Valentine’s Day: Emotion-focused therapy wins professor distinguished US award

In a Feb. 13 q&a for Valentine’s Day about his recent award from the American Psychological Association for his pioneering work in emotion-focused therapy, the Toronto Star asked Leslie Greenberg, Distinguished Research Professor in psychology in York’s Faculty of Health, how he came to be interested in the method. “I looked at what actually occurs in therapies I was being trained in [and] I came finally up with the idea of the therapist as an emotion coach – that what the therapist is actually doing is…helping people be more aware of their feelings, regulate their feelings and, most importantly, transform their feelings.” Read full story.

Augmented reality set to transform… reality
Caitlin Fisher
, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture in York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, believes augmented reality is poised to become mainstream as it evolves beyond just simple smartphone and tablet applications, wrote MSN.com Feb. 13. “The future won’t be people holding up iPads or iPhones for one little experience,” said the co-director of York’s Augmented Reality Lab.

Whitney Houston estate value set to soar
Demand for Whitney Houston’s singles and albums will only continue to soar in the days and weeks ahead, Theo Peridis, a professor of strategic management in York’s Schulich School of Business, told CBC News in an interview about the late pop singer Feb. 13. “It’s a very predictable pattern that happens with all famous artists. They become valuable commodities. If they were shares, you would see Bay Street buying them up,” said Peridis. Read full story.

Sportswriter was a giant & an inspiration in his field
“Trent Frayne’s writing in the ’50s and ’60s was never observed on par with other Canadian men and women of letters,” wrote former York student Dave Bidini about the late sports writer in the National Post Feb. 14, “but the truth is, his work was superior to a lot of what was going on in literature in Canada at the time. And if it took, say, Marion Engel years to craft her famous work, The Bear, Frayne spun literary gold every day.” Read full story.

Looking for trouble; Harper lays out an agenda that finally takes some risks – especially on pensions
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has signalled a shift to seeking new Canadians with practical trade skills, wrote Macelan’s Feb. 13. “The bottom line really is productivity,” said Alan Simmons, a sociology professor in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “If that means we have to bring people in at other levels – welders, farmers, whatever – that’s better for the longer-term economy.” Read full story.

Debunking anti-union myths, part one
In a new series of YouTube videos, social science Professor Stephanie Ross, co-director of York’s Centre for Research on Work & Society, decimates the right-wing media spin about organized labour in North America, reported Rabble.ca Feb. 13. While many pundits tell us that unions are a thing of the past, in reality, their presence is desperately needed in a majority non-union workforce. View video.