Awards & Honours Archives | Research & Innovation /research/category/awards-honours/ Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:18:56 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 LA&PS celebrates student research excellence /research/2021/12/02/laps-celebrates-student-research-excellence-2/ Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:45:11 +0000 /researchdev/2021/12/02/laps-celebrates-student-research-excellence-2/ ճFaculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) is celebrating the fourth annual Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) by recognizing 54 students for their research achievements. This year’s DARE recipients produced meaningful work across all disciplines offered in LA&PS. Over the summer, each student played an integral role in coordinating projects that added valuable scholarly inquiry to […]

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ճFaculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) is celebrating the fourth annual Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) by recognizing 54 students for their research achievements.

This year’s DARE recipients produced meaningful work across all disciplines offered in LA&PS. Over the summer, each student played an integral role in coordinating projects that added valuable scholarly inquiry to the social sciences, humanities, and professional studies.

Each recipient was awarded $5,000 and paired with faculty members to explore urgent research subjects, including health care, work policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital data collection practices, issues impacting diaspora communities and more.

To commemorate the experiences from this year’s competition, LA&PS developed a virtual gallery showcasing each student and the DARE Project descriptions of the instructor-led research objectives.

“DARE is a wonderful opportunity to nurture mentorship and collaboration between instructors and students,” says Ravi de Costa, associate dean of Research & Graduate Studies. “This year’s research projects demonstrate the range and quality of the work taking place in LA&PS. Our faculty is dedicated to supporting creative and impactful work across all of our disciplines, and the DARE competition continues to expand on these efforts.”

Kiana Therrien-Tomas

For the award recipients, the projects serve as key stepping stones to future endeavours – whether in their respective fields beyond the university setting or continued academic research. Through their reflections, many of this year’s winners cited the unique hands-on experience as their favourite aspect of the process.

Fourth-year political science student, Kiana Therrien-Tomas, was pleased with the practical skills she acquired.

Looking back on the time spent working with Department of Politics Professor Simone Bohn on a project titled, “Collaborating with the state: a double-edged sword? The Brazilian Women’s Movement under the Workers’ Party administrations,” Therrien-Tomas explains, “this experience has been a great addition to my learning and professional development. It is an honour to receive this award. I can now proudly state that I have taken part in all stages of the research process, and apply the knowledge gained from this experience towards the completion of my undergraduate degree and my endeavours in law school.”

Fourth-year Disaster and Emergency Management student, Tiana Putric, echoed these positive sentiments when detailing the experience working with Department of Communication & Media Studies Professor Jonathan Obar on the DARE project, “The Future of Big Data: Understanding Digital Service Data Retention Policies and Implications for Online Privacy.”

Tiana Putric

“DARE was a transformative experience that left me with several new skills and insights,” said Putric. “I gained experience collecting, analyzing, and summarizing data retention policies and contracts from global digital service providers, learned how to evaluate policies against privacy laws and normative regulatory philosophies, and contributed to the data retention body of knowledge.”

In congratulating this year’s recipients, LA&PS Dean J.J. McMurtry was delighted to see how far the award has come.

“This competition offers an excellent opportunity for students to examine, discover, critique and create with leading researchers in their fields,” he said. “Over the past four years, DARE has exemplified the truly diverse and global scope of the research being done in LA&PS. Once again, our students have exceeded expectations.”

The 2021 DARE gallery can be viewed on the LA&PS website.

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Osgoode Professor Poonam Puri honoured for outstanding legal writing /research/2021/10/14/osgoode-professor-poonam-puri-honoured-for-outstanding-legal-writing-2/ Thu, 14 Oct 2021 21:22:32 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/14/osgoode-professor-poonam-puri-honoured-for-outstanding-legal-writing-2/ Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Poonam Puri has been awarded what many consider the “Pulitzer Prize” of legal writing. Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey has named Puri the recipient of the David W. Mundell Medal in an announcement made on Oct. 8. Established in 1986 by former attorney general Ian Scott, the award recognizes a legal writer whose literary […]

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Osgoode Hall Law School Professor  has been awarded what many consider the “Pulitzer Prize” of legal writing.

Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey has named Puri the recipient of the David W. Mundell Medal in an  made on Oct. 8. Established in 1986 by former attorney general Ian Scott, the award recognizes a legal writer whose literary craftsmanship and clarity of expression work together to make ideas come alive. It honours the memory of David Walter Mundell, a renowned constitutional lawyer and the first director of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Constitutional Law Branch.

Poonam Puri
Poonam Puri

Puri was chosen for the honour on the recommendation of a selection committee chaired by George Strathy, the chief justice of Ontario.

“Professor Puri’s writing has left an influential mark in the fields of financial market regulation, corporate governance and business law,” noted Strathy“She deftly tackles these complex areas to make her legal writing widely accessible to a broad range of audiences, including legal professionals, academics and policy-makers. Professor Puri brings vision and clarity to pressing public policy discussions on issues such as corporate responsibility and diversity.”

A world-leading expert in corporate governance, corporate law and securities regulation, Puri’s groundbreaking scholarship skillfully blends theoretical, empirical and policy frameworks to distill complex ideas into clear, nuanced, practical and innovative policy solutions.

Her vision, interdisciplinary approach and broad-based community engagement lends strength to her scholarship, making her a guiding light in her fields. Her scholarship has earned her the respect of her peers. 

Despite the pandemic, 2021 has been a banner year for Puri. Less than a month ago, she was awarded the Royal Society of Canada’s  for excellence in contributions to the governance of public and private institutions in Canada. Earlier this year, she was awarded the  for public service in the highest ideals of the legal profession. Puri’s wide-reaching expertise and impact were also recognized in  and again in , when she was named one of the top 25 lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer magazine. A beloved professor, she is the recipient of two Osgoode teaching awards, among many other recognitions. Prior to joining Osgoode in 1997 at the age of 25, Puri practised at leading law firms in Canada and the U.S.  She is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and Harvard Law School.

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Learning for a Sustainable Future youth program garners top Clean50 award /research/2021/10/14/learning-for-a-sustainable-future-youth-program-garners-top-clean50-award-2/ Thu, 14 Oct 2021 21:19:51 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/14/learning-for-a-sustainable-future-youth-program-garners-top-clean50-award-2/ The Virtual Climate Change Youth Forums offered by Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF), a Canadian charity located at 91ɫ, empower learners in a warming world and encourage youth to take action on the climate. LSF’s Virtual Climate Change Youth Forums program has been named a recipient of Canada’s Clean50 Top Project award. The […]

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The Virtual Climate Change Youth Forums offered by Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF), a Canadian charity located at 91ɫ, empower learners in a warming world and encourage youth to take action on the climate.

LSF’s Virtual Climate Change Youth Forums program has been named a recipient of Canada’s Clean50 Top Project award. The annual award recognizes the contributions of projects towards a cleaner, healthier, innovation-based, low-carbon economy supporting all Canadians. Clean50 Top Projects were selected from more than 100 nominees, based on their innovation, their ability to inspire other Canadians to take action and, most importantly, their climate-action impact. 

Students show off their poster created in a LSF Youth Forum sponsored by RBC
LSF Youth Forum participants show off a poster they created

’s&Բ; have historically been held as full-day, in-person experiences, but due to the impact of the pandemic, LSF decided to move the Youth Forums online.

“We knew that skipping a year wasn’t an option,” says LSF President and CEO Pamela Schwartzberg, “since students needed access to the skills and knowledge provided in the forums. So, LSF created a multi-component virtual event series offered over a six-week period.

“While creating a new delivery model, LSF also had to accommodate various school board privacy policies, teachers who were new to technology and virtual learning, events covering multiple time zones and a myriad of school schedules, and student learning at home, at school or a combination of both,” says Schwartzberg. “Our new Virtual Youth Forums still build a sense of community and connection among teachers and students from different schools. Most importantly, the forums engaged students in climate change issues, equipped them with skills and knowledge, and empowered them to take action.”

The virtual events dramatically increased LSF’s audience and geographic reach, with 17,600 students from all of Canada’s provinces and territories receiving an opportunity to contribute to the fight against climate change by participating in an Action Project.

LSF is a Canadian charity founded in 1991. Working with businesses, governments, school boards, universities, communities, educators and youth across Canada, LSF’s programs and partnerships are helping students learn to address the increasingly difficult economic, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. LSF has been located at 91ɫ since 1997.

Read about LSF’s Virtual Youth Forums by visiting the ɱٱ. Registration is open for upcoming Youth Forums. To learn more, visit the .

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Call for nominations for the President’s Research Awards /research/2021/10/13/call-for-nominations-for-the-presidents-research-awards-2-2/ Wed, 13 Oct 2021 23:05:57 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/13/call-for-nominations-for-the-presidents-research-awards-2-2/ The Senate Committee on Awards invites current or emeritus tenure-stream faculty members to nominate colleagues for the President’s Research Excellence Awards. As introduced in 2018-19, there are two disciplinary clusters for the President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award and the President’s Research Excellence Award: 1) Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine, and 2) Social Sciences, Art […]

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The Senate Committee on Awards invites current or emeritus tenure-stream faculty members to nominate colleagues for the President’s Research Excellence Awards.

As introduced in 2018-19, there are two disciplinary clusters for the President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award and the President’s Research Excellence Award: 1) Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine, and 2) Social Sciences, Art & Design, Humanities, Business, Law and Education.

The President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award (PERLA) recognizes full-time faculty members within 10 years of their first academic appointment, who have had a notable impact on their field(s) and made a significant contribution to advancing the University’s international reputation for research excellence while significantly and positively contributing to one or more aspects of the 91ɫ community’s intellectual life. The PERLA will be conferred to two researchers, one from each disciplinary cluster.

The President’s Research Impact Award recognizes full-time, active faculty members whose body of research or scholarship has translated into a notable impact on communities, individuals, public policies or practice, or translated successfully into impactful commercial or other applications, while significantly and positively contributing to the University’s research culture and reputation.

The President’s Research Excellence Award (PREA) recognizes senior full-time faculty at the rank of professor, with distinguished scholarly achievements who have had a notable impact on their field(s) and made a significant contribution to advancing the University’s international reputation for research excellence while significantly and positively contributing to one or more aspects of the 91ɫ community’s intellectual life. The PREA will be conferred in alternating years between the two disciplinary clusters. This year, the PREA is open to researchers in Cluster 1, Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine.

The criteria and nominations forms can be found on the  webpage. The deadline for receipt of nominations is Friday, Nov. 26, by 4:30 p.m.

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91ɫ launches first-of-its-kind initiative to address barriers for Black youth across Canada /research/2021/10/06/york-university-launches-first-of-its-kind-initiative-to-address-barriers-for-black-youth-across-canada-2/ Wed, 06 Oct 2021 20:07:11 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/06/york-university-launches-first-of-its-kind-initiative-to-address-barriers-for-black-youth-across-canada-2/ The national, pan-university program is backed by $1.2 million from the RBC Foundation as part of RBC Future Launch. The initiative is led by Professor Carl E. James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education. 91ɫ is launching a three-year initiative to enhance the representation of Black youth at universities […]

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The national, pan-university program is backed by $1.2 million from the RBC Foundation as part of RBC Future Launch. The initiative is led by Professor , the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education.

91ɫ is launching a three-year initiative to enhance the representation of Black youth at universities across Canada by supporting upper-year high-school students as they plan for their future, such as pursuing post-secondary education or work, and aiding in the transition and retention of those who pursue university. The initiative is led by , who is 91ɫ’s Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education. James has focused on addressing systemic barriers and racial inequities for over a decade and a recent  from the RBC Foundation, as part of , is allowing this work to go national. 

The initiative will kick off on Oct. 6 with a national conversation hosted by 91ɫ and the RBC Student Success Initiative and Data Hub. This event, which runs from 7 to 8 p.m., will be livestreamed via YouTube . Questions can be submitted in advance to yuevent@yorku.ca.

“We’re starting to see some attention to streaming – the process of placing students into academic or non-academic oriented classes based on their assumed intellectual abilities. The Ontario government’s announcement about ending academic streaming starting with the Grade 9 math curriculum this September as well as a ban on suspending young students is an OK start. However, we have a long way to go. Black students across Canada continue to report racial inequities and experience barriers in the education system,” says James, whose 2017 groundbreaking research revealed Black students are being disproportionately streamed away from academic programs and suspended at significantly higher rates than white or other racialized students. The report, , used data to show poor outcomes for Black students and that current students were experiencing worse outcomes than their parents and grandparents. 

Carl James
Carl E. James

James is bringing together Kevin Hewitt, physics professor from Dalhousie University; Juliet Daniel, associate dean of research from McMaster University; Jennifer Adams, Canada Research Chair in Creativity and STEM and associate professor from the University of Calgary; and Annette Henry, professor, language and literacy education from the University of British Columbia, who share a commitment to addressing the educational issues of Black youth to further the systemic anti-Black racism work of individual institutions, including interventions and research. The research component will build on existing Canadian census data with a longitudinal study of Grade 11 and 12 students over a three-year period, informing the development of new community-based and student-support programs. It will, for the first time, facilitate the sharing of documentation and data across Canadian universities – allowing for geographical and contextual comparisons to be made. For example, James is particularly interested in the experience of second- and third-generation Black students and how the impact of generational status compares between Toronto and Halifax.

In 2020, RBC  to address the inequity and systemic bias that have disadvantaged Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) individuals and youth. As part of these actions, RBC committed to providing $50 million in focused funding through RBC Future Launch to create meaningful and transformative pathways to prosperity for 25,000 BIPOC youth by 2025.

“Ensuring that Black students have equitable access to opportunity is critical to building strong, inclusive communities,” says Mark Beckles, vice-president of social impact and innovation at RBC. “We are working closely with our partners, including many BIPOC-serving organizations, to enable access. RBC’s support of the now national work of the Jean Augustine Chair will help to ensure that present and future generations of Black talent can reach their fullest potential.”

The initiative will kick off on Oct. 6 with a national conversation hosted by 91ɫ and the RBC Student Success Initiative and Data Hub. 

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UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins recognized with lifetime achievement award /research/2021/10/04/unesco-chair-charles-hopkins-recognized-with-lifetime-achievement-award-2/ Mon, 04 Oct 2021 18:04:12 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/04/unesco-chair-charles-hopkins-recognized-with-lifetime-achievement-award-2/ 91ɫ’s UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins is the recipient of the Clean50 Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on a global scale to reorient education towards sustainable development. This prestigious award recognizes Hopkins’ focus on creating a better future for all. Climate challenges facing Canada can not be resolved by anything less than a collaborative, full assault […]

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91ɫ’s UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins is the recipient of the Clean50 Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on a global scale to reorient education towards sustainable development. This prestigious award recognizes Hopkins’ focus on creating a better future for all.

Charles Hopkins

Climate challenges facing Canada can not be resolved by anything less than a collaborative, full assault on every element of the problem. Broad solutions are needed. To create holistic strategies for future economies and imagine better ways of living together in Canada and beyond, thought leaders from all sectors of industry, business, academia, the arts and civil society need to be involved.

䲹Բ岹’s&Բ; award program and annual  were founded in 2011 by Canada’s leading clean tech and sustainability executive search firm Delta Management Group to bring these sustainability leaders together. In its 10th edition, Canada’s Clean50 Awards celebrate the 2022 top sustainability leaders in Canada. Fifty remarkable and inspiring individuals in 16 different categories as well as emerging leaders, Canadian business and five selected sustainability heroes will be recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards during this year’s summit, which took place Oct. 1. A record number of nominations were received for this year’s awards.

, 91ɫ’s UNESCO Chair, received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of dedicated engagement in reorienting education systems towards sustainable development as well as fostering cross-sector thinking connecting academia with business, industry, the arts and the general public towards a better future for all. As one of the early advocates for place-based and experiential learning as a principal of outdoor schools in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s, his list of involvements is long. He presented to the Brundtland Commission and co-authored Chapter 36 in Agenda 21, the first United Nations implementation plan for a more sustainable future, coming out of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Since assuming the role of  at 91ɫ in 1999, he has been co-ordinating two global research networks, each active in more than 50 countries: the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions and the #IndigenousESD Network. He is advisor to the Global Network of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD hosted by the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies in Sustainability, and co-director of the Asia-Pacific Institute on ESD in Beijing.

As a member of the President´s Sustainability Council at 91ɫ and the co-chair of the Knowledge Working Group, Hopkins works to embed the idea of the “university as a whole” moving towards sustainability, placing sustainable development as a theme in the curriculum, rethinking operations, facilities and management practices, and changing the culture on 91ɫ’s campuses.

As part of its new , 91ɫ articulated its commitment to elevate action on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and contribute meaningfully to building a better future.

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Robarts Centre announces Barbara Godard and Odessa award recipients /research/2021/10/03/robarts-centre-announces-barbara-godard-and-odessa-award-recipients-3/ Mon, 04 Oct 2021 03:17:48 +0000 /researchdev/2021/10/03/robarts-centre-announces-barbara-godard-and-odessa-award-recipients-3/ Two 91ɫ students have earned academic awards for their work advancing Canadian studies. The prizes, awarded by 91ɫ’s Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, recognize one graduate and one undergraduate student every year. The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best 91ɫ Dissertation in Canadian Studies recipient is Andrew Zealley, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC), […]

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Two 91ɫ students have earned academic awards for their work advancing Canadian studies. The prizes, awarded by 91ɫ’s , recognize one graduate and one undergraduate student every year.

The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best 91ɫ Dissertation in Canadian Studies recipient is Andrew Zealley, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC), for “.” The recipient of the Odessa Prize for the best undergraduate paper in a fourth-year course is Emily Belmonte for “Understanding Treaty One: Subsistence and Survival 1871-1888.”

Andrew Zealley (photo by Walter Segers)
Andrew Zealley (photo by Walter Segers)

The Barbara Godard Prize

Zealley’s work maps the artistic response to the complex and contradictory experience of living with HIV-AIDS within the Toronto gay community. He uses audio, video and writing to argue for experiential and situated knowledges as forms of HIV management and prevention.

“I want people to understand that pleasure is possible; pleasure is within grasp if we can learn to let go of – or refuse – institutionalized mandates around sex and intimate relationships,” he says. “I want people to find ways to talk about their personal health goals during sexual moments, to integrate sexual health talk into sexual play. I hope that people will better understand, through my work, the insidious role that gentrification plays in our pleasure lives. Homogeneity poisons imaginations and desires.”

The prize adjudication committee praised his research for exposing the underlying tensions between art and scholarly practice as processes for understanding this experience, by sourcing material often inaccessible or undervalued by institutional research. Overall, the committee noted the thesis provides a timely reminder of the numerous social discourses that continue to pathologize HIV-AIDS.

Zealley is currently working on multiple projects, both in an artistic and academic capacity. He is part of the Wetrospective exhibition at the AGO this month and has a new vinyl LP record, The Magic of the Think Machine Gods, releasing in October. He is also working on research projects with EUC graduate Peter Hobbs and Nick Mulé, a professor in 91ɫ’s School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS); and participating as a video maker in “Viral Interventions,” a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and overseen by EUC Professor Sarah Flicker and Associate Professor John Greyson of 91ɫ’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD).

Emily Belmonte
Emily Belmonte

The Odessa Prize

Belmonte’s essay was completed under the supervision of Professor Sean Kheraj (Department of History, LA&PS) as part of the fourth-year Honours Thesis Seminar (HIST 4000). Her honours thesis focused on interpreting Treaty One (with the Chippewa and Cree Indians of Manitoba) and examining the events leading up to the signing, as well as the immediate aftermath in the 1870s.

“Canadians should not only be interested, but they should feel a sense of urgency to learn about the history of the land they are privileged to live on and how its first people were treated so shamefully at the hands of the government,” says Belmonte. “Canadians need to understand the treaty-making period, how we are all treaty people, and how there were very specific promises and rights granted to Indigenous people during the treaty process that were never upheld in a very deliberate process in order to secure land acquisition and pave the way for agrarian settlement.”

The prize committee recognized her work as a thoughtful and well-considered synthesis of scholarship on the history of Canada’s colonial expansion into the northwest. The committee noted the thesis is exceptionally well-organized and well-written, and demonstrates great care and sophistication in sorting out the layers of events and meanings surrounding this critical moment in Canadian history.

Belmonte is entering her final year at 91ɫ and aims to graduate in June 2022 with a degree in both history and education. She plans to become a teacher with her certification to teach at the primary and junior levels, “but one day I may also consider teaching history at the senior and intermediate levels as well,” she says.

The work of both prize recipients was nominated by the Robarts Centre for the . Belmonte’s essay earned the Best Canadian Studies Undergraduate Essay/Thesis Prize and was noted for being well-written and carefully documented, and was highlighted as an example of undergraduate scholarship of very high quality, according to the Canadian Studies Network in their congratulatory email.

Zealley and Belmonte were both interviewed about their work by the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Read those reflections .

About the prizes

The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best 91ɫ Dissertation in Canadian Studies, which has been awarded annually since 2012, is named in memory of Professor Barbara Godard, former Avie Bennett Historica Chair of Canadian Literature and former professor of English, French, social and political thought, and women’s studies at 91ɫ. The Odessa Prize for the Study of Canada, first awarded in 2011, was established through the generosity of 91ɫ alumnus Irvin Studin (BBA Schulich, PhD Osgoode Hall Law School), who dedicated the award to his parents who hailed from the famous port city of Odessa, Ukraine. Learn more about these prizes at .

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OsgoodePD earns award for innovation in teaching and learning /research/2021/09/27/osgoodepd-earns-award-for-innovation-in-teaching-and-learning-3/ Mon, 27 Sep 2021 18:27:14 +0000 /researchdev/2021/09/27/osgoodepd-earns-award-for-innovation-in-teaching-and-learning-3/ Osgoode Professional Development (OsgoodePD) has been recognized for its innovative execution in converting a historically in-person, skills-based, learn-by-doing program into an online format. The annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop (ITAW) earned the Award of Outstanding Achievement in the Technology category for the 2021 Association of Continuing Legal Education’s (ACLEA’s) Best Awards. ACLEA is the international association for […]

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Osgoode Professional Development () has been recognized for its innovative execution in converting a historically in-person, skills-based, learn-by-doing program into an online format.

The annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop (ITAW) earned the Award of Outstanding Achievement in the Technology category for the 2021 Association of Continuing Legal Education’s (ACLEA’s) Best Awards.  is the international association for continuing education devoted to improving the performance of continuing legal education (CLE) professionals around the world.

The award recognized innovation in teaching and learning applied to the OsgoodePD program during the pandemic, when the 41st annual ITAW was reimagined in a virtual format.

Osgoode Professional Development (OsgoodePD)’s Annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop (ITAW) won the Award of Outstanding Achievement in the Technology category for the 2021 Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA)’s Best Award
Osgoode Professional Development’s annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop won an award for its innovative approach to teaching and learning

ITAW is a six-day learn-by-doing trial advocacy program that brings together a group of more than 100 instructors and guest speakers, all active members of the bench and bar and trained in teaching oral advocacy. When the in-person event was cancelled due to the pandemic, the OsgoodePD team embraced the opportunity to bring it to the many litigators who depend on the program in a virtual format.

Ensuring the design of the program kept ITAW’s core elements, the program transitioned to online in only a few months, requiring the team to leverage its resources in new and creative ways. OsgoodePD staff and faculty had to be trained in online learning and the use of technological platforms, and equipment had to be repurposed so that ITAW could be run remotely.

Offering the program with a blend of asynchronous elements gave participants the flexibility to learn at their own pace, in any space. The online format also increased accessibility to those outside of Toronto, and made this a viable program for sole practitioners and smaller firms.

ITAW participants gained invaluable experience in the practicalities of trial advocacy, and were able to practise their trial advocacy skills on digital platforms that have taken on increased importance during the pandemic. In this sense, the program prepared participants to be effective advocates in the new world of digital trial advocacy. Furthermore, participants received an electronic portfolio of their performances to allow them to further review and reflect on their skills development post-program.

“This was an excellent course that will certainly have an impact on my practice. I cannot recommend it enough,” said program participant Dianne Jozefacki, Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. “You receive invaluable feedback on performing direct and cross-examinations and opening and closing statements, which are key skills that all lawyers who want to be oral advocates must master. I know that I will be a better lawyer for taking this course.”

Learning from this, OsgoodePD has used this innovation to transition other interactive CLE programs online, optimizing the use of digital platforms like Zoom to deliver skills-based CLE in an effective and engaging way.

Due to the success of the online ITAW, the 2021 the program was considerably scaled up and sold out with an extensive wait-list.

“ITAW is a valuable course for new and senior calls alike,” said participant Samira Ahmed, justice for children and youth. “The faculty, lectures and on-your-feet learning will leave you with new confidence and strategies for successful trial advocacy.”

91ɫ’s OsgoodePD offers a broad and flexible range of interdisciplinary graduate-level and continuing education legal programs to professionals with and without law degrees.

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Two 91ɫ professors appointed Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Fellows /research/2021/09/23/two-york-professors-appointed-canadian-academy-of-health-sciences-fellows-2/ Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:39:49 +0000 /researchdev/2021/09/23/two-york-professors-appointed-canadian-academy-of-health-sciences-fellows-2/ Professors Steven Hoffman and Rebecca Pillai Riddell are among 74 new Fellows elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Election to fellowship in the academy is considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community. It carries with it a covenant to serve the academy and the future well-being […]

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Professors and are among 74 new Fellows elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Election to fellowship in the academy is considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community. It carries with it a covenant to serve the academy and the future well-being of the health sciences irrespective of the Fellow’s specific discipline.

“I extend my congratulations to professors Hoffman and Pillai Riddell,” said 91ɫ’s Vice-President of Research and Innovation Amir Asif. “These fellowships recognize their outstanding contributions to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences through leadership, academic performance, scientific creativity and willingness to serve. Their recognition will benefit both 91ɫ and Canadian health, and I hope you will join me in congratulating them on this prestigious honour.”

Steven Hoffman

Professor Steven J. Hoffman (Osgoode Hall Law School, Faculty of Health)
Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair
Director, Global Strategy Lab

Professor Hoffman is a world-leading authority on global health law and the global governance of health threats that transcend national borders. He has achieved important scientific breakthroughs and policy impacts by combining law and epidemiology to address challenges faced by the numerous national governments and United Nations agencies that rely on his advice. As a Canadian Institutes of Health Research scientific director, he is a leading voice in public health and champion for integrating research evidence into policy-making processes. Hoffman is a Distinguished Research Chair at 91ɫ, director of a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre and frequent contributor to news media.

Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell
Rebecca Pillai Riddell

Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell (Faculty of Health)
Associate Vice-President Research

Professor Pillai Riddell has focused her research in the pediatric behavioural and biobehavioural sciences. As a professor of psychology and an expert in pain, she has built the first and largest cohort in the world studying young children through painful vaccinations over the first years of life. Pillai Riddell has generated an unrivalled published literature on the biopsychosocial dimensions of infants’ and young children’s acute pain. She is a tireless advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion and strives to create systemic infrastructure that supports a more just future for patients, their families, health professionals, research trainees and researchers.

To learn more about the fellowships, see the ɱٱ.

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Hellenic Heritage Foundation donation will highlight experiences of Greek diaspora in Canada /research/2021/09/23/hellenic-heritage-foundation-donation-will-highlight-experiences-of-greek-diaspora-in-canada-2/ Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:35:44 +0000 /researchdev/2021/09/23/hellenic-heritage-foundation-donation-will-highlight-experiences-of-greek-diaspora-in-canada-2/ The funding will expand the existing physical archive and establish a digital archive of images, documents, video and other assets that are related to Greek Canadian history. When Christopher Grafos entered the Graduate Program in History at 91ɫ, he encountered the same problem time and time again. “When I spoke to Greek Canadians about their immigration […]

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The funding will expand the existing physical archive and establish a digital archive of images, documents, video and other assets that are related to Greek Canadian history.

When Christopher Grafos entered the Graduate Program in History at 91ɫ, he encountered the same problem time and time again.

“When I spoke to Greek Canadians about their immigration experiences and their time in Canada, they would often tell me that they had thrown out a lot of the materials that would help researchers examine their history,” says Grafos, who completed his PhD in 2016. “It was such a tragedy for me to learn that we were in danger of allowing these experiences to fade away without preserving them through images, videos, newsletters, and other materials that brings this history to life.”

Together with his then-supervisor, Professor Sakis Gekas, HHF Chair in Modern Greek History, Grafos founded the Greek Canadian History Project in 2012. As the archives grew, so did the need to catalogue, digitize, present and preserve these materials, and to help Greek Canadians tell their stories through recorded oral histories and other methods.

On Sept. 22, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies announced an important $1.4-million gift from the Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF) that will help 91ɫ preserve, catalogue, digitize and teach these histories.

In recognition of this new gift, the Greek Canadian History Project will receive a new name; starting Sept. 27, the project will be known as The Hellenic Heritage Foundation Greek Canadian Archives.

Above: From left, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Dean JJ McMurtry; Hellenic Heritage Foundation President Tony Lourakis; 91ɫ President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton; and, Acting Vice-President Advancement E. Louise Spencer
Above: From left, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Dean JJ McMurtry; Hellenic Heritage Foundation President Tony Lourakis; 91ɫ President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton; and, Acting Vice-President Advancement E. Louise Spencer

“This support from our partners at HHF will allow us to add resources that will expand the archives and increase our capacity to engage with our community’s past and present,” says Gekas. “In collaboration with the Clara Thomas Archives, 91ɫ libraries and community partners, our intention is to digitize a lot of the paper material that we already hold and will acquire in the future for preservation and dissemination purposes, primarily in research and teaching. For example, historical material such as photographs and films, but also written records like old newspaper articles, which would otherwise be destroyed without preservation.”

This gift from HHF will help expand the existing physical archive and establish a digital archive to be housed at 91ɫ. As well, the funding will provide a framework for the study of Greek diaspora around the world.

“Focusing on the experiences of average Greek Canadians has tremendous importance,” says Grafos, who is currently the project’s director. “That’s because during the early days of the project, almost everyone said that they never saw themselves as important enough to preserve their story in an archive.”

“91ɫ is profoundly grateful for its longstanding partnership with the Hellenic Heritage Foundation,” said Rhonda Lenton, president and vice-chancellor. “For more than two decades, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation has been a generous supporter of the University and the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Today’s landmark $1.4-million contribution will serve to expand the newly renamed Hellenic Heritage Foundation Greek Canadian Archives, providing indispensable resources for scholars and researchers exploring the immigrant experience in Canada.”

The partnership between HHF and 91ɫ started in 2000, when the Foundation made a landmark contribution to create the Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair in Modern Greek History, an endowed chair position currently held by Prof. Gekas. 

“The establishment of the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History was a visionary act,” says JJ McMurtry, dean of LA&PS. “Under Prof. Gekas’ exceptional leadership, the Chair has opened up new lines of inquiry, which have led to important new academic activity focusing both on Modern Greece, and on Greece’s many intersections with modern Canada.”

For HHF President Tony Lourakis, the most exciting part of the Foundation’s investment is the long-term and infinite possibilities that will come from expanding the archives.

“Investing in the HHF Greek Canadian Archives represents the foundation of what we hope to achieve,” says Lourakis. “The archives will be public and available for people to study. They’ll be able to learn about Greek Canadian history in a way that they might not experience from other public historical records. And in turn, we can engage with the public in a more familiar and intimate way than we might have otherwise.”

For Grafos, the recognition that this investment from HHF brings validates the importance of the archives.

“With this recognition, we hope to collect even more materials and more stories about the Greek immigrant experience in Canada,” he says. “It’s time to let community members tell their own stories.”

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