Dale Duncan

Over her long career, U of T alumna Ellen Sue Mesbur has seen and led change in social work education

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 26 May 2023 17:22:50 +0000

Over her long career, U of T alumna Ellen Sue Mesbur has seen and led change in social work education

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:22

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Ellen Sue Mesbur earned multiple degrees in social work from U of T before going on to a long career in the field and in educating the next generation of social workers (supplied image)

Dale Duncan

Topic

Our Community

Alumni

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Social Work

Growing up in Edmonton, community engagement and organizational leadership were a big part of Ellen Sue Mesbur’s life. Her parents were involved in Jewish organizations and other local community groups, instilling deep values of helping others and giving back.

When Mesbur, a ��Ƶ alumna, set out to start her own career, she says social work “seemed like the normal thing to do” – but she wasn’t sure about the exact path her career would take.

More than 50 years later, Mesbur has both led and witnessed considerable changes in social work education – including initiatives to make programs more accessible to students. Her career has included roles as the director of two Canadian schools of social work, and deep expertise in the history and practice of social work with groups in Canada.

Today, she continues to share her experience and knowledge both as a consultant for Toronto's Jewish Family and Child Service and as an internationally recognized expert in group work through published articles, papers and presentations.

After graduating in 1967 from U of T’s master of social work program (now based at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work), Mesbur landed a job as a school social worker in Scarborough. While there, a colleague recommended that she apply for a position in the welfare services program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University).

“They hired me to teach – by taking a chance on me, that changed my whole career,” she says.

At the time, Ryerson only offered a certificate program for people with a high school diploma who had been working in welfare services.

“Most of the students would never have had an opportunity to get any kind of advanced education if it hadn’t been for that program,” Mesbur says. “It met a very interesting need in the community.”

By 1989, Mesbur became the director of Ryerson's School of Social Work and remained in that position until 1998. In 1993, when Ryerson gained official university status, students were able to pursue a bachelor of social work degree.

During sabbaticals, Mesbur was furthering her own education, attending U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and majoring in adult education. There, she received a master’s degree and a doctorate in education while studying group interaction and how it influences learning.

In the early 2000s, Mesbur started to think about retiring from teaching, but continued presenting and publishing papers on field education, working with diverse populations and the history of social work in Canada.

She also served on several boards, where she was introduced to Renison College, an institution affiliated with the University of Waterloo that had established an emerging School of Social Work to offer degree courses. Mesbur went on to serve as the school’s director for a decade before retiring in 2013.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, Mesbur’s experience with online learning was an asset. Although she was no longer teaching, she met virtually each week with group work colleagues from Canada, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia – educators who all had to pivot to teaching online.

“Everybody was struggling with the same things,” she says. “They were universal in the sense of worrying about the students and being concerned about the course content and student mental health.”

The group’s weekly meetings led to two published journal articles on teaching group work online during the pandemic.

Mesbur’s Jewish faith has also been important in her commitment to social work. As Jewish Heritage Month concludes, she reflects on the recent rise in antisemitism, noting she would like to see better awareness of such discrimination incorporated into educational policies and standards around equity, diversity and inclusion within schools of social work, accrediting bodies and social work associations.

“I did my master’s thesis on hate propaganda legislation – because at that time, in the mid-’60s, there was a rise of neo-Nazi activity in Canada,” Mesbur says.

“Over the years, antisemitic activity has calmed down and then gotten worse – but this is the worst I’ve ever seen it, in terms of incidents around the world. In social work, I think we have to be aware of all forms of hatred, include it in our curricula and learn how to address hate in our work as practitioners, teachers and researchers.”

Looking back, Mesbur is grateful for those who have served as her mentors and the immense impact they had on the trajectory of her career. She is proud of the legacy and contributions that faculty and graduates from Canadian schools of social work have made to the field and to educating the next generation of social workers.

“There has been so much leadership in social work and social work education from faculty and graduates across Canada, from the early days to current days,” Mesbur says. “It’s quite impressive to think about.”

Charmaine Williams appointed dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:21:28 +0000

Charmaine Williams appointed dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 01/05/2023 - 12:21

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(Photo by Harry Choi)

Topic

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Charmaine Williams – an accomplished leader and community engaged researcher with a deep commitment to student success – has been appointed dean of the ��Ƶ’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work for a five-year term that began Jan.1, 2023.

Williams brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the position, including multiple leadership roles at U of T focused on strengthening student programs and experiences, and a body of research that bridges practice and access, with a focus on equity.

Now as the dean of Canada’s top-ranked social work school, Williams is well positioned to promote the faculty’s potential to address global issues that are at the core of societal health and at the heart of the university’s Defy Gravity goals.

“In all of her roles, Professor Williams has distinguished herself as someone who is dedicated, student-focused, and a champion for issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation,” says Cheryl Regehr, U of T’s vice-president and provost. “Her passion for social work, her dedication to the future of the profession, and her vision will all be central to the Faculty’s continued success in the years ahead.”

Williams completed both her master of social work and PhD degrees at U of T and joined the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) as a faculty member in 2002. In January 2022, she left her role as vice-dean, students at U of T’s School of Graduate Studies (a position she had held since 2018) to serve as the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s interim dean. She has also served as the university’s provostial adviser on access programs (2014-2015) and as its anti-racism and cultural diversity officer (2003-2004). She was the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s associate dean, academic from 2009 to 2014.

“In each of the administrative positions I took on at the University, contributing to equity, diversity and inclusion and providing a social work perspective were among my key goals,” says Williams, who is the faculty’s second Black dean and the first Black woman to take on this leadership role.

Her goals as dean will be no exception. Williams hopes to establish the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work as a leader in promoting diversity and developing diverse and responsive social work practices. “The way social work is understood, taught, and practised must transform to be more reflective of and responsive to the communities it serves,” says Williams, “Our Faculty has been actively gathering evidence of communities’ changing needs and is well positioned to contribute to a second century of Social Work that is inclusive, anti-oppressive, anti-colonial, and culturally-contextualized.”

Along with the role of dean, Williams will hold the Sandra Rotman Chair in Social Work. The position enables the chairholder to pursue a program of research relevant to emerging social work trends and incorporate knowledge gained with the continual improvement of the social work curriculum.

Williams’ past research has focused on health equity issues affecting various populations, including racialized women, LGBTQ communities and families affected by mental illness. She has also been involved in organizational change initiatives in the health-care sector. Recent activities include serving on the expert panel for the Mental Health of Black Canadians Initiative at the Public Health Agency of Canada, working on the anti-racism advisory panel that developed the Toronto Police Service’s race-based data collection policy, and joining the Advisory Board for the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work.

“The global pandemic and the multiple crises that became more visible in its wake revealed the fragility and inequities of the institutions and services that we rely on to promote the safety and well-being of local and global populations,” Williams says. “During this time, there has also been increased recognition of the contributions of social work and the unique expertise it brings to bear.”

Williams believes that U of T’s social work faculty has a key role to play in developing interdisciplinary solutions to complex social problems. She cites the strong ties the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work has already established through its collaborative programs, joint degrees and vast array of research collaborations in areas such as health, gerontology and child welfare. “I see opportunities for us to build stronger relationships with a variety of fields to address issues in the labour market, public health, housing, immigration, the environment, and other sectors,” she says.

She argues that the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s global impact is also of note. “Canadian social work is increasingly affected by – and has an effect on – global human rights and well-being,” Williams says. “FIFSW’s research and education is grounded in global awareness, with a robust presence of faculty members and graduates who are engaged in work throughout the world. I see this work as a distinguishing characteristic of our Faculty.”

As Williams steps into the role of dean during a time of growth and change for both the field and the faculty, she is excited for what lies ahead. “The opportunity to lead this Faculty is tremendously exciting to me because I see FIFSW as uniquely positioned to lead toward the future of social work through its research, education and advocacy,” says Williams. “I believe that social work is one of the best places to do the work of making this world safer, healthier and more just.”

More homicides, fewer supports in Toronto's predominantly Black neighbourhoods: U of T research

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:27:29 +0000

More homicides, fewer supports in Toronto's predominantly Black neighbourhoods: U of T research

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 01/25/2022 - 11:27

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Tanya Sharpe, a researcher in U of T's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, says the Homicide Tracker is likely the first to map the outsized impact of homicide on Toronto's Black communities (photo by Rene Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Topic

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Health

Research & Innovation

Six homicides were recorded in Toronto during the first two weeks of 2022 – a statistic that led some to wonder if Canada’s largest city, which typically experiences the highest number of annual homicides in the country, would see more violence than usual in the year ahead.

While it’s too early to draw conclusions, a new report and interactive map from The Centre for Research & Innovation for Black Survivors of Homicide Victims (the CRIB) provides insight into where homicides often happen, the factors that place Black communities at increased risk and the location of resources available to support those affected by homicide – including families and friends who are faced with the devastating challenge of grieving the violent death of their loved ones.

“To our knowledge, this is the first project of its kind to map the disproportionate impact of homicide on African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) communities in Toronto, while providing context for the root causes of homicide and recommendations for an action plan,” says Tanya Sharpe, an associate professor at the ��Ƶ’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and founding director of the CRIB.

“The absence of and lack of access to race-based data collection obstructs our ability to comprehend and respond appropriately to the chronic and cumulative impact that homicide has on Black communities. The CRIB aims to change that.”

The CRIB’s Homicide Tracker is an interactive GIS map that marks where homicides occurred in Toronto between 2004 and 2020 relative to African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) communities and service organizations that exist to serve them. Accompanying the map is a report on the social determinants of homicide, which identifies the key factors that put Black communities at an increased risk of homicide. The report includes recommendations for an action plan to not only reduce the inequitable conditions that contribute to the disproportionate number of homicides within Black communities, but to also increase the availability of culturally responsive trauma-informed care.

Racialized Ontarians account for 75 per cent of the 600 homicide victims each year in Canada – with 44 per cent of those victims being African, Caribbean or Black (ACB). Ontario itself averages around 232 murders per year and Toronto accounts for 77 of those murders – the highest number of any Canadian city.

The CRIB’s Homicide Tracker depicts the disproportionate prevalence of homicide in ACB neighbourhoods across Toronto and illustrates the availability of resources to assist family members and friends of murder victims. Compared to downtown neighbourhoods, Black survivors in the city’s northwestern neighbourhoods have less access to grief and bereavement supports.

“It is vital that we consider the systemic way that anti-Black racism permeates the very fabric of our society, infecting a plethora of systems and services that survivors of homicide victims engage with on a daily basis, as well as the ones they need and interact with as a result of experiencing the murder of a loved one,” says Sharpe.

Included in Social Determinants of Homicide is an overview of the educational, employment and income inequalities and mass incarceration rates experienced by Black communities in Toronto. For example, Black Torontonians are four times more likely to be charged with a crime than their white counterparts, while one in 15 young Black men in Ontario have been incarcerated, compared to one in 70 young white men.

The CRIB’s report also highlights parallels between COVID-19 and homicide. Neighbourhoods in Toronto that are chronically experiencing homicide are also experiencing high infection and death rates due to COVID-19. The social determinants of homicide are the same determinants that disproportionately place Black people at risk of COVID-19 infection, Sharpe says.

“Eliminating structural inequities is essential,” says Sharpe. “Addressing these inequities requires advancement in the policies we design, the services we deliver, and the culturally responsive research infrastructures we build.”

View The CRIB’s Homicide Tracker

Read the Social Determinants of Homicide report

How U of T students helped build a peer support program at the university

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:21:43 +0000

How U of T students helped build a peer support program at the university

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 01/27/2021 - 10:21

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Simon Lam and Egag Egag, now alumni of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, came up with the idea of a student-led U of T counselling service (photos courtesy of Simon Lam and by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Dale Duncan

Topic

Our Community

Alumni

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Graduate Students

Mental Health

Student Life

As co-presidents of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s Graduate Student Association, Simon Lam and Egag Egag were quick to spot an opportunity to create an easy, trusted way for University Toronto students to seek counselling and other support from their counterparts.

The result: the Health & Wellness Peer Support service, which launched last year.

The service allows students to seek support from a fellow student who is familiar with the numerous services and resources available across campus. Through one-on-one confidential online chats, the students involved with Health & Wellness Peer Support are in a position to share personal experiences and apply their training as second-year or advanced-standing students at U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.

“U of T has the top social work program in Canada, where graduate students are putting research and theory into practice with practicums in hospitals and agencies across the GTA,” says Egag, adding that first-year students develop competencies in clinical social work through the faculty’s simulation program, where students are given the opportunity to practice their clinical skills with trained actors who play the role of clients.

“Why not use the students’ skills to help their peers?”

Egag, who is a member of U of T’s Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health, says he first discussed the idea for a peer support service with Janine Robb, U of T’s executive director of Health & Wellness, after he found himself sitting beside her during one of the task force’s many meetings. They exchanged contact information and made plans to talk more.

“A peer support service was long overdue on campus, and the need for one came up again through the mental health task force consultations,” says Robb. “Time and again, we’ve heard that students wanted a quick and easy way to get connected to someone they can trust, someone who understands them – the peer supporters are just that.

“Now, with the click of a button, students can get the drop-in support they need.”

Determined get a pilot program up and running by fall 2020, the social work students, with the support of Health & Wellness, convened a discussion with academic and administrative leaders from the faculty, including Dean Dexter Voisin, Associate Dean, Academic David Burnes, Assistant Dean, Field Education Eileen McKee and Registrar Sharon Bewell. Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, also provided guidance to get the pilot off the ground.

“Our social work students are taught not only excellent clinical skills but also how to effectively build partnerships and connect communities,” says Voisin. “This university collaboration illustrates the power of social workers to multiply the impact that can be achieved by any one stakeholder by engaging others.”

Mariana Paz-Soldan, a master of social work student, was tapped to help develop the program with Pratik Nair, a health promotions specialist at U of T, as part of her practicum placement. The students who now provide peer support went through an additional 60 hours of training over the summer before the program officially launched.

Egag’s involvement in helping to realize the peer support program was inspired by his own experience seeking mental health support. Before pursuing his master’s degree in social work, he worked at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Now a U of T alumnus, he says he is passionate about promoting accessibility to mental health services and, ultimately, helping to destigmatize mental health.

As for Lam, he volunteered at a crisis line in British Columbia for over two years before starting his master’s degree at U of T – an experience that strengthened his understanding of the importance of having someone to talk to, even if they are a stranger.

“Crisis service providers provide support by helping people offload their anxieties and letting them know they aren’t alone,” he says. “They can also help people find ways to create a safety plan or direct them to immediate services.”

Having pursued the human services management and leadership field of study as part of his degree, Lam advocated for social work students to not only provide peer support, but to also be involved in the program’s evaluation, organizational leadership and outreach.

“One thing we are really interested in is how we can measure the impact of this program,” he says.

Nair, who is a graduate of U of T’s master of public health program, now oversees the peer support service for Health & Wellness.

“Ultimately, mental health is about options. Finding a resource that works will depend on who a student is, and where they are in their mental health journey. Something that works for one student may not work for another, which is why understanding the different options available at U of T can help,” he says.

“This is where the peer support service comes in. Students can bring in any concern – difficulty with an assignment, a tricky social situation, or confusion about how to access clinical support – and speak with a trained peer supporter to find help that works for them.”

Research centre at U of T to address 'far-reaching ripple effect' of homicide violence on Black community

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 22:03:33 +0000

Research centre at U of T to address 'far-reaching ripple effect' of homicide violence on Black community

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/02/2020 - 17:03

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Tanya L. Sharpe (centre) of U of T's Faculty of Social Work with staff from The CRIB (left to right): Master of Social Work students Allison Gray, Travonne Edwards, Megan McPolland and Jheanelle Anderson (photo by Dhoui Chang)

Dale Duncan

Topic

Our Community

Black

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Mental Health

Research & Innovation

While homicide violence disproportionately affects Black communities worldwide – including in Canada – the ��Ƶ’s Tanya L. Sharpe says the mental, physical and spiritual impact on Black community members who lose loved ones has historically received scant attention.

In a bid to address the issue, Sharpe, an associate professor at the ��Ƶ’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, recently launched the Centre for Research & Innovation for Black Survivors of Homicide Victims (The CRIB) using seed funds from U of T’s Divisions of the Vice-President and Provost and University Advancement. The initiative includes a local and international network of academic and community partners working in the fields of social work, public health, sociology and education, among others.

Together, Sharpe and her colleagues aim to build an understanding of the unique challenges Black communities face when it comes to homicide violence and the experience of victimization, while also offering insight on best practices, policy and research relevant to addressing survivors’ traumatic grief.

“When you understand that each homicide victim has at least seven to 10 family members and close friends left behind struggling to survive their tragic death, you begin to recognize the far-reaching ripple effect of homicide violence,” says Sharpe, who examines the impact that homicide has on Black communities throughout the African diaspora.

“Experiencing the murder of a loved one leaves survivors with ‘invisible wounds,’ often presenting in the form of complicated and elongated traumatic grief – and this is exacerbated by the fact that support networks may be remote.”

In Ontario, for example, more than half of the visible minority population was born outside of Canada. “Service providers are left with the challenge of supporting this overrepresented yet underserved population,” Sharpe says.

Sharpe arrived at U of T in 2018 after over 10 years working with communities in Baltimore – a city that experiences 24 to 30 murders per month. She says the main impetus for her move was the opportunity to bring together an interdisciplinary network of researchers and community service providers committed to developing innovative initiatives to meet the needs of Black community members who have been impacted by homicide violence.

Uppala Chandrasekera, director of public policy for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), says The CRIB project is the first of its kind in Canada.

“It will be great to see how outcomes in Canada compare to other countries,” she says. “Thanks to The CRIB, we’re going to have the opportunity to share our lessons learned and learn from international best practices.”

In an effort to draw attention to the need to advance culturally responsive mental health support for Black communities, the City of Toronto recently announced today, March 2, as Black Mental Health Day. Addressing this need is at the core of The CRIB’s mission. A recent study Sharpe conducted with CMHA found that over 65 per cent of Ontario service providers, from probation officers to psychologists, say they do not feel they have the culturally responsive skills to best serve Black and Indigenous populations.

Such skills are increasingly needed. Over the past five years, Canada has seen a significant increase in homicide violence. Ontario, in particular, has experienced the highest number of homicides in the country, the majority of which are concentrated in predominantly African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities within Toronto. According to the most recent data, the homicide victimization rate is nearly 10 times higher for Black males in Toronto than for the Toronto population as a whole.

“On a daily basis, before a homicide even occurs, Black people experience racism, which is in itself inherently violent and traumatic,” says Sharpe. “But then a homicide happens and it’s another layer of complex trauma that compromises the individual and collective well-being of Black communities.”

She explains that, among other things, the ability to grieve is often challenged by stigmatization surrounding assumptions about the way in which the deceased lived and died. Survivors may also feel that there is a lack of justice, depending on their experience with the criminal justice system and whether or not the murder is solved.

“Black survivors of homicide victims don’t simply appraise the homicide as a stressor, they racially appraise it,” says Sharpe. “They look at a clinician, a physician and other service providers and wonder, ‘Are you going to further stigmatize me? Are you going to understand my experience?’”

Arjumand Siddiqi, an associate professor at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, studies the relationship between societal conditions and health inequities and is part of The CRIB’s global community research network.

“Dr. Sharpe combines brilliance and compassion to develop insights on the important issues of justice,” Siddiqi says. “Since I mainly approach these issues from a policy perspective, the work of The CRIB will give me more of a community-level lens.”

Sharpe says The CRIB’s interdisciplinary global network, working in tandem with community members, will elevate work in this area to new levels.

“The CRIB provides U of T with a wonderful opportunity to be the first to build a legacy of research for and with Black survivors of homicide victims throughout our global communities,” she says.

U of T celebrates the opening of One Spadina Crescent

Romi Levine — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 19:29:16 +0000

U of T celebrates the opening of One Spadina Crescent

Romi Levine Fri, 11/17/2017 - 14:29

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Photo by John Horner

Dale Duncan

Topic

City & Culture

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design celebrated the official opening today of its new home – the Daniels Building – at historic One Spadina Crescent.

Located on the western edge of the U of T downtown Toronto campus, the iconic, neo-gothic building with its stunning contemporary addition, currently nearing completion, is now poised to become an international focal point for education, research, and outreach on architecture, art, and the future of cities.

U of T President Meric Gertler, Dean of the Daniels Faculty, Professor Richard Sommer, and Chair of the Governing Council Claire Kennedy welcomed donors, alumni, faculty, students, and other esteemed guests to commemorate the Daniels Faculty’s new home – which the Globe and Mail’s architecture critic has called “one of the best buildings in Canada of the past decade” – with an official ribbon cutting ceremony and reception.

Referring to Canadian and international reviews of the building, President Gertler said, “This global standing ovation for the Daniels Building is contributing to U of T’s reputation as a world-leading centre for the study of architecture, landscape architecture, and design, as one of the world’s greatest universities, and as a city-building institution of the first rank. And it heralds a new era of local, national, and international impact on the part of our professors and students, whose work is already helping to redefine urbanism in the 21st century.”

Find out more about One Spadina in The Globe and Mail, on CBC's Metro Morning, and on Breakfast Television

The proceedings took place in the heart of the new building in the Principal Hall, a prismatic, polychrome and multi-dimensional space that will become one of Toronto’s premier public venues for public discussion and events showcasing leaders in the fields of art, urbanism, and the built environment.

In addition to housing the expanded undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture, visual studies, landscape architecture, and urban design, the new Daniels Building will allow for enhanced interdisciplinary research and greater public outreach and engagement, elevating the role that the design arts and visual thinking can play in addressing the critical challenges of our time.

“Toronto, like many cities around the world, has to contend with unprecedented growth. How we develop a compelling set of visions for the future, stage better discussions and debate about how to grow, and model ways for a diverse set of actors to work together to realize these visions, is vital to the success of our city, and every city” said Sommer.

“Over its 127-year history, our faculty has made many creative and intellectual contributions to this city and the profession, but the school has never really had a home worthy of its ambitions. Thanks to our community of generous supporters, we now have a major platform.“

John H. Daniels and Myrna Daniels (photo by Lisa Sakulenski)

Following the announcement of a historic $14 million benefaction in 2008 (the largest of its kind in Canada to a school of architecture) and another $10 million in 2013, John H. Daniels and Myrna Daniels today witnessed the vision for U of T’s architecture and design students become a reality. The new Daniels Building is named in their honour.

Toronto architecture firms, development and business leaders, faculty, friends, and alumni have also come together to support the project through philanthropic gifts totaling more than $30 million. To date, 85 per cent of the fundraising goal has been met. With a number of naming opportunities still available, the faculty plans to announce additional gifts from donors in the coming months.

Key spaces in the Daniels Building include the Graduate Design Studio, with a column-free span of over 34 metres that incorporates an undulating ceiling with 11 clerestory windows; the Eberhard Zeidler Library, with collections in architecture, landscape architecture, art, and urban design that are unrivalled in Toronto; an extensive workshop and double-height Fabrication Lab, and the Commons, an interior “main street” and gathering space that runs east-west through the centre of the building, linking “town and gown.”

Photo by John Horner

The Daniels Faculty’s award-winning Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab), whose work helps inform the City of Toronto’s green roof standards, will open a second site on the roof of One Spadina, where it will study the integration of rainwater harvested on site, while a new 8,000-square-foot Architecture and Design Gallery – the only exhibition space devoted exclusively to architecture and design in Ontario – will be complete by next year.

Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA, in collaboration with architect-of-record Adamson & Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA – the building has already received broad critical acclaim.

The main phases of the One Spadina project will be completed in 2018. Future phases and additions are planned. For more information, visit the Daniels Faculty’s website.

Canadian Architect’s cover story on One Spadina highlights building's place in the city

rasbachn — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 18:38:20 +0000

Canadian Architect’s cover story on One Spadina highlights building's place in the city

rasbachn Fri, 10/20/2017 - 14:38

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Canadian Architect says about One Spadina's graduate studio that its "unique clerestories generate a dramatic spatial narrative and extensive daylighting" (all photos by John Horner, courtesy of Canadian Architect)

Dale Duncan

Topic

City & Culture

Humanities

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Subheadline

Magazine calls the Daniels Building “a remarkable feat of form-making, site planning, and city building”

The new home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is featured as the cover story of Canadian Architect this month.

The article, written by Ken Greenberg, a U of T alumnus and the former director of urban design and architecture for the city of Toronto, looks at the place of One Spadina in the city.

“It is fitting that the urban design catalyst for the western edge of the campus should be an architecture school,” writes Greenberg of the new Daniels Building, noting the landscape, which now includes a promenade that encircles the site, bike parking, and a raised belvedere that when complete will act as an outdoor event space with views down Spadina Avenue to the lake.

“These convivial gestures speak to a new understanding of the university’s place in the city as committed steward and active contributor.”

Greenberg calls the Daniels Building “a remarkable feat of form-making, site planning, and city building.”

Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA – in collaboration with architect-of-record Adamson Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA — the Daniels Building at One Spadina houses the ��Ƶ’s programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

Visit Canadian Architect’s website to read the full article

The Canadian Architect article is one of a number that have recently been published about the Daniels Building. The New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Abitare, Architectural Digest, and Toronto Life, among others, have reviewed One Spadina as it nears completion.

Read what people are saying about One Spadina

Art and Architecture intersect at U of T’s Future Environments event

ullahnor — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:58:37 +0000

Art and Architecture intersect at U of T’s Future Environments event

ullahnor Thu, 04/27/2017 - 17:58

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The design of green roofs like the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory at Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will be one of many areas explored in the Future Environments event

Dale Duncan

Author legacy

Dale Duncan

Topic

City & Culture

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Environment

Sustainability

Science and Engineering Engagement

What role does art and design play in addressing the critical challenges facing our environment?

Those not familiar with art and design may find the range of approaches – and the new ways of thinking they inspire – surprising, says Mason White, an associate professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

On May 3, White, along with five colleagues from Daniels will shine a light on the innovative ways that art and architecture are shaping the future. The event, Future Environments, Art and Architecture in Action, is free and open to the public.

Topics will include the ways that computation and digital technology are enhancing the ability of architects to unite a greater complexity of aspects into building design, the importance of incorporating local context and interdisciplinary research into the design of green roofs, the value of metaphor in understanding technology and the role of museums in shaping public memory.

“The breadth of approaches will be fascinating,” says White, whose own design firm Lateral Office has gained prominence for its research in the arctic and experimentation with strategies to engage citizens in the urban context. “Sometimes design comes out of a very scientific approach. Sometimes it comes out of something very whimsical.”

Presented by the ��Ƶ’s Science and Engineering Engagement (SEE) and Daniels, Future Environments will highlight the rich cross-disciplinary collaborations that are increasingly vital to research and academic inquiry.

“SEE is excited to partner with the Daniels Faculty to deliver that element of surprise, at the intersection of architecture and technology, with this evening of ideas,” says University Professor Molly Shoichet, senior adviser on science & engineering engagement.

Nora Young, from CBC’s hit radio show, Spark, will emcee the evening at U of T’s Convocation Hall.

“I hope to portray the potential of architecture and urban design to be more collaborative with environments rather than see environments as something to defend against and to protect us from,” says White about his presentation, titled “Micro-Environments.”

Joining him on stage will be emerging Canadian designer and U of T Assistant Professor Brady Peters, Toronto-based scholar, composer and artist Mitchell Akiyama, Liat Margolis, director of U of T's Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory, Charles Stankievech, director of visual studies, and Barbara Fischer, executive director of U of T's Art Museum.

“Architecture and art are as much a way of finding the world, as of forming it, and have surprising and often misunderstood historical and contemporary relationships with scientific inquiry,” said Richard Sommer, dean and professor of urbanism at Daniels. “This event will present members of the Daniels Faculty whose research moves beyond traditional text and mathematical modes of ideation to explore intersections between design, the environment and visual culture.”

After the event, the audience will be invited to the Art Museum for a reception and to celebrate the opening of the exhibition “It’s All Happening So Fast: A Counter-History of the Modern Canadian Environment.”

Those interested in the event must register to attend

Toronto comes out to support One Spadina Crescent

lavende4 — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 17:26:34 +0000

Toronto comes out to support One Spadina Crescent

lavende4 Mon, 11/07/2016 - 12:26

Cutline

Left to right: John H. Daniels, Myrna Daniels, President Meric Gertler, MPP Peter Milczyn, Mitchell Cohen of The Daniels Corporation (Photo by John Hryniuk)

Dale Duncan

Author legacy

Dale Duncan

Topic

City & Culture

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

One Spadina Crescent

Architecture

Cities

In June of 2013, U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design unveiled its plans to transform One Spadina Crescent into a focal point for education, research, and outreach – a centre where students, scholars, artists, and urbanists throughout the city and around world can convene to discuss and debate the most pressing design issues and creative challenges facing society today.

Today, with the project well underway and scheduled for completion in 2017, the Faculty hosted an event in the emerging Daniels Building to thank and celebrate the many members of Toronto’s architecture, design, development, business, and philanthropic communities who have come together to support this vision. Their gifts, totaling over $28 million to date, are a testament to the incredible promise of this project, which aims to situate architecture, landscape architecture, art, and urban design among the key disciplines to transform the way we conceive and build cities and other environments in the 21st century, said Professor Richard Sommer, the dean of the Daniels Faculty.

“Our donors’ generosity will have a profound impact not only on the quality of education and research at the Faculty, but also on our ability to engage communities in the Greater Toronto Area as well as a global network of partners and collaborators,” Sommer said. “Our role is to bring critical new ideas, technical know-how and artistry to the task of imagining and – literally – building a better future.

“The new Daniels Building at One Spadina is a physical embodiment of that promise and possibility.”

Among the celebrated donors present at today’s event were alumnus and honorary grad John H. Daniels and his wife Myrna Daniels, whose historic $24 million donation, $19 million of which was earmarked for the One Spadina project, has been a catalyst for the Faculty’s recent expansion and transformation.

“The Daniels Faculty stands out among its peers in North America for its excellence in scholarship and breadth of programming,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “John and Myrna Daniels, and our wider community of alumni and friends, are enabling us to enhance the Faculty’s standing as a world-leading school of architecture, landscape, and design, while contributing to U of T’s growing role as a city-builder in this great urban region. Thanks to your leadership, generosity and commitment, a very important building – and precinct – are being revitalized.”

Eberhard and Jane Zeidler, well known throughout Toronto for effecting positive change in their own right, were among other distinguished guests. The architect of Toronto’s Eaton Centre and Ontario Place, Eberhard Zeidler and his family – which includes alumna Margie Zeidler – have left a lasting mark on the city. The couple’s generous gift to One Spadina will fund the Eberhard Zeidler Library, which will provide students, researchers, and design aficionados throughout Toronto with unrivalled collections in art, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

Also recognized was Eve Lewis – who together with her late husband Paul Oberman brought to light the important role that developers can play in heritage preservation in Toronto. Lewis joined forces with Oberman’s business partner Ron Kimel and their respective families to provide funding for the planned Paul Oberman Belvedere, an elevated terrace on the formal south-facing entrance to the original 19th century heritage building, where students and the public will gather for celebrations with a view down Spadina Avenue to the lake.

Nader Tehrani, principal of the firm NADAAA — who, with collaborator Katie Faulkner, designed the new complex at One Spadina — was also in attendance, along with alumnus Michael McClelland, founding principal of ERA Architects, the project’s preservation architects, and Marc Ryan, principal and co-founder of Public Work, the project’s landscape architects.

Architecture and development firms throughout the city — including The Daniels Corporation, Stantec Architecture, KPMB Architects, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Perkins+Will, Greensoil Investments, DiamondCorp, Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. Architects, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, ERA Architects, superkül, Kohn Shnier Architects, and Shim-Sutcliffe Architects — have provided generous support for the Daniels Building at One Spadina as well. Thanks to their engagement and charitable gifts, the Daniels Faculty’s capital campaign has met 80 per cent of its fundraising goal. The Faculty is working to raise an additional $8 million in private gifts to meet its ambitious target as part of U of T’s Boundless campaign.

See a photo gallery of One Spadina

With a combined 30,000 square feet of undergraduate and graduate studio spaces that boast commanding views over the city, an innovative fabrication lab, and additional spaces for graduate and undergraduate scholars to meet informally, the Daniels Building will further enhance the faculty’s ability to attract exceptional students to its programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and art/visual studies.

The new building will help strengthen the Faculty’s award-winning research and outreach facilities as well. Its Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab), for example, will have the opportunity to expand its research through a second site at One Spadina, with funding from Tremco Incorporated, while the Global Cities Institute (GCI) — which is leading the creation of the first internationally certified standards on city data and metrics — will relocate to a 2,324-square-foot street-front pavilion on the north-western edge of the building in a future phase of the project. GCI will be linked to a planned Model Cities Theatre and Laboratory that will bring together the Faculty’s talents in data visualization, 3D modeling, digital fabrication, and design and analysis, and place them within a public forum to develop holistic solutions to complex urban problems. A new 400-seat principal hall will enable the Faculty to elevate its popular public programming and lecture series, while a large 10,000-square-foot Architecture and Design Gallery will present internationally significant curated exhibitions on architecture, design, and cities — the only one of its kind devoted to these themes in Ontario.

“The Daniels Building at One Spadina Crescent will provide us with a site to advance collaboration across all disciplines with a stake in the built environment, creating a space for modeling new modes of research, practice, and outreach,” said Sommer. “This is a key moment in the history of our Faculty, and I am heartened by the members of the community who have stepped forward to join us in creating this project. The citizens of Toronto and the many visitors to Toronto — and actually anyone who is interested in architecture or the nexus between landscape, art, and cities — will be drawn to the Daniels Faculty at One Spadina.”

Can landscape design mitigate wildfires? U of T student says yes

lavende4 — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 15:19:33 +0000

Can landscape design mitigate wildfires? U of T student says yes

lavende4 Mon, 07/18/2016 - 11:19

Cutline

Aftermath of the Fort McMurray wildfire: what can landscape architects do to help mitigate wildfire disasters? (Jonathan Hayward/Getty Images)

Dale Duncan

Author legacy

Dale Duncan

Topic

Our Community

wildfires

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

landscape architecture

During a trip to Adelaide, Australia in 2015, Jordan Duke witnessed her first wildfire.

“We were driving over a hill and I could see a large plume of smoke in the horizon,” she said. “Thousands of hectares were on fire.” From the plane, the next day when she flew out, Duke was struck by the vast expanse of charred earth. She thought about it the entire flight home.

As a student in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, Duke wondered: what could landscape architects do to help mitigate wildfire disasters? In the wake of the fire that struck Fort McMurray in Alberta in May, it’s a question that carries increased relevance — particularly since wildfires are predicted to increase in the future.

For her thesis project the following year, Duke researched how wildfires could be mitigated through tools that exist within the realm of landscape architecture. Her research culminated in the development of a strategy for Cleland Conservation Park. The park is based in South Australia where in February 2009, wildfires claimed over 170 lives. Her plan — which combined remote sensors embedded in the landscape with site-specific landscape design strategies that would produce both short- and long-term results — projected new possibilities, not only for the field of landscape architecture but also for how we could diminish such disasters in the future.

“There’s a lot of planning when it comes to wildfires in terms of where to build neighbourhoods, and there are many techniques to track and evaluate an area’s likelihood of burning, but I found that there were few systems in place to reduce the risk of a large wildfire occurring in the first place, “ says Duke.

Inspired by her work the previous summer at the Daniels Faculty’s Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (gritlab), the first part of her strategy included embedding remote sensors within the landscape that would allow for real-time monitoring of data such as humidity, wind, temperature, vegetation density, and water availability — factors that contribute to the likelihood of a fire.

“At gritlab, we learned that sensor technology is cheap and easy to deploy. I had no computer engineering background, but by the end of the summer, we were installing sensors throughout the green roof, downloading data and doing analysis,” says Duke. “This triggered an idea: what if we could take these sensors and deploy them across a huge site to monitor variables that would let us know in advance when fires are likely to happen?”

Under Duke’s plan, data from the sensors would activate a variety of responses across the landscape. For example, on dry, hot days, weather modifiers installed along the ridges and valleys of the park would disperse mist across the site to increase humidity levels. Using the regular ocean breeze moving across the site, the modifiers would also scatter the seeds of fire-resistent cypress trees along the ridges of the landscape. Over time, the wall of trees that would eventually grow would become windbreaks that could help slow the pace of a fire.

Excess rainwater, which normally flows down the hills to the ocean during heavy rain, would be collected in reservoirs, which could become recreational pools for people visiting the park or sources of water for animals in search of refuge. When sensors indicate the risk of a fire in a particular location, however, the water would be released down the valley to soak the landscape below. The large amount of rapidly released water would also increase erosion runoff, thus creating firebreaks throughout the valley.

Duke also considered vegetation, which provides fuel for burning fires. Artificial watering holes strategically placed throughout the park would attract animals in times of drought. Native wallabies, kangaroos and other animals coming to the pools of water would then feed on nearby vegetation, reducing fuel for a potential fire.

“None of these devices eliminate risk,” says Duke. “Instead, they work to shift risk from large scale, catastrophic events to smaller, everyday risk levels.”

In addition to these and other tactics designed to mitigate risk, Duke explored ways to influence human behavior. The weather monitors along the ridge of the hill above the city, for example, could be programmed to light more brightly at night during periods of high-energy use.

“The idea is to change the collective consciousness of the local population by highlighting invisible phenomena and patterns that are contributing to climate change and wildfire occurrences,” says Duke. Energy consumption in the city of Adelaide is among the highest in Australia.

Jordan Duke (centre), with Dean Richard Sommer and Associate Professor Alissa North, Director of the Master of Architecture Landscape program, at the 2016 Graduation Awards Ceremony

While the scope of her thesis was to research and propose a new approach to mitigating wildfires, Duke does hope to one day build and test her project.

Her hope is that the strategy she devised will plant the seeds for ways that landscape architects can contribute to wildfire mitigation in the future.

“Developing science fiction scenarios are necessary,” says Duke. “Imagining what could be done is usually the first step towards something actually happening.”

Assistant Professor Liat Margolis was Duke’s thesis advisor. Duke received the American Society of Landscape Architects Certificate of Honor and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Student Award of Merit at this year’s graduation awards ceremony.