Adrienne Harry

'Be the change you want to see': U of T grad Anowa Quarcoo is using tech to improve people's lives

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 16:58:37 +0000

'Be the change you want to see': U of T grad Anowa Quarcoo is using tech to improve people's lives

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/26/2020 - 11:58

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Anowa Quarcoo, who recently graduated with a combined master's degree in global affairs and business administration, has worked with groups in Toronto and Africa that use technology to achieve social development goals (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Global Lens

Convocation 2020

Reach Alliance

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Anowa Quarcoo gets bored easily – a quality she’s transformed into a great strength by using it as a signal to learn new skills.

She recently graduated from the University of Toronto’s combined Master of Global Affairs/Master of Business Administration (MGA/MBA) program, offered by the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and Rotman School of Management.

It was a winding road, with stops in public service along the way.

“I have a background in journalism and started off wanting to be a journalist – then the 2008 financial crisis happened,” says Quarcoo. “It was really hard to get a job as a journalist, so I ended up working in corporate communications. I was a generalist: I did a bit of everything: digital, public relations, marketing, crisis management and corporate social responsibility.”

Quarcoo, who graduated at U of T’s virtual fall convocation ceremony on Nov. 21, came to the MGA/MBA with eight years of work experience in corporate communications and had worked for all three levels of government. Of all of her duties, she says it was the corporate social responsibility (CSR) work that piqued her interest the most.

“One of the companies I worked for didn’t really have a CSR program, so I ended up building one. It made me think, ‘How can you have a social impact and what does that look like?’ I started looking for opportunities to explore that. I wanted to do something that had meaning and could impact people.”

This credo informed Quarcoo’s time at U of T. Many projects she worked on allowed her to look at the intersection between technology and social issues. For instance, Quarcoo traveled to Tanzania with the Reach Alliance in 2019 to research Tanzania’s medical supply chain. She ended up co-authoring a report with her findings, detailing how Tanzania successfully distributes medication to rural areas.

“I've always been a fan of interdisciplinary learning and the Reach Alliance was a cool opportunity to do something tangible that has the potential to have an impact,” says Quarcoo. “I was really drawn to the fact that I would be able to learn about research methodology – from getting approval from the ethics board to publishing an accessible and academically rigorous report.”

Born to Ghanaian parents, Quarcoo grew up in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. She says her experience with the Reach Alliance offered an encouraging example of locally-led development in Africa.

“I think often when people talk about the continent, they talk about the work that international organizations are doing,” she says. “They don’t talk about the amount of agency that Africans have in their own development. The Reach Alliance project was even more interesting when we uncovered that. It was a great story of agency.”

Quarcoo’s interest in technology and social impact featured prominently in her internship with the MGA program. Through funding from a fellowship with the Open Society Internship for Rights and Governance (OSIRG), Quarcoo worked with Africa’s Voices, a non-profit organization in Nairobi that finds ways to use technology to centre African citizens in Africa’s development.

While at Africa’s Voices, Quarcoo worked on a consultancy project with the Mastercard Foundation, looking at how to use technology to engage with program beneficiaries.

“When you think about development programs, you often think of folks sitting in offices in Geneva saying, ‘Oh, we're doing all of these great things!’ But the beneficiaries of these programs don't really have an opportunity to be involved or give voice to what they're experiencing,” says Quarcoo. “So Africa’s Voices aggregates data to give a clearer idea of what issues beneficiaries are dealing with. That allows us to measure actual impact.”

Through OSIRG, Quarcoo also had the opportunity to attend a two-week seminar in Hungary.

Her interest in tech and society goes beyond the classroom. She is the co-founder of Civic Tech Toronto, a group that uses technology to address or examine civic issues.

“Civic Tech Toronto finds ways to use technology to solve civic problems,” says Quarcoo. “One of our early projects was something called Budgetpedia. The premise was to help people better understand Toronto’s budget and see where funds have been allocated. Since then Civic Tech’s incubated a bunch of really interesting projects. A lot of tech folks program and code, but they don’t often get to do things that have a social bend to it, and vice versa.”

Quarcoo, who served as a student ambassador during U of T’s virtual fall convocation ceremony, is currently working at Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General. To celebrate convocation, she planned two Zoom parties: one with friends and one with family members scattered across the globe.

She has food for thought for her fellow graduates: “Every generation has an opportunity to shape the future. There’s a saying in the civic tech community: ‘Nobody is coming, it’s up to us.’ Don’t wait for someone else to make the changes you want to see in the world – you should be the change you want to see.”

Why am I wearing my academic regalia, you ask?
Cuz I’m celebrating MBA/MGA @rotmanschool @munkschool
grad Anowa Quarcoo who is an absolute & is now a @UofT #Uoftgrad20!
Thank you all of your contributions!
Loved being part of the fam jam grad celebration #LeadershipMatters https://t.co/WIaVVXV5Cz pic.twitter.com/3JmrrfybYa
— Nouman Ashraf (@S_Nouman_Ashraf) November 21, 2020

U of T's Munk School teams with TIFF for eighth annual speaker series

noreen.rasbach — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 18:38:36 +0000

U of T's Munk School teams with TIFF for eighth annual speaker series

noreen.rasbach Fri, 09/06/2019 - 14:38

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Made in Bangladesh, a film by Rubaiyat Hossain, will be part of the TIFF Speaker Series that pairs scholars from the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and filmmakers (courtesy of TIFF)

Adrienne Harry

Topic

City & Culture

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Cities

Culture

Faculty of Arts & Science

Film

For the eighth year, the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) are partnering to present the TIFF Speaker Series. The series pairs Munk School scholars and filmmakers for a post-screening discussion about select TIFF films, aimed at deepening understanding of the issues each film explores.

This year’s film selections include Rubaiyat Hossain’s Made in Bangladesh, a film about a garment factory worker who is inspired to start a union with her colleagues after her friend dies on the job. Professor Rachel Silvey, the Richard Charles Lee director of the Asian Institute, will join Hossain for a discussion after Saturday's screening.

On Sunday, Professor Joseph Wong joins Alexander Nanau to discuss Collective, a documentary about the consequences of a fire in a Romanian music club in October of 2015. The fire left 64 dead and more than 100 injured. Over the course of one year, the film follows an investigative journalist and a young minister of health, who, triggered by the fate of the victims, are each struggling with the corruption of state institutions.

Incitement, a film by Yaron Zilberman (photo courtesy of TIFF)

Associate Professor Ron Levi joins filmmaker Yaron Zilberman on Monday to discuss the film Incitement. This TIFF selection tells the story of the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin through the perspective of his killer, a promising law student turned delusional ultranationalist.

Also on Monday, TIFF welcomes Julie Moreau, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s department of political science and Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, who will discuss the film Comets with filmmaker Tamar Shavguildze. Set in Georgia, the film follows Nana and Irina, two women whose teenage romance made life so unbearable that one flees the country. The couple reunites in their mid-50s to relive the love of their youth.

Love Child, a film by Eva Mulvad (photo courtesy of TIFF)

Professor Randall Hansen sits with filmmaker Eva Mulvad on Tuesday to discuss the film Love Child, which focuses on a refugee family from Iran and the challenges they face seeking asylum in Turkey.

To close the series, Professor Janice Stein will sit with Maryam Touzani on Friday to discuss Touzani’s film, Adam. Set in Casablanca, Adam explores friendship, motherhood and grief in this story about a young pregnant woman and the widow who takes her in after she is rendered homeless.

The 2019 Toronto International Film Festival runs to Sept.15. Follow @munkschool on Twitter for live updates from Tuesday's screening of Love Child and Friday's screening of Adam.

‘You cannot defeat me': U of T grad Noura Al-Jizawi, a leader of the Syrian uprising, takes on a new challenge

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 17:34:07 +0000

‘You cannot defeat me': U of T grad Noura Al-Jizawi, a leader of the Syrian uprising, takes on a new challenge

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 06/07/2019 - 13:34

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Noura Al-Jizawi, who organized pro-democracy protests in Syria and was detained and tortured, graduated with a Master of Global Affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Citizen Lab

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Scholars at Risk

Syria

Syrian activist Noura Al-Jizawi forged a relationship with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy long before she enrolled as a student.

Her introduction to U of T came via the Munk School’s Citizen Lab in 2016, when researchers helped Al-Jizawi, at the time a leader of the Syrian uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, thwart a hacking attempt on her email address.

The attack, Citizen Lab discovered, was part of an elaborate cyber-espionage campaign operating out of Iran, which they detailed in an explosive report. When the investigation concluded, the researchers invited Al-Jizawi to participate in the Citizen Lab Summer Institute (CLSI), a workshop for practitioners working on Internet openness, security and human rights.

“It was an amazing starting point. The Munk School community is a welcoming community,” says Al-Jizawi.

“I started meeting some professors and found myself saying ‘I need to go to the Munk School.’ I didn’t apply to any other schools. I put all of my hopes in one basket.”

Before U of T, Al-Jizawi had been pursuing a master’s degree in comparative literature in Syria. But her duties were split between academics and activism. Al-Jizawi spoke out against the regime and organized pro-democracy protests, ran a blog and, at one point, became a vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. It was dangerous work; Al-Jizawi was arrested multiple times, detained and tortured.

“I almost finished my master’s, but without a diploma. They didn’t allow me to defend my thesis because I was detained,” she says. “My supervisor was detained as well. All the time, I was thinking, ‘How am I going to continue my studies?’”

The answer was the Master of Global Affairs (MGA) program. In 2017, with help from U of T’s Scholars-at-Risk program, Al-Jizawi arrived in Toronto for her first day of class, seven months pregnant and ready to shift her academic focus.

“I decided to challenge myself. In the first year, I tried to avoid anything focusing on Syria,” she says. “I tried to avoid any classes related to justice or human rights because I thought ‘I need to try something new.’”

Noura Al-Jizawi and her daughter display the Syrian independence flag after convocation on June 7, 2019 (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

The appetite for change led Al-Jizawi to study innovation and artificial intelligence for her MGA capstone project. She also became a student researcher with the Munk School’s Reach Project, where she is studying Guinea’s malaria program. She is scheduled to travel to Guinea this summer to conduct field research.

“It’s my first trip to Africa,” she says. “It’s my first time focusing on health issues. Everything is new.”

Although Al-Jizawi relishes her new experiences, she acknowledges the road to convocation has had its challenges. The MGA represents her first time studying in English; her previous lessons were taught in Arabic. She also gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in her first year of study, shortly after fall exams.

“I went to the hospital and told my doctor: ‘I’m ready to give birth now. I’m done with midterms,’” she says.

Ten days after a caesarean delivery, Al-Jizawi was back in class. She used the winter break to catch up on the assignments she missed while she was in the hospital.

“I got a hand from the professors and support from all the people around me – it was amazing.”

Al-Jizawi plans to cross the stage at convocation with her daughter, whom her classmates refer to affectionately as the ‘MGA baby.’

“I imagine the moment I hold my diploma,” says Al-Jizawi. “It’s going to be the moment I defeat the dictators in Syria, because it’s going to send the message: ‘You cannot defeat me. I’m the one who’s going to win.’ I want my daughter to hold my diploma with me.”

Al-Jizawi’s time as an MGA student may be ending, but her relationship with the Munk School is far from over. Her winding journey has led her right back to Citizen Lab, where she currently works as a research assistant.

“Munk School is not only a school, it’s an amazing journey for endless learning,” she says. “At Munk School, we are home.”

U of T's Munk One program teaches students how to tackle global issues

noreen.rasbach — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 16:49:44 +0000

U of T's Munk One program teaches students how to tackle global issues

noreen.rasbach Thu, 04/11/2019 - 12:49

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Teresa Kramarz is the director of Munk One, an interdisciplinary seminar program that gives first-year students in the Faculty of Arts & Science the opportunity to brainstorm real solutions to global problems (photo by Riley Stewart)

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Global Lens

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

When third-year English student Sayeh Yousefi was deciding where to attend university, one factor made the University of Toronto stand out from her other choices. When researching Munk One, the first-year foundation program at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Yousefi saw a perfect fit.

“Munk One really focuses on critical thinking and how to apply theory to real life. The focus isn’t just on textbooks,” says Yousefi, a Victoria College student who is a Munk One alumna and one of U of T’s four Loran scholars in 2016. “It’s based on innovation and thinking outside of the box, which I thought was really interesting. Munk One is one of the reasons I chose U of T.”

The smallest of U of T’s eight first-year foundation programs, Munk One is an interdisciplinary seminar program that gives first-year students in the Faculty of Arts & Science the opportunity to brainstorm real solutions to global problems in a hands-on, interactive learning model.

With guidance from Munk School faculty like Teresa Kramarz, associate professor and director of the Munk One program, and Joseph Wong, Ralph and Roz Halbert professor of innovation, students split into lab groups that focus on themes like environment, digital governance and global health. Their goal is to find answers to a big question within their given theme, guided by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Once each group identifies a solution to their problem, they prepare a proposal to present in front of a panel of experts, Dragons' Den-style.

“Munk One is one of the few truly interdisciplinary programs that forces students to consider challenges from a variety of points of view,” says Wong.

“Students are encouraged to engage in real-world problems in real-world ways. In these regards, the Munk One program equips future leaders with not only the intellectual heft, but also the empowerment to tackle our most pressing challenges.”

Equipped with the empowerment Wong describes, Adam Sheikh, a Munk One alumnus, went on to start a student-run non-profit that helped launch a safety intervention for migrant workers in the Middle East. Sheikh also helps to run the Munk Social Incubator (MunkSI), a resource that teaches students how to take their global solutions from concept to implementation.

“In Munk One, we looked at how to break down an issue, how to look at its causes. We learned the research process and that we can’t just jump to conclusions quickly,” says Sheikh.

“Munk One helped me realize that I could pursue anything. I can try to address any issue in the world and feel confident that regardless of whether I succeed or fail, I tried. I learned to be audacious.”

Sheikh and Yousefi are just some of Munk One’s impressive list of students and alumni. Others include Edil Ga’al, a Munk One alumna who graduated from U of T with high distinction in 2018 and is on her way to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship; Nika Asgari, a 2018 Loran Scholar, University College student and activist; and Jonah Toth, a third-year peace, conflict and justice student at Victoria College who went on to start a youth empowerment organization called passion2action after his time in the Munk One program.

“Munk One students come from many different places around the world, with diverse experiences, skills, and disciplinary interests but what stands out is their shared passion to be engaged hands-on with issues that matter to them,” says Kramarz.

“These issues mobilize them to take deep dives into academic research and action. This creates the basis for an immensely energizing first year of university.”

To learn more about the Munk One program and how to apply, visit munkschool.utoronto.ca/one.

U of T's Reach Project launches latest research findings at second annual symposium

noreen.rasbach — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 05:00:00 +0000

U of T's Reach Project launches latest research findings at second annual symposium

noreen.rasbach Thu, 02/28/2019 - 00:00

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Joe Wong with student researchers who presented case studies on behalf of their research teams: from left: Kara Hounsell, Rachel Bryce, Cadhla Gray and Joudy Sarraj (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Global Lens

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Graduate Students

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Political Science

Undergraduate Students

Professor Joseph Wong travelled to Brazil in 2015 with a group of students to research Bolsa Familia, the country’s welfare program. They were interested in the topic of reach – how places like Brazil succeed in delivering interventions to the poorest of the poor, the most isolated and the most vulnerable.

Since that first trip, the Reach Project, an initiative of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy led by Wong and supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, has expanded to produce nine more case studies, the most recent of which were presented at the second annual Reach Symposium on Feb. 21.

“I was asked if I ever thought the Reach Project would be where we are today and the honest answer is no. But I’m grateful we’re here,” said Wong, who is the Ralph and Roz Halbert professor of innovation at Munk and a professor in the department of political science.

“Since we started, we’ve recruited 64 student researchers from across the University of Toronto; undergraduate and graduate students from medicine and engineering, to the social sciences and humanities, all of whom are conducting world-class research. The amount of passion and sweat equity they put into the Reach Project is just extraordinary.”

Held at Evergreen Brickworks, the symposium hosted an engaged audience of 120 professionals representing various sectors. The patrons, who included guests like Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNCHR representative in Canada, were the first to learn about the Reach Project’s most recent findings.

Students presented examples of how Sri Lanka eliminated malaria, how Ethiopia addresses food insecurity with food and cash transfers, how Palestine implemented its cash transfer program to extremely vulnerable households, and how Tunisia’s neighbourhood upgrading programs connect basic services to the hardest to reach. Each case study was the culmination of 16 months of rigorous analysis.

Parag Mehta, executive director and senior vice-president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, speaks with Cadhla Gray, Master of Global Affairs graduate who worked on Team Tunisia (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

“Sometimes when you’re conducting research, it’s easy to feel like you’re not making a lot of headway. But meeting professionals at the event who were interested in and asking questions about our work made me realize that conducting field research gave me a different perspective,” said Cadhla Gray, a recent Master of Global Affairs graduate who, on behalf of her research team, presented insights into Tunisa’s neighbourhood upgrading programs.

“It’s exciting to see people in the audience who can make practical changes based on things that we uncovered in Tunisia.”

Parag Mehta, executive director and senior vice-president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, echoed Gray’s excitement. He said that learning about successful examples of reach served as motivation for symposium attendees.

“It can be really demoralizing if all we ever do is talk about the problems. So, when students share examples of Sri Lanka getting malaria to zero, or Palestine getting cash payments to people living in the most vulnerable communities, this is heartening for the rest of us,” said Mehta. “People are feeling really energized and enthusiastic because of the students’ presentations.”

In addition to reviewing case studies and introducing this year’s upcoming research topics, the symposium featured three panel discussions with themes informed by Reach Project findings. The panels covered issues like the costs of reach and the importance of frontline service delivery, and featured an esteemed list of speakers including Tara Nathan, executive vice-president of humanitarian & development at Mastercard; and Margaret Biggs, former president of the Canadian International Development Agency and chairperson of the Board of Governors for the International Development Research Centre.

Wong said that aligning all sectors in meaningful dialogue is one of the Reach Project’s core aims.

“One of the great opportunities that stems from the Reach Project is the chance to gather people from different sectors who are thinking about the same thing, but viewing it through different lenses," he said. “Seeing the panellists engage with each other and arrive at a unified set of principles is encouraging.”

U of T summer course explores contributing factors to mass shootings

noreen.rasbach — Wed, 16 May 2018 16:29:33 +0000

U of T summer course explores contributing factors to mass shootings

noreen.rasbach Wed, 05/16/2018 - 12:29

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The course on mass shootings, taught by Jooyoung Lee of Munk School’s Centre for the Study of the United States, looks at several case studies, from Columbine to Marjory Stoneman Douglas (photo by Evan Doheny)

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Sociology

Undergraduate Students

While the University of Toronto’s Jooyoung Lee was teaching an American studies course on gun violence last June, the world was marking one year since the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. The tragedy, in which 49 people were killed and more than 50 others were wounded, was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time.

The record was broken just months later, however, when a gunman opened fire at a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, leaving 58 dead and hundreds injured.

“Death tolls are getting higher and mass shooters are getting more sophisticated,” says Lee, an associate professor of sociology and affiliated faculty at the Munk School’s Centre for the Study of the United States (CSUS). “Shootings are becoming more frequent, the shooters are becoming more calculated and they’re able to outfit their firearms with modifications to make them even more lethal. Quantitatively, mass shootings are getting worse.”

It’s for this reason that Lee’s latest summer course is an in-depth look at mass shootings in the U.S. The interactive, fourth-year seminar examines several case studies, from the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 – which Lee considers a watershed moment in America’s history – to this year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. To gain a more thorough understanding of these shootings, students look at the patterns, causes and consequences surrounding them.

“We tend to call mass shootings ‘senseless violence,’" says Lee. “The term ‘senseless’ is often attached to these acts. But to the person committing the crime, it’s not ‘senseless’ at all. There are reasons why they do these things and it’s incumbent on social scientists to try and understand the reasons so that we better understand how to prevent mass shootings.”

As part of their coursework, students are required to write a paper about an aspect of the conversation on gun violence that most fascinates them, whether they’re interested in studying the manifestos of perpetrators, looking at how grief is politicized or examining law enforcement responses to gun crimes.

The course also draws on pop culture references – in the opening class for instance, students dissected gun violence symbolism in Childish Gambino’s viral music video, This Is America. Lee stresses the importance of taking a multi-pronged approach to studying mass gun violence.

“I try to make the class very interdisciplinary. I’m a sociologist, but I use insights from criminology, political science, history, journalism and more,” he says. “I don’t think you can understand mass shootings by looking through just one lens, and many of the perspectives offered by the media can be partial or sensationalized. My hope is that my students leave my class with a more critical ability to decipher between partial truths and the more complicated back stories about why mass shootings are happening.”

Lee doesn’t see a gun-free future for America. But he thinks that understanding mass shootings in greater depth can only help as nations grapple with how to mitigate future violence, in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“Canada is not immune to shootings or the conditions that give rise to shootings. I think a lot of what the students learn in this class can help them make sense of instances of violence that are happening in Canada too,” he says. “Ultimately, I hope all my students leave my class with a critical sociological imagination and a sense of radical empathy. I want them to learn to not just see statistics or a soundbite, but to empathize with the people who are affected by mass shootings.”

How to protect online data: U of T Citizen Lab's Security Planner tool offers safety tips from the experts

noreen.rasbach — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 17:55:22 +0000

How to protect online data: U of T Citizen Lab's Security Planner tool offers safety tips from the experts

noreen.rasbach Thu, 03/22/2018 - 13:55

Cutline

The Security Planner tool, launched by Citizen Lab at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs, aims to make online safety easier to navigate (illustration courtesy of Citizen Lab)

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Our online accounts, from email to banking to social media, contain some of our most important, private information – and there’s a lot of it, with the average internet user maintaining roughly 92 accounts.

Amid a growing number of data breaches and the recent scandal involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, people may understandably be looking for more and better ways to protect themselves on the Web.

Fortunately, researchers at Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, have some recommendations.

“Password managers can really help improve your online security by helping you to use unique and strong passwords across a variety of different accounts without having to remember them,” says Christine Schoellhorn, project manager for Security Planner, the Citizen Lab’s online safety tool. “If you use email, the most common threats you face are phishing and password theft. A password manager helps reduce some of the burden of using different passwords by automatically inputting your username and password into the websites that you use.”

Schoellhorn also recommends enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) for an additional layer of protection for your online accounts. The 2FA method requires a small extra step, like entering a verification code sent to your phone, in addition to entering your password on certain websites. “It’s a small lifestyle change, but the impact is really tremendous,” she says. “We are increasingly putting a larger amount of our private lives online and that can be a risk. Keeping yourself safe can also protect other people within your network.”

Safety tips like these and more are available through the Citizen Lab’s Security Planner tool. Users are prompted to take a brief survey to assess their personal security needs and, based on their survey results, are given a tailored action plan to address their most pressing safety concerns. Users can get instructions on everything from how to secure their web browser to how to run a security checkup on their Facebook account. All of the site’s recommendations are based on peer-reviewed research by a cross-section of digital security experts.

“People want to be more secure online but they’re not sure which actions are a good use of their time and what might be overkill. There’s a lot of contradictory advice out there,” says John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab and editor of Security Planner’s recommendations. “So, we thought, ‘Why don’t we get a bunch of experts together, gather the best ideas and then provide those to users in a way that’s accessible?’ The goal of Security Planner is to make those first security steps as easy as possible.”

Most of Security Planner’s tips are quick and easy to implement. Although the tool is designed to help the average Internet user, it also provides links to outside resources for people who may be at a higher risk of cybersecurity threats because of who they are or what they do. (Certain groups – like journalists, legislators or dissidents – may be at a higher risk of cyber-attacks. Citizen Lab has released several reports outlining the details of targeted threats they’ve uncovered.) Designed to be simple and straightforward, the tool provides each user with the safety tips they need most, and strips away information that may not be as useful.

“So many guides that are available online just provide a wall of text. And for someone who is already feeling anxious about taking steps toward better security, they don’t want to have to read a 20-page document on how to be safer,” says Schoellhorn. “They want targeted advice with as little extraneous information as possible.”

The tool is also built to evolve. There is a section on the website for users to provide feedback and the recommendations on the site are updated as security threats change.

“It’s important to keep information updated and current, because security problems change and advice needs to change with it,” says Scott-Railton. “As soon as you take one of those security steps, you’re better off than before you did. We did market research and really tried to find ways to make these recommendations accessible. Because just as free and open communications should be a right, security should be a right too.”

Looking for more online safety tips? Visit securityplanner.org for your personalized safety action plan.

#UofTGrad17: Munk One celebrates its first cohort of U of T graduates

Romi Levine — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 15:35:31 +0000

#UofTGrad17: Munk One celebrates its first cohort of U of T graduates

Romi Levine Thu, 06/22/2017 - 11:35

Cutline

Munk One grad Nicoli Dos Santos

Adrienne Harry

Author legacy

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

International

Since it launched in 2013, the Munk One foundation program for students in their first year has attracted and taught some of the University of Toronto’s most audacious students.

After their time in Munk One, students have gone on to create an app that reduces food waste on university campuses, launch an initiative to prevent heat-related deaths on construction sites in Qatar, and conduct field research on poverty in Brazil.

Now, the program is celebrating its first cohort of students to graduate from U of T.

“The first cohort was the one that set the bar for me,” says Teresa Kramarz, director of the Munk One program. “They made me realize what untapped potential the University of Toronto had in its first-year students. I came to fully understand the hunger that these students brought to U of T.”

Offered by the Munk School of Global Affairs, Munk One teaches first-year undergraduate students how to take their hunger and curiosity and apply it to some of the world’s most complex challenges. The small classroom environment allows students to network closely with their peers and professors, and the seminars and labs help to prepare students for the rest of their U of T experience, and beyond.

“Munk One was a good experience. First year can be a very isolating time and Munk One was a good way to get to know people and build a social group,” says Nicholas Sopuch (pictured above). The peace, conflict and justice major graduated on June 21.

Set to begin his master’s degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the fall, Sopuch credits Munk One with shaping the rest of his academic experience. “The workload and the readings helped me become comfortable in a seminar setting. It was good to work with these really bright students in such a collaborative environment.

“Munk One was an intensive warm-up for the rest of my undergrad.”

Nicoli Dos Santos, another of the program’s very first students, agrees.

“Munk One gave me my first real taste of what research looks like in academia. Not just theory, but also field research,” says Dos Santos, who, through her Munk One professors, had the opportunity to spend six weeks in Northern Ireland advising on an app that diagnoses post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The program helped me to see problems differently and examine my approach. I gained the confidence to seek out more research opportunities.”

Dos Santos, along with other Munk One alumni, went on to study Brazil’s Bolsa Familia social welfare program with the Reach Project, an initiative led by Professor Joseph Wong, who teaches a seminar course in the Munk One program. This trip helped Dos Santos, an aspiring doctor, to think about health and medicine from a more social perspective. She writes her MCAT in August and begins a master of social work at U of T in the fall.

“In Munk One, I realized how crucial it is to think about the socio-political context in which diseases emerge, spread and are treated. I’m interested in family medicine and I want the skills to be able to address the social issues that may contribute to physical and mental health.”

Sopuch recommends Munk One to anyone hoping to make valuable connections with their peers and professors. “A lot of my friends today are people I met in Munk One. It was useful to have that initial connection,” says Sopuch. “And in terms of academic preparation, Munk One is great. The connections you build really do last throughout your undergrad.”

Kramarz is excited to see Munk One students now becoming U of T alumni, and sees them making a profound impact as they move on to other pursuits.

“Over the last four years, I have watched these students grow as scholars and as people. I have this sense of wonder as I look at their trajectory. I’m proud of our students and happy that Munk One has helped prepare them to be engaged global citizens.”

Asian job applicants face tougher odds: U of T researchers part of joint study on interview callback rates

ullahnor — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 15:47:37 +0000

Asian job applicants face tougher odds: U of T researchers part of joint study on interview callback rates

ullahnor Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:47

Cutline

Professor Jeffrey Reitz says the findings call for an “anonymized resumé review” process to identify candidates by code not name (photo by Kathryn Decker via Flickr)

Adrienne Harry

Author legacy

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Job applicants with Asian names and Canadian qualifications have less chance of getting called in for interviews than those with Anglo-Canadian names, even with a better education, say researchers at the University of Toronto who are part of a joint study.

Using data from a recent large-scale Canadian employment report to examine interview callback rates, the study by the University of Toronto and Ryerson University shows discrimination against Asian job seekers in Canada.

Co-authored by Jeffrey Reitz, sociology professor at the Faculty of Arts & Science and director of ethnic, immigration and pluralism studies at U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs, the report assesses the extent of discrimination experienced by job applicants with Asian (Chinese, Indian or Pakistani) names.

Called “Do Large Employers Treat Racial Minorities More Fairly?” the report shows that Asian-named job applicants are less likely than Anglo-named job seekers to be selected for an interview, even if their qualifications are identical.

Asian-named applicants are at even more of a disadvantage if some or all of their qualifications are obtained outside of Canada. With foreign credentials, applicants with Asian names are 45 to 60 per cent less likely to be selected for an interview compared to their Anglo-named counterparts. These hiring biases are most prevalent in smaller businesses, which employ more than 70 per cent of private sector employees in Canada.

“A lot of Canadians think that we’ve already addressed this problem, that it was taken care of decades ago when we brought in various policies to address it,” says Reitz. “But this study clearly shows that this isn’t the case. We’re focusing on a particular part of the recruitment process – a critical part – but it’s only one stage. So whatever biases are underlying recruitment decisions might also underlie other decisions employers make.”

Reitz points out that discrimination has significant impacts on Asian job seekers as well as employers. While these applicants have to try harder to find work, employers stand to miss out on a skilled and valuable talent pool. And without continuing research, Reitz cautions that hiring bias may be hard to spot.

“We can learn a lot from this type of study because we’re looking at behaviour that is somewhat ‘invisible.’ When an employer throws a resume in the wastebasket, no one is there to witness it,” says Reitz. “For many, the obvious remedy to discrimination is to go to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. But it’s hard to speak up about being a victim of discrimination if you never find out about it.”

Reitz, along with co-authors Philip Oreopoulos from U of T Mississauga’s department of economics and Rupa Banarjee from Ryerson University, attended a panel discussion on the study thus week.

Hosted by Hire Immigrants and moderated by Senator Ratna Omidvar, the panel will discuss how to use this research to prompt meaningful action within Canadian companies, and what role government, educational institutions, and labour unions can play in creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Although the report highlights disadvantages for a very specific group of job seekers, Reitz says it’s in everyone’s best interest to address hiring bias. “When qualified applicants miss out on opportunities for jobs, we should all be concerned. It is in our collective interest to ensure that everyone can contribute his or her skills and abilities.”

Reitz, told the Star that the findings call for an “anonymized resumé review” process, which would identify candidates by code not name.

“Some people are concerned this is something we are doing to accommodate minorities, giving an advantage to minority people by deferring to them,” said Reitz. “But no matter what political correctness is doing, it is not offsetting the problems.”

Munk One competition offers mentorship to new U of T students

ullahnor — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 16:11:34 +0000

Munk One competition offers mentorship to new U of T students

ullahnor Mon, 11/28/2016 - 11:11

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Students brainstorm during the Munk One case competition (photo by Kevin Rowley)

Adrienne Harry

Author legacy

Adrienne Harry

Topic

Global Lens

Munk One

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

One Programs

Innovation

Entrepreneurship

Dragon's Den. Faculty of Arts & Science

If you were given just 24 hours to come up with a proposed solution to sex trafficking in Toronto, would you be up to the task?

Students in the Munk One program at U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs were challenged to do just that at the program’s annual case competition earlier this month.

“At first it was extremely daunting,” said Jonah Toth, a Munk One student and contest participant. “We came in not knowing what the topic was and not knowing anything about sex trafficking. It was an intensive process.”

Munk One is one of several first-year foundation programs at U of T that are designed for small groups – no more than 25 students – mixing lectures with seminars, labs and group exercises. The Munk One case competition is a precursor to Munk One Dragon’s Den competition in the spring.

In the mentorship phase of this year’s case competition, groups received insight from experts such as CTV crime reporter Tamara Cherry and Lisa DiFederico, a human trafficking advocate at Covenant House Toronto. The purpose of the mentorship phase is for students to learn how to research and refine their big ideas before tackling possible solutions.

After the full day of mentorship from experts and former Munk One students, competitors split into groups. They had 24 hours to brainstorm potential solutions to real problems in Toronto.

“At first, it seemed like an insurmountable task, but we had some really good help from our student mentor,” said Uma Kalkar, a first-year life sciences student. “She helped us break down the issue and figure out what population to target. We were able to look at sex trafficking from different viewpoints and figure out which approach to take with our resources and expertise.”

Kalkar’s group also received mentorship from Cherry, whose reported on domestic sex trafficking. She told students to be as realistic as possible with their ideas.

“She encouraged us to actually reach out to groups, send e-mails, create a budget and think about ways to make our project feasible,” said Kalkar.

On competition day, student groups gathered to brainstorm, fine-tune and present their ideas. This year, a group of grade 12 students from Michael Power-St. Joseph High School joined the Munk One teams.

“The case competition is a rare opportunity to bring three sets of students together: seniors in high school, as well as first and second year undergraduates in university,” said Teresa Kramarz, director of the Munk One program and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “High school students work alongside our first year students in research groups, and our second year students do all the research required to prepare a case guide. We put in practice the medical teaching tradition where students are asked to ‘see one, do one, teach one.’”

At the end of the competition, students presented their ideas to a panel of judges which included Toronto Police Detective Constable Jason Davis, assigned to the human trafficking enforcement team, Michele Anderson, who works at Covenant House Toronto with young survivors of human trafficking, Rosemary Gartner, a professor of criminology at U of T, and Antonela Arhin, a sessional lecturer at U of T who teaches courses on human trafficking and is the executive officer of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies. The presentations were an opportunity for students to receive further advice and feedback from experts in the field.

“There is only so much you can read about an issue. At some point when exploring academic literature, you hit a wall and it helps having a professional share their personal experience,” said Toth. “It’s an excellent opportunity to practice for what’s going to come up later in the course.”

The smallest of U of T’s first year foundation programs, Munk One teaches students to tackle global challenges and provides tools to help them put big ideas into practice. Many Munk One students go on to implement their ideas, like Munk One alumni Adam Sheikh, now a 19-year-old peace, conflict and justice student at the Munk School of Global Affairs who launched a work safety intervention in the Gulf region and Munk One alumni Quinn Underwood, who helped develop a mobile app that addresses food insecurity on university campuses.

Adrienne Harry

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