English

‘Think against yourself’: Panel discussion on civil discourse draws students to U of T’s Hart House

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 17:38:08 +0000

‘Think against yourself’: Panel discussion on civil discourse draws students to U of T’s Hart House

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/24/2024 - 13:38

Cutline

Students ask questions during a recent panel discussion about civil discourse on university campuses that was hosted by Professor Randy Boyagoda (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Chris Sorensen

Topic

Our Community

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

English

Faculty of Arts & Science

Hart House

Religion

Undergraduate Students

Vic One

Victoria College

Hugh Considine got a crash course in discussing polarizing topics almost immediately upon arriving at the University of Toronto.

The second-year student studies religion in the Faculty of Arts & Science – a subject, he says, that can be about as controversial as it gets.

“People have an unimaginable amount of investment in it,” says Considine, 19, a member of Innis College. “Depending on who you ask, it’s literally your soul at hand – the ultimate thing that could be risked.”

He credits his professors for creating an environment where students feel unafraid to speak their minds, encouraging them to comment, ask questions and generally “poke and prod” one another so we “would actually think about what’s being said.”

It’s a microcosm of what campus life is supposed to be all about: a diverse group of people coming together to expand their worldviews through study, debate and discovery – and it’s a message that was reinforced during a recent event for Victoria College students in the Vic One program.

The hour-long panel discussion, held at Hart House on Sept. 18, focused on the critical role of civil discourse on university campuses. It brought together two high-profile U of T academics and authors – Ian Williams of the department of English and Janice Stein of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy – and New York Timescolumnist Pamela Paul.

The first in a series of planned events and initiatives on the topic, the talk was moderated by Professor Randy Boyagoda, the university’s provostial adviser on civil discourse and chair of its Working Group on Civil Discourse, and is part of a broader effort to strengthen the culture of civil discourse on campus. That includes cultivating dialogue across different points of view and the discussion of challenging subjects.

Hundreds attended the event at Hart House, including Hugh Considine at bottom right (photo by Johnny Guatto)

The discussion, which drew about 150 attendees, touched on everything from today’s increasingly polarized political and cultural environment to the risks faced by universities – and society at large – if open discussion and debate of difficult topics are frowned upon or crowded out.

Not surprisingly, the panel members each had a unique take on the nature of the threat and what should be done about it.

Paul, for example, said she was especially concerned about a culture of self-censorship, saying she opted to become an opinion writer after years editing the New York Times Book Review upon recognizing the bulk of discussion about politics and culture was taking place only at extreme ends of the spectrum.

“What you had was this growing vacuum in the middle where nuance and complexity lived and no one was speaking up,” she said.

Stein, however, said that not all forms of self-censorship are necessarily undesirable, noting that she refrains from vocalizing thoughts she deems unnecessarily rude.

“When we’re in a learning community together, we have to say things in a way that people can hear,” said Stein, the Munk School’s founding director and University Professor and Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the department of political science. She added that what matters is why we self-censor – do we do it out of fear or out of consideration for others?

Williams, a professor of English and author who has published acclaimed books of poetry, essays and works of fiction, warned against viewing debate as simply an opportunity to persuade someone else of your views.

“The more interesting way of having these conversations [is not to] focus on converting a person to a team, but saying, ‘Here’s how my ideas have changed over time.’”

There were several other takeaways for the largely student audience, which included several first-years.

Paraphrasing French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, Boyagoda, a writer, professor of English and vice-dean, undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts & Science, urged students to “think against yourself ” by creating their own counterarguments as an intellectual exercise. Similarly, Paul spoke about the value of engaging with those who don’t share your opinions.

Stein and Williams also emphasized the U of T community’s shared responsibility to create an environment where people can ask questions and test out ideas. And if you find yourself amongst people who refuse to grant that space? “Just take that conversation elsewhere, rather than burying it or self-censoring it,” Williams said.

Following the talk, students asked questions about the “paradox of tolerance,” or the idea that creating a tolerant society requires being intolerant of intolerance, and how to cope with the repercussions of being ostracized for expressing an unpopular view, among other things.

Considine, one of four undergraduate student members of the civil discourse working group, said he was pleased to see so many students engaging with the topic.

“That’s something that, as one of the student representatives – and as the youngest student representative – I'm very conscious about.”

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

Cutline

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.”

Randy Boyagoda appointed U of T’s provostial adviser on civil discourse

lanthierj — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:12:34 +0000

Randy Boyagoda appointed U of T’s provostial adviser on civil discourse

lanthierj Tue, 01/16/2024 - 15:12

Cutline

(photo by Derek Shapton)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

St. Michael's College

Professor Randy Boyagoda has been appointed the University of Toronto’s first provostial adviser on civil discourse.

A faculty member in the department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science and a noted novelist, essayist, book critic and scholar, Boyagoda will serve an 18-month term effective Jan. 1, 2024.

He will establish a working group that will lead community consultations and develop a plan for tri-campus events, resources and other initiatives for students, faculty and librarians to engage in and promote productive and respectful dialogue on all kinds of topics. The group will also learn from other institutions around the world that are pursuing their own efforts with respect to civil discourse.

“I was very glad to have been invited by the provost to take up this appointment,” Boyagoda said, adding that he’s looking forward to fostering “a tri-campus conversation in a variety of formats and scales that invite students and faculty to live out civil discourse.

“As part of that, we’ll be drawing on and benefiting from the excellent programming, teaching and research already taking place in this respect, in departments and programs across our three campuses.”

Boyagoda, who will continue to serve as vice-dean, undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has previously served as principal and vice-president of St. Michael’s College and as acting vice-provost, faculty and academic life. He has also served as president of PEN Canada, the national chapter of the international non-profit organization that celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.

“I am certain that Professor Boyagoda’s combination of skills and knowledge will serve the university well in this important role,” said Trevor Young, U of T’s vice-president and provost. “I am grateful to him for his willingness to serve as the provostial adviser on civil discourse.”

Young noted that U of T President Meric Gertler addressed the issue of civil discourse at a meeting of the university’s Governing Council in December, saying: “Disagreements on our campuses can and will be heated. But they cannot be allowed to descend into hateful, demeaning or harassing behaviour. Our university must demonstrate to the world how civil, informed debate about difficult issues can be conducted.”

Boyagoda is well-suited to the task of helping to guide the university in answering President Gertler’s call, Young said.

Boyagoda has grappled with high-profile issues around free speech and civil discourse in his own writing and scholarship, including teaching a graduate seminar last fall – “The Satanic Verses and the Public Life of Books” – that considered the impact of author Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel.

“What’s important with civil discourse is to create the conditions, inside and outside the classroom, especially at a place as inherently and variously diverse as our university, for discussions that acknowledge difference while working towards shared understandings,” Boyagoda said. “This matters throughout our shared life on campus, and not just when it comes to the most divisive issues of a given moment.”

Ultimately, he said, the goal is to create the conditions for members of the university community to have the willingness and capacity to engage productively with people who hold viewpoints opposite to their own. This might involve public events, teaching fellowships, undergraduate, graduate and faculty research opportunities and other ideas and projects that emerge from consultations.

“When I was principal of St. Michael’s College, I would propose to incoming students that it was so very important to approach your years at university as an exciting and demanding opportunity to do more than just think for yourself – which strikes me as a lonely, boring, self-confirming exercise. To my mind, university is a time and space to discern who you want to think with, who you want to think against, and how to do so, with others, for the greater good,” Boyagoda said.

“Doing this difficult thing, together, and for the greater good: that’s what civil discourse is all about.”

Add new story tags

Provost Trevor Young

'A medieval blockbuster': U of T acquires a rare 14th-century manuscript

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 15:22:25 +0000

'A medieval blockbuster': U of T acquires a rare 14th-century manuscript

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 09/18/2023 - 11:22

Cutline

Sebastian Sobecki stands over The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, which scholars believe was written in the mid-1300s (all photos by Diana Tyszko)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Centre for Medieval Studies

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

The University of Toronto has acquired an ancient manuscript widely regarded as one of “medieval Europe’s biggest bestsellers.”

Led by the efforts of Sebastian Sobecki, a partial copy of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville that scholars believed was penned in the mid-1300s is now part of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library’s collection.

“This is one of the texts that made explorers believe in circumnavigation,” says Sobecki, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of English who cross-appointed to the Centre for Medieval Studies.

To secure the ancient manuscript, Sobecki collaborated with the Fisher Library as well as the University Library.

“This is big news for the university – I'm thrilled,” says Sobecki. “This is probably one of our most important medieval manuscripts and it could be a crown jewel of the Fisher collection.”

Written on animal skin, Mandeville’s Travels is considered one of medieval Europe’s biggest bestsellers.

“It’s quite likely that this is the earliest surviving copy of what was one of the most popular and influential works of the Middle Ages,” says Tim Perry, a medieval manuscripts and early books librarian at the Fisher Library.

The manuscript was purchased from Bernard Quaritch Ltd – a London-based bookseller that specializes in rare books and manuscripts. Previously, it was owned by the Duke of Manchester’s family in the United Kingdom.

Written in insular French (or Anglo-French), the manuscript consists of 40 leaves – or 80 pages – and includes a substantial fragment of Mandeville’s Travels (chapters 11-12, 13-16 and 23-31). Each leaf measures approximately 27.5 by 18.5 centimetres.

The writing is on specially prepared animal skin – likely sheep or calf skin – rather than paper.

The book purports to be the travel memoir of Mandeville, though it’s more accurately described as fiction. He claims to have travelled through Turkey, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, India and China in the 1320s or '30s.

It’s filled with tales of exotic beasts, treasures beyond imagination, as well as magical kingdoms with mythical people such as dog-headed humans and other strange creatures – all hallmarks of today's science fiction – and the book is considered by some to be one of the first widespread tales in the genre.

And the Travels goes beyond simply writing about destinations, delving into subjects such as religion and politics. For example, while trekking through Egypt, Mandeville engages in a lengthy conversation with the sultan of Egypt.

“They exchange ideas about the Qur’an and the Bible,” says Sobecki. “And they discuss differences of belief between Muslims and Christians. It's really quite open-minded.

“But it's not a religious text. This is a secular adventure text about [fictional] monsters of the East and what Asia looks like. This is one of the great global travel writing texts and it's remarkable for its tolerance and openness.”

Part of that adventure includes visiting the enchanted kingdom of Prester John, a legendary Christian patriarch and king who ruled over a large Christian settlement in India.

Mandeville describes the kingdom as having unmatched wealth with an abundance of precious stones, including an entire river composed of gemstones instead of water, which flows down from enormous mountains, and yields especially sweet-tasting fish.

Tim Perry is a medieval manuscript sand early books librarian at the Fisher Library.

Where did the author get his material for this book? From combining several authentic travel accounts from a variety of sources and adding his own flair.

“There's quite a lot of material from the 13th-century Franciscan missions to the Mongols,” says Sobecki. “They brought back fantastic reports about the peoples of Central Asia. Some of them are accurate, some are laced with fiction and science fiction.”

So who, exactly, was Sir John Mandeville?

“That’s a good question. We don't know that,” says Sobecki, noting that it is the subject of scholarly debate. “John Mandeville was probably a fictional name, one of the earliest pen names.”

Whoever the author is, it’s generally accepted that he didn’t do much travelling himself. However, he was a master at taking other people’s accounts and creating a new narrative.

“Someone said, very accurately, that his longest journey was to the nearest library,” says Sobecki. “So he was probably the world's greatest armchair traveller.”

Some scholars have suggested that the Travels was written by Jan de Langhe, a Flemish monk pretending to be an Englishman. He was known to be a prolific writer and avid collector of travel memoirs right up to his death in 1383.

What also makes this manuscript so important is that it’s far more than just a prize – it’s a valuable tool for research and teaching.

“This is a book for readers, for real use,” says Sobecki. “We're trying to work out where in the family tree of Mandeville manuscripts this text belongs. And for teaching purposes this text would be enormously helpful because Mandeville is a canonical English writer and is taught every year, not only in my course, but in several others across U of T. This manuscript also presents many teaching opportunities for undergraduate, master’s and PhD students: comparing later Middle English translations to the original Anglo-French text.”

As well, this text can shed light on many other facets of historical literature and publishing.

“Once we know where this manuscript fits, maybe we can locate the particular dialect where the writing came from,” says Sobecki. “We can also understand more about how these early medieval manuscripts of Mandeville’s Travels were circulated in England.”

Sobecki adds that he can’t wait to dive into Mandeville’s pages and see what secrets can be unlocked.

“This text has really inspired people,” he says. “This is the text that really made me fall in love with medieval travel writing. I've worked with thousands of manuscripts, but every time you're in the presence of something that was written 700 years ago by hand, it’s just amazing.”

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 13:49:52 +0000

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 Tue, 08/08/2023 - 09:49

Cutline

Zak Jones is being recognized for his writing, including recently winning the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award (supplied image)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

When Zak Jones was young, his mother encouraged him to carry around a notebook and write down any interesting observations.

“I've kept that practice going throughout my adult life,” Jones says.

Capturing those thoughts has paid off for the University of Toronto PhD candidate. It’s led to two previous degrees at U of T, a poetry collection, a book of short stories and several writing awards – including the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for short fiction for his short story “So Much More to Say.” The award celebrates emerging Canadian writers in the fields of poetry and short fiction.

Zak Jones in his “dressed greens” military uniform
in 2010 (supplied image)

“Winning this award was a vote of confidence,” says Jones, whose story is set in a flooding South Carolina cemetery and delves into the thoughts of a young gravedigger who has the gruesome task of reburying the bloated bodies that have risen to the surface after heavy rains.

“I'm feeling much more secure in my self-conception as an artist. Now, when I tell people I'm a writer, I'm not half-joking.”

Jones also recently received the Norma Epstein Foundation Award in Creative Writing – part of University College’s writing awards – for another short story titled “Love Handles.”

For Jones, these are satisfying accomplishments – especially considering there was a time when he wasn’t sure if he would even finish high school.

Jones’ path to U of T was unconventional – before coming to university, he served in the U.S military.

“My grandfather, my dad and all of his brothers were in the army,” Jones says. “It was one of those things that was on the table for my brother and I since we were little boys.”

The brothers enlisted soon after they both completed high school. They trained together to become army medics at bases around the U.S. – but in a strange twist, were never sent overseas because they happened to be in the same unit as Chelsea Manning, who made international headlines in 2013 for violations of the U.S Espionage Act after sharing military and diplomatic documents on WikiLeaks.

“Thanks to Chelsea, my brother and I were spared a deployment,” Jones says.

While they trained, the brothers also took college classes online and Jones earned the equivalent of an associate’s degree from Columbia College in Missouri.

“From there, I learned how to write a paper and read for academic purposes,” he says.

Jones left the army and moved to Toronto in 2013 with hopes of attending U of T – but he didn’t get accepted on his first try. Determined to get in, he enrolled in Woodsworth College’s Academic Bridging Program, where he took a lone English course.

“I fell in love with English,” he says. “I fell in love with Robarts Library and the archives and just reading, so I ended up doing pretty well.”

Well enough, in fact, that he was accepted to U of T as a full-time student.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Jones then set his sights on a masters in creative writing, writing Fancy Gap – a novel about a family separated by illness and addiction in southern Appalachia – as his thesis project.

Outside of his studies, Jones also worked on a collection of poems, I Come Up From The Earth. Written from 2009 to 2021, the poems cover subjects such as his ethical concerns about serving in the army, the mental anguish surrounding his mother’s second bout with breast cancer and the intense nostalgia experienced upon returning to his home in the South to visit her. Tinderbox, a cycle of poetry from that book, was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Vallum Chapbook Poetry Award from the Montreal-based Vallum Society for Education in Arts & Letters.

When he decided to pursue a PhD and it came time to pick a program a year ago, the choice was easy, Jones says.

“Nothing was as attractive to me as U of T,” he says. “I even got into Oxford, but decided I wanted to be here.”

Jones’ doctoral research examines veteran narratives in American literature post-World War II, digging into the lives and surrounding literature of what he calls “bad veterans” who return home deeply affected from conflict.

“Veterans in American literature – especially in good novels, plays, movies, television shows – are not portrayed in the way that I want them to be, which is as complex and full characters,” he says.

The real-life stories of veterans are so powerful that they can have a profound effect in shifting perceptions of American identity and culture, Jones says.

He notes he’s keen to examine the life of notable veterans such as Lee Harvey Oswald – the former veteran who later assassinated U.S. president John F. Kennedy – in his writing, as well as whistleblowers such as Manning, Edward Snowden and Daniel Hale.

After completing his PhD, Jones hopes to divide his time equally between creative writing and academic teaching.

“Hopefully I can find a job like that – ideally in Toronto. I love the University of Toronto. If I could stay here forever, I would.”

PhD student illustrates U of T course descriptions with eye-catching posters

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:00:37 +0000

PhD student illustrates U of T course descriptions with eye-catching posters

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 08/01/2023 - 10:00

Cutline

(images courtesy of Andrew Chang)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

English

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Humanities

Subheadline

Andrew Chang created 26 posters for the English department’s advanced studies seminar courses

When Andrew Chang reads a University of Toronto course description, he sees far more than words on a page.

A PhD candidate in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of English, Chang is hoping to give students a better picture of what they’re going to learn by designing colourful posters that bring upper-year English course descriptions to life through powerful imagery.

“This project was me trying to bridge the gap between what I think a class can offer and what just words on a page offer,” he says.

Chang, who is working with the English department this summer in a marketing and communications role, was tasked with creating engaging visual displays to help promote advanced studies seminar courses.

He says he used his imagination to create 26 posters that help bring the course descriptions to life.

“These were classes I would want to take if I were an undergrad because they seemed rich and interesting,” Chang says. “But I would understand why students might not want to take them because as words on a page, they might not sound as interesting as your imagination can take them.”

Andrew Chang (supplied image)

To create the posters, Chang sat down with the course description text on a spreadsheet, wrote down the first image that came to mind for each class and then began searching for what he envisioned.

“In some cases, it’s finding an image that complements the class,” he says. “In other cases, it's taking the class and pushing it in a completely different direction to reach another audience.”

“I find the posters absolutely delightful,” says Associate Professor Alex Eric Hernandez, the associate chair of undergraduate studies in the department of English.

“What I love about them is that each takes the course themes and stated descriptions – which are often highly technical and specialized – and then engages in a playful allusiveness, just letting his artistic imagination freely connect idea and image together.”

One of Chang’s posters promotes the class “The Novel as Empathy Machine,” taught by Professor Audrey Jaffe.

“I looked over her syllabus and noticed she was teaching Frankenstein,” says Chang. “She was also teaching Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? So the first thing I thought of was to look at movie posters and book covers.”

One of the book cover images that caught Chang’s eye was a sheep with an electrical outlet as part of its body.

“And then I kept thinking of Frankenstein as this creature who's trying to learn how to sympathize with people. And those images came together. Then a lot of the extra stuff comes from playing around. What colours might be unexpected or fun? What could show up really well on a computer screen or on a wall?”

In a poster for Professor Michael Cobb’s course, “Fragments: A Lover’s Genre,” Chang says he created multiple designs before realizing he needed to change his approach.

“I wasn’t letting the audience make their own interpretation of what this class might be,” he says. “So it came down to abstracting it as much as possible.”

His solution? Taking inspiration from the sculptures of Auguste Rodin.

“Rodin had done pieces of people's hands in various positions,” Chang says. “He had one called Hands of a Pianist. It was two hands laying on top of each other, which is the image I chose. I kept thinking, it's one person's hands, but it looks like two people's hands.

“It's like their two hands are engaged in this intimate, romantic gesture. I loved that it was just their hands, a fragment of their body. That became the central idea.”

With the main image in place, he then worked on the imagery surrounding it.

“I thought, ‘Let's go full digital, and find colours that remind students of social media apps and then let's put a papery texture to bring back the text and paper components.’”

Another one of his favourites is the poster for the “Romantic Pastoral” course taught by Professor Karen Weisman. He started with imagery that evoked a peaceful landscape, noting that landowners and farm owners of the Romantic period were especially proud of their cows and often had portraits made to celebrate them.

“But I kept noticing artists had an overwhelming tendency to draw cows very square and rectangular. And I thought that would be a great print. So I started compiling pictures of cows together into a grid.”

Chang says his creative work on the posters connects to his own PhD research that examines 19th-century British literature and how imperial control over sexuality, ethnicity, race and nationality is enacted through the literature of this era.

“It was a time period where novels and print media in general really became a way for people to connect with each other,” he says.

“It also became a way for people to push forth an idea of what the world was, for better or worse. I've always been fascinated by the idea that reading together or learning something together can unite people and make them see something in a different way.

“And that’s very much in line with this project in that part of my job is to inspire students to see things that are black and white in new ways they might not have expected.”

Hernandez is similarly eager to see whether the posters help forge a deeper connection between professors and students.

“What we hope is that strategies like this ultimately help bridge the gap between our students’ curiosity and the cutting-edge work in which our department’s instructors are engaged,” he says. “The posters are just one way we’re trying to communicate how dynamic literary study can be.”

Creative Writing Workshop for Racialized Students lets participants 'showcase the beauty of my background'

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:52:32 +0000

Creative Writing Workshop for Racialized Students lets participants 'showcase the beauty of my background'

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/24/2023 - 15:52

Cutline

Comfort Azubuko-Udah, an assistant professor in the department of English, created a four-session writing workshop that encouraged racialized students "to tell their own stories in their own voice" (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

New College

University College

Having completed most of her degree online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Calista Nyembwe was looking for a way to connect with other students and to express herself.

“I’m constantly writing academic papers for school and I needed an outlet to be creative again,” says Nyembwe, a fourth-year student in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts & Science who is majoring in diaspora and transnational studies and minoring in African and Caribbean studies as a member of New College.

“I wanted to write about experiences that I can relate to. I wanted to write stories about the subjects I’m studying, but I also wanted to get into more personal writing because it can be a great way to get my thoughts and feelings out.”

She found exactly what she was looking for with the Creative Writing Workshop for Racialized Students, which ran through January and February of this year.

Sponsored by the African Studies program and co-sponsored by African Studies Course Union (ASCU), the workshop was created by Comfort Azubuko-Udah, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of English who is cross-appointed to New College’s African Studies program.

The four-session workshop offered students a welcoming space to be expressive, creative and vulnerable in personal storytelling – no grades, no expectations, no pressure.

“I just wanted to encourage students to tell their own stories in their own voice and not have to worry about having this air of expertise,” says Azubuko-Udah.

“The idea was to be able to own your experiences and not have to explain yourself or feel the need to have your experiences mediated for someone else's consumption.”

She created the workshop, in part, because she, too, wanted to connect with students after arriving at U of T last summer.

The workshop attracted 17 students from different genders, cultures and academic programs.

“Interestingly, I had quite a few STEM students,” says Azubuko-Udah. “I had some students in the humanities and social sciences as well. I even had a York University student who commuted to join us.”

One of the STEM students was Anaïs Ouedraogo, a third-year cognitive science and global health student and a member of University College.

“Being on a campus as large as St. George and in two STEM programs, I rarely have the chance to sit back and reflect on my identity and experiences in a space with people who look like me,” says Ouedraogo.

“Because I struggle with expressing a lot of what I feel and my lived experiences, this workshop was the perfect opportunity to learn a new way of creative expression. I want to write about the lived experiences of trauma and pain that I’ve been struggling to accept throughout my life.”

The workshops were a mixture of reading, writing exercises and discussion. One of the early exercises involved simply learning how to pronounce everyone’s name correctly.

“We went around the room and I made a point of having them all say their names and write them out,” says Azubuko-Udah. “And then we talked about our names – if there was meaning behind them and how we came to get that name. It was a way of being able to just exist and not have to constantly negotiate.”

That theme of not having to negotiate extended to being encouraged to write in multiple languages “if that proved easier and more reflective of who they are, and not have their stories or experiences ‘watered down’ through translation," says Azubuko-Udah.

Azubuko-Udah says she designed the workshop to focus on the joy of writing and storytelling, regardless of the subject.

“Literally everywhere else, they're hyper-aware of their race and racialization and dealing with microaggressions and macroaggressions on a daily basis,” she says. “In this space, we definitely had people share stories about questionable things they've experienced.

“A racialized positionality can come to define one's whole being and everyone was welcome to resist that expectation if they wished, or dive into it as they saw fit. But I wanted them to feel like they have a right to frivolity when it comes to their storytelling.”

The approach clicked with Nyembwe. “I would say a huge block in my writing these past couple of years has been the lack of just writing for fun,” she says.

Regardless of whether the stories were serious or light-hearted, Azubuko-Udah says she witnessed a change in the students.

“I got a lot of joy out of seeing them gain the courage to share something they've written with the group, allowing them the space to share in ways they've not usually felt comfortable sharing in bigger spaces,” she says.

Azubuko-Udah is open to hosting another workshop with a longer duration. In the meantime, the four-week workshop has made a lasting impact.

“This workshop will help me with writing in school or outside of school because I thrive when I’m being creative, and I work best when I don't feel restricted,” says Nyembwe. “It’s helped me revisit creativity and think of ways of applying this to academic papers.”

“I’ve learned to be more honest with myself through writing,” says Ouedraogo. “Now, I feel like I can clearly express myself and showcase the beauty of my background thanks to Comfort’s workshop.”

A view to the world: Globe and Mail editor Angela Murphy got her start at U of T

siddiq22 — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 17:01:25 +0000

A view to the world: Globe and Mail editor Angela Murphy got her start at U of T

siddiq22 Mon, 01/09/2023 - 12:01

Cutline

(photo courtesy of the Globe and Mail)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Journalism

Political Science

Victoria College

Angela Murphy, foreign editor for the Globe and Mail, credits her education at University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science with giving her the tools to better understand the world she covers every day as a journalist.

Murphy earned her bachelor of arts degree at U of T in 1986 as a member of Victoria College, with a double major in English literature and political science. She says both programs prepared her for her future career, whether it was learning about Canada's place on the world stage or analyzing the historical roots of famous fiction.

"When you’re a journalist, it's so important to know history,” Murphy says. “You need context for today’s current events, and studying the arts informs our humanity – it’s the universal glue that holds us together as a civilization, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.”

Murphy got her first taste of journalism as a reporter with the newspaper, U of T’s independent campus publication, where she reported on university politics and governance and also learned typesetting.

“I met lots of people and I learned how to produce story ideas on the fly," she says. "Student newspapers are a wonderful place to hone your skills.”

John Kirton, a professor in the department of political science, taught Murphy during her undergraduate years and remembers her as a standout student.

“She was a great communicator and could always convey the essence of not just the facts, but the worldview of the intended listener,” recalls Kirton. “She was very engaging and the kind of student who you knew would succeed.”

Murphy's experience at U of T inspired her to earn a master’s degree in journalism from Western University after graduation. Following a stint at the St. Catharine’s Standard, she forged a successful career as a copy editor with the National Post and then as a city editor for the Globe, overseeing coverage of the late Rob Ford’s chaotic term as mayor of Toronto.

Then, as special projects editor, Murphy was part of an investigation into missing and murdered Indigenous women, holding federal politicians accountable for promises to reconcile a dark chapter of Canadian history.

“That’s the reason I do this job,” she says. “It’s so satisfying when you get to dig deep into something and you hope you’re going to get some government action.”

Next, Murphy set her sights on international headlines as the Globe’s foreign editor, coordinating coverage for three U.S. elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, among other major global stories.

In her role, Murphy still gives back to U of T. Each year she grants media accreditation to several U of T students travelling to the G7 and G20 summits with Kirton’s research groups.

As foreign editor, Murphy oversees reporters in bureaus around the world from Washington to Kyiv, but she never forgets her roots, stressing the importance of keeping local news alive for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

“It’s essential to hold local politicians and authorities to account and if that ever stops happening, I think we’re all in trouble,” she says.

While years of covering big stories with international implications can take a toll, Murphy says she still craves the adrenaline that comes with working in the news business.

“Many journalists wear themselves out because they love what they do, but to me, this work always feels so important – and that’s very rewarding,” she says.

Murphy hopes other U of T students and alumni will find that same passion. She says those seeking a career in journalism shouldn’t be discouraged by shuttered newsrooms and dwindling advertising dollars – there are still plenty of opportunities to do meaningful work.

“Traditional media is going through a tough time, but there are still so many opportunities to do journalism in non-traditional places," she notes. "It’s an honourable profession and a worthwhile pursuit.”

Popular 'Cook the Books' course combines literary studies and food

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 17:19:51 +0000

Popular 'Cook the Books' course combines literary studies and food

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/17/2022 - 12:19

Cutline

Andrea Most and her students learn from a vendor at the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers' Market (photo by Sean McNeely)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Trinity College

Woodsworth College

It might be the only English class where you put down a pen and pick up a fork.

“Cook the Books” is a popular first-year English course at the University of Toronto that combines literary analysis with cooking classes and food-oriented field trips, allowing students to examine their relationship with food and how it relates to culture, environment and economics.

“When I first saw the course description, I felt like I was dreaming,” says Ariana Aghaeinia, a first-year life sciences student and member of Trinity College.

“Cooking and eating have been my biggest passions in life, so this course was a no-brainer. I also wanted to explore another type of learning since the majority of my courses were the typical classroom sit-down style.”

Andrea Most lectures her students before enjoying snacks from the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers' Market (photo by Sean McNeely)

The course is taught by Andrea Most, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of English, alongside professional chef and author Joshna Maharaj.

“While it's hosted by the English department, it has a much broader scope,” says Most, who has taught the course for 11 years. “We bring in lots of different issues around food systems, food insecurity, environmental issues, culinary issues, as well as literary stories. We talk about how what we're eating changes the way we think about the text, which I think is crucial.

And then it’s time to eat.

“You can't teach about food without any food,” says Maharaj. “It amplifies the lesson for students if they're able to taste, touch and experience the food that we're talking about.”

The course is divided into three sections – farm stories, kitchen stories and table stories.

With farm stories, students explore how food is grown, produced and gets to your table. To bring these lessons to life, the class visited Sundance Harvest Farm, a year-round farm in North York that aims to cultivate both food and new farmers.

“It was inspiring to hear the origin story of Sundance Harvest and incredibly interesting to see what a local farm looked like and how it operated,” says Elaiza Palaypay, a second-year English student and a member of Woodsworth College.

“I now have a clearer understanding of our food system and have gained a new appreciation for food in regard to where it comes from, how it’s produced and who makes it.”

The class also read Leah Penniman’s Farming While Black, a book that looks at how people of African heritage have contributed to sustainable agriculture through history and also serves as a how-to guide for aspiring growers.

For the kitchen stories section, the class engages with texts about the places where food is prepared, including homes, restaurants, cafeterias and public institutions. Among the titles on the syllabus is Maharaj’s bookTake Back the Tray, which offers insights into how to bolster institutional food in a sustainable way that supports local economies.

The class also examines Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

“Students don’t usually think of this as a food story,” says Most. “And they don't think of it as a story about processed food, factory farming and fair labour. But I find this book brilliant for all the ways it lays out the issues of the industrial food system. It’s remarkable for what it allows us to unpack.”

Sundance Harvest is a year-round farm located on a 1.5-acre site in Downsview Park. During the main season they have a team of four (photo courtesy of Sundance Harvest).

The course finishes with table stories, focusing on what it means to cook and eat together, breaking down the importance and significance of cooking and family meals.

“We also have sessions on celebrations and feasts, where students really think through rituals and the function of food in bringing community together,” says Most.

Students also visited the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers’ Market in Toronto to learn about a community’s connection to local producers.

“It’s one thing to talk about the importance of locally sourced food, but to actually be immersed in the community is something you can’t put into words,” says first-year student Aghaeinia.

Back on campus, the cooking portion of the class takes place in a dining hall and kitchen in Trinity College where Maharaj creates “food experiences that make the classwork come to life on a plate.”

“To see the students make food connections that help them make deeper personal connections and understand themselves and their world more fully is magic for me,” says Maharaj.

“I want them to feel the joy and pleasure of good food that’s sustainably sourced, sustainably farmed, delicious and nutritious,” says Most. “I want them to feel the incredible joy and pleasure of that.”

The course ends with a “global food potluck” with students each bringing their own dish, sharing its origins, history and why it's significant to them.

Most says it will be an international feast.

“We have international students, students who are new Canadians, and students who have been here for generations. We'll have as many as 15 different countries represented,” says Most of the 24 students in the class.

“And even beyond all of that is the building of community. In this class, the students build community almost instantly because they sit down and eat meals together, so they form really fast friendships.”

Andrea Most has been teaching Cook the Books for 11 years (photo courtesy of Andrea Most)

Palaypay agrees.

“I wanted to take a course that focuses on experiential learning and encouraged close connections among students and the instructors.”

U of T researcher sheds new light on accusations against medieval poet Chaucer: New York Times

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 21:01:19 +0000

U of T researcher sheds new light on accusations against medieval poet Chaucer: New York Times

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 10/17/2022 - 17:01

Cutline

Geoffrey Chaucer, a14th-century English poet and author is depicted in a portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales (image via Getty Images)

Topic

Research & Innovation

Long-held assumption about 14^th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer are being challenged by new research co-led by the University of Toronto’s Sebastian Sobecki and covered by The New York Times.

In a development that has rocked the world of medieval literary studies, Sobecki, a professor in the department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and Euan Roger of the British National Archives unearthed court documents that they say establish that Chaucer and Cecily Chaumpaigne – who was previously believed to have accused Chaucer of rape – were in fact co-defendants in a labour case.

Sebastian Sobecki

The documents, discussed in The Chaucer Review, show that the case was brought by a Thomas Staundon, who accused Chaumpaigne of leaving his employment without his authorization to go work in Chaucer’s home. Sobecki and Roger found the key writ in the case, from 1379, in the records of the King’s Bench – the top criminal court in England at the time – held in a deep storage facility in a former salt mine in Cheshire in northwest England.

In a blog post discussing the discovery, Sobecki and Roger note that while it is “impossible to rule out an act of physical or sexual violence” or coercion around Chaumpaigne’s move from Staundon’s employment to Chaucer’s, the new evidence shows that the accusations against Chaucer “were not charges of rape, and they probably did not refer to a physical abduction (or at least there is no evidence for this among the court’s records), but rather related to a labour dispute.”

However, Sobecki told the New York Times that the finding shouldn’t be used to discredit the feminist critiques of Chaucer, which is why he and the journal’s editors sought commentary from three eminent feminist scholars. In their article, Sobecki and Roger also emphasized that it remains vital to continue exploring how Chaucer “participated in hegemonic discourses that shaped the lives of all women.”

English

‘Think against yourself’: Panel discussion on civil discourse draws students to U of T’s Hart House

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

Randy Boyagoda appointed U of T’s provostial adviser on civil discourse

'A medieval blockbuster': U of T acquires a rare 14th-century manuscript

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

PhD student illustrates U of T course descriptions with eye-catching posters

Creative Writing Workshop for Racialized Students lets participants 'showcase the beauty of my background'

A view to the world: Globe and Mail editor Angela Murphy got her start at U of T

Popular 'Cook the Books' course combines literary studies and food

U of T researcher sheds new light on accusations against medieval poet Chaucer: New York Times

Read the New York Times article

Read the scholarly article in The Chaucer Review