The York University Magazine’s Fall 2021 issue is online now
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The York University Magazine’s Fall 2021 issue is available now atmagazine.yorku.ca.
Cover of The York University Magazine‘s Fall 2021 issue
Inside, you’ll find: “The People’s Doctor,” featuring Eileen de Villa (MBA ’03), Toronto’s medical officer of health; “Flora Feminista,” profiling three women breaking ground in the plant world; “Are the Kids Really Alright?,” highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teens; “Cyber Secure,” examining how York is fending off hackers; “Her View from the Wheelchair,” about inspiring alumna Nikoletta Erdelyi (BA ’16); and much more.
The York University Magazine is published three times during the academic year. It is printed and mailed to alumni and friends of the University in the fall, with limited quantities delivered to Faculties, departments and administrative units. The winter and summer issues of the magazine are available as a digital edition only, which can be enjoyed wherever you are – on your smartphone, tablet or desktop computer.
The York University Magazine’s digital counterpart features exclusive, web-only content that’s not included in the yearly print edition. It is updated regularly to keep readers in the loop on the latest news, research and happenings at York.
If you would like to receive email updates when new issues and web exclusives are online, visit magazine.yorku.ca/subscribe to subscribe.
Note: For faculty and staff who are York alumni and are not currently receiving the print version of The York University Magazine at home but would like to, update your information via the Alumni & Friends website to ensure your mailing address is up to date and the “No Mail” box beside “The York University Magazine” is not selected.
David A.B. Murray
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David Murray
A book launch for Living with HIV in Post-Crisis Times: Beyond the End Game, edited by Professor David A.B. Murray, takes place Oct. 21 at 1 p.m.
York U in the news: Rogers drama, employee leave and more
Exhibit captures dedication of Filipina care workers during COVID-19
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A collection of photos by Filipina nurses, personal support workers and in-home caregivers that capture everyday moments of struggle, while caring for the most vulnerable during the pandemic, will be on display at A Space Gallery in downtown Toronto starting Oct. 20.
The photo series, titled Matatag, will be on display in the windows of A Space Gallery until Jan. 29, 2022. It uses photovoice, a participatory arts-based research method in partnership with Gabriela-Ontario and Migrant Resource Centre Canada.
Through photovoice, care workers have captured everyday moments of struggle and strength during the COVID-19 pandemic. The images in the exhibit demonstrate the lived realities of what it is like to be a Filipina frontline care worker grappling with family separation and loneliness; facing a lack of personal protective equipment and sick days; tackling intensified working requirements; maintaining physical and mental well-being; and navigating the complicated layers of immigration and citizenship, all the while caring for the most vulnerable amid the pandemic.
On display are more than 30 photographic prints, a digital slideshow of hundreds of images gathered over seven months by 78 care workers and a website where the public can learn more about what can be done to improve working conditions for these women.
“While they have been lauded as resilient heroes, the romanticization of resilience cannot obscure systemic failures,” says York University Professor Ethel Tungohan in the Department of Politics in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “By visualizing the lived realities of Filipina care workers, we aim to make a meaningful impact on Canadian labour and immigration policies that affect them the most.”
Matatag: Filipina Care Workers During COVID-19 is a part of the Filipina Care Workers and COVID-19 research project that began in July 2020. The research used participatory action and photovoice to illustrate how Filipina care workers conducted their duties despite pandemic-related challenges, including a lack of personal protective equipment and sick days, intensified work requirements and precarious immigration status. This project is led by Tungohan (associate professor and Canada Research Chair) and other scholars, researchers and community organizers from Gabriela-Ontario and Migrants Resource Centre Canada: Dr. Jessica Ticar, Mithi Esguerra, Dr. Marissa Largo, Dr. Conely de Leon, Mauriene Tolentino, Bea Serdon, Silvia Gonzalez, Myka Jaymalin, Angela Natial, Leny Simbre and Mycah Panjaitan.
“Through kwentuhan (storytelling) sessions, these care workers highlight what it is like to navigate work, immigration processes, and family separation and reunification. Above all, their narratives of hope, faith,and strength shine through,” says Tungohan.
The project was funded by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, York University’s COVID-19 research fund and York Centre for Asian Research.
York professors’ study recommends 15 days of paid sick leave for workers
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In their study, York Professors Eric Tucker (Osgoode) and Leah Vosko (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) recommend that workers be eligible for 15 days of paid leave so that they can cover both sickness and caregiving needs.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed large gaps in sickness and caregiving leave provisions available to workers across the country. To make up for these shortcomings, federal, provincial and territorial governments had to introduce a suite of emergency income-support programs and job-protection laws. With these temporary measures set to expire in coming months, a new study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) calls for permanent reforms to provide access to short-term paid and protected sickness and caregiving leaves to all working Canadians.
Leah Vosko
In their IRPP study, co-authors Eric Tucker and Leah Vosko, both York professors, recommend that workers be eligible for 15 days of paid leave to cover both sickness and caregiving needs, which would bring Canada in line with its international peers.
“This is very much in keeping with employment standards seen elsewhere around the world. In fact, Canada is a laggard in this regard; we have a lot of catching up to do,” says Vosko. “Prior to COVID, less than half of workers in Canada had access to employer-provided paid and protected leaves.”
As was shown during the pandemic, when workers decide not to take time off because of inadequate leave protections and benefits, it can have major repercussions – not just for those individuals and their employers, but for society at large. Sick people who go to work can spread infection to their co-workers. In addition, neglecting one’s health can lead to longer absences, more serious problems and lower productivity.
Erick Tucker
The authors also emphasize that women are disproportionately affected by inadequate paid sickness and caregiving leaves, based on evidence that women are more likely to be primary caregivers and to be in precarious jobs, as are racialized workers or recent immigrants.
“Now is the time to change our leave regimes,” says Tucker, adding that separate measures will be required for the growing numbers of self-employed workers who are currently without any coverage.
“Once the pandemic-response measures expire, the old rules that forced sick workers or those with caregiving responsibilities to decide whether they could afford to take time off from work will once again prevail. Governments at all levels need to act now to permanently redesign their short-term protected sickness and caregiving leave regimes.”
VoxCell BioInnovation wins top prize at YSpace Technology Accelerator Demo Day
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YSpace, York University’s entrepreneurship hub, held one of its flagship events, the YSpace Technology Accelerator Demo Day, on the evening of Oct. 6. At the invitation-only event, the top three startups in the accelerator program were awarded $30,000 in prize money between them, with biotechnology startup VoxCell BioInnovation securing the winning spot.
“At York University, we are committed to supporting not only startup ventures, but the entrepreneurs behind those organizations,” said Sarah Howe, former assistant vice-president of innovation and research partnerships at Innovation York. “Individual leadership and well-being has been key to the success of the YSpace Technology Accelerator and, in turn, the continued success we see in our startup ventures. The technology accelerator is only the beginning for many of the ventures we watched pitch this past week – we’re excited to see what the future holds.”
The YSpace Technology Accelerator program helps tech startups execute their go-to-market strategies and acquire traction for scale and growth. The program had all 15 participating ventures working tirelessly over the past four months, immersing themselves in the process with dedicated mentors, workshops, office hours with investors and industry experts, and leadership coaching sessions.
The private Demo Day event was attended by valued partners, mentors and investors, who gathered to celebrate entrepreneurship at York University and the top graduating entrepreneurs and their ventures. Amir Asif, York’s vice-president of research and innovation, gave the event’s opening remarks. Then, each venture pitched for five minutes, followed by a 10-minute Q-and-A session led by the judges, investors and partners. This year’s judges were: Snita Balsara, senior investment manager and head of community at the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund; Eva Lau, founding partner of Two Small Fish Ventures; and Nabeela Merchant, investor in the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good.
The evening’s winners left with a lot more than bragging rights. The first-place venture, VoxCell BioInnovation – the biotech startup that is disrupting the drug development industry and the field of oncology research by creating 3D vascularized cancer tissue models with its unique 3D bioprinter – earned a $15,000 cash prize.
“The YSpace Tech Accelerator program was a great experience and provided education workshops, resources, connections, support, and mentorship both in marketing and strategically for our venture – that’s two mentors,” said VoxCell founder Karolina Valente. “The mastermind sessions were invaluable and connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs was inspiring.
“Winning the grand prize is such an honour,” she continued. “The prize money will allow us to file our first patent application and continue the development of our technologies, getting us one step closer to our goal of improving cancer research and getting therapies into the hands of people who need them.”
Placing second and taking home a $10,000 cash prize was Honeybee Hub, a software as a service (SaaS) company providing an online platform that serves as a marketplace for research studies requiring participants.
The third-place venture, receiving $5,000 in prize money, was Huex Labs, which has developed a product called AIDA, a voice-enabled, conversational artificial intelligence technology enabling brands to better serve their customers in live business environments.
The top five ventures will receive three months of continued support from YSpace to further their growth.
Applications for the next round of the YSpace Technology Accelerator will open in January 2022. To subscribe to the YSpace mailing list, visit bit.ly/3AVgI9j. To learn more about the accelerator program’s class of 2021, visit bit.ly/3vcfYve.
Climate change first on CIFAL York’s agenda
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York is hosting a knowledge-exchange dialogue, Oct. 20 and 21, in preparation for the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP26) that begins Oct. 31 in Glasgow, Scotland. As part of this event, there will be a public information webinar at 11 a.m. on Oct. 21.
By Elaine Smith, special contributor
Idil Boran
CIFAL York is launching its first event, a knowledge-exchange dialogue, to strengthen multilevel action for climate, nature and people. Organized for Oct. 20 and 21, this international technical expert workshop provides the knowledge base for Professor Idil Boran to convene an official side event to the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, to a larger audience in Glasgow, Scotland.
CIFAL centres provide innovative training throughout the world and serve as hubs for the exchange of knowledge among government officials, the private sector, academia and civil society. CIFAL York, which will eventually have its home at the Markham Campus, is led by Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) Professor Ali Asgary, School of Administrative Studies, with Idil Boran, an associate professor of philosophy (LA&PS) who leads the Synergies of Planetary Health Research Initiative, an international and interdisciplinary research partnership at York’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.
“Our inaugural event is synchronized with both the UN Biodiversity COP15 (Part 1), held online from Oct. 11 to 15, and the UN Climate Change COP26, held in person in Glasgow from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Boran. Both the biodiversity and climate COPs were to be held in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are seeing heightened awareness on these planetary challenges, but the world is far behind on both crises,” Boran said. “Transformative change is needed at the level of policy, practices and mindset. Cities, regions, businesses and governments are making commitments, but what are these commitments? Are they being delivered? What are their impacts? How can they be scaled and elicit more commitments?” Above all, Boran noted, commitments must respect the land rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Ali Asgary
“We’ve invited Canadian and international participants, both researchers and practitioners, to share knowledge and experiences and identify priorities for accelerating and strengthening multilevel joint action for nature and the climate by multiplicity of actors, while delivering the sustainable development goals,” Boran said.
The event’s key message is that climate change is not a singular issue but is deeply interconnected with multiple planetary challenges.
“When we talk about the biodiversity-climate interlinkages, we are also concerned about their impacts on human health, as well as wildlife and environmental health,” Boran said. “The climate and the biodiversity crises share root causes. Climate change worsens biodiversity loss, but protecting the ecosystem, if done right, can help respond to the effects of climate change.”
The knowledge-exchange dialogue is by invitation only, although there will be a public plenary webinar at 11 a.m. on Oct. 21. The other sessions will feature panels for participants and parallel interactive discussion roundtables.
York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton will deliver the event’s opening remarks. There will be a variety of sessions, including one on Indigenous nature stewardship and others dealing with agriculture, food and healthy communities, urban nature-based initiatives, oceans and coastal zones, and methodologies for assessing progress. The workshop will set the foundation for creating a working group toward a deliverable and will kick-start a series of dialogues.
“In addition to showcasing the workshop at COP26, we hope to create a working group with the aim of connecting the work being done locally and regionally to the global process,” Boran said. “Our official event in Glasgow is an opportunity to share the first insights from this workshop.”
This event is organized by CIFAL York with the collaboration of the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), based in Bonn Germany, and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, based in the U.K., one of the partnering institutions for the side event at COP26 in Glasgow. At York University, event partners are: York International; the Office of Research and Innovation; the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability; the Synergies of Planetary Health Research Initiative and Lab, with the support of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research; LA&PS; and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council exchange knowledge-mobilization fund.
“York University is pleased to support CIFAL York’s contributions towards advancing UN SDGs,” said Vice-President Research and Innovation Amir Asif. “York researchers like professors Boran and Asgary are actively exploring planetary climatic and environmental change with particular emphasis on biodiversity, reducing Canada’s overall carbon footprint and building sustainable energy sources of the future. This knowledge-exchange dialogue and the followup official event at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow helps us in achieving our goal of forging a just and equitable world.”
EUC Seminar Series continues with talk on Indigenous environmental justice
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This year, York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) Seminar Series is focusing on Assistant Professor Martha Stiegman’s knowledge translation project Polishing the Chain, which leverages research by the Indigenous-led Talking Treaties community arts project of Jumblies Theatre and Arts to enrich public discussion of treaty relations Toronto.
Deborah McGregor
The series’ second talk, “Taking Care of the Dish: Treaties, Indigenous Law and Environmental Justice,” will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 26. Speaking at the event are York University Associate Professor Deborah McGregor, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice; Carolyn Crawley, member of the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle; and Adrianne Lickers Xavier, director of Indigenous studies at McMaster University.
Indigenous/Crown treaties are not moments where colonial law was imposed; they represent a meeting between Indigenous and colonial legal orders. To understand treaty relations, there must be an understanding of the Indigenous laws, knowledge systems and visions of justice they are grounded in. In this talk, the speakers will reflect on their work in Indigenous environmental justice in relation to Indigenous law and treaties, to explore the ways these agreements guide Indigenous land stewardship, and ways they are being lived in Toronto and southern Ontario today.
Polishing the Chain: Treaty Relations in Toronto is a fall and winter conversation series that will bring together Indigenous and allied scholars, knowledge holders, artists, Earth workers, and activists who will explore the historical significance and contemporary relevance of the treaties Indigenous nations in southern Ontario have made with each other, with the land and with the Crown. It will explore: the spirit and intent of Toronto treaties; the ways Indigenous Peoples have upheld and continue to uphold them; the extent to which they are (and are not) reflected in contemporary Indigenous and state relations; and the treaty responsibilities of both settler and Indigenous Torontonians.
This year’s EUC Seminar Series is co-presented by York’s new Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, the Indigenous Environmental Justice Project, and the Jumblies Theatre and Arts Talking Treaties project. For more information about the seminar series, email polishingthechain@gmail.com.
York U in the news: location-based pay, sexism in nursing and more
