New College

A milestone investment in the African Studies Centre and the Centre for Caribbean Studies at the �ؿ�ζSM will help attract top experts in the field, energize the next generation of researchers and engage students in advanced scholarship.

The $5-million donation from alumnus Richard Rooney, which will be matched by funds from the Faculty of Arts & Science, will create an endowed professorship at each centre and two prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, energizing the next generation of African Studies and Caribbean Studies scholars.

“We are deeply grateful to Richard Rooney for his visionary gift to the �ؿ�ζSM,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “This landmark benefaction will further advance U of T’s leadership in African Studies and Caribbean Studies.”

Melanie Woodin, dean of U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science, said the gift will elevate the centres to new heights as sites of scholarly excellence and transdisciplinary dialogue.

“The research, teaching and collaboration happening at these two centres are indispensable for making sense of the 21st century, providing learners with the tools they need to become engaged citizens, anchored by a rich understanding of the world today,” Woodin said.

Recognized as one of the best undergraduate programs of its kind in North America, the African Studies Centre is a vibrant social and cultural hub of academic excellence, helping students develop a deeper understanding of African societies, cultures and histories through an interdisciplinary lens.

The Centre for Caribbean Studies, meanwhile, brings together academics and learners with shared commitments to Caribbean Studies as an area of interdisciplinary focus for research, teaching, learning and community engagement – and offers the only program in Canada with degrees specifically dedicated to the study of the Caribbean and its people.

Both programs originated at New College, where long-time supporter and volunteer Rooney studied while earning his bachelor of arts degree in 1977.

“The education I received at New College was a springboard for my success,” said Rooney, who is vice-chair and co-founder of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. “It’s an honour for me to be able to give back to a place that was so pivotal in my life and to support academic programs that can help us imagine a more equitable and just society.”

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Elite Africa Project shines light on the creativity, expertise and power that thrives on the continent

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:50:09 +0000

Elite Africa Project shines light on the creativity, expertise and power that thrives on the continent

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/23/2024 - 14:50

Cutline

Students on the upper gallery of the Alioune Diop University Lecture Building in Bambey, Senegal (photo by Chérif Tall/Aga Khan Trust for Culture)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

An international group of African studies scholars has launched the Elite Africa Project, which seeks to redefine the notion of power in Africa and shift public perceptions about the continent’s most prominent and prosperous people.

A global hub of information for scholars, activists, journalists and practitioners, the initiative aims to foster deeper engagement with the expanse of creativity, expertise and power that thrives in Africa today while challenging negative portrayals of the region.

“We’re in a moment where Africans are playing a leading role in almost every field of human endeavor you can imagine,” says Antoinette Handley, a professor in the �ؿ�ζSM’s department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science who is the project’s principal investigator.

“For example, several of the world’s top prizes for literature have gone to a range of African authors in recent years, the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize was awarded to a native of Burkina Faso – the first African and first Black architect to receive the honour — the World Health Organization is currently headed by an Ethiopian public health researcher and the World Trade Organization is headed up by the former finance minister of Nigeria.”

In addition to Handley and fellow U of T scholars Dickson Eyoh, Sean Hawkins and Nakanyike B. Musisi, the project is led by Gerald Bareebe of York University, Peter Lewis of Johns Hopkins University, Landry Signé of Arizona State University and the Brookings Institution and Thomas Kwasi Tieku of King’s University College at Western University.

Despite the many achievements emerging from across the world’s second-most populous continent, the researchers say most popular and academic treatments of Africa tend to feature people commonly regarded as weak and poor or villainous and despotic.

Calling for a reassessment of former approaches, the scholars’ aims are to:

Challenge the narrow and sometimes racist popular understanding that the continent is composed largely of poor or disempowered populations and a class of individuals who are either corrupt, self-serving or puppets of international forces.
Map the dynamics of elite formation in Africa.
Present power as more multidimensional: comprising “soft” forms of power such as knowledge, skills and creativity, as much as it also comprises the more commonly considered “hard” forms of power, such as coercion or material resources.

“Ultimately, our goal with the Elite Africa Project – aptly named to refer to the people who are unusually influential in agenda-setting and decision-making – is to challenge academic and public perceptions of influential Africans as grasping and self-interested, a framing that perpetuates negative depictions of the continent and its peoples and draws on a simplistic understanding of power and how it is wielded,” Handley said.

“Our focus is on the burgeoning ranks of globally renowned artists, prominent intellectuals, innovative businesspeople, accomplished scientists and many others who are flourishing and, in the process, transform both Africa and the global fields within which they work.”

Clockwise from top left: Antoinette Handley, Dickson Eyoh, Sean Hawkins, Nakanyike Musisi, Thomas Kwasi Tieku, Landry Signé, Peter Lewis and Gerald Bareebe (photos courtesy of Elite Africa Project)

The project’s central feature is a database curated primarily for scholars and students of African studies that’s designed to be an entry point into more research about – and a better understanding of – elites and elite accomplishments across the continent.

“With the help of our team from across the globe, we're building an essential hub of information for scholars, activists, journalists and practitioners – anyone intrigued by Africa's vibrant domains ranging from politics and economics to religion and the arts, and everything in between,” said Eyoh, an associate professor in U of T’s department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the African Studies Centre at New College.

The database contains key academic works, a curated assortment of relevant podcasts and videos, and a collection of biographies of personalities and organizations.

“Whether someone is looking for information about highly regarded African photographers or fashion designers, or some background on the political history of any one African nation, or the roles of religious leaders across many African societies, our hope is that the database can serve as a starting point or a source of supplementary information in the course of their investigation,” Handley said. “It could also be used as a teaching tool for students at any level.”

Another key feature of the project’s website is a weekly roundup of news articles offering insights into a wide variety of people, places and proceedings making headlines both domestically and internationally.

“We're very conscious about presenting items that are not just limited to politics or big economic stories, but represent accomplishments by leading Africans in every imaginable sphere of human activity,” said Handley.

“There’s a huge amount of news stories and data about Africa out there – we’re trying to present a shorthand, easy overview that provides a more well-rounded picture. It lands in your Instagram feed once a week and you can keep track broadly of what’s happening on the continent.”

Handley says her hope for the project is “to go beyond negative stereotypes and ensure a broader, balanced, perhaps more positive view of all that Africa has to offer.”

Mindfulness training can help doctors improve well-being and communication, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 16:55:22 +0000

Mindfulness training can help doctors improve well-being and communication, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 11/24/2023 - 11:55

Cutline

(photo by sturti/Getty Images)

Gabrielle Giroday

Topic

Breaking Research

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

New College

Psychiatry

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

The research involved doctors who came from a range of specialities, including surgery, psychiatry, emergency medicine and family medicine

A new study involving researchers from the �ؿ�ζSM has found mindfulness training for doctors improved their communication with patients and colleagues, and led to positive cognitive and behavioural changes.

The study, by Elli Weisbaum, an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of psychiatry, was recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The research looked at the experiences of 28 doctors who received five weeks of mindfulness training.

“This study’s findings are encouraging for all health-care professionals interested in developing healthy and compassionate workplaces. My hope is that these findings contribute to both individual and systems-level change,” said Weisbaum, who is cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and is acting program director for New College’s Buddhism, psychology and mental health program in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Trevor Young, U of T’s vice-president and provost, as well as a professor in Temerty Medicine’s departments of psychiatry, and pharmacology and toxicology, and Nicholas Chadi, a clinical assistant professor at the Université de Montréal, co-authored the study.

The research involved doctors who came from a range of specialities, including surgery, psychiatry, emergency medicine and family medicine.

Over a span of five weeks in 2019, participants attended weekly in-person applied mindfulness training sessions, based on the teachings of scholar and Zen Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh.

Researchers then conducted interviews to understand how the training impacted doctors’ work and daily lives.

“Participants report that integrating brief mindfulness practices at the beginning and end of their workday can lead to more effective regulation of workplace stressors, which can lead to feeling more energized at the end of the day,” the study authors wrote.

“Participants also report that a brief mindful reset at the end of the day can reduce the transfer of occupational stressors, such as frustration, to their home environment.”

As well, participants told researchers that mindfulness training helped them to have better skills when it came to balancing their work and home lives.

They said the training assisted them with giving themselves permission not to rush in their work, while still being efficient and effective.

Participants also reported better communication with their patients and their colleagues as a result of mindfulness training. This included enhanced self-awareness and decreased reactivity when confronted with challenging situations, they told researchers.

The study also found mindfulness training increased focus for physicians during patient interactions, and resulted in a higher awareness by physicians of their own biases around patients.

Ultimately, participants said the skillsets developed through mindfulness training led to more patient-centred diagnoses and treatment plans.

“[Due to mindfulness training,] participants describe having a greater awareness of what they contribute to challenging interactions with patients and colleagues. Through this understanding, they can implement more compassionate communication styles, which helps them set and maintain clearer boundaries for themselves during frustrating or irritating interactions,” the researchers wrote.

Weisbaum says the study’s findings point to the value of mindfulness training for physicians, and that the study is a “call to action” for clinicians and policymakers.

She says there is more research underway to examine how applied mindfulness can help address and mitigate physician burn-out.

“This research shows that mindfulness training benefits physicians at an individual level, through more effective management of occupational stressors,” Weisbaum says. “It also shows potential benefits to [the] broader health-care delivery system.”

‘Learning is a lifelong experience’: U of T grad celebrates 80th birthday on his convocation day

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 22:22:18 +0000

‘Learning is a lifelong experience’: U of T grad celebrates 80th birthday on his convocation day

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/06/2023 - 17:22

Cutline

Jacques Leduc says the support of his family has been immensely important throughout his studies (photo by Polina Teif)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

New College

Jacques Leduc says it feels extra special to be celebrating two significant milestones on Nov. 6: his 80th birthday and his graduation from the �ؿ�ζSM.

Before going back to university, Leduc worked in central and west Africa as an accountant.

He says the experience inspired him to complete a bachelor’s degree with a double major in African studies and near and Middle Eastern civilizations in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“I learned things that I maybe should have known before,” said Leduc who is a member of New College.

“When you’re working in a career – particularly a career in, let’s say law, accounting or engineering – you’re sort of focused on that particular technical area. Whereas if you do a humanities course, it really broadens your way of thinking.”

Leduc crosses the stage at Convocation Hall

He credits the “high level discussions” he had in his classes, the books he was assigned to read and, of course, his professors for opening his eyes to things he might not have realized had he not gone back to university – including a more complete understanding of the deep and lasting harms caused by colonialism in Africa.

“You think about it a bit longer and you realize most of us in Canada are a colonial power,” he says. “It really makes you rethink how people feel.”

The last time Leduc was a student was in the 1960s at the Royal Military College of Canada, which he says was a very different experience. It was a small school – with about 180 students in Leduc’s graduating class (by contrast, more than 21,000 are expected to graduate from U of T in 2023) – and his focus back then was on friends and sports.

After graduating, Leduc worked at an accounting firm and then for the government in the auditor general’s office. As the director of international affairs, he made contacts from across the globe, including organizations in Africa.

When he semi-retired, he took on consulting work in the region, where he became fascinated by the continent.

(photo by David Lee)

On his graduation day, Leduc’s wife, daughter and son-in-law will be sitting inside Convocation Hall cheering him on. They plan to celebrate both his convocation and birthday that evening by going out to dinner.

He says that the support of family has been immensely important to him during his four years at U of T.

“I would often be squirreled away in a corner working on my assignments instead of doing things around the house and my wife never complained – she really encouraged me,” he said.

“Any time I had written assignments or essays, she’d always read everything and give me good feedback.”

Leduc wants to continue his education – he has his eye on a master’s degree in African studies.

“Education doesn’t stop when you first graduate,” he says. “Learning is a lifelong experience.”

U of T marks Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 19:58:33 +0000

U of T marks Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 09/29/2023 - 15:58

Cutline

Attendees wear orange shirts at a tri-campus event at Hart House ahead of Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (photo by Polina Teif)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Our Community

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Subheadline

Events took place across the three campuses in advance of Sept. 30

The �ؿ�ζSM community came together to commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by honouring survivors of Canada’s residential school system, reflecting on its lasting impact on Indigenous communities and recommitting to reconciliation.

Attendees packed the Great Hall at Hart House for a tri-campus event Friday, with hundreds more tuning into a livestream – one of several events across the university’s three campuses in advance of Sept. 30.

The Hart House event included a panel discussion on the Indian Residential School Survivors’ Storybase, a project at U of T Libraries that aims to make the stories of residential school survivors more accessible by compiling accounts from across the internet into a single searchable resource.

From left: Angela Henshilwood, Desmond Wong, Mikayla Redden and Grant Hurley (photo by Polina Teif)

Mikayla Redden, information services and instruction librarian at New College Library, says storytelling was instrumental in shedding light on the horrors of the residential school system and she hopes the storybase can be a tool to help address its ongoing harms.

“Stories are a huge part of the reason that we know the truth, the courage of residential school survivors in telling their stories for decades – even in the face of disbelief and denial from the Canadian masses,” Redden said.

“They're the reason we're here today. They are the reason for this day. They're the reason for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and everything that resulted from it.”

From left: Ayeza Ahmad, Alexandra Gillespie, David Kim and Rose Patten (photo by David Lee)

Redden, who is a mixed-race woman of Anishinaabe and Anglo settler heritage, says library staff met last year to discuss ways they could go beyond reading lists to amplify the voices of residential school survivors, their families and communities.

They wanted the project to meet an educational need without “taking” from Indigenous Peoples by enlisting their labour or exacerbating intergenerational trauma, Redden said.

“Canadians of all ages, from all walks of life can access the storybase, and they can use these stories, to listen to more of the truth, and learn and unlearn,” Redden said. “Hopefully, they can take what they've learned, encourage others to do the same and turn the emotions that they are feeling … into an action. And that's what reconciliation is, it's an action.”

From left: Andrew Bomberry and John Croutch of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (photo by Polina Teif)

Redden was joined on the panel by Grant Hurley, Canadiana librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and Desmond Wong, outreach librarian at OISE Library, in a discussion moderated by Angela Henshilwood, head of the Engineering & Computer Science Library.

David Kim, warden of Hart House, emceed Friday’s commemoration, which also featured remarks by Alexandra Gillespie, U of T vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga.

Gillespie thanked U of T Mississauga student MJ Singleton for designing the orange shirts worn by many at the event, which shows a mother holding hands and walking forward with her two children beneath the words “Every child matters.”

U of T Chancellor Rose Patten described the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as “one of the most important days in the life of our community and our country.”

The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy building is lit up orange (photo by Steve Barratt)

“In so many ways, Canadians have only begun to take and show responsibility for this,” Patten said at the event. “And doing so requires an unfaltering commitment from all of us.”

After the event, First Nations House hosted a fire for Indigenous community members in the Earth Sciences Courtyard.

Also on Friday, Professor Kisha Supernant of the University of Alberta gave a talk at New College about her research using ground-penetrating radar to identify the sites of potential unmarked graves at former residential schools and her work with Indigenous communities to preserve the sites.

Meanwhile, at U of T Scarborough Campus Farm, footage of the Indigenous Garden was livestreamed from sunrise to sunset.

Earlier in the week, Orange Shirt Beading Workshops were held at the St. George, U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough campuses.

Flags will be lowered to half-mast across U of T’s three campuses on Sept. 29 ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is formally recognized across Canada on Sept. 30.

Members of the Indigenous U of T community in need of support can reach out to:

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419)

Students:

U of T Telus Help Student Support can be accessed 24-7.

Other mental health resources, programs and supports are available through the student mental health resource page.

Staff and faculty:

Employee and Family Assistance Program (1-800-663-1142)

Survivors' Flag raised on U of T's three campuses

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 13:23:39 +0000

Survivors' Flag raised on U of T's three campuses

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 09/25/2023 - 09:23

Cutline

The Survivors' Flag flies alongside the Varsity Blues and �ؿ�ζSM flags at Varsity Stadium on the St. George campus (photo by Jason Wang)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Orange Shirt Day

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Hart House

New College

U of T Libraries

Subheadline

U of T will mark Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with an event in advance of Sept. 30

As the �ؿ�ζSM community prepares to mark Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Survivors’ Flag, which honours Indigenous lives and communities impacted by the residential school system in Canada, has been raised on each of its three campuses.

On the St. George campus, the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE), in partnership with First Nations House and the U of T Office of Indigenous Initiatives, raised the Survivors’ Flag at Varsity Stadium last week. It will be lowered to half-mast on Sept. 30 when the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is formally recognized across Canada.

Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, said the flag is an important sign of support and solidarity with Indigenous communities.

“Public commemoration of the painful history of Canada’s residential school system, whose tragic consequences continue to reverberate today, is a vital component of the reconciliation process,” said Kerr. “It’s also a time for settlers to reflect on taking action to strengthen relationships with Indigenous Peoples and build a better future together.

“I take this opportunity to invite all students, staff and faculty members of KPE to attend Truth and Reconciliation events where their schedule permits and to spend some time reflecting on their own efforts towards reconciliation.”

U of T will commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a tri-campus event on Sept. 29 in the Great Hall at Hart House that can be attended in person or watched via YouTube livestream. It will feature remarks by Alexandra Gillespie, U of T vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, and U of T Chancellor Rose Patten.

Emceed by Hart House warden David Kim, the event includes a panel discussion on making residential school survivors' stories accessible at U of T libraries. The panel, moderated by Angela Henshilwood, head of the Engineering and Computer Science Library, features Grant Hurley, Canadiana librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Mikayla Redden, information services and Instruction librarian at New College Library, and Desmond Wong, outreach librarian, OISE Library.

“There is no way to quantify the trauma suffered by the victims and survivors of residential and day schools. Yet this trauma has been shared – as Phyllis Webstad did by recalling the childhood experience that gives Orange Shirt Day its name,” Kelly Hannah-Moffat, U of T’s vice-president of people strategy, equity and culture, said in a statement.

“I urge non-Indigenous members of the U of T community to seek out this and other survivors’ stories to gain greater knowledge, to foster deeper compassion, and to strengthen your resolve to engage in work that restores mutual respect and understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”

First-year student arrives at U of T with a plan to improve Toronto’s transit

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:25:49 +0000

First-year student arrives at U of T with a plan to improve Toronto’s transit

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 08/28/2023 - 13:25

Cutline

A member of New College, incoming first-year student Zarif Ali is hoping to study computer science and meet others who are passionate about improving transit and “other things that ... could dramatically improve our quality of life” (photo by Polina Teif)

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Cities

Faculty of Arts & Science

New College

Transit

Undergraduate Students

Subheadline

Zarif Ali says the idea for his rewards-focused app grew out of a Grade 9 geography project

Zarif Ali is betting the �ؿ�ζSM – and its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in particular – can help him get where he wants to go.

A recent graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at Scarborough’s Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate, Ali has been making media headlines in recent months for Transit+, his concept for an app that would incentivize public-transit riders through a rewards program while consolidating other features from existing apps, such as route and schedule information and digital fare payment.

“It was originally part of our Grade 9 geography culminating project,” says Ali, 18, who will be starting first year in the Faculty of Arts & Science as a member of New College with an eye toward entering the computer science program in his second year. “Our teacher assigned us to create something that would improve the quality of life in Toronto.”

He says had wanted to attend U of T ever since middle school and made up his mind when he discovered the university had a specialist program for designing computer interfaces.

“I was immediately interested, as that relates directly to how I want to thrive in my career. It was very clear to me from the beginning that U of T was going to be my top choice – and so I actually didn’t end up applying anywhere else.”

Inspired by a transit-focused episode of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s talk show Patriot Act and his own burgeoning interest in computer science, Ali decided to focus on a digital solution to the issue of transit cuts and fare hikes due to transit agencies’ lack of revenue.

“Transit+ is like Starbucks Rewards for your transit fare,” he explains. “The more you ride the TTC or Metrolinx using your Presto card, the more points you would be able to rack up – and at the end of the week or month, you could redeem them for a free bus ride or even a weekly or monthly pass. And if you wanted to incorporate small businesses around the city, you could have them do promotions within the app for you to redeem using Presto or your credit card.”

Ali points to other transit agencies that have implemented similar systems over the years, such as the STM Merci loyalty program in Montreal that was able to generate $100 million in additional revenue from new ridership over the course of its three-year pilot project, according to a study, or Hong Kong’s Octopus smartcard and its rider perks.

“Right now, the app is very focused on the rewards program – it’s meant to incentivize people who are either considering using transit, or already using it, to use it more frequently. If you're able to increase ridership, you increase the total revenue that the agency is able to bring in,” Ali says.

Encouraged by his teachers and fellow classmates, Ali kept fine-tuning his idea for the Transit+ app throughout high school while continuing to learn more about computing by watching YouTube videos and taking a Grade 10 computer science course.

“I’m interested in computer science because of how it enables you to create things that are accessible to so many people,” Ali says.

He credits his experience at Wilfrid Laurier for helping him prepare to enter university.

“The teachers there were absolutely wonderful in guiding everyone throughout our high school career – especially in the last two years in the IB program,” Ali says.

“There was definitely a competitive atmosphere, but it just fueled everybody to try and do the absolute best they could in whatever field they wanted to get into. And happily, everybody in my friend group was able to get into their top choice for university.”

Ali’s former geography teacher, Karen Pak – who graduated from the master's program at U of T's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 2017 – says the school project that led to Ali's app was based on principles from the Global Ideas Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, where she was formerly the mentor program manager. She says Ali's enthusiasm for learning will serve him well in university.

“As an educator, you always hope that students will be sparked by something to make learning truly tangible and applicable,” Pak says.

“Zarif deserves all the credit in taking this opportunity and turning it into a pathway for his creativity and intellect – a winning combination. I know he will go on to accomplish incredible innovations and inspire others to do the same.”

As he gets ready to start at U of T in September, Ali is as focused on his academic goals as he was on building Transit+.

“I’m hoping that I can meet the requirements to get into the computer science major. After second year, I want to go into the focus in human-computer interaction program, because that’s where you get to learn about design fundamentals.

“And I’m hoping to meet like-minded people at U of T who are also as passionate about computer science and improving things like transit or looking at other things that could be very simple to implement, but could dramatically improve our quality of life,” Ali says, adding that he’s planning to join some of U of T’s entrepreneurship clubs and accelerators to help him further develop his app.

For Transit+ to become a reality, Ali knows he’d need buy-in from TTC and Metrolinx – and has already reached out to local politicians, activists and transit staff who've offered feedback and even helped him refine his pitch.

Ironically, Ali – who immigrated to Scarborough from Bangladesh with his parents in 2010 – has never been much of a transit rider himself. But that’s all about to change as he gears up for his daily commute to campus this fall.

“I've always been lucky enough to have my schools or wherever I need to go really close by, so I never really rode transit that much,” he says. “But now that I'm coming downtown to attend U of T, I feel like having a program like Transit+ in place would be great.”

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After a harrowing escape from Sudan, U of T scholar Nisrin Elamin calls on the world to pay attention

siddiq22 — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 18:07:17 +0000

After a harrowing escape from Sudan, U of T scholar Nisrin Elamin calls on the world to pay attention

siddiq22 Wed, 06/14/2023 - 14:07

Cutline

Nisrin Elamin, an assistant professor of archeology and African Studies in U of T's Faculty of Arts & Science, recently fled Sudan, which is in the midst of an armed conflict between rival factions of the military government (photo courtesy of Nisrin Elamin)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

International

New College

Subheadline

Elamin, an assistant professor of archeology and African Studies, says more needs to be done to support the country's pro-democracy movement

Why aren’t there more eyes on Sudan – the site of a humanitarian crisis which has seen more than one million people driven from their homes in the space of two months, with many others killed or injured?

Nisrin Elamin asks herself that question every day. The assistant professor in the department of anthropology and the African Studies program in the Faculty of Arts & Science recently escaped from Sudan, where she had been visiting family.

After a dangerous, difficult journey from the capital city of Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, Elamin was evacuated at the end of April, along with her parents and three-year-old daughter.

Now, she thinks about her many close relatives who remain sheltering in place in and around Khartoum – and about the millions of other Sudanese people still living there and in other parts of the country in desperate conditions.

Entire villages have been burned to the ground, with many citizens deprived of access to food, water, medicine and fuel during the ongoing conflict between rival factions of the military government.

“It’s a terrible situation,” Elamin says. “And the international humanitarian response has been ‘too little, too late’ in the sense that when we evacuated, the aid community evacuated with us.”

During a temporary ceasefire, several international aid organizations have been able to resume assistance to Sudan. But aid agency operations often report obstructions, and Elamin says the Sudanese people themselves have sometimes proven most effective at helping their fellow citizens.

“People have been relying on resistance committees and civilian volunteer networks,” she says.

“These are grassroots democratic forces that have been the backbone of Sudan’s popular uprising against the current regime since 2018. They’ve been the ones distributing food and water – and they have actually been arrested for doing this work.”

Women carrying belongings walk down a street in Omdurman, Sudan, the twin city of the country's capital, Khartoum (photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Since Sudan gained independence from colonial rule in 1956, the country has spent the majority of those years riven by internal conflict. In 2021, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s army, and Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), paramilitary chief of the Rapid Support Forces, collaborated to topple the regime of Omar al-Bashir – a leader who had been indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for directing a campaign of mass killing in the Darfur region and was subsequently imprisoned on corruption charges.

Yet the generals are themselves steadfast enemies of democracy – together, they have been responsible for human rights violations, including al-Burhan’s direction of the Khartoum Massacre of 2019 and Hemedti’s brutal leadership of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur beginning in 2003. And now they are at war with each other.

“The Rapid Support Forces were supposed to be integrated into the armed forces based on a political agreement that would eventually lead to democratic elections,” Elamin says.

“But these two generals, who are known war criminals, are now struggling for political and economic control. And everybody else is in the middle of this.”

Even prior to the fighting that gave rise to this catastrophe, Sudan – Africa's third-largest country – was dealing with a refugee crisis and severe food insecurity. The United Nations estimates that 25 million people in the country currently need aid and protection.

Elamin is an American citizen who recently completed her first year as a scholar at U of T. She is currently writing a book based on 15 months of fieldwork in Sudan, and her recent trip there was taken with the intention of conducting follow-up research while also introducing her young daughter to her Sudanese family.

“My work focuses on large-scale land investments – what many call ‘land grabs’ in central Sudan, where I’m originally from,” she says.

“I’ve been tracing the impacts of Gulf Arab corporate and domestic investments on local communities and researching the various forms of resistance to these investments. Just to give you an idea, the Saudis and Emiratis have invested about $27 billion in real estate infrastructure over the last two decades – all while the country was governed by a brutal military regime.

“Such investments have also impacted local food sovereignty – these shifts in land ownership undermine people’s access to subsistence food, and they’re relying on imports now more than ever.”

Elamin notes that despite the various crises affecting them, the people of Sudan remain unbowed. Soon after the shelling and explosions began, “only 16 per cent of hospitals in Khartoum were operating at capacity. The Sudanese Doctors’ Union has set up field hospitals on the outskirts of the city to treat the injured, deliver babies and do whatever is needed, though even getting there is dangerous.”

Since her return from Sudan, Elamin has been tireless in her efforts to inform the public about what is happening in her family’s homeland, appearing on international radio and television programs. She points out that while the news cycle invariably moves on, Sudan’s problems do not.

Still, Elamin affirms that much is being done.

“For example, the Sudanese Students Union at U of T recently held an event to inform the community about what’s happening. It was also a fundraiser for the Sudanese Doctors’ Union – that’s an important initiative to support, because money goes directly to the support the lifesaving work doctors are doing there.”

Elamin also calls on governments around the world to lend help where they can. Much more assistance is needed at the borders of the seven countries bordering Sudan, which are all processing refugees at a painfully slow rate in the punishing desert climate.

She notes Canada could provide expedited travel visas, such as those offered to refugees from Ukraine.

“But probably the most important thing is for Canadians to assist the international community – specifically efforts on the African continent led by regional actors such as the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority for Development – with their effort to broker a sustainable peace," Elamin says.

"This requires, in my view, putting these two generals on trial instead of putting them at the negotiating table – and really starting a transitional kind of process: one that centres the pro-democracy forces that have been sidelined.”

Medieval studies students bring the diverse gender experiences of the past into the present

siddiq22 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 20:16:38 +0000

Medieval studies students bring the diverse gender experiences of the past into the present

siddiq22 Thu, 06/01/2023 - 16:16

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Medieval studies student Dena Abtahi researched the trial of Katherina Hetzeldorfer, who was executed in 1477 (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Sean McNeely

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Faculty of Arts & Science

LGBTQ

Medieval Studies

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St. Michael's College

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Exhibit highlighted examples of saints and other historical figures who challenged traditional gender roles

Students from the �ؿ�ζSM’s department of medieval studies in the Faculty of Arts & Science recently presented an exhibit that highlighted the diverse gender experiences of people during the medieval period.

Students from the Medieval Genders and Sexualities course held a poster fair at St. Michael’s College that showcased specific historical figures (including many saints), offering evidence of people who lived outside of – or challenged – gender norms.

The exhibition capped the upper-year undergraduate course, which explores ideas about sexes, genders and sexualities in the medieval Christian West.

For the exhibit, second-year student Hilary Packard explored the history of French saint Joan of Arc
(photo by Diana Tyszko)

“Parts of our society tend to think that aspects of sexualities and genders that we see now are part of some social change that's gone on in the past decade,” Murray says. “These misunderstandings are fueling the harshness and the almost inhumane treatment that we see of trans people in some quarters of society, particularly in the United States.”

Twelve students working individually and in groups presented six posters covering important figures from the 5th to 15th centuries, highlighting how they have been understood and misunderstood throughout history.

Hilary Packard, a second-year visual studies student in the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design who is also taking courses in medieval studies, was part of a trio that created a poster about Joan of Arc, a French saint who was burned at the stake for heresy.

“I loved the fact that I got to dive deeper into Joan’s story,” Packard says.

Scholars and artists have more recently begun to see Joan’s cross-dressing as more of a representation of masculine gender expression, as opposed to the more traditional view that she wore masculine clothing to appear sexless.

“I'm American and I’m trans, so being able to put this into the context of history and to say, ‘We've been here all along and we belong here’ is a very powerful thing because a lot of the arguments people are making are that people just started being trans in this century,” Packard says.

"I’m getting to see the historical re-evaluation that is currently happening, this new wave of understanding with people reflecting their own stories back on things – that's how history should work.”

The Trans Middle Ages Poster Fair was held in the John M. Kelly Library at St. Michael's College (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Fourth-year student Dena Abtahi created a poster covering the trial of Katherina Hetzeldorfer, who is considered the first woman to be executed for homosexuality – a then-nameless crime – in 1477. Originally from Nuremberg, Hetzeldorfer moved to Speyer in 1475 and dressed as a man in the company of a woman, where they both lived together as a married couple.

“Katherina’s is one of the first historical accounts of trans people, which allows for people in our generations to look back and see that LGTBQ+ individuals have always been around,” says Abtahi, who is studying human biology and molecular biology.

“In this sense, Katherina is a symbol of the importance of self-expression and self-identification. “And in so many ways, Katherina's story highlighted how in some respects our society has remained stagnant on views pertaining to LGBTQ+ people and their rights.”

For Abtahi, researching a person being persecuted for simply being who they want to be struck a personal chord.

“People in Iran, where I am from, are being killed for being gay or being transgender,” she says. “And in Iran, when people do come out as homosexual, there are some instances where they are forced to undergo transgender surgery, as way of a correction.”

Sasha Jennings, left, discusses her research on Hildegund, a German saint (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Sasha Jennings, a third-year student studying classics, medieval studies and Celtic studies, was part of a duo that created a poster about Hildegund, a German saint who was assigned female at birth but adopted the name Joseph and joined a Cistercian monastery as a man.

In fact, it was only after Joseph’s death in 1188, as his body was being prepared for burial, that his fellow monks discovered that their brother was in fact born female.

Joseph’s life went on to be recorded as an example of piety for Cistercian nuns and monks to aspire to – portraying Joseph as a physically and spiritually pure asset to the monastery.

“When it comes to religious identity, there's a really interesting relationship between gender fluidity and piety and sanctity,” Jennings says.

“There was an idea that if you could shed your biological limitations – especially if you were a biological woman – that put you on the path to religious piety and sanctity, and that was seen as a very good thing.”

Course instructor Jacqueline Murray, a graduate of U of T's Centre for Medieval Studies and a university professor emerita from the University of Guelph, says that in researching these ancient examples of gender fluidity, the students have come away with an understanding of what the stories of Hetzeldorfer, Hildegund, Joan of Arc and others mean in the modern context.

“Understanding trans issues and trans people has become so important in our society,” Murray says.

“We're trying to be part of this process of giving trans people their history, because there are – and have always been – many ways that individuals experience and live their identity.”

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Medieval studies students bring the diverse gender experiences of the past into the present