Equity

The ��Ƶ is bringing together perspectives from across the tri-campus community to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD).

Established by the United Nations, IDERD is observed on March 21, the day that in 1960, police opened fire on a group of peaceful protesters in Sharpeville, South Africa, killing 69 people.

U of T recognizes IDERD annually as part of its ongoing commitment to eliminating racial discrimination and racism across the university while promoting a more inclusive learning and working environment.

Presented by the Institutional Equity Office and the Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office in collaboration with the Rotman School of Management’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office, this year’s event – Faith, Hope and Dialogue: Strengthening Anti-Racism Tools and Strategies for the Path Ahead – will be held in Rotman’s Desautels Hall and broadcast via livestream.

Nythalah Baker, director of U of T Mississauga’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office, and Natasha Prashad, adviser in the Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office, will emcee the proceedings, which are set to open with remarks from Jodie Glean-Mitchell, executive director, equity, diversity and inclusion in U of T’s Division of People Strategy, Equity & Culture.

Glean-Mitchell is also scheduled to speak on a panel about the challenges and opportunities of navigating EDI work alongside Allison Burgess, director of U of T’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, Bharat Saini, director, equity, diversity and inclusion in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and Angela Treglia, executive director, sexual violence strategy, prevention and support at the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre. The discussion will be moderated by Alexie Tcheuyap, associate vice-president and vice-provost, international student experience.

Later, Cherilyn Scobie Edwards, senior director of U of T Scarborough’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office, will moderate a discussion featuring the perspectives and reflections of Black women in leadership. Panellists include Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, dean of the School of Continuing Studies, Sharon Grandison, director of human resources in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, Janelle Joseph, assistant professor of critical studies of race and Indigeneity at KPE, and Lesa Williams-George, director of equity, inclusion and transformative practices at Victoria College.

There will also be a panel on enhancing community strategies to address anti-Asian racism on campus moderated by Loretta Ho, program and faculty development consultant in the Division of the Vice-President and Vice-Provost. The panellists include Vikram Chadalawada, director, IT strategy, innovations and digital transformation at Student Life, Joyce Hahn, chief administrative officer in the Division of the Vice-President & Provost, David Kim, warden at Hart House, and Afsana Miah, vice-president, academics and student affairs in the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union at U of T Scarborough.

Art therapist and psychotherapist Phuong Nguyen will close out the proceedings with art-centred activities that centre hope, restoration and care.

U of T launches new Institutional Equity Commitments website

ksoobria — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:10:33 +0000

U of T launches new Institutional Equity Commitments website ksoobria Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:10

The ��Ƶ community has a new website that enhances the way it tracks institutional progress on addressing recommendations from its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) working groups and task force.

Launched in December 2023, the Institutional Equity Commitments website outlines the commitments U of T has made in response to recommendations from the Anti-Black Racism Task Force, Antisemitism Working Group and Anti-Asian Racism Working Group; provides status updates on each initiative; and shares articles, photos, and resources that bring this work to life. 

“The university is committed to building on the strong foundation for change laid in the reports of our EDI working groups and task force,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “It is also imperative that our actions be transparent and accessible to all members of our community. We hope that the new Institutional Equity Commitments website will foster an increased awareness of what we have achieved together so far and inspire participation in the many initiatives yet to come.” 

Developed through collaboration among the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice-President & Provost and the Office of the Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture, the Institutional Equity Commitments website is an evolution of a pilot project that began in 2021. The pilot version, known as the Commitments Dashboard, was created to track the implementation of Anti-Black Racism Task Force recommendations and later expanded to include Antisemitism Working Group recommendations. Over the years, there has been a growing need to enhance the existing site. 

“Guided by our community’s feedback, we have designed a site that is easier to navigate and clearly demonstrates institutional accountability while celebrating our shared progress,” said U of T’s Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture Kelly Hannah-Moffat.

The updated website has a redesigned look and enhanced user experience, including featured stories, progress snapshots, and status updates on the recommendations. Visitors can filter the entire page by specific report. Additionally, divisions or offices responsible for reporting progress on each commitment are now identified. 

“The nature of equity work is that it is an ongoing journey, characterized by continual growth and change,” said Jodie Glean-Mitchell, executive director, equity, diversity and inclusion.

“The newly revised Institutional Equity Commitments website provides the university with a tool to put EDI accountability into action as we engage our collective responsibility to foster an equitable and inclusive university.”    

Members of the U of T community are encouraged to explore the new site and consider how the working group recommendations might inform change in their own areas of the university. Feedback on the site and stories about local progress on EDI commitments are also welcome and can be submitted using the feedback form.  

“We are fortunate to have a very engaged community of students, faculty, librarians and staff who make important contributions to this work, and we’re glad to have their continued input,” said Trevor Young, U of T's vice-president and provost. “Our ongoing goal is to better deliver and report on the institutional commitments we've made to equity and to improve transparency and accountability.”

U of T launches new Institutional Equity Commitments website

(photo by Johnny Guatto)

Melinda Mattos 

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U of T marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:44:20 +0000

U of T marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 12/06/2023 - 14:44

Cutline

U of T students, faculty, staff, librarians and alumni marked the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women at a memorial led by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Our Community

Kelly Hannah-Moffat

Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre

Diversity and Inclusion

Alumni

Equity

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Graduate Students

Hart House

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Undergraduate Students

Subheadline

‘We mourn, then we work for change’

The ��Ƶ community came together to honour the memories of the 14 women who were killed in the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989 and to acknowledge the ongoing struggle against gender-based violence.

In-person and online, students, faculty, staff, librarians and alumni across the three campuses marked the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women with a memorial, led by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, that was held at Hart House on Wednesday – the 34th anniversary of the anti-feminist attack that claimed the lives of 14 women and left another 10 women and four men injured.

Students walked across the stage to say the name of each woman killed – Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte – followed by a moment of silence.

Separately, a group of women in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering prepared to unveil a student-led monument outside the Galbraith Building. The installation, led by Rebecca Ing, Kaija Mikes, Natalia Espinosa-Merlano and Erika Narimatsu with the support of more than a dozen volunteers, features 14 figures in a circle with a plaque that explains its meaning.

A student-led monument created by women in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering was unveiled on Wednesday evening (photo by Shawn Ahmed)

Ing said the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is of particular importance to her, as a woman in engineering.

“I see myself reflected in the women we are remembering, as I attend classes that they once learned from,” Ing said. “To remember them and the gender-based violence that took their lives is not an option: it is our responsibility as students to encourage action and awareness to improve inclusion.”

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow encouraged attendees to work for change (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Back at the Hart House event, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow appealed to the U of T community to heed the call she recalled seeing on a sign during a Dec. 6, 1989 vigil outside of Emmanuel College: “We mourn, then we work for change.”

“Every one of you are change-makers and change leaders, because you’re here at the ��Ƶ,” Chow said. “You get the best education. You have the confidence – you have the skills – to know what needs to be done. So today, I urge you to make a commitment to put your passion and your intellect into it.”

Marisa Sterling, assistant dean and director, diversity, inclusion and professionalism in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, said women in engineering continue to face discrimination, violence and harassment (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Marisa Sterling, assistant dean and director, diversity, inclusion and professionalism in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, said that while positive change has been made in the decades since the tragedy, women in engineering continue to face gender-based violence and harassment, along with other forms of discrimination.

“Until violence against women has been eradicated, we will remember these 14 women and their families and bring awareness for the need for further actions every year,” Sterling said. “The eradication of gender-based violence and all forms of oppression is collective work.”

Author, performer and somatic sex educator Kai Cheng Thom delivered a keynote speech at the event (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

The event featured a keynote speech by author, performer and somatic sex educator Kai Cheng Thom – titled “Care, Healing, and Justice: Addressing Transmisogyny and Ending Gender-Based Violence for All” – and a musical performance.

Thom urged attendees to hold fast to the ideals of empathy and solidarity amid the rising threat of violence.

“The valley of fear threatens to swallow us whole, but the light of love moves within and between us – if only we let it," Thom said. “The moment we begin to act as though a better world is possible is the moment that starts to be true.”

Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, announced this year’s winners of the Award for Scholarly Achievement in the Area of Gender-Based Violence, which recognizes U of T students for their exceptional commitment to issues of violence against women, girls, transgender and non-binary people.

Third-year student Gabrielle Tavazzani was recognized for her work providing pro-bono dental care to survivors of gender-based violence (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

The undergraduate recipient was Gabrielle Tavazzani, a third-year student specializing in bioethics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, who was recognized for her work and research efforts on providing pro-bono dental care to survivors of gender-based violence.

The graduate winner was Nil Basduraka, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Music. She was honoured for her interdisciplinary research examining media surrounding violence against women in Türkiye.

Faculty of Music PhD candidate Nil Basduraka was recognized for examining media surrounding violence against women in Türkiye (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Wednesday’s hybrid event at Hart House was co-hosted by the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office; the Community Safety Office; the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office at U of T Mississauga; the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office at U of T Scarborough; the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering; Hart House; the Division of People Strategy, Equity, & Culture; the Institutional Equity Office; the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office; and the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre.

Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president, people strategy, equity and culture, underscored the importance of providing opportunities for the community to engage with issues of gender-based violence and how it intersects with prejudices including transphobia and misogyny.

“Ending gender-based violence is possible through widespread, consistent, and ongoing action,” Hannah-Moffat said in a statement. “We can realize this possibility at the ��Ƶ, one action at a time.”

Rebuilding public trust after COVID-19: U of T experts review law, ethics and policymaking

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:08:09 +0000

Rebuilding public trust after COVID-19: U of T experts review law, ethics and policymaking

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 10/13/2023 - 10:08

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Trudo Lemmens, a professor in U of T’s Faculty of Law, is co-leading a study about the impact of COVID-19 public health measures on disadvantaged communities (photo by Nina Haikara)

Topic

Disability rights, disability justice and disability advocacy have been an increasing focus of Trudo Lemmens’s research – particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

“The recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed again how various measures and policies often uniquely impact on persons with disabilities,” says Lemmens, a ��Ƶ Faculty of Law professor who holds the Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy with cross-appointments to U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Joint Centre for Bioethics.

“The voices of disabled persons were largely ignored, and the disability community was not meaningfully involved in the decision-making process.”

Lemmens and co-principal investigator Alison Thompson, an associate professor and a bioethicist at U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, as well as former members of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, are leading a global interdisciplinary study on “Rebuilding public trust after COVID-19: Examining public health measures and their impacts on disadvantaged communities.”

Their research, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) New Frontiers in Research Fund for post-pandemic recovery, aims to shed light on the challenges faced by disadvantaged communities during the pandemic and provide insights to rebuild public trust and address health disparities.

“Viruses don’t discriminate, societies do,” says Thompson, who has worked on ethics and policymaking issues both nationally and internationally and was a member of the Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Advisory Table.

“We need to listen to persons living with disabilities, for example, about how their concerns can be better addressed, and how policy processes can be made more inclusive and responsive to the needs of people who are disproportionately harmed because of pre-existing, unjust social conditions.”

Alison Thompson (supplied image)

Their post-pandemic recovery research is born in part out of earlier work by the project's team members, including Deborah Stienstra, a professor of political science and director of the Life Work Well Research Centre at the University of Guelph, and Kevin Bardosh, an applied medical anthropologist at the University of Washington. The work was also informed by policy discussions on clinical triage policies with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, ARCH Disability Rights Centre, and the AODA Alliance (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Alliance).

Stienstra’s report, “Consistently excluded: A disability inclusion analysis of Canada’s COVID-19 policies,” was featured during the Faculty of Law’s ongoing Health Law, Policy & Ethics Seminar Series, which was organized by Lemmens.

Another seminar featured the collaborative research paper – “The Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Vaccine Policy: Why Mandates, Passports, and Segregated Lockdowns May Cause more Harm than Good” – written by Bardosh, Lemmens, and others involved in the new project. A recording of the discussion for "Unintended Consequences" has since received more than 77,000 YouTube views.

“Experts have been recommending development of pandemic policies for a long time – since SARS-CoV [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in Ontario – and still it appears we were unprepared and failed to have equitable policies in place,” Lemmens says.

He adds that other countries introduced different measures and policies during COVID-19 and that we can learn from various approaches. Fernando Aith, a visiting professor of health law at University of São Paulo, is part of the research team that will be exploring Brazil’s approaches.

“Brazil had one of the highest COVID-19 fatality rates in the world. Denialism, mistaken political and administrative decisions, lack of co-ordination between the different Brazilian federative entities, stand out among the problems faced throughout the pandemic, which killed more than 700,000 people in the country,” says Aith.

“A comparative study between Brazil-Canada will allow us to understand the similarities and differences of these countries in confronting the pandemic, and thus consolidate strategic knowledge to prevent future public health emergencies."

Lemmens says public health policy has traditionally emphasized the importance of building, strengthening, and maintaining public trust. To that end, researchers will explore how the implementation or absence of different measures, such as testing strategies, vaccine and mask mandates, clinical triage policies and public health communication have influenced public trust – particularly between already disadvantaged communities, health authorities and other institutions such as universities.

“Our research is built on this premise that trust is key to promote public health in the long-term and to ensure compliance with public health measures,” Lemmens says. “But during the pandemic, measures and policies – often of a rights-restrictive nature – were implemented or withdrawn without discussion with those particularly affected.”

He says it can be argued that the seriousness and urgency of the public health threat may have hindered elaborate consultation, but stresses that the need for inclusion in decision-making is a must.

“In our research, we want to explore what the impact is on how governments, health-care institutions and universities acted during the pandemic, and whether things could have been done differently, particularly from a disability justice perspective. We want to come up with more inclusive public health governance approaches,” he says.

“Could we design an advisory committee structure that involves more stakeholders from the disability community, racialized minorities, Indigenous Peoples and those living in poverty? How would such a different governance structure function during a pandemic?”

By examining the intersection of public health policies and societal factors, the project can help inform future policymaking and public health interventions.

“We shouldn’t too quickly turn the page and move on as if everything went well,” says Lemmens. “We need to learn from our experiences.”

PhD candidate aims to advance health equity for marginalized populations

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 19:10:14 +0000

PhD candidate aims to advance health equity for marginalized populations

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/26/2023 - 15:10

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For her PhD research, LaShawn Murray will examine the role of automation in primary care – with an eye to making sure it’s designed in a way that benefits marginalized populations. She says plans to focus in particular on the health of Black communities (photo by Tyler Irving)

Tyler Irving

Topic

Our Community

Equity

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Graduate Students

Health

Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Subheadline

“I am here to make a difference in the lives of others”

LaShawn Murray comes from a long line of engineers and educators – and though she grew up in Toronto and Oakville, she always felt connected with her family’s roots in the Caribbean and South America.

“My family taught me the importance of understanding my identity and being proud of who I am and the legacy of my community,” says Murray, who is a PhD candidate in the ��Ƶ’s department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

“I have been reminded that I am here to make a difference in the lives of others.”

That motivation led Murray to the health sciences. She recently completed her master’s degree in health informatics at DePaul University in Chicago. It was there that she first became aware of the field of human factors engineering in health care.

“I took a course called System Design in Healthcare, taught by Professor Enid Montague,” she says.

“My research for the course examined unintentional acetaminophen errors and overdose in children through a system analysis of the role of parents and caregivers in the home administration of acetaminophen. This project demonstrated the interdisciplinary nature of human factors engineering.”

Murray is one of three 2023 recipients of the IBET Momentum Fellowships, along with fellow graduate students Raylene Mitchell and Chantel Campbell. Fellowship recipients receive financial support, mentorship, training and networking opportunities to foster a robust professional community.

For her PhD at U of T, Murray will once again be working with Montague, who joined U of T’s department of mechanical and industrial engineering as an associate professor in 2022. She will also work with Assistant Professor Myrtede Alfred. Both professors are working to understand disparities and improve safety and outcomes in marginalized populations both within Canadian and American contexts.

“My proposed doctoral research aims to explore the role of human factors engineering in advancing health equity for marginalized populations with an intentional focus on the health of Black communities,” Murray says.

“Specifically, I’ll be examining the role of automation in primary care. Automating certain types of clinical work can improve clinician work life and professional well-being, mitigating burnout. This in turn can improve access to quality care for patients.

“But in order to decide what to automate and how to go about it, we need to first understand whether historically and currently marginalized communities have equitable primary care experiences, and then design our systems accordingly.”

Murray says that she is proud to be a recipient of the IBET Momentum Fellowship.

“I am appreciative that the university recognizes the historic and systemic barriers faced by Black and Indigenous students,” she says.

“This fellowship affords me the opportunity to deepen my scholarship through mentorship opportunities with industry leaders and professors whose work focuses on artificial intelligence and human factors engineering.”

In addition to her scholarly work, Murray says that helping to nurture the next generation will be a key focus over the next few years.

“Working within the community is part of my lived experience, and I expect to continue with this endeavor through mentorship with young students who will be able to see this as a pathway for the future,” she says.

“I’m hopeful that through this fellowship and my doctoral studies, I can encourage others who look like me to pursue opportunities within the intersection of STEM and academia.”

U of T Scarborough grad creates spaces where equity, mental health and music thrive

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 18:34:40 +0000

U of T Scarborough grad creates spaces where equity, mental health and music thrive

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 06/09/2023 - 14:34

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New U of T Scarborough graduate Delicia Raveenthrarajan is a mental health advocate, public speaker and music educator (supplied image)

Topic

Subheadline

'Star on the rise': Delicia Raveenthrarajan has won awards for her advocacy and efforts to make music accessible to all

Delicia Raveenthrarajan always loved singing and making music – until that passion waned when she was in high school.

Raveenthrarajan, who is now graduating from U of T Scarborough with a bachelor of science, was recovering from surgery after transferring to a performing arts program at 16. Post-op complications and other health issues caused her to miss music rehearsals, and she was told she was "too sick to be a performer" – so she stepped away from the arts.

“There are some spaces where well-being is second priority to the quality of music. Some people think that to be excellent you have to sacrifice personal values and well-being, but that's a really ableist notion,” Raveenthrarajan says.

Even her non-musical peers were forgoing well-being in pursuit of high grades, and just as the music world seemed focused on everything Western and classical, she found mental health supports skewed the same way.

So Raveenthrarajan became a staunch activist for student mental health and culturally responsive care – she joined clubs, advocated at the G7 Summit, became a public speaker and penned an article published in Teen Vogue, landing the Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers in 2016 for her work.

She eventually returned to her original high school, and when her former teacher asked her to conduct the school choir, she took up the baton. While conducting at a spring concert, she unwittingly impressed members of the leadership team at Sistema Toronto, a free after-school music program for students living in underserved communities. They offered her a job as teaching-artist-in-choir, and for the past four years, she’s led classes where well-being is the purpose – not the price – of making music.

“It’s really important that all of the students I work with are seen as whole human beings first. Their well-being takes top priority," Raveenthrarajan says.

Raveenthrarajan was a panelist at the launch of Soundlife Scarborough, a new centre for music-making at U of T Scarborough that she was instrumental in developing (photo by Alexa Battler)

In warmups, Raveenthrarajan asks students to stand only if they’re able. She invites them to speak with her any time. She teaches not only how to perform pieces from a range of genres, but the social, cultural and political context behind them – classes on Indigenous music, for example, are grounded in talks about Truth and Reconciliation, and for an upcoming performance of a song about social justice, her students wrote their own final verse. She was inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame in 2018 by winning its Rising Star Award for her impact as an activist and educator.

Upon graduating high school, Raveenthrarajan recognized a familiar teaching approach in U of T Scarborough’s music and culture program – the curriculum delves beyond Western classical music into a spectrum of genres, and balances lessons on performance with those on culture, socio-political concepts and community engagement. She double-majored in mental health studies and music and culture – programs she says are both ultimately “about the human experience.”

During her undergrad, she took part in several music and arts clubs and initiatives, and played cello in the U of T Scarborough string orchestra. She also worked for years as a research assistant with the music and culture program, and helped conduct a landscape review of music programs across North America that guided the development of Soundlife Scarborough (SLS), a new centre for creating music-making opportunities on and off campus.

“She was instrumental in the creation and development of Soundlife Scarborough,” says Lynn Tucker, SLS lead and associate professor, teaching stream, in U of T Scarborough's department of arts, culture and media. “I don't think we would be where we are today without her energy, insight and the work ethic she brings to the project.”

In 2019, Raveenthrarajan attended a conference of the Ontario Music Educators Association, and while she was struck by the vibrancy of the community, she noticed a Eurocentric focus on music creation and knowledge. She wrote a letter to the organization’s board and became its equity, diversity and inclusion director in her second year at university.

“A lot of the time, social justice work is trauma-centered, and it's important to address those issues – but it's also important to centre well-being and spend time intentionally building the things that move toward joy, liberation, community,” she says.

“When your identity is argued, excluded or marginalized, existing, taking up space, creating and doing the things that bring you joy are also acts of revolution. I think well-being is at the centre of that.”

This year, Raveenthrarajan was shortlisted for a Rhodes Scholarship and a Fulbright Scholarship, two of the world’s most recognized and prestigious grant programs. She’ll begin pursuing her master’s in music education at U of T’s Faculty of Music in a few months, and is considering dabbling in the French horn when she's not in class.

“She's quite inspiring,” Tucker says. “She's such a bright light. Her star is definitely on the rise.”

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Soundlife Scarborough

U of T kicks off Pride Month with flag-raising ceremonies across its three campuses

siddiq22 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 19:26:13 +0000

U of T kicks off Pride Month with flag-raising ceremonies across its three campuses

siddiq22 Thu, 06/01/2023 - 15:26

Cutline

Flags were raised at U of T Mississauga, the St. George campus and U of T Scarborough to mark the beginning of Pride Month (photos by Angelia Meffe, Polina Teif and Don Campbell)

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

LGBTQ

Pride

Sexual & Gender Diversity Office

St. George campus

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

The ��Ƶ kicked off Pride Month celebrations on its three campuses Thursday with flag raising ceremonies and associated events.

As the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) prepared for its annual flag-raising on the St. George campus, Ivan Canete thought back to when Toronto hosted WorldPride back in 2014 – in particular, the flags that lined Bloor Street.

The event prompted the assistant manager of merchandise, apparel and ticketing sales for the KPE’s sport and recreation department to suggest a flag at Varsity Stadium. So, Beth Ali, U of T’s director of athletics and physical activity, tasked him with developing an accompanying ceremony.

“I drafted a modest model and we held the inaugural ceremony in 2016,” Canete said. “We added the Trans flag in 2017 and transitioned to the Progress Pride flag – which includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the transgender Pride flag.

(photo by Polina Teif)

KPE’s annual event, hosted in collaboration with the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, takes place alongside similar ceremonies at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough, as well as other Pride-related events at the university throughout the month.

At U of T Mississauga, the Pride Month launch barbecue and flag-raising opened with a performance by Danielle Migwans, an Indigenous drummer from M'Chigeeng First Nation and the community of Wikwemikong.

For the first time on the campus, U of T Mississauga is displaying a 2-Spirit flag alongside the More Colour, More Pride flag.

(Photo by Angelia Meffe)

Professor Nicholas Rule, incoming vice-principal, academic and dean, said the chance to speak at the U of T Mississauga’s kickoff event was meaningful in multiple ways.

“As someone who identifies as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, [I] recognize that in many parts of the world – including in my own place of origin in the U.S. – issues such as anti-Trans bills and attacks on gender-affirming care continue to be pervasive,” he told a crowd gathered in front of the U of T Mississauga Student Centre.

“Many people are suffering, dying and fighting for rights of equality – something that a lot of us in Canada take for granted. But today I want to focus on the positive by reflecting on how fortunate we all are to be able to gather here on this beautiful campus – on a beautiful day, in the spirit of comradeship – to commemorate and honour this month.”

(photo by Don Campbell)

At U of T Scarborough, the More Colour, More Pride flags were raised for the fifth year in a row.

“By raising this flag, we honour the experiences and resiliency of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer people and the experiences of Black, Indigenous and racialized people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Additionally, we raise the Trans Pride flag to represent 2-spirit, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people,” said Nadia Rosemond, U of T Scarborough’s assistant dean, co-curricular programs and student leadership, during her opening remarks.

“I want to pause and express gratitude and love to our 2SLGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty and librarians at UTSC. I don’t know how often you hear or feel this outside the month of June, but I want you to know that you belong here. You are welcomed here.”

The ceremony was followed by a courtyard celebration in front of the Arts and Administration Building with snacks, a unique floral mural marking Pride Month and a welcome table set up by the Positive Space Committee.

(photo by Don Campbell)

Back at the Varsity Stadium event, Sport and Recreation aquatics instructor Alex Jung was selected as the KPE staff guest of honour for his dedication to improving trans pool hours and launching upcoming trans swim lessons.

“As we swim through eliminationist policy and transgender athlete bans, I look to the spaces we trans folk grow for us,” Jung said. “I’m excited for more of us to be in the pool, comfortable in our own skin and in the water.”

Allison Burgess, U of T’s acting executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion, reminded guests that June is also National Indigenous History Month and said raising the Progress flag should be viewed both as a gesture of support for 2SLGBTQ+ communities and a stand against all oppression.

“All of this might feel like ancient history – but we know that, sadly, the fight for equity is not over,” said Burgess, adding that Pride is a time to celebrate the invaluable contributions of 2SLGBTQ+ members of the U of T community and get involved in Pride Month initiatives across the three campuses.

“Simply being here today to help us raise the Pride flag is a political act, but I hope this won’t be the only action you take during Pride Month.”

Research shows decision-making AI could be made more accurate when judging humans

siddiq22 — Tue, 23 May 2023 22:08:43 +0000

Research shows decision-making AI could be made more accurate when judging humans

siddiq22 Tue, 05/23/2023 - 18:08

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(photo by wildpixel/iStock)

Jovana Jankovic

Alexander Bernier

Topic

Breaking Research

Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Artificial Intelligence

Equity

machine learning

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

New study by researchers from U of T and MIT suggests that clearly labelling data might help reduce bias

A new study from researchers at the ��Ƶ and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is challenging conventional wisdom on human-computer interaction and reducing bias in AI.

The paper, which was published this month in the journal Science Advances, demonstrates empirical evidence on the relationship between the methods used to label the data that trains machine learning (ML) models and the performance of those models when applying norms.

MIT PhD student Aparna Balagopalan, a graduate of U of T's masters program in applied computing, is lead author, with co-authors Gillian Hadfield, director of U of T’s Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology (SRI), Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, CIFAR AI Chair, and a professor of law and strategic management in the Faculty of Law; David Madras, a PhD student in the Machine Learning Group at the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Vector Institute; research assistant David H. Yang, a graduate student in the applied computing program in the Faculty of Arts & Science; Marzyeh Ghassemi, a faculty affiliate at SRI and an assistant professor at MIT; and Dylan Hadfield-Menell, an assistant professor at MIT.

Much of the scholarship in this area presumes that calibrating AI behaviour to human conventions requires value-neutral, observational data from which AI can best reason toward sound normative conclusions. But the new research suggests that labels explicitly reflecting value judgments, rather than the facts used to reach those judgments, might yield ML models that assess rule adherence and rule violation in a manner that humans would deem acceptable.

To reach this conclusion, the authors conducted experiments to see how individuals behaved when asked to provide factual assessments as opposed to when asked to judge whether a rule had been followed.

From left to right: MIT PhD student Aparna Balagopalan, SRI Director Gillian Hadfield and SRI Faculty Affiliate Marzyeh Ghassemi (supplied photos)

For example, one group of participants was asked to label dogs that exhibited certain characteristics – namely, those that were large, not well groomed, or aggressive. Meanwhile, another group of participants was instead asked whether or not the dogs shown to them violate a building pet code predicated on the same characteristics, rather than assessing the presence or absence of specific features.

The first group was asked to make a factual assessment – and the second, a normative one.

Hadfield says the researchers were surprised by the findings.

“When you ask people a normative question, they answer it differently than when you ask them a factual question,” she says.

Human participants in the experiments were more likely to recognize (and label) a factual feature than the violation of an explicit rule predicated on the factual feature.

Current thinking on this topic presumes that calibrating AI behaviour to human conventions requires value-neutral, observational data from which AI can best reason toward sound normative conclusions.

But this new research suggests that labelling data with labels that explicitly reflect value judgments, rather than the facts used to reach those judgments, might yield ML models that assess rule-adherence and rule-violation in a manner that we humans would deem acceptable.

The results of these experiments showed that ML models trained on normative labels achieve higher accuracy in predicting human normative judgments. Essentially, they are better at predicting. Therefore, if we train automated judgment systems on factual labels – which is how several existing systems are being built – they are likely overpredicting rule violations.

The implications of the research are significant. Not only does it show that reasoning about norms is qualitatively different from reasoning about facts, but it also has important real-world ramifications.

“People could say, ‘I don’t want to be judged by a machine – I want to be judged by a human,’ given that we’ve got evidence to show that the machine will not judge them properly,” Hadfield says.

“Our research shows that this factor has a bigger effect [on an ML model’s performance] than things like model architecture, label noise and subsampling – factors that are often looked to for errors in prediction.”

Ensuring that the data used to train decision-making ML algorithms mirrors the results of human judgment – rather than simple factual observation – is no small feat. Proposed approaches include ensuring that the training data used to reproduce human assessments is collected in an appropriate context.

To this end, the authors of the paper recommend that the creators of trained models and of datasets supplement those products with clear descriptions of the approaches used to tag the data – taking special care to establish whether the tags relate to facts perceived or judgments applied.

“We need to train on and evaluate normative labels. We have to pay the money for normative labels, and probably for specific applications. We should be a lot better at documenting that labelling practice. Otherwise, it’s not a fair judgment system,” Hadfield says.

“There’s a ton more research we need to be doing on this.”

The study was funded by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and the Vector Institute, among others.

U of T receives $200-million grant to support Acceleration Consortium's ‘self-driving labs’ research

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 23:17:42 +0000

U of T receives $200-million grant to support Acceleration Consortium's ‘self-driving labs’ research

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 04/28/2023 - 19:17

Cutline

Funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund will support the Acceleration Consortium’s work on “self-driving labs,” which combine AI, robotics and advanced computing to discover new materials (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Breaking Research

Acceleration Consortium

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Leah Cowen

Artificial Intelligence

Chemistry

Computer Science

Equity

Faculty of Arts & Science

Meric Gertler

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

Vector Institute

The ��Ƶ has been awarded a $200-million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) to revolutionize the speed and impact of scientific discovery through its Acceleration Consortium.

The funding – the largest federal research grant ever awarded to a Canadian university – will support the consortium’s work on “self-driving labs” that combine artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced computing to discover new materials and molecules in a fraction of the usual time and cost. Applications include everything from life-saving medications and biodegradable plastics to low-carbon cement and renewable energy.

Researchers in the consortium recently revealed that they used the technology to develop a potential cancer drug in just 30 days – a process that typically takes years, or even decades.

“The ��Ƶ is grateful for this significant investment in artificial intelligence-driven research and innovation, which promises to improve the lives of Canadians and those of people around the world,” said U of T President Meric Gertler.

“The federal government’s critical support of this initiative builds on years of strategic planning and decisions in this space by the University and the federal government, including the 2017 launch of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy that helped cement Toronto’s status as a global hub for a revolutionary technology.

“This is the next step in achieving that bold vision.”

François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry, announced the U of T funding alongside 10 other large-scale projects across the country.

“The initiatives announced today will lead to breakthrough discoveries that will improve people’s lives, nourish our innovation ecosystems, and shape Canada’s prosperity for years to come,” he said in a statement. “Such is the value of Canadian institutions and researchers who think outside the box to tackle the greatest challenges of our time.”

Launched as an Institutional Strategic Initiative in 2021, the Acceleration Consortium brings together partners from academia, government and industry who are accelerating the discovery of materials and molecules needed for a sustainable future. The consortium aims to reduce the time and cost of bringing advanced materials to market, from an average of 20 years and $100 million to as little as one year and $1 million.

“Our goal is to accelerate science,” said Acceleration Consortium Director Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a professor in the departments of chemistry and computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science who is a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. “To do that, we realized we need to take a cue from self-driving cars and extended that concept to a self-driving lab, which uses AI and automation to carry out more experiments in a smarter way.

“We’ve essentially supercharged the process of scientific discovery.”

The CFREF funding, along with additional support from U of T – which includes an investment of $130 million to expand facilities to house the Acceleration Consortium’s state-of-the-art labs at the Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories building on the St. George campus – will help secure the researchers, spaces and partnerships needed to build a world-leading centre for accelerated materials discovery and innovation.

The funding will also help the consortium rapidly create high quality datasets to better train AI models and validate the model’s predictions in real time. That, in turn, will dramatically accelerate the discovery and development of molecules and materials for a wide range of industries.

With a strong plan of equity, diversity and inclusion guiding project implementation and research design, the initiative will commercialize ethically designed technologies and materials to benefit society and train today’s scientists with the skills they need to advance the emerging field of accelerated materials discovery. It will also allow the consortium to examine critical issues regarding the application of the technology, including from environmental and Indigenous perspectives.

“With this funding – which enabled us to obtain matching commitments of about $300 million from all our partners – we are talking about half a billion dollars of investments, said Aspuru-Guzik, who joined U of T from Harvard University in 2018 as a Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical and Quantum Chemistry and is one of a growing number of global experts at the Acceleration Consortium.

“This will help us make the Greater Toronto Area and Canada world leaders in AI-frontier discovery – we have no excuse not to be after this project.”

The Acceleration Consortium comprises nearly 100 researchers – and is hiring many more – across a wide variety of disciplines, including AI, computer science, mathematics, chemistry, economics, engineering, materials science, mechatronics, biology, pharmacology, robotics, technoscience and more. It also includes 30 partners from the private and public sector, including the University of British Columbia, a lead partner on the grant.

“What’s unique about this model is that it’s kind of this idea of a university without borders,” said Jason Hein, a member of the Acceleration Consortium's scientific leadership team and an associate professor in the chemistry department in the Faculty of Science at UBC.

“What happens a lot in Canadian research culture is that we’re good at punching above our weight class, but, in the past, other countries have had bigger budgets. What’s great about this is that through the energy of the people at Acceleration Consortium, we’re saying, ‘We’re doing something huge here.’ And to get the vote of confidence back saying, ‘Yes, we believe in you and let’s go forward’ is really important.”

CFREF aims to boost the strengths of Canadian postsecondary institutions so that they can achieve global success in research areas that create long-term social and economic advantages for Canada. It invests approximately $200 million per year (or approximately $1.4 billion over a competition cycle of seven years) through a highly competitive peer review process.

“We named this a consortium and not an institute for a reason,” Aspuru-Guzik said. “We are a global effort with its homebase in Toronto that involves academia, government and industry.

“A core goal of our efforts is to spin out the next generation of companies that will develop the materials for the 21st century here in Canada. This, in turn, will help make the GTA the economic epicentre for this field.”

Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, said the impact of the CFREF grant will be felt far beyond Acceleration Consortium itself.

“This level of investment can really transform how universities do innovation,” she said. “It allows us to not only drive forward discovery, but also improve adoption by Canadian companies and foster an ethical approach to technology development that’s guided by principles of equity, diversity and inclusion, benefiting all segments of society.”

With files from Erin Warner

‘We all need to be changemakers’: U of T marks International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

mattimar — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 18:47:37 +0000

‘We all need to be changemakers’: U of T marks International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

mattimar Tue, 03/21/2023 - 14:47

Cutline

From left: panel members Pardeep Singh Nagra, Hiren Mistry, Umberin Najeeb and Anna Shternshis (photo by Polina Teif)

Mariam Matti

Topic

City & Culture

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office

Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

IDERD

Alumni

Equity

Faculty of Arts & Science

Meric Gertler

Members of the ��Ƶ community gathered in-person and online Tuesday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD).

Presented by U of T’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office, the event held at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy comprised panel and community discussions, and was attended by students, staff, faculty and alumni from the three campuses. It was also available via livestream.

People around the world have observed IDERD since it was established by the United Nations to denounce apartheid and honour the lives of 69 peaceful demonstrators killed when police opened fire on a crowd of protestors in South Africa on March 21, 1960.

U of T President Meric Gertler said IDERD is an opportunity to reflect on the university’s current approach and to determine where improvement is still needed.

He noted that there’s been a “long history of equity work at the ��Ƶ, which is a key part of our institutional-led campaign to eliminate racism and advance inclusive excellence,” and that anti-racism working groups across the three campuses have made tangible progress in addressing racial and religious discrimination in teaching and learning, student experience, faculty and staff recruitment and engagement, and community-based research.

“We know that the entire university community is collectively responsible for addressing all forms of racism and that every member must participate to achieve the deep and lasting change that is needed,” President Gertler said.

U of T President Meric Gertler said the university community is collectively responsible for addressing all forms of racism (photo by Polina Teif)

The event also featured remarks by Nouman Ashraf, an associate professor, teaching stream, at the Rotman School of Management, a panel discussion moderated by Leigh Naturkach, the executive director of the Mosaic Institute and a steel pan performance by Devindra Ramoutar, and a closed session community discussion focused on the themes of faith and racial discrimination.

Members of the public panel included: physician Umberin Najeeb, associate professor and vice-chair of culture and inclusion in the department of medicine at Temerty Faculty of Medicine; Anna Shternshis, director of Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish studies, Pardeep Singh Nagra, human rights and equity adviser at the Halton District School Board: and Hiren Mistry, vice-principal at White Oaks Secondary School.

They discussed their personal and professional experiences with racial and religious discrimination – and how that has shaped their work. Panel members also emphasized the importance of addressing intersectionality, understanding one’s own implicit bias and being an active listener as ways to address discrimination and racism in education and in society.

Najeeb said she remains hopeful in her equity, diversity, and inclusion work because of the changes she’s seen throughout her career.

“In medical education, we never used to speak about faith,” she says, noting that the Temerty Faculty of Medicine now asks students if they require religious accommodations during their studies. “My program never asked me that. I didn’t know I could get days off for religious celebrations like Eid.”

While Najeeb said the work can sometimes be exhausting, she said she is encouraged by the conversations that are now taking place.

“We can all only stay hopeful if positive changes continue to happen,” Najeeb said. “We all need to be changemakers.”

Equity

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U of T kicks off Pride Month with flag-raising ceremonies across its three campuses

Research shows decision-making AI could be made more accurate when judging humans

U of T receives $200-million grant to support Acceleration Consortium's ‘self-driving labs’ research

Read more about how the CFREF grant will impact research at U of T

‘We all need to be changemakers’: U of T marks International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination