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Schulich helps to inform federal government’s international trade recovery plan

Lightbulb with the planet earth embedded in it.

Expertise from the Schulich School of Business will help inform the federal government’s recovery plan for Canadian exporters following the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Douglas Kennedy
Douglas Kennedy

Douglas Kennedy, director of Schulich’s Centre for Global Enterprise, took part in a panel of witnesses that presented key information to the government’s Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) in December 2020. The CIIT has commissioned a study to review the changes that will be made to the way international trade will be conducted in a post-COVID-19 world.

Kennedy is the inaugural managing director of the non-profit centre, whose mission is to assist Canadian companies in achieving their full potential through engagement with international markets. During the panel presentation, Kennedy emphasized that although all countries will be affected, the impact of COVID-19 will differ from country to country. Many East Asian countries that appear to be coping well can expect to recover and resume accelerated economic growth relatively quickly, he offered as an example.

He also noted that Canada constitutes under two per cent of the global economy, and that demographics, improving infrastructure, higher educational levels and similar factors imply many economies can be expected to grow at a faster pace than mature economies like Canada’s.

Kennedy also summarized that:

  • Canadian businesses wishing to reach global scale will have to engage with markets outside of North America. Of the expected largest 20 economies in 2050, Canada’s trade with 14 of them is negligible.
  • The pandemic will cause substantial economic disruption by accelerating trends already in evidence (e-commerce, remote working) while underlining additional risks businesses must manage (supply chain resilience, cyber vulnerabilities).
  • Economic transformation influenced by COVID-19 will provide opportunities for Canadian businesses such as online delivery of services such as education, healthcare, engineering, and finance, as well as in the food and beverage industry.
  • In an increasingly digitized economy, establishing multilateral consensus on issues like data protection and privacy, taxation and regulation of technology platforms, or common standards for technology infrastructure may hold even more value to Canadian businesses than simply reducing tariff barriers.
  • In terms of support, many Canadian businesses will have to transform their business models and revise their value chains. Government programs could usefully focus on helping businesses make the necessary adjustments to facilitate such transformation.
  • Government initiatives in support of trade should be prioritized by their ability to generate long-term returns to the Canadian economy. Programs need to be assessed and delivered based on the opportunity cost they pose for participating businesses. The less investment, time, effort, executive attention, or execution effort they require, the more enthusiastic businesses will be about participating.

To learn more about the Centre for Global Enterprise, visit https://schulich.yorku.ca/centre-for-global-enterprise.

York University releases summary of its new economic and social impact report

Vari Hall new image
Vari Hall new image

York University contributes $4.4 billion to Ontario’s economy, according to Driving Positive Change: The York University Economic and Social Impact Report 2020 Summary, a new report released today.

The summary, which is based on a 72-page report, profiles the University’s economic, fiscal and social impact in the GTHA, Ontario and beyond. It documents the magnitude of York University’s economic impact on the region, province and nation through access to education, employment, innovative research and as a global gateway.

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton
York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton

“Driving Positive Change: The York University Economic and Social Impact Report 2020 Summary measures and quantifies the significant economic and social benefits generated by York University, and tells the story about the difference we are making – for our students, our communities, and the world,” says York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton.

“This report demonstrates how the University serves as a ladder of opportunity for students, an engine for social progress, and a driver of economic growth for Ontario and Canada,” adds Lenton. “It illustrates how, with strong partnerships both locally and internationally, we are continuing to amplify our research, scholarship and creative activities, and expand our innovation and entrepreneurship network to increase our contributions to the social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being of our local and global communities.”

To prepare the report, the University engaged the independent firm Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA) to work with York’s Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis to conduct surveys of first-generation students and alumni. The resulting document presents an inspiring portrait of a modern post-secondary institution committed to positive change.

Driving Positive Change report summary cover image for YFile story on January 25
The cover of Driving Positive Change: The York University Economic and Social Impact Report Summary

Here are some of the key findings provided in Driving Positive Change: The York University Economic and Social Impact Report 2020 Summary:

Access to a university education is an important factor for many of York University’s students. In fact, a total of eight per cent of York University students believe they would not attend university if they could not attend York.

A large share of the University’s alumni aged 25 to 64 affirm they were access students (8.5 per cent), resulting in 21,226 individuals within the age range of 25 to 64 years with university degrees who would not have had an opportunity to earn a degree without the access and opportunity offered to them by York University. The economic impact created by York University’s effect on expanding access for alumni approached $2.2 billion and 1,621 jobs.

York University’s reputation for diversity and inclusion is valued by learners, leading them to choose it over other institutions. Its wide array of policies and programs, including articulation agreements with local colleges and bridging programs, offer a place for access students to launch their professional or scientific careers.

Higher income, improved well-being and greater civic engagement are all qualities that students and alumni among the survey groups attribute to York University. Among alumni, the aggregate benefits associated with a York degree were more than $1.1 billion in additional income and 1,338 additional jobs in 2018.

The report estimates that post-secondary access alumni from York University earned approximately 140 per cent or $63,253 more than Toronto Census Management Area (CMA) high school graduates, while the University’s alumni earned 86 per cent or $47,395 more than Toronto CMA college graduates.

York University’s local communities are also experiencing benefits as alumni are 13.5 per cent more likely to volunteer their time than graduates of other universities in the GTHA. In terms of civic engagement, some 56 per cent of York University alumni report they had pursued volunteer activities that benefit schools, religious organizations, sports or community associations within the past year.

Support for entrepreneurship was also reported by York graduates, with 21 per cent of alumni entrepreneurs, a total of 16,491 individuals, indicating they became entrepreneurs because of York University. Additionally, 30.2 per cent report their ventures were more successful because of York.

Two of the commercialization success stories highlighted in the report include Droplet Lab, a startup commercializing an image-based surface tensiometer using a smartphone, and Bitnobi Inc., a startup focused on commercializing a privacy-protected data-sharing technology.

Advancing the public good through research that contributes to communities is a focal point of York University’s research activities. To support this direction, in 2018-19, York University received $45.87 million in partnership research funding through more than 800 agreements. A large portion of this funding, $26.75 million, was provided by the Government of Canada and its agencies. Not-for-profit organizations such as health-related groups or other universities contributed $8.95 million in funding during the same period.

Research conducted by York University’s thought leaders extends beyond the borders of Canada and has a global impact. Many projects are focused on developing creative and innovative solutions to the most pressing concerns faced by Ontario, Canada and the world.

“Ontario and the world are facing challenges that no single government, business or university can solve,” says Lenton. “Through partnership and collaboration, York University is embracing its role as a hub for innovative solutions to inequality, pandemic recovery, climate change and a host of other complex issues, and driving positive change in our communities and around the world.”

To learn more, visit the Driving Positive Change website.

Research highlights racialization of long-term care workers

COVID pandemic facemask

Research that investigates timely issues around gender, race, labour and social determinants of health that are key to understanding the impact of COVID-19 in long-term care homes has been published in the top-ranked journal Social Science & Medicine.

Authored by Iffath Syed, an instructor with York University’s School of Health Policy and Management, in the Faculty of Health, and graduate of York’s doctoral program in Health Policy and Equity, the study focuses on racialization and long-term care workers.

The study, based on her dissertation research, aims to contribute to the understanding of racism and racialization in long-term care homes by analyzing those with lived experience in that line of work.

“Racism, racialization, and health equity in Canadian residential long term care: A case study in Toronto” documents how particular social determinants of health, such as race and racialization, can manifest themselves in the lives of workers. Drawing on critical race theory and feminist political economy, this study examines the ways in which the participants discuss their experiences of care work, with closer attention to racism and racialization.

The study aims to contribute to the understanding of racism and racialization in long-term care homes by analyzing those with lived experience in that line of work

This work is derived from a broader research project consisting of a single-case study of a long-term care home in Ontario, Canada. Syed conducted 42 in-depth interviews with participants, and collected information on: who carries out executive and management roles; who carries out front-line care work; and determining the differences in these roles and responsibilities.

Through this pursuit, Syed found differences in working conditions among various types of workers “which reflect not only a neoliberal market model of care, but also speak to colonial practices of oppression, exclusion and subordination.”

Racialized workers were over-represented in front-line care work, and were represented in a limited capacity in managerial roles.

Syed’s study raises several important points, including:

  • the corroboration of previous literature suggesting racism and racialization are real phenomena in this context;
  • evidence that care work is organized in hierarchical ways that demonstrate how differences in racialized status can manifest in differences in power, incomes, social status and roles in care work; and
  • the support of literature that suggests the context of the labour force, its structures and the political systems encompassing these things can limit the power of women and racialized people who work in long-term care.

“One recommendation would be to carry out additional studies that would investigate the relationship(s) between gender and race on working conditions and health outcomes in racialized communities,” the study reads. “Another recommendation would be to advocate for policies that minimize income inequalities among racialized groups.”

This research, says Syed, would be invaluable in advocating change.

Top ranking for Schulich’s MBA program by ‘The Economist’

An image depicting the logo for Schulich School of Business

The Economist magazine has ranked the MBA program at York University’s Schulich School of Business No. 1 in Canada and 21st in the world in the magazine’s annual survey of the world’s top 100 MBA programs.

In addition to finishing first among Canadian business schools, Schulich placed eighth in the world among non-U.S. schools. The following are some of the key highlights regarding Schulich in this year’s The Economist ranking:

  • Schulich ranked third in the world in the category of Recruiter Diversity – the number of industries represented by recruiters who hire Schulich graduates.
  • Schulich ranked third in the world in the category of Potential to Network, which takes into account the size of a school’s alumni network.
  • Schulich ranked eighth in the world in the category of Salary Increase – a measurement that captures the percentage by which salaries increased pre-MBA to post-MBA.
  • Schulich ranked 13th in the world in the category of Faculty Quality.

To view the complete results, visit https://whichmba.economist.com/ranking/full-time-mba.

The Economist survey is the only major global ranking that rates business schools on criteria deemed most important to MBA students and alumni – everything from diversity of career opportunities to earning potential and networking opportunities.

“We’re pleased that The Economist has once again ranked Schulich’s MBA program No. 1 in Canada,” said Schulich Dean Detlev Zwick. “We’re also pleased that Schulich was ranked among the top schools in the world in several categories that students identify as being among the most important, including diversity of recruiters, networking potential, and salary increase following graduation.”

York University researchers shine in Stanford list of world’s top researchers

research graphic

Using Scopus data provided by Elsevier, a research team at Stanford University led by statistician John Ioannidis published a list of the world’s top two per cent researchers. The list is essentially a published database of the most prolific – published – researchers. This is a science-wide author database of standardized citation indicators.

Published in PLOS BIOLOGY in late 2020, more than 80 York University researchers are included in this list of the world’s top two per cent researchers. The York researchers making the list are Professors Russell Belk (Schulich), Deborah Britzman (Education), Doug Crawford (Health), Jennifer Hyndman (Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and Associate Vice-President Research), Leah Vosko (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies), Jianhong Wu (Science) and George Zhu (Lassonde and Inaugural Academic Director, Research Commons).

“This high-profile American study from Stanford acknowledges that York University’s researchers are trailblazers in their fields. York is a leading international teaching and research university and a driving force that advances knowledge and creates positive change. We have an enduring commitment to critical inquiry and the pursuit of new knowledge, and this study illustrates this leadership,” says York University’s Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif.

Asif also points out that the list reflects York’s tremendous diversity, as it includes professors from the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Health, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the Faculty of Science, the Lassonde School of Engineering and the Schulich School of Business.

To read the article, published in PLOS BIOLOGY, and see the 80+ researchers from York who made the list, visit the journal’s website.

Welcome to the January 2021 issue of ‘Innovatus’

Innovatus featured image

The innovatus special issue headerWelcome to the January 2021 issue of ‘Innovatus,’ a special issue of YFile that is devoted to teaching and learning innovation at York University.

Happy New Year!

Will Gage
Will Gage

This issue of ‘Innovatus’ focuses on the unique approach that the Glendon Campus takes to experiential education and enriching the student experience in a bilingual environment. There are days as I write this note to you, where I wish I could turn back time. Imagine learning about Indigenous languages, ceremonies and culture through a video game offered in a university course! It is an exciting and innovative project underway at Glendon and it is led by Professor Maya Chacaby.

As well, as we are into another province-wide lockdown due to the pandemic, the work by Glendon staff and faculty to engage students online and in their homes is remarkable and heroic. You can read about the many innovative approaches taken by Glendon to build meaningful connections between students, complex subjects and the community in this issue.

Thank you again for the many wonderful comments about our 2020 issues. I would like to take the opportunity to wish each one of you a happy and healthy 2021. Please continue to reach out to me with your comments as I value each of your responses.

Featured in the January 2021 issue of ‘Innovatus’

Principal’s letter: Glendon’s commitment to language diversity is embedded in our campus’ DNA
In his introductory letter to the January 2021 issue of ‘Innovatus,’ Glendon Principal Marco Fiola writes about his pride in Glendon’s bilingual status, its work to advance teaching, learning and the student experience and its unique approach to foster cutting-edge pedagogy.

Gaming offers deeper understanding of Anishinaabe language and culture
Protecting Indigenous language and culture is at the heart of a new instructional video game developed for students by Glendon Assistant Professor of Sociology Maya Chacaby. The game “Biskaabiiyaang: the Quest for the Language” is a massively multi-player online role-playing game.

Glendon students turn their backyards into labs
Biology students need to learn fieldwork techniques, pandemic, or no pandemic, so Laura McKinnon, an associate professor in Glendon’s bilingual biology program decided to send them out into their backyards to practise and the results of this unique experiential education initiative were outstanding.

Exploring the European Union through a Dutch Lens
The Netherlands and Europeanization course offered by Glendon Professor Willem Maas gives students a good understanding of the Netherlands and the European Union (EU). Maas, who is a Jean Monnet Chair, pivoted the course to an online format that offered students an opportunity to interact with an impressive list of speakers with real-world experience in the EU.

Glendon’s community-based initiatives improve language skills while breaking isolation
To lessen the social isolation caused by the pandemic, faculty and staff at the Glendon Campus have sought ways to build connections among students and the community. Three programs have decreased social isolation, fostered a strong sense of community, while giving students a chance to practise their non-dominant official language (English or French) in unique experiential education settings.

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

I extend a personal invitation to you to share your 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.

Will Gage
Associate Vice-President, Teaching & Learning

Principal’s letter: Glendon’s commitment to language diversity is embedded in our campus’ DNA

Glendon Campus in the winter
Glendon Campus

Glendon, is a future-enabling, bilingual campus committed to teaching excellence, inclusion, accessibility and diversity.

Marco Fiola
Marco Fiola

While various attributes can define the Glendon Campus and set it apart from other liberal arts institutions, it is worth highlighting its bilingual status. The deliberate inclusion of bilingualism at the very heart of our programs makes Glendon a unique institution in Canada. But Glendon’s commitment to language diversity does not stop at official languages – far from it. Linguistic and cultural plurality is embedded in our faculty’s DNA, and we believe it to be a key distinctive feature for post-secondary education in the 21st century; a time where the notion of borders is challenged, and where success belongs to those who can see and function beyond the confines of one’s language and culture. To embark on the path of plurilingualism is an act of recognition of the value of cultural empathy and mutual enrichment. Values that are close to the heart of our teaching staff, like Karen Devonish-Mazzotta, a graduate and now an instructor in the popular BEd for teachers of French as a Second Language program. Last fall, she received the prestigious Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) McGillivray Award in recognition of her leadership and commitment in promoting the development of French Second Language (FSL) learning in Ontario.

Inclusion, accessibility and diversity are core priorities we aim to further at Glendon. In 2020, our Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards recognized Course Director Victoria Freeman and Professor Philippe Theophanidis. Freeman is celebrated for her interdisciplinary approach to breaking through “settler unconsciousness” and her focus on fostering students’ appreciation for the importance of decolonization and reconciliation in Canada. Theophanidis dedicates entire classes to non-western perspectives, and inclusivity is rooted in his pedagogical approach. We embrace the opportunity to meet these priorities to bring inclusion, accessibility and diversity to our teaching pedagogy and curriculum.

The challenge of pivoting to online courses in 2020 was embraced by our colleagues and made possible by the support provided by many to create a community of practice. Professor Henriette Gezundhajt is an example of that engagement towards online teaching; her expertise in Moodle and her willingness to develop resources in French and support her colleagues led her to win the Minister of Colleges and Universities’ Award of Excellence. Thanks to her work, and to all Glendon faculty members and students, we will continue to innovate, be agile, enterprising and to be pedagogical agents of change in the post-COVID era.

Each and every day, I take great pride in the work that our faculty members continue to accomplish, their commitment to student and faculty priorities, as exemplified by Lee Frew, who won a President’s University-Wide Teaching Award. Building on a long-standing tradition of cutting-edge pedagogy, Glendon is ready to embrace all opportunities to innovate, whatever the future may hold for post-secondary teaching and learning.

Marco Fiola
Principal, Glendon Campus

L’engagement de Glendon envers la diversité linguistique est ancré dans l’ADN de notre campus

Glendon est un campus bilingue tourné vers l’avenir et engagé envers l’excellence de l’enseignement, l’inclusion, l’accessibilité et la diversité.

Marco Fiola
Marco Fiola

Divers attributs définissent le campus Glendon et le font se démarquer d’autres établissements d’arts libéraux, mais il convient de souligner son statut bilingue. L’inclusion délibérée du bilinguisme au cœur même de nos programmes fait de Glendon un établissement unique en son genre au Canada. L’engagement de Glendon en faveur de la diversité linguistique ne s’arrête pas aux langues officielles, loin de là. La pluralité linguistique et culturelle est inscrite dans l’ADN de notre corps professoral. Nous pensons que c’est une caractéristique clé de l’enseignement supérieur du 21e siècle, époque où la notion de frontières est remise en question et où le succès récompense ceux qui sont capables de voir et de fonctionner au-delà des limites de leur langue et de leur culture. S’engager sur la voie du plurilinguisme revient à reconnaître la valeur de l’empathie culturelle et de l’enrichissement mutuel. Ces valeurs sont au cœur de notre personnel enseignant, comme Karen Devonish-Mazzotta, diplômée et maintenant formatrice du populaire programme B. Éd. pour les professeurs de français langue seconde. En automne dernier, Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) lui a décerné le prestigieux McGillivray Award pour son leadership et son engagement envers le développement de l’apprentissage du français langue seconde (FLS) en Ontario.

L’inclusion, l’accessibilité et la diversité sont des priorités fondamentales que nous voulons faire progresser à Glendon. En 2020, le Prix d’excellence en enseignement du principal de Glendon a récompensé la professeure Victoria Freeman et le professeur Philippe Theophanidis. La professeure Freeman est reconnue pour son approche interdisciplinaire visant à briser « l’inconscient des colons » et pour son souci de faire comprendre aux étudiants l’importance de la décolonisation et de la réconciliation au Canada. Le professeur Theophanidis consacre des classes entières à des perspectives non occidentales, et l’inclusivité est ancrée dans son approche pédagogique. Nous saisissons l’occasion de concrétiser ces priorités pour intégrer inclusion, accessibilité et diversité à notre pédagogie et à nos programmes d’enseignement.

Le défi de passer à des cours en ligne en 2020 a été relevé par nos collègues et rendu possible grâce au soutien apporté par de nombreuses personnes pour créer une communauté de pratique. La professeure Henriette Gezundhajt est un bel exemple de cet engagement envers l’enseignement en ligne; son expertise avec Moodle et sa volonté de développer des ressources en français et d’appuyer ses collègues l’ont amenée à remporter le Prix d’excellence du ministre des Collèges et Universités. Grâce à son travail et à tous les membres du corps professoral et du corps étudiant de Glendon, nous continuerons à être innovateurs, flexibles et audacieux et à faire figure d’artisans pédagogiques du changement dans l’ère post-COVID.

Chaque jour, le travail que nos professeurs — comme Lee Frew qui a remporté le Prix d’enseignement de la présidente de l’Université — ne cessent d’accomplir et leur engagement envers les priorités des étudiants et des professeurs me remplissent de fierté. Fort d’une longue tradition de pédagogie de pointe, le campus Glendon est prêt à saisir toutes les occasions d’innover que l’avenir réserve à l’enseignement et à l’apprentissage postsecondaires.

Marco Fiola
Principal du campus Glendon

Gaming offers deeper understanding of Anishinaabe language and culture

Featured image for story on the MMORP game developed by Glendon professor Maya Chacaby
Featured image for story on the MMORP game developed by Glendon professor Maya Chacaby

Students by the dozens have joined the fight to protect Anishinaabemowin (the Ojibwe language) from the Linguicidals as part of Maya Chacaby’s Glendon Campus language classes.

How could any student, brought up in a world that takes gaming culture and activities for granted, resist this informal course description:

“Once, Anishinaabe lived in beautiful homelands, connected to the life source of all Beings.
Through the magical powers of Anishinaabemowin they were able to connect to their life source and truly thrive. 

But then, LINGUICIDALS came and destroyed the language, shattering Anishinaabeg connection to the life source and destroying their homelands.

​ But not all is lost …

You have been carefully chosen to travel the wasteland and reclaim the magic of Anishinaabemowin to help build a better future for all Wasteland Dwellers and Anishinaabe Remnants.”

Chacaby, an assistant professor of sociology who is Ojibwe from the Thunder Bay region, is passionate about her language and culture and intent on reclaiming Anishinaabemowin from its status as an endangered language.

“My mother was a fluent speaker,” Chacaby said, “but there is a lot of guilt, shame and pain associated with the language, and there is a low percentage of in-home intergenerational transmission due to the trauma (e.g. residential schools, the Sixties Scoop) associated with it.”

Maya Chacaby in her virtual forest classroom.

Maya Chacaby in her virtual forest classroom. Image courtesy of Maya Chacaby

In teaching Anishinaabemowin herself, Chacaby realized that trauma was a factor for many Indigenous students; when they came to class feeling shame or upset about the language, they were in no state to absorb the necessary information.

“I realized that I would have to create a safe, accessible, fun environment in which they could learn – a place where they could acknowledge their shame and develop pride beyond that, so the experience wasn’t so painful,” Chacaby said.

Thus, Biskaabiiyaang: the Quest for the Language was born. Chacaby, an avid gamer herself, realized students, too, would enjoy a taking part in a role-playing game where they could build a better world, one where there was a safe territory for her Anishinaabe Intergalactic Mentoring Station.

“I turned learning grammar and vocabulary into a big quest, a challenge that students go on the adventure with me,” she said. “There are four basic parts to the language structure, so the quest is to restore the circle [a symbolic shape in Indigenous culture].”

Chacaby initiated the new course design using a card-based live action game that students played in class. Soon, she noticed a “huge positive impact. Students were retaining so much more information. In 12 weeks, they were learning what it took me three years to learn in traditional classes, and they were having fun.”

She moved the course online using a commercial platform, but it had limitations, due to security issues. This fall, Chacaby will introduce the game through a platform specially designed in partnership with the virtual learning platform developer CDNG, allowing her to have complete control of the design, the content and the site’s security. To view a trailer for the game, click here.

A still image from Maya Chacaby's game
A still image from Maya Chacaby’s game Biskaabiiyaang: the Quest for the Language

The reimagined Biskaabiiyaang: the Quest for the Language is a massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG, for gaming regulars) that invites each student to create an avatar and travel through the territory, meeting other players in real time. They travel through a post-apocalyptic landscape that includes cross-cut deforestation, lakes full of plastic refuse and abandoned radioactive uranium mines. It is a landscape many Indigenous students may recognize.

As they complete their grammar-based quests, they must find spirit helpers, learn to fend for themselves by finding water, shelter and food and show respect for those with whom they share the land. Chacaby has incorporated many traditional stories into the quests.

“The students learn about Anishinaabe language and culture in a caring, online community,” Chacaby said.

She plans to involve a partnership with First Nations communities around the Lake Nipigon region in the game to provide students interactions with Elders and others from reserves that offer support and insights into their own lived experiences. Her fall classes will serve the beta testers for the game, since Chacaby eventually hopes to expand it to include students of Anishinaabemowin elsewhere.

“Not only does this game teach students the language, but it provides an understanding of my peoples’ world view,” Chacaby said. “We’re all inside, trying to understand the world from that perspective. It challenges everyone’s own way of thinking.

“We have a rich culture, and the game is a way for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together, deal with troublesome issues and create a new future.”

She envisions that, eventually, other Indigenous groups will add to the game, inserting their own traditional territories and using it to teach their own languages.

“The United Nations has declared 2022 the start of the Decade of Indigenous Languages, so we’re providing a platform at Glendon, starting with Anishinaabemowin,” Chacaby said. “It’s part of a bigger Truth & Reconciliation picture.

“My goal is to be a force for reconciliation. The cultural transmission of knowledge – including language – is good for everyone.”

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer, Innovatus

Glendon students turn their backyards into labs

Featured image for story on Glendon professor and students engaged in backyard biology labs Photo by Tina Nord from Pexels
Featured image for story on Glendon professor and students engaged in backyard biology labs Photo by Tina Nord from Pexels

Glendon Campus biology students need to learn fieldwork techniques, pandemic, or no pandemic, so Laura McKinnon decided to send them out into their backyards to practice.

Usually, McKinnon teaches this mandatory course, “Ecological Monitoring in an Urban Environment,” as a 12-day intensive course as part of the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology. Students normally band birds, search for killdeer nests and visit a turtle marking program, along with other activities conducted throughout the extensive Toronto ravine system.

“For most, it’s their first introduction to research and they get a taste of what it’s all about,” said McKinnon, an associate professor in the bilingual biology program. “Afterward, many of the students decide to pursue it.”

An example of the bird bioacoustics recorder deployment in one students’ backyard. Photo credit: S. Nichols
An example of the bird bioacoustics recorder deployment in one student’s backyard. Photo credit: S. Nichols

Given the pandemic lockdown, McKinnon moved the course to the spring, but soon discovered that it would still need to be conducted remotely. Determined to ensure that the students would be able to acquire the field skills necessary for any biologist, McKinnon quickly pivoted and created an online course where research took place in each individual student’s backyard. (The photos here were first published in the journal, Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution, along with McKinnon’s paper on this pivot.)

To lend the equipment necessary for fieldwork to each student in the course, McKinnon restricted the course to 10 students, rather than the usual 20; ensured that each student had a safe greenspace to use; and had the students come to collect their field kits, which included binoculars, a field notebook, field guides, a Burlese funnel, a dissecting scope and bioacoustic monitors.

The course took place over two weeks, with a research paper submitted afterward. McKinnon devoted the first week of the course to teaching the students the techniques they would need to conduct research in their own backyards – tasks such a learning to take proper field notes, identifying birds and conducting a point count of birds in the yard. She also held separate sessions on scientific writing, bioacoustics monitoring (for bird calls/songs and bats), and statistics. The second week of the course was devoted to the research itself. In addition to the investigations the students carried out, pairs of students worked on a research project together.

The course kept students busy. They were up at dawn to conduct backyard point counts of their birds seen or heard and did so again at dusk. At 8 a.m., the class met online to share their morning findings and discuss other issues and activities; in fact, they usually were on Zoom together a few times daily.

An example Burlese [insect] funnel set-up in a student’s garage. Photo credit: M. Jurj
An example Burlese [insect] funnel set-up in a student’s garage. Photo credit: M. Jurj
During the day, the students also dug pitfall traps for insects and collected a turf sample to use in the Burlese funnels, identifying these insects afterward. In addition, they set up camera traps in an attempt to photograph wildlife wandering the property. They were required to do habitat sampling, describing their individual urban habitat in detail, which required them to measure tree height and estimate and describe ground cover.

“Having mastered sampling techniques in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, entomology and botany, each student became the principal investigator of their own field site, individually collecting data according to standard ecological protocols, and contributing these data to the larger network of eight field sites across Toronto,” McKinnon said. “That these field sites were the students’ backyards, did not detract from their ability to conduct scientific research projects on fundamental ecological questions in urban ecology.”

The students were also responsible for entering their data into a joint folder so that everyone in the class had access to the overall data to use for their research projects. Each group decided upon a research project and wrote a research proposal, consisting of the introduction and methods section that journal articles require, based on the data they had at their disposal. Once McKinnon provided feedback, each group prepared the outline of a research paper, including a results section. Finally, every individual student was required to submit the actual research paper, incorporating McKinnon’s comments, and adding a discussion section.

“In discussing their results, the students can draw upon the theories they’ve learned about in their ecology courses,” McKinnon said. “Although their findings are on a small scale and can’t actually be published, there were some good ideas to pursue.”

For example, one team of students measured minimum and maximum call frequencies (Hz) of American Robins at sunrise and sunset using bioacoustics recorders deployed in the backyard sites over the 10-day period of data collection. Using the same recorders, they simultaneously measured ambient levels of anthropogenic noise. They then tested whether the birds changed the frequency of their calls to compensate for increased anthropogenic noise in busier urban areas.

McKinnon received positive feedback from her students and is confident they had a well-rounded field experience and acquired the necessary field research skills used by biologists.

“An online field course that incorporates direct experience with the natural environment is possible and should no longer be considered an oxymoron,” said McKinnon.

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer, Innovatus

Upcoming York University conference explores translation and propaganda in North Korea

Featured image for conference on North Korea shows a building set in the mountains in North Korea

York University Professor Thomas Klassen, who teaches in the School of Public Policy and Administration in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), in consultation with Professor Theresa Hyun of the Department of Humanities (LA&PS), has organized a conference that will take place Monday, Jan. 25. The conference, “Translation and Propaganda in North Korea,” investigates current scholarly issues in the translation and interpretation of official texts in North Korea.

Klassen, who travelled to North Korea in 2016, notes that “translation of foreign official texts, and the translation of domestic official texts for foreign consumption, is important for governments in all nations.” Hyun adds: “The conference focuses on the relevance of translation, from Korean and into Korean, of official documents – speeches, news releases, treaties and others – in contemporary North Korea and how translation is influenced by ideology.”

A choir rehearsing in Korea
A choir rehearsing before performance in Pyongyang, North Korea. Image by Thomas Klassen

The conference features presenters from North America and Asia. Opening remarks will be given by Michael Harrold who worked in North Korea for seven years copyediting English translations of the speeches and writings of the country’s leaders. Harrold is the author Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea.

The conference on Jan. 25 is free. The proceedings start at 9:30 a.m. and will be made available through Zoom. The full program is posted here. Those wishing to join the conference can register here.

For those who are interested in learning more about life in North Korea, Klassen has posted an online collection of photos that he took during his travels in the country here.

Klassen views this as a particularly timely and important conference given that the Joe Biden administration in Washington is expected to engage North Korea in a new round of negotiations regarding peace on the Korean peninsula.

Street scene in Pyongyang Korea by Professor Tom Klassen
A street scene in Pyongyang, North Korea. Image by Thomas Klassen

The conference is presented by the Korean Office for Research and Education at York University, which is funded by the Academy of Korean Studies.