The third Annual Report on Black Inclusion is now available. The latest annual report features a comprehensive look at all 86 calls to action items, offering a clear account of progress on each item. It also provides a robust assessment of efforts to advance the action items, as well as insight into what more is needed to substantially shift institutional culture toward the inclusion and affirmation of the vibrance, diversity and depth of Black lives and experience.

鈥淚t is meaningful that over 70 per cent of action items have been completed or are on track. We should celebrate this and thank those who have made it happen鈥� said Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, vice-president Equity, People & Culture. 鈥淗owever, these achievements shouldn鈥檛 be treated as endpoints. I hope we鈥檒l use the progress evident in the report to keep up momentum and engage even more 91亚色 community members in advancing Black inclusion initiatives.鈥�

Some completed activities to date include: 

Action Item: As part of our commitment to review campus security and explore alternative models for community safety, ensure that the lens of equity, diversity and inclusion is central, and that the process will include community consultation (e.g., townhalls, focus groups) with Black community members.

Results: The Security Services Review has been completed and recommendations for changes in service provision and community engagement are already being implemented.

Action Item: Support the development of a Black staff affiliation group and support ongoing activities.

Results: The 91亚色 Black Staff Network (YUBSN) was formed in 2021, with membership open to all Black people of African descent who occupy non-academic staff roles at the University.

Action Item: Hire a minimum of 12 new Black faculty over the next two years (2021-2023). Support departments鈥� readiness and develop their capacity to support Black colleagues.

Results: In fact, 35 Black Faculty members have been hired since 2021, with considerable effort and programming going into ensuring they encounter colleagues and a larger University community ready to support their success. 

Action Item: Support the development of the Black Alumni Network, created in 2020, and its ongoing activities.

Results: The 91亚色 Black Alumni Network (YUBAN) continues to embody Black excellence with an energetic group of graduates, enthusiastic about mentorship and inspiring the minds of emerging thinkers and leaders.

Many additional items are progressing well but are still underway and so are listed as 鈥渙n track鈥� in the report. Some activities were postponed but remain active parts of this strategy. 

Several themes emerged from the progress updates, and the report shares these insights. For instance, those who take on important initiatives often feel burdened by requests to report on it. This is a challenge that Equity, People & Culture and others across the university will try to address.

鈥淚t is important to continue to acknowledge and centre the voices of people from the Black community, some of whom have wondered whether this strategic effort will bring perceptible, meaningful change across 91亚色 campuses for Black students, staff, and scholars,鈥� said Lisa Cocketts, strategy and engagement specialist - Black Inclusion. 鈥淚t is through a dynamic and evolving Action Plan as well as honest, full reporting that 91亚色 can demonstrate its commitment to creating actual, positive change towards Black inclusion,鈥� added Cocketts.

Community members are asked to join together in recognizing the hard work of the many contributors to the work of Black Inclusion and the progress the University has made, as updates such as this report are not possible without the efforts of many.

The 91亚色 community is encouraged to review the Annual Report to learn more. Feedback can be provided by email to epcinfo@yorku.ca.   

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91亚色 neuroscientist Jeffrey Schall has been appointed a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Translating Neuroscience, alongside two renewals 鈥� Gillian Parekh and Joel Zylberberg 鈥� for existing CRCs, announced by the Government of Canada on June 14.

The CRC program is a major investment by the federal government (up to $300 million+ per year) to attract and retain world-class talent at Canadian universities. The program also provides training opportunities for the next generation of highly skilled personnel through research, teaching and learning.

The new and renewed CRCs at 91亚色 are:  

Jeffrey Schall is a newly appointed Tier I CRC in Translating Neuroscience and a professor in the Faculty of Science

Schall鈥檚 research aims to further understand the complexities of the brain and how it enables decision-making processes for actions and experiences: how people decide what to do, how people control when they do it and how people know if they did what they meant to do. Insights from Schall鈥檚 research could improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions like dementia and schizophrenia.  

Gillian Parekh is a renewed Tier II CRC in Disability Studies in Education and an associate professor in the Faculty of Education

Parekh is examining how schools respond to disability in order to improve student success. She and her research team are gathering and analyzing new data to develop strategies that will shed light on how 鈥渁bility鈥� is used to justify student organization within schools and the inequitable distribution of in-school resources and opportunities.

Joel Zylberberg is a renewed Tier II CRC in Computational Neuroscience and an associate professor in the Faculty of Science

Zylberberg and his research team train artificial intelligence (AI) to see and respond to images in the same way as the human brain. By teaching AI to process visual information like the brain鈥檚 visual cortex, deep learning algorithms could lead to the creation of devices that help visually impaired or blind people see again, in addition to potentially advancing technology for self-driving cars. 

91亚色鈥檚 Chairholders received $2,400,000 and are part of a $94,500,000 investment in 121 new and renewed CRCs at 39 institutions across Canada. For the full list, visit the .

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Social sciences and humanities research at 91亚色 has received a boost of more than half a million dollars from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), awarding Partnership Development Grants to three researchers in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

The latest round of Partnership Development Grant funding supports short-term partnerships (one to three years) between research teams from post-secondary institutions and organizations in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

鈥�91亚色 is grateful for SSHRC鈥檚 investment in our outstanding faculty and their mission to create positive change through community-engaged research,鈥� said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. 鈥淎s an institution that excels in social sciences and humanities research, these three 91亚色-led projects exemplify our commitment to research excellence driven by impact and rooted in meaningful collaboration with our partners.鈥�

Through their combined efforts, the research teams develop projects in the social sciences and humanities or design and test new partnership approaches for research and related activities, including knowledge mobilization.

The 91亚色 U recipients include:

Annie Bunting, a professor in the Law & Society program in LA&PS, for a project titled 鈥淵outh-led initiatives for gender justice and peacebuilding,鈥� which received $199,850. The project will bring together researchers, filmmakers, artists and others to study the long-lasting impacts of violence on youth, aged 15 to 29, in places affected by war and conflict. The project looks to gain a deeper understanding of how young people cope in such situations and involves multiple collaborating partners, with groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

Marcello Musto, a professor in the Department of Sociology in LA&PS, for a project titled 鈥淲ar and the Left: A Global History,鈥� which received the maximum $200,000. The project will examine how left-wing political forces and theorists have responded to war, deepening understanding of the intellectual and political history of numerous progressive social movements and political parties around the world. It aims to be the most comprehensive study of the topic to date and involves researchers from 91亚色, five archives, six research-focused organizations and two museums, from eleven countries across four continents.

Miguel Gonz谩lez, an assistant professor in the Department of Social Science in LA&PS, for a project titled 鈥淓mancipatory Horizons for Self-determination of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples in Central America,鈥� which received $199,840. The project will gain insights into the struggles and strategies of these peoples to protect their land, rights and way of life. It will promote the political and legal efforts of civil society organizations to advocate for autonomous self-governance and will involve a dozen Indigenous and Afro-descendant groups in Costa Rica, Panama and the San Andr茅s archipelago.

The three 91亚色-led projects were among 75 projects across Canada to receive the new funding. A full list of the Partnership Development Grant recipients can be found .

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In an effort to enhance undergraduate engineering research in Uganda, faculty members from 91亚色 and the University of British Columbia have joined forces on an education-enhancing project with Academics Without Borders (AWB), a non-profit organization aiming to improve the higher education landscape in developing countries.

The Strengthening Engineering Undergraduate Research (SER-Undergraduate) project, initiated by faculty at the Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST) in Uganda, aims to provide international support to MUST undergraduate students, empowering them to engage in high-quality research endeavours.

As part of the collaboration, 91亚色 U Professor Arash Habibi Lashkari 鈥� an AWB volunteer who is also the founder and director of 91亚色鈥檚 Behaviour-Centric Cybersecurity Center 鈥� embarked on a week-long visit to MUST, where he interacted with students and faculty members to assess the current state of the institution's undergraduate research program and identify areas for improvement.

"I am honoured to be part of this initiative to empower undergraduate students in Uganda to pursue research excellence," says Lashkari. "By sharing our expertise and resources, we can make a meaningful impact on these students' academic and professional trajectory."

During his visit to Uganda, Lashkari engaged in insightful discussions with students, faculty members, the international office and the administration department, guiding and enhancing research methodologies and academic standards. The visit not only fostered knowledge exchange but also served as a testament to the importance of volunteerism and international collaboration in advancing education and research on a global scale.

"Membership in the AWB Network offers opportunities for academics and professionals to share their expertise and knowledge as volunteers in capacity-building projects in partnership with institutions in low- and middle-income countries," says Professor Nancy Gallini, executive director of Academics Without Borders. "Engaging in this work gives faculty and staff a global perspective that enriches education and research on their campuses."

For MUST students, the SER-Undergraduate project allows for access to resources, mentorship and opportunities for hands-on research experience that they wouldn't have otherwise had. By leveraging the expertise and resources of Canadian faculty members serving as volunteers, Ugandan students can gain the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in their future academic and professional endeavours.

As the SER-Undergraduate project continues to unfold, the goal of transforming engineering education and empowering a new generation of research-driven scholars in Uganda remains.

For more information, visit the .

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The REDDI Series offers students, staff and faculty opportunities to learn through interactive sessions that emphasize engagement and skill building.

The REDDI Mini-series on will feature four sessions running from June 3 to July 9. Three sessions from the core REDDI series, , are scheduled in July.

Participants can earn a core REDDI Series Certificate and a REDDI Mini-series Certificate by signing up for sessions on YU Learn. If not enough sessions are not completed during the summer, additional sessions will be held in the Fall and Winter terms.

For more information on the REDDI Series, visit the .

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A paper by undergraduate students in 91亚色's School of Human Resource Management, titled 鈥�,鈥� was published in the esteemed International Journal of Employment Studies. It examines the pervasive issue of discrimination against women in the workplace, addressing key areas such as gender bias, motherhood and pregnancy discrimination, and the gender pay gap.

Students Nicki Nguyen, Nishana Ganesh and Sarah Versteeg initially began their work in Professor Duygu Biricik Gulseren鈥檚 Occupational Health and Safety class, where one of their assignments was to review 10 recent research articles on a workplace health and safety topic of their interest. Gulseren was so impressed with their work, she invited the students to expand their review and collaborate with her.

Together, the team conducted a larger literature review on workplace discrimination against women, focusing on three common types: gender bias, pregnancy and motherhood discrimination, and pay gap. Investigating why, how and when discrimination against women occurs in the workplace, they found that the discrimination is directly related to factors like gender, pregnancy or motherhood status, and compensation in the workplace.

鈥淭his paper aims to provide a research synthesis and evidence-based recommendations for [human resources] leaders wishing to prevent gender discrimination demonstrated through gender bias, motherhood and pregnancy discrimination, and the gender pay gap," says Gulseren. "It also serves as an up-to-date review for researchers interested in this topic.鈥�

Drawing upon the latest evidence available, the paper offers practical recommendations for organizations striving to bolster their gender diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It serves as a valuable resource for businesses aiming to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment.

Under their professor's guidance, the students have made a significant contribution to the field of workplace diversity and inclusion, an accomplishment most undergraduate students can't claim. Gulseren is proud of her students' impact.

鈥淭he paper is published in a peer-reviewed journal listed in the selective Australian Business Deans Council journal list along with papers from other, mostly PhD-level, researchers," she explains. "This is a tremendous achievement for undergraduate students. They pushed the field forward by making a novel and meaningful contribution to the academic discourse on gender diversity in organizations.鈥�

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