Tabassum Siddiqui

U of T visiting scholar pairs Afghanistan advocacy with a passion for physics

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:41:32 +0000

U of T visiting scholar pairs Afghanistan advocacy with a passion for physics

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/27/2024 - 11:41

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Tahir Shaaran, a visiting scholar in U of T’s department of physics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, is teaching the next generation of scientists (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Global Lens

Afghanistan

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Physics

Subheadline

A former director-general of Afghanistan's nuclear energy agency, Tahir Shaaran is keen to use education to help his country and drive change

Growing up in Afghanistan, Tahir Shaaran was endlessly curious about the world around him – including the seemingly endless conflicts that engulfed his country.

“I was always thinking about the connection between me and my surroundings and how the universe is functioning – ‘What is the meaning of being here?’ – and those kinds of complicated philosophical questions,” he says.

Shaaran found at least some of the answers he was seeking in physics – and quantum physics in particular. He would go on to spend nearly two decades studying and working around the world before returning to Afghanistan to work as director-general of its nuclear energy agency – an effort, he says, to use his knowledge to help his country.

Now a visiting scholar in the ��Ƶ’s department of physics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Shaaran is teaching the next generation of scientists and says he’s once again reminded of education’s power to drive change and social progress.

“So many people who had the right education and skills to help Afghanistan in terms of development ended up having to leave,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s about humanity – the crisis in Afghanistan is not just local to that country. Even though it feels like something may not directly affect us, the consequences of such situations are much bigger than for just one place or group of people.

“A lot of the time, we’re looking for quick fixes, but we have to advocate for long-term, sustainable solutions – and we can only do that through education.”

Born during the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Shaaran left his native Bamyan province with his family when he was still a young child due to civil unrest in the region. He was raised in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan and later fled to Europe in 1999 following persecution and attacks on the minority Hazara community to which his family belonged.

Settling in the United Kingdom, Shaaran completed several degrees in physics at University College London. Throughout his studies, he collaborated with international institutions, including the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the U.K. and the neutron-scattering facility at Institut Laue–Langevin in France.

He went on to work abroad on atomic and nuclear physics, including at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Germany, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the Institute of Photonic Science in Spain.

Yet, Afghanistan was never far from his mind – and he began thinking about how his studies could help improve the economic and social situation back home.

“I had met the vice-president of Afghanistan in Germany and told him about my plan: the dream of building a national research centre for science and technology back in Afghanistan,” Shaaran says.

“I wanted to have a bigger impact, so I thought the research centre was something that could help more people.”

He was invited to Kabul to meet then-president Ashraf Ghani. While there was no money to fund his research centre dream, Shaaran was tapped to become director-general of Afghanistan’s Nuclear Energy Agency in 2018 – a job he hoped to slowly expand to include a research element. At first, he says was encouraged by the government’s stated openness to scientific progress and development, but soon found himself disillusioned as the political and security situation in the country deteriorated.

“I didn’t receive the support the president had promised,” Shaaran recalls. “Some of it was understandable, as there was a war and a complicated political situation, but I had a feeling the system was going to collapse so I resigned in early 2021.”

Looking back, he says his exit came just in time – the Taliban captured Kabul later that year and the United States withdrew its military. The situation remains volatile, with a crackdown on women’s rights, threats of terrorism, extreme poverty and other challenges.

“In a way, we are all responsible for what has happened to Afghanistan – from human rights activists to the police to policymakers – [because] we didn’t think about how we could build the country independently without relying on anyone from the outside,” says Shaaran, who has been a longtime advocate for human rights and the rights of Afghanistan’s minority Hazara population.

Shaaran says teaching at U of T helps keep him inspired and optimistic about the future – thanks in no small part to a steady stream of engaged physics students. He also leads an advanced physics lab this semester that offers 40 different experiments for five different courses.

“His expertise allows him to supervise a range of projects, covering topics from optics to particle physics, and help students progress through their experiments. In addition to that, he is a great colleague – willing to learn from more experienced members from the team, while sharing his expertise with teaching assistants and junior colleagues,” says Shaaran’s colleague Ania Harlick, an assistant professor, teaching stream.

“Tahir brings considerable expertise in theoretical and nuclear physics from his work in academia and at Afghanistan’s nuclear agency,” adds Professor Kimberly Strong, chair of the department of physics.

“He has been actively engaged in the life of the department this year, and it has been such a great pleasure hosting him here.”

As for his ongoing advocacy efforts, Shaaran continues to speak with politicians and organize rallies and workshops to ensure Afghanistan and its people remain in the public consciousness.

“Despite all the difficulties, I’m an optimist because when I call someone in Afghanistan – even in a remote area and even though young women and girls are not allowed to go to school – they still have drive and hope,” he says. “Many people send me emails or texts saying they are looking for online education as they want to learn.

“Those small things give me a lot of hope.”

First-year student arrives at U of T with a plan to improve Toronto’s transit

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:25:49 +0000

First-year student arrives at U of T with a plan to improve Toronto’s transit

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 08/28/2023 - 13:25

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A member of New College, incoming first-year student Zarif Ali is hoping to study computer science and meet others who are passionate about improving transit and “other things that ... could dramatically improve our quality of life” (photo by Polina Teif)

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Cities

Faculty of Arts & Science

New College

Transit

Undergraduate Students

Subheadline

Zarif Ali says the idea for his rewards-focused app grew out of a Grade 9 geography project

Zarif Ali is betting the ��Ƶ – and its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in particular – can help him get where he wants to go.

A recent graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at Scarborough’s Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate, Ali has been making media headlines in recent months for Transit+, his concept for an app that would incentivize public-transit riders through a rewards program while consolidating other features from existing apps, such as route and schedule information and digital fare payment.

“It was originally part of our Grade 9 geography culminating project,” says Ali, 18, who will be starting first year in the Faculty of Arts & Science as a member of New College with an eye toward entering the computer science program in his second year. “Our teacher assigned us to create something that would improve the quality of life in Toronto.”

He says had wanted to attend U of T ever since middle school and made up his mind when he discovered the university had a specialist program for designing computer interfaces.

“I was immediately interested, as that relates directly to how I want to thrive in my career. It was very clear to me from the beginning that U of T was going to be my top choice – and so I actually didn’t end up applying anywhere else.”

Inspired by a transit-focused episode of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s talk show Patriot Act and his own burgeoning interest in computer science, Ali decided to focus on a digital solution to the issue of transit cuts and fare hikes due to transit agencies’ lack of revenue.

“Transit+ is like Starbucks Rewards for your transit fare,” he explains. “The more you ride the TTC or Metrolinx using your Presto card, the more points you would be able to rack up – and at the end of the week or month, you could redeem them for a free bus ride or even a weekly or monthly pass. And if you wanted to incorporate small businesses around the city, you could have them do promotions within the app for you to redeem using Presto or your credit card.”

Ali points to other transit agencies that have implemented similar systems over the years, such as the STM Merci loyalty program in Montreal that was able to generate $100 million in additional revenue from new ridership over the course of its three-year pilot project, according to a study, or Hong Kong’s Octopus smartcard and its rider perks.

“Right now, the app is very focused on the rewards program – it’s meant to incentivize people who are either considering using transit, or already using it, to use it more frequently. If you're able to increase ridership, you increase the total revenue that the agency is able to bring in,” Ali says.

Encouraged by his teachers and fellow classmates, Ali kept fine-tuning his idea for the Transit+ app throughout high school while continuing to learn more about computing by watching YouTube videos and taking a Grade 10 computer science course.

“I’m interested in computer science because of how it enables you to create things that are accessible to so many people,” Ali says.

He credits his experience at Wilfrid Laurier for helping him prepare to enter university.

“The teachers there were absolutely wonderful in guiding everyone throughout our high school career – especially in the last two years in the IB program,” Ali says.

“There was definitely a competitive atmosphere, but it just fueled everybody to try and do the absolute best they could in whatever field they wanted to get into. And happily, everybody in my friend group was able to get into their top choice for university.”

Ali’s former geography teacher, Karen Pak – who graduated from the master's program at U of T's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 2017 – says the school project that led to Ali's app was based on principles from the Global Ideas Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, where she was formerly the mentor program manager. She says Ali's enthusiasm for learning will serve him well in university.

“As an educator, you always hope that students will be sparked by something to make learning truly tangible and applicable,” Pak says.

“Zarif deserves all the credit in taking this opportunity and turning it into a pathway for his creativity and intellect – a winning combination. I know he will go on to accomplish incredible innovations and inspire others to do the same.”

As he gets ready to start at U of T in September, Ali is as focused on his academic goals as he was on building Transit+.

“I’m hoping that I can meet the requirements to get into the computer science major. After second year, I want to go into the focus in human-computer interaction program, because that’s where you get to learn about design fundamentals.

“And I’m hoping to meet like-minded people at U of T who are also as passionate about computer science and improving things like transit or looking at other things that could be very simple to implement, but could dramatically improve our quality of life,” Ali says, adding that he’s planning to join some of U of T’s entrepreneurship clubs and accelerators to help him further develop his app.

For Transit+ to become a reality, Ali knows he’d need buy-in from TTC and Metrolinx – and has already reached out to local politicians, activists and transit staff who've offered feedback and even helped him refine his pitch.

Ironically, Ali – who immigrated to Scarborough from Bangladesh with his parents in 2010 – has never been much of a transit rider himself. But that’s all about to change as he gears up for his daily commute to campus this fall.

“I've always been lucky enough to have my schools or wherever I need to go really close by, so I never really rode transit that much,” he says. “But now that I'm coming downtown to attend U of T, I feel like having a program like Transit+ in place would be great.”

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Back to School 2023

‘Something out there’: How a U of T undergrad uses AI to search for aliens

siddiq22 — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:15:42 +0000

‘Something out there’: How a U of T undergrad uses AI to search for aliens

siddiq22 Mon, 07/31/2023 - 09:15

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Peter Ma, who is entering his fourth year of study in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science, was the lead author on a paper published in Nature Astronomy earlier this year (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Artificial Intelligence

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Mathematics

Physics

Research & Innovation

Space

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

Subheadline

Peter Ma wrote an algorithm to detect signs of extraterrestrial life while still in high school

Is there life beyond our planet? It’s a question that third-year ��Ƶ undergraduate student Peter Ma began thinking about when he was still in high school.

A math and physics student entering his fourth year in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Ma is dedicated to searching for aliens – and while that may sound like something out of science fiction, he isn’t exactly chasing down little green men. Instead, he’s drawing on his passion for science to find the data that could prove we’re not alone in the universe.

Ma was in Grade 12 when he wrote an algorithm to look for signs of intelligent life using open-source data from the University of California, Berkeley and its Breakthrough Listen research program.

After cold-emailing researchers at the SETI Institute, he became the youngest member of the team of international researchers at UC Berkeley dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and was lead author on a paper published earlier this year in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“I was super-curious even as a really young kid,” says Ma, who grew up in a Chinese-speaking household and learned English by reading books borrowed during visits to the local library.

“I remember asking my parents questions about everything as early as age four – and they didn’t really know how to answer most of them.”

Ma recalls getting a telescope at age six, and frequent trips to Home Depot and Walmart to buy supplies for his many “on steroids” science projects. One such challenge to build a working chair for the school principal out of recycled materials found Ma toying with the idea of melting aluminum cans – until he realized it was “probably not a good idea to build a furnace in the backyard.”

In high school, he taught himself Grade 11 computer science in three weeks, spending the remainder of the semester devouring videos on machine learning and deep learning – eventually developing his space-scanning algorithm using Breakthrough Listen’s open-source data.

“I was looking for interesting problems to solve,” he says, recalling how his high school teachers were more perplexed than impressed with his AI exploits.

Even while stuck at home during the pandemic, Ma managed to maintain that momentum, working with SETI in the summer before starting university as a member of Victoria College. Once his classes were underway, he continued the collaboration with the support of the Laidlaw Scholars Program.

Using his algorithm, Ma and the SETI team detected eight radio signals that may have originated from life on another planet – when he relayed the findings to his U of T supervisors, he was surprised to hear them suggest the study could be published.

“When they said, ‘We’re going to send this to Nature Astronomy,’ I thought, ‘Wow, hold on – I’m not ready for papers.’ Usually those are done by actual researchers – in comparison to them, I’m still learning my ABCs.”

Ma stresses that when SETI refers to signals coming from an alien civilization, they aren’t necessarily talking about the big-eyed creatures we see in movies – but rather signs that point to some kind of life well beyond our own planet.

“We obviously can't search for intelligence per se – we search for proxies of the targets. So, we search for signs of engineering – in this case, engineering of radio technosignatures, or radio emissions. We believe that intelligent species can produce technology – a phone or a telescope or something like that – and we detect those kinds of signals.”

Ma credits his U of T supervisors and collaborators – in particular study co-author Cherry Ng, a former research associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, jointly affiliated with SETI, who is now an astronomer at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France; and Bryan Gaensler, director of the Dunlap Institute and professor in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy – for preparing him to work alongside veteran researchers in the field.

“Peter is self-motivated and not afraid of challenges,” says Ng, who began working with Ma in the summer of 2020 to search for technosignatures using the Green Bank Telescope based in West Virginia.

“When we get stuck on the analysis, instead of giving up, Peter would always come up with new ideas to try again. It’s his determination that sets him apart.”

Ma and the SETI team plan to continue their work with a two-year project that will scan up to one million stars (Ma’s paper, by contrast, looked at just 820 stars) using a set of 64 telescopes in South Africa.

Ma will have graduated from U of T by the time the project wraps up, but unsurprisingly plans to continue his scientific exploration as a graduate student.

“There has never been a better time in history to find extraterrestrial life now and in the future – our probability of actually finding them only goes up from here,” says Ma, who is spending his summer working with the experimental particle physics group at McGill University on a joint project with CERN, the Swiss-based organization that developed the Large Hadron Collider.

“If you truly believe that we’re alone here [in the universe], then that’s a different story. But if you believe that there’s something out there, then it’s only a matter of time until we actually find it.”

Risks of artificial intelligence must be considered as the technology evolves: ��Ƶ

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:56:19 +0000

Risks of artificial intelligence must be considered as the technology evolves: ��Ƶ

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 06/29/2023 - 13:56

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��Ƶ, a University Professor Emeritus at the ��Ƶ, speaks onstage at the Collision technology conference (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Subheadline

"Godfather of AI" expands on his warnings at Collision conference in Toronto

Artificial intelligence can be used as a force for good – but there are also big risks involved with the generative technology as it gets even smarter and more widespread, “godfather of AI” ��Ƶ told the Collision tech conference in Toronto on Wednesday.

In a Q&A with Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic magazine, Hinton – a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist who is a University Professor Emeritus at the ��Ƶ – expanded on concerns he has recently expressed about the technology he played a key role in developing.

“We have to take seriously the possibility that [AI models] get to be smarter than us – which seems quite likely – and they have goals of their own,” Hinton said during a standing-room-only event at the conference, which was expected to draw nearly 40,000 attendees over three days.

“They may well develop the goal of taking control – and if they do that, we’re in trouble.”

Hinton, who recently left Google so he could speak more freely about AI risks, was one of several U of T community members scheduled to speak at Collision, which is billed as North America’s “fastest-growing tech conference” and counts the university as an event partner.

The government of Ontario used the occasion of the conference to announce that the Vector Institute – a partnership between government, universities and industry where Hinton is chief scientific adviser – will receive up to $27 million in new funding to “accelerate the safe and responsible adoption of ethical AI” and help businesses boost their competitiveness through the technology.

During his talk, Hinton outlined six potential risks posed by the rapid development of current AI models: bias and discrimination; unemployment; online echo chambers; fake news; “battle robots”; and existential risks to humanity.

Hinton spoke before a standing-room only crowd at the conference (photo by Johnny Guatto)

When Thompson suggested that some economists argue that technological change over time simply transforms the function of jobs rather than eliminating them entirely, Hinton noted that “super intelligence will be a new situation that never happened before” – and that even if chatbots like ChatGPT only replace white-collar jobs that involve producing text, that would still be an unprecedented development.

“I'm not sure how they can confidently predict that more jobs will be created for the number of jobs lost,” he said.

Hinton added much of his concern stems from his view that AI may soon demonstrate the capacity to reason.

“The big language models are getting close – and I don’t really understand why they can do it, but they can do little bits of reasoning,” he said, predicting that AI will evolve over the next five years to include multimodal large models that are trained on more than just text, including videos and other visual media.

“It's amazing what you can learn from language,” he said. “But you're much better off learning for many modalities – small children don't just learn from language alone.”

Maximizing the creative potential of AI and minimizing its harms requires distinguishing between its potential risks, Hinton added, noting many in the tech sector have downplayed his warnings over the existential risk since he began speaking out.

“There was an editorial in Nature yesterday where they basically said fear-mongering about the existential risk is distracting attention [away] from the actual risks,” Hinton said. “I think it's important that people understand it's not just science fiction; it’s not just fear-mongering – it is a real risk that we need to think about, and we need to figure out in advance how to deal with it.”

Thompson pointed out that fellow AI luminary Yann LeCun – who jointly won the 2018 A.M. Turing Award (often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of computing”) with Hinton and Yoshua Bengio for their work on deep learning – has suggested that the positive aspects of AI will overcome any negative ones.

“I’m not convinced that a good AI that is trying to stop bad AI can get control,” Hinton said. “Before it's smarter than us, I think the people developing it should be encouraged to put a lot of work into understanding how it might go wrong – understanding how it might try and take control away. And I think the government could maybe encourage the big companies developing it to put comparable resources [into that].

“But right now, there’s 99 very smart people trying to make [AI] better and one very smart person trying to figure out how to stop it from taking over. And maybe you want to be more balanced.”

Trevor Young appointed U of T’s vice-president and provost

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 20:19:58 +0000

Trevor Young appointed U of T’s vice-president and provost

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/27/2023 - 16:19

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(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Toronto Academic Health Science Network

Cheryl Regehr

Meric Gertler

Provost

Trevor Young, dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and an internationally recognized scholar on bipolar disorder and the molecular basis of mood disorders, has been appointed the ��Ƶ’s new vice-president and provost.

Approved Tuesday by U of T’s Governing Council, Young’s appointment is for a five-year term, effective Jan. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2028.

Currently also serving as U of T’s vice-provost, relations with health-care institutions, Young is a professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s departments of psychiatry, and pharmacology and toxicology, and a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

He previously served as U of T’s acting provost from July to December 2021.

“As dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Professor Trevor Young has demonstrated exceptional leadership on many fronts, from launching transformational academic programs to developing important initiatives around equity, diversity and inclusion,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “He also played a key role overseeing the university’s relationship with its health-care partners – and, as the university’s acting provost, helped lead the ��Ƶ through a challenging period during the pandemic.

“I look forward to having Professor Young join the vice-presidential team and to continue working closely with him on advancing the university’s mission.”

Young, who will succeed current Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr, said his time as acting provost spurred his interest in taking on the role on a longer-term basis.

“It means a lot to me to be able to give back to the university, which has been like a second home for me in many ways,” he said. “The fact that I can contribute by making an impact as provost is really significant to me.”

Since being appointed dean at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine in January 2015, Young launched a new foundational curriculum for MD students, introduced several interdisciplinary education and research programs, advanced system-wide equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives with partner hospitals and other health sciences faculties, and led the renewal of medical sciences laboratory space.

He also advanced the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s position as the lead contributor to Ontario’s regulated health professional workforce and made significant progress in areas of equity, diversity and inclusion through his support of curricular innovation and new initiatives such as the Diversity Mentorship Program and the Black Student Application Program.

As vice-provost, Young has overseen the university’s relationships across the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, a thriving research enterprise comprised of nine fully affiliated teaching hospitals and four associate member hospitals.

“Temerty is a big, multi-departmental faculty, which has helped prepare me to take on a leadership role of this scale and complexity,” Young said. “During my time as dean, I learned how important it is to make sure that you include a lot of voices and listen closely to seek out opportunities for solutions.”

The recipient of numerous awards, Young has led several large clinical programs, including the mood disorders program at Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital, which received the American Psychiatric Services Gold Achievement Award. In 2009, he was made a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Young received his MD from the University of Manitoba and his PhD at the Institute of Medical Science at U of T, where he completed his residency training. He was a research fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has been a professor of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University; professor and head of the department of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia; and professor and chair of U of T's department of psychiatry.

“I've had the experience of being a U of T student, a faculty member and in leadership,” Young said. “I've had a chance to see lots of different sides of the university and hear perspectives from the community – and that will serve me well for this role as provost, which has oversight over so many areas.”

In January, President Gertler shared that Regehr, a professor and former dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, planned to step down as vice-president and provost at the end of the year. First appointed to the role in 2013, her many accomplishments include improving U of T’s equity and outreach programs, supporting faculty diversity, excellence and leadership, securing enhanced supports for graduate students and advancing student mental health.

“I want to thank Professor Regehr for her exceptional leadership and dedication to student success and academic excellence,” President Gertler said. “Her achievements in this integral role will continue to resonate at the university for many years to come.”

As provost, Young said he plans to build on Regehr’s work while drawing on his background in mental health and his role as chair of the Presidential and Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health.

“I really want to continue to work on student mental health and accessibility – I think we’ve done a remarkable job of improving that, but I think we have to do even more,” he said.

“I also want to look at how we approach AI in all the work we do in teaching and research, especially given the fact that we’ve had such a remarkable impact on the field coming from ��Ƶ and others here. And finally, I’d like to look at how the three campuses can work even better together.”

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Trevor Young

New graduate credits U of T’s Transitional Year Programme for her success – and plans to pay it forward

siddiq22 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 17:09:52 +0000

New graduate credits U of T’s Transitional Year Programme for her success – and plans to pay it forward

siddiq22 Fri, 06/16/2023 - 13:09

Cutline

Floria Kangootui, wearing traditional clothing from her homeland of Namibia, graduated this week after U of T's Transitional Year Programme helped her achieve her dream of attending university (supplied image)

Topic

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Faculty of Arts & Science

University College

Subheadline

After overcoming challenges to achieve her dream of attending university, Floria Kangootui aims to help others by drawing on her own experiences

As Floria Kangootui crosses the stage at Convocation Hall this week, she’ll be thinking about how far she’s come.

While the ��Ƶ graduate always planned to continue her education when she fled Namibia for Canada 12 years ago, obstacles kept getting in the way – until she discovered the Transitional Year Programme (TYP).

“I wanted to go to a country where I would just feel safe and be who I am. I came not having any friends or family, not knowing anyone – I just made a huge decision to come here and really wanted to go to school,” recalls Kangootui, 40, who earned a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Arts & Science with a major in critical studies in equity and solidarity and a double minor in Indigenous studies and African studies.

“When I arrived, I came in as a refugee claimant and did not have my immigration status yet. Due to my challenges supporting my family back home, I dropped out of school. I didn’t know what to do – I didn’t have a voice for myself.”

Kangootui wears a stole from Black Grad 2023, a student-run celebration that highlights the accomplishments of Black graduates at U of T (supplied image)

Kangootui, a member of University College, left Namibia because of societal pressures, including a longstanding tradition within her family to promise girls in marriage to their cousins, as well as deeply rooted homophobia within the country.

Once in Canada, she took a job in 2013 with a mining company in Timmins, Ont. – pushing her aspiration to finish high school even further off.

But when an Indigenous colleague at the company shared stories about residential school and the Sixties Scoop, Kangootui's desire to learn was rekindled.

“I really began questioning why I didn’t know anything about this history and realized I wanted to go back to school and learn more about the history of Canada.”

After becoming a single parent in 2016 and moving back to Toronto, she was set to study community services at college when a Facebook post about U of T’s Transitional Year Programme caught her eye.

The eight-month program, which helps adult students who have not completed high school enter university, offers supports – including an academic adviser, access to counselling, funding options, spaces to work and social events – to ensure students succeed in transitioning to undergraduate studies.

“I remember going to my first TYP meeting – it was opening doors to people who never would have had the qualifications or background to go to university,” Kangootui says.

Kangootui’s interest in social justice quickly found a home in her studies, which opened her eyes to inequities at home and abroad and underscored her desire to effect change.

“For example, I have people from my community who are LGBTQ – they don’t want to come out because of the stigma,” she says.

“Learning more about equity has really changed my understanding about so many things.”

Kangootui credits the TYP with allowing her to fulfil her dream of higher education – and for helping her to cultivate a network of peers who have overcome everything from addiction, language barriers, homelessness and more to work toward the same goal.

“Every story is so unique – most of us didn’t have parents who went to university. I think all of us realized that it was something we had to do,” she says. “The people that I have met in the program, we are still together to this day – it’s a real community.”

“Even though we may come from different backgrounds and speak different languages, we all still need a place where we feel that we belong.”

She’s also grateful for the mentorship and guidance of faculty and lecturers Francis Ahia, Stan Doyle-Wood, Chevy Eugene and Joanne Valin, as well as program director Lance McCready, registrar Shane Wallace and program administrator Maru Rodriguez.

“Floria was a committed, conscientious TYP student who built a strong network of support,” says McCready, associate professor of leadership, higher and adult education at U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

“She is a shining of example of the transformative power of undergraduate studies and the importance of investing in education access for mature students.”

During her studies, Kangootui served as the upper-year representative of the African Studies Course Union and volunteered with Fife House, an organization providing supportive housing and support services to people living with HIV.

“Now I can understand others’ struggles based on my experience, and want to give back in any way I can. That’s my goal for the future,” she says.

Kangootui plans to live up to that commitment through the next step in her educational journey – she’ll start a master’s degree at U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in the fall – and hopes her achievement will inspire her seven-year-old daughter.

She has a simple message for others facing challenges on the path to university: “School does not have any age – we can all do it. If I was able to go to school given my whole journey, and as a single mother, then everyone can do it.”

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Transitional Year Programme

U of T marks entrustment of Anti-Asian Racism Working Group Report

lanthierj — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 20:25:35 +0000

U of T marks entrustment of Anti-Asian Racism Working Group Report

lanthierj Thu, 06/08/2023 - 16:25

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Vikram Chadalawada, left, co-chair of the Anti-Asian Racism Working Group, hands the group's final report to U of T President Meric Gertler (all photos by Polina Teif)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Anti-Asian Racism Working Group

Alumni

Cheryl Regehr

President Meric Gertler

The ��Ƶ held a ceremony this week to mark the entrustment of the Anti-Asian Racism Working Group’s (AARWG) final report, which includes 40 recommendations to address the often invisible nature of anti-Asian racism and build a more equitable community across U of T’s three campuses.

The ceremony, held in Governing Council Chamber, marked the official handover of the report to U of T’s senior leaders, who have accepted all of the report’s recommendations.

U of T President Meric Gertler accepted the report on behalf of the university.

“I accept and embrace all its recommendations,” he said. “We will proceed as quickly as possible to implement the recommendations fully, with transparency and accountability. And we encourage all members of the university community to join in combatting anti-Asian racism, in society and on our three campuses.”

The report’s recommendations comprise eight key areas: institutional accountability, data and transparency; communications; hiring, reviews and career development; education, training and mentorship; teaching, curriculum and research; community and belonging; health, wellness and support; and resources (funding, staffing and research).

“As leaders of the university, we acknowledge that anti-Asian racism is often ignored or even unnoticed,” President Gertler said. “We recognize that the richness, complexity and diversity of Asian experience are not as well understood and appreciated as they ought to be. And we see that all too often, the remarkable contributions made by members of the Asian community are taken for granted.

“We also see a tremendous commitment among members of the U of T community to help lead the way in meeting these challenges. Moreover, we feel very hopeful that the implementation of the working group’s recommendations will lead to significant progress in doing so.”

The ceremony began with welcoming remarks and a land acknowledgement by Heather Boon, acting vice-president, people strategy, equity and culture. She also thanked the working group and co-chairs Carol Chin and Vikram Chadalawada for their work on the report.

“The final report entrusted to the university today provides important guidance for our collective efforts to combat anti-Asian racism – something that many Asian-identifying members of our community have experienced on a personal and structural level,” Boon said.

(L-R) Heather Boon, Cheryl Regehr, President Meric Gertler, Chancellor Rose Patten, Carol Chin and Vikram Chadalawada

The AARWG was launched in April 2022 as part of the university’s commitment to addressing discrimination and growing anti-Asian racism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted members of the U of T community. The 39-member AARWG worked over the course of a year to consult with stakeholders and learn more about the experiences and perspectives of students, faculty, librarians and staff.

“All those consultations produced numerous suggestions from members of the community, and we felt the great responsibility of translating those ideas and wishes into concrete, manageable actions that the university could implement and that would actually make a difference,” said Chin, who is also principal of Woodsworth College and an associate professor in the department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“We are delighted that the university is accepting all our recommendations and committing to their implementation. And we hope that the diverse members of the Asian-identifying community at U of T feel well represented by the report and feel as hopeful as we do about the outcome.”

Chadalawada, assistant director of student information systems, enterprise applications and solutions integration, thanked those who participated in the AARWG’s university-wide survey, focus groups and consultations, and noted visibility was a theme that surfaced throughout the working group’s engagement with the U of T community.

“It is our hope that the report of the Anti-Asian Racism Working Group gives voice to the diverse members of U of T’s Asian community and its various diasporas – or, put another way, that it makes ‘invisible’ experiences of the U of T Asian community become visible,” Chadalawada said.

“And, by making these experiences more visible, it will ensure that addressing anti-Asian racism and supporting members of the U of T Asian community are ongoing priorities across our campuses.”

In its response to the report, U of T’s administration said it is implementing proposed actions as a result of the AARWG’s work and other ongoing equity-related initiatives, and pledged to take meaningful action on creating a more supportive environment for members of U of T’s diverse Asian community.

Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr thanked the working group for shedding light “on the pervasive existence and effects of anti-Asian racism” and for offering tangible solutions and charting pathways for change.

“It takes courage to speak up to ask to be seen, understood and valued in ways that historically have been withheld from Asians in Canada,” Regehr said. “It takes courage to ask for change and to inspire an entire community to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of Asian students and colleagues.”

The entrustment ceremony concluded with remarks by Chancellor Rose Patten, who thanked the working group for its leadership in addressing the challenge of anti-Asian racism and noted U of T’s institutional commitment to the ideals of an open and just society.

“The phrase ‘inclusive excellence’ really does reflect what we strive to achieve and to exemplify. But of course, that does not mean that we won’t sometimes fall short, or that we cannot do better,” Patten said.

“In fact, it is precisely because of the principles we stand for and the mission we have set for ourselves that we must always seek to do better. The resurgence of anti-Asian racism is a challenge for all of us – we must rise to the occasion, and must always prevent complacency.”

Javed Mostafa named dean of U of T’s Faculty of Information

lanthierj — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 17:17:24 +0000

Javed Mostafa named dean of U of T’s Faculty of Information

lanthierj Fri, 06/02/2023 - 13:17

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(supplied image)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Cheryl Regehr

Faculty of Information

Javed Mostafa, an expert in information science, particularly information retrieval problems, has been named dean of the ��Ƶ’s Faculty of Information for a five-year term from Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2028.

He will also join the faculty as a full professor.

Mostafa comes to U of T from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as a professor and the leader of an interdisciplinary informatics training program called the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) that oversaw collaboration among seven UNC academic units.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity. I’ve known some colleagues at U of T for years and know the quality of their work and the passion they display – I’m excited to build something with them,” Mostafa said.

“Information studies has much growth potential – for every challenge, I see an opportunity to grow and expand our field.”

Mostafa’s work focuses on multimedia information retrieval, personalization and user modeling as well as cyberinfrastructure for research and learning. He began his teaching career at Indiana University-Bloomington in 2000, where he also served as an associate dean of research and associate dean of academics. He joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007, where he was twice named as the Frances McColl Distinguished Term Professor and is jointly appointed at the School of Information and Library Science (iSchool) and the Biomedical Research Imaging Center (School of Medicine).

He currently directs a research laboratory and a training program with approximately 25 research faculty, staff and students and has active projects that focus on developing novel applications of machine learning, data visualization and equitable information services.

A strong proponent of diversity and inclusion, Mostafa led the creation of summer programs at CHIP to expand the participation of students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBUCs), online programs to support engagement of non-traditional students and high-school pipeline programs.

“Professor Mostafa’s academic leadership experience, research excellence, commitment to diversity and access in higher education, and his vision for the future of the field will be key to the continued success of the Faculty of Information in the years ahead,” said U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr.

“I’m thrilled to welcome him to the ��Ƶ.”

With more than 105 peer-reviewed publications of his own, Mostafa has served in editorial roles for several prestigious journals in the field. He was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, an associate editor for the journal ACM Transactions on Information Systems and currently serves as an associate editor for the journal ACM Transactions on Internet Technology.

He is also the co-founder of two U.S.-based companies: KeonaHealth and Cymantix.

Mostafa was born in Bangladesh and spent his childhood years in Libya. Upon completing his O levels at a Catholic boarding school in Malta, he moved to the U.S. to attend university. He describes his exposure to many cultures and countries as his most influential life experience – one that shaped his career-long focus on expanding educational opportunities, independent of the ethnic and social backgrounds of individuals.

“I’m inclined toward a global view because I grew up like that,” he said.

“I’m keen about opportunities for people around the world to attain higher education and advance – and I see Toronto as a perfect place to represent those different ethnicities and backgrounds, attracting people from all over. I’m looking forward to doing that with a world-class institution.”

Mostafa will succeed current Faculty of Information Dean Wendy Duff, who will stay on until Aug. 31 to support the transition. Duff, whose teaching and research focus on archival access and social justice, including the emotional impact of archival work, was first appointed dean of the Faculty of Information in 2016.

As he prepares to move to Toronto and start in his new role, Mostafa says he looks forward to learning from his new colleagues and students.

“I’m going to strive to be a good facilitator – coming in to learn and grow together and be a catalyzer,” he said. “One thing I am very excited about is the fact that U of T has three campuses, and they all have different characters and dimensions.

“As a team, we can help and complement each other, and I’m looking forward to getting to know all the campuses and bring people together.”

U of T accepts all recommendations of Anti-Asian Racism Working Group’s final report

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 29 May 2023 12:51:58 +0000

U of T accepts all recommendations of Anti-Asian Racism Working Group’s final report

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/29/2023 - 08:51

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(photo by Daria Perevezentsev)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Anti-Asian Racism Working Group

The ��Ƶ is committed to implementing the 40 recommendations for addressing anti-Asian racism on campus issued in the final report by U of T’s Anti-Asian Racism Working Group.

The final report outlines eight key areas where the university can expand on its work to build a more respectful, accountable, equitable and inclusive community while stepping up efforts to combat anti-Asian racism, which experienced a spike in Canada and other countries during the pandemic.

The report highlights the fact that anti-Asian racism is often compounded by a feeling of invisibility and acknowledges the diverse nature of the Asian community across U of T’s three campuses, including the unique experiences of international students.

“The ��Ƶ is staunchly opposed to anti-Asian racism in all its forms,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “It also acknowledges that anti-Asian racism is too often ignored – and that the rich, complex and diverse Asian experience is sometimes overlooked, while many remarkable contributions from this community are taken for granted.

“We accept the Working Group’s recommendations and commit the university to proceeding as quickly as possible, with accountability and transparency.”

The Anti-Asian Racism Working Group (AARWG) launched in April 2022 as part of U of T’s commitment to addressing discrimination and growing anti-Asian racism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted members of the U of T community.

The group comprised 39 members, including 12 faculty, instructors and librarians; 18 staff; and nine students.

“So many people from across different constituencies of the university wanted to help on this work,” said working group co-chair Carol Chin, principal of Woodsworth College and associate professor in the department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“We wanted to ensure that we had a cross-section of different Asian identities, so we tried to include people from different backgrounds and different experiences so that we had a representative group,” added fellow co-chair Vikram Chadalawada, assistant director of student information systems, enterprise applications and solutions integration.

The working group appointed a steering committee and three subcommittees to consult stakeholders and launched a university-wide survey in October 2022 to invite students, faculty, librarians and staff to share their experiences of and perspectives on anti-Asian racism at U of T. The group then held focus groups and consultations to better understand the issues.

“We felt a great sense of responsibility to be entrusted with the stories and hopes of all the different members of the community, and also then the responsibility to take those disparate experiences and crystallize them into recommendations that the university could actually act on,” Chin said.

That process informed the recommendations in the final report, which are grouped into eight key areas: institutional accountability, data and transparency; communications; hiring, reviews and career development; education, training and mentorship; teaching, curriculum and research; community and belonging; health, wellness and support; and resources (funding, staffing and research).

In its response to the report, U of T’s administration notes the university is implementing proposed actions as a result of the working group’s consultations and other ongoing equity-related initiatives, and pledges to take meaningful action on creating a more supportive environment for members of U of T’s Asian community.

“The Anti-Asian Racism Working Group’s recommendations have provided a concrete foundation upon which a more equitable U of T community may flourish, while recognizing that inclusion and belonging on our campuses cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach,” said U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr.

“As a result of this important initiative, we commit to an increased vigilance in identifying and confronting anti-Asian racism at U of T and society at large. We hope that the measures taken in response to this report will result in members of the U of T Asian community feeling how deeply valued they are as individuals and contributors to our collective and shared success.”

The U of T community will be updated on progress related to the report’s recommendations via the commitments tracking webpage of the Institutional Equity Office.

“The multidimensional work of responding to racism at the university requires a collective effort,” said Acting Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture Heather Boon. “We recognize the diversity of experience within and across U of T’s Asian community, and we aim to create a more supportive environment in which all our members feel they belong.

“We will continue to support initiatives that contribute to the well-being and success of Asian faculty, librarians, students and staff.”

Lingyin Shen, co-lead of the Anti-Asian Racism Working Group’s students and curricula subcommittee, said she was encouraged by the feedback throughout the group’s year-long process and hopes their report will lead to substantive change.

“I hope the administration is going to take a very close look at the report and consider all the voices and recommendations, and implement them in a way that is open-minded and practical,” said Shen, who is a U of T graduate in East Asian studies and works at the Centre for International Experience as an international student immigration adviser.

“It’s a good pathway moving forward,” added subcommittee co-lead Wan Li, a recent U of T graduate in geography and contemporary Asian studies.

Co-chairs Chin and Chadalawada said they’re pleased with the administration’s response to the report and note discussion on the issues will continue beyond the working group.

“The whole U of T community wants change to happen – and the institution is genuinely committed to change,” Chadalawada said. “It’s the perfect balance of everyone feeling the need to work together to make that change happen.”

U of T and McGill collaborate to stage North American premiere of banned Haydn opera

siddiq22 — Wed, 17 May 2023 15:55:01 +0000

U of T and McGill collaborate to stage North American premiere of banned Haydn opera

siddiq22 Wed, 05/17/2023 - 11:55

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The cast and creative team behind a new production of Orfeo gather for rehearsal in the Geiger-Torel Room at U of T's Faculty of Music (supplied photo)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Our Community

Academic + Campus Events

Austrian composer Joseph Haydn may have been known as the “Father of the Symphony,” but he also penned a number of operas – including one that was declared contraband and shut down before its premiere in 1791.

Caryl Clark

Now thanks to a collaboration between the ��Ƶ and McGill University, that opera – L’anima del filosofo (or Orfeo: The Soul of the Philosopher) – will be staged in North America for the first time. The production, which includes students and professional artists, will be performed on May 26 and 27 at the MacMillan Theatre at U of T’s Faculty of Music, alongside an academic symposium about the opera at Walter Hall on May 27 supported by U of T's Jackman Humanities Institute in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the opera was never performed during Haydn’s lifetime after “authorities in London, fearing that the new plot resonated too closely with liberal Enlightenment ideals advanced in revolutionary France, shut down the production during rehearsals in May 1791,” says musicologist and Haydn scholar Caryl Clark, a professor of music history and culture in the Faculty of Music who spearheaded the project.

To stage the opera – which lay dormant in Eastern European archives until the Cold War – Clark and fellow musicologist Dorian Bandy, a professor of early music and music history at McGill who will serve as conductor for the production, brought together a cast and crew from both universities along with award-winning theatre practitioners from Canada and the U.S.

Clark and Bandy told U of T News about the challenges of mounting a long-lost opera for the first time and why such an ancient tale still resonates onstage today.

What is the story behind Orfeo?

Clark: With his great musical powers – he’s a singer and lyre player – Orpheus gains entry to the Underworld to rescue his beloved who died of a snake bite on their wedding day. Warned not to look back at her on their journey out of Hades, his passions overtake his rational mind – he looks at her, and she vanishes forever, leaving him to lament into eternity.

How are U of T and McGill working together on the production?

Bandy: Collaborations of this nature are usually between individuals – in this case between me and Caryl. However, both of us have gotten many other people from our respective universities involved in the production. The performances are taking place at U of T, and U of T students are making up most of the cast and chorus. U of T colleagues have also been helping with many behind-the-scenes aspects of the production – from choral preparation and vocal coaching to elements of lighting and design. McGill’s Early Music program, meanwhile, is responsible for the period-instrument orchestra that will be playing in the pit during the production. The performances will really embody an ideal synthesis of the strengths and energies of each university.

What made you want to take on this opera for the first time – and what challenges did you face in mounting a production that’s a North American first?

Bandy: Haydn’s lost Orfeo opera has been on Caryl’s radar for more than three decades! Caryl first learned of this opera as a graduate student at Cornell University, and she spent much of her career working on it – publishing articles, presenting papers at conferences and even delivering pre-concert lectures at productions in Europe. In late 2019, we met at a musicology conference and both agreed that launching a production at one of our universities would make for a stimulating project.

Clark: The challenges of putting together a production of this opera are not unique to Haydn. Opera is expensive, so many of the primary hurdles have involved fundraising. However, equally crucial has been the assembly of a keen and visionary creative team, including our energetic young director Nico Krell, who has taken a leading role in shaping the look, feel and underlying message of our production.

Although the lack of a North American staging tradition for this opera might seem an obstacle – after all, most members of the creative crew were not already familiar with this work when they signed up to be a part of the show – this also affords us a huge amount of artistic freedom and flexibility. The audience will not be entering the theatre with the baggage of preconceptions about the music, memories of favourite past productions and the like – and this means that we will have the pleasure of presenting this piece to many listeners for the very first time, and shaping their expectations and experiences more actively as the performances unfold.

(L-R) Orfeo performers Asitha Tennekoon (who plays the title role) Parker Clements (Creonte), Lindsay McIntyre (Euridice) and Maeve Palmer (Genio) (supplied images)

What can attendees expect to learn at the corresponding symposium on May 27?

Clark: Along with colleagues from Northeastern University and Brown University, we will discuss the intellectual context for the opera and the process of mounting this production – and students from both U of T and McGill will present their experiences of preparing the opera for public performance.

Opera and politics are inextricably intertwined. Music, art and literature have the power to shape the thoughts and minds of listeners, readers and audiences, so governments and politicians are particularly sensitive to the potential of theatrical representation and other forms of artistic expression to destabilize society and undermine government authority. Indeed, Haydn’s Orfeo was to have premiered a few months after the statesman Edmund Burke penned his Reflections on the Revolution in France in 1790. There are many historical precedents for banning works of art deemed too politically sensitive for their times. Our production focuses on the extinguishing of Enlightenment values and delivers a powerful contemporary environmental message by staging “nature’s revenge.”

Tabassum Siddiqui

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