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A message to the University community on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Artwork by Métis (Otipemisiwak) artist Christi Belcourt

Dear colleagues,

Today (Sept. 30) marks the first annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This new day of remembrance and reflection falls on what has been previously known as Orange Shirt Day. The day is intended to provide space for ongoing discussions of truth and reconciliation, and time for us to pause and reflect on the continued legacy of inter-generational trauma caused by the Indian residential school system in Canada.

Residential schools operated in Canada from 1831 to 1996. Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities, often around this time of year, and brought to residential schools across the country. Many of these children never returned home.

With the recent discoveries of unmarked graves at residential schools in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and a large number of investigations still underway, we grieve with the survivors, the families of those who were lost, and Indigenous communities everywhere for the immense trauma and loss caused by the residential school system.

In light of the truths we are faced with, as a place of higher education and learning, we must take time to acknowledge our role in a colonial system of education, and our responsibility to uphold the recommendations put forward in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action (Appels à l’action de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada). Today, we encourage you to wear orange in honour of the victims and survivors, to learn more about the residential school system and its ongoing legacy, and to consider the actions you can take individually or collectively to support reconciliation efforts.

We hope that you will be able to join us today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. as we pause to remember the victims and survivors of residential schools, to reflect on reconciliation in action at York, and to acknowledge and honour the strength and resilience of Indigenous community members.

If you are not able to join us, we encourage you to take time to explore York’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation website, attend another one of the events taking place across the university community, and commit to learning and setting actionable goals for reconciliation.

Let us all identify ways to decolonize our practices and systems, and to learn, understand, and teach about the ongoing impacts of Canada’s colonial history.

We know that this day, as well as its events and messages, may trigger trauma for many Indigenous members of our community, especially those who are survivors or with close personal or family ties to experiences in the residential schools, and we encourage all of our community members to please be kind to one another. Support is available for survivors and those affected through the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066 or on the 24-hour crisis line at 1-866-925-4419. There are also a variety of supports available to the York community, which are listed on the Mental Health and Wellness site and through the Employee and Family Assistance Program.

Miigwech. Thank you. Merci.

Rhonda Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor

Sheila Cote-Meek
Vice-President, Equity, People & Culture

Message pour la première Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation

Chers collègues, chères collègues,

Nous célébrons aujourd’hui la toute première Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation. Cette journée de commémoration et de réflexion remplace l’ancien Jour du chandail orange. Elle vise à fournir un forum pour des discussions sur la vérité et la réconciliation ainsi qu’un temps de réflexion sur l’héritage continu des traumatismes intergénérationnels causés par le système des pensionnats autochtones au Canada.

Ces pensionnats ont existé au Canada de 1831 à 1996. Les enfants autochtones étaient enlevés à leur famille et à leur communauté, souvent à cette époque de l’année, et emmenés dans des pensionnats dans tout le pays. Beaucoup d’entre eux ne sont jamais rentrés à la maison.

Avec la découverte récente de sépultures anonymes dans des pensionnats en Colombie-Britannique, en Saskatchewan et au Manitoba, et avec un grand nombre d’enquêtes non résolues, nous partageons le chagrin des survivants, des familles de ceux qui ont disparu et des communautés autochtones du monde entier résultant des immenses pertes et traumatismes causés par le système des pensionnats. 

Des responsabilités nous incombent en tant qu’établissement d’enseignement supérieur et d’apprentissage et nous devons prendre le temps de reconnaître notre rôle dans un système d’éducation colonial et respecter les recommandations formulées dans les Appels à l’action de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada. Aujourd’hui, nous vous encourageons à porter la couleur orange en l’honneur des victimes et des survivants, à vous informer sur le système des pensionnats et ses séquelles, et à réfléchir aux actions que vous pouvez prendre individuellement ou collectivement pour soutenir les efforts de réconciliation. 

Nous espérons que vous pourrez vous joindre à nous aujourd’hui de 11 h à 13 h pour commémorer les victimes et les survivants des pensionnats, pour réfléchir aux actions de réconciliation à York, et pour reconnaître et honorer la force et la résilience des membres de la communauté autochtone. 

Si cela n’est pas possible, nous vous encourageons à prendre le temps d’explorer le site Web de la Journée nationale de vérité et de réconciliation de York, d’assister à l’un des événements organisés dans la communauté universitaire et de vous engager à apprendre et à fixer des objectifs concrets en matière de réconciliation. 

Trouvons ensemble des moyens de décoloniser nos pratiques et nos systèmes et assurons-nous d’apprendre et de comprendre les effets continus de l’histoire coloniale du Canada.

Nous savons que cette journée — ainsi que les événements et les messages qui y sont associés — peut provoquer des traumatismes chez de nombreux membres autochtones de notre communauté, en particulier chez les survivants ou ceux qui ont des liens personnels ou familiaux étroits avec les expériences vécues dans les pensionnats. Nous invitons tous les membres de notre communauté à faire preuve de bienveillance les uns envers les autres. Les survivants et les personnes touchées peuvent obtenir du soutien auprès de la Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society au 1-800-721-0066 ou avec la ligne d’écoute téléphonique en tout temps au 1-866-925-4419. Il existe également de nombreuses possibilités de soutien pour la communauté de York : vous trouverez notamment une liste sur le site de la santé mentale et du bien-être à York et dans le cadre du Programme d’aide aux employés et à la famille.

Miigwech. Merci. Thank you.

Rhonda Lenton
Présidente et vice-chancelière

Sheila Cote-Meek
Vice-présidente de l’équité, des personnes et de la culture

Cognitive Science Speaker Series talk explores real intelligence

Lightbulb on chalkboard

On Oct. 6, the Cognitive Science Speaker Series returns with a discussion titled “Real intelligence: Avoiding substitution bias, echo chambers and philosophical laundering” featuring Lisa Miracchi, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Headshot of Lisa Miracchi, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania
Lisa Miracchi

Miracchi argues for what she calls a stance of “practical emergence” towards intelligence and related kinds such as perception, knowledge and action. Practical emergence is a commitment in explanatory practice to treating higher-level kinds as distinct from lower-level kinds, such that they cannot be reductively identified in lower-level terms, and to assuming that explanations of them in terms of lower-level kinds may be substantive, in that behaviour of higher-level kinds cannot be logically or mathematically deduced from lower-level behaviour.

Miracchi will flesh out this stance using the Generative Framework for explaining how higher-level kinds obtain in virtue of lower-level kinds. Then, she will show how this stance of practical emergence, bolstered by the Generative Framework, prevents three main pitfalls affecting much contemporary cognitive science, artificial intelligence and robotics research. Miracchi will use examples from contemporary cognitive science and engineering to demonstrate the payoff of retaining higher-level vocabulary in intelligence research. Lastly, she will discuss some important ethical implications of adopting this approach.

The Cognitive Science Speaker Series is presented by York University’s Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. All talks take place on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. via Zoom. Prior to each talk, the Zoom link will be emailed to all students and faculty from the cognitive science and philosophy departments. Those who want to attend but are not in those departments can email Professor Jacob Beck at jbeck@yorku.ca from a York email address to request the Zoom link.

Orange shirts available for purchase at York U Bookstore

Every Child Matters shirt - design by Peggy Pitawanakwat
Every Child Matters shirt (design by Peggy Pitawanakwat)

The York U Bookstore is now selling “Every Child Matters” orange shirts, which are available to order online or purchase in store.

Design by artist Peggy Pitawanakwat
Design by artist Peggy Pitawanakwat

University community members are invited to wear an orange shirt on Sept. 30 and join the journey toward reconciliation.

The design (pictured here) was created by artist Peggy Pitawanakwat, a former chief of the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island. She is treasurer for Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society, which is working to break the cycle of Indigenous women’s over-representation in Canada’s prisons; co-ordinator of First Peoples at Seneca College; and a member of the Thunderbird Clan.

The image on the T-shirt is being used as part of the official ceremony for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

All profits from the sales of these shirts will support the Orange Shirt Society and the Seneca College Indigenous Student Bursary Fund.

Quick facts about the shirts:

  • Shirts are available in sizes from small to 5XL.
  • The T-shirts sell for $19.99 in store and online.
  • The bookstore is open to the public.
  • For online orders, shipping in Canada is $2.99 and there is also a free pickup option by appointment.

To order online, visit the York U Bookstore website.

Key reminders about York University’s vaccination mandate

A photo with a black backgroud that features two vials of COVID-19 vaccine and a syringe

Dear York community,

As recently announced by the province, Ontarians will need to provide proof of vaccination to access certain businesses and services from Sept. 22 onward. You may already be aware that this can impact different spaces located on York’s campuses and you will be required to have proof of vaccination ready to show if and when it is requested.

The University’s vaccine policy is integral to our ongoing commitment to health and safety. As a reminder, you are required to have received your second dose of a two-dose series or a complete one-dose series by Oct. 5 in order to continue accessing York’s campuses from Oct. 19 onward, including for the winter term. If you have not received a Health Canada-approved vaccine, please see this update for next steps.

To ensure our continued alignment with this direction, all York University employees will be required to disclose their vaccination status through YU Screen by no later than Oct. 5. Additionally, all students who will be accessing York campuses for any activity will be required to disclose their vaccination status by this date.

Until Oct.18, if you are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or seeking an exemption, you must participate in York’s testing program, with FAQs available here. All University community members can access free rapid testing (followed by a PCR test should the rapid test come back positive) up to two times per week. Testing is provided by registered clinicians and, please note, you must pass YU Screen before coming to clinics.

If you are a guest or a visitor to York’s campuses, you must use YU Screen before coming to York’s campuses to confirm that you are not currently experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 and to confirm your vaccination status before visiting.

We appreciate your commitment to keeping our campuses safe this fall. Here is a reminder of key dates that relate to York’s vaccine policy:

Key Dates

• Sept. 28 to 30: Vaccine clinics continue to run at the Aviva Centre on Keele Campus. You do not need an appointment and will be required to show one piece of identification.
• Oct. 5: All York University employees and students who are accessing York’s campuses must disclose vaccination status through YU Screen.
• Oct. 19: All University community members must be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption in order to access campuses for the fall and winter terms. Those with an approved exemption will continue to participate in York’s COVID-19 Testing Program, with FAQs available here.

Thank you for continuing to use YU Screen before coming to campus on the days you are scheduled to be present this fall. For the latest updates relating to health and safety with respect to the pandemic, please continue to visit the Better Together website.

Sincerely,

Parissa Safai
Special Advisor to the President for Academic Continuity Planning and COVID-19 Response

Rappels importants au sujet de la politique de vaccination obligatoire de York

Chers membres de la communauté de York,

Comme annoncé récemment par la province, les Ontariens et Ontariennes devront fournir une preuve de vaccination pour accéder à certaines entreprises et à certains services à partir du 22 septembre. Vous connaissez peut-être déjà les répercussions que cela aura sur les différents espaces des campus de York. Vous devrez notamment présenter une preuve de vaccination si on vous le demande.

La politique de vaccination de l’Université fait partie intégrante de notre engagement envers la santé et la sécurité. Nous vous rappelons que vous devez avoir reçu la deuxième dose d’une série de vaccins à deux doses ou une série complète de vaccins à une seule dose avant le 5 octobre pour pouvoir continuer à fréquenter les campus de York à partir du 19 octobre, y compris durant le trimestre d’hiver. Si vous n’avez pas encore reçu un vaccin approuvé par Santé Canada, veuillez consulter cette mise à jour pour connaître les prochaines étapes. 

Afin de garantir le respect continu de cette orientation, tous les employés de l’Université York devront déclarer leur statut vaccinal dans l’outil YU dépistage le 5 octobre au plus tard. De plus, tous les étudiants qui se rendront sur les campus de York pour quelque activité que ce soit devront déclarer leur statut vaccinal à cette date.

Jusqu’au 18 octobre, si vous n’êtes pas vacciné, si vous êtes partiellement vacciné/vaccine ou si vous demandez une exemption, vous devez participer au programme de dépistage de York; une FAQ à ce sujet est disponible ici. Tous les membres de la communauté universitaire peuvent obtenir un test de dépistage gratuit (suivi d’un test PCR si le test rapide est positif) jusqu’à deux fois par semaine. Les tests sont effectués par des cliniciens agréés. Veuillez noter qu’il faut d’abord « réussir » l’autoévaluation dans YU Dépistage avant de se présenter aux cliniques.  

Si vous êtes invité/invitée ou en visite sur les campus de York, vous devez utiliser l’outil YU Dépistage avant de venir pour confirmer que vous ne présentez actuellement aucun symptôme de la COVID-19 et confirmer votre statut vaccinal avant votre visite.

Nous vous remercions pour votre engagement envers la sécurité de nos campus cet automne. Voici un rappel des dates clés associées à la politique de vaccination de York :

Dates importantes

  • 28 au 30 septembre : Les cliniques de vaccination se poursuivent au Centre Aviva sur le campus Keele. Vous n’avez pas besoin de prendre rendez-vous. Vous devrez présenter une pièce d’identité.
  • 5 octobre : Tous les membres de la population étudiante et du personnel de l’Université York qui se rendent sur les campus de l’Université doivent déclarer leur statut vaccinal dans YU Dépistage.
  • 19 octobre : Tous les membres de la communauté universitaire doivent être entièrement vaccinés ou avoir une exemption approuvée pour fréquenter les campus durant les trimestres d’automne et d’hiver. Les personnes ayant une exemption approuvée continueront à participer au programme de dépistage de la COVID-19 de York; une FAQ à ce sujet est disponible ici.

Merci de bien vouloir utiliser l’outil YU Dépistage avant de venir sur le campus les jours où votre présence est prévue cet automne. Pour les dernières mises à jour sur la santé et la sécurité dans le cadre de la pandémie, veuillez consulter le site Better Together.

Sincères salutations,

Parissa Safai
Conseillère spéciale de la présidente pour la planification de la continuité académique et la réponse à la COVID-19

Robarts Centre announces Barbara Godard and Odessa award recipients

Image announcing Awards

Two York University students have earned academic awards for their work advancing Canadian studies. The prizes, awarded by York’s Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, recognize one graduate and one undergraduate student every year.

The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best York University Dissertation in Canadian Studies recipient is Andrew Zealley, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC), for “Risky Beeswax: Artistic Responses to the Biopolitics of HIV/AIDS.” The recipient of the Odessa Prize for the best undergraduate paper in a fourth-year course is Emily Belmonte for “Understanding Treaty One: Subsistence and Survival 1871-1888.”

The Barbara Godard Prize

Andrew Zealley (photo by Walter Segers)
Andrew Zealley (photo by Walter Segers)

Zealley’s work maps the artistic response to the complex and contradictory experience of living with HIV-AIDS within the Toronto gay community. He uses audio, video and writing to argue for experiential and situated knowledges as forms of HIV management and prevention.

“I want people to understand that pleasure is possible; pleasure is within grasp if we can learn to let go of – or refuse – institutionalized mandates around sex and intimate relationships,” he says. “I want people to find ways to talk about their personal health goals during sexual moments, to integrate sexual health talk into sexual play. I hope that people will better understand, through my work, the insidious role that gentrification plays in our pleasure lives. Homogeneity poisons imaginations and desires.”

The prize adjudication committee praised his research for exposing the underlying tensions between art and scholarly practice as processes for understanding this experience, by sourcing material often inaccessible or undervalued by institutional research. Overall, the committee noted the thesis provides a timely reminder of the numerous social discourses that continue to pathologize HIV-AIDS.

Zealley is currently working on multiple projects, both in an artistic and academic capacity. He is part of the Wetrospective exhibition at the AGO this month and has a new vinyl LP record, The Magic of the Think Machine Gods, releasing in October. He is also working on research projects with EUC graduate Peter Hobbs and Nick Mulé, a professor in York’s School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS); and participating as a video maker in “Viral Interventions,” a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and overseen by EUC Professor Sarah Flicker and Associate Professor John Greyson of York’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD).

The Odessa Prize

Emily Belmonte
Emily Belmonte

Belmonte’s essay was completed under the supervision of Professor Sean Kheraj (Department of History, LA&PS) as part of the fourth-year Honours Thesis Seminar (HIST 4000). Her honours thesis focused on interpreting Treaty One (with the Chippewa and Cree Indians of Manitoba) and examining the events leading up to the signing, as well as the immediate aftermath in the 1870s.

“Canadians should not only be interested, but they should feel a sense of urgency to learn about the history of the land they are privileged to live on and how its first people were treated so shamefully at the hands of the government,” says Belmonte. “Canadians need to understand the treaty-making period, how we are all treaty people, and how there were very specific promises and rights granted to Indigenous people during the treaty process that were never upheld in a very deliberate process in order to secure land acquisition and pave the way for agrarian settlement.”

The prize committee recognized her work as a thoughtful and well-considered synthesis of scholarship on the history of Canada’s colonial expansion into the northwest. The committee noted the thesis is exceptionally well-organized and well-written, and demonstrates great care and sophistication in sorting out the layers of events and meanings surrounding this critical moment in Canadian history.

Belmonte is entering her final year at York and aims to graduate in June 2022 with a degree in both history and education. She plans to become a teacher with her certification to teach at the primary and junior levels, “but one day I may also consider teaching history at the senior and intermediate levels as well,” she says.

The work of both prize recipients was nominated by the Robarts Centre for the Canadian Studies Network – Réseau d’études canadiennes prizes for the Best PhD Dissertation and Best Undergraduate Essay Prize in Canadian Studies. Belmonte’s essay earned the Best Canadian Studies Undergraduate Essay/Thesis Prize and was noted for being well-written and carefully documented, and was highlighted as an example of undergraduate scholarship of very high quality, according to the Canadian Studies Network in their congratulatory email.

Zealley and Belmonte were both interviewed about their work by the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Read those reflections here.

About the prizes

The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best York University Dissertation in Canadian Studies, which has been awarded annually since 2012, is named in memory of Professor Barbara Godard, former Avie Bennett Historica Chair of Canadian Literature and former professor of English, French, social and political thought, and women’s studies at York University. The Odessa Prize for the Study of Canada, first awarded in 2011, was established through the generosity of York alumnus Irvin Studin (BBA Schulich, PhD Osgoode Hall Law School), who dedicated the award to his parents who hailed from the famous port city of Odessa, Ukraine. Learn more about these prizes at robarts.info.yorku.ca/awards.

LA&PS Moving Forward Webinar Series announces second season

People on a video call

In September 2020, York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) launched the Moving Forward Webinar Series. It invited students, alumni, faculty, staff and other friends of York into meaningful conversations about how to “move forward” in uncertain times. The series resonated strongly with the community, attracting hundreds of participants, and past webinar recordings continue to see engagement.

Pictured: Nick Moumos, Rochelle Ford, Sujata Berry, Tom Doulos, Toni-Lynn Raponi and Lily Cho
The panellists for the season’s first Moving Forward webinar are: Nick Moumos (top left), Rochelle Ford (top right), Sujata Berry (middle left), Tom Doulos (middle right) and Toni-Lynn Raponi (bottom left). Lily Cho (bottom right) will be the host

Due to its success, the Moving Forward Webinar Series is back for a second season. This year, successful York alumni will be asked for their unique takes on progress, drawing on one of the following three sub-themes:

  • how students can move forward in their academic and career goals;
  • how communities and organizations are moving forward on issues of equity and social justice; and
  • how organizations are moving forward in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The season’s first webinar is titled “Being a first-generation student: What it means to be first in your family to go to university.” Join the conversation virtually on Oct. 5 from noon to 1 p.m. Discussion topics will include: how the panellists mapped out the uncharted territory of being first-generation university students; the challenges they faced and overcame; the resources that supported them; and the difference a degree has ultimately made in their lives and careers. A question-and-answer period will follow the panel discussion.

The webinar panellists are as follows: Nick Moumos, associate vice-president of product development at Canada Life; Rochelle Ford, founder, CEO, and career and well-being coach for professional moms at Queen Success by Rochelle; Sujata Berry, temporary project lead at CBC; Tom Doulos, vice-president of customer experience at Endy Canada Inc.; and Toni-Lynn Raponi, associate vice-president of corporate and public affairs at TD. Lily Cho, associate dean of global and community engagement at York, will be the host.

Future Moving Forward webinar topics will include “The Evolution of In-Person Sport” and “Careers in Disaster and Emergency Management.” Each webinar will feature either a one-on-one interview or a panel discussion with high-level decision-makers from various fields, offering unique insights gained through first-hand experiences.

For more information about the webinar series and upcoming topics, visit the Moving Forward website. All are welcome to attend.

Invitation to University event on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Artwork by Métis (Otipemisiwak) artist Christi Belcourt

La version française suit la version anglaise.

Dear colleagues and students, 

As many of you may be aware, Sept. 30 has been declared by the federal government to be the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to learn about and reflect upon the intergenerational trauma and harm resulting from the residential school system across Canada, a day to honour survivors, and a day to recognize the strength and resiliency of Indigenous Peoples and communities. 

As we are still dealing with the restrictions related to the pandemic, and as the University will remain open, we will be hosting a virtual event for our community members, where we will come together to pause, reflect and learn. This event will focus on reconciliation, which is critical to the University’s ongoing relationship with the Indigenous community, and a variety of panellists from across the York community have been invited to speak about what reconciliation in action means to them.  

Date: Thursday, Sept. 30

Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Zoom Webinar:  yorku.zoom.us/j/96760686354?pwd=KzVJb3dud3ZyK243L0ZJeW5ReDllZz09

Link to Livestream: yorku.ca/go/nd4tr  

We hope that you will be able to join us on Sept. 30 for this important event. If you are unable to attend, we ask that you take time to explore resources or attend one of the other events taking place across the University. Details and resources are available on York’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation website.

Thank you. Merci. Miigwech. 

Sincerely,

Rhonda L. Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor 

Sheila Cote-Meek 
Vice-President, Equity, People & Culture 

Invitation à un événement de l’Université à l’occasion de la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation

Chers collègues, chères collègues, chers étudiants, chères étudiantes, 

Comme vous le savez peut-être déjà, le gouvernement fédéral a déclaré que le 30 septembre serait désormais la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation. Cette journée est une occasion de s’informer et de se pencher sur les traumatismes et préjudices intergénérationnels qui résultent du système des pensionnats autochtones au Canada. C’est aussi une journée pour honorer les survivants et pour reconnaître la force et la résilience des peuples et des communautés autochtones. 

Étant donné que les restrictions liées à la pandémie demeurent en vigueur et que l’Université sera ouverte ce jour-là, nous organiserons un événement virtuel pour les membres de notre communauté et nous nous réunirons pour faire une pause, réfléchir et apprendre. Cet événement sera axé sur la réconciliation, un élément essentiel de la relation continue entre l’Université et la communauté autochtone. Plusieurs panélistes de la communauté de York parleront de leur vision de la réconciliation.  

Date : Jeudi 30 septembre 2021

Heure : 11 h à 13 h

Webinaire Zoom : https://yorku.zoom.us/j/96760686354?pwd=KzVJb3dud3ZyK243L0ZJeW5ReDllZz09

Lien pour la diffusion en direct : http://yorku.ca/go/nd4tr 

Nous espérons que vous pourrez vous joindre à nous le 30 septembre pour cet événement important. Si vous ne pouvez pas y assister, nous vous demandons de prendre le temps d’explorer les ressources proposées ou de participer à l’un des autres événements organisés par l’Université. Vous trouverez tous les détails et ressources sur le site Web de York consacré à la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation. 

Merci. Thank you. Miigwech. 

Sincères salutations, 

Rhonda Lenton 
Présidente et vice-chancelière 

Sheila Cote-Meek 
Vice-présidente de l’équité, des personnes et de la culture 

Welcome to the September 2021 issue of “Innovatus”

Innovatus

Welcome to the September 2021 issue of “Innovatus,” a special issue of YFile devoted to teaching and learning innovation at York University.

“Innovatus” is produced by the Office of the Associate Vice-President Teaching & Learning in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs.

Featured in this issue:

Welcome back to campus!
Professor Will Gage, associate vice-president teaching and learning, offers a warm welcome back to campus and introduces some new initiatives his office is pursuing. Read full story.

York University’s groundbreaking Academic Innovation Fund turns 10
York University’s Academic Innovation Fund celebrates an important anniversary this year. The program has promoted exceptional innovation in teaching, learning and the student experience and it continues to grow and thrive. Read full story.

Hyflex pilot tests seamless remote participation in courses
As Canada begins to look beyond the pandemic, educators have been pondering what shape education will take at universities. One option is a hyflex model of course delivery, which combines in-class and online instruction, delivered concurrently. Read full story.

Team tasked with reimagining course delivery
A small, multidisciplinary team has been hard at work exploring new ways to enhance online courses and the experiences of instructors, students and administrative staff. They’ve developed an innovative course design concept known as the perpetual course model. Read full story.

York University’s Teaching Commons is always evolving
Courses offered by the Teaching Commons are generally asynchronous and allow busy faculty, course directors and teaching assistants to use the eClass environment to work at their own pace. Read full story.

Faculty, course directors and staff are invited to share their experiences in teaching, learning, internationalization and the student experience through the “Innovatus” story form, which is available at tl.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=16573.

Team tasked with reimagining course delivery

Student working at home having a video conference with colleagues

A small, multidisciplinary team has been hard at work exploring new ways to enhance online courses and the experiences of instructors, students and administrative staff. They’ve developed an innovative course design concept known as the perpetual course model.

By Elaine Smith, special contributor

Mary Helen Armour, an associate professor for the Division of Natural Science, has always had an interest in trying new things, which led her to explore online teaching long before remote course delivery became a pandemic necessity. Her dissatisfaction with the way it was being done led her to Will Gage, York University’s associate vice-president of teaching and learning, and the opportunity to test an incipient perpetual course model.

“Regular classes have benefits, but online teaching always interested me because of accessibility issues,” Armour said. “I know a number of people who couldn’t afford to go away to school and didn’t live near enough to a university to commute. As technology gets better, you can create online courses that offer an equally effective learning experience, if not the same, as in-person classes.”

Five years ago, Gage’s own interest in course availability and accessibility prompted him to put together a team to rethink course delivery with an emphasis on creating a model that could adapt to and integrate emerging technology.

From left: Will Gage, associate vice-president teaching and learning; Michelle Sengara, PhD, a consulting educational expert; and Kelly Parke, a technology consultant
From left: Will Gage, associate vice-president teaching and learning; Michelle Sengara, PhD, a consulting educational expert; and Kelly Parke, a technology consultant

Michelle Sengara, a consulting educational expert, leads this small team for strategic course innovation, and together they have been focused on the problem of providing high-quality education online ever since. Gage asked the team to consider both the students’ and instructors’ experiences while also streamlining the administrative staff’s experiences within one design for what a course of the future might look like. This innovative course design is now called the perpetual course model.

They spent a year learning about the problem, conducting design sprints and developing the proof of concept to describe what the experience might look like. They followed that by getting buy-in for the approach and drumming up interest within the York community. For the past three years, they have been testing this perpetual course model, using the feedback and insights generated from mixed methods of research to refine – and design. This year, an expanded prototyping process was offered to a set of five instructors with the help of Category 2 funding – focusing on academic innovation projects – from the Academic Innovation Fund.

“Current models of education, across age levels and/or subject areas, tend to centre on knowledge acquisition, but the work being done now is to recentre the educational experience on skill acquisition in order to mobilize those knowledge assets in more innovative and meaningful ways,” Sengara said. “This work needs to be integrated at both the high-school level – in order to adequately prepare students for an active and participatory postsecondary environment – and at the level of professional development, supporting instructors in the design, development and delivery of high-quality, skills-based programs.

“What we are developing is not a prescription; it encompasses principles and values for teaching at York, but the team works with every instructor to personalize the learning experience for their students given their specific subject matter,” Sengara added.

The model aims to provide students with skills in knowledge acquisition, knowledge agility, autonomy and professionalism, and interaction and collaboration, while inspiring creativity. Each course’s curriculum determines the knowledge they’ll need to acquire, but the model offers alternatives in how that information is delivered and assessed to promote the student’s mastery of both the subject matter and the aforementioned skills.

Ideally, the perpetual course model would allow students to register and begin a course whenever it was convenient for them, with staff always available, said Sengara, “allowing them to work their way through self-paced learning modules, but with tangible support. It’s not something we can realize just yet because registration processes are traditionally tied to government funding and come with strict credit and time/space restrictions. However, our goal is that every course would have one perpetual section.”

Armour was the first faculty member to test this flexible model and it required her to rethink the full-year course Earth and Its Atmosphere, change the structure and rethink the order of the content. She made it modular and incorporated videos, breaking the four course themes into subtopics. This is her fourth year participating in the perpetual course model experiment and she has refined her approach and content each year, learning from her mistakes and student feedback.

“The first year, I made everything due at the end of the course, which is open to students from all years, and the procrastination was horrible,” she said. “I realized that they aren’t that disciplined, so I reinstated due dates within the themes, but made them submission windows as opposed to hard cut-off points.”

Since students can work at their own pace, “as an instructor, you have to be ready to answer questions about anything at any time, since students work ahead. You need to teach the course a time or two before you become comfortable with the process,” said Armour.

“For students who are organized, it’s a really good option. However, I had to make my own boundaries clear to them, in terms of when I’m available to answer questions and when I’m not. Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to take over some of that work.”

That’s where Kelly Parke, a technology consultant and another member of the team, enters the picture.

“We are considering how technology can assist faculty to make their jobs better and allow for more one-on-one interaction,” Parke said. “When you don’t spend time with students, you lose connection. How can we build courses so artificial intelligence can help us understand the students a bit better and know early on when they’re having problems so we can intervene?”

He envisions that AI could allow the course to be responsive to each student’s learning style, allowing faculty to determine when a crisis is approaching and taking preventive action.

“University Information Technology wanted to build better integration with AI technologies, so we built the infrastructure internally,” he said. “We’re working with key research partners so we can prepare data for classification and analysis and allow AI to assist us in helping our students.”

“Ultimately, we should be able to customize each course to be like personal instruction, training AI using rubrics and samples to mark and grade like each individual faculty member would.”

York’s new director of IT innovation and academic technologies is on board with the experimentation being done by the perpetual course model team and partners such as IBM. They all believe the future looks bright.

“We have support in building a community of practice to help disseminate what we learn,” Sengara said. “This year, we have five courses being taught using the perpetual course model and we meet monthly. In innovation, you need to help people along and troubleshoot throughout the process.”

Armour believes that students “need to learn to deal with online courses; they are another skill for life and they may need to upgrade their credentials.”

The perpetual course model is working toward making high-quality learning opportunities available online in a way that is most beneficial to everyone involved, pandemic or not.

Try these 30-minute sessions to reduce stress

A person in meditation pose

A few simple practices that take 30 minutes can help to reduce stress and boost energy will be taught during the Fall 2021 Stress Busting Series at York University.

Offering “30 minutes of magical practices,” the series runs over 10 weeks beginning Sept. 27 and features qigong, mindfulness meditation and Capacitar wellness.

Faculty of Health Professor Harvey Skinner will teach how these practices can empower us to care for our health and well-being, with sessions open to everyone at York and running from 12 to 12:30 p.m. Each session will follow with a Q-and-A, which is optional for participants.

For Fall 2021, the program includes:

  • Qigong (Mondays and Thursdays) –  a typical 30-minute session involves breath work, energizing movements, purging exercises, flowing movements and meditation. These sessions run Sept. 27 to Dec. 2.
  • Mindfulness Meditation (Tuesdays) – a typical 30-minute session involves mindfulness of breath, awareness of body sensations, loving kindness and self-compassion practices, and RAIN meditation for strong emotions. These sessions run Sept. 28 to Nov. 30.
  • Capacitar Healing Practices (Wednesdays) – a typical 30-minute session involves meditation and mindfulness, finger holds and other body holds for managing emotions, t’ai chi/qigong movements, emotional freedom technique and acupressure points. These sessions run Sept. 29 to Dec. 1.

These programs are offered for free to the York University community. Details about the series and registration are available from the Stress Busting website or by contacting Skinner directly by email at harvey.skinner@yorku.ca.

Skinner is a professor of psychology and global health and was founding dean (2006-16) of the Faculty of Health. His daily wellness routine includes: qigong energy and movement practices, mindfulness meditation and body work exercises.