Canadian Studies / en From factory to condo: U of T students explore 'hidden histories' of Toronto lofts, other real-estate projects /news/factory-condo-u-t-students-explore-hidden-histories-toronto-lofts-other-real-estate-projects <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">From factory to condo: U of T students explore 'hidden histories' of Toronto lofts, other real-estate projects</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-165002985-crop.jpg?h=1815c10a&amp;itok=4UGvkxu_ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-165002985-crop.jpg?h=1815c10a&amp;itok=87FPYCRr 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-165002985-crop.jpg?h=1815c10a&amp;itok=Q5nqSixA 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-165002985-crop.jpg?h=1815c10a&amp;itok=4UGvkxu_" alt="View of the exterior of the candy factory lofts and signage above main entrance"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-12-10T15:43:43-05:00" title="Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - 15:43" class="datetime">Tue, 12/10/2019 - 15:43</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The Candy Factory Lofts on Queen Street is one of several buildings that U of T undergraduate students researched as part of a digital mapping project (photo by David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/jovana-jankovic" hreflang="en">Jovana Jankovic</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-studies" hreflang="en">Canadian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/new-college" hreflang="en">New College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-college" hreflang="en">University College</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Many of Toronto’s century-old industrial buildings have been converted into stylish – and expensive – residential lofts. The&nbsp;Candy Factory Lofts on Queen Street is one example,&nbsp;located across the street from Trinity Bellwoods Park and an array of upscale eateries, boutiques and cocktail bars.</p> <p>Once a dilapidated space in an “undesirable” part of the city, the building’s 4,000-square-foot two-level penthouse suites now sell for millions of dollars in what&nbsp;Vogue magazine has called&nbsp;one of the “coolest” neighbourhoods in the world.</p> <p>But the story of how Victorian-era factories and warehouses like this one became expensive condominiums doesn’t travel in a straight line.</p> <p>In 2018, a&nbsp;group of undergraduate students at the Ƶ, led by&nbsp;<strong>Siobhan O’Flynn</strong>&nbsp;of&nbsp;University College’s&nbsp;Canadian Studies&nbsp;program, set out&nbsp;to uncover the histories hidden behind these buildings’ facades. Her&nbsp;third-year class on&nbsp;digital media created&nbsp;Hidden Histories: Labour to Lofts, a digital mapping project where students dove into archives to reconstruct the stories of industrial buildings in Toronto like the Candy Factory Lofts.</p> <p>The information uncovered by O’Flynn and her students is presented through an interactive mapping tool called ArcGIS, which facilitates the creation of data-driven, shareable and interactive maps that are user-friendly and visually attractive. The following Toronto buildings are profiled as part of the project:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=c92bd7a5eaa94cf9a6e59f939a61306d">The Chocolate Lofts</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=2514e32f57994b4fb032611d1df3c4f6">The York Knitting Factory</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=077372fa2b024c1ca8af491f6830aa51">The Reliable Toy Factory</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=dda73397bc27455fabf6eaf1316b82c0">The Wrigley Lofts</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=abd2544001a64ab5a3d2d43bee77b299">The Candy Factory Lofts</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=a1bb8bff5c6b41a280e68ffef6bada1f">Bellevue Avenue</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=b500b71fd9a2449589b6770384e43af4">The Standard Theatre</a></li> <li><a href="https://utoronto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=a66d3e12483540e5bd80c8c714900980">The Labor Lyceum</a></li> </ul> <p>O’Flynn is a scholar and consultant who works with digital and interactive storytelling tools. She regularly incorporates original research and digital humanities methods into her undergraduate courses, such as in 2017’s&nbsp;<a href="/news/uncover-hidden-histories-toronto-s-kensington-market-augmented-reality-app-u-t-students">award-winning Kensington Market app</a>.</p> <p>The Hidden Histories project was an ideal fit for <strong>Manik Saraf</strong>, a recent computer science graduate at University College with interests in social sciences and digital media production.</p> <p>“As a computer scientist, I definitely think of myself as a ‘digital maker,’ so I was very interested in applying that mindset to this project,” says Saraf.</p> <p>Saraf had already taken another class with O'Flynn, “and really enjoyed her teaching style,” he says. “This project allowed me to enhance my research skill set in a unique way. It also piqued my interest in local history, giving me a better understanding of the city I call home – from both a cultural and industrial perspective.”</p> <p>Saraf’s experience aligns well with O’Flynn’s teaching goals, which help students increase their digital literacy, particularly digital research and data management.</p> <p>“My goals are to introduce students to the digital tools and skills that will bridge into their future careers,” says O’Flynn. “Contributing to projects that live beyond the duration of a course is a rare opportunity for undergraduates.”</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/C4511625-4-crop_0.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>A condo unit inside the Candy Factory Lofts on Queen Street (photo by PSR Brokerage)</em></p> <p>Students were assigned to research specific locales in the Hidden Histories project. <strong>Benjamin Rabishaw</strong>, a member of New College who recently graduated with a double major in English and human biology, researched the&nbsp;Reliable Toy Building&nbsp;in what is now known as Leslieville – named after the Leslie family, major property owners east of the Don River in the early 20th century.</p> <p>“I learned about an unexpectedly thrilling fight between the original builder, Phillips Manufacturing, and the Reliable Toy Company, which aggressively took the site over after the Second World War,” says Rabishaw.</p> <p>Rabishaw delved into municipal tax assessment documents, fire insurance maps and city directories from the late 19th and 20th centuries to trace the genesis of not only the building itself but the development of its surrounding areas –from a neighbourhood of nurseries and wooden cottages to the expansion of the Grand Trunk Railway and other large-scale industrial endeavours.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/Reliable-Toy-Company.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>The Reliable Toy Company's former home in Leslieville was researched as part of the Hidden Histories project (photos by Toronto Public Library and Urban Landmark Realty)</em></p> <p>“Researching this project was like watching a movie at only one frame every few minutes,” says Rabishaw. “There is a fair amount of drama in these snapshots when one stitches them together and imagines these transitions taking place in real time to real humans.”</p> <p>The issues explored by the Hidden Histories project aren’t limited to architectural history. The project shed light on many related topics, including changes in cost of living, labour rights, workplace safety legislation, colonization&nbsp;and the history of industrial buildings as sites of work and union activism.</p> <p>“This course has absolutely influenced my goals for the future,” says Rabishaw. “I want to discover more about working with data, especially to uncover human stories in unconventional places.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 10 Dec 2019 20:43:43 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 161204 at OISE library brings influential voices from Canada's past to life through digitization of tapes from 1970s (with video) /news/oise-library-brings-influential-voices-canada-s-past-life-through-digitization-tapes-1970s <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">OISE library brings influential voices from Canada's past to life through digitization of tapes from 1970s (with video)</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/oise-librarians.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5P6csDfx 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/oise-librarians.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=t1WLq0N0 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/oise-librarians.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=grbDkb_o 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/oise-librarians.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5P6csDfx" alt="OISE librarians Nailissa Tanner and Jenna Mlynaryk"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-09-13T16:30:35-04:00" title="Friday, September 13, 2019 - 16:30" class="datetime">Fri, 09/13/2019 - 16:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">OISE librarians Nailisa Tanner and Jenna Mlynaryk digitized and published recordings of interviews between famous Canadian politicians and Richard Alway, then a graduate student in history at U of T (photo by Johnny Guatto) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/geoffrey-vendeville" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Vendeville</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-archives" hreflang="en">U of T Archives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-studies" hreflang="en">Canadian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/history" hreflang="en">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ontario-institute-studies-education" hreflang="en">Ontario Institute for Studies in Education</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/thomas-fisher-rare-book-library" hreflang="en">Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>For decades, reel-to-reel tapes of conversations with some of the leading Canadian politicians of a generation&nbsp;sat in a corner of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, all but forgotten.&nbsp;</p> <p>But this summer, <a href="https://exhibits.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/canadian-public-figures/home/background">librarians at OISE have digitized and published the recordings</a> to give the public easy access to wide-ranging interviews with leaders including former prime ministers John Diefenbaker and <strong>Lester B. Pearson</strong>; Tommy Douglas, the Saskatchewan premier and former NDP leader who’s recognized as the father of universal health care; and <strong>Judy LaMarsh</strong>, a former secretary of state and the second woman to serve in federal cabinet.</p> <p>The tapes were made in the early 1970s, shortly after the centennial of Confederation, to enliven Canadian history and civics classes in response to a blistering report on the state of education in these subjects.&nbsp;Edited versions of the tapes were sold through OISE until the early ‘80s for classroom use. The full recordings have never been available in their entirety, until now.</p> <p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_KRB4JtVxU" width="750"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Nailisa Tanner</strong>, the collections and outreach librarian at OISE, and <strong>Jenna Mlynaryk</strong>, a master’s student in library and information sciences, put the unedited tapes online, along with transcripts and links to further reading. The originals will go to the Ƶ Archives at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library for safekeeping.</p> <p>The recordings – which range in length from 45 minutes to three hours&nbsp;–&nbsp;offer insights into these historical figures’ personalities that can’t be gleaned from a textbook, including the sound of their voice and manner of speaking.&nbsp;</p> <p>“There’s a lot of information that’s difficult to convey in writing,” Tanner says. Through the OISE tapes, “we get more of a candid sense of who these politicians were. For example, we get a sense of the way John Diefenbaker was a really great storyteller, very animated and charismatic.”</p> <p>The interviews were recorded in reaction to an indictment of Canadian history and civics education in the mid-to-late 1960s by A.B. Hodgetts, a teacher at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ont. He and his staff carried out extensive research involving questionnaires, interviews with students and teachers, and direct observation of classes in 247 schools in cities across the country. They found the courses to be almost universally&nbsp;“antiquated” and&nbsp;“dry-as-dust,” emphasizing rote memorization over actual learning.</p> <p>OISE, then in its infancy,&nbsp;published the Hodgetts report under the name&nbsp;<em>What Culture? What Heritage?</em> and it became an unlikely bestseller.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Richard Alway</strong>, then a graduate student in history at U of T&nbsp;and an assistant at OISE, undertook an ambitious project: to record interviews with some of the top&nbsp;history-makers of his day to enrich Canadian studies classes.</p> <p>“Here we are basically five decades, half a century, later,” says Alway, now 79 years old, in a video interview. “Therefore now they [the tapes] have another role. Indeed they are history themselves, they are part of the record.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Alway later became the first lay president and vice-chancellor of St. Michael’s College at U of T.&nbsp;</p> <p>Listeners should think critically about the interviews, he says, as they would other historical documents.</p> <p>Take the interview with Diefenbaker, for example.&nbsp;“One of his great attributes and, I think, attractions for people was that he was such a terrific storyteller,” Alway says.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>“All storytellers tend to embroider, at least around the edges if not even more centrally, on the theme that they’re portraying,” he adds.</p> <p>Many of the conversations are significant today for different reasons than they were decades ago when they were recorded, Alway says.&nbsp;</p> <p>In 1973, when he interviewed LaMarsh, one topic of conversation was a health plan by the Pearson government. But contemporary listeners may be more interested to hear her views on being a woman in politics and the law, which still resonate.&nbsp;</p> <p>LaMarsh tells Alway that the media treated her as&nbsp;“a kind of a freak.”&nbsp;</p> <p>“Things that a man could say, out of my mouth sounded unladylike and sort of un-soft and un-gentle, and it startled people and accordingly I was considered to be a hybrid.”&nbsp;</p> <p>LaMarsh tells Alway that Pearson was less than enthusiastic about a proposal to hold a Royal Commission on the Status of Women.&nbsp;“He was not in favour of it –&nbsp;he was very irritated at me by my constant references to it and constant agitation for it,” she says.&nbsp;</p> <p>The commission was nevertheless established in 1967. Three years later, it produced a report with 167 recommendations to reduce gender inequality.&nbsp;</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/judy-lamarsh-1969_0.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>Judy LaMarsh, one of Alway's interview subjects, in 1969 (photo by&nbsp;Reg Innell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</em></p> <p>Tanner says the LaMarsh interview stood out to her. “She talks about being perceived by the media as too loud, too shrill, not feminine enough – these are all things women in public still hear today.”</p> <p><strong>Robert Bothwell</strong>, the May Gluskin chair in Canadian history at U of T and author of <em>The Penguin History of Canada</em>, says the interviews may be useful to historians. “What you’ve got here is effectively eyewitness testimony,” he says.&nbsp;</p> <p>The recordings can be helpful resources for teachers who want to bring the past to life. Bothwell has consulted videos of former prime minister Mackenzie King on YouTube, he says, just “to hear how the old boy sounded” so he could imitate him in lecture and get a chuckle out of his students.</p> <p><strong>Rose Fine-Meyer</strong>, in OISE’s department of curriculum, teaching and learning, says the criticism of history teachers in the 1960s wasn’t entirely fair. At the time, few teachers had access to resources beyond textbooks and encyclopedias, she says. But times have changed.&nbsp;</p> <p>“If someone today is using a textbook and following it chapter by chapter, that is shocking,” she says.</p> <p>History teachers have a wealth of resources at their disposal, including trips to museums or archives and sites with lessons plans. She adds that modern textbooks represent a wider array of voices and perspectives, some of which have been previously overlooked, such as those of Indigenous Peoples, Black Canadians and women.&nbsp;</p> <p>The OISE tapes are one more arrow in teachers’&nbsp;quiver, she says –&nbsp;including her own.&nbsp;She plans to use the interviews in classes meant for aspiring high school history teachers.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I’m going to see what they craft out of [them] as lessons that they could use themselves and then I’m hoping they can put those into practice,” she says.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 13 Sep 2019 20:30:35 +0000 geoff.vendeville 157856 at Two student-developed digital media projects recognized with heritage awards /news/two-student-developed-digital-media-projects-recognized-heritage-awards <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Two student-developed digital media projects recognized with heritage awards</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-03-14-heritage-scarborough-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MOSV5PUa 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2018-03-14-heritage-scarborough-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=vgvd25Dq 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2018-03-14-heritage-scarborough-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=hVNEJThJ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-03-14-heritage-scarborough-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MOSV5PUa" alt="Photo of Scarborough class receiving award"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>noreen.rasbach</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-03-14T00:00:00-04:00" title="Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 00:00" class="datetime">Wed, 03/14/2018 - 00:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T Scarborough students receive their heritage award from Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Ontario Heritage Trust chair Harvey McCue (courtesy of the Ontario Heritage Trust)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/joseph-burrell" hreflang="en">Joseph Burrell</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sean-bettam" hreflang="en">Sean Bettam</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-studies" hreflang="en">Canadian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>An augmented reality app that guides users&nbsp;through a dynamic tour of 12 locations in Toronto’s historic Kensington Market.</p> <p>A podcast that explores the experiences of Indigenous and immigrant communities living in Scarborough.</p> <p>The two projects developed by students as part of Ƶ courses were honoured recently with&nbsp;the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Youth Achievement from the Ontario Heritage Trust.&nbsp;</p> <p>Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Ontario Heritage Trust chair Harvey McCue presented the awards&nbsp;to some of the students behind the projects at a ceremony recently at Queen’s Park, an annual event that recognizes contributions to cultural and natural heritage conservation, environmental sustainability and biodiversity by individuals and groups from across Ontario.</p> <p><a href="https://kensingtondeepdive.wordpress.com/">The&nbsp;Kensington Market: Hidden Histories app</a>, which brings to life the layers of stories embedded in the area, was made possible by students in University College’s&nbsp;Digital Tools in a Canadian Context&nbsp;course. A companion&nbsp;<a href="http://uoft.me/CDN355map">online interactive map</a>&nbsp;archives histories of&nbsp;32 locations.</p> <h3><a href="/news/uncover-hidden-histories-toronto-s-kensington-market-augmented-reality-app-u-t-students">Read more about the app</a></h3> <p>“Receiving this award felt like it wasn’t just recognizing us students, but also the sites and locations in Kensington Market featured in our project,” said fourth-year student <strong>Arabhi Ratnajothy</strong>. “It is a reminder that so much of this city was built by immigrants who engrained themselves and their stories into the paths walked by today’s generations. We move towards the future by remembering the past.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7838 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/2018-03-14-heritage-downtown-resized.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="680" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em><span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>(From left) Arabhi Ratnajothy, Natalie Simonian, Chris Lemire, Sally Zeng, Nicole Paroyan, Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Harvey McCue, chair of the Ontario Heritage Trust (photo by Ian Crysler, courtesy of the Ontario Heritage Trust<br> &nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="color: rgb(21, 27, 38); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></em>“Being selected for this award is such a terrific boost and affirmation for each of the students,” said course instructor <a href="http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/contacts/siobhan_oflynn">Siobhan O’Flynn</a>. “Having the opportunity to work on a project, be engaged in original research and contribute to the safeguarding of our city's intangible cultural heritage as undergraduates is remarkable.”</p> <p>Students worked with local tech developer No Campfire Required conducting extensive research in the City of Toronto and the Ontario Jewish archives, as well as interviews with Kensington Market residents and business owners.</p> <p>Sixteen students of the <a href="http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/immigrantscarborough/socd15-migration-and-ethnicity">Migration and Ethnicity (SOCD15)</a>&nbsp;course at U of T Scarborough focused on amplifying the voices of marginalized Scarborough communities by developing the “Negotiating Multiple Worlds” podcast.</p> <p>The course sets out to contextualize contemporary Scarborough by tracing its development from a site utilized and cared for by Indigenous Peoples to a white, middle-class suburb and now an emerging “immigrant gateway.” It acknowledges&nbsp;Indigenous struggles and dispossession of land, and focuses on social barriers encountered by immigrants in Scarborough.</p> <p><strong>Paloma Villegas</strong>, an assistant professor in the department of sociology,&nbsp;said she hopes students will leave the course with an adept understanding of “migration-related content [pertaining] to Scarborough, qualitative research skills, and alternative modes of presenting information.”</p> <p>Villegas believes that by designing the course around podcasts&nbsp;and&nbsp;digital media&nbsp;production, students will leave with more varied skills.&nbsp;“Usually in sociology we write papers and reports. This allows students to learn skills that will hopefully make them better candidates for the job market and/or graduate school,” she said.</p> <p><strong>Hiba Ibrahim</strong> is one of the students who contributed to “Negotiating Multiple Worlds.” With three other classmates, Ibrahim conducted a series of interviews with South Asian women of different age groups, asking them about their experiences as immigrants in Scarborough.&nbsp;</p> <p>“We found that the struggles encountered by immigrant women were more similar than not across each age group, particularly when adopting a new language. One woman arrived when she was four and took ESL classes but still struggled because she didn’t speak it at home,” said Ibrahim.</p> <p>“There are also very few programs designed to help newcomers learn the language and continue careers. Many of them arrived with degrees that aren’t valid here,” she added. “In that sense, younger arrivals had some advantage being raised in a Canadian school system.”</p> <p>Ibrahim's group did not end up releasing its podcast episode because a participant chose not to have their interview made public.</p> <p>Other groups produced segments on <a href="http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/immigrantscarborough/podcast-food-entrepreneurs">immigrant food-industry entrepreneurs</a> in Scarborough and <a href="http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/immigrantscarborough/podcast-schooling-and-youth">schooling opportunities for immigrants aged 13 to 18</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 14 Mar 2018 04:00:00 +0000 noreen.rasbach 130590 at U of T expert on President Donald Trump’s first week in office /news/u-t-expert-president-donald-trump-s-first-week-office <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T expert on President Donald Trump’s first week in office</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-trump.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=nSI60TOW 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-27-trump.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=3qo816rG 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-27-trump.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=O1uosBEF 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-trump.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=nSI60TOW" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-27T15:50:47-05:00" title="Friday, January 27, 2017 - 15:50" class="datetime">Fri, 01/27/2017 - 15:50</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U.S. President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House during a two-day visit to the United States (photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donald-trump" hreflang="en">Donald Trump</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/us-politics-0" hreflang="en">U.S. politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geography-and-planning" hreflang="en">Geography and Planning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-studies" hreflang="en">Canadian Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Protectionist policies “will be really damaging for the United States”</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>President Donald Trump has spent his first week in office putting the wheels in motion on&nbsp;a number of his campaign promises – from building a wall along the country's border with Mexico&nbsp;to scrapping Obamacare.</p> <p>Most of these actions came in the form of executive orders – documents that serve as legally-binding directives to government agencies to put policy into practice. &nbsp;</p> <p><em>U of T News</em> spoke with <strong>Emily Gilbert</strong>, an associate professor of geography and planning and Canadian studies in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, about the implications of these executive orders and how Canada will be affected by these sweeping changes.</p> <hr> <p><strong>How will Trump’s executive order to build a wall bordering Mexico play out?</strong></p> <p>It's interesting what the executive order actually does because it's a statement by the president about intentions. But how it actually plays out is much, much more complicated.</p> <p>I think the way the executive orders are made suggests a different kind of mentality around government. The devil will be in the details – it will be really interesting to see how it gets built and how that affects relations with Mexico both with respect to mobility across the border and trade.</p> <p><strong>Trump has made it clear his administration will be tightening its immigration policies – what are the implications for Canada and other countries?</strong></p> <p>They're troubling&nbsp;both for the United States and what it's come&nbsp;to represent, but also for our relationship with the United States and how equally implicated Canada is around border issues.</p> <p>If there’s going to be a cancellation of visas for countries that are identified as harbouring terrorism, which is one thing Trump has said he's going to do, Canada is already implicated in the United States with our visa programs with vetting visa applicants according to U.S. standards. So if there's a moratorium from the United States on visas from certain countries, that could have immediate ramifications for Canada in terms of our own visa application process.&nbsp;</p> <p>The other concern is the wall&nbsp;if it gets built. It has an impact on the mobility of Mexicans and Latin Americans into the United States and into Canada in terms of our openness to people from those countries coming as migrants or&nbsp;asylum seekers. We have legislation with the United States that prohibits refugees from claiming asylum at our land ports of entry, which is why we have seen people now circumventing the ports of entry and trying to come across the border in undocumented ways.</p> <p>The third concern is that we are now working with the United States on shared entry-exit system. We are sharing information about individuals who cross at the land border and using the document of entry as the record of departure. If the U.S. is moving to harden their records of entry and exit, we are implicated in those processes and are also complicit in the kinds of ways of exclusion that will be enacted in the entry-exit program.</p> <p><strong>The controversial Keystone XL and TransCanada pipelines are expected to be given the green light by Trump – what does this mean for Canada?</strong></p> <p>Our federal government is saying this is a good thing because they've been advocating for moving ahead, but there are lots of people who are against the expansion of the pipeline – environmental activists, Indigenous peoples whose lands will be at risk because of those pipelines&nbsp;so I think this is going to have an impact on our government because Trudeau has tried to present himself as both an environmental leader but also an advocate for pipelines. I think it’s hard to hold those two contrary positions at once. This is going to force Trudeau's hand to be clearer about his intentions.</p> <p><strong>Trump was quick to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership and is keen on renegotiating NAFTA in support of a more protectionist agenda. How harmful will this be for America’s trade partners?</strong></p> <p>Canada will feel the brunt of some of those decisions. I'm all for renegotiating NAFTA but not for the reasons that Trump is.</p> <p>But the protectionism Trump is signalling is already in place. It’s been in place since 2009 thanks to Obama and the financial crisis. Canada managed to negotiate some wiggle room there, and so it's going to be interesting as the idea of protectionism in the United States hardens – how much wiggle room Canada has or how much we're going to start looking internationally to diversify our trade.</p> <p><strong>How will the U.S.’s relationship with China change under Trump’s protectionist policies?</strong></p> <p>It's not going to be easy considering Trump accused them of currency inflation and negative trading practices that he associates with China. There's also&nbsp;the threat of imposing a tax on them as he's threatened with&nbsp;Mexico. I don't think he's laid the groundwork on a good collaborative relationship with China.</p> <p>Certainly, China has become a much greater international trading country and has challenged U.S. dominance in that area. At the same time, China has become in the last couple of years the U.S.'s number one source of imports. It's going to be a really interesting relationship, but I don't expect it's going to be easy at all.</p> <p><strong>Could this kind of protectionism backfire?</strong></p> <p>In the early days it might be seen as a success story. The long-term implications will be really damaging for the United States.</p> <p>We live in a globalized world now – and those kinds of protectionist policies are renouncing all senses of connection with the rest of the world. Some of the people in his party have suggested having policies that clearly benefit the United States and penalize other countries. That's just not a constructive way to engage with the rest of the world, and that will have all kinds of fallout both economically and in&nbsp;security issues.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 27 Jan 2017 20:50:47 +0000 Romi Levine 103644 at ISIS, refugees and resisting nostalgia: experts debate Canada’s foreign policy future at Munk School roundtable /news/isis-refugees-and-resisting-nostalgia-experts-debate-canada%E2%80%99s-foreign-policy-future-munk-school-roun <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ISIS, refugees and resisting nostalgia: experts debate Canada’s foreign policy future at Munk School roundtable</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-10-23T11:25:49-04:00" title="Friday, October 23, 2015 - 11:25" class="datetime">Fri, 10/23/2015 - 11:25</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Hugh Segal (centre) and Stephen Toope (right) debate the future of Canada's foreign policy (photo by Johnny Guatto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-college" hreflang="en">University College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/massey-college" hreflang="en">Massey College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/election-2015" hreflang="en">Election 2015</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-studies" hreflang="en">Canadian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Three days after Canadians elected a new government, the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Canadian studies program at University College hosted a roundtable discussion on the future direction of Canadian foreign policy.</p> <p>Among the participants were Massey College Master <strong>Hugh Segal</strong>, and Munk School of Global Affairs Director <strong>Stephen Toope</strong>.</p> <p>They engaged in a lively and wide-ranging debate on a number of foreign policy topics.</p> <p>Strengthening international partnerships is one of the goals&nbsp;President&nbsp;<strong>Meric Gertler</strong>&nbsp;described in the recently released&nbsp;<a href="http://threepriorities.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Three-Priorities-Discussion-Paper.pdf">Three Priorities: A Discussion Paper</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-size: 19.999px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/university-toronto-and-three-priorities" target="_blank">Read more about the Three Priorities</a></h2> <div><em>U of T News</em> presents an edited and condensed account from the roundtable that explored&nbsp;Canada's need to strengthen global partnerships as well.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <hr></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>What should Canada’s role be on the global stage?</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Segal&nbsp;</strong>I hope the new government launches a foreign policy review. It would be a good thing to see what worked in the last 10 years, what didn’t work, what can be improved. I think it’s very important to not be too self-reverential about Canada. Peacekeeping, Mike Pearson – all of that seemed outstanding, compelling, and important to Canadians, but it was never as important outside of Canada. Which is not to say that Mike Pearson didn’t do something that was constructive and helpful and worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize in the Suez conflict, but we shouldn’t assume that it’s important to everyone.</div> <p><strong>Toope&nbsp;</strong>We should really resist nostalgia. I think we have to be realistic about the kind of role we can play. There’s a view in Canada that somehow we’re going to recapture a role I think we never actually played. And furthermore, even if we did, we’re not in the same power position as we were in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Yes, we were very active participants then, but our role now has to be different because there are many more players who are every bit as important as we are. I’m not talking about Russia or China; I’m talking about Korea and Mexico and South Africa. We have to build alliances with like-minded states around certain types of activities.</p> <p>We can’t be thinking purely in terms of how many refugees Canada is going to accept: 25,000, 50,000 – it’s nothing compared to the 60 million people outside their borders now. We’ve got to think about what’s happening with refugee camps, we’ve got to figure out how to support the government of Jordan, we’ve got to figure out how Turkey is going to survive, these are big questions and I think we have a role to play.</p> <div><strong>Should Justin Trudeau keep his election promise to end air combat against ISIS?</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Segal&nbsp;</strong>When a prime minister campaigns on a promise to end air combat then he’s obliged to do something. Would I have made that similar commitment? No, but I’m not the leader of the Liberal Party and I’m not about to be sworn in as prime minister.</div> <p>I’m kind of hopeful that he will let the present mandate lapse because other things can happen between now and March that could be constructive. If he actually increases Canadian boots on the ground in terms of trainers and special forces to work with Iraqis and Kurds, and maybe some equipment support, I think most Canadians would say we’re doing our share against the forces of ISIS.</p> <p><strong>Toope</strong>&nbsp;I agree. The prime minister should deliver on a promise that was so clearly stated. There are hundreds of thousands, millions of people suffering here. My own view would be that six fighter jets is probably not the best way for Canada to engage. I would push for a deeper commitment and I think one way is by creating humanitarian corridors to allow people to escape from the control of what is an appalling set of people.</p> <div><img alt="Hugh Segal and Tina Park pose for a photo" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-22-Canadian-Foreign-Policy_embed.jpg" style="width: 684px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;"><em>(Hugh Segal and <strong>Tina Park</strong>, Director of the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect; photo by Johnny Guatto)&nbsp;</em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>What should the new government’s position be regarding the Middle East?</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Toope</strong>&nbsp;We’ve always been a strong supporter of Israel under every government. We have tended to try at the same time to build linkages with other countries so that at least we’re hearing different perspectives and have the ability to transmit views, to communicate and, from time to time, serve as an interpreter. We can’t do that right now because we have destroyed most of those connections around the region. I would encourage the government to rebuild some of those connections, but from a very clear vantage point that we are strong supporters of Israel.</div> <p><strong>Segal</strong>&nbsp;The one substantive change that we should give serious thought to is to re-open our relationships with Tehran. It does not mean we are approving of any of their internal or foreign policies. It merely means that we should have a window open to them. You can’t do good work in the Middle East, with the Israelis, with the Sunni countries, with the Gulf State allies if you do not have a relationship in Iran.</p> <div><strong>What position should Canada take on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)?</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Segal</strong>&nbsp;I think our new young prime minister – who seems very committed on these sorts of issues – would be the perfect guy to say, “Canada is back and one of the things we’re back on is R2P. We care about it, and we’re not prepared to accept the institutional constraints that say it is okay to look away when tens of thousands of people are being killed for no other reason than they’re in the wrong political party, the wrong religion, the wrong race, the wrong tribe. We aren’t prepared to stand for that.” Canada should say to our friends in Australia, in Japan, in South Korea: “Let’s put together an R2P multinational unit where we do diplomatic planning, we do aid planning, we do strategic investment.”</div> <p><strong>Toope&nbsp;</strong>Another area where R2P should be brought into play is in the whole area of global health where Canada has extraordinary resources. If you look in this city alone, we have probably the second-largest cluster of people in global health in North America after Boston and we’re nowhere on the international horizon in global health.</p> <p><em>A full transcript of the roundtable discussion will be posted at the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect website at <a href="http://www.ccr2p.org">www.ccr2p.org</a></em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-10-22-Canadian-Foreign-Policy_roundtable_0.jpg</div> </div> Fri, 23 Oct 2015 15:25:49 +0000 sgupta 7380 at