Ariel Visconti

Undergraduate peer mentorship program helps U of T students 'make the best of every opportunity'

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 18:12:34 +0000

Undergraduate peer mentorship program helps U of T students 'make the best of every opportunity'

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 04/05/2019 - 14:12

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From left to right: Vicki Zhang with one of her mentees, Andrea Jeganathan, and fellow ecology and evolutionary biology peer mentorship program participants Kelsey Crocker and Maryam Wasim (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Ariel Visconti

Topic

Our Community

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Faculty of Arts & Science

St. Michael's College

Trinity College

Undergraduate Students

University College

Second year is an exciting time for undergraduate students in the ��Ƶ’s Faculty of Arts & Science. It’s when they begin their programs of study and settle into university life.

But navigating the myriad options available in each department and charting an academic course for their remaining undergraduate education – and beyond – can be daunting.

Brianna Lane experienced these challenges as a newly admitted student to the ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) program in September 2018.

“I was looking for help with sorting through the many opportunities U of T offers, and I wasn’t sure where to start,” says the Trinity College student.

Lane found support through the new EEB Peer Mentorship Program launched last fall. It connects second-year students with a third-, fourth- or fifth-year students to provide guidance and advice.

The program was born after the department ran a series of surveys and focus groups to learn more about students’ needs.

“We learned that students often felt a little bit lost making decisions about their time at U of T, especially in their first and second year,” said Asher Cutter, a professor and associate chair in the department who led the program’s development.

“We decided that one way to help bridge this gap was to create a formal but friendly way for upper-year students to interact with younger students to communicate all the cool experiences they’ve had – or wish they’d had – to give younger students a leg up in making the most of their experience.”

In its inaugural year, the program connected 36 students with 26 mentors. Participants met face-to-face at least four times throughout the year and attended workshops on such topics as: gaining research experience; choosing courses; applying for scholarships; and preparing for graduate school and careers. Both mentees and mentors earned a notation on their co-curricular record for participating in the program.

“Students told us about how they learned new writing and time management skills from their mentor, or strategies for making the most of the summertime, how best to realize plans for a future career, or the pros and cons of doing research or an international exchange,” said Cutter.

Lane signed up for the program seeking advice on upper-year courses and research opportunities. Her mentor, Cole Brookson, gave her insights on courses she was currently enrolled in as well as future courses she could benefit from. He also helped her gain research experience and find opportunities to pursue over the summer.

“The program has taught me how to maximize my time and potential at U of T,” Lane said. “I’ve been able to think more strategically about my undergrad, what I want to accomplish during this time, and where I want it to take me.”

Ryan Lane, a second-year student at University College, kept in touch with his mentor Vicki Zhang regularly throughout the year. In addition to assisting him with course selection and sharing department events, Zhang helped Lane line up a place in a faculty research lab in the department.

“Vicki has really gone above and beyond in helping me out and making sure I make the best of every opportunity,” Lane said. “The chance to join a lab with actual postdocs and master’s students has proven invaluable.”

But the program, which will return in the fall, hasn’t just helped mentees succeed – it has also been beneficial for student mentors as they complete their undergraduate studies and prepare for the next step.

“Being a mentor has shaped me into a positive role model, a better communicator and an encouraging and knowledgeable individual,” said Zhang, who is also at University College.

Brookson, who is at St. Michael's College, said being a mentor helped improve his interpersonal and communication skills, and that he would “absolutely” recommend the experience to other students.

“Engaging in a mentorship program is not only helpful to mentees,” he said, “but it can also be incredibly beneficial for mentors as it forces you to think critically about your experience and determine what has and has not allowed you to be successful in your journey so far.”

Sharing the joys of opera: Special event at U of T looks at famous Russian novel adapted by Tchaikovsky

noreen.rasbach — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 18:10:29 +0000

Sharing the joys of opera: Special event at U of T looks at famous Russian novel adapted by Tchaikovsky

noreen.rasbach Mon, 11/19/2018 - 13:10

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Joyce El-Khoury is Tatyana and Gordon Bintner is Eugene Onegin in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Eugene Onegin (photo by Michael Cooper)

Ariel Visconti

Topic

City & Culture

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Undergraduate Students

Subheadline

A recent symposium presented by the department of Slavic languages and literatures and the Canadian Opera Company brought together students, faculty, and opera enthusiasts for an in-depth discussion of two of the most important cultural works from 19^th-century Russia.

Co-sponsored by the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, and the Centre for Comparative Literature, the event explored Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse by Russia’s national poet Alexander Pushkin, and the opera adaptation of the novel by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of Russia’s most famous composers.

The symposium featured presentations on aspects of the novel in verse and opera from members of the ��Ƶ’s Slavic department and Faculty of Music, as well as speakers from the Canadian Opera Company. Boris Gasparov, professor emeritus of Russian and East European studies at Columbia University and a leading authority on Russian literature and opera, gave a keynote lecture.

Organization of the event – which was open to anyone interested in opera and Russian culture – was led by Kate Holland, an associate professor of Russian literature, and Christina E. Kramer, a professor of Slavic linguistics. Catherine Willshire from the Canadian Opera Company's education and outreach department provided speakers and organizational support.

The symposium was especially valuable to students in the Slavic department, many of whom examine the well-known novel in their studies.

Eugene Onegin is considered a masterpiece of Russian literature and studied in several courses offered by the Slavic department.

Varduhi Abrahamyann plays Olga and Joyce El-Khoury is Tatyana in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Eugene Onegin (photo by Michael Cooper)

When faculty members of the department learned that the Canadian Opera Company was staging a production of Tchaikovsky’s adaptation this fall for the first time in 10 years, they seized the opportunity to organize the symposium and incorporate the opera into their teaching of the novel.

“The novel is the key work of Russian romanticism, but the opera belongs to a later era and was written at the height of Russian realism, at the same time as the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky,” said Holland. “So with the novel and the opera, students get to experience two of the most important works of Russian culture, their resonances and their contradictions.”

In addition to encouraging students in the Slavic department to attend the symposium, Holland and Kramer arranged for 120 students to attend a dress rehearsal performance of Eugene Onegin at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto so they could experience the opera firsthand.

For many students, it was their first time at the opera.

Rebekah Robinson, a second-year New College student majoring in history and Russian language and literature, read an English translation of Eugene Onegin this semester for Holland’s course on the golden age of Russian literature. She attended the performance to complete a paper that compares and contrasts the novel and its opera adaptation.

Robinson said that seeing the opera – which is sung in Russian and retains much of the poetry from passages of the novel – helped her view the novel from a new perspective.

“A highlight for me as a student studying Russian was to find segments of the opera where I could understand the sung Russian words without the surtitles and was able to gather additional meaning about the relationships between the characters in a way that isn't necessarily conveyed in English,” she said.

“Even though it was my first time attending the opera I feel as if I would attend another one because the music, dramatization, and use of colours were really beautiful.”

U of T program helps student learn German – and lands him a job

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 19:41:13 +0000

U of T program helps student learn German – and lands him a job

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 09/27/2018 - 15:41

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Tianhao Wang and his supervisor Stephan Anders, Meisterplan’s North American director (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Ariel Visconti

Topic

Global Lens

Faculty of Arts & Science

German

Humanities

International

St. Michael's College

Tianhao Wang started the new school year with a job offer after a successful internship facilitated by an initiative offered by the ��Ƶ’s department of Germanic languages and literatures.

The fourth-year Faculty of Arts & Science student at St. Michael’s College recently completed a summer internship at Meisterplan, a German software company with a downtown Toronto office. Not only was the internship Wang’s first job in a professional setting, he plans to continue working with Meisterplan after the company offered him a part-time freelance position throughout his final year of studies.

Wang was connected to Meisterplan through iPRAKTIKUM, an internationalization and experiential learning program that connects U of T students studying German with internship opportunities at local organizations and business subsidiaries from German-speaking countries. He said he was drawn to the program because it offered an opportunity to expand his German business vocabulary, practice his conversational skills, and glean insights into German work culture.

“In my opinion, the best way to learn a new language is to actively communicate with people that speak the language,” he said. “There isn’t a strong presence of German culture in Toronto, so iPRAKTIKUM provides students the best chance to learn German outside the classroom and connect with local and international German communities.”

Wang’s internship was the first GTA-based undergraduate placement completed through iPRAKTIKUM. Launched in 2017, the initiative first provided graduate students with internships at German departments in local high schools.

Undergraduate internships can take place in the summer or during the school year, and are accredited in the form of a co-curricular record, or as part of the iPRAKTIKUM experiential learning and internationalization internship course offered by the German department. The internships are open to all students studying German at U of T, meaning iPRAKTIKUM benefits students from a wide range of disciplines. Wang is completing a bachelor's degree in mathematical application in economics and finance specialist program with a minor in German, and plans to pursue a master’s in business analytics internationally after his undergraduate studies.

“The internships are intended to promote global fluency and allow students to practice their German language skills on the job,” said Stefan Soldovieri, an associate professor of German who leads iPRAKTIKUM with the department’s senior secretary and graduate assistant, Helena Juenger.

“In addition to providing valuable networking opportunities and practical experience at home, internships with international German organizations can open up future training and career opportunities abroad.”

Wang’s interest in studying German was sparked by a family road trip through Europe that brought him to southern Germany. Given that Germany is a dominant player in the European economy, Wang thought that knowledge of the German language would provide him with well-rounded communication skills for an increasingly interconnected global economy.

“I’m fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English, so being able to read and communicate in German would help me obtain first-hand information from China, North America and Europe,” said Wang.

The Meisterplan position interested him because it offered experience in project portfolio management, which he expects to use in his future career. Meisterplan – a subsidiary of itdesign GmbH, a software company headquartered in Tübingen, Germany – developed an innovative tool that helps project portfolio managers and organizations manage multiple projects efficiently.

“Before the internship, I only had a basic idea of project portfolio management, but now I’m able to understand the detailed processes, methods and terminologies involved,” Wang explained.

Although Wang’s Meisterplan colleagues in North America spoke English on the job, he was able to improve his German language skills through email correspondence with colleagues in Germany. He also regularly used the company’s internal software, which is designed for German-speakers.

Throughout the internship, Wang provided market research and back-end customer service that was highly valued by the team.

“Tianhao brought a fresh perspective and outside-of-the-box thinking that helped us look at aspects of our software in ways we hadn’t thought of before,” said Stephan Anders, Meisterplan’s North American director and Wang’s supervisor. “We’re glad to continue having him on board.”

The German department continues to offer undergraduate and graduate internships through iPRAKTIKUM, and will expand the initiative next summer to include opportunities in Germany.

U of T graduate students experience life on the farm for pastoral literature course

noreen.rasbach — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 04:00:00 +0000

U of T graduate students experience life on the farm for pastoral literature course

noreen.rasbach Mon, 08/20/2018 - 00:00

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Students in the American Pastoral literature course enjoy a beautiful sunset in the fields of Bela Farm (photo by Joanna Krongold)

Ariel Visconti

Topic

Our Community

English

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Humanities

This summer, Professor Andrea Most’s American Pastoral course taught students what it’s like to work in the field – literally.

Going back to ancient times, pastoral literature has idealized rural life and landscapes for urban audiences, often relocating a troubled urban character to a rural setting for reflection and redemption. In a world facing dire environmental challenges, the course examined the relevance of the pastoral mode today.

Most previously taught the graduate-level course, offered by the department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science, in a classroom setting. But this time around students enrolled in the course left the lecture halls of U of T’s downtown Toronto campus behind to spend a week studying at Bela Farm in Hillsburgh, Ont., where they didn’t just read literary classics of the pastoral mode, but experienced rural life for themselves.

The change in scenery is part of Most’s two-year experiment to emphasize experiential learning.

“Classical pastoral stories celebrate the transformation that can come from leaving an urban environment for a rural retreat, where characters connect with nature for the purposes of personal rejuvenation and revitalization,” says Most, a professor of English and co-founder of Bela Farm.

“Given the urgent environmental realities of the present day, this course challenges students to both experience and critique the broad environmental implications of this urban way of ‘using’ nature, and re-examine the relationship between humans and the environment.”

English Professor Andrea Most (centre) with the graduate students taking her American Pastoral course (photo by Joanna Krongold)

Taking full advantage of the peace and quiet afforded by the farm’s remote location, the class studied pastoral classics such as Shakespeare’s As You Like It and landmark works in ecocriticism like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring during seminars held outdoors or in the farm’s barn.

For the students, reading texts set in similar settings to the serene landscapes they were experiencing at Bela Farm helped them forge a deeper connection with the material.

“I enjoyed reading excerpts from Little House on the Prairie while dipping my feet in the water off the dock,” says Natalie Johnson-Tyghter, who is completing a master’s degree in English. “It allowed for the words of the story – which were about girls wading in the water – to be supported by our sensory environment, creating a completely different experience than reading it in a classroom.”

To complement the readings, students took part in experiential modules designed to connect the material to life on the farm, which included a pastoral drawing workshop, a lecture from the farm’s beekeeper, and a lesson in planting potatoes.

They also received an informative overview of sustainable farming from farmers and interns at the neighbouring Everdale Farm, where they got most of the organic produce they ate for the week.

“This experience dispelled any notions I had about a simple country life,” says Samantha Dawdy, a PhD student from York University who took the course through the Ontario visiting graduate student program.

“Seeing the amount of hard work that goes into running a farm, as well as how unpredictable so many aspects of working the land can be, gave me an entirely new appreciation for the people, and all of the natural cycles that make food production possible.”

The students took turns acting as head chef for meals (photo by Joanna Krongold)

Although the week at Bela Farm provided a stark contrast to city living, Most hopes that the course inspired students to find ways to continue the relationship with nature in their everyday lives.

“We tend to think of nature as being 'out there,' separated from real life in the city,” she says. “The course helps break down the city-country barrier by making students realize the ways in which they can connect with nature back home in the city, whether through art, farmers’ markets, walking meditation, urban agriculture or other means.”

High school students dig into the past during Archaeology Centre summer program

noreen.rasbach — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 19:33:00 +0000

High school students dig into the past during Archaeology Centre summer program

noreen.rasbach Mon, 08/13/2018 - 15:33

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High school students had the opportunity to take part in a real excavation outside the archeology building on the downtown Toronto campus (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Humanities

“Archeology is the same as history; it tells a story,” says Grade 11 student Scarlet Lowrie.

This summer, she joined four other high school students from across Ontario with a mutual love of history and curiosity about the past for a two-week intensive program offered by the department of anthropology’s Archaeology Centre in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Now in its fourth year, the program was led by PhD students Danielle Desmarais, Elliott Fuller and Emma Yasui.

“The program is a combination of ideas and activities, making it a great way for students to see how archeology is done in university classrooms, at museums, in labs, and in the field,” says Yasui. “They also get to meet active archeologists with a wide range of interests and experiences.”

Instructor Emma Yasui shows Grade 11 student Patrick Green some features that are typical of stone artifacts during the flint-knapping workshop (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Several of the students said they were drawn to the program as a way to explore future careers or topics they could pursue in post-secondary studies. All of them agreed that history classes contributed to their interest in archeology.

“Archeology is the literal unearthing of the past, but this is pointless without learning from the past,” says Grade 11 student Patrick Green. “The failures and successes of past civilizations reveal lessons and principles which can be applied to our own society.”

The program provided an overview of fundamental archeological concepts, including lessons on zooarcheology (the study of animal remains), palaeoethnobotany (the study of plant remains), stratigraphy (a branch of geology that studies rock layering) and site interpretation. Activities included animal bone classification, artifact processing, and a flint-knapping workshop that introduced students to the ancient art of making stone tools.

“Some of the material and concepts are things that we teach at the undergraduate level,” says Yasui.

For a field trip, students got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Royal Ontario Museum’s backroom vaults, where they learned about ancient Greek and Roman coins from Assistant Curator Paul Denis.

The class also participated in a mock excavation outside the archeology building on U of T’s campus.

Students Giovanna Batti and Scarlet Lowrie try their hand at some traditional crafting techniques during a sewing activity (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Feedback on the program was unanimously positive, with all participants saying that they would recommend it to other students. Over several days, they learned excavation techniques and unearthed ceramics, glass and evidence of a fire at the site. Guest instructor Meg Morden from the Archaeological Institute of America, Toronto Society led mini-excavations that taught the class how to interpret human burials.

“If you are interested in archeology, the program is a good test to see if you are serious about it,” says one of the student participants.

For the instructors, the program provided a rewarding opportunity to get involved with the community and gain experience teaching archeology to a broader audience.

“It’s exciting to share something you love and to show people what archeology really is,” says Yasui. “But the main reason I became involved was to provide this rare experience for high school students, since I wish I had something similar when I was their age.”

Theoretical physicist Yong-Baek Kim awarded Killam Research Fellowship

noreen.rasbach — Tue, 08 May 2018 18:52:05 +0000

Theoretical physicist Yong-Baek Kim awarded Killam Research Fellowship

noreen.rasbach Tue, 05/08/2018 - 14:52

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Professor Yong-Baek Kim, a theoretical physicist, will use the two-year Killam Research Fellowship to support his research into quantum spin liquids (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Ariel Visconti

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Physics

Research & Innovation

Vivek Goel

Subheadline

Innovative research in condensed matter physics could potentially help solve key challenge to quantum computing

Yong-Baek Kim, a theoretical physicist at the ��Ƶ, has been awarded a prestigious Killam Research Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Presented each year to Canadian scholars pursuing groundbreaking research in the humanities, engineering and social, natural and health sciences, Killam Research Fellowships are among the most coveted awards in Canadian higher education.

“It’s a great honour to be recognized with a Killam Fellowship,” said Kim, a professor in the department of physics in the Faculty of Arts & Science and director of the Centre for Quantum Materials at U of T. “This support gives me an exciting opportunity to expand my research, think creatively, and explore unknown research territories.”

The two-year Killam Research Fellowship will support Kim’s research into quantum materials – specifically, a new phase of matter physicists have proposed called quantum spin liquids. Spin liquids create new particles called spinons, which could be harnessed for building quantum computing platforms.

But first scientists need to discover a spin liquid in a real substance. Kim aims to develop a theoretical model that can help design a tool to detect this unusual phase of matter in materials.

“Professor Kim is an intellectual leader in condensed matter physics research at U of T, in Canada and worldwide,” said Stephen Julian, chair of the department of physics. “He has a remarkable ability to contribute work that really changes the direction of the field. The two years of focused effort provided by the Killam Fellowship is bound to produce dramatic new insights into the nature of matter.”

“Congratulations to Professor Kim on this important recognition of his research,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation. “I’d also like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and the Killam Trusts for their continuing support of our scholars.”

This award follows a number of significant achievements for Kim. In 2017, he was awarded a Brockhouse Medal from the Canadian Association of Physicists for his contributions to condensed matter and materials physics. He was also recognized as a Fellow by the American Physical Society in 2012, and received a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1999.

Kim joins five other leading scholars from across Canada chosen by a selection committee of their peers to receive a Killam Research Fellowship this year. The fellowships are made possible through the Killam Trusts, bequeathed in the 1960s by the late Dorothy J. Killam.