Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Archives - News@91��ɫ

Writer-in-Residence Shyam Selvadurai in conversation with filmmaker Deepa Mehta at 91��ɫ U event

suhasini — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:24:23 +0000

The two prominent South Asian Canadian arts personalities will share the stage to discuss Mehta’s latest documentary film that follows a transwoman’s dual life in India

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2023 – 91��ɫ’s Writer-in-Residence program presents this year’s final event, I Am Sirat + a Conversation with Deepa Mehta and Shyam Selvadurai, at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, starting with a reception at 6:30pm, Thursday, Dec. 7.

Open to the public, the event will include the screening of Mehta’s acclaimed I Am Sirat – a documentary that follows Sirat Taneja, a transwoman in India as she navigates living a dual life. A Q&A session will follow the screening.

Writer Shyam Selvadurai

This year’s writer-in-resident, Sri Lankan-born Canadian author Selvadurai and Indo-Canadian filmmaker are expected to offer an interesting discussion about the documentary film that made headlines in Canada with screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. The documentary was also well-received at other festivals around the world.

In 2020, Mehta collaborated with Selvadurai, adapting his best-selling book Funny Boy into a feature film. The duo won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Filmmaker Deepa Mehta

Oscar-nominated Mehta, who holds an honorary degree from 91��ɫ is widely recognized for her daring films that push industry and cultural boundaries. She has directed and produced several television series, critically acclaimed documentaries and feature films like her celebrated Elements trilogy: Fire, Earth, and Water 2005. In 2012, she received Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Selvadurai is the author of , , and . His work has won the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Lambda Literary Award and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award and has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award. He is also the editor of Story-Wallah: A Celebration of South Asian Fiction and a comprehensive anthology of Sri Lankan literature called Many Roads Through Paradise.

The Writer-in-Residence program is run annually by the Department of English in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies to supplement existing creative writing courses by providing students with access to a professional writer for feedback and support. Additionally, the program engages the broader community through public-facing events including readings, workshops and classroom visits.

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91��ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:
Gloria Suhasini, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-463-4354, suhasini@yorku.ca

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Why should Canadians be concerned about Central American asylum seekers?

roshanp — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 14:50:22 +0000

TORONTO, March 9, 2020 – When Central American families, men, women and children attempt to cross into the U.S., they’re faced with hardened U.S. immigration policies meant to stop unauthorized entry – even though many of these migrants are just desperate to flee violence and poverty in their homelands.

The transit experiences of migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border will be the focus of a lecture, , hosted by 91��ɫ’s Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), with assistance from the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS). The Winter 2020 Michael Baptista Lecture will be held at the Toronto Reference Library on Wednesday, March 11.

“Large scale migration of Central American asylum seekers is one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the Americas today,” said Associate Professor Sean Rehaag at Osgoode Hall Law School, who serves as Director of CRS.

But does this impact Canadians? And what about those Canadians who feel removed from televised images of Central American migrants being taken into federal custody, and children separated from their families and housed in crowded U.S. border facilities? Canadians should care, said Rehaag.

“People are fleeing massive and sustained human rights violations, as well as serious economic hardship,” he said. “Unfortunately, the United States has responded to this humanitarian crisis through harsh border control measures and penalties imposed on asylum seekers,” said Rehaag. “The Canadian government has failed to call out repeated U.S. breaches of international refugee law.”

The event will feature three speakers working in Mexico, Guatemala, and the Mexico-U.S. border region: researcher Gio B'atz' (Giovanni Batz), of New Mexico State University; researcher Elizabeth Oglesby of University of Arizona; and activist Adalberto Ramos of Centro de Recursos para Migrantes. Rehaag will introduce the speakers, along with Associate Professor Alan T. Durston, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, who serves as Director of CERLAC. The discussion will be led by Francisco Rico-Martinez of FCJ Refugee Centre.

WHAT: The Winter 2020 Michael Baptista Lecture on Central American Migrants in Limbo: Transit Experiences and Grassroots Responses

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

WHERE: Toronto Reference Library - Beeton Hall, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto

NOTE: Members of the media should RSVP to the contact below.

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca

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