The Hearts of Freedom exhibition and Passage to Freedom documentary spotlight first-hand accounts of those who fled wars, and the Canadians who helped them

TORONTO, Sept. 17, 2024 鈥� During the tumultuous war-torn period of the Vietnam War, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Laotian Civil War, millions fled their countries to seek asylum abroad. A new exhibition at 91亚色鈥檚 Osgoode Hall Law School, 鈥溾�� (HOF), and documentary, Passage to Freedom, commemorates the lives of those who resettled in Canada.

Running Sept. 13 through Oct. 14, the HOF exhibition is on display at the main entrance of Osgoode Hall Law School Library. Passage to Freedom, by director Sheila Petzold, will be screened during the official opening of the exhibition on Sept. 24 at Helliwell Centre in Osgoode Hall Law School from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free event is open to the public.

鈥淚t is remarkable that all those Southeast Asian refugees who arrived in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s quickly adapted to their new country and have made outstanding contributions to Canadian society. Many Canadians are unaware of their individual stories of resilience and how they enriched Canadian society in so many ways. Our exhibition and documentary film help to educate Canadians about this very important period in their country鈥檚 history,鈥� says Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe, creator and curator of the HOF exhibition as well as researcher for the broader Hearts of Freedom project, and Passage to Freedom documentary.

In 1979 and 1980 alone, some 60,000 Southeast Asian refugees arrived in Canada, according to . In total, over 200,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees landed here. Canada welcomed the highest rate per capita among all countries accepting such refugees. It was the single largest resettlement of refugees in Canadian history. This period has been described as a turning point in our country鈥檚 immigration policy and the positive humanitarian response by Canadians reflected a change in attitude towards refugees. In 1986, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) awarded the people of Canada the Nansen Medal for their exceptional contribution to refugee protection. It鈥檚 the only time that the Nansen Medal has been awarded to citizens of any country.

As a young child, Stobbe was one of those refugees who resettled in Canada with her family. Like many other Southeast Asian refugees, she attained a distinguished and successful career. President of the Canadian Association for Refugees and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and a professor of conflict resolution studies at the Canadian Mennonite University鈥檚 Redekop School of Business in Winnipeg, Stobbe is a highly regarded and respected academic and researcher in the field of peace and conflict studies. She will be one of the principal guest speakers at the opening event on Sept. 24, taking attendees on a guided tour of the exhibition and leading discussion on the documentary film.

Passage to Freedom weaves together archival news stories, wartime footage and interviews with former refugees and Canadian immigration officials. The documentary is the result of years of work and 173 interviews conducted by the . Three interview teams and four community coordinators spoke with people who, between 1975 and 1985, escaped the horrors of war and made their way, first, to refugee camps in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines before Canada, as well as those who assisted them.

HOF has been touring across the country, making stops at the Senate of Canada in Ottawa, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, the Canadian Immigration Museum at Pier 21 in Halifax and the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, as well as at university campuses and other venues.

鈥淚t is wonderful to see how well our exhibition and film have been received and celebrated right across Canada,鈥� says Stobbe.

Ties to 91亚色

A distinguished philosopher from 91亚色, the late Professor Howard Adelman was an early pioneer in the new discipline of refugee studies and one of its most influential scholars, activists, and policymakers. The founder and head of Operation Lifeline, he helped bring thousands of Southeast Asians to Canada through the Canadian Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program in the 1970s and 鈥�80s.

Adelman also established the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) at 91亚色, one of the world鈥檚 leading research centers of its kind. Each year the CRS holds its annual Howard Adelman Lecture in honour of its founding director. There will be an opportunity to recognize Professor Adelman鈥檚 contributions to 91亚色 and Canada at the opening of the exhibition.

For more information, see the Hearts of Freedom . To reserve your free ticket, visit .

The post Exhibition commemorating Southeast Asian refugees in Canada now at 91亚色 appeared first on News@91亚色.

Presidential debates in the United States are often little more than a platform for candidates to trade insults and repeat claims, true and false, about various political issues.  was no exception.

During the debate, Trump repeated multiple debunked claims about migrant crime. Namely, that criminality in the U.S. was 鈥渢hrough the roof鈥� because of 鈥渕igrant crime.鈥� In fact, the opposite is true: .

At one point, Trump repeated false claims circulating online that immigrants are . Debate moderator David Muir fact-checked Trump, pointing out that Springfield鈥檚 city manager said there were .

Trump鈥檚 argument that immigration increases crime goes against the reality that numerous studies have found: .

The logic is quite simple: asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants can be deported for committing a crime. So, why would they risk being sent back home after the significant effort they made to reach their destination?

Despite these realities, in recent years, both the  and  have seen a sharp rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric, emanating from both conservative and liberal politicians.

This rhetoric, while politically expedient, carries dangerous consequences: it legitimizes discrimination, dehumanizes immigrants 鈥� especially racialized people 鈥� and often turns them into scapegoats for broader societal problems and collective anger.

As the narrative spreads across the political spectrum and across borders, it is essential to unpack how it is being used, what real-life harm it causes and how it diverts attention from systematic inequalities.

Bipartisan anti-immigrant rhetoric

Conservative talking points have long framed migration as a threat to national identity, homeland security and economic stability. Politicians, from far-right populists to centrist liberals, use anti-immigrant narratives to deflect attention from deeper systematic issues such as affordable housing shortages, economic inequalities and failing public services. These narratives not only dehumanize immigrants but also create an environment of fear and hostility for everyone.

Even Harris鈥檚 immigration policies reflect this shift in rhetoric. Her focus on border enforcement and deterrence over more comprehensive immigration reform echoes Trump鈥檚 approach to securitize the border. Her controversial comments during a 2021 trip to Guatemala, where she told migrants, 鈥�,鈥� reinforced narratives that criminalize migration rather than address its root causes.

Harris鈥檚 campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, has said if elected, she would . Harris has also promised to revive a border security deal that collapsed in Congress earlier this year after Trump told Republicans to reject it. If passed, the legislation would have implemented .

In Canada, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre has said the , claiming that increased immigration exacerbates housing shortages and strains public services. Poilievre has .

In 2022, the federal government announced plans to welcome around . More recently, however, Justin Trudeau鈥檚 Liberal government has blamed  and temporary foreign workers for Canada鈥檚 .

In March, the government  to reduce the number of temporary residents and set a cap on the number allowed to come to Canada. While serving as a convenient way to seem tough on immigration, this does little more than mask long-standing under investment in education, housing and health care.

Dehumanizing language

Politicians frequently refer to immigrants using inundation metaphors that describe them as 鈥渨aves鈥� or 鈥渇loods鈥� and even 鈥�.鈥� This dehumanizing language paints them as .

Talking about migrants as an impending deluge strips them of their individuality, dignity and humanity. Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are no longer seen as people seeking a better life, fleeing persecution or escaping poverty and political unrest. They are turned into a nameless mass threatening social and economic stability.

Trump used this kind of language during the presidential debate saying 鈥�.鈥� This also points to the trend of reducing migrants to mere numbers. Trump said there were 21 million migrants entering the U.S. every month, .

Racism and xenophobia

Dehumanizing language is often racialized, with Black, brown and Asian immigrants frequently portrayed as criminals, job thieves or drains on public resources. This racism and xenophobia are deeply ingrained in both the U.S. and Canadian immigration systems, which have historically treated racialized immigrants with more suspicion and hostility than their white counterparts.

Take Canada鈥檚  versus the slow and dehumanizing response to refugees  . Meanwhile,  against  have increased dramatically as they become scapegoats for socioeconomic problems.

With a federal election increasingly likely in Canada, both the Liberals and Conservatives will attempt to sound like the ones who can control immigration, securitize borders and prioritize resources for Canadians. Consequently, xenophobic rhetoric will be inevitable.

How we receive and respond to it is up to us as voters. We can fall for the political distractions or we can resist attempts to blame immigrants for the failures of governments and demand more investment in affordable housing, public infrastructure and health care. Only by tackling these issues head-on can we hope to create a society where immigrants are treated not as scapegoats, but as equals.

By , director of the Centre for Refugee Studies, 91亚色.

This article is republished from . 

The post Beyond the听Harris-Trump听debate: How politicians use听anti-immigrant听rhetoric to mask systemic听failures appeared first on News@91亚色.

As the world鈥檚 refugee crisis intensifies and climate change linked natural disasters become more frequent, unique machine-learning enabled tool helps aid workers deliver safe water in displaced-population settlements

TORONTO, Nov. 3, 2022 鈥� A team of researchers from 91亚色鈥檚 Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and  have revamped their Safe Water Optimization Tool (SWOT) with multiple innovations that will help aid workers unlock potentially life-saving information from water-quality data regularly collected in humanitarian settings. 

Created in partnership with Doctors Without Borders/M茅decins Sans Fronti猫res (MSF), the free-to-use, open-source online platform has been shown to dramatically increase water safety for people living in refugee camps and has corrected major inaccuracies about proper chlorination levels that went on for decades.

SWOT version 2, , builds on earlier research with advancements in the tool鈥檚 machine-learning and numerical-modelling engines. A reimagined and redesigned user experience, and new functionalities, promise to give humanitarian responders much-needed assistance in situations where waterborne diseases are among the leading health threats. 

鈥淥ur first version of the tool was a prototype. What we've done in the past two years with user feedback and field learning is build a state-of-the-art web product,鈥� says team lead Syed Imran Ali, who is a research fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute and an adjunct professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering. 鈥淭his is one of the first operational deployments of artificial-intelligence technology in humanitarian response.鈥�

Ali and the rest of the team, who include machine learning lead   from Lassonde鈥檚 Department of Civil Engineering, modelling graduate researcher Mike De Santi, Dahdaleh Institute director Dr. James Orbinski and field advisor James Brown, say these improvements are informed by real-life lessons gleaned from the field.

Humanitarian aid workers face huge challenges supplying safe water to people affected by conflict or natural disasters, explains Brown, who has previously worked in camps managing the water supply of upwards of 40,000 people. This updated version is being developed to respond to these pressures. 

鈥淲orking as a water engineer in crisis, you鈥檙e providing water to people who are often extremely vulnerable, and it鈥檚 your job to help protect them from all the health risks that exist in that kind of environment,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so frustrating not having the information you need to be confident that the water you鈥檙e delivering isn鈥檛 yet another health risk. The motivation for all the work we鈥檝e been doing to release the SWOT v2 is to help people make the best decisions and provide confidence that quality standards are being maintained 鈥� both for the aid workers and those relying on the water supply.鈥�  

The tool was born out of Ali鈥檚 experience working with MSF as a water and sanitation specialist in refugee settlements in South Sudan. Despite following industry-standard guidelines for water chlorination, Ali and his colleagues were seeing that water was still unsafe in people鈥檚 households during a large outbreak of Hepatitis E, a serious waterborne illness that can have up to a 25 per cent mortality rate among pregnant women.

鈥淭here was a huge crisis 鈥� end of the rainy season, flooding everywhere,鈥� Ali recalled. 鈥淪o all these waterborne diseases were tearing through the camp.鈥� 

Through field research looking at how water quality behaves in refugee camps, Ali and his team discovered the chlorination guidelines used widely in the humanitarian sector were built on faulty assumptions.

鈥淣o one had ever looked at the problem of what happens after the tap,鈥� Ali explains, noting that unlike most urban settings in the developed world, people in refugee camps must collect water from public faucets in containers and then bring it back to their homes where it is stored and used for many hours, introducing many opportunities for recontamination during this 鈥榣ast mile鈥� of the safe-water chain.

Building on the work initiated in South Sudan, the research team studied chlorination levels at distribution and in households in refugee camps around the world, and realized they could use this data 鈥� which is routinely collected for monitoring purposes 鈥� to model post-distribution chlorine decay and generate site-specific and evidence-based water-chlorination targets. They put these modelling tools on the cloud to create the SWOT v1 prototype and carried out a proof-of-concept study in a large refugee camp in Bangladesh.

鈥淲e found that using the SWOT recommendations effectively doubled the proportion of households with safe water at around 15 hours compared to the status-quo practice,鈥� Ali says.

While these results were very impressive, they did not account for all the various conditions water and sanitation workers could experience, Brown adds, which v2 factors in. They also did not account for taste. SWOT v2 not only promises to make water safer, but also find the optimal level where chlorine levels are high enough to protect people, but not so high that people will reject it. This is particularly important in parts of the world where people were previously used to sources such as high-quality spring water and are not accustomed to chlorine.

鈥淚f people don't like the taste, they don't like the way it looks and smells, they're not going to use that source and they鈥檒l then go to a river or somewhere else that could be dangerous,鈥� Brown says.

In future SWOT versions, the team hopes to include other water quality and health outcomes and look at how they could integrate more participation from displaced people themselves. While Ali says the tool cannot deal with the political roots of the refugee crisis, the practical need for SWOT is greater than ever. 

鈥淭he unfortunate fact of it is there's more people displaced now than there ever has been in human history,鈥� Ali says. 鈥淲e see climate-linked disasters increasing in frequency and scale 鈥� in particular, flooding crises, which are linked to a lot of waterborne illness. It is a very clear and present danger. People need solutions that work in the current context.鈥� 

For backgrounder, click here.

To watch a demo, .

To sign up for the virtual event launch on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m., click here.

-30- 

91亚色 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亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 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:

Emina Gamulin, 91亚色 Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

The post 91亚色 U researchers鈥� revamped AI tool makes water dramatically safer in refugee camps appeared first on News@91亚色.

TORONTO, Sept. 6, 2022 - Waterborne illness is one of the leading causes of infectious disease outbreaks in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) settlements, but a team led by 91亚色 has developed a new technique to keep drinking water safe using machine learning, and it could be a game changer.

As drinking water is not piped into homes in most settlements, residents instead collect it from public tap stands using storage containers.

鈥淲hen water is stored in a container in a dwelling it is at high risk of being exposed to contaminants, so it鈥檚 imperative there is enough free residual chlorine to kill any pathogens,鈥� says Lassonde School of Engineering PhD student Michael De Santi, part of 91亚色鈥檚 Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, who led the research.

Recontamination of previously safe drinking water during its collection, transport and storage has been a major factor in outbreaks of cholera, hepatitis E, and shigellosis in refugee and IDP settlements in Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.

鈥淎 variety of factors can affect chlorine decay in stored water. You can have safe water at that collection point, but once you bring it home and store it, sometimes up to 24 hours, you can lose that residual chlorine, pathogens can thrive and illness can spread,鈥� says Lassonde Adjunct Professor Syed Imran Ali, a Research Fellow at 91亚色's Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, who has first-hand experience working in a settlement in South Sudan.

Using machine learning, the research team, including Associate Professor also of Lassonde, has developed a new way to predict the probability that enough chlorine will remain until the last glass is consumed. They used an artificial neural network (ANN) along with ensemble forecasting systems (EFS), something that is not typically done. EFS is a probabilistic model commonly used to predict the probability of precipitation in weather forecasts.

鈥淎NN-EFS can generate forecasts at the time of consumption that take a variety of factors into consideration that affect the level of residual chlorine, unlike the typically used models. This new probabilistic modelling is replacing the currently used universal guideline for chlorine use, which has been shown to be ineffective,鈥� says Ali.

Factors such as local temperature, how the water is stored and handled from home to home, the type and quality of the water pipes, water quality or did a child dipped their hand in the water container, can all play a role in how safe the water is to drink.

鈥淗owever, it鈥檚 really important that these probabilistic models be trained on data at a specific settlement as each one is as unique as a snowflake,鈥� says De Santi. 鈥淭wo people could collect the same water on the same day, both store it for six hours, and one could still have all the chlorine remaining in the water and the other could have almost none of it left. Another 10 people could have varying ranges of chlorine.鈥�

The researchers used routine water quality monitoring data from two refugee settlements in Bangladesh and Tanzania collected through the Safe Water Optimization Tool Project. In Bangladesh, the data was collected from 2,130 samples by M茅decins Sans Fronti猫res from Camp 1 of the Kutupalong-Balukhali Extension Site, Cox鈥檚 Bazaar between June and December 2019 when it hosted 83,000 Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar.

Determining how to teach the ANN-EFS to come up with realistic probability forecasts with the smallest possible error required out-of-the-box thinking.

鈥淗ow that error is measured is key as it determines how the model behaves in the context of probabilistic modelling,鈥� says De Santi. 鈥淯sing cost-sensitive learning, a tool that morphs the cost function towards a targeted behaviour when using machine learning, we found it could improve probabilistic forecasts and reliability. We are not aware of this being done before in this context.鈥�

For example, this model can say that under certain conditions at the tap with a particular amount of free residual chlorine in the water, there is a 90 per cent chance that the remaining chlorine in the stored water after 15 hours will be below the safety level for drinking.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of probabilistic determination this modelling can give us,鈥� says De Santi. 鈥淟ike with weather forecasts, if there is a 90 per cent chance of rain, you should bring an umbrella. Instead of an umbrella, we can ask water operators to increase the chlorine concentration so there will be a greater percentage of people with safe drinking water.鈥�

鈥淥ur Safe Water Optimization Tool takes this machine learning work and makes it available to aid workers in the field. The only difference for the water operators is we ask them to sample water in the container at the tap and in that same container at the home after several hours,鈥� says Ali.

鈥淭his work Michael is doing is advancing the state of practice of machine learning models. Not only can this be used to ensure safe drinking water in refugee and IDP settlements, it can also be used in other applications.鈥�

The paper, , will be published in the journal PLOS Water.

De Santi will deliver a seminar on this paper as part of the Dahdaleh Institute Seminar Series on Sept. 7, from 1 to 2 p.m. EST. It is open to the public and registration is free.

-30-

91亚色 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亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 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:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

The post Researchers develop novel way to prevent waterborne infectious diseases at refugee settlements appeared first on News@91亚色.

A few years ago, Hala Tamim, a professor in 91亚色 U's Faculty of Health whose main research areas are maternal and child health, was working as an interpreter for two Syrian refugee families who had moved to Chester, N.S.

She says she saw first-hand the suffering and hardships that the Syrians faced.

"It just struck me how difficult it must be to be a new parent in a new country," Tamim says.

Wanting to take action, Tamim contacted Khalid Yunis, a colleague at the American University of Beirut, and a neonatologist with extensive research experience. She had collaborated with Dr. Yunis for many years and was aware of his recent work with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The pair brainstormed about a project to assess the overall integration of Syrian refugee parents in Canada and compare that to Syrian refugee parents residing in Lebanon. Eventually recruiting with Michaela Hynie and Yvonne Bohr from 91亚色's Department of Psychology, Akm Alamgir from Access Alliance and Diane Riskedahl, they submitted a research proposal in 2017 and were able to receive funding from the federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

As a way to share the findings, Dawn Harwood-Jones, a member of the Starfish Refugee Project, suggested that the team create video diaries with the refugee participants. A Syrian refugee parents in Ontario who had already participated in the survey portion of the study were approached to take part in a video portion. Nine participants agreed to participate and were asked to briefly share their expectations and attitudes towards Canada in video format. They were shown a pre-recorded instructional video on how to best film themselves using a tablet that was provided to them, at their own home and convenience. They had a month to answer a list of provided questions on video.

Harwood-Jones then edited the footage from the Syrian families. This yielded two films. The first covers advice and information for those who are waiting to come to Canada, as well as those who have been accepted as refugees to Canada but have not yet arrived.

The second provides advice and helpful information to recently arrived refugees on what they can expect in their first year here in Canada.

"We found that these families are very thankful about being here as they see this is an opportunity to have a good life specifically for their children," Tamim says. "They are very resilient. They face many difficulties and stressors first few years in Canada which they try to overcome 鈥� learning a new language, financial issues, missing family and loved ones, finding social support, and trying to assimilate in a new country that has new rules, regulations and customs.

"Despite extensive orientation that refugees receive before coming to Canada, they are still unprepared, and we need to reflect on how better to support these orientations."

Tamim says she has learned that refugees need to be better prepared before coming to Canada, and she hopes resources like the documentaries encourage them to start learning English or French before arriving.

The post Nine Syrian refugees share their experiences of resettling in Canada in documentary produced by 91亚色 U professors appeared first on News@91亚色.

The 2017-18 season is dedicated to 鈥淲orlds of Exile鈥�.

TORONTO, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018 鈥� Theatre @ 91亚色鈥檚 2017-18 season, dedicated to 鈥淲orlds of Exile,鈥� features a subversive take on German playwright Bj枚rn 叠颈肠办别谤鈥檚 Deportation Cast, translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte and directed by Keira Loughran. This compelling exploration of uncommon elements of the refugee system opens Jan. 25 and continues to Jan. 27 in the Foster Studio on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus.

鈥�Deportation Cast reveals the fragility and privilege of the political systems we in the first world take for granted. It demands a more complex and personal response to issues that are otherwise easy to keep in the realm of global issues,鈥� said Loughran. 鈥淚t challenges us as artists to engage with open hearts in the tragic circumstances this family is caught in, and to share the cost of and culpability for those circumstances in our own lives.鈥�

It is a story of refugees: what happens to the families that are denied refugee status and are sent back to the countries they fled? What are the strategies they have developed to cope with the weight of being part of the machinery 鈥� a machinery that is meant to regulate one country鈥檚 well-being but causes distress and fear for those it rejects?

Sixteen-year-old Elvira has lived most of her life in Germany, is well integrated, has friends and has just fallen in love with a German classmate. But her family is Roma and fled the war in Kosovo when she was six. Their refugee status was never confirmed. Now, their hometown has been declared 鈥渟afe鈥� and the family is deported with little warning or time to prepare. Roma are not only stigmatized in Germany, but face prejudice and discrimination with little hope for employment and integration in Kosovo.

Elvira's boyfriend, Bruno, breaks off all contact with his pilot father when he finds out he flew the plane that deported Elvira鈥檚 family. But we also meet the doctor, immigration office administrator, an over zealous social worker, and the pilot鈥檚 new girlfriend. All have their strategies perfected that allow them to play their role in the officially accepted system; they all face their breaking points when the professional crosses into the personal realm.

Germany is the new country of immigration, and more than any other European country it has developed opportunities to confront and express this new reality with projects involving refugees in its rich theatre landscape. Canada is, by comparison, an old country of immigration, but it too is facing the challenges of a great new wave of Syrian immigrants

Loughran has been pushing the boundaries of Canadian theatre for more than 20 years as a director, producer, actor, dramaturg and playwright with companies across the country. Her company K'Now Theatre, has produced two shows, garnering seven Dora nominations and winning three. Loughran currently serves as associate producer for the Forum and Laboratory at the Stratford Festival. Directing credits, include The Aeneid and The Komagata Maru Incident for Stratford, and Pu-Erh for which she received a Dora nomination for Outstanding Direction. Upcoming, she will direct The Comedy of Errors at Stratford.

Bicker lives in Germany and works as an author, director, curator, cultural project leader and dramaturg. He has written 15 plays, four radio plays and three works of prose. His projects focus on social awareness and community engagement, and he has facilitated countless initiatives that integrate immigrants (legal and illegal) in the artistic process and enable interaction about living in exile with the local population. Deportation Cast has had over a dozen productions in theatres across Germany.

The Goethe Institute commissioned Schreyer Duarte鈥檚 translation of Deportation Cast. Originally from Germany, Schreyer Duarte works as a translator, director (Hamlet/Shakespeare in High Park)听and dramaturg (Canadian Stage). She has translated over a dozen plays from German into English, which听have been staged in Toronto, Stratford and London, United Kingdom.

Theatre @ 91亚色鈥檚 season 鈥淲orlds of Exile鈥� explores longing, belonging, and displacement. Exile, refugee, asylum-seeker, nomad, migrant, immigrant, these terms share a sense of displacement and a feeling of otherness. While some of these terms can be defined in legal and political terms, others speak to a rift that generates a social and psychological condition. With 鈥�Worlds of Exile,鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Theatre reflects on aspects of the varied experience of persons who, either by choice or as a result of imposition are living outside their home of origin, are othered by virtue of colonial exile practices, who have returned home only to find it unrecognizable, or who, as the children or grandchildren of exiles are living in two worlds.

___________________________________________________________________________

Theatre @ 91亚色 presents Bj枚rn 叠颈肠办别谤鈥檚 Deportation Cast, translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte and directed by Keira Loughran
When: Jan. 25 to 27
Schedule: Jan. 25 & 26 7:30pm, Jan. 26 & 27 2pm
Where: Foster Studio, Accolade East 207, 91亚色, 4700 Keele St., Toronto
Admission: Free. Sign up link:

-30-

听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亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 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.听91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media contact:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097, sandramc@yorku.ca

The post Theatre @ 91亚色 features English language premiere of Bj枚rn 叠颈肠办别谤鈥檚 Deportation Cast appeared first on News@91亚色.

TORONTO, March 7, 2017 鈥� Mexican scholar and human rights activist Sergio Aguayo will discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in Mexico and what can be done at the 2017 Michael Baptista Lecture tomorrow at 91亚色.

A panel discussion, including representatives of the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International, will follow the talk.

Panellists will look at the current state of US and Mexico relations, Canada鈥檚 role in the developing crisis and how Canadian immigration policies will affect the potential increase of Mexican refugees to this country.

What: Michael Baptista Lecture & panel discussion
When: March 8, from 5 to 8:30pm, speech starts at 5:30pm
Who: 听听Sergio Aguayo, professor, Centre for International Studies, El Colegio de M茅xico, will deliver his talk, 鈥淓scape from violence: What is the role of scholars?鈥�
Panellists:
鈥� Judy Hellman, political and social science professor, 91亚色, will discuss, 鈥淢agic Realism and Canadian Policy toward Mexican Refugee Claims."
鈥� Loly Rico, president, Canadian Council for Refugees, discussing 鈥淐hanges in Canadian policy regarding Mexican refugee claimants and visas.鈥�
鈥� Kathy Price, Amnesty International, talking about 鈥淢aking it Visible:
Creative Campaigning to Support the Struggle for Human Rights in Mexico.鈥�
Where: Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, Keele campus, 91亚色. (See number 92 on .)

For more information, visit 91亚色's Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean::

听- 30 -

is known for championing 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-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni.91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097,听sandramc@yorku.ca

The post Media Advisory: The effect of Trump鈥檚 anti-Mexico stance on Canada appeared first on News@91亚色.

TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2016 鈥� 鈥淩e-imagining refuge鈥� for millions of people who have been displaced from their homes and their countries will require ensuring people are welcomed and valued as neighbours rather than merely accommodated, and will require action locally, nationally and internationally, according to speakers at a symposium at 91亚色鈥檚 Glendon College today.

The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, 26^th Governor General of Canada (1999-2005) and co-founder and co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, opened the symposium on Re-imagining Refuge.

鈥淩efugees coming to Canada present us with a unique opportunity for Canada to gain new talent, new opportunities, and new horizons for economic prosperity,鈥� said Mme. Clarkson, who said Canada offered her many opportunities after her family came here as refugees in 1942.

听Organized by 91亚色 and 91亚色鈥檚 in collaboration with Universities Canada, the symposium was part of a Universities Canada speaker鈥檚 series called .

"The global refugee crisis is one of the most pressing and challenging issues of our time, and given 91亚色鈥檚 historic commitment to social justice, this Mindshare symposium is consistent with our ongoing aim to contribute meaningfully to global conversations and advance solutions to global challenges," said Mamdouh Shoukri, President and Vice-Chancellor of 91亚色. "From student and community groups who have mobilized to sponsor and welcome refugees, to the valuable work being done at our Centre for Refugee Studies and by researchers across the University to engage with issues of migration and resettlement, I am justifiably proud of 91亚色's leadership in this area."

Panellists discussed the importance of re-imagining refuge based on human rights and dignity and committing to actively engaging with people who are seeking refuge. Local and national groups, along with individual Canadians, can have a major impact in the response to an enormous international humanitarian issue, they said.

Professor Jennifer Hyndman, director of 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Refugee Studies, said local and national actions are especially important because the global refugee system, its laws and policies are based on an outdated postwar model. The term 鈥減rotracted refugee situation鈥� is a euphemism for failure, she said.

鈥淭he existing international refugee regime is sorely outdated and just not working. We have a lot of mechanics tinkering with a very old mechanism. What is needed is an inventor, an architect who can redesign the way we engage refugees.鈥�

听is known for championing 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听unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni.
91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

听Media Contact:
Barbara Joy, Media Relations, 91亚色, 416 736 5593 / barbjoy@yorku.ca

The post Refugees need opportunities 鈥� and offer opportunities for Canada: Re-Imagining Refuge symposium at 91亚色 appeared first on News@91亚色.