Twenty-six York profs nominated as TVO’s best lecturer

Some 26 York lecturers have been nominated, among a record 332 across the province, for this year’s TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition, which celebrates the most engaging lecturers in Ontario.

The York nominations come from a wide variety of departments, including political science, human resource management, biology, film and nursing. Students rave about York’s professors as passionate, heartfelt and changing the world one lecture at a time. See below for a full listing of York professors who were nominated this year and agreed to participate.

The competition allows nominations for a professor from any registered Ontario postsecondary institution. The top 20 professors will be announced on Monday, Dec. 7. TVO staff along with an independent jury will then review the submission videos to select 10 finalists, who will be announced on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010.

The lectures of the top 10 will air on TVO in March 2010. The winning lecturer is chosen by viewers and a panel of judges, and the winner’s school is awarded a $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship.

To see the official list of nominees, along with student comments, visit the TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition Web site.

York’s best lecturer nominees:

Martin Breaugh, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS);
Marie-Hélène Budworth, School of Human Resource Management, LA&PS;
Avi Cohen, Department of Economics, LA&PS;
Noemia Couto, Department of Sociology, LA&PS;
Amber Gazso, Department of Sociology, LA&PS;
Nadia Habib, Department of Humanities, LA&PS;
Rebecca Jubis, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health;
Scott Kelly, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science & Engineering (FSE);
Frances Latchford, School of Women’s Studies, LA&PS;
Barbara Lazar, Division of Humanities, LA&PS; 
Dan McArthur, Department of Philosophy, LA&PS;
John McCullough, Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts;
Mitzi G. Mitchell, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health;
Myriam Mongrain, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health;
Spiros Pagiatakis, Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, FSE;
Walter Perchal, Department of Equity Studies, LA&PS;
Jean Saindon, Division of Natural Science, FSE;
Mark Schwartz, School of Administrative Studies, LA&PS;
Sue Scott, School of Administrative Studies, LA&PS;
Bruce Smardon, Department of Political Science, LA&PS;
Karolyn Smardz Frost, Faculty of Education;
Nabil Tahani, School of Administrative Studies, LA&PS;
Peter Timmerman, Faculty of Environmental Studies;
Franck van Breugel, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, FSE;
David Weitzner, Schulich School of Business;
Lois Winstock, School of Social Work, LA&PS.

Stay up to date on the competition by following the TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition on Facebook and Twitter.

About the TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition

Sponsored by TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, the Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition was created to recognize the best and brightest lecturers at Ontario’s colleges and universities. The competition invites Ontarians to nominate professors whose love of learning has helped to stimulate imaginations, open eyes and push boundaries in institutions of higher learning across the province. "Big Ideas" is TVO’s popular televised lecture series, offering lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics that range across politics, culture, economics, art history and science.

To spur on friendly competition between university and college campuses, the winner not only receives much deserved recognition and bragging rights, but also a $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship for their school.

For more information, visit the TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Web site.