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York library exhibits to reflect on Congress theme Reckonings and Re-Imaginings

Scott Library

By Elaine Smith

Congress 2023 at York University will involve more than academic presentations and panel discussions, as York University Libraries is set to showcase its unique archival holdings built through five decades of preserving cultural heritage.

Michael Moir, University archivist, and his team have been working for many months to create thought-provoking, interesting exhibits for the event. Three exhibits will be on display on the second floor of the library between May 27 and June 2 reflecting on the event theme, Reckonings and Re-imaginings.

At Congress in 2006, “John Lennox, the former dean of Graduate Studies approached the archives about having exhibits of interest to various learned societies,” said Moir, who is also head, Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections. “When Congress’ return to York was announced, the Libraries began to plan for participation in the celebration, building upon our first experience.”

The first exhibit, Reckoning and Reimagining: Deborah Barndt’s Engaged Use of Photography, showcases images taken by the retired professor, who is also curating the display. The exhibit will focus a contemporary lens on photos of migrants to Peru in the 1970s; posters from ESL classes in Toronto between 1977 and 1984; literacy teachers in Nicaragua learning to be photojournalists during the Sandinista regime in the 1990s; and urgent social issues of the early 1990s.

Celebrating Black Emancipation Through Carnival focuses on the work of the late Kenneth Shah, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who immigrated to Toronto and was a major force for years in the city’s Caribana, an annual celebration of the emancipation of the Caribbean’s Black population. His costume designs were featured in the parade year after year and the colours and styles will be on display for viewers.

Ben Wicks, the late cartoonist, and his work are the focus of the third exhibit, Cartoons as Commentary and Agents of Change.

“Wicks was known for his cartoons and his work with CBC-TV,” said Moir. “Fewer people are aware of his humanitarian work and his campaigns against poverty and malnutrition in Canada and Africa, and to promote children’s literacy. We seldom think of cartoons as agents of change, but he used them to draw attention to causes dear to his heart.”

The Wicks family donated many of his drawings, scrapbooks and episodes of his television show to York and a selection of these aims to give the viewer more insight into his work as a changemaker.

All three exhibits will be open to the public during regular library hours, except if a Congress 2023 reception is taking place in the space.

York University and the Federation for Humanities and Social Sciences will host Congress 2023 from May 27 to June 2. Register here to attend. Term dates have been adjusted to align with timelines for this year’s event.

Keele, Glendon lower flags to mark National Day of Mourning

Drone image shows Vari Hall and the Ross Building on Keele Campus

York University will mark the National Day of Mourning by lowering the flags on its Keele and Glendon campuses to half-mast from sunrise to sunset on April 28.

There will also be an opportunity at 11 a.m. on April 28 to observe a moment of silence.

In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress designated April 28 as the National Day of Mourning in Canada. Each year, Canadians pause to remember and honour those individuals who have died, been injured, or suffered illness in the workplace.

“April 28 is an opportunity to pay tribute to those who have passed away, been seriously injured or have become ill in the workplace. By lowering its flags to half-mast, York University affirms its commitment to the promotion of health, safety and well-being for all members of the University community,” says Alice Pitt, vice-president equity, people and culture.

To learn more about the National Day of Mourning, where to find support, related activities, and to light a candle in memory of those who have given so much, visit the National Day of Mourning page found on yulink.

Sculpture by York professor debuts at Keele and Finch

Digital rendering of "The Heights" from far away

By Alexander Huls, deputy editor, YFile

Designed by Brandon Vickerd, artist and professor of visual arts at York University, the 41-foot sculpture made out of Corten steel is titled “The Heights” and is meant to evoke how the history of a place informs its present and future.

Brandon Vickerd
Brandon Vickerd

The seed of “The Heights” began in 2020, when the Duke Heights Business Improvement Area (BIA) put out a public call for professional Canadian artists to propose a landmark public artwork that would bring back and reassert the Finch-Keele community after years of construction in the area preparing for the forthcoming Light Rail Transit (LRT) line.

Among the resulting 80 applicants, five artists – including Vickerd – were chosen to submit detailed proposals. Vickerd knew the BIA wanted something that addressed the history and future of the location, so he began researching what architecture had existed near the LRT site in the past. He discovered that, between 1873 and 1956, the one-room Elia Public School once stood near the sculpture’s current location before being demolished to make way for future developments.

For Vickerd, the old schoolhouse, and the education it would have provided as a driver for social and communal change, neatly connected the past to the present with how another school – York University – has helped shape and drive the community it belongs to. He found his inspiration and submitted his proposal to the Duke Heights BIA: a multi-faceted open design and architectural abstraction of the school made of Corten steel, which has a rusted metal finish that he says would give the sculpture a weathered, aged appearance, embodying a quiet assertiveness that is distinctive in its depth and the richness of its colour.

Elia School House
The original Elia School House which once stood near Keele and Finch
Digital rendering of "The Heights" sculpture
Digital rendering of “The Heights” sculpture

The work ahead wasn’t without its pressures. Vickerd, who has previously created sculptures for cities like Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Calgary, Ottawa and others, had never worked on something quite so close to home as York University, where’s he worked for the last 20 years. “I can almost see the location of the sculpture from my office window on campus. I knew all my colleagues are going to be driving by it every day, and our students live in that community,” he says. “There was a pressure of doing something that honoured a community that I was part of.”

Nonetheless, Vickerd’s art often works with notions of history and community, which made “The Heights” project well within his comfort zone. “The way I think about public art is it’s about giving back to the community,” he says. “It can’t be about making something that I just want to see or that I think is cool. It has to be something that comes from that community and contributes back to it.”

The design process – including engineering revisions and community feedback – took six months, then the actual creation took another six months. Vickerd credits the University too with not just the academic knowledge, but practical knowledge he’s gained that enabled him to create projects like “The Heights” sculpture. “It’s the accumulation of years of working with my colleagues and students in a way that can only happen at a university like York, which allows us to push boundaries, try out new ideas, think through things and experiment with materials. So, when opportunities like this come up, we can then better develop projects that are successful and create a greater experience in the community for the people who live it day.”

The Hights sculpture by Brandon Vickerd being installed
“The Heights” sculpture by Brandon Vickerd being installed (photo supplied by Brandon Vickerd)

Part of the experience he hopes “The Heights” creates is the opportunity for locals to reflect on the physical, social, and economic changes in the neighborhood with the opportunity to literally see the community in new ways.

“Because its design is open, and there’s so much negative space, it changes and evolves as you move around. It was important to me to give the viewer the opportunity to have the piece shift and change. It’s never static. It’s never just one perspective. I’m trying to connect that to how we experience community and how we experience urban geography. As we move through the city, things change,” says Vickerd.

Currently, the sculpture – funded and managed by Duke Heights BIA, but now a permanent collection of the City of Toronto – is visible because of its size, but not yet accessible for closer viewing. Remaining landscaping and roadwork must be finished first, estimated to take six months, then the piece becomes open to the public.

Vickerd is excited for residents then – and even now – to take in the sculpture, and what he intends it to do more than anything else.

“The goal of this project is to acknowledge the historic significance of the site while celebrating the changing dynamic of the Keele and Finch intersection. ‘The Heights’ accomplishes this through a design that balances the monumental sculpture with a sense of dynamic tension and wonder. This sculpture is about the relationship between time and memory. It reflects on the role of history in providing a guiding light that illuminates a path forward into the future,” he says.

EUC celebrates professor’s book on Indigenous land claims in B.C.

Book club image for YFile

York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) is celebrating the launch of Professor Patricia Wood’s latest book Unstable Properties: Aboriginal Title and the Claim of British Columbia (UBC Press, 2022).

Patricia Wood's close-up portrait
Patricia Wood

Wood celebrates this accomplishment alongside her co-author, David Rossiter, professor at Western Washington University and a York Geography alumnus.

The Faculty invites the York community and beyond to attend the book launch event on Monday, May 1 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in HNES 138. The event will also be broadcast on Zoom; for a zoom link contact Denise McLeod.

Wood will be joined by Assistant Professor Martha Stiegman and Matthew Farish, of the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography and Planning, who will discuss the book’s arguments and contributions. The moderator for the discussion will be Leora Gansworth, York geography PhD alumna and Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School.

As a precursor to the event, Wood met with graduate student researcher Danielle Legault to answer several questions about the new book.

Q: How does this book build on your previous research work, and what inspired you to write it?

A: David Rossiter and I have been researching the historical, political and legal geography of Indigenous title in B.C. for about 20 years. It started with a project on the referendum that the provincial government, under (former) Premier Gordon Campbell, held in 2002 about the “principles” of treaty negotiations. That became our first published article together, in The Canadian Geographer, in 2005. Several more articles, presentations and op-ed pieces followed on specific aspects, but there was a larger story that we wanted to tell that needed a book-length manuscript to do properly.

Q: What inspired your choice of British Columbia as the site of exploration in this book?

A: British Columbia is an important site of Indigenous-settler relations because the vast majority of the territory the Crown claimed was never “conquered” nor ceded by treaty. The Crown’s claim, even according to its own law, is without solid moral or legal foundation. It is thus inherently unstable.

Q: Can you discuss the unique approach of Unstable Properties in reframing the topic of Aboriginal claims to Crown land?

Unstable Properties: Aboriginal Title and the Claim of British Columbia
Unstable Properties: Aboriginal Title and the Claim of British Columbia by Patricia Wood

A: We would emphasize that the question is one of Crown claims on Indigenous land, not the other way around. This is at the heart of our approach. It has always been the Indigenous claim that is subjected to scrutiny, as a “burden” on the Crown claim. This is backwards; it is the legitimacy of the Crown’s claim that needs to be examined. It is Canada that needs to reconcile its actual history and present with its alleged principles of democracy and justice.

We also want to emphasize that what progress has been made on resolving these questions and moving forward towards a more just relationship should be credited to Indigenous individuals and organizations who did the political and legal work to compel the Canadian state to – start to – recognize the hypocrisy, injustice and violence of settler-colonial land claims.

Our argument about the instability of the settler claim to Indigenous land in British Columbia isn’t intended to suggest British Columbia is exceptional and everywhere else is fine, but rather that it exposes the problems of settler-colonial claims across Canada, and should lead us to question what existing treaties mean, under what circumstances they were established, and what kind of relationship we want to pursue from here.

Research is not politically neutral, and a lot of talk about “reconciliation” can be pretty superficial. We’re trying to contribute to a path that is more meaningful and material, where Indigenous sovereignty and land rights are part of the plan. Facing our history and decolonizing our thinking is not just in our publications; bringing this to the curriculum and the classroom is just as important.

Q: Having completed this book, how do you see your work moving forward in the future?

A: We know we still have miles to go, and Dave and I plan to continue to pay attention to specific cases that Indigenous organizations raise to see where we can help with research that exposes the instability of the settler claim, in hopes that it helps pressure settler governments to come to the table and negotiate honestly and fairly.

About the authors

Wood is a professor at the York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change. Currently, Wood is a visiting scholar in the Department of Geography and the Indo-Canadian Studies Centre at the University of Mumbai. Her research addresses topics of Indigenous sovereignty and settler colonialism, political ecology and citizenship and governance. Rossiter is a professor in the College of Environment at Western Washington University. He completed MA and PhD degrees in the graduate program in geography at York University.

CIFAL York hosts two-part symposium on Turkiye, Syria earthquake aid

Person sitting in chair amid debris from damaged buildings in Antakya, Hatay, Turkiye.

A two-part virtual symposium will examine the responses of Canada and other cooperating countries to the recent crises in Turkiye and Syria resulting from the Feb. 6 earthquake. The symposium will strive to create better understanding of barriers to deploying humanitarian resources internationally on May 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hosted by CIFAL York and Y-EMERGE, the “Canada’s Response to Earthquake in Turkiye and Syria” symposium features a range of confirmed guest speakers from agencies such as International Development and Relief Foundation Canada (IDRF) and Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Relief, as well as potential appearances by featured guests from Care Canada, Canadian Red Cross, Islamic Relief Canada and Global Medic.

The February earthquake was among the deadliest natural disasters of the century, spanning multiple countries and resulting in the deaths of nearly 60,000 people, with over two million more being injured or displaced. To mitigate the effects of this catastrophe, 105 countries, including Canada, pledged to support those in need and contribute to humanitarian aid efforts.

Designed to engage academics, students, policymakers, first-responders and the general public, the symposium will analyze and critique Canada’s ongoing response to the earthquake in order to better understand and surmount emergency response obstacles in the future.

The first instalment of this series, titled “Canadian NGOs Response to the Earthquake in Turkiye & Syria” focuses on the role of Canada’s non-governmental organizations and highlights opportunities for collaboration between public and private sector actors. Speakers Rebecca Tjon-Aloi and Hanan Maolim, of the Programs and Operations Office at the IDRF, will explain how their foundation responded to the earthquake and share lessons learned for future emergency responses. Melanie Wubs, technical specialist in the International Health Unit at Samaritan’s Purse, will also explore cross- and multi-sectoral cooperation in humanitarian responses.

The second instalment of the symposium, titled “Canadian Government Response to the Earthquake in Turkiye & Syria” takes place on June 14, with guest speakers to be announced at a later date.

Free registration for these online events is required. For more information on the symposium and featured guest speakers, click here.

About CIFAL:

CIFAL York is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) global network of training centres for knowledge-sharing, training and capacity-building for public and private leaders, local authorities and civil society. CIFAL Centres are local and regional hubs for innovative, participatory and co-creative knowledge exchange opportunities to support decision-making processes, build capacity and accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. Established in 2020, CIFAL York started its operation in June 2021 as the first CIFAL Centre in Canada. Health and development training and knowledge sharing is among the key focusing areas of CIFAL York.

How non-native English accents undermine women at work

Group of women professionals posed boldly in office setting, stock image

New research from professors at York University’s Schulich School of Business shows that women with non-native accents often get pushed into traditionally feminine jobs with lower pay and prestige, even when sufficiently qualified.

The findings are contained in an article published recently in the Psychology of Women Quarterly. The article titled “Women With Mandarin Accent in the Canadian English-Speaking Hiring Context: Can Evaluations of Warmth Undermine Gender Equity?” was co-authored by Ivona Hideg, associate professor and Ann Brown Chair in Organization Studies, and Winny Shen, associate professor of organization studies, both at Schulich, together with Samantha Hancock, an assistant professor in the DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies at Western University.

Ivona Hideg and Winny Shen

Past research has broadly found that people with non-native accents are seen as less competent, but this research has generally been focused on men with non-native accents. Hideg, Hancock and Shen wanted to specifically examine whether women’s experiences in speaking with a non-native accent, and the bias they face, diverge from the prior documented experiences of men.

The team noted that a lack of consideration of women’s unique experiences at work mirrors broader trends in the natural and social sciences, where men are often perceived as the default or standard among research participants.

“Our findings indicate that women with a non-native accent associated with a more gender-traditional country face subtle biases that are difficult to recognize as bias and hence difficult to address,” says Hideg.

“Although on the surface it may seem that women with non-native accents experience advantages in hiring due to perceptions of warmth, our research shows that they are likely to be stereotyped and funneled into less prestigious positions,” she adds.

York professor co-authors international report on costs, benefits of community-based justice

gavel on table with glass earth

A new report by Professor Trevor Farrow analyzes research from three African countries and Canada, highlighting the benefit of grassroots support in addressing the global justice crisis.

Community legal clinics, paralegal services, social workers and others assisting those who cannot easily access legal help, are a few ways of narrowing the gap in accessing justice that’s prevalent across the globe, says Farrow, Osgoode Hall Law School associate dean, research and institutional relations, and co-author of an international report released on April 21.

Trevor Farrow
Trevor Farrow

The report, Exploring Community-Based Services, Costs and Benefits for People-Centered Justice, is a review of recent studies conducted by researchers in Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Canada, to understand how effective grassroots support systems are in alleviating, if not eliminating, barriers to justice.

The research is part of Community-Based Justice Research (CBJR) project, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre. The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ), based at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, played a lead role in co-ordinating the project.

According to Farrow, the inaccessibility of legal services is a common issue, be it in Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Canada, or the rest of the world. In fact, the United Nations has identified access to justice as a global crisis that – through its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – requires collective efforts and shared solutions, continues Farrow.

According to earlier research from the CFCJ, approximately 50 per cent of adult Canadians will experience a legal problem in any given three-year period. “Like the rest of the world, there is an access-to-justice crisis in Canada,” notes Farrow, who also serves as Chair of the CFCJ. “Law and legal issues are everywhere, but very few people can afford legal help.”

Grassroots-level support can help change this situation for the better, says CFCJ Senior Research Fellow Ab Currie, who also co-authored the report.

“Getting access to trained social workers at drop-in shelters, support workers at community centres, paralegals, religious advisors and many others who work and interact with people where and when they most need help, are primary goals and benefits of community-based justice,” explains Farrow. “The core idea is to find ways to get legal services and law-related help to people in the places that they live and work, and to identify – and ideally avoid – legal problems or to help address them before they get worse.

“Generally, there’s a benefit to having these services in the community and the recent research indicates that the cost-benefit analysis is positive for these community justice services,” he adds. “There are also non-financial benefits of trust, access and awareness when it comes to supporting local help for local communities.”

South African researcher Busiwana Winne Martins, of the Centre for Community Justice, agrees. “Because support workers are close to the community, they understand their problems and socio-economic conditions,” she says. “They share the same geographic space and culture and can negotiate plural legal systems and determine how to straddle the formal law and traditional African customary law.

“People who work in the grassroots justice structures, especially community-based paralegals, are able to translate difficult legal and bureaucratic language into frames that local people can understand and help them to resolve their justice issues,” she adds.

Farrow agrees that managing problems within a community and with the help of community members is often simpler, quicker and allows for community values and interests to be present in the process. “Community justice initiatives can provide exciting opportunities for innovative and inclusive problem-solving that allows for important justice options and strategies,” he notes.

To help solve the access-to-justice crisis, Farrow concludes, “community-based justice provides significant and exciting opportunities for meaningful assistance – in addition to numerous other options and processes, including strong legal institutions.”

With the addition of access-to-justice to the UN SDGs, calling on all nations to work toward equal access by 2030 is a significant move and driver for action, according to the report.

Learn more at News @ York.

Muscle Health Awareness Day highlights research in exercise, disease, aging

Woman with back turned to camera flexing arms and shoulders in front of black background

The 14th annual Muscle Health Awareness Day (MHAD) brings together doctors, scientists and trainees from across Ontario, Quebec, New York and Michigan – each driven towards the common goal of understanding the physiology and adaptation of muscles, vasculature and the heart throughout exercise, disease and aging.

Sponsored by York University’s Faculty of Health and Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI), this year’s event will feature eight speakers and nearly 60 unique trainee posters covering an array of topics at the Life Sciences Building on Friday, May 19 from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Six of the best student posters will be awarded and featured at the event. The goal of MHAD is to continue to advance the University’s research reputation in the area of muscle health.

Students and researchers browse informational posters on display at York's Muscle Health Awareness Day 2019
Students and researchers browse informational posters on display at York’s Muscle Health Awareness Day 2019

This year’s featured guest speakers are:

  • Tyler Churchward-Venne, McGill University (Montreal)
  • Michaela Devries-Aboud, University of Waterloo
  • Heather Edgell, York University
  • Ewan Goligher, University Health Network (Toronto)
  • Amy Kirkham, University of Toronto
  • Nota Klentrou, Brock University (St. Catharines)
  • David MacLean, Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (Sudbury)
  • Jamie Melling, University of Western Ontario (London)

Attendant registration for this event is $20, to be paid on-site in cash – this fee includes admission as well as a light breakfast, lunch buffet and coffee breaks. Guest speakers are admitted free of charge.

For more information, and to submit research abstracts or posters for consideration, click here.

Congress 2023 sustainable decision to create memories without swag

Arial view of Kaneff

By Elaine Smith

Among the many sights for Congress 2023 attendees to enjoy at York next month, four Swag Stages will host pop-up dance and musical performances.

Located in high-traffic outdoor locations on York’s Keele Campus, the community can enjoy various artistic performances selected by Congress 2023 organizers in lieu of the swag that conference attendees often receive as souvenirs.

“I discovered that only 21 per cent of branded items are kept for any length of time,” says Liz McMahan, director of Congress 2023. “Promotional items definitely have their time and place, but with such a diverse group of over 8,000 people, it would be difficult to find something useful for everyone.”

Swag Stage performer and Arts, Media, Performance & Design PhD candidate Collette Murray will perform with the Coco Collective
Swag Stage performer and Arts, Media, Performance & Design PhD candidate Collette Murray will perform with the Coco Collective, an organization of which she is the artistic director

Collette Murray, a York PhD student in dance studies, and the Coco Collective are among the dozen or more acts who will bring joy and relaxation to campus during an event that focuses heavily on papers, posters and panel discussions.

“I appreciate that the Congress organizers are expanding the conference’s reach to include additional ways that intellects engage in research, and performance is one of them,” says Murray, who will also be presenting a performance art discourse on Afro-diasporic dances practices as freedom at a Black Canadian Studies Association session.

McMahan also says that, “Given Congress 2023’s theme ‘Reckonings and Re-Imaginings’ and York’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we thought about our responsibility and how to make Congress 2023 a more sustainable experience. We wondered about what we could give them that wouldn’t end up in landfill and decided on pop-up performances to surprise and delight people.”

Congress 2023 academic convenor Andrea Davis, Joel Ong, an associate professor from the School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design and McMahan collaborated to create a list of York-related performers who were interested in participating. Each performer will commit to a morning or afternoon performance and will circulate among the four stages to give more attendees an opportunity to enjoy their work.

“I hope that in addition to their morning coffee, the performances help people wake up and give them a way to de-stress after presenting papers and attending conferences all day,” McMahan says. “The entire York community is also welcome to experience these performances and I hope will seek them out.”

York University and the Federation for Humanities and Social Sciences will host Congress 2023 from May 27 to June 2. Register here to attend. Term dates have been adjusted to align with timelines for this year’s event.

York staff, faculty recognized for positive change in accessibility

Award stock image banner from pexels

What does accessibility look like in the classroom? When this question was posed to Course Director Lorin Schwarz, in the Faculty of Education, he answered “inclusion plus access.”

Schwarz, along with Mary Desrocher – associate professor of clinical developmental psychology – were among the many University community members nominated for Student Accessibility Services Awards ahead of its end-of-year celebration on April 6.

Since 2018, students have been encouraged to nominate members of the York community they feel have exceeded the standard expectations of their role for the sake of expanding access to learning opportunities and services on campus. Repeat-nominee Schwarz was most recently among the award winners for the 2020-21 academic year, while first-time-nominee Desrocher received one of the 18 awards handed out at this year’s ceremony.

Desrocher described a “lightbulb” moment that first alerted her to the importance of an accessible learning experience. Over 20 years ago, when she was a newly inducted lecturer at York, a student approached Desrocher after class and disclosed a learning disability to her with some trepidation.

“At that time, we didn’t have Moodle, we didn’t have eClass, we might not even have had Student Accessibility Services,” she said.

Inspired by the exchange, Desrocher decided to pre-emptively provide notes to all of her students, regardless of whether or not they had disclosed disabilities to her or other professors, in order to alleviate the additional pressure of having to do so for those who may have been struggling with ADHD, anxiety or other disorders that could make note-taking difficult. Ever since, Desrocher has reaffirmed that decision time and time again. That first student to privately ask her for assistance eventually graduated from York and followed a career in psychology, a fact which continues to motive Desrocher to help students reach their fullest potentials.

Simple changes can make a profound difference, according to Desrocher. In practice, those changes can look like note sharing; using classroom time to discuss, rather than lecture; and believing her students when they ask to be accommodated. She encourages everyone to remember the ethos of accessibility and reminds her peers that “you are not the expert in someone else’s lived experience.”

Schwarz shared a similar guiding philosophy, explaining that “we’re so afraid of making things personal now… but let yourself care about the students.

“We’re here to increase the joy in the world, not decrease it,” he added. “See people as complicated human beings and not something that you can simplify.”

A full list of 2022-23 Student Accessibility Services Award winners is included below.

  • Ahmad Firas Khalid, sessional assistant professor, Faculty of Health 
  • Amila Butorovic, associate professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies  
  • Devin Phillips, assistant professor, Faculty of Health
  • Ivona Hideg, associate professor, Schulich School of Business  
  • Jeanine Tuitt, supports and services coordinator, Office of Student Community Relations  
  • Jennifer Spinney,  assistant professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies  
  • Katherine Di Lorenzo, student support advisor, Student Support Advising  
  • Lindsay LaMorre, associate director, Experiential Education, Faculty of Education 
  • Lois King, contract faculty, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies 
  • Makini McGuire-Brown, course instructor, PhD candidate, Schulich School of Business ​
  • Mark Thomas, professor and Chair of Sociology Department, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies ​
  • Mary Desrocher, associate professor, Faculty of Health​
  • Matthew Keough, assistant professor, Faculty of Health​
  • Matthias Hoben, associate professor, Faculty of Health​
  • Ruodan Shao, associate professor, Schulich School of Business ​
  • Stephanie Pugliese Domenikos, assistant professor, Faculty of Science​
  • Taylor Cleworth, assistant professor, Faculty of Health​
  • Theodore Noseworthy, associate professor and research Chair, Schulich School of Business ​
  • Yueting Chen, PhD candidate, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

For more ways to promote and demonstrate a commitment to an accessible University, see the resources provided on the Student Accessibility Services website.