Further education brimming with opportunity

According to Rhonda Lenton, York University’s provost and vice-president academic, continuing education courses are particularly appealing to those already managing a career. “Not everyone can afford to or wants to put their career on hold to return to school,” Lenton explains in the Toronto Star Oct. 2. “Many students pursuing continuing education have already earned a baccalaureate degree and are looking to refine their expertise in a particular area.” Read full story.

Creation theory: Scientists are unlocking the biological secrets of creativity
Raymond Mar, a neuroscientist and psychologist at York University, is working on studies that try to measure the impact of genre fiction on readers, testing their knowledge of authors’ names in various genres and then assessing their social awareness using tests first developed for autism. “Romance novels were the most robust predictor of interpersonal sensitivity,” Mar says in The Globe and Mail Oct. 1, cautioning the study only identifies a correlation, not a cause-and-effect. Read full story.

Canada’s astronauts optimistic about the future of space tourism
Canadian astronauts Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques see a booming age of space travel on the horizon. They went head-to-head in the Amazing Canadian Space Race in Toronto on Tuesday, completing tasks across the city – running an obstacle course at Defence Research and Development Canada, building landing gear for a mock Mars probe at the Ontario Science Centre and mastering the OSIRIS-Rex laser altimeter at York University, reported Metro and others Oct. 1. Read full story.

Route to the past: Local crimes and local criminals
Opened in 1874 and closed in 1915, the Central Prison in Toronto was described as “a terror to evil-doers” where reform by punishment was the intended outcome, reported the Ingersoll Times Oct. 1. This was a prison which reflected the values and impulses of Ontario society – a culture deeply committed to a strong work ethic instilled by its agrarian roots. This was a society that, according to York University Professor Peter Oliver, was deeply affronted by men and women who refused to conform to the laws of the land. Read full story.