Germanic Languages & Literatures

For research projects in quantum condensed matter, the cultural history of wrestling and the formation of planetary systems, three ��Ƶ scholars from the Faculty of Arts & Science have received prestigious 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships.

Fellowships are awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and this year – the 97th year of the competition – just 180 of 2500 applicants received the awards.

“When honours like the Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded to multiple Faculty scholars, I am always impressed and fascinated by the diverse disciplines of the winners,” says Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “This year’s cohort is no exception. I am very happy that the fellowships will allow each to pursue their exciting and important work, and I congratulate them all.”

Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, congratulated the researchers.

“These fellowships will help support important work,” Cowen says, “from research into the proto-planetary disks of gas and dust around newly developing stars, to work on theoretical quantum condensed matter physics and a new book on the cultural history of wrestling.”

Here are the three U of T scholars who received Guggenheim Fellowships this year:

Yong-Baek Kim is a professor in the department of physics, as well as the director of the Centre for Quantum Materials and a member of the Centre for Quantum Information & Quantum Control. Kim’s research focus is theoretical quantum condensed matter physics, which involves the study of matter and its exotic behaviour when subjected to extreme conditions such as low temperature and high pressure. His work has potential applications for diverse quantum technologies, including quantum computing.

“I am particularly interested in emergent quantum phases of strongly interacting electrons in quantum materials which may serve as potential platforms for quantum technology,” says Kim.

"Receiving the Guggenheim fellowship is a great honor for me. It's wonderful to see that my work is appreciated by peer intellectuals. I have been privileged to meet and work with so many talented people, especially my former and current students, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators. I thank them for generously sharing their insights."

Yanqin Wu is a professor of theoretical astrophysics in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics. Throughout her career, she has studied planets – both in and beyond our solar system. Using data gathered by the Kepler planet-hunting space telescope and other observing programs, she studies their internal structure, motions and formation.

Wu’s Guggenheim Fellowship will allow her to focus on research into proto-planetary disks of gas and dust around newly developing stars – structures from which all planets arise. In particular, Wu is investigating an aspect referred to as segmented disks.

"The puzzle is that proto-planetary disks, when observed at sufficiently high resolutions, display prominent bright rings and dark gaps,” says Wu. “I am proposing ideas to resolve this puzzle and to understand how it affects planet formation.”

Says Wu about the fellowship, “It is a luxurious honour to be recognized for doing something that one enjoys and working with people one likes.”

John Zilcosky is a professor in the department of Germanic languages and literatures and the Centre for Comparative Literature. His expertise encompasses modern European literature, psychoanalysis, the art of travel and the history and philosophy of sports.

With the help of the fellowship, Zilcosky will be able to devote time to writing his next book, Wrestling: A Cultural History. In it, he attempts to answer big questions: Why do we wrestle? And why was wrestling humanity’s first sport? He will explain why wrestling is not only humankind's oldest sport but also its most significant. The book will trace the history of grappling from early civilizations and myths through the classical, Renaissance and modern eras – all the way to today’s “pro” wrestling.

It will also explore wrestling’s presence in Indigenous cultures and also women practitioners – from the Greek goddess, Palaistra, to today’s Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) television series. And it will delve into the “erotic violence that is always just beneath wrestling’s surface.”

Says Zilcosky: “What a thrill! This is a labour of love, returning me to my youth as a high school and U.S. collegiate wrestler. It’s exciting that the Guggenheim Foundation finds this project – which connects the histories of sport and of civilization – compelling. Such recognition reminds me of my conversation with the world and injects me with new energy.”

Building bridges: Global Language Initiative prepares U of T students for a 'pluricultural' world

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 15:11:36 +0000

Building bridges: Global Language Initiative prepares U of T students for a 'pluricultural' world

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/21/2022 - 11:11

Cutline

A collaborative effort between 15 departments in U of T's Faculty of Arts & Science aims to boost language instruction and promote intercultural competence and global fluency (photo by SDI Productions/Getty Images)

Cynthia Macdonald

Topic

Global Lens

Germanic Languages & Literatures

Italian Studies

Spanish & Portuguese

Academics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Indigenous

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Canada, like many other countries, is increasingly becoming a “pluricultural” society, where citizens regularly engage not only within their own cultures and languages, but with those of their friends, neighbours and colleagues – and the ��Ƶ is preparing students to succeed in this new reality.

The Global Languages Initiative (GLI) is a collaborative effort uniting 15 departments in the Faculty of Arts & Science to increase access to language instruction across disciplines, with the aim of promoting intercultural competence and global fluency.

“What brings our language departments together is the philosophy that in order to become universal citizens, students should have access to another culture and another language,” says Paolo Frascà, assistant professor, teaching stream, and co-ordinator of language courses in the department of Italian studies.

The GLI was instigated two years ago by Stefan Soldovieri, chair of the department of Germanic languages and literatures.

“We were interested in connecting language departments – and not just traditional language departments, since religion, for example, also offers language courses. We wanted to get everyone together in a way that really hadn’t happened before,” he says.

The group also sees itself as an ally for the revitalization of Indigenous and endangered languages, and encourages community-based learning. Since its inception, the GLI has held several events, including a panel discussion on the benefits of being able to use multiple languages in the job market.

“That was wonderful,” says Frascà. “We invited several students to speak about how studying languages had really made a difference for them in the world at large, and in their professional development.”

In October, the group also hosted a talk on plurilingualism by Enrica Piccardo, a professor in the department of curriculum, teaching and learning in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

At the end of January, the group held its first major event. Titled “Languages Toward a Planetary Education,” the symposium featured a number of invited speakers and various other activities, including an “Artistic Intervention” where students read poetry in translation and played music. They were also offered a forum to discuss the challenges and rewards of learning second and third languages.

The symposium also included a roundtable where department chairs and professors shared ideas designed to improve best practices in language instruction.

“We talked about some of the challenges we face in organizing our departments, including the importance of providing excellent training for our teaching assistants,” says GLI member Juan Carlos Rocha Osornio, assistant professor, teaching stream, in the department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Other topics included the optimal management of classes containing students with different heritage languages and fluency levels, as well as ideas for building community when classes are larger or held online.

Rocha Osornio says other events will held during 2022 and the symposium will return next year. He adds that the notion of bravery in language learning – a concept articulated by keynote speaker Lindsay Morcom, associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University – was one of the event’s highlights.

“She was able to connect that idea to all languages,” he says. “That’s what stood out for me the most, since students can often be hesitant and nervous when they try to learn a new language. They really need to stand outside of their comfort zone.”

If they do, he adds, they stand to make valuable connections with brand new communities.

Frascà echoes the thought, emphasizing that language instruction is essential to build bridges between all groups in our society, and to fostering tolerance and understanding.

“Learning and interacting in different languages – even different ones at the same time – really is part of human nature and history,” he says. “It brings us back to a truth about what it means to be human.”