Humanities / en Get That Hope: Alumna and former ֱ Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival /news/get-hope-alumna-and-former-u-t-mississauga-instructor-premieres-latest-work-stratford-festival <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Get That Hope: Alumna and former ֱ Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/Andrea%20Scott%20photo%20credit%20Helen%20Tansey%202017%20headshot%20glasses.png?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=kxefzGe- 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-08/Andrea%20Scott%20photo%20credit%20Helen%20Tansey%202017%20headshot%20glasses.png?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=4wcN3wLE 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-08/Andrea%20Scott%20photo%20credit%20Helen%20Tansey%202017%20headshot%20glasses.png?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=U4kvUMI8 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/Andrea%20Scott%20photo%20credit%20Helen%20Tansey%202017%20headshot%20glasses.png?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=kxefzGe-" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-08-29T11:27:55-04:00" title="Thursday, August 29, 2024 - 11:27" class="datetime">Thu, 08/29/2024 - 11:27</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Andrea Scott says she wrote her latest play, Get That Hope, after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s&nbsp;Long Day’s Journey Into Night, asking herself,&nbsp;“Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?”</em> (photo by Helen Tansey)</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kristy-strauss" hreflang="en">Kristy Strauss</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">ֱ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/drama" hreflang="en">Drama</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/theatre" hreflang="en">Theatre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">ֱ Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Andrea Scott's play tells the story of a Toronto family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Andrea Scott&nbsp;</strong>has never forgotten the moment when her dreams of becoming a writer were quashed.&nbsp;</p> <p>It was during a Grade 9 English class.</p> <p>“I remember proclaiming something I felt was very literary and my English teacher shot me down so quickly,” says the University of Toronto Mississauga alumna and former instructor at ֱ Mississauga. “It killed my desire to be a writer and I’ve never forgotten her.”</p> <p>The death of Scott’s writing ambitions would prove to be premature. She just wrapped up a contract writing for Disney and recently her play&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/Get-That-Hope" target="_blank">Get That Hope</a>, </em>which&nbsp;tells the story of a family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration, made its debut at the&nbsp;Stratford Festival.&nbsp;</p> <p>Scott’s journey to becoming an award-winning playwright and screenwriter began when she temporarily gave up on writing in high school, and turned her attention to the stage. She received&nbsp;an honours bachelor of arts degree in theatre and drama studies through ֱ Mississauga’s <a href="https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/english-drama/programs/drama/specialist">joint program with Sheridan College</a>, with a minor in English.</p> <p>She later earned a master’s degree in drama through ֱ’s School of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>She recalls being “an annoying theatre kid” at ֱ Mississauga, but says she had many professors who encouraged her and gave her a well-rounded theatre education.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It is good to have a three-dimensional education regarding the ‘why’ of certain stories and the historical context,” Scott says. “I have a lot of those books still on my shelf because they inform how I write.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Following graduation, she pursued an acting career in Toronto. As she auditioned for TV shows, she noticed a theme: Black characters often supported the protagonist – who was usually white – and didn’t have robust stories of their own.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>When she auditioned for the role of a grieving mother who had lost her son to gun violence, she turned her attention back to writing.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I was like, ‘Yeah ... I could write better than this,’” Scott says.&nbsp;</p> <p>She wrote her first play,&nbsp;<em>Damaged</em>, a one-woman show that debuted at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bcurrent.ca" target="_blank">b current’</a>s&nbsp;rock.paper.sistahz festival. Her second play,&nbsp;<em>Eating Pomegranates Naked</em>, was included in the SummerWorks Performance Festival.&nbsp;</p> <p>It was a turning point for Scott.</p> <p>“There were people lining up to see the play who did not know me and had never heard of me, and that felt very validating,” she says, adding that the play also earned her the RBC Arts Professional Award. “That was the moment where I realized, ‘Maybe I could do this.’”&nbsp;</p> <p>Scott continued to achieve success with her plays, including&nbsp;<em>Better Angels: A Parable</em>, <em>Don't Talk to Me Like I'm Your Wife</em> (produced by her production company, <a href="http://callmescottyproductions.com">Call Me Scotty Productions</a>) and the award-winning <em>Controlled Damage.</em> She also taught playwriting to undergraduate students in ֱ Mississauga’s department of English and drama.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>In 2020, Scott worked in the writers’ room on the CBC/BET production&nbsp;<em>The Porter</em>. Following that, she worked on&nbsp;<em>Murdoch Mysteries&nbsp;</em>for three seasons and wrote four episodes.&nbsp;</p> <p>“<em>Murdoch Mysteries&nbsp;</em>was a huge achievement for me,” Scott says. “I never assumed that I would ever get a job quite like that.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Scott recently wrote for the upcoming Disney series&nbsp;<em>High Potential,&nbsp;</em>which stars Kaitlin Olson (<em>It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em>)&nbsp;with&nbsp;Veronica Mars&nbsp;creator Rob Thomas as showrunner. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>“The first time that I got to walk into the Disney lot, it just did not seem real,” she says. “It was a dream come true.”&nbsp;</p> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-oembed-video field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item"><iframe src="/media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/OiQQ5V_NRts%3Ffeature%3Dshared&amp;max_width=0&amp;max_height=0&amp;hash=8xXk2zoM5EXKk0y01N1VWtqbPqJu3o45PgbLSxhI-Wk" width="200" height="113" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Get That Hope (Teaser) | Stratford Festival 2024"></iframe> </div> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>On Aug. 10, Scott made her Stratford debut with the world première of <em>Get That Hope</em>. She says she was inspired to write the play after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s&nbsp;<em>Long Day’s Journey Into Night.</em>&nbsp;</p> <p>“All I kept thinking was, ‘Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?’” she says.&nbsp;</p> <p>Scott is working on a new play called&nbsp;<em>Truthfully Jackie&nbsp;</em>about Jackie Robinson’s time playing for the Montreal Royals in 1946.&nbsp;</p> <p>While she has seen success&nbsp;throughout her career, Scott says she has also faced challenges – including not being taken seriously enough.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I’m a woman, I’m a Black woman, and I’m really tiny – like five feet tall. But I have this voice, and I try to use it to make sure people take me seriously,” she says, adding that her advice for budding writers is to not take criticism to heart.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Reacting emotionally to something that was maybe constructive criticism won’t help you,” Scott says. “Also, write and write and write – and don’t close off any kind of source material that you can be inspired by. You never know where it might come from.”&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Get That Hope</em>&nbsp;runs until Sept. 28 in the&nbsp;Stratford Festival's Studio Theatre.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 29 Aug 2024 15:27:55 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 309180 at Canada Post stamp honours the late Norman Jewison, one of the country's most celebrated filmmakers /news/canada-post-stamp-honours-late-norman-jewison-one-country-s-most-celebrated-filmmakers <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canada Post stamp honours the late Norman Jewison, one of the country's most celebrated filmmakers</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/norman-jewison-stamp-wide.jpg?h=b0bcbf40&amp;itok=MIhTd1ZW 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-08/norman-jewison-stamp-wide.jpg?h=b0bcbf40&amp;itok=E16hGHK2 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-08/norman-jewison-stamp-wide.jpg?h=b0bcbf40&amp;itok=z0cgjIj- 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/norman-jewison-stamp-wide.jpg?h=b0bcbf40&amp;itok=MIhTd1ZW" alt="Norman Jewison Stamp"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-08-27T09:00:56-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 27, 2024 - 09:00" class="datetime">Tue, 08/27/2024 - 09:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(source photo by Peter Bregg for HELLO! Canada)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/joe-howell-0" hreflang="en">Joe Howell </a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">ֱ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/film" hreflang="en">Film</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/vic-one" hreflang="en">Vic One</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/victoria-college" hreflang="en">Victoria College</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">A ֱ alumnus, Jewison served as chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2010</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Canada Post recently honoured acclaimed Canadian filmmaker – and University of Toronto alumnus&nbsp;–&nbsp;<strong>Norman Jewison</strong> <a href="https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/blogs/personal/perspectives/stamp-honours-norman-jewison/" target="_blank">with the recent release of a commemorative stamp</a>.</p> <p>Jewison, <a href="https://defygravitycampaign.utoronto.ca/news-and-stories/remembering-norman-jewison/">who&nbsp;died in January at age 97</a>, was one of&nbsp;Victoria College’s most distinguished graduates.&nbsp;He was nominated for best director three times at the Academy Awards: for<em>&nbsp;In the Heat of the Night</em>&nbsp;(1967),&nbsp;<em>Fiddler on the Roof</em>&nbsp;(1971) and&nbsp;<em>Moonstruck</em>&nbsp;(1987).</p> <p>He also served as chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2010, with the<a href="https://www.vic.utoronto.ca/future-students/vic-one/vic-one-courses/#jewison"> Jewison stream of Vic One</a>, the award-winning first-year program at Victoria College, named in his honour.</p> <p>“As Canadian as maple syrup, as Canadian as a Prairie sunset, and now we have as Canadian as Norman Jewison on a stamp – which may be the winning entry,” said comedian Rick Mercer<strong>&nbsp;</strong>during an unveiling event on July 24.</p> <p>The event was hosted by the&nbsp;hosted at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC),&nbsp;which was established by Jewison in 1988 and serves as an incubator for Canadian film talent.</p> <p>Mercer, who was joined at the launch by director and ֱ alumnus&nbsp;<strong>David Cronenberg</strong>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7274568" target="_blank">later told CBC News</a>&nbsp;that Jewison was a “class act” who “believed in young people.”</p> <p>Cronenberg, meanwhile, told the audience that,&nbsp;“When saying goodbye, [Jewison] would always say ‘stay strong,’ because he knew how much strength you needed to do what we did.”</p> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-oembed-video field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item"><iframe src="/media/oembed?url=https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DJwX6IeZqcPs&amp;max_width=0&amp;max_height=0&amp;hash=FQXwXpTTAaRFLsXX5XZPw1M_OrS03Vy4x9iTeADyDJM" width="200" height="113" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Norman Jewison Social 16 X 9 July 10"></iframe> </div> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Paul Gooch</strong>, a professor emeritus of philosophy who was president of Victoria University during Jewison’s time as chancellor, was among the attendees at the unveiling.</p> <p>“It was quite joyful because Norman was such a wonderful guy and people wanted to tell stories about his life,” said Gooch. “All of the speakers referred to the fact that he was a storyteller and didn’t want to preach, despite being very concerned about social justice issues.</p> <p>“He was great on human follies and the prejudices that we have.”</p> <p>Gooch recalled Jewison’s remarkable support of young people. “As chancellor, he loved to interact with the students,” said Gooch. “He had something he did occasionally called ‘chat with the chanc,’ where he would have a group of students over to his place on Gloucester Lane and just sit around talking.”</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-08/Professor-Paul-Gooch-and-his-wife-Professor-Pauline-Thompson-web__ResizedImageWzEyMDAsODc5XQ.jpg?itok=JSrGuGQR" width="750" height="549" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Professor Emerita Pauline Thompson and Professor Emeritus Paul Gooch (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Jewison is the fourth Victoria College&nbsp;graduate to be recognized with a stamp by Canada’s postal service in recent years, joining <strong>Margaret Atwood</strong>, <strong>Northrop Frye </strong>and <strong>Donald Sutherland</strong>. He was closely involved with the stamp’s creation and personally chose the image, which was taken at the CFC in 2007 by <strong>Peter Bregg</strong> for&nbsp;<em>HELLO! Canada</em>.</p> <p>“After the photo appeared in&nbsp;<em>Hello!</em>, Norm called me up and asked if he could use it elsewhere,” said Bregg. “I said, ‘Yes,’ with pleasure. For three or four years after that he’d send me a litre of maple syrup from his farm as a thank you, which I found quite sweet, no pun intended. I’ve seen the photo everywhere since then.”</p> <p>“Because the launch event was held at the CFC, the post office had the idea to let people recreate the original photo,” added Bregg. “You got a five-by-seven-inch print of yourself in Norm’s seat taken from the same angle.”</p> <p>Jewison’s commemorative&nbsp;stamp is now available online&nbsp;and at Canada Post locations across the country.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 27 Aug 2024 13:00:56 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 309002 at 'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed ֱ's Hart House Theatre /news/i-came-theatre-why-late-donald-sutherland-championed-u-t-s-hart-house-theatre <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed ֱ's Hart House Theatre</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=SZh2HVGq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=Uvb33Mn9 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=ry39bASC 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=SZh2HVGq" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-08-26T09:04:15-04:00" title="Monday, August 26, 2024 - 09:04" class="datetime">Mon, 08/26/2024 - 09:04</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Carlos R. Alvarez/WireImage/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/megan-wykes" hreflang="en">Megan Wykes</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">ֱ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hart-house" hreflang="en">Hart House</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hart-house-theatre" hreflang="en">Hart House Theatre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/victoria-college" hreflang="en">Victoria College</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The esteemed actor and ֱ alumnus also created the&nbsp;Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The late <strong>Donald Sutherland&nbsp;</strong>was not only an esteemed actor and <a href="/news/tributes-pour-hollywood-legend-and-u-t-alumnus-donald-sutherland">alumnus of Victoria College</a>&nbsp;– he was a fierce and lifelong champion of the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre.</p> <p>Known for roles in <em>M*A*S*H</em>, <em>the Hunger Games</em>, <em>Invasion of the Body Snatchers</em> and others, Sutherland stepped up in support of the campus theatre 24 years ago when it was&nbsp;facing possible closure.</p> <p>With the help of <a href="/news/live-new-york-its-u-t-alum-and-saturday-night-live-producer-lorne-michaels#:~:text=Michaels%2C%20born%20Lorne%20Lipowitz%2C%20graduated,Follies%20and%20Hart%20House%20Theatre.">fellow alumnus&nbsp;<strong>Lorne Michaels</strong></a>, creator and producer of <em>Saturday Night Live</em>, Sutherland became co-chair of the Friends of Hart House Theatre, which was colloquially known as the“Save Hart House Theatre Campaign.”&nbsp;</p> <p>As part of his efforts, Sutherland penned an eloquent and heartfelt letter to then-theatre manager&nbsp;<strong>Janet Bessey </strong>that<strong>&nbsp;</strong>emphasized the theatre’s&nbsp;impact on his life and the lives of so many others.</p> <p>“It’s a theatre. It smells. It hears. It sings. It’s a theatre with arms that embrace you, comfort you, push you, and applaud you. It gives birth to people who make theatre. It nurtures them. It guides them. It sets them free and they wear the mantle of that theatre for the rest of their lives,” he wrote.</p> <p>He added that Hart House Theatre was among the reasons he applied to ֱ in the 1950s.</p> <p>“When I came to Toronto forty-seven years ago, I came for that theatre. Expressly for that,” he stated in his correspondence with Bessey.</p> <p>“I’d never been inside a theatre before; I’d never even seen a play. I knew nothing but that I was an actor. I’d not played yet but that’s what I’d come to do,” he elaborated. “That theatre was where some messenger from some advisory council somewhere told my open-faced father and my stunned-in the-headlights self that that was [the] place to go if that indeed was what I wanted to do. It was.”</p> <p>The correspondence, later published by a newspaper, caused a ripple effect. “Through Donald Sutherland’s personal generosity and leadership, hundreds of donors came forward and ensured that Hart House Theatre would remain a vital crucible for student artists,” says&nbsp;<strong>Peter Wambera</strong>, Hart House’s associate director of advancement.</p> <p>Sutherland’s <a href="https://uofthistorysociety.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/donald-sutherland/">very first acting experiences were at ֱ</a>. During his undergrad years, he participated in several theatrical productions staged by&nbsp;Hart House Theatre, UC Follies and Victoria College Dramatic Society.</p> <p>His first&nbsp;acting role at Hart House Theatre was in James Thurber&nbsp;and&nbsp;Elliott Nugent’s&nbsp;<em>The Male Animal</em>&nbsp;(1953), which was well-received. He also earned&nbsp;excellent reviews from both&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Toronto Star</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Globe and Mail</em>&nbsp;for his role as Stephano in&nbsp;Hart House Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s&nbsp;<em>The Tempest</em>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Other Hart House plays in which he was involved include&nbsp;<em>Darkness at Noon</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Troublemakers&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>The School for Wives</em>.</p> <p>Sutherland also spent many of his summers acting at the Straw Hat Players, a theatre&nbsp;company founded by members of Hart House Theatre, along with its then director <strong>Robert&nbsp;Gill</strong>.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-08/Sutherland_%28Centre__in_The_School_For_Wives__1956%29web.jpg?itok=1rpDp6eO" width="750" height="536" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Donald Sutherland, centre, in "The School for Wives" in 1956 (photo courtesy of Hart House Theatre Archives)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Sutherland, a Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award&nbsp;for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Film),&nbsp;graduated from ֱ in 1958 with a degree in engineering and drama. In 1998, he received an honorary degree from ֱ in recognition of his acting&nbsp;career and his&nbsp;championing of social issues. Hart House co-signed the nomination, recalls then-Warden <strong>Margaret Hancock</strong>.</p> <p>His support of Hart House Theatre never wavered. In 2014, through a&nbsp;generous donation, he created <a href="http://engage.utoronto.ca/site/SPageServer?pagename=donate#/fund/2195">the&nbsp;Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Donald Sutherland’s gift, the creation of the award, not only reflected his own unforgettable experiences at Hart House Theatre and how profoundly he valued this theatre, but it also guaranteed that there would be a permanent award to acknowledge outstanding student acting,” says <strong>Doug Floyd</strong>, Hart House’s director of theatre and performance art. “This is an extraordinary legacy that we cherish at Hart House Theatre. It will inspire and support students for many generations.”</p> <p>Each year’s recipient of the Donald Sutherland Award wrote a letter summing up their experiences at the Hart House ֱ Drama Festival. Updates were shared with Sutherland, would often respond with a letter of his own.</p> <p>Hart House Theatre plans to dedicate the fall 2024/2025 season to Sutherland in a gesture of gratitude.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:04:15 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 309003 at ֱ English prof's dystopian tale explores privilege and peril in the Global South /news/u-t-english-prof-s-dystopian-tale-explores-privilege-and-peril-global-south <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ֱ English prof's dystopian tale explores privilege and peril in the Global South</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/boyagoda-book.jpg?h=c87f6bf5&amp;itok=nVRgZIo6 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-08/boyagoda-book.jpg?h=c87f6bf5&amp;itok=yZjpgH_b 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-08/boyagoda-book.jpg?h=c87f6bf5&amp;itok=UpBW3yvd 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/boyagoda-book.jpg?h=c87f6bf5&amp;itok=nVRgZIo6" alt="Randy Boyagoda and the cover of Little Sanctuary"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-08-02T10:41:53-04:00" title="Friday, August 2, 2024 - 10:41" class="datetime">Fri, 08/02/2024 - 10:41</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Randy Boyagoda says he got the idea for his latest novel while sitting alone at the dining room table in a guest apartment in Italy, where he taught a class for several years (supplied image)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sean-mcneely" hreflang="en">Sean McNeely</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/books" hreflang="en">Books</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/english" hreflang="en">English</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/literature" hreflang="en">Literature</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Little Sanctuary, Randy Boyagoda's first novel for young adults, is about the children of a wealthy family who are sent to a refuge on a remote island as their country is ravaged by war and disease</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Randy Boyagoda</strong>, an author and University of Toronto professor,&nbsp;came up with the idea for his first young adult novel in 2018 while teaching a class in Rome,&nbsp;&nbsp;where he found himself alone in a guest apartment that, a year earlier, had been filled with his family.&nbsp;</p> <p>He recently told the CBC that it was an empty dining room table that got him thinking about what one would do if they knew their loved ones were about to disappear, setting the stage his dystopian tale,&nbsp;<em><a href="https://tradewindbooks.com/books/little-sanctuary/" target="_blank">Little Sanctuary</a>.</em></p> <p>Published in June, the novel is&nbsp;set in a fictional country in the Global South that is ravaged by conflict and disease. The&nbsp;children of a wealthy family are sent to a special camp on a remote island for safekeeping alongside other children of the elite.</p> <p>However, the children discover the camp isn’t what it appears to be and become suspicious of their so-called guardians. The main character, Sabel, along with her siblings, devise a plan to escape.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2024-08/Book-cover-crop.jpg" width="300" height="424" alt="Cover of Little Sanctuary"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Little Sanctuary&nbsp;is the story of children from the Global South living in a world that is falling apart.</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“I don't think I started out with the intention of writing a young adult novel,” says Boyagoda, a professor of English in ֱ’s Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and vice dean, undergraduate. “I wrote&nbsp;<a href="https://thewalrus.ca/little-sanctuary/" target="_blank">a short story for&nbsp;<em>The Walrus</em></a>&nbsp;that was published in 2021 during the pandemic.”</p> <p>Boyagoda and his wife later organized a family book club meeting in their backyard where they talked about the<i>&nbsp;</i>short story, which he had left open-ended.</p> <p>His youngest daughter had a query: What happened next?</p> <p>“And it struck me as a question worth pursuing,” says Boyagoda. “So I began writing it out – what would happen next to these kids? Where would they go? What would happen to them wherever they were going?”</p> <p>Boyagoda recounted the story’s origins on<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-67-the-next-chapter/clip/16076530-how-dinner-alone-rome-inspired-little-sanctuary">&nbsp;CBC’s Radio’s The Next Chapter</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;“I really missed my family, because of the memory of when we had all been together there,” he said on the program.&nbsp;“I started imagining a table full of family, and then just being there by yourself. What could have changed? Why did this family disappear? That got to me, and I thought, ‘What would you do if you knew your family was going to disappear?’ You would have a final meal together, before sending your kids off for safekeeping. That's how the story started.”</p> <p>Focusing on a privileged family from the Global South was intentional, Boyagoda says.</p> <p>“The popularity of dystopian fiction over the last few years in television and in books has been marked by a consistent white protagonist,” he says. “Think about&nbsp;<em>The Hunger Games</em>, or&nbsp;<em>Station Eleven</em>. They tend to be privileged white people who are suddenly faced with a world that’s falling apart. And so we follow these heroes as they figure out how to survive.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, other stories set in the Global South tend to involve characters who live in worlds of extreme poverty and risk.</p> <p>“The Global South is also full of ridiculously wealthy people,” says Boyagoda. “So what would happen if the main characters in a dystopic novel weren't upper middle class white people? What if a young adult novel about the Global South wasn't about extremely poor brown people?”</p> <p>The book begins with a quote from Franz Kafka: “Children simply don’t have any time in which they might be children.” That resonated with Boyagoda, touching on the idea that, though children are often thrust into very adult situations and are forced to act and behave like adults, their childlike behaviour still shines through.</p> <p>“Sabel and her four siblings have to figure out what they're going to do when they realize things aren't as they seemed. And as a result, they don't have time to be children.</p> <p>“They can't just be kids about it, they can't take for granted that they're going to be kept safe. And yet, they're still children, they still bicker. There's still sibling rivalry, even in situations where the stakes could be mortal. There's still crushes, there's still competition for attention.”</p> <p>Boyagoda says the book also offers an opportunity for young readers and their parents to discuss some of the world’s current challenges.</p> <p>“One of the ways that dystopia generally works is that we’re meant to imagine a version of contemporary life taken to its negative extremes,” he says. “These are books in which civil war, disease, inequality, pressures of climate have been taken to such an extreme point that things have broken in this world.</p> <p>“So what happens to our humanity, to our prospects as individuals, family members and friends when current challenges and sources of division and decline are taken to their extremes? It would be my hope that a novel like this would be an occasion for parents and children together to talk these things through.”</p> <p>Boyagoda also hopes young readers will enjoy rereading book.</p> <p>“I've always felt this as a reader myself,” he says. “Whenever I want to reread something, that's an indicator that something significant has happened in the story that will sustain my imagination a second time through. Sometimes it's the beauty of the writing. Sometimes it's the intensity of the story. And this might be the case with&nbsp;<em>Little Sanctuary&nbsp;–</em>&nbsp;it might be to figure out the mystery in retrospect.</p> <p>“In other words, there's lots of Easter eggs, but you don't see them the first time through.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:41:53 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 308904 at Photo exhibit on display at ֱ celebrates the important role of Black classicists /news/photo-exhibit-display-u-t-celebrates-important-role-black-classicists <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Photo exhibit on display at ֱ celebrates the important role of Black classicists</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-05/BlackClassicists-images-weblead.jpg?h=673beb05&amp;itok=wqYiRxjL 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-05/BlackClassicists-images-weblead.jpg?h=673beb05&amp;itok=V7Aj_5mg 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-05/BlackClassicists-images-weblead.jpg?h=673beb05&amp;itok=eDp_2QXS 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-05/BlackClassicists-images-weblead.jpg?h=673beb05&amp;itok=wqYiRxjL" alt="Wall in Lillian Massey Building with photos and portraits"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-05-03T15:58:02-04:00" title="Friday, May 3, 2024 - 15:58" class="datetime">Fri, 05/03/2024 - 15:58</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>The “Black Classicists in North America” installation is currently on display at the University of Toronto in the&nbsp;Lillian Massey Building on the St. George campus&nbsp;(photo by Diana Tyszko)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sean-mcneely" hreflang="en">Sean McNeely</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/black" hreflang="en">Black</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/classics" hreflang="en">Classics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/religion" hreflang="en">Religion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">“This exhibition has been displayed in many U.S. and U.K. institutions, but this is the first time it has been made available in Canada” </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new installation at the University of Toronto celebrates the important role of Black classicists who overcame enormous obstacles to advance Greek and Latin language studies.</p> <p>Housed in the Lillian Massey Building on the St. George campus , the photo exhibit, “<a href="https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/events/black-classicists-north-america">Black Classicists in North America</a>” celebrates 18 prominent scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-05/BlackClassicistsPortraits.jpg?itok=VfPKV3qx" width="750" height="500" alt="Portraits of Black Classicists" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>“Black Classicists in North America” celebrates 18 prominent scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries (photo by Diana Tyszko)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“This exhibition has been displayed in many U.S. and U.K. institutions, but this is the first time it has been made available in Canada,” says&nbsp;<strong>Ben Akrigg</strong>, an associate professor with the&nbsp;department of classics&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science who helped facilitate this exhibit coming to ֱ.</p> <p>“Being confronted directly with their portraits reminds us that these were real individuals, and not just footnotes. They can still talk to us as colleagues through their written words. Many of their concerns and interests, especially as teachers, do speak directly to us in that way.”</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2024-05/john-edward-wesley-bowen-potrait.jpg?itok=g2bn6vVe" width="250" height="293" alt="Portrait of John Wesley Edward Bowen" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>John Wesley Edward Bowen</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The exhibition was assembled and curated by <strong>Michele Valerie Ronnick</strong>, a distinguished professor at Wayne State University. Ronnick partnered with Akrigg as well as <strong>Ronald Charles</strong>, an associate professor in ֱ’s department for the study of religion to bring the exhibit to the university.</p> <p>The portraits include classicists such as <strong>John Wesley Edward Bowen </strong>(1855–1933). Born into slavery in New Orleans, he graduated from New Orleans University in 1878 and later taught Greek and Latin at Central Tennessee College in Nashville.</p> <p>In 1887 he became the first African American to earn a PhD at Boston University. His essay, “An Apology for the Higher Education of the Negro,” (Methodist Review, 1897) supported the study of classics. He was president of Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta from 1910 to 1914.</p> <p><strong>Orishatukeh Faduma</strong> (1855-1946) was born in the former British colony of Guyana where his parents lived after abduction by slavers. He was first educated by missionaries in Sierra Leone.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-right"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2024-05/orishatukeh-faduma-portait_0.jpg?itok=CUOrK58U" width="250" height="293" alt="Portrait of Orishatukeh Faduma" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Orishatukeh Faduma&nbsp;</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University’s School of Divinity in 1894 and taught Greek and Latin at Lincoln Academy in King’s Mount, N.C. and Virginia Theological Seminary in Lynchburg. He joined the American Negro Academy in 1899 and the American Philological Association the following year.</p> <p><strong>Helen Maria Chesnutt</strong> (1880–1969) was the daughter of novelist Charles Chesnutt – an American author, essayist and political activist, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South.</p> <p>She earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1902 and her master’s in Latin from Columbia University in 1925.</p> <p>She taught Latin at Central High School in Cleveland. Her pupil, <strong>Langston Hughes</strong>, who became a celebrated poet and activist, found her inspiring. In 1932, Chesnutt co-authored&nbsp;<em>The Road to Latin</em>, a textbook that was printed several times. She also belonged to the American Philological Association from 1920 to 1934.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2024-05/helen-maria-chesnutt-portrait_0.jpg?itok=7YB11gCM" width="250" height="293" alt="Portrait of Helen Maria Chesnutt" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Helen Maria Chesnutt&nbsp;</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“The institutional structures of classics as they developed in the nineteenth century were designed to facilitate and perpetuate the success of certain groups,” says Akrigg. “These men and women were from outside those groups and the successes they achieved came in spite of formidable obstacles.</p> <p>“Most of them were teachers and they provided not only an example but often direct inspiration and encouragement to those who came in their footsteps. They played a vital role in widening access to the discipline. They also, however, remind us that that process of widening is still far from complete.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 03 May 2024 19:58:02 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 307703 at ֱ ranks among top 20 globally across all five broad fields tracked by QS World University Rankings by Subject /news/u-t-ranks-among-top-20-globally-across-all-five-broad-fields-tracked-qs-world-university <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ֱ&nbsp;ranks among top 20 globally across all five broad fields tracked by&nbsp;QS World University Rankings by Subject</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-04/UofT93802_A%26S_Old-Book-New-Science-Lab_Feb-2023_Volpe-7-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=vE2Ful1o 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-04/UofT93802_A%26S_Old-Book-New-Science-Lab_Feb-2023_Volpe-7-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=Tz4MqlBO 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-04/UofT93802_A%26S_Old-Book-New-Science-Lab_Feb-2023_Volpe-7-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=kDD9MzWZ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-04/UofT93802_A%26S_Old-Book-New-Science-Lab_Feb-2023_Volpe-7-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=vE2Ful1o" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-04-15T16:40:05-04:00" title="Monday, April 15, 2024 - 16:40" class="datetime">Mon, 04/15/2024 - 16:40</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Matthew Volpe)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/adina-bresge" hreflang="en">Adina Bresge</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/meric-gertler" hreflang="en">Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rankings" hreflang="en">Rankings</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The university is ranked 10th&nbsp;in the world for arts and humanities in 2024</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The University of Toronto is ranked among the top 20 universities globally across all five broad subject fields featured in the latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings" target="_blank">QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024</a>&nbsp;– including a coveted top-10 spot for arts and humanities.&nbsp;</p> <p>The rankings, compiled by London-based analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds, evaluate universities’ performance across five broad subject fields and 55 more specific subjects.</p> <p>In the five broad fields, ֱ ranked 10th&nbsp;in arts and humanities, 12th&nbsp;in social sciences and management, 13th&nbsp;in life sciences and medicine, 17th&nbsp;in engineering and technology and 19th&nbsp;in natural sciences.&nbsp;</p> <p>It also made the global top 10 in seven more specific subject areas: sports-related subjects (5th), nursing (5th), education (8th), data science (9th), English language and literature (10th), mineral and mining engineering (10th) and philosophy (10th).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Moreover, ֱ placed among the top 50 institutions in 46 subjects – more than any other university in the world – and scored in the top 25 in 34 subjects behind only the University of California, Berkeley; University of Cambridge; Harvard University, University of Oxford, National University of Singapore and University of California, Los Angeles.</p> <p>“These latest rankings recognize ֱ’s place among an elite group of global universities that consistently demonstrate academic and research excellence across a broad array of disciplines,” said ֱ President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong>.</p> <p>“This wide range of scholarly expertise, along with ֱ’s culture of multidisciplinary collaboration, puts us in a unique position to tackle some of the most complex and pressing challenges of our time, from treating cancer to addressing climate change.”</p> <p>For the 2024 edition of its subject rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked nearly 1,600 universities across 55 subjects. The results are based on indicators including academic and employer surveys, research citations per paper, an index that quantifies the productivity and impact of an institution’s published work and a metric that reflects the reach of international collaborations.</p> <p>Globally, the university made gains in 21 subjects this year, including jumping 12 spots to 21st&nbsp;place in communication and media studies and an 11-spot rise to secure 10th&nbsp;place in mineral and mining engineering.</p> <p>ֱ also climbed the ranks in four of the broad fields, ascending 10 spots in engineering and technology, five in arts and humanities, four in natural sciences and three in social sciences and management. Its standing remained unchanged in life sciences and medicine.</p> <p>Among Canadian universities, ֱ ranked first in all five broad fields and first in 34 more specific subject areas.&nbsp;</p> <p>In total, ֱ was ranked by QS in 50 of the rankings’ 55 subjects.</p> <p>Overall, ֱ is ranked first in Canada and among the top 25 universities globally in the five most closely watched international rankings: QS World University Rankings,&nbsp;<em>U.S. News &amp; World Report’s</em>&nbsp;Best Global Universities,&nbsp;<em>Times Higher Education’s</em>&nbsp;World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:40:05 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 307382 at Classics students whip up a taste of ancient history /news/classics-students-whip-taste-ancient-history <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Classics students whip up a taste of ancient history</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=3cGUbiuD 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=6_MzM-St 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=mS1olzZ_ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=3cGUbiuD" alt="plate filled with various foods at the event"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-01-30T08:43:52-05:00" title="Tuesday, January 30, 2024 - 08:43" class="datetime">Tue, 01/30/2024 - 08:43</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Students and professors ate some of the same foods ancient Greeks and Romans served at dinners thousands of years ago (photo by Teodora Mladin)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sean-mcneely" hreflang="en">Sean McNeely</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/classics" hreflang="en">Classics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/food" hreflang="en">Food</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trinity-college" hreflang="en">Trinity College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-college" hreflang="en">University College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/victoria-college" hreflang="en">Victoria College</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">From "Parthian chicken" to melitoutta, the flavours of ancient Greece and Rome took centre stage on Ancient Food Day – helping to connect students to the civilizations they study </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It was a feast fit for the gods.</p> <p>Professors, graduate and undergraduate students enjoyed some of the same foods ancient Greeks and Romans served at dinners thousands of years ago at&nbsp;<a href="https://classu.sa.utoronto.ca/2022/08/27/ancient-food-day/">Ancient Food Day</a>, organized by the <a href="https://classu.sa.utoronto.ca/">Classics Students’ Union</a>.</p> <p>“Ancient Food Day is more than just a culinary festivity,” says <strong>Teodora Mladin</strong>, president of the student union and a sixth-year student with a double major in classical civilizations and French linguistics who is a member of&nbsp;Trinity College.</p> <p>“Food is one of the primary ways we share and retain our cultures. So, by indulging in these recipes, we momentarily taste the traditions, stories and experiences of ancient peoples.”</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-7-crop.jpg?itok=3IR1pRF2" width="750" height="501" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>The Classics Students' Union held its biannual Ancient Food Day&nbsp;event earlier this month (photo by Teodora Mladin)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Tasting those traditions included enjoying dishes such as: “Parthian chicken,” cooked with leeks, red wine, dried dates, garlic and cumin; and parsnip fries, cooked with olive oil, honey, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, celery seed, rosemary, pepper and fish sauce. The event’s organizers said the dishes were very popular in 224 CE.</p> <p>A plate of asparagus, meanwhile, was prepared with marjoram, which, students said, tastes like smoked fish when mixed with coriander.</p> <p>There were also plenty of choices for those with a sweet tooth such as <em>enkrides</em> – the ancient equivalent to Timbits. These fried cheese dough balls are cooked in olive oil and then covered in honey. Or there was <em>melitoutta,</em> which are honey cakes that resemble scones. Apparently, this was a dessert deceased souls would bring to the underworld.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/NEW---DSCF2256-crop.jpg?itok=TIxGXpSB" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Asparagus was prepared with spices to give it a fishy flavour (photo by Sean McNeely)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Attendees also enjoyed “pear patina,” frittatas made with boiled cored pears and prepared with eggs, honey, olive oil, grape juice and white wine, offering both savoury and sweet flavours.</p> <p>The dishes were washed down with beverages such as “Nectar of the Gods” – a mango-nectar-based drink and a mulled pomegranate drink called “Persephone in the Underworld.” Inspired by the myth of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, its Greek description translates to “fire burning at night,” referring to its spiced quality as well as its dark, glittery colour.</p> <p>The event was the culmination of weeks of preparation that included searching for original recipes, translating them and then preparing dishes as true to the originals as possible. The group also created placards for each dish that contained the original Greek recipe, the English translation and fun facts.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/AFD-Winter-2024-6-crop.jpg?itok=L27bAivM" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Each dish was accompanied by a placard&nbsp;with the original Greek recipe ​​​​​(photo by Teodora Mladin)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Izzy Friesen</strong>, a fourth-year classics and classical civilizations student, says translating recipes was an enriching experience from both a language and history perspective.</p> <p>"Getting to translate recipes allowed me to engage with Latin in a different way,” says Friesen, a member of&nbsp;Victoria College. “It was particularly valuable for us to attempt our own translations and look for recipes that caught our eye. It’s useful and exciting for language-learners but not necessarily something we’d get to do in the classroom."</p> <p><strong>Madeleine Andrasic</strong>, a second-year student with a double major in classical languages and history, and a member of&nbsp;University College, also found translating the recipes to be rewarding.</p> <p>“It really becomes evident that Greeks and Romans saw food in both similar and different ways to us,” says&nbsp;Andrasic. “So much cultural and environmental history can be revealed in these texts, [sparking] further questions about food availability and food preferences in the ancient world."</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/DSCF2263-crop.jpg?itok=0bZFPfwM" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Pear patina sits next to an apricot dessert (photo by Sean McNeely)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>For <strong>Tessa Delaney-Girotti</strong>, a fourth-year student with a double major in classical civilizations and archeology, preparing the dishes strengthened her connection to ancient peoples.</p> <p>“It’s not only a unique experience to be able to eat the same kind of food as someone from thousands of years ago, but there’s also something about cooking those recipes, putting yourself into their shoes, that brings to mind the everyday activities of their lives,” says Delaney-Girotti, a member of University College who is vice-president of the student union.</p> <p>“Most of the time we feel far removed from the people we read about, but this brings a whole new perspective.”</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/DSCF2270-crop.jpg?itok=9bGeD59L" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A serving dish of Parthian chicken beside a tray of enkrides (photo by Sean McNeely)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Mladin, too, says gathering to share a meal is a timeless human experience and organizing and hosting Ancient Food Day further connected her to the cultures she’s studying.</p> <p>She added that the Classics Students' Union has seen so much interest in the recipes that it intends to create an ancient recipe blog.</p> <p>“The dishes we present are an emblem of history, a testament to the cultural exchanges, advancements and the ever-evolving human story,” she says. “We are reminded of the depth and breadth of the ancient civilizations that shaped the very focus of our department."</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:43:52 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 305733 at Safeguarding history: ֱ researchers team up with Royal Ontario Museum to preserve ancient Greek coins /news/safeguarding-history-u-t-researchers-team-royal-ontario-museum-preserve-ancient-greek-coins <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Safeguarding history: ֱ researchers team up with Royal Ontario Museum to preserve ancient Greek coins</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/ROMkomma-OCCAM_leadphoto-researchers-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=3MLOCa3j 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-01/ROMkomma-OCCAM_leadphoto-researchers-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=qDEb074k 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-01/ROMkomma-OCCAM_leadphoto-researchers-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=bDjNKVem 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/ROMkomma-OCCAM_leadphoto-researchers-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=3MLOCa3j" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-01-10T12:05:32-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 12:05" class="datetime">Wed, 01/10/2024 - 12:05</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>PhD candidates Maria Stanko (right) and Dian (Jack) Yu study images generated by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Post-doctoral researcher Michel Haché looks on in the background (photo by Aaron Demeter)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rebecca-cheung" hreflang="en">Rebecca Cheung</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/royal-ontario-museum" hreflang="en">Royal Ontario Museum</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">ֱ Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers are examining the chemical composition on the surfaces of ancient coins to advise museum conservators on how to treat and store them.</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers at the University of Toronto's Open Centre for the Characterization of Advanced Materials (OCCAM) are working with the conservation team at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) to help preserve links to the past, ensuring important historical artifacts can be studied and shared with generations to come.</p> <p><strong>Maria Stanko</strong>, a PhD candidate in the department of materials science and engineering in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering,&nbsp;and her collaborators are studying the surfaces of two corroded Greek coins from the Hellenistic period – dating back to 300-115 BCE – using OCCAM’s instrumentation.</p> <p>By understanding what is happening to these priceless relics, the team will be equipped to advise researchers and conservators on how to best conserve and store these artifacts safely.</p> <p>The coins are subjects of study for&nbsp;the ROMkomma project, a collaboration funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and led by <strong>Kate Cooper</strong>, an assistant professor, teaching stream in the department of historical and cultural studies at ֱ Scarborough and research associate at the ROM, and <strong>Ben Akrigg</strong>, associate professor in the department of classics at the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <p>The project <a href="/news/u-t-researchers-help-study-catalogue-rom-s-ancient-greek-coins">aims to catalogue and publish data</a> on the museum’s extensive collection of more than 2,000 ancient Greek coins. This investigation, which will make the ROM’s Greek coin collection accessible online, could reveal important insights on early minting practices and how early economies were developed.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/ROMkomma-OCCAM-researcher--crop.jpg?itok=l3btC0h4" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Students and researchers from the department of materials science and engineering developed a plan to position and mount ancient Greek coins so they could be imaged and analyzed (photo by Aaron Demeter)&nbsp;</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“Environmental degradation is normal with coins that are thousands of years old,” says Stanko. “On a few of these coins, we’re likely seeing corrosion caused by elements like chlorine and bromine.</p> <p>“These corrosive products are harder than the coin itself. We risk damaging the artifacts and removing the fine surface detailing if we try mechanical cleaning methods.”</p> <p>The coin imaging and analysis project began as an assignment for the Analytical Electron Microscopy course Stanko took with <strong>Janet Howe</strong>, an associate professor in the department of materials science and engineering and the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and Stanko’s PhD co-supervisor.</p> <p>Stanko and collaborators, including Howe, PhD candidate <strong>Dian (Jack) Yu</strong> and post-doctoral fellow&nbsp;<strong>Michel Haché</strong>, developed a strategy to examine the coins with a scanning electron microscope paired with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS).</p> <p>“Once we know more about the chemical composition on the surfaces of these coins, we can advise ROM conservators on non-destructive treatment strategies and storage solutions,” Stanko says.</p> <p>The project has proven to be challenging. Since EDS works by exciting the electrons on the surface of a sample to emit X-ray signatures, the team needed to fix the position of the coins – without the use of clamps or guides that might cause damage – for the signals to hit the detector in just the right way.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-01/Collage_ROMkomma-OCCAM-coins---Jan2024-crop.jpg?itok=IszKhNM9" width="750" height="559" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>One of the ancient Greek coins being analyzed at OCCAM is seen on the top left (photo: Laura Lipcsei, Royal Ontario Museum). The top-right photo shows a zoomed-in view of a section of the coin showing a corrosive product. SEM-EDS maps of the section of coin (bottom left and right) suggest the corrosion product is silver chloride (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>This type of analysis works best for smooth and flat objects, so the team spent hours examining the uneven faces of these coins under an optical microscope to identify specific areas where the samples could be imaged and analyzed.</p> <p><strong>Laura Lipcsei</strong>, a senior conservator at the ROM, says the museum is grateful to be able to work with OCCAM researchers. “We are so lucky to have this amazing resource available to us. It’s not just about having access to state-of-the-art technology and tools, this is an excellent team to work with,” says Lipcsei. “They are sharing important information, and we couldn’t do our work without them.”</p> <p>The ROMkomma project is just one of many currently underway at the centre right now.</p> <p>“OCCAM is the infrastructure supporting research across ֱ and beyond,” says Howe, the newly appointed co-director of OCCAM, who played a leading role in installing the equipment at the centre.</p> <p>“Many branches of science and engineering rely on understanding the structure of materials at atomic and nano scales, whether it’s related to designing catalysts for green energy, developing new biomolecules in medicine or enhancing microchips in our smartphones. Our work benefits every researcher tackling today’s grand challenges.”</p> <p>Howe is looking forward to an upcoming collaboration with Hitachi High-Tech, involving a low-cost structural analysis tool that could significantly bring down the cost of characterizing the structure of new materials.</p> <p>She identifies the centre’s focus on teaching as one of its core strengths.</p> <p>“At OCCAM, we don’t restrict access to our world-class instrumentation to post-doctoral fellows and senior researchers. Undergraduate and graduate student get hands-on experience and are encouraged to come to us with projects.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:05:32 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 305213 at The year in pictures: ֱ News looks back at 2023 /news/year-pictures-u-t-news-looks-back-2023 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The year in pictures: ֱ News looks back at 2023</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/UofT92427_0326UTMPowwow056-crop.jpg?h=403be4c1&amp;itok=DTo5tVnT 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-12/UofT92427_0326UTMPowwow056-crop.jpg?h=403be4c1&amp;itok=WdchFcVv 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-12/UofT92427_0326UTMPowwow056-crop.jpg?h=403be4c1&amp;itok=z8JE0h8K 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/UofT92427_0326UTMPowwow056-crop.jpg?h=403be4c1&amp;itok=DTo5tVnT" alt="Indigenous dancer at the UTM All-Nations Powwow"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>mattimar</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-12-19T09:58:42-05:00" title="Tuesday, December 19, 2023 - 09:58" class="datetime">Tue, 12/19/2023 - 09:58</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Dancer Deanne Hupfield at the inaugural All-Nations Powwow co-hosted by ֱ Mississauga’s Indigenous Centre and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/mariam-matti" hreflang="en">Mariam Matti</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/acceleration-consortium" hreflang="en">Acceleration Consortium</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geoexchange" hreflang="en">Geoexchange</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institutional-strategic-initiatives" hreflang="en">Institutional Strategic Initiatives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6848" hreflang="en">Joe's Basketball Diaries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utogether" hreflang="en">UTogether</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/artificial-intelligence" hreflang="en">Artificial Intelligence</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/first-nations-house" hreflang="en">First Nations House</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geoffrey-hinton" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Hinton</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous" hreflang="en">Indigenous</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/landmark" hreflang="en">Landmark</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/st-george" hreflang="en">St. George</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">ֱ Mississauga</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">ֱ Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-health-network" hreflang="en">University Health Network</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The University of Toronto marked many memorable milestones across the three campuses in 2023.</p> <p>From co-hosting <a href="/news/photos-inaugural-all-nations-powwow-draws-crowd-u-t-mississauga">an inaugural All-Nations Powwow</a> to <a href="/news/godfather-conversation-why-geoffrey-hinton-worried-about-future-ai">guiding the future of artificial intelligence</a> and <a href="/news/activist-and-phd-student-niloofar-ganji-making-her-mark-lab-and-streets">advocating for social justice around the world</a>, members of the ֱ community and their partners made an impact well beyond the classroom in 2023.</p> <p>And photographers at&nbsp;<em>ֱ News</em>&nbsp;and elsewhere at the university were often on hand to capture the action.</p> <p>Here are just a few of the special moments that shaped ֱ this year:</p> <hr> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/UofT93551_DJI_0406-crop.png?itok=xDtmc-x2" width="750" height="500" alt="aerial view of front campus showing the completed lawn surface in fall 2023" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by David Lee)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The Landmark Project has <a href="https://landmark.utoronto.ca/">transformed the historic core</a> of ֱ’s St. George campus around King’s College Circle into a greener, more accessible and pedestrian-friendly space.</p> <p>Front Campus is also now home to <a href="https://defygravitycampaign.utoronto.ca/news-and-stories/university-of-toronto-landmark-geo-exchange/">Canada’s largest urban geoexchange system</a>, which will generate renewable energy and store surplus heat in the summer for use in the cold winter months. The system will save the university an estimated 15,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually – a key part of ֱ’s <a href="/news/u-t-s-plan-become-climate-positive-expanded-all-three-campuses">climate-positive plans</a> and among the reasons it was recently named&nbsp;the <a href="/news/u-t-named-most-sustainable-university-world">most sustainable university in the world</a>.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/Geoffrey%20Hinton%20Portrain%20screengrab%20%281%29.png?itok=cttz-nps" width="750" height="396" alt="portrait of Geoffrey Hinton at his home in England taken in 2023" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Lisa Lightbourn)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Following&nbsp;<strong>Geoffrey Hinton</strong>’s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/technology/ai-google-chatbot-engineer-quits-hinton.html" target="_blank">&nbsp;departure from Google</a>, <em>ֱ News</em> travelled to his home in London, England, <a href="/news/godfather-conversation-why-geoffrey-hinton-worried-about-future-ai">for an in-depth conversation</a> with the ֱ <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/">University Professor</a> Emeritus of computer science about the dangers posed by unchecked advances in AI, the role he and others played in creating the technology and the importance of responsible development.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/SEEUTM_AbbyDance.jpg?itok=ccYLqvhH" width="750" height="500" alt="Abby-Gayle Isadora Allen dances beside Juno Award-winning singer Liberty Silver during the SEE UTM celebration and graduation" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Abby-Gayle Isadora Allen</strong> <a href="/news/dismantling-barriers-high-school-students-experience-u-t-mississauga-program-black-youth">celebrated completing</a> the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/future-students/seeutm">Support, Engage, Experience University of Toronto Mississauga</a>&nbsp;program&nbsp;this year by dancing beside Juno Award-winning singer Liberty Silver during the graduation ceremony. &nbsp;</p> <p>The innovative program aims to make university education more accessible to Black youth&nbsp;who are underrepresented at Canada’s post-secondary schools. Students in Grade 11 and 12 earn a university half-credit and two Ontario Secondary School Diploma credits, have a co-op experience and are mentored by a senior ֱ&nbsp;undergraduate student while simultaneously completing their high school semester.</p> <p>Similar programs operate at ֱ Scarborough and the St. George campus,&nbsp;<a href="/news/new-collaboration-between-u-t-and-toronto-district-school-board-bring-more-under-represented">which introduced SEE ֱ</a>, the inaugural version of this access program, four years ago in collaboration with the Toronto District School Board.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/_27A7836_Final-crop.jpg?itok=UvLUL4K9" width="750" height="500" alt="Portrait of Jaivet Ealom taken at the lake ontario shore in 2023" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Luis Mora)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Jaivet Ealom</strong>, a ֱ student, author, a member of the persecuted Rohingya minority and refugee advocate, shared his harrowing escape to Canada in <em><a href="/news/u-t-student-author-and-activist-reflects-his-incredible-journey-rohingya-refugee-0">ֱ News</a></em> and <em><a href="https://magazine.utoronto.ca/people/students/journey-to-freedom-refugee-jaivet-ealom/">ֱ Magazine</a></em>.</p> <p>Ealom fled his home country of Myanmar in 2013. Before arriving at ֱ, he had travelled through six countries and three continents seeking asylum – surviving a near-drowning and multiple detentions along the way.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/2023-05-11-NAISA-Event-%283%29-crop.png?itok=QpDoj0ln" width="750" height="500" alt="Indigenous people conduct a ceremony to open the 2023 NAISA conference at ֱ" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>ֱ hosted <a href="/news/u-t-hosts-global-scholars-naisa-conference-indigenous-studies">the 14<sup>th</sup> annual Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) conference</a> in May, which<a href="/news/u-t-hosts-global-scholars-naisa-conference-indigenous-studies">&nbsp;</a>brought together global scholars, artists, Elders and independent professionals working in the field of Indigenous Studies.&nbsp;The event covered themes from food sovereignty to contemporary Indigenous cinema and language revitalization.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/2023-05-05-Brokoslaw-Laschowski_Polina-Teif-13-crop_0.png?itok=gVRN2Yta" width="750" height="500" alt="Brokoslaw Laschowski wearing his assisted suit invention" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Polina Teif)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Brokoslaw Laschowski</strong>, a research scientist at the&nbsp;KITE Research Institute, University Health Network, and assistant professor in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering, and his team <a href="/news/bionic-professor-aims-transform-field-wearable-robotics">are developing AI-powered wearable technology for medical applications</a>.</p> <p>Known as the “bionic professor,” Laschowski is passionate about developing assistive technology such as bionic prosthetic legs and exoskeletons to help individuals with physical disabilities.</p> <p>In his spare time, <a href="/news/students-ukraine-take-part-u-t-s-computer-science-summer-research-program">he’s helping students</a> from Ukraine flee the Russian invasion and war to come to ֱ to continue their studies.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/DSC_8207-crop.jpg?itok=f-8y5z7B" width="750" height="500" alt="Charlotte Wargniez" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Chai Chen)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Charlotte Wargniez</strong> <a href="/news/u-of-t-science-student-graduating-at-17">graduated from ֱ Scarborough at the age of 17</a> with a&nbsp;major in environmental geoscience and a minor in applied climatology.</p> <p>She wrapped up her degree with many impressive accolades – including the Rose Sheinin Award, given to the highest-performing woman student in science across ֱ’s three campuses and an excellence and leadership award from ֱ Scarborough's department of physical and environmental sciences.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/UofT87591_2020-12-10-Isynth-Catscreen-96_25-crop.jpg?itok=QuEWACdE" width="750" height="500" alt="Aspuru-Guzik Lab Manager Emily Hopkins operating the materials acceleration platform (MAP)" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The <a href="https://acceleration.utoronto.ca/">Acceleration Consortium</a> at ֱ, an institutional strategic initiative, <a href="/news/u-t-receives-200-million-grant-support-acceleration-consortium-s-self-driving-labs-research">was awarded a $200-million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund</a> to revolutionize the speed and impact of materials discovery – all with a focus on building a sustainable future.</p> <p>The funding – the largest federal research grant ever awarded to a Canadian university – supports the consortium’s work on “self-driving labs” that combine AI, robotics and advanced computing to discover new materials and molecules at a fraction of the usual time and cost.</p> <p>With a strong plan of equity, diversity and inclusion guiding project implementation and research design, the initiative will commercialize ethically designed technologies and materials to benefit society and train today’s scientists with the skills they need to advance the emerging field of accelerated materials discovery. It will also allow the consortium to examine critical issues regarding the application of the technology, including from environmental and Indigenous perspectives.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/UofT90723_2023-01-09-Niloofar-Ganji_Polina-Teif--8-crop.jpg?itok=FauST659" width="750" height="500" alt="Niloofar Ganji" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Polina Teif)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Niloofar Ganji</strong>, a PhD student in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, <a href="/news/activist-and-phd-student-niloofar-ganji-making-her-mark-lab-and-streets">is changing the world in more ways than one</a>.</p> <p>Ganji not only conducts groundbreaking research on a critical condition affecting premature infants – she is deeply committed to activism for social change in her home country of Iran.</p> <p>As an executive member of&nbsp;ֱ Students for a Free Iran&nbsp;(UTSFI), she has organized many events at the university in support of the anti-regime movement in Iran. She hopes to use her knowledge and expertise in pediatrics and healthcare to work for the Iranian people one day.&nbsp;</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/TSA-UTSC-crop.jpg?itok=XjfJ_YG-" width="750" height="500" alt="Turkish Students Association members Lilaf Salman, Irem Demirel, Selcuk Maslak, Elif Baran, Yasmin Din and Sedika Salman at their donation table at ֱ Scarborough" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo supplied)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>When a catastrophic&nbsp;series of earthquakes hit Türkiye&nbsp;and Syria earlier this year, students from the Turkish Students Association (pictured) at ֱ Scarborough rallied together to collect funds and in-kind donations on campus.</p> <p>They were among the many <a href="/news/u-t-community-members-mobilize-aid-syria-and-t-rkiye-earthquake-survivors">ֱ community members across the three campuses</a> who pitched in to help raise awareness and funds in the wake of the disaster.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/IMG_6870.png?itok=_XieEQjF" width="750" height="500" alt="a muslim student from utm blows a kiss before entering convocation hall" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Nithya Thayaal)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>ֱ celebrated the graduation of more than 21,000 students from the university’s three campuses in 2023 – including the ֱ Scarborough student pictured above.</p> <p>Friends and family looked on as many of those graduates crossed the stage inside Convocation Hall during convocation ceremonies held in <a href="/news/photos-u-t-celebrates-class-2023-spring-convocation">spring</a> and <a href="/news/photos-u-t-grads-celebrated-2023-fall-convocation">fall</a>.&nbsp;</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/UofT93203_2023-04-11-Peter-Ma-%285%29-crop.png?itok=gN_MqQvp" width="750" height="500" alt="Peter Ma" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Peter Ma</strong>, an undergraduate math and physics student in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, is dedicated to searching for life beyond our planet by drawing on his passion for science – <a href="/news/something-out-there-how-u-t-undergrad-uses-ai-search-aliens">and artificial intelligence in particular</a>.</p> <p>He became the youngest member of a team of international researchers at the University of California, Berkeley who are searching the stars for extraterrestrial intelligence and was lead author on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01872-z.epdf?sharing_token=t6jjoqbFXFLJH8B5_RNzEtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0Mkq1U55F4UpwCyo9pvCV4lj--uzspzi_o3Nto3GrgPPPK7bN8GhKil2WvNSdFgUJmpmWo-kBOlWGQDS8nBDmrm5jSNwB_Db9767cFT2RRBBvupuVMql4JeV3b9Nn2FjQw=&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_source=commission_junction&amp;utm_campaign=CONR_PF018_ECOM_GL_PHSS_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&amp;utm_content=textlink&amp;utm_term=PID100069413&amp;CJEVENT=a477dc40dd0011ed83be020b0a82b82c" target="_blank">a&nbsp;paper published earlier this year</a>&nbsp;in the journal&nbsp;<em>Nature Astronomy</em>.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/820A2660.jpg?itok=jYH98ysA" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>From left to right: William Lou, Joseph Wong, Sam Ibrahim and Aleer Aleer-Leek (photo by Polina Teif)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>In the <a href="/news/joe-s-basketball-diaries-season-2-launches-episode-community">first episode of the second season</a> of the award-winning series <em>Joe’s Basketball Diaries</em>, host<strong> Joseph Wong</strong> sits down with Will Lou, writer and co-host of&nbsp;<em>the Raptors Show</em>&nbsp;podcast, <strong>Sam Ibrahim</strong>, a business leader, philanthropist and <a href="https://defygravitycampaign.utoronto.ca/news-and-stories/partnership-will-boost-inclusive-entrepreneurship-and-innovation/">major supporter of ֱ Scarborough</a>, and<strong> Aleer Aleer-Leek</strong>, a ֱ student and Varsity Blues basketball player, to talk about community and sports.</p> <p>In <a href="/news/joe-s-basketball-diaries-season-2-ep-2-sport-and-reconciliation">future episodes</a>, Wong, ֱ’s vice-president, international, and a professor in the department of political science and the Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, and guests take the conversation beyond the court as they discuss topics ranging from sustainability to inclusion.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/UofT92984_2023-05-19-Alicia-Corbierre-%287%29-crop.png?itok=c8ff5-wx" width="750" height="500" alt="Alicia Corbiere" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Studying at ֱ gave&nbsp;<strong>Alicia Corbiere</strong>&nbsp;an opportunity to re-engage with her culture when she began learning from Indigenous professors and studying Anishinaabemowin. She also connected with her community by joining First Nations House and the Indigenous Students’ Association.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="/news/degree-indigenous-studies-u-t-grad-alicia-corbiere-aims-build-her-family-s-legal-legacy">After graduating with a degree in criminology and Indigenous studies</a> from the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science in the spring, Corbiere went on to study Indigenous law at ֱ’s Faculty of Law.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/Lettce-_Polina-Teif-1-crop.jpg?itok=cLlL31Lf" width="750" height="422" alt="a employee at Lyrata checks on the growth of lettuce" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(photo by Polina Teif)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The leafy, green lettuce that many members of the ֱ community are eating in their salads, sandwiches and hamburgers is not just locally grown – but grown on the St. George campus by <a href="http://www.instagram.com/reel/C0wqCIRgFWb/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D">a student-led startup</a> in partnership with ֱ Food Services.</p> <p>Lyrata co-founders&nbsp;<strong>Leo Hua</strong> (pictured),&nbsp;<strong>Carol Lin</strong>&nbsp;and <strong>Adnan Sharif</strong>&nbsp;say they are bringing innovations to the field of sustainability – including 3D-printed soil.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:58:42 +0000 mattimar 304923 at Wars, Diaspora & Music: ֱ courses explores the role of music during times of war /news/wars-diaspora-music-u-t-courses-explores-role-music-during-times-war <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Wars, Diaspora &amp; Music: ֱ courses explores the role of music during times of war</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/GettyImages-83882219-v2.jpg?h=f0b0afad&amp;itok=fYaD5-cf 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-12/GettyImages-83882219-v2.jpg?h=f0b0afad&amp;itok=mlmc4FSr 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-12/GettyImages-83882219-v2.jpg?h=f0b0afad&amp;itok=99TWSboh 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/GettyImages-83882219-v2.jpg?h=f0b0afad&amp;itok=fYaD5-cf" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-12-07T12:17:03-05:00" title="Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 12:17" class="datetime">Thu, 12/07/2023 - 12:17</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Simon Bikindi, right, a Rwandan singer-songwriter, is pictured with his lawyers and a United Nations guard at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2008 (photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/cynthia-macdonald" hreflang="en">Cynthia Macdonald</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/anne-tanenbaum-centre-jewish-studies" hreflang="en">Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-music" hreflang="en">Faculty of Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/music" hreflang="en">Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trinity-college" hreflang="en">Trinity College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/victoria-college" hreflang="en">Victoria College</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In the 1990s, Simon Bikindi was Rwanda’s most popular musician&nbsp;–&nbsp;a United Nations official even dubbed him the “Rwandan Michael Jackson.” A sometime wedding singer, Bikindi’s lyrics often told of love stories and his country’s beautiful landscape.</p> <p>But Bikindi’s music could also be dangerous. Over the three months in which almost a million Tutsis were massacred during the Rwandan Civil War, the country’s&nbsp;Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines&nbsp;repeatedly broadcast the singer’s violent, inflammatory songs. In 2008, Bikindi, an ethnic Hutu, was convicted for his role in inciting war crimes.</p> <p>The Bikindi story is but one of the case studies covered in “Wars, Diaspora and Music” – a University of Toronto course in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science that explores the important role that music often plays in ethnic conflicts, wars, exile and displacement.</p> <p>“We look at how music can be a weapon&nbsp;– as military music and propaganda,” says course creator&nbsp;<strong>Anna Shternshis</strong>, the Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish Studies and director of the&nbsp;Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies.&nbsp;</p> <p>“But we also look at songs created by people under duress – songs about love and the reclamation of humanity, when everything has been destroyed.”</p> <p>Shternshis says she conceived of “Wars, Diaspora &amp; Music” while working on&nbsp;<em>Yiddish Glory</em>, <a href="/news/songs-past-u-t-researcher-s-work-leads-grammy-nomination">the Grammy-nominated album of Holocaust-era Yiddish songs</a> she assembled with Russian performer Psoy Korolenko.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/Anna%20Shternshis%20-%20office.jpg?itok=heEE_jRO" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Anna Shternshis is the director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and is the Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish Studies (photo by Diana Tyszko)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><em>Yiddish Glory</em>&nbsp;is part of the course’s syllabus, along with music from many other conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. That includes music from Rwanda, Korea, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Palestine.</p> <p>“I decided to take this course as I had never heard of anything like it,” says <strong>Anjali Joshi-Dave</strong>, who is in her third year as a member of Trinity College. “Although I do not play any musical instruments, I adore music and was interested to see its connection to violence and diasporas from an academic perspective.”</p> <p><strong>Gabriella Batikian</strong> is a fourth-year member of&nbsp;Victoria College. A member of the Armenian diaspora, she grew up listening to a wealth of music from her heritage&nbsp;– much of which was produced around the time of the 1915 Armenian genocide.</p> <p>She says the course helped her contextualize such music, as well as that from other countries.</p> <p>“We do a deep analysis of the lyrics that we’re studying,” Batikian says. “And it’s really interesting to learn how music can be used for good and for bad. We’ve learned how it can be used as a propaganda tool and to incite violence. But at the same time, music is also used to comfort survivors of war. That’s the main thing – discovering the power that music truly holds.”</p> <p>War invariably involves displacement&nbsp;– hence its connection to diasporic communities longing for home. To this end, students learn about initiatives such as the U.S.-based&nbsp;<a href="http://www.refugeeorchestraproject.org/" target="_blank">Refugee Orchestra Project</a>.</p> <p>Shternshis is a scholar of refugee experience and a supporter of refugees in Toronto.</p> <p>“In class, we’ve discussed what kind of music is created in refugee camps,” she says. “Listening to music like this becomes a way of learning what people really care about. And I think that when students examine events in future, they will count music among the sources they use to try and make sense of them.”</p> <p>By studying music produced within different conflict environments, Shternshis has drawn several unique insights. She notes, for example, that the closer a musician is to conflict, the less “martial” the music becomes. That includes&nbsp;war songs in which soldiers sing about their loved ones back home, or joke about inferior army food.</p> <p>“A lot of soldiers also learn to play a musical instrument, because they desperately need the emotional break,” she says.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-12/71EblfUsfrL._SL1500_-crop.jpg" width="300" height="454" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Hearts of Pine by Joshua D. Pilzer (Oxford University Press)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The course also features a unit on&nbsp;<em>Hearts of Pine</em>, a book by&nbsp;<strong>Joshua Pilzer</strong>, an associate professor in the&nbsp;Faculty of Music. The book explores how Korean women used song as a means of coping with trauma while forced into sexual enslavement during the Second World War.</p> <p>“When people live through sexual violence in war,&nbsp;very few songs describe the violence itself,” says Shternshis, noting it was a phenomenon she noticed when interviewing Holocaust survivors who were also musicians. “They sing about everything else but that.”</p> <p>Shternshis has been teaching “Wars, Diaspora &amp; Music” since 2018 and changes the syllabus every year to incorporate music from the world’s current wars. “I keep hoping that this will become a historical course,” she says ruefully. “But it is always contemporary.”</p> <p>Last year, for example, she monitored music – emerging in real time on social media – created during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This year, she and her students are keeping watch on music from the Israel–Hamas war with the help of a student translator.</p> <p>While it is painful to engage with contemporaneous pain, Shternshis says it’s a valuable way of recording experiences and emotions that are easily forgotten with the passage of time.&nbsp;</p> <p>What unites the music studied in the course is its enormous power&nbsp;– both to incite killing, as in the case of Rwanda’s Bikindi, but also to provide healing.</p> <p>Shternshis says the latter may ultimately be stronger than the former.</p> <p>“If a person who lives under extreme duress is able to enjoy music, that often gives them incredible strength to move on,” Shternshis says, adding that her course offers a glimpse of the human spirit at its most threatened – and most triumphant.</p> <p>“We are asking: What are the things that people are saying, or singing, or even laughing about in conditions that are not designed for life at all?”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 17:17:03 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 304862 at