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Year in Review 2019: Top headlines at York University, October to December

As a new year emerges, YFile takes a look back on 2019 to share with readers a snapshot of the year’s highlights. “Year in Review” will run as a four-part series and will feature a random selection of top news stories published in YFile. Here are the stories and highlights for October to December 2019, as chosen by YFile editors.

October

Osgoode Professor Emeritus John McCamus co-recipient of 2019 Justice Medal
The Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ) has announced its Justice Medal Award will be jointly awarded to Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Emeritus John McCamus and Patrick J. LeSage, former chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

York University vision scientists disprove 60-year-old perception theory
Vision researchers at York University have disproved a long-standing theory of how the human vision system processes images, using computational models and human experiments.

New Joan and Martin Goldfarb Art Gallery will help others find their passions through art
For Joan and Martin Goldfarb, art has always been a major passion and a significant part of their lives. Now they are on a mission to help others find their own passion through art by contributing $5 million to build a new art gallery on Keele Campus.

Chris Caputo

York chemistry professor receives Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award
Chemistry Professor and Tier II Canada Research Chair Chris Caputo in the Faculty of Science has received the 2019 Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award. The award is presented to outstanding early-career faculty members at York University and is a commitment by Petro-Canada (now Suncor Energy Inc.) and the University to encourage excellence in teaching and research that will enrich the learning environment and contribute to society.

November

‘The Economist’ ranks the Schulich School of Business No. 1 in Canada
The Economist magazine has ranked the MBA program at York University’s Schulich School of Business No. 1 in Canada in the magazine’s annual survey of the world’s top 100 MBA programs.

Writer and scholar Jesse Thistle headlines 2019 Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture
The 2019 Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture will be presented by best-selling author and scholar Jesse Thistle, author of the memoir From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way (2019). Thistle’s talk will be followed by a discussion with panellists Shane Belcourt, ShoShona Kish and Jesse Wente.

Janke receiving the award from Russ Jackson

Lions football player Jacob Janke wins U SPORTS Russ Jackson Award, named all-Canadian
York University Lions football player Jacob Janke was named the recipient of the U SPORTS Russ Jackson Award on Nov. 21 as the national award winners and all-Canadians were celebrated at the annual Vanier Cup gala. Janke is the first-ever York recipient of the national award.

York U researchers play major role in advancing autonomous rail travel
Professor Gunho Sohn from the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering in the Lassonde School of Engineering is playing a major role in advancing autonomous transportation through a cutting-edge autonomous train research project.

December

The Art Gallery of York University wins major awards and accolades from OAAG
The Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) swept the 2019 Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) Awards of Excellence, and took home seven awards out of the 25 awards presented, including a special accolade for Interim Director/Curator of the AGYU, Emelie Chhangur, who received the OAAG’s inaugural Changemaker Award.

From left: Collette Murray with the President of Mod Developments, Noorez Lalani and Toronto Arts Foundation Director & CEO, Claire Hopkinson

MEd student Collette Murray wins Neighbourhood Arts Network Community Arts Award
Faculty of Education master’s student Collette Murray was awarded the 2019 Community Arts Award by Toronto Arts Foundation’s Neighbourhood Arts Network. The $10,000 award, sponsored by MOD Developments, was presented to Murray recently at a reception at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.

Introducing the 2019-20 cohort of York University President’s Ambassadors
York University has announced the students selected to participate in the second cohort of the President’s Ambassador Program. This diverse group of multi-talented undergraduate and graduate students are engaged York community members who will share their commitment for the University through various institutional events and initiatives.

Research on cloud computing earns award 10 years after publication
Professor Marin Litoiu, from York’s Lassonde School of Engineering, along with an interdisciplinary group of colleagues, have received the Most Influential Paper award for research on cloud computing that was published 10 years ago.

This concludes the Year in Review 2019 edition.

LA&PS Professor Natalie Coulter appointed director of IRDL

Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background
Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background

Professor Natalie Coulter, in the Department of Communication Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), has been appointed the new director of the Institute for Research on Digital Learning (IRDL), an Organized Research Unit (ORU) at York University. Coulter’s appointment went into effect on Jan. 1.

Natalie Coulter
Natalie Coulter

The centre has moved this year to co-leadership of the Faculty of Education and LA&PS, reflecting an expanded focus as Coulter steps into this leadership role.

IRDL has a broad mandate to engage in systematic inquiry, discussion and information sharing related to the uses of technology in teaching and learning by encouraging the formation of links with faculty members across the University and with schools, government, and industry to provide collaborative, multidisciplinary approaches to research problems and issues.

Originally established in 1987 within the Faculty of Education as the Centre for the Study of Computers in Education, the institute became a university-based research unit in June 2001 and was named IRLT at that time.

Coulter takes over from Professor Jen Jenson who was director of IRDL for more than six years. (Jenson is embarking on a new career at the University of British Columbia.)

“During my tenure at IRDL, I hope to expand IRDL’s mandate on digital learning to engage more broadly with digital cultures as informal sites of pedagogy and learning, and to produce research that responds quickly to changes in technology, media and culture,” Coulter says. She notes that IRDL will continue to promote research, scholarship, and pedagogic innovation in a digital age.

Coulter is an expert in the areas of digital culture, critical advertising studies, children’s media culture(s) and girls’ studies, with a special focus on the social construction of marketing niches such as the tween girl. She has recently published an edited collection with Communication Studies Professor Susan Driver titled Youth Mediations and Affective Relations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Her book, Tweening the Girl:  The Crystallization of the Tween Market, was published by Peter Lang’s Mediated Youth Series in 2014.

She is a founding member of the Association for Research on the Cultures of Young People.

With funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, she presently has two research projects underway – one on the embodied tween, living girlhood in global and digital spaces; and another on digital childhood and fandom.

For more information, visit the ORU’s website.

York partners to organize international conference on Education for Sustainable Development

More than 200 teacher educators, policy makers and practitioners met in Okayama, Japan in November to explore and discuss new trends in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The 2019 Global Conference of Teacher Education of ESD was co-organized by the UNESCO Chair at Okayama University, Atsufumi Yokoi, and York University’s UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, Charles Hopkins.

Charles Hopkins
Charles Hopkins

During the conference, many presentations focused on Indigenous education and participants shared best practices and experiences from projects from across all UN regions.

Attendees from the post-secondary education sector celebrated the adoption of a new framework “Education for Sustainable Development: Beyond 2019” and committed to promote that ESD be fully embedded in their institutions.

The four-day international conference highlighted that educating the next generation for a sustainable future is a key element of quality education and a crucial enabler achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For the past 20 years, the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (INTEI), coordinated by the UNESCO Chair at York University, has played an important role in implementing ESD and providing evidence-based knowledge for UNESCO.

Looking forward, Hopkins, together with his team and the INTEI, said they plan to contribute to UNESCO’s efforts to make education a transformative force for sustainability, and set a strong focus on ESD for Indigenous youth.

York University – ranked among the Top 5 in Canada and 26th in the world for “impact” in the new Times Higher Education ranking – supports the network collaboration and international research that serves the United Nations to strengthen its international outreach.

Hopkins holds the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at York University, where he coordinates two research networks focused on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). One network is comprised of teacher education institutions spanning 70 countries aiming to embed ESD to improve the education. The second network, covering 40 countries, particularly focuses on Indigenous youth. Hopkins consults for institutions worldwide including governments, universities and school systems. He is advisor to the UNU’s network of Regional Centres of Expertise, UNESCO-UNEVOC and co-director of the Asia-Pacific Institute on ESD, China.

MEd student Collette Murray wins Neighbourhood Arts Network Community Arts Award

Pictured left to right: Collette Murray with the President of Mod Developments, Noorez Lalani and Toronto Arts Foundation Director & CEO, Claire Hopkinson

Faculty of Education master’s student Collette Murray has been awarded the 2019 Community Arts Award by Toronto Arts Foundation’s Neighbourhood Arts Network. The $10,000 award, sponsored by MOD Developments, was presented to Murray recently at a reception at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.

Also known as “Miss Coco,” Murray is an award-winning artist, social entrepreneur, cultural arts programmer, dance educator, mentor, performer and writer. She is the director of Miss Coco Murray, a mobile dance education business, and the artistic director of Coco Collective, an inter-generational, multi-disciplinary team of artists offering collaborative arts-based projects. Her performance background includes traditional West African drum/dance and Caribbean folk dance.

Pictured left to right: Collette Murray with the President of Mod Developments Noorez Lalani and Toronto Arts Foundation Director and CEO Claire Hopkinson

In 2013, Murray was the recipient of the Canadian Dance Assembly’s “I love Community” dance award. In 2014, Murray held dance workshops in South Africa during her York U study abroad courses. She also taught the creative arts program at Hamutsha Primary School and facilitated a Ministry of Education dance workshop for 200 educators/principals for the Limpopo District School Board in South Africa. She continues to develop cultural arts-based opportunities across Ontario, such as a dance mentorship program funded by Ontario’s Black Youth Action Plan and Afrodance 101, a completed SPARK project with the City of Toronto’s Cultural Hotspot.

As an MEd candidate in the Faculty of Education, Murray’s research focuses on the successes and challenges of culturally responsive artists teaching in the Ontario education system. This research centers around the experiences and perspectives of African, Caribbean and Black arts educators working with diverse student populations. The findings offer recommendations to boards, educators and administration to better understand the cultural artist’s role, circumstances faced and how their culturally relevant art impacts Ontario classrooms.

“This is an excellent recognition of Collette’s critical and creative work which is adding to the development of artistic skills and furthering of cultural knowledge, not only among students and educators, but also the wider community,” said Faculty of Education Professor and current Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, Carl James.  “Indeed, Collette’s international reach and her innovative and meaningful work toward the advancement of African, Caribbean and Black art and culture affirm how much she is well-deserving of this award.”

Established in 2013 as the Arts Diversity Award, the award was re-named the Community Arts Award in 2018. The $10,000 cash prize celebrates an individual that has made a significant contribution in Toronto by working with, in and for communities, while creating access and inclusion to arts and culture. This year’s award jury included: spoken-word poet Britta Badour; Charles Hong, artistic director of Ensemble Jeng Yi; Lindy Kinoshameg, community engagement facilitator at Young People’s Theatre; lyricist and spoken-word poet Brittany Exmiranda Manu; and, multidisciplinary artist Nadijah Robinson.

“This overwhelming honour recognizes my unwavering dedication to ensuring generations and neighbourhoods experience the multiple ways cultural arts and knowledge impacts communities,” said Murray upon receiving the award. “This award affirms that I continue my socially innovative pathway so that cultural arts work thrives and that African, Caribbean and Black creative excellence is valued.”

Northern community now engaged with York-based archive

Know I am Here (building and artwork in Churchill)

Two York University professors recently brought a digital open-access archive of internationally acclaimed scientific research back to a northern community.

Professor Steven Alsop, Faculty of Education, and Professor Dawn Bazely, Department of Biology, made the long trip to Churchill, Man. in late October to engage the community in an open-access archive of Churchill-based research that is housed at YorkSpace, York University’s institutional repository. Their efforts were funded by Wapusk National Park.

Know I am Here (building and artwork in Churchill)

Churchill is known as the ‘Polar Bear Capital of the World’ because one of the largest concentrations of polar bears worldwide gathers there each winter, waiting for the ice to freeze. The town, population 800, located at the 59th parallel, is home to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. For decades, researchers from around the world – including Bazely, who did her master’s degree research in Churchill – have worked there, studying the subarctic region’s flora and fauna. Research conducted in the centre has played a key role in global climate change predictions and associated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports.

Bazely has been the prime curator of the free archive, called the Churchill Community of Knowledge archive. Its information has been collected with the help of scientists who spent much of their academic lives in Churchill; 50 York University students have been assisting by digitizing selected artifacts. The archive contains not only the research, but the scientists’ notebooks and photos, which document life in Churchill during their time.

Bazely and Alsop want to encourage the community to keep the archive alive with their own photos and stories of the town over the years. It is part of a broader project of curating the natural and cultural history of a special and highly influential, albeit remote, place.

The polar bear statue with the Manitoba Seaport sign, and the railway line with the grain elevator in the back ground (Churchill, Man.)

“We wanted to bring the archive back to the Churchill community,” said Alsop, whose research considers how members of the public can learn from scientists and how scientists can learn from members of the public. “We were trying to engage people in how the archive might be helpful and allow them to see themselves in the archive and in the world-renowned scientific research that is part of their community’s history.

“After all, the science research that has taken place here is only made possible by support of the community around it. The archive, in this respect, seeks a situated representation of scientific work – work that is always within particular social, cultural, ecological and community contexts. If this archive is going to live, the different groups associated with the scientific research need to identify and see themselves in it.”

During their visit, Alsop and Bazely scheduled a series of public and targeted talks, presentations and meetings with key people in the community to introduce the archive, get feedback and talk about its value to Churchill. Their audiences included staff from Wapusk National Park, park visitors, the Churchill Northern Science Centre’s science team and students in grades 5 to 9 at the local Duke of Marlborough School. They also met with the local librarian/archivist, local museum staff, the executive director of Polar Bear International and a Sayisi-Dene culturalist. Bazely also did an interview on CBC Radio.

“Although a digital archive might not sound like the sexiest topic in the world, we were overwhelmed by the profoundly positive reaction,” Alsop said. “We became aware of the transformative possibilities of natural history and scientific research: a small town, on the cusp of the arctic recognizing its fundamental role and value in the future of the world.”

As a result, he has agreed to explore grant opportunities for a more formal conference about the value of these kinds of online archives, and future possibilities and directions for the Churchill Community of Knowledge. He also plans to work with local Churchill artists on the possibility of a youth-focused theatre production, exploring the life of students in Churchill, and connecting this with the digital archive. Meanwhile, Bazely will help the local librarian/archivist explore how the archive could support local historical projects/research.

“It’s wonderful that the community wanted this and wanted to be part of it,” Alsop said. “It feeds so nicely into the local ‘know I am here’ narrative that was so beautifully captured by the town’s Seawalls project, co-ordinated by the Winnipeg artist Kal Barteski.”

Article originally posted by the Faculty of Education and written by Elaine Smith, special contributing writer

Symposium at York brings together scholars whose work is influenced by the sea

An interdisciplinary symposium presented by the Faculty of Education and Founders College at York will bring together scholars whose work is variously touched by the sea.
Pedagogies of the Sea takes place Nov. 20 and will explore a range of themes including:
  • the sea as traumatic rupture and transformational change, confinement and freedom;
  • the sea as ecology in a time of climate change and ‘blue economies’;
  • what it means to think about the affect of the ‘forms and forces’ of the sea; and
  • what pedagogical lessons may be drawn from the sea to think beyond the sea.
Sunset over rough water of Baltic Sea seen from a tourist boat in Leba town, Poland

The one-day symposium will include morning presentations and an afternoon keynote. The morning presentations will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. and will be given by York University faculty members and guest presenters. Those presenting include: Othon Alexandrakis, Katherine Anderson, Tyler Ball, Arun Chaudhuri, Andrea Davis, Ken Little, Andrea Madovarski, Patrick Taylor, Sandra Widmer, Anna Zalik, Rinaldo Walcott and Yutaka Yoshida. The conference convenor is York Professor Daniel Yon.

The keynote presentation will be delivered from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Isabel Hormeyr

Titled “Pedagogies of the Sea: hydrocolonial perspectives,” the keynote will be delivered by  Professor Isabel Hofmeyr of the WITS University in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hofmeyr is also a Global Distinguished Professor at New York University, U.S.

Hofmeyr’s presentation will focus on how rising sea levels have shifted the ways in which we do oceanic studies. Whereas older styles of oceanic histories treated the sea as surface and backdrop for human movement at sea, a new oceanic studies seeks to engage with the materiality of the ocean, attempting analytically to go off shore and below the water line. This scholarship seeks to make visible the deep-seated land- and human-orientations of much research. Terming these “dry technologies”, this work seeks to “immerse” concepts and theories to produce new modes of analysis. Using the rubric of hydrocolonialism, this talk will outline a range of emerging methods and techniques, exploring how these might be employed as pedagogies of the sea.

The event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President Research, the Faculty of Environmental Studies, and the Departments of Anthropology and Humanities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

The symposium runs in Room 305, Founders College and is open to all. For more information including descriptions of the morning presentations, view the symposium program.

Founders College students network with alumni at Meet Your Major event

Alumni: (L-R) Elizabeth Hanna, Melanie Taddeo, Robert Cerjanec, Alexander Lovell, Nivedita Lane, Natasha Prashad, Joanne Huy, Mark Stehlin, Lisa Brown

Founders College hosted its Meet Your Major event for the second year on Oct. 29, offering current students an opportunity to meet and converse with Founders College alumni.

This year’s alumni consisted of nine individuals, a mix of recent and older graduates, working in fields including: government, education, non-profit, environment and more, and were graduates of York majoring in history, health sciences, fine arts, environmental studies, geography, and human rights and equity studies.

From left: Alumni Elizabeth Hanna, Melanie Taddeo, Robert Cerjanec, Alexander Lovell, Nivedita Lane, Natasha Prashad, Joanne Huy, Mark Stehlin and Lisa Brown

This event has more than 40 participants and took took a speed-friending approach, moving the alumni around every 10 to 15 minutes to engage with a new group of students. Students gained a wide range of insight on topics including the alumni’s university experience, their struggles, their tips on what employers look for, interview strategies, going back to school and career possibilities.

“(The event) was really refreshing and reminded me why it’s so important to share your experiences with others, who may find some insights and direction from it,” said Lisa Brown, kinesiology and health sciences alumna (’03).

Not only does the event aim to help current students, it gives alumni the opportunity to give back to their college community as well as mentor those students.

“It was an amazing opportunity to connect with former students who were once in the same position as the rest of us and learn from their success,” said Mark Tricarico, third year, geography.

York alumna to deliver talk on education in Kenyan Refugee Camps

The Institute for Research on Digital Learning (IRDL) at York University will open its 2019-20 Speaker Series with a talk by Negin Dahya on “Feminist and Sociotechnical Perspectives on Education in Kenyan Refugee Camps” on Nov. 20.

Negin Dahya

Dahya has been conducting research on the topic of refugee education and technology since 2011 when she became involved with the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees project. In this talk, Dahya will address the roles of society and technology in relation to gender equity and education, and the much-needed next steps in education and technology research in refugee camp settings.

Drawn from interviews, surveys and focus group discussions with refugee women and men, Dahya’s work provides rich insight into the ways information and communication technologies support both access to higher education in the Dadaab refugee camps and teachers’ access to professional development and peer-to-peer support communities locally and globally in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.

Dahya completed her PhD from York University’s Faculty of Education and worked for five years at the University of Washington Information School in Seattle before returning to Toronto. Her current appointment at the University of Toronto is with the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information. She is a co-convener of the Inter-Network Agency for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Technology and Education Task Team.

The event will begin with an opening talk by Mohamed Duale on “Teachers in Displacement: Learning from the Dadaab Camps.”

It runs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 305, York Lanes, Keele Campus. To learn more, visit the IRDL event page.

York University signs memorandum of understanding with the University of East Anglia

Neil Ward and Lyndon Martin shaking hands
Professor Neil Ward, deputy vice-chancellor UEA and Lyndon Martin, dean, Faculty of Education, York University

York University Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between York University and the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, England, on behalf of York University’s Faculty of Education.

Pictured, from left: Professor Neil Ward, deputy vice-chancellor, UEA; and Lyndon Martin, dean, Faculty of Education, York University

The MOU signifies the positive academic relations between the two institutions and provides a model for future collaboration in the area of education.

“The [UEA’s] School of Education & Lifelong Learning is one of the U.K.’s premier schools of education,” said Lyndon Martin, dean of the Faculty of Education. “We look forward to collaborating with them and building a deeper relationship across all aspects of our work.”

The MOU focuses on exploring collaborative opportunities, including student and faculty exchanges, joint degree programs, and working together on research and other projects.

The MOU was signed by Philipps and Professor Neil Ward, deputy vice-chancellor of UEA, in August.

UEA is ranked in the top 15 in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017, and its School of Education & Lifelong Learning is one of the U.K.’s premier centres for teaching and research in professional education and training.

Upcoming events explore decolonization, social movements and performance in the Caribbean and Canada, 1968-88

Cropped globe on a table

In response to increased inequality, dispossession and violence, scholars, artists, students and community members from North America and the Caribbean will gather in Toronto from Oct. 24 to 26 for an event series titled “Decolonization, Social Movements and Performance in the Caribbean and Canada 1968-1988.” The events, co-organized by York University Associate Professor Honor Ford-Smith, will explore decolonization between 1968 and 1988 through the lens of performance and ask what this period’s repertoire of knowledge has to offer decolonial visions and struggles in the present.

The events will take places as follows:

Hands-on performance workshop with Diane Roberts, PhD candidate, Concordia University
“The Arrivals Legacy Project: Navigating Loss, Reviving Stories of Recovery and Return”
Oct. 24, 1 to 3 p.m., Dance Annex, 527 Bloor St. W.

Hands-on performance workshop with Camille Turner, PhD student, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
“Slavery Happened Here: An Afronautic Research Lab”
Oct. 24, 3:30 to 6 p.m., Media Commons Theatre, Robarts Library, 130 St. George St., University of Toronto

Opening reception and book launch of The Coup Clock Clicks by Brian Meeks
Featuring readings by Carol Lawes, Lillian Allen, Canisia Lubrin, Oonya Kempadoo and more.
Oct. 24, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., A Different Booklist, 779 Bathurst St.

Keynote by Erna Brodber, Jamaican novelist and activist
“After the Looking Glass: Blackspace and Emancipation”
Oct. 25, 6:30 to 8 p.m., George Ignatieff Theatre, Trinity College in the University of Toronto, 6 Hoskin Avenue

Panels and roundtables
Program available on the event website.
Oct. 25 and 26, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 305 Founders College, York University

All of these events are free and open to the public.

The events are sponsored by: the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, York University; the deans of the Faculty of Environmental Studies and Education, York University; the Chair of the Department of Humanities, York University; the Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean, York University; the Centre for Feminist Research, York University; the African & African Diaspora Knowledge Initiative Project, Brown University; the Humanities Research Institute, Brock University; the Women & Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto; the Graduate Program in Theatre & Performance Studies, York University; and Reclaiming Justice: Memory and Memorialization of Violence.

The events were organized by: B. Anthony Bogues, director of the Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice, Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, Brown University; Ronald Cummings, associate professor of English, language and literature, Brock University; and Honor Ford-Smith, associate professor, cultural and artistic practices for social and environmental justice, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University.

For more information about the events, visit decolonization.info.yorku.ca.