York University posts top scores in Times Higher Education Global Impact Ranking 2021

April 22, 2021

For the third year in a row, York University has been ranked highly by the Times Higher Education (THE) global Impact Ranking, which classifies universities on their work towards the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, York has placed 11th in Canada and 67th overall against 1,115 post-secondary institutions from 94 different countries.

“York’s strong performance in the rankings this year is a result of the extraordinary efforts of our students, faculty, course directors, staff, and alumni, whose dedication to our communities and our planet has helped us make great strides in furthering the UN SDGs,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “We are proud of the way our community members have come together in support of the SDGs, and grateful for their passion, enthusiasm, and continued commitment to driving positive change in our local and global communities.”

The THE Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking compares universities on research, stewardship, outreach and teaching across 17 categories.

York ranked in the top four per cent globally in two SDGs that closely align with the strategic focus of the University’s Academic Plan (2020), including third in Canada and 27th in the world for SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals, which examines a university’s stewardship of resources and its preservation of community heritage, and fifth in Canada and 24th in the world for SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, which looks at how the University supports and collaborates with other universities in working towards the SDGs.

“The Impact Ranking is a strong reflection of York’s progress in advancing the University Academic Plan 2020–2025 (UAP), which challenges us to build a better future, bringing our unique capacities to bear on the most urgent issues facing the world, while deepening our collective contributions to the SDGs,” said Provost and Vice President Academic Lisa Philipps. “I am very proud of the significant contributions that have been made to advance our UAP and address complex global issues.”

Partnerships for the goals: Global hubs, partnerships and collaborations improved ranking in SDG 17

Hosting global hubs for international initiatives, sharing best practices, and partnering with the federal government to offer expertise improved York’s ranking to 27th overall in Partnerships to Achieve Goals − a major improvement over last year’s rank of 50th.

Driven by a welcoming and diverse community with a uniquely global perspective, York’s international network of partnerships helps our students and faculty make a difference across the world.

York hosts four significant global partnerships and hubs that contribute to the pursuit of the SDGs.

The UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Educations Towards Sustainability, held by Charles A. Hopkins, works in association with the many other entities, including the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions and the #IndigenousESD, towards achieving the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Ecological Footprint Initiative, which hosts a data centre at York, focuses on researching, investigating, mapping, and explaining humanity’s ecological footprint on the planet.

The World Health Organization has recognized the work of York’s Global Strategy Lab team led by Director Steven J. Hoffman, a professor of global health, law and political science and the Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology, by designating it as the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance (WHOCC). The Glendon Accelerator for Innovation and Best Practices in French Teaching will also host a new knowledge mobilization hub to meet the need for French as a second language teachers at a time when they are in short supply.

In addition to these international hubs, the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom won the 7th Airbus Global Engineering Deans Council Diversity Award for its efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in engineering education.

Finally, through the leadership of Osgoode Hall Law School Associate Professor Deborah McGregor, who is cross appointed to the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice, the Osgoode Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic intervened successfully with the federal government to obtain a regional impact assessment for proposed mining and road infrastructure in Ontario’s Ring of Fire.

Sustainable cities and communities: COVID-19 research and new green buildings recognized in SDG 11

New Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified buildings, timely COVID-19 research, projects funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and a new Charter Centre on Homelessness propelled York to 24th overall in the Sustainable Cities and Communities ranking. York University’s top ranking in this category is further proof of its commitment to make things right for our community, the planet and our future.

York’s researchers have also been helping lead the fight against COVID-19, with a pair of projects to simulate mass vaccination sites and model COVID-19 transmission.

Ali Asgary, associate professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, and Jianhong Wu, a Canada Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the NSERC/Sanofi Industrial Research Chair in Vaccine Mathematics, Modelling and Manufacturing and York Distinguished Research Professor in Mathematics, have together developed a simulation that models ongoing processes in a drive through vaccination clinic. The innovative approach is being used in Canada and the United States and has been listed as one of the best community models available.

Jude Kong, an assistant professor in Mathematics & Statistics at York, leads a team of 50 researchers from organizations across Africa and Canada to predict the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their project builds on a South African-led COVID-19 dashboard and combines modelling at York to inform and support national policymakers from across Africa manage the virus in real time.

Two SSHRC grants awarded to York professors will enhance the ability to preserve local heritage in communities around the world. Laura Levin, associate professor in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, and director of Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts & Technology, leads the “Hemispheric Encounters” partnership project to build a network of organizations across Canada, the United States, and Latin America, with the aim of sharing knowledge and strategies for positive social change. Linda Peake, professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and director of the City Institute, leads “GenUrb,” a research project aiming to build a network to examine the changing relationship between gender, poverty, and inequality across the globe.

In working to make their own community more sustainable to live in, York Faculty of Education Professor Steven Gaetz leads a collaboration between the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada, a successful partnership to prevent youth homelessness that was recognized by the United Nations.

The Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study and Research Building, part of the internationally renowned Schulich School of Business, became LEED Gold-certified earlier this year. The new site, which opened in 2019, features a glass solar chimney that provides natural ventilation for the facility.

Two more buildings under construction, the School of Continuing Studies at the Keele Campus, and the first phase of York’s Markham Centre Campus, are also aiming for the LEED Gold standard. The School of Continuing Studies features a high-performance prismatic façade, composed of photovoltaic panels and glazed openings to bring natural light into the building. The photovoltaic panels will also allow the building to produce its own power. The School of Continuing Studies is scheduled to open in the fall of this year, while the Markham Centre Campus will open in Fall 2023.

York’s ongoing success in the THE Impact Rankings is owed entirely to its community of positive changemakers. With so many projects, initiatives, and partnerships underway, and many more in development, York University continues to expand the work that makes the world a better place to live, learn and work.

York partners with Ban Ki-moon Centre and Austrian Cultural Forum for event on transformative education for the 21st century

April 21, 2021

York University’s UNESCO Chair, together with the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens will hold a virtual dialogue on educating future generations. The event will be hosted by the Austrian Cultural Forum at the Austrian Embassy in Ottawa on May 5 at 12 p.m.

Five years ago, the United Nations introduced a series of Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. This “call to action” addresses poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

Charles Hopkins and Katrin Kohl — Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at York University, and Katrin Kohl, executive coordinator to the UNESCO Chair

Panelists will respond to central questions on the role of transformative education for all in achieving the UN SDGs. Hannes Machor, deputy head of mission at the Austrian Embassy Ottawa and director of the Austrian Cultural Forum will chair the discussion between Monika Froehler, CEO at the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability. The event will be moderated by Andreas Strebinger, associate professor of marketing at York’s School of Administrative Studies, and Katrin Kohl, UNESCO Chair coordinator at York’s Faculty of Education. The event will include special guest, Austrian graphic recording artist, Lana Lauren, who will capture spoken content in real time and translate it into engaging visuals.

The Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens in Vienna was established in 2018 and is co-chaired by Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General and Heinz Fischer, former president of Austria. The centre strives for a global respect for human rights, where sustainable development is achieved through global citizenship, shared responsibility, understanding and empathy.

Established in 1999, the UNESCO Chair at York University was the first UNESCO Chair to be created to support education for sustainable development (ESD). It now serves the UN SDGs through research and the coordination of the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (INTEI) and the Indigenous ESD research network focusing on the education of Indigenous youth.

The event aligns with York’s commitment to the UN SDGs. The Academic Plan 2020-2025 positions York with distinctive capabilities to create positive change in a world facing an unprecedented convergence of complex issues such as climate change, a global pandemic, racism and xenophobia, poverty and inequality.

To join in for this important event, register here.

Report shows lessons learned from changes to sex ed curriculum relevant during COVID-19

April 21, 2021

online learning

Changes to health, sexual and physical education curriculums in Ontario had a dramatic effect on teachers, but those lessons are even more salient today, says York University Professor Sarah Flicker.

The lessons learned from changes to these curriculums in 2015 and 2019 are outlined in a new report, Changing the Rules: Ontario Teacher Reflections on Implementing Shifting Health and Physical Education Curricula, launching April 27.

Although most teachers interviewed for this report welcomed changes to the 1998 health, sex and physical education curriculum, they felt highly surveilled and stressed, and frustrated with the way the new curriculums were rolled out without adequate supports, training and resources. In the space of several years, they were asked to teach three different curriculums.

The researchers wanted to know how teachers at the frontlines of this confluence of ideological battles between governments, parents, teachers, human rights and students were navigating this charged political environment, and what could be done differently next time.

“While we collected the data pre-COVID, in many ways I think so many of the recommendations that are coming out of this report in terms of the kind of supports that teachers need, and more supportive work environments, are even more salient today,” says Flicker, York Research Chair in Community-Based Participatory Research in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

“They’re trying to navigate teaching and learning and communicating around health and safety in this new environment, in this very changed landscape, thinking about sexuality, risk and relationships. I don’t think public health has had a moment when more of us were paying attention to things like hygiene and setting boundaries, understanding consent, and understanding the well-being of ourselves and others.”

Health and physical education teachers play an important role in helping young people think about their bodies, their well-being, making safer decisions and reducing risks, but in many ways, teachers are even more surveilled now as they Zoom in from their homes into their students’ homes, says Flicker.

The report will launch at a virtual event – Teaching Health & Physical Education in Uncertain Times – on April 27, from 4 to 6 p.m.

The event will include a talk by Flicker on the key findings of her study, followed by Faculty of Education Professor Sarah Barrett sharing her final report, Emergency Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Teachers’ Perspectives, released last month. To register, visit the Zoom conference registration website.

For the Changing the Rules study, Flicker and her team, including Faculty of Education Associate Professor Jen Gilbert, interviewed 34 teachers who had taught health and physical education in K-12 Ontario schools for at least five years. They hailed from 17 school boards, including public school boards, independent First Nations boards, Catholic boards, and French boards.

Almost all teachers interviewed agreed the curriculum needed updating and the proposed changes were important. They felt young people need to be able to talk about how things like cell phones and the internet impact their lives, including sexually and romantically, and have teachers be able to discuss these issues with them as part of the curriculum. Many felt that sharing information about substance use, STIs, pregnancy, hygiene, and healthy relationships would help young people make decisions that would help them grow up to live happier or healthier lives.

Teachers said they need more resources particularly in the context of changing demographics in Ontario.

“As the province becomes more diverse, teachers need resources that reflect that diversity and help them have health and physical education conversations in ways that honour very different cultural traditions and understandings around the body and health, and well-being,” says Flicker.

Some of the suggestions for the future included changing the curriculum incrementally on a regular basis to ensure it remains relevant and responsive to the changing realities of Ontario students. Diverse stakeholders should be included in future consultations to ensure the curriculum is meeting the needs of all students and their communities. In addition, policies, templates and strategies need to be put in place to accommodate those students not participating in sex education classes. A culture of learning and support for teachers and students should be fostered.

Watch Flicker discuss the results of her study and their relevancy to today in the series of videos below:

FESI wraps up 2020-21 series with webinar that explores streaming in schooling

April 18, 2021

online learning

The final event in the five-part Faculty of Education’s Summer Institute (FESI 2020-21), held virtually over the last several months, will wrap up on April 21 with a dynamic, diverse panel that will explore streaming and educational pathways in Ontario schools.

FESI, a long-running annual conference that brings together stakeholders in education to evaluate educational beliefs, policies and practices, will continue this year in a virtual format.

Titled “Streaming in Schooling,” the event will explore Ontario’s education policy that states that the schools should keep “options open for all students.” Some people assert that streaming allows students to choose subjects based on their interests and preferred career pathways. In reality, streaming closes many options to students and limits their life and career choices.

Systemic bias, racism, ableism and deficit thinking results in the streaming and sorting of students based on perceived academic abilities. In particular, Black and Indigenous students, students with disabilities, newcomer and refugee students, and students marginalized by poverty are disproportionately harmed by these processes and structures.

Mechanisms for streaming and sorting happen as early as kindergarten and set students up for pre-determined pathways that impact academic options, career pathways, quality of life, financial security and health. Join the Faculty of Education for a conversation with educators and researchers that are grappling with these very issues to learn, challenge these practices, and reimagine future possibilities to support all students in Ontario.

Themes that will be explored on this panel include:

Impact of streaming (short term and long term) on minoritized groups.
What are some of the myths, mindsets, frameworks that give rise to streaming?
Problematizing streaming as a racist, oppressive, and limiting barrier.
De-streaming in practice (what does it look like? What should people be aware of? How can we avoid creating more barriers to access in the process?)
What potential does de-streaming offer? What would an ideal schooling structure that supported all students equitably look like?

Speakers:

Alison Gaymes San Vicente works to disrupt educational practices that continue to disadvantage historically marginalized/underserved students. Her passion for equity and justice has led to a secondment at York University’s Faculty of Education and her current position as a centrally assigned principal of a virtual school with 12,000 students and prior to this a centrally assigned principal for Principal Coaching, Equity & School Improvement with the Toronto District School Board. She is the recipient of the Queen Diamond Jubilee Award (2014) as well as one of Canada’s Outstanding Principals in 2016. In addition to being a member of the provincial writing team for the Principal’s Qualification Program (2017), she is also an author in Our Schools, Ourselves – Community Watch: Marginal At Best, A Narrative on Streaming in Public Education (2016); Restacking the Deck: Streaming by class, race and gender in Ontario schools (2014); Rhymes to Re-education: A Hip Hop Curriculum Resource Guide for Educators with Social Justice Activities (2014); The Leader Reader (2018); RSEKN Streaming and Educational Pathways (Equity Podcast Series, 2019); VoicEd Radio Interview Schooling for Equity During and Beyond COVID-19 (2019); and her latest publication Schooling for Equity During and Beyond COVID-19 (2019).

Gillian Parekh is an assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education within the Faculty of Education at York. As a previous teacher in special education and research coordinator with the Toronto District School Board, Parekh has conducted extensive system and school-based research in Toronto in the areas of structural equity, special education and academic streaming. In particular, her work explores how schools construct and respond to disability as well as how students are organized across programs and systems.

Monday Gala has been an educator in classrooms from elementary to university for almost 36 years, with six years in Nigeria and 30 years in Canada. He earned a BSc from the University of Maiduguri and an MSc in physics from The University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He had the distinct privilege of completing his PhD at Western University in Canada with the support of the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world. Gala has been the recipient of many academic and performance awards including the Federal Government of Nigerian Merit Scholarship, the University of Maiduguri Chancellor’s Award for the best graduating average, Western University Teaching Assistantship Excellence Award, Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Excellence Award, and The Learning Partnership Canada’s Outstanding Principals Award. As principal of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, Gala led pioneering work to tackle a major systemic learning barrier for students by de-streaming curriculum in grades 9 and 10. He then collaborated with community organizations and academia to share the amazing results of this work with Ontario Ministry of Education, academics and student teachers, staff in the TDSB and several other Ontario school boards, and community stakeholders. The success of this work has led the TDSB to mandate de-streaming by 2021-22 and the Ontario Ministry of Education to de-stream mathematics in Grade 9 beginning next school year. Gala is currently principal at Westview Centennial Secondary School where he continues to inspire students to learn to the best of their abilities.

Jason To is currently the coordinator of secondary mathematics and academic pathways for the Toronto District School Board, where he works with K-12 staff to tackle academic streaming and shift towards more equitable, inclusive and culturally responsive teaching. As a former high school math department head, he began challenging streaming in 2015 by eliminating applied math classes and teaching inclusive Grade 9 academic math, leading to significant gains for students identified with special education needs. To has presented at provincial math conferences and worked with school boards across Ontario with de-streaming, and was also part of the Ministry of Education writing team for the new de-streamed Grade 9 math curriculum. Finally, To is also a member of the steering committee for the Coalition for Alternatives to Streaming in Education.

Kaydeen Bankasingh is a mother, community organizer, facilitator and advocate in North York, who has successfully put her daughter through the public school system. She is advocating intensely for her son in the elementary public system. Bankasingh has led parent engagement initiatives for many years through school council, model schools initiatives and community partnerships. Supporting parents and families to support their children’s success at school is her priority. She is passionate about equity, anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism in the school system and the impacts on all racialized children at having healthy learning experiences. She has been a community representative with CASE since 2020.

Moderator:

Sultan Rana has been an educator for 13 years, and would best describe himself as a person who is “under construction.” Working for the vast majority of his career in the elementary panel with the York Region District School Board, Rana has also taught in both the secondary classroom and on university campuses in Malaysia and the United States. Holding an MEd in digital technologies, Rana worked as a digital literacy consultant for YRDSB for a couple of years, and attempts to be a leader at integrating digital technologies both in his practice as a K-12 educator, and in his current position as a seconded instructor at York University’s Faculty of Education. Rana has written resources, conducted workshops, and supported educators (candidates and seasoned) on topics related to modern learning, CRRP, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and Islamophobia for a number of schools, conferences, symposiums, and organization, both in-person and online for the past decade. In addition to moderating this session, Rana is also the co-chair of the York University Faculty of Education Summer Institute (FESI) series, with Sayema Chowdhury.

This event is free and those interested can register here.

Join York’s president for ‘The York U of the Future’ virtual conversation, April 30

April 13, 2021

PresidentConversationFutureFEATURED IMAGE

Featured image for the Conversation about the York U of the Future

On Friday, April 30 at 12 p.m. ET, join York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton, York University Alumni Board Chair Francesca Accinelli (BFA ’92), York alumni and staff for The York U of the Future, a special virtual conversation about the opportunities, challenges and priorities for the University in 2021 and beyond.

In the face of unprecedented challenges created by COVID-19, York University has adapted, innovated and persevered, allowing the University to continue pursuing academic, research and professional excellence. York University remains a community of change leaders, who are using teaching, research, volunteerism, entrepreneurship and innovation to build more inclusive and resilient communities, both here at home and around the world.

Topics that will be covered at this event include how the University is working to expand York’s leadership in higher education, strengthen its impact on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and drive positive change in local and global communities.

A panel of guests will join Lenton to discuss how to build a better future for all Canadians through action on sustainability, social justice and global engagement. The event will also include a spoken word performance by Luke Reece (BA ’15), AMPD alumnus and recipient of York’s inaugural Top 30 Changemakers Under 30 list.

Panelists taking part in the event are:

Dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design Sarah Bay-Cheng,
Joseph Smith (BA ’11, BEd ’12, MEd ’14), alumnus and consultant/facilitator at Morneau Shepell,
Hanaa Ameer, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the health management program.

Guests have the opportunity to ask questions in advance of and during the event. Questions can be submitted to alumni@yorku.ca before April 16.

Tickets are complimentary, but registration is required. A link to the virtual event will be provided to registered guests. Register through this link.

Learn about the ‘materiality of play’ during talk by emerging scholar

April 6, 2021

A talk that explores the materiality of play in the context of early childhood education will be presented by York University’s Faculty of Education on April 19 as part of its Disrupting Early Childhood Series.

“The Materiality of Play: Early Childhood Education Research in Diffractive Dialogue with Dance as an Artistic Practice” will run from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Zoom, and will feature guest speaker Tatiana Zakharova, an emerging scholar pursuing her doctorate at Western University (London, Canada).

Interest in play is experiencing a renaissance, with much been written in academic journals and discussed in professional and social media. Zakharova is among those interested in play, and with a background in design, she looks at materiality of play through the feminist practice of “misreading to produce a reading” (Jagodzinski, 1992, p. 172).

That is, instead of holding up play as an entity and an idea so solid that it even has a public “profile” that needs raising, Zakharova’s proposition is to tease play apart into moments that may be entirely insignificant or subject-forming, that may be joyous or violent, that may open possibilities or may be propping up chaos and indeterminacy.

This talk will be in dialogue with Justine Chambers who will engage with Zakharova’s propositions in diffractive ways from her perspective as a dancer, choreographer and mother. Zakharova will introduce her research on play and Chambers will introduce her artistic practice. Together they will present a dialogue as an invitation to reimagine our relations to play.

About Tatiana Zakharova
Zakharova is a playground designer, and is currently pursuing her PhD at the Faculty of Education at Western University (London, ON). In her multidisciplinary work, Zakharova thinks with feminist posthuman scholars to trouble the notion of play as a means of progress, imagining instead relationship-attuned play as worlding. With gratitude, Zakharova lives, walks, plays, and writes on the traditional territories of the Anishnabek, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and Ojibway/Chippewa peoples.

About Justine Chambers
Chambers is a dance artist living and working on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her movement-based practice considers how choreography can be an empathic practice rooted in collaborative creation, close observation, and the body as a site of a cumulative embodied archive. Privileging what is felt over what is seen, she works with dances that are already there – the social choreographies present in the everyday. Chambers is Max Tyler-Hite’s mother.

Register in advance for this meeting at this link:
https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUlcu-tqzwqHdfXlqFLZFXRnN5kzJYJ4p1F.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

April Scholars’ Hub @ Home events examine 15-year Faculty of Education-YRDSB collaboration, recognize Earth Day

April 6, 2021

April’s Scholars’ Hub @ Home Speaker Series events feature a conversation on a 15-year collaboration between York University’s Faculty of Education and the York District School Board that is exploring the relationship between families and their children’s schools, and a special Earth Day edition that will discuss an innovative ecological footprint accounting initiative at York.

The Scholars’ Hub @ Home speaker series, brought to you by York Alumni Engagement, features discussions on a broad range of topics, with engaging lectures from some of York’s best minds. Events are held in partnership with Vaughan Public Libraries, Markham Public Library and Aurora Public Library.

The next two discussions will take place on April 7 and 21 from 12 to 1 p.m. via Zoom.

April 7 – “The gathering model of community engagement: A research-driven approach to school decision-making”

This discussion will be led by York University’s John Ippolito, associate professor in the Faculty of Education. Joining him will be Sara Leung, equity teacher facilitator and Scott Milne, manager of School and Community Projects, from Inclusive School and Community Services at the York Region District School Board.

This presentation will examine an ongoing, 15-year collaboration between the York Region District School Board and the Faculty of Education at York, researching the relationships families – specifically marginalized families – have with their children’s schools.

Ippolito’s research in teacher education centers on public schools and their communities, focusing on education in contexts of linguistic and cultural hyperdiversity. His applied work involves adult education as outreach to caregivers and educators and is increasingly focused on migrants and refugees. He is accredited as a teacher of English as a Second Language, having taught in settlement programs for newcomers to Canada. His ongoing interventionist research targets barriers between minority communities and schools with a view to broadened relationships among stakeholders in public education.

April 21 – “How ecological footprint accounting can inform pathways to a carbon-neutral economy”

This special Earth Day edition of Scholars’ Hub @ Home is hosted in partnership with the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and will feature two researchers from York University’s Ecological Footprint Initiative, Eric Miller and Katie Kish. The speakers will be introduced by Alice Hovorka, dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

In this presentation, learn about the global ecological footprint and biocapacity accounts that are produced at York University in collaboration with researchers around the world. These accounts quantify the capacity of landscapes to sustain human consumption and infrastructure over time – information for the global community aiming for a carbon-neutral economy.

Miller is a research assistant at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and director of the Ecological Footprint Initiative. As director, he manages multiple projects and partnerships of the initiative including the production of the National Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. He teaches the footprint-related courses, supports students and project staff, and supports the Footprint Data Foundation as its secretary-treasurer. His prior work as a consulting economist has informed governments, industry, think-tanks and NGOs.

Kish is a research associate at the Ecological Footprint Initiative, where she supports knowledge synthesis and mobilization of the team’s research. Her research focuses on complex systems, ecological economics, labour, work and production. She is also a lecturer of ecological economics at the Haida Gwaii Institute and Research Fellow with Economics for the Anthropocene.

Virtual colloquium explores racialized implications of COVID-19 in Toronto

April 4, 2021

Black female student working on a laptop

On April 7, the next session in York University’s “Reciprocal Learning in Times of Crisis” monthly virtual colloquium series will feature a panel of educational experts and activists who will discuss the racialized implications of COVID-19 in Toronto.

The next session, titled “Racialized Implications of COVID-19 in Toronto: An East African Perspective,” will take place at 10:30 a.m. EST/5:30 p.m. EAT via Zoom.

Head shots of four panellists participating in the colloquium — Kherto Ahmed (top left); Sam Tecle (top right); Ekram May (bottom left); and Tesfai Mengesha (bottom right)

The past year has presented unprecedented challenges to students and educators across the world. It has also provided new spaces of opportunity. This session will feature a panel of young people who are both activists and educational experts who work with Success Beyond Limits (SBL), which is a collaborative, youth-led, community-based movement in Toronto’s Jane-Finch community that provides youth with holistic supports to complete their education and facilitate their trajectories of success. Panelists will discuss their experiences navigating schooling, scholarship, and community work amidst COVID-19, which has disproportionately influenced racialized communities like Jane and Finch where SBL is located. Panelists will also reflect on new possibilities for justice and connection that have emerged in Toronto, among East African diasporic communities and beyond.

The panel will feature:

Kherto Ahmed, a fourth-year life sciences student at McMaster University, who founded McMaster’s first Black Students Association;
Sam Tecle, an assistant professor of Community Engaged Learning at New College, University of Toronto, whose work focuses on Black and Diaspora Studies, Urban Studies and Sociology of Education;
Ekram Maye, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Westview Centennial Secondary School, who is a past SBL mentee and volunteer, and current SBL mentor; and
Tesfai Mengesha, executive director, Operations at SBL.

York University’s Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) Project, Faculty of Education, and Centre for Refugee Studies are partnering to present the “Reciprocal Learning in Times of Crisis” colloquium series that examines the intersections of refugee education, anti-Black racism, and COVID-19 in Canada and East Africa.

This colloquium is the first of its kind to feature experts from York University and from institutions that are comprised of or work with refugees in equal measure. Together, this series will: (1) deepen connections among refugee communities, educational leaders, and scholars within and across institutions; (2) foster a sense of reciprocity in learning; (3) recognize and validate the unique expertise that refugee communities bring to time- or resource-constrained situations; and (4) educate all attendees on a range of topics relevant to refugee education, COVID-19, and anti-Black racism.

York recognizes alumni in inaugural list of Top 30 Changemakers Under 30

March 30, 2021

York University has released its first-ever list of Top 30 Changemakers Under 30, shining a spotlight on remarkable young alumni who are making a difference in their communities, the country and around the world.

“York’s Top 30 Under 30 is a community of changemakers,” says Julie Lafford, executive director, Alumni Engagement. “Driven by passion, they create positive change and are outstanding representatives of the university, reflecting the high calibre of York alumni.”

York alumni take the education, skills and support they receive at York and develop a strong sense of purpose, a desire to create positive change, and a long-standing commitment to the public good. Those qualities are all evident in the young alumni selected.

“I am proud to know that my work with Fix the 6ix was recognized by York University,” says Deanna Lentini (BSc ’16), a physiotherapist and founder of Fix the 6ix, a thriving volunteer organization that gives back to the community and gives students opportunities to build their leadership skills. “It shows that little ideas with a lot of heart can do big things.”

Representing every Faculty at the University, these alumni are leaders working and volunteering in a variety of fields, from health and sustainability to the arts and business, and work to bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges.

“To create positive change in the world, the action starts at the local level,” says Miranda Baksh (BES ’17, MES ’19), founder and CEO of the Community Climate Council (CCC), a not-for-profit organization advocating for local climate action through enhancing climate literacy and political advocacy. “Positive change can occur when a community feels empowered and increases climate literacy and political advocacy. I hope that through our work I can keep inspiring youth, especially from underrepresented and marginalized communities, to use their voices for positive change.”

For more information on the 2021 Top 30 Changemakers Under 30, visit the website.

The 2021 Top 30 Changemakers Under 30 are:

Ajith Thiyagalingam, BA ’15, JD ’18, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Osgoode Hall Law School
Alexandra Lutchman, BA ’14, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Aurangzeb Khandwala, BA ’18, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Bailey Francis, BA ’19, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Basia Pozin, BBA ’17, Schulich School of Business
Bo Cheng, BSC ’17, MMAI ’20, Science, Schulich School of Business
Christine Edith Ntouba Dikongué, BA ’14, Glendon
Dani Roche, BDES ’13, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design
David (Xiaoyu) Wang, MSCM ’20, Schulich School of Business
David Marrello, BBA ’15, Schulich School of Business
Deanna Lentini, BSC ’16, Health
Eunice Kays, BA ’17, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Farzia Khan, BA ’17, Lassonde School of Engineering
Giancarlo Sessa, BBA ’19, Schulich School of Business
Iman Mohamed, BA ’14, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Isabella Akaliza, BA ’20, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Jillian Lynch, BA ’19, Health
Krystal Abotossaway, BHRM ’13, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Larissa Crawford, BA ’18, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Luke Reece, BA ’15, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Maneesha Gupta, JD ’17, Osgoode Hall Law School
Matthew Ravida, BCOM ’18, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Mikhaela Gray Beerman, BA ’14, MED ’18, Glendon, Education
Miranda Baksh, BES ‘17, MES ’19, Environmental & Urban Change
Nicole Doray, IBA ’17, MES ’19, Glendon, Environmental & Urban Change
Prakash Amarasooriya, BSC ’15, Health
Rana Nasrazadani, BA ’20, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Rowena Tam, BA ’17, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Shant Joshi, BFA ’17, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Shaquille Omari, BA ’15, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

IRDL visiting scholar Tracy Ying Zhang explores gender and film education at upcoming talk

March 21, 2021

On March 24, York University’s Institute for Research on Digital Literacies (IRDL) presents an engaging exploration of gender and film education by visiting faculty member Tracy Ying Zhang.

The talk, titled “’Only Homie on the Wall’: Participatory Photography as Feminist Spatial Storytelling” takes place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Zhang, who is a visiting scholar at York until September 2021, has been conducting research on issues of gender, race, inclusion and social justice in the global creative industries for the past 15 years. This discussion will focus on her Mitacs-funded research project on gender and university-based film production education, called “The making of a woman filmmaker: Gender and cultural production in a Montreal-based film school.”

The project had four main objectives: identify social-structural factors that influence women film production students’ learning experiences, career choices, and artistic approaches; understand how women students cultivate an artistic self and respond to challenges and opportunities in film school; develop connections between the film school and local progressive organizations for women content creators; and promote gender-sensitive education to increase women’s opportunities as key content creators.

“In Canada, the past five years saw increased efforts made by feminist advocacy organizations and arm’s length cultural agencies to address the underemployment issues of women directors, cinematographers, and screenwriters,” says Zhang. “However, little is known about how post-secondary institutions that teach filmmaking influence women graduates’ career choices and how film schools could be part of the pathway to gender equality in the Canadian screen industry.”

To explore these issues, she carried out fieldwork at Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, which included ethnographic observation, participatory photography, a focus group and interviews with key informants – educators, women students and alumnae. Between the winter of 2018 and summer of 2019, she collaborated with 10 women undergraduate students who were studying film production to co-produce a collection of digital photo stories, which appeared in a virtual exhibition called Women in Film Education (WIFE).

In this talk, Zhang will explain the context of this research and her rationale of choosing a participatory visual research method. By focusing on three vignettes that draw from participants’ photo stories as well as her encounters with other interlocutors in film school, she will examine several ethical and methodological issues in participatory visual research that emerged during the project.

Zhang will also talk about how this research can be mobilized as a form of feminist spatial storytelling to expose and challenge gendered and racial barriers in university settings. Specifically, she will look at three themes: researchers’ positionality and access; exposing white masculine spaces; and creating spaces of dialogue through collaborative and collective multimedia storytelling.

All members of the York community are welcome to attend this talk, which will be of particular interest to students and educators of film and media production, film and media studies, and fine arts.

YFile
Newsletter

Tag: Faculty of Education

York University posts top scores in Times Higher Education Global Impact Ranking 2021

Partnerships for the goals: Global hubs, partnerships and collaborations improved ranking in SDG 17

Sustainable cities and communities: COVID-19 research and new green buildings recognized in SDG 11

York partners with Ban Ki-moon Centre and Austrian Cultural Forum for event on transformative education for the 21st century

Report shows lessons learned from changes to sex ed curriculum relevant during COVID-19

FESI wraps up 2020-21 series with webinar that explores streaming in schooling

Speakers:

Moderator:

Join York’s president for ‘The York U of the Future’ virtual conversation, April 30

Learn about the ‘materiality of play’ during talk by emerging scholar

April Scholars’ Hub @ Home events examine 15-year Faculty of Education-YRDSB collaboration, recognize Earth Day

Virtual colloquium explores racialized implications of COVID-19 in Toronto

York recognizes alumni in inaugural list of Top 30 Changemakers Under 30

The 2021 Top 30 Changemakers Under 30 are:

IRDL visiting scholar Tracy Ying Zhang explores gender and film education at upcoming talk

Share

Partnerships for the goals: Global hubs, partnerships and collaborations improved ranking in SDG 17

Sustainable cities and communities: COVID-19 research and new green buildings recognized in SDG 11

Share

Share

Share

Speakers:

Moderator:

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

The 2021 Top 30 Changemakers Under 30 are:

Share