Antara Dey has won the Mahmoud Eid Graduate Prize at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference 2026, held at the University of Windsor, Ontario.

The Mahmoud Eid Graduate Prize is presented to the best graduate-level (Master’s or PhD) student paper submitted to the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) annual conference that focuses on media and diversity in Canada, as it pertains to race, religion, and/or Indigeneity.

Dey received the award for her paper, “Curry, Camera, and Communication: Tasting Home in the Bengali Diaspora.”

This paper explores how Bengali food mediates diaspora identity, emotion, and sense of belonging through the mediums of cinema and lived experience. Combining textual analysis and autoethnography, the study examines the films Maacher Jhol (2017) and Daab Chingri (2019) alongside the researcher’s act of sourcing ingredients and cooking these dishes while living in the Bengali diaspora in Canada. Through this dual lens, the paper analyzes how maacher jhol (fish curry) and daab chingri (prawns in coconut milk curry) serve as signifiers that bridge the distance between home and hostland through taste, texture, and memory.

_{Photo of Antara Dey receiving the Mahmoud Eid Graduate Prize at CCA 2026}

The research builds on Banerji (2001), Barthes (1957/1972), and Murcott’s (1986) work on Bengali cuisine, food semiotics, and food identity. The personal accounts expand on the presenter’s experiences of moving away from home, childhood memories of Bengali food, and cooking in a Canadian city while illustrating her journey of cooking two Bengali dishes inspired by her two grandmothers. Bengali foodways, thus, emerge as a system for familial bonding to recreate a sense of home and communicative archive where taste and texture carry the taste of home and connection. Ultimately, the paper enables a discussion of food’s multiple meanings while commemorating its power as a narrator of identity, an emotion of nostalgia, and a sign of cultural expression.

Reflecting on the recognition, Dey shared:

“My grandmothers inspired this research long before I knew it would become an academic project. Through their recipes, I learned that food is memory, history, culture, and a language of love. This paper is both a scholarly exploration and a tribute to the women whose cooking helped me carry a sense of home across continents while living far from my family as part of the Canadian Bengali diaspora. Winning this prize highlights how some of our most powerful stories about identity, migration, and belonging are not only communicated through media, but also through taste, memory, and the recipes passed down across generations.”

2025-2026 Academic Year

This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. The link and password to join the meeting may be found via the meeting’s email notice.

1. Welcome and Chair’s Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

Consultation on Senate Advisory Statement to the Presidential Search Committee (.pdf)

2. Minutes (Previous Meeting May 7, 2026) (.docx)

3. Business Arising from the Minutes

4. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

5. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Graduate Supervision, and Policy on Appointments to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

For approval
Dean Alice MacLachlan
Proposal (.docx)

6. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Milestone

For approval
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs Wes Moir
Proposal (.docx)

7. Standing Committee Reports

For discussion

Academic Planning & Policy Committee (.docx)
Appeals & Academic Honesty Committee (.odt)
Awards Committee (.docx)
Nominating Committee (.pdf)
Petitions Committee (.docx)

8. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

9. Other Business

_{A design illustrating new digital badge in FGS}

As the initiative grows, it will expand in Fall 2026 to include administrative staff across the graduate community. These badges will recognize participation in the annual FGS professional development curriculum, supporting staff in strengthening their knowledge and enhancing their capacity to navigate the complex processes involved in graduate education.

_{A logo of MyCreds}

Graduate-appointed faculty will also play an important role in this initiative. In addition to participating in the broader professional development curriculum, faculty members will be able to earn badges for key skill-building opportunities, including supervision, conflict resolution, and effective mentorship.

Developed in partnership with , this initiative positions FGS among a select group of Canadian institutions offering digital recognition for graduate-level professional development. Owned by the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC), MyCreds is a national digital credential network that enables the issuing, receiving, and secure exchange of official and professional documents for qualification holders. FGS and MyCreds are excited to launch this innovation and look forward to expanding its impact across the graduate community.

This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. The link and password to join the meeting may be found via the meeting’s email notice.

1. Welcome and Chair’s Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

2. Faculty of Graduate Studies’ Faculty Teaching Award

Presentation
2025-2026:
Professor Mary Goitom, Graduate Programs in Development Studies, and Social Work

3. Minutes (Previous Meeting April 2, 2026) (.docx)

4. Business Arising from the Minutes

5. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

6. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Graduate Supervision, and Policy on Appointments to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

For discussion
Associate Dean Academic, Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs, Wes Moir
Proposal (.docx)

7. Summer Authority

For approval
Motion: “that all items that need Council approval be delegated to the FGS Academic Planning & Policy Committee after the last meeting of Council in this academic year and until the first meeting of Council in the next academic year.”

8. Report of the Nominating Committee

For information
Associate Dean Academic, Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
Report (.pdf)

9. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

10. Student Electronic Communication Policy

For information
Associate Dean Students Tokunbo Ojo
Policy (.pdf)

11. Senate Synopses

Summaries of Senate meetings of March 26 and April 23, 2026 (URL, .pdf)

12. Other Business

Awards Committee

Gordon Fitch, Graduate Program in Biology
Dr. Gordon Fitch is, since 2023, Assistant Professor of Pollination Ecology in the Biology Department and an executive member of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. His research addresses the role of environmental stressors, particularly urbanization, disease, and agricultural intensification, in structuring interactions between plants and pollinating insects, particularly bees. His lab integrates community ecology, chemical ecology, and physiology, using a combination of field work, mesocosm and greenhouse experiments, and lab studies. He teaches undergraduate courses in Population Ecology and Community Ecology, with an emphasis on data analysis and critical thinking. At the graduate level, he has taught the seminars Critical Skills in Ecology and Evolution and Current Topics in Ecology and Evolution. Gordon is currently supervising four MSc students, three of which will graduate this year. His mentorship emphasizes career stage-appropriate development of independence as a researcher and a strong professional network both within and beyond academia. Gordon received his PhD from the University of Michigan, and was a US National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Prior to becoming an ecologist, Gordon worked as an environmental educator and high school science teacher, and he is committed to public engagement, advocacy and activism that promotes the equitable flourishing of ecological and human diversity.

Divya Sharma, Graduate Programs in Health, and Mathematics & Statistics
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at 91��ɫ, with cross-appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and as a Scientist at the University Health Network (UHN). I lead the , where my research focuses on interpretable deep learning and multimodal AI for complex healthcare data. My work has been published in journals including Nature Communications and The Lancet Digital Health and supported through more than $4 million in competitive funding from CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC as PI or co-PI. I was honoured to receive the 2025 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award at 91��ɫ.

In addition, I regularly provide consultations across UHN clinical teams on machine learning/ statistics and am a founding member of the Bias in AI and Oncology initiative at UHN. I am also affiliated with Connected Minds, the Centre for AI and Society, and the Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Public Health Advancement (AIPHA) at 91��ɫ. I serve as an adjudicator for national funding competitions including CIHR and NFRF and participate in Knowledge Mobilization Grants adjudication within Connected Minds, as well as tenure adjudication in my department at 91��ɫ. I have experience mentoring graduate students across 91��ɫ and the University of Toronto across multiple disciplines. Through these roles, I have developed a strong appreciation for evaluating excellence across diverse disciplines and forms of scholarship. I would be pleased to contribute these perspectives to the FGS Awards Committee. 

James Simeon, Graduate Program in Public Policy, Administration & Law
Dr. James C. Simeon is a Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA), Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, and a former Head of McLaughlin College, Director of the SPPA, and a former Acting Director and Deputy Director at the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), at 91��ɫ, Toronto, Canada. James serves currently as the Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS). He is also a past-President of CARFMS, a member of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). James’s areas of research include international refugee law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and public policy and administration and he has published widely in these areas. He is on the Editorial Board of the online journal Laws. And he is a graduate of King’s College and a life member of Clare Hall, at the University of Cambridge.

Prior to joining the faculty at 91��ɫ, James served as the first Executive Director of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges, now the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ). He is currently an Associate Member of the IARMJ and serves as the Coordinator of its Inter-Conference Working Party Process. He is also one of the founding members of the IARMJ Americas Chapter.

A new study led by 91��ɫ researchers is shedding light on a little‑understood experience reported by many people living with limb loss: phantom limb telescoping. New work by Andrea Aternali, a doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Health, Heather Lumsden-Ruegg, master’s researcher, and Department of Psychology Professor Joel Katz, is advancing understanding of this phenomenon. "Despite decades of research on phantom limb phenomena, telescoping has been largely overlooked," says Aternali. For people with limb loss, phantom pain and discomfort in the remaining part of the body – sensations that seem to originate from a missing or altered limb – have long captured clinical and research attention.