Rhonda L. Lenton gave students, staff and faculty the opportunity to raise questions and concerns on how the University will move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Livestreamed to the community, the event aimed to create an open forum to address questions on academic, research and professional work, as well as general operations and plans. Community members were asked to submit questions in advance, or to email questions during the hour-long afternoon session.

A Virtual Town Hall meeting held April 2 and led by York University President Rhonda L. Lenton gave students, staff and faculty the opportunity to raise questions and concerns on how the University will move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Virtual Town Hall meeting held April 2 with: (top, right to left) Vice-President Finance and Administration Carol McAulay, Vice-President Academic and Provost Lisa Philipps, Interim Vice-President Research and Innovation Rui Wang; and (bottom, right to left) York University President Rhonda L. Lenton, Vice-President Equity, People & Culture Sheila Cote-Meek and Vice-President Advancement Jeff O’Hagan

Joined by the senior leadership team – Vice-President Academic and Provost Lisa Philipps, Vice-President Finance and Administration Carol McAulay, Interim Vice-President Research and Innovation Rui Wang, Vice-President Advancement Jeff O’Hagan and Vice-President Equity, People & Culture Sheila Cote-Meek – Lenton began by commending the York community for adapting to a rapidly evolving and unprecedented situation with creativity and commitment.

“York University, over the past few weeks, has shown incredible leadership,” Lenton said. “I want to say thank you to the entire community … I’ve been incredibly moved by what I’ve seen in terms of generosity of spirit and creativity in coming together to respond to this pandemic.”

Citing the rapid switch to remote learning, virtual labs, and innovative solutions to continuing research and maintaining accessibility, Lenton said these efforts highlight that “York is an anchor institution in our communities.”

Before fielding questions, Lenton was candid in saying the University does not have all the answers, and attention by senior leadership has been turned to scenario planning for the fall to anticipate what the needs and risks could be depending on whether a return to face-to-face instruction will be possible.

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton

The first question posed asked how long this situation might last and what the plans are for reintegration when pandemic restrictions are lifted. Lenton said the University is following the government’s lead in terms of a reduction in strategies to flatten the curve. Philipps added that the decision for fall can’t be made yet, and that would possibly come mid-summer. The University has developed emergency financial bursaries and is in the process of establishing a more robust COVID-19 relief fund to support the University community.

Concerns over clinical hours and in-person lab and research requirements were raised, and senior leadership assured that alternate solutions are being offered where possible with virtual labs and simulations. However, there may still be disruption to some students.

“This is very important to achieving learning outcomes and many strategies are being pursued … to provide students with at least some of that experience,” said Philipps. She added that some course material may be reorganized to allow students to do some of the hands-on, in-person requirements at a later date when pandemic restrictions are lifted.

It was also noted that thesis deadlines for grad students have been extended by 30 days, without additional fees, and the University is examining how it can ensure students continue to progress in their programs.

Responding to questions on spring convocation, which traditionally takes place in June, Lenton assured the community of graduating students that there will be options to participate in a virtual ceremony in June or to attend the fall convocation in October.

“We have in effect come up with the best-of-both-worlds solution,” she said. “We will be inviting those graduating in June to the October ceremonies, and we are going to expand that convocation. We also recognize that some students won’t be able to return (in the fall) and … we are also working on a virtual convocation in June and we are looking at ways to make that meaningful.”

Community members also asked for assurances on providing for students requiring accommodations, as well as whether there would be an increase in resources with respect to counselling and support services for students, staff and faculty.

“As a community, we all share responsibility to support each other and in particular support our students,” said Lenton, adding that counselling and support services remain open and are fully accessible online.

Students requiring accommodations, and those needing new accommodations to adapt to remote learning, should first contact their course instructor, then program director, associate dean’s office and, if necessary, the registrar’s office. Response times may be longer than usual, due to the current circumstances.

Questions on job security were also front of mind for community members, who asked about contract and compensation stability, as well as potential layoffs. Lenton took a firm stand that the health and well-being of employees are priorities, and the University is investigating all options to mitigate risks with respect to job security.

“It’s challenging without knowing what the next several months will look like,” she said, adding the University is looking at creative solutions and has plan to discuss those with the unions. One example, she said, would be to explore personal development opportunities and short-term redeployment of staff to areas of high need. “This is not only a way to solve potential gaps but it could be an opportunity for staff to learn new skills,” she said.

As well, contracts for those paid hourly were recently extended, and close attention will be given to any opportunities provided by the government to bridge compensation gaps that might arise.

Employee engagement was also addressed, and the community was assured the University plans to continue expanding additional resources to help students, staff and facility stay connected to their work and their colleagues. Some examples include a new ‘Going Remote’ service that will be offered by the Teaching Commons @ York, and the continued efforts by the Libraries to offer digital and virtual services.

To see the full webcast of the April 2 Virtual Town Hall visit https://conversations.info.yorku.ca/first-page/webcast/.

By Ashley Goodfellow Craig, deputy editor, YFile

Welcome to the April 2020 issue of ‘Brainstorm’

Brainstorm graphic

“Brainstorm,” a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcases research and innovation at York University. It offers compelling and accessible feature-length stories about the world-leading and policy-relevant work of York’s academics and researchers across all disciplines and Faculties and encompasses both pure and applied research.

New book paints vivid picture of mariners’ world in the Age of Exploration – bonus video
Historian Margaret Schotte takes readers back nearly 500 years to discover the multitude of skills that navigators acquired in the immense drive for commercial and naval dominance. The book traces the evolution of sailing expertise, showing how traditional knowledge blended with new scientific rigour. Read full story.

AI fuels research that could lead to positive impact on health care
“Brainstorm” guest contributor Paul Fraumeni speaks with four York U researchers who are applying artificial intelligence to their research ventures in ways that, ultimately, could lead to profound and positive impacts on health care in this country. Read full story.

Zika vaccine study finds inoculating would work and be cost effective
A team of researchers in the Faculty of Science ran a simulation on the effectiveness of a vaccine for the Zika virus and discovered it would be up 75 per cent effective … and a worthy investment. These findings will support health policy development and decision-making. Read full story.

SSHRC project “Archive/Counter-Archive” both visionary and disruptive
Three recent projects, part of the ground-breaking venture “Archive/Counter-Archive,” illustrate the progress to date of this high-profile SSHRC-funded venture that looks at moving images and is designed to disrupt conventional narratives. In doing so, they reinforce the value of this work. Read full story.

Highly applicable research could help brain surgeons target disease
New research from the Centre for Vision Research investigates rapid eye movements. The findings of this original work could help brain surgeons get a more fulsome picture of a patient’s brain prior to surgery, and aid in the treatment of depression and Parkinson’s disease. Read full story.

Research exposes unintended consequences of AI for consumers
Schulich School of Business Professor pens an article on artificial intelligence that suggests we may economically suffer at the hands of the machines we have created. He considers philosophical conundrums from driverless vehicles to robots for soldering, sex and companionship. Read full story.

Launched in January 2017, “Brainstorm” is produced out of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs; overseen by Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications; and edited by Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor and Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile deputy editor.

SSHRC project ‘Archive/Counter-Archive’ both visionary and disruptive

Create and Connect FEATURED
Create and Connect FEATURED
Janine Marchessault
Janine Marchessault

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

The work emanating from this project began in 2018 and will span all the way to 2024. Three projects, recently debuted, illustrate the kind of innovative work that’s being created by this enterprise every week.

“Archive/Counter-Archive” is a unique venture. It’s a research collaboration bringing together community and artist-run archives in Canada to emphasize the nation’s most vulnerable moving image heritage. It is devoted to diverse histories from Indigenous, LGBT2Q+, immigrant and women’s communities. It is dedicated to activating and remediating audiovisual archives created by and about these groups and communities.

“Political, resistant and community-based, counter-archives disrupt conventional narratives and enrich our histories,” explains Marchessault, a Trudeau Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her work explores the afterlife of moving image archives as art forms and new forms of historical knowledge.

Three 2020 projects exemplary of the value of this massive project

The exhibition launch for “Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations” took place on Jan. 16 in the Davies Foundation Gallery at the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery in Kingston, Ontario. Curated by Nakasuk Alariaq, Linda Grussani and Tamara de Szegheo Lang, this exhibition features video works, ephemera and production material created by Arnait Video Productions, the world’s leading women-centered Inuit filmmaking collective.

Part of “Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations” exhibition. Still shots from “Before Tomorrow.” Credit: Oana Spinu. Copyright Arnait Video Productions, 2009. Reproduced with permission
Part of the “Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations” exhibition. Still shots from “Before Tomorrow.” Credit: Oana Spinu. Copyright Arnait Video Productions, 2009. Reproduced with permission

Arnait addresses traditional knowledge and contemporary life, and represents the voices of Inuit women across generations. This exhibition runs until April 12 and is part of a March 2020 artist residency at Queen’s Vulnerable Media Lab, when four members of Arnait will be present for workshops, intergenerational dialogues and screenings.

Drawing from its own archival materials, Arnait presents living archives – that is, archives activated through human presence – that embed historical images and video interviews with Inuit women recounting their experiences in the present.

Part of “Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations” exhibition. Credit: Paul Litherland. Copyright Arnait Video Productions, 2009. Reproduced with permission.
Part of the “Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations” exhibition. Credit: Paul Litherland. Copyright Arnait Video Productions, 2009. Reproduced with permission

Also this past February, as part of the Archive/Counter-Archive Working Papers Series, which unites PhD students from different universities to hear about exciting archival research, Jenn E. Norton spoke on Imagining the Past at the Free Times Café in Toronto. She is a York University PhD candidate in visual arts.

Norton’s augmented reality (AR), video and installation work, which combines antiquated cinematic and digital technologies, investigates time-based media from a position of hindsight, what she calls “a rear-view mirror approach.” Here, she borrows Marshall McLuhan’s idea that a person can’t understand the impact of new technologies directly, but only indirectly, like looking at it with a mirror.

In her work, Norton creates immersive, experiential installations that reconsider everyday objects, landscapes and activities as fantastical, dreamlike occurrences. Using AR, interactive video, animation, sound and kinetic sculpture, Norton’s installations investigate the shifting boundaries of virtual and physical realms.

Norton’s talk was about four recent exhibitions that utilized this rear-view mirror approach.

Still from Slipstream (2019) by Norton; Jenn E. Norton. Images reproduced with permission
Still from Slipstream (2019) by Norton; Jenn E. Norton. Images reproduced with permission

“Archive/Counter-Archive” also offers compelling case studies. Vtape’s Case Study, for example, puts a spotlight on AIDS activist media in Toronto from the late 1980s and 1990s. Vtape is an artist-run, not-for-profit media arts distribution centre that maintains contemporary and historical video art and media works.

Part of the case study’s research team includes Ryan Conrad, a recent SSHRC-postdoctoral fellow in Cinema & Media Studies at York, who is also working on a book titled Radical VIHsion: Canadian AIDS Film & Video.

This case study has two main components: The first examines the 30-minute tapes that were part of Toronto Living With AIDS, a 1990-91 public access cable television program coordinated by the late Michael Balser and York Professor John Greyson. The series was made by pairing artists with community organizations to create much-needed, culturally appropriate and engaging educational tapes about living with and preventing the spread of HIV.

Vtape’s Case Study: TLWA series episode, “The Colour of Immunity,” directed by Glace Lawrence and the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP).
Vtape’s Case Study: TLWA series episode, “The Colour of Immunity,” directed by Glace Lawrence and the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP).

The second component features 10 public service announcements (PSAs) created by Canadian artists at the Banff Centre through a residency hosted by Balser in 1993 under the name Second Decade. These PSAs, much like the TLWA series, were designed with specific cultural communities in mind and intended for public consumption through cable television and other distribution methods.

Vtape poster, Toronto Living with A.I.D.S
Vtape’s case study: Public access cable television series promotional poster, “Toronto Living with AIDS” (1990-91), courtesy of David Plant/Trinity Square Video. Reproduced with permission.

“By digitizing these videos, we are investigating both the content and the context of these radical artworks. These restored titles can re-enter into the AIDS activist discourse and will be used by contemporary AIDS activists in a variety of educational contexts,” they explain.

To learn more about “Archive/Counter-Archive,” visit the website. To read more about Marchessault, visit her Faculty profile page.

To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca