Humanities

From sustainability to decolonizing knowledge: U of T joins Global Humanities Alliance

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 21:11:10 +0000

From sustainability to decolonizing knowledge: U of T joins Global Humanities Alliance

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 12/12/2024 - 16:11

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Nicole Klenk, an associate professor of environmental studies at U of T Scarborough, uses textile arts to help bridge the gap between the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences in her courses (photo by Chai Chen)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Global Lens

Faculty of Music

Global

Humanities

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

The Global Humanities Alliance brings together researchers from around the world with the aim of elevating the role of the humanities and social sciences in addressing critical global issues

The University of Toronto’s Nicole Klenk sees her role in the recently formed Global Humanities Alliance – which aims to enhance the global impact of the humanities and social sciences – as a natural extension of her research and teaching.

An associate professor of environmental studies in the department of physical and environmental sciences at U of T Scarborough, Klenk bridges the gap between the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences by championing interdisciplinary projects in her courses.

For example, she uses textile arts as a way for students to explore sustainability issues that arise from sectors such as fast fashion.

“They spend an hour weaving textiles to imagine what it means to spend seven days a week, 12 hours a day as a child to make clothes that people use less than seven times before they throw out,” says Klenk.

Nicole Klenk uses textile arts as a way for students to explore sustainability issues arising from fast fashion (photo by Chai Chen)

The alliance, formed earlier this year, brings together researchers from around the world with the aim of elevating the role of the humanities and social sciences in addressing critical global issues. It currently comprises four working groups: public humanities, sustainability and climate change, decolonizing knowledge and digital transformations.

Its founding members – U of T, Ashoka University, Mahidol University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universitas Gadjah Mada, University of Manchester, University of Melbourne and University of Nairobi – signed a letter of intent in October at a launch event in Manchester, England.

The universities agreed to explore activities such as global classrooms, visiting fellowships, collaborative research projects and exchange programs for students and staff.

Klenk, a textile artist who has explored teaching methods that blend experiential and arts-based learning throughout her career, says she hopes her involvement in the initiative allows her to expand her work on an international scale.

“What got me excited [about the alliance] is the ability to connect with others who value the role of the humanities and social sciences at an international level,” she says.

From left: U of T’s Alex Mihailidis, University of Manchester’s Fiona Devine and Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Wawan Mas'udi (photo by Sherry Lee)

Both Klenk and Sherry Lee, an associate professor of musicology in U of T’s Faculty of Music, serve on the sustainability and climate change working group.

“Something we found in the conversations at the Manchester launch is that there are a lot of crossovers between the thematic working groups, and we expect a lot of exchange,” says Lee, whose research sits at the intersection of music, sound studies and environmental humanities.

“You can’t have a responsible conversation about climate change in the global context without also thinking about decolonization.”

Lee says students will benefit from the initiative through international collaboration, increased understanding of cultural differences and the opportunity to frame problems using different perspectives.

“This is sometimes a challenge – who do I collaborate with? How do I find people who are going to be interested in the kinds of issues that I want to bring forward in a classroom and who will be willing to participate? That’s precisely one of the things that is going to happen through this initiative,” says Lee.

“I think that’s really exciting.”

She says she hopes the alliance inspires collaboration between future generations of scholars.

“I hope it facilitates the entry of the students we are training into spheres where they can engage meaningfully on important global issues outside the academy,” she says.

“I think the best way to do that is to involve them in an international conversation at the moment of their training, rather than to give them more conventional disciplinary training and hope that they're smart enough to stand out from among the crowd once they leave.”

Kudakwashe Rutendo - a recent grad and TIFF 'Rising Star' - is just getting started

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 15:49:54 +0000

Kudakwashe Rutendo - a recent grad and TIFF 'Rising Star' - is just getting started

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/18/2024 - 10:49

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Kudakwashe Rutendo balanced her studies with a thriving career in film and her aspirations as a novelist (photo by Helen Tansey ~ Sundari Photography)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

"My goal is to keep telling stories that shed light on humanity, especially on the struggles that so many of us have faced"

Kudakwashe Rutendo is a born storyteller who has taken on several different roles in her own life: an actor in film, theatre and television; aspiring novelist; and a passionate student of English, philosophy and classics.

The recent University of Toronto graduate was named one of 2023’s Rising Stars by the Toronto International Film Festival and starred in the Canadian feature film Backspot. She also has several other stage and screen credits.

As a writer, she’s already completed her first novel, is drafting a second and was recently a panelist on CBC’s Canada Reads.

Writer spoke Cynthia MacDonald recently caught up with Rutendo, who was a member of Victoria College, to talk about her experiences – and her plans for life after U of T.

You were raised in Fort McMurray, Alta. and came to acting and writing through poetry. How did that happen?

Growing up, my mom put me in Girl Guides, swimming, soccer and dance. But then I heard about poetry competitions and said to myself: “I want to do this!” It felt very powerful. I started out reciting Shel Silverstein, but moved on to Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as well as writing speeches. By the time I got to high school, I was working on my associate diploma in speech and drama at the Royal Conservatory. When you’re bringing words to life – well, that’s acting, right? And I said to myself, “I don’t know who I’d be without this. I guess it’s something I have to continue to do.”

What was it like to be named a Rising Star at TIFF?

That outside acknowledgment was very special. The program connected me with industry professionals and some of the top casting directors, and I also got to participate in workshops. It’s nice to be able to have those connections, because the acting industry is a community – one that you really need.

Can you tell us about your first novel, which is tentatively titled Dancing Against the Night and is now being considered for publication?

One of the main things I wanted to do was combine prose and poetry. The book is set in Toronto and follows a ballerina who struggles with depression. It’s inextricably tied to U of T because I conceived of it here and workshopped a lot of the early parts in various creative writing classes. I worked with some amazing professors – for example, Robert McGill, Ian Williams and Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer. It touched on a really formative part of my life, and on an important subject. I wanted to write about mental health and the struggle we all have to feel seen.

On Canada Reads, you championed Tea Mutonji’s Shut Up You’re Pretty. Who are some of the writers who inspire you?

I really like James Baldwin — I finished Giovanni’s Room a few months ago and it haunted me. I honestly don’t think he wrote enough. I’ve connected with Toni Morrison as well. I recently read Elizabeth Smart’s By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept and thought it was phenomenal. When I first read it, I didn’t connect with it – but I think I was approaching it the wrong way. I was reading it like a narrative when it’s really a prose poem. As a reader, when you go into a book with expectations, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

You graduated with a major in English and a double minor in philosophy and classical civilizations. Why did you choose that program?

I chose my degree based on the subjects I’m passionate about – and I do think that’s how I like to live my life. I love to read and I always knew I would study English. In every lecture I was invested. I wanted to push myself. I was fascinated by what I was doing. When it came to philosophy, I loved the structure – dissecting arguments and studying reason. I also think studying philosophy is a great way to get to know yourself. Finally, I studied classics because they’ve inspired so much of everyday life. You can see references to them throughout literature.

Sometimes people ask why I didn’t study drama. I think the fact that I didn’t makes me much more of a well-rounded performer. The more you can pull from different life experiences, the stronger you are as an actor.

What are some of your career goals?

Growing up within the Black diaspora in Canada, I would say that telling Black stories was always at the forefront of my mind. When I was young there was almost no media showcasing Black people – in the books I was reading, the TV shows I was watching, there was nobody who looked like me. When you grow up and you never see yourself, you start to hate yourself. You feel invisible.

I’m happy for the strides we’ve made in representation since then. I have a bunch of little sisters and I don’t want them to have the same experiences I did. To create art is to represent things that might be uncomfortable – that’s the artist’s creed. My goal is to keep telling stories that shed light on humanity, especially on the struggles that so many of us have faced.

Get That Hope: Alumna and former U of T Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 15:27:55 +0000

Get That Hope: Alumna and former U of T Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 08/29/2024 - 11:27

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Andrea Scott says she wrote her latest play, Get That Hope, after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, asking herself, “Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?” (photo by Helen Tansey)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Theatre

U of T Mississauga

Subheadline

Andrea Scott's play tells the story of a Toronto family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration

Andrea Scott has never forgotten the moment when her dreams of becoming a writer were quashed.

It was during a Grade 9 English class.

“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 U of T Mississauga. “It killed my desire to be a writer and I’ve never forgotten her.”

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 Get That Hope, which tells the story of a family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration, made its debut at the Stratford Festival.

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 an honours bachelor of arts degree in theatre and drama studies through U of T Mississauga’s joint program with Sheridan College, with a minor in English.

She later earned a master’s degree in drama through U of T’s School of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts & Science. 

She recalls being “an annoying theatre kid” at U of T Mississauga, but says she had many professors who encouraged her and gave her a well-rounded theatre education.

“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.”

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.

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.

“I was like, ‘Yeah ... I could write better than this,’” Scott says.

She wrote her first play, Damaged, a one-woman show that debuted at b current’s rock.paper.sistahz festival. Her second play, Eating Pomegranates Naked, was included in the SummerWorks Performance Festival.

It was a turning point for Scott.

“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.’”

Scott continued to achieve success with her plays, including Better Angels: A Parable, Don't Talk to Me Like I'm Your Wife (produced by her production company, Call Me Scotty Productions) and the award-winning Controlled Damage. She also taught playwriting to undergraduate students in U of T Mississauga’s department of English and drama.

In 2020, Scott worked in the writers’ room on the CBC/BET production The Porter. Following that, she worked on Murdoch Mysteries for three seasons and wrote four episodes.

“Murdoch Mysteries was a huge achievement for me,” Scott says. “I never assumed that I would ever get a job quite like that.”

Scott recently wrote for the upcoming Disney series High Potential, which stars Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) with Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas as showrunner.

“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.”

On Aug. 10, Scott made her Stratford debut with the world première of Get That Hope. She says she was inspired to write the play after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

“All I kept thinking was, ‘Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?’” she says.

Scott is working on a new play called Truthfully Jackie about Jackie Robinson’s time playing for the Montreal Royals in 1946.

While she has seen success throughout her career, Scott says she has also faced challenges – including not being taken seriously enough.

“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.

“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.”

Get That Hope runs until Sept. 28 in the Stratford Festival's Studio Theatre.

Canada Post stamp honours the late Norman Jewison, one of the country's most celebrated filmmakers

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 13:00:56 +0000

Canada Post stamp honours the late Norman Jewison, one of the country's most celebrated filmmakers

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 08/27/2024 - 09:00

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(source photo by Peter Bregg for HELLO! Canada)

Joe Howell

Topic

Our Community

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

A U of T alumnus, Jewison served as chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2010

Canada Post recently honoured acclaimed Canadian filmmaker – and University of Toronto alumnus – Norman Jewison with the recent release of a commemorative stamp.

Jewison, who died in January at age 97, was one of Victoria College’s most distinguished graduates. He was nominated for best director three times at the Academy Awards: for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Moonstruck (1987).

He also served as chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2010, with the Jewison stream of Vic One, the award-winning first-year program at Victoria College, named in his honour.

“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 during an unveiling event on July 24.

The event was hosted by the hosted at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), which was established by Jewison in 1988 and serves as an incubator for Canadian film talent.

Mercer, who was joined at the launch by director and U of T alumnus David Cronenberg, later told CBC News that Jewison was a “class act” who “believed in young people.”

Cronenberg, meanwhile, told the audience that, “When saying goodbye, [Jewison] would always say ‘stay strong,’ because he knew how much strength you needed to do what we did.”

Paul Gooch, a professor emeritus of philosophy who was president of Victoria University during Jewison’s time as chancellor, was among the attendees at the unveiling.

“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.

“He was great on human follies and the prejudices that we have.”

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.”

Professor Emerita Pauline Thompson and Professor Emeritus Paul Gooch (supplied image)

Jewison is the fourth Victoria College graduate to be recognized with a stamp by Canada’s postal service in recent years, joining Margaret Atwood, Northrop Frye and Donald Sutherland. He was closely involved with the stamp’s creation and personally chose the image, which was taken at the CFC in 2007 by Peter Bregg for HELLO! Canada.

“After the photo appeared in Hello!, 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.”

“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.”

Jewison’s commemorative stamp is now available online and at Canada Post locations across the country.

'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed U of T's Hart House Theatre

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:04:15 +0000

'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed U of T's Hart House Theatre

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 08/26/2024 - 09:04

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(photo by Carlos R. Alvarez/WireImage/Getty Images)

Topic

Subheadline

The esteemed actor and U of T alumnus also created the Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance

The late Donald Sutherland was not only an esteemed actor and alumnus of Victoria College – he was a fierce and lifelong champion of the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre.

Known for roles in M*A*S*H, the Hunger Games, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and others, Sutherland stepped up in support of the campus theatre 24 years ago when it was facing possible closure.

With the help of fellow alumnus Lorne Michaels, creator and producer of Saturday Night Live, Sutherland became co-chair of the Friends of Hart House Theatre, which was colloquially known as the“Save Hart House Theatre Campaign.”

As part of his efforts, Sutherland penned an eloquent and heartfelt letter to then-theatre manager Janet Bessey that emphasized the theatre’s impact on his life and the lives of so many others.

“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.

He added that Hart House Theatre was among the reasons he applied to U of T in the 1950s.

“When I came to Toronto forty-seven years ago, I came for that theatre. Expressly for that,” he stated in his correspondence with Bessey.

“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.”

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 Peter Wambera, Hart House’s associate director of advancement.

Sutherland’s very first acting experiences were at U of T. During his undergrad years, he participated in several theatrical productions staged by Hart House Theatre, UC Follies and Victoria College Dramatic Society.

His first acting role at Hart House Theatre was in James Thurber and Elliott Nugent’s The Male Animal (1953), which was well-received. He also earned excellent reviews from both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail for his role as Stephano in Hart House Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Other Hart House plays in which he was involved include Darkness at Noon, The Troublemakers and The School for Wives.

Sutherland also spent many of his summers acting at the Straw Hat Players, a theatre company founded by members of Hart House Theatre, along with its then director Robert Gill.

Donald Sutherland, centre, in "The School for Wives" in 1956 (photo courtesy of Hart House Theatre Archives)

Sutherland, a Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Film), graduated from U of T in 1958 with a degree in engineering and drama. In 1998, he received an honorary degree from U of T in recognition of his acting career and his championing of social issues. Hart House co-signed the nomination, recalls then-Warden Margaret Hancock.

His support of Hart House Theatre never wavered. In 2014, through a generous donation, he created the Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance.

“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 Doug Floyd, 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.”

Each year’s recipient of the Donald Sutherland Award wrote a letter summing up their experiences at the Hart House U of T Drama Festival. Updates were shared with Sutherland, would often respond with a letter of his own.

Hart House Theatre plans to dedicate the fall 2024/2025 season to Sutherland in a gesture of gratitude.

U of T English prof's dystopian tale explores privilege and peril in the Global South

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:41:53 +0000

U of T English prof's dystopian tale explores privilege and peril in the Global South

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 08/02/2024 - 10:41

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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)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Literature

Subheadline

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

Randy Boyagoda, an author and University of Toronto professor, came up with the idea for his first young adult novel in 2018 while teaching a class in Rome, where he found himself alone in a guest apartment that, a year earlier, had been filled with his family.

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, Little Sanctuary.

Published in June, the novel is set in a fictional country in the Global South that is ravaged by conflict and disease. The children of a wealthy family are sent to a special camp on a remote island for safekeeping alongside other children of the elite.

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.

Little Sanctuary is the story of children from the Global South living in a world that is falling apart.

“I don't think I started out with the intention of writing a young adult novel,” says Boyagoda, a professor of English in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science and vice dean, undergraduate. “I wrote a short story for The Walrus that was published in 2021 during the pandemic.”

Boyagoda and his wife later organized a family book club meeting in their backyard where they talked about the short story, which he had left open-ended.

His youngest daughter had a query: What happened next?

“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?”

Boyagoda recounted the story’s origins on CBC’s Radio’s The Next Chapter.

“I really missed my family, because of the memory of when we had all been together there,” he said on the program. “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.”

Focusing on a privileged family from the Global South was intentional, Boyagoda says.

“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 The Hunger Games, or Station Eleven. 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.”

Meanwhile, other stories set in the Global South tend to involve characters who live in worlds of extreme poverty and risk.

“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?”

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.

“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.

“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.”

Boyagoda says the book also offers an opportunity for young readers and their parents to discuss some of the world’s current challenges.

“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.

“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.”

Boyagoda also hopes young readers will enjoy rereading book.

“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 Little Sanctuary – it might be to figure out the mystery in retrospect.

“In other words, there's lots of Easter eggs, but you don't see them the first time through.”

Photo exhibit on display at U of T celebrates the important role of Black classicists

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 03 May 2024 19:58:02 +0000

Photo exhibit on display at U of T celebrates the important role of Black classicists

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 05/03/2024 - 15:58

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The “Black Classicists in North America” installation is currently on display at the University of Toronto in the Lillian Massey Building on the St. George campus (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Religion

Subheadline

“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”

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.

Housed in the Lillian Massey Building on the St. George campus , the photo exhibit, “Black Classicists in North America” celebrates 18 prominent scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Black Classicists in North America” celebrates 18 prominent scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries (photo by Diana Tyszko)

“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 Ben Akrigg, an associate professor with the department of classics in the Faculty of Arts & Science who helped facilitate this exhibit coming to U of T.

“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.”

John Wesley Edward Bowen

The exhibition was assembled and curated by Michele Valerie Ronnick, a distinguished professor at Wayne State University. Ronnick partnered with Akrigg as well as Ronald Charles, an associate professor in U of T’s department for the study of religion to bring the exhibit to the university.

The portraits include classicists such as John Wesley Edward Bowen (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.

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.

Orishatukeh Faduma (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.

Orishatukeh Faduma

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.

Helen Maria Chesnutt (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.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1902 and her master’s in Latin from Columbia University in 1925.

She taught Latin at Central High School in Cleveland. Her pupil, Langston Hughes, who became a celebrated poet and activist, found her inspiring. In 1932, Chesnutt co-authored The Road to Latin, a textbook that was printed several times. She also belonged to the American Philological Association from 1920 to 1934.

Helen Maria Chesnutt

“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.

“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.”

U of T ranks among top 20 globally across all five broad fields tracked by QS World University Rankings by Subject

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:40:05 +0000

U of T ranks among top 20 globally across all five broad fields tracked by QS World University Rankings by Subject

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 04/15/2024 - 16:40

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(photo by Matthew Volpe)

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The university is ranked 10th in the world for arts and humanities in 2024

The University of Toronto is ranked among the top 20 universities globally across all five broad subject fields featured in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 – including a coveted top-10 spot for arts and humanities.

The rankings, compiled by London-based analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds, evaluate universities’ performance across five broad subject fields and 55 more specific subjects.

In the five broad fields, U of T ranked 10th in arts and humanities, 12th in social sciences and management, 13th in life sciences and medicine, 17th in engineering and technology and 19th in natural sciences.

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).

Moreover, U of T 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.

“These latest rankings recognize U of T’s place among an elite group of global universities that consistently demonstrate academic and research excellence across a broad array of disciplines,” said U of T President Meric Gertler.

“This wide range of scholarly expertise, along with U of T’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.”

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.

Globally, the university made gains in 21 subjects this year, including jumping 12 spots to 21st place in communication and media studies and an 11-spot rise to secure 10th place in mineral and mining engineering.

U of T 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.

Among Canadian universities, U of T ranked first in all five broad fields and first in 34 more specific subject areas.

In total, U of T was ranked by QS in 50 of the rankings’ 55 subjects.

Overall, U of T is ranked first in Canada and among the top 25 universities globally in the five most closely watched international rankings: QS World University Rankings, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities, Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

Classics students whip up a taste of ancient history

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:43:52 +0000

Classics students whip up a taste of ancient history

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 01/30/2024 - 08:43

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Students and professors ate some of the same foods ancient Greeks and Romans served at dinners thousands of years ago (photo by Teodora Mladin)

Sean McNeely

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Classics

Faculty of Arts & Science

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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

It was a feast fit for the gods.

Professors, graduate and undergraduate students enjoyed some of the same foods ancient Greeks and Romans served at dinners thousands of years ago at Ancient Food Day, organized by the Classics Students’ Union.

“Ancient Food Day is more than just a culinary festivity,” says Teodora Mladin, 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 Trinity College.

“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.”

The Classics Students' Union held its biannual Ancient Food Day event earlier this month (photo by Teodora Mladin)

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.

A plate of asparagus, meanwhile, was prepared with marjoram, which, students said, tastes like smoked fish when mixed with coriander.

There were also plenty of choices for those with a sweet tooth such as enkrides – the ancient equivalent to Timbits. These fried cheese dough balls are cooked in olive oil and then covered in honey. Or there was melitoutta, which are honey cakes that resemble scones. Apparently, this was a dessert deceased souls would bring to the underworld.

Asparagus was prepared with spices to give it a fishy flavour (photo by Sean McNeely)

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.

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.

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.

Each dish was accompanied by a placard with the original Greek recipe (photo by Teodora Mladin)

Izzy Friesen, a fourth-year classics and classical civilizations student, says translating recipes was an enriching experience from both a language and history perspective.

"Getting to translate recipes allowed me to engage with Latin in a different way,” says Friesen, a member of 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."

Madeleine Andrasic, a second-year student with a double major in classical languages and history, and a member of University College, also found translating the recipes to be rewarding.

“It really becomes evident that Greeks and Romans saw food in both similar and different ways to us,” says 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."

Pear patina sits next to an apricot dessert (photo by Sean McNeely)

For Tessa Delaney-Girotti, a fourth-year student with a double major in classical civilizations and archeology, preparing the dishes strengthened her connection to ancient peoples.

“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.

“Most of the time we feel far removed from the people we read about, but this brings a whole new perspective.”

A serving dish of Parthian chicken beside a tray of enkrides (photo by Sean McNeely)

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.

She added that the Classics Students' Union has seen so much interest in the recipes that it intends to create an ancient recipe blog.

“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."

Safeguarding history: U of T researchers team up with Royal Ontario Museum to preserve ancient Greek coins

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:05:32 +0000

Safeguarding history: U of T researchers team up with Royal Ontario Museum to preserve ancient Greek coins

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 01/10/2024 - 12:05

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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)

Rebecca Cheung

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Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

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Researchers are examining the chemical composition on the surfaces of ancient coins to advise museum conservators on how to treat and store them.

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.

Maria Stanko, a PhD candidate in the department of materials science and engineering in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 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.

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.

The coins are subjects of study for the ROMkomma project, a collaboration funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and led by Kate Cooper, an assistant professor, teaching stream in the department of historical and cultural studies at U of T Scarborough and research associate at the ROM, and Ben Akrigg, associate professor in the department of classics at the Faculty of Arts & Science.

The project aims to catalogue and publish data 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.

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)

“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.

“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.”

The coin imaging and analysis project began as an assignment for the Analytical Electron Microscopy course Stanko took with Janet Howe, 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.

Stanko and collaborators, including Howe, PhD candidate Dian (Jack) Yu and post-doctoral fellow Michel Haché, developed a strategy to examine the coins with a scanning electron microscope paired with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS).

“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.

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.

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)

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.

Laura Lipcsei, 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.”

The ROMkomma project is just one of many currently underway at the centre right now.

“OCCAM is the infrastructure supporting research across U of T and beyond,” says Howe, the newly appointed co-director of OCCAM, who played a leading role in installing the equipment at the centre.

“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.”

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.

She identifies the centre’s focus on teaching as one of its core strengths.

“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.”