awards Archives | Research & Innovation

91��ɫ celebrates its 2013-2014 research leaders

muellerm — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ will celebrate its faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows who have earned honours and achievements for research and creative excellence at its annual 91��ɫ U Research Leaders event on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Robert Haché

“This is our second annual event recognizing 91��ɫ’s Research Leaders and we plan to continue carrying forward this tradition,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ vice-president research & innovation.�� “It is a great pleasure to celebrate the exceptional work of 91��ɫ’s researchers, students and post-doctoral fellows��– and important to us to recognize the valuable impact of their research on society.�� We are pleased to invite all members of the 91��ɫ community, including students, staff and faculty to join us for this very special occasion.”

Hosted by the President’s Office and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the event begins at 4:30pm in the McEwen Auditorium in the Seymour Schulich Building. A reception will follow. Many 91��ɫ researchers who have earned prestigious awards, major grants and book prizes will be recognized, along with a presentation to the winner of the President’s Excellence Research Award, an announcement of the winners from 91��ɫ’s undergraduate research fair and recognition of graduate student research achievements.

Event highlights include, a greeting from the province by Monte Kwinter, MPP 91��ɫ Centre, parliamentary assistant to the minister of economic development, trade and employment; a special video highlighting a cross-section of 91��ɫ’s researchers; and a slide presentation capturing some of the many research successes of the past year.

Organizers ask community members interested in attending the celebration to��.

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Learn how to succeed in nominating faculty for prestigious awards

fmaquito — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Learn how to make your nomination package sparkle!

On Monday, June 11, from 2 to 3pm, 91��ɫ Vice-President Academic Patrick Monahan and Lisa Philipps, associate vice-president research, are hosting an informative workshop that will cover how to prepare an effective nomination package. The session will take place in 626 91��ɫ Research Tower.

Topics that will be covered include:

Recognizing Success and Building Reputation Through Awards;
Finding Awards, Identifying Candidates;
Ingredients of Success: The Nomination Letter, the CV, Letters of Support; and
Award Adjudication: The Inside Story.

The session is designed for staff work in faculty dean’s offices, department chairs, and directors of schools, associate deans of research, research officers and research directors. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Participants will have an opportunity to view precedent files to see what works and there will be a question-and-answer session following the presentation. While the focus is on research awards, the information presented will be relevant to teaching and other kinds of awards.

If you are interested in attending, to Lia Cavaliere or call 416-736-2100 ext. 33782.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Grad student researchers get awards at Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies

fmaquito — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Two PhD candidates in 91��ɫ’s Graduate Program in Music are among the half-dozen international scholars awarded study grants this year by the . The awards enabled Bonnie Brett and Ryan Bruce to advance their doctoral research with a visit to the prestigious Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.

The (IJS) is the world’s foremost archive and research facility in the field of jazz. Its comprehensive holdings comprise original scores, recordings, personal papers, photographs and memorabilia from a host of leading jazz artists, as well as archives of record companies and jazz-related institutions and organizations from 1920 to the present. In support of its mission to document, preserve and disseminate the history of jazz, the IJS develops conferences, broadcasts, publications, exhibitions and educational programs, and supports the work of individual researchers through the Morroe Berger – Benny Carter Jazz Research Fund.

Brett, who recently returned from her trip to Rutgers, and Bruce, who visited last fall, found the experience invaluable. They had high praise for both the IJS collections and the staff who assisted them in their research.

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PhD researcher Bonnie Brett inspects the gown worn by Ella Fitzgerald at Montreux '77

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“To me, the Institute of Jazz Studies, and my association with it, is all about archivist Tad Hershorn,” said Brett. “Tad literally ‘wrote the book’ on Norman Granz, who was [jazz singer] Ella Fitzgerald’s manager and a very influential producer at the time. Tad’s research was incredibly informative and he personally was so helpful that I’ve come to view him as a mentor and friend.”

For Brett, a well-known performer and recording artist who has taught jazz vocals in the Department of Music at 91��ɫ, the IJS’s Ella Fitzgerald collection was a treasure trove. The iconic singer is one of several performers Brett is researching as part of her studies on the great American songbook. Her dissertation will focus on transcriptions and analyses of Fitzgerald’s first four full-length scat solos.

In the Ella Fitzgerald collection, Brett found boxes of scores and sheet music, and many packages from hopeful songwriters begging Fitzgerald to perform their work. Brett was also able to touch the gown Fitzgerald wore for her legendary performance with Tommy Flanagan at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, a show that was recorded on video.

“I know how the gowns I wear for my own performances hold my energy before and after a gig,” Brett said. “It was deeply moving to be in such close proximity to her personal belongings.”

Ryan Bruce

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Bruce, a graduate of 91��ɫ’s master's in musicology program (MA ‘09) and an accomplished alto sax player, combed the IJS for information on renowned jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and two saxophonists who played his music extensively: Charlie Rouse and Steve Lacy. Bruce’s thesis looks at Monk’s music in the context of musical and social changes in the jazz scene of the 1960s, and how his esthetic is reflected in the work of his followers, Rouse and Lacy, during this pivotal period.

Bruce spent five days immersed in the archives, shuttling between the stacks, files and photocopier, and bringing home a full dossier of materials to review.

“The librarians were incredible,” Bruce said. “They would always come up and ask about my work, run back to storage, and return with additional materials they thought might help. As a research trip, it was exciting and inspiring – and a lot of fun!”

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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HSBC Bank Canada donates $1 million to 91��ɫ

fmaquito — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Environmental scholarship in Canada got a��big boost yesterday with the announcement of a $1-million donation from HSBC Bank Canada to��91��ɫ to support undergraduate students in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.��

The gift is the single largest corporate endowment supporting Environmental Studies Awards in Canada. More than 15 bachelor of environmental studies students will receive full tuition awards each year .

91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and Barbara Rahder, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), announced the donation from HSBC Bank Canada at a special��event held at 91��ɫ's Keele campus.

“This is a great day for 91��ɫ, students, research and the environment,” said Shoukri. “With this single largest corporate gift to undergraduate environmental studies students in Canada, HSBC Bank Canada’s commitment creates a new, one-of-a-kind full tuition environmental scholarship, truly transforming environmental studies here at 91��ɫ and in Canada.”

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Above: Event participants celebrate��the��$1-million endowed donation from HSBC Bank Canada establishing the HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards at the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES).��Pictured (from left): Erica Ali, FES student; FES Dean Barbara Rahder; Linda Seymour, executive vice-president, commercial banking, and regional president, central and eastern Canada, HSBC Bank Canada; 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri; FES student Mike Zhang.

The $1-million��donation from HSBC Bank Canada, to be paid over five years, will create the permanently endowed HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards. The donation also triggers a $1-million��matching investment from the Ontario Trust for Student Support Program, creating a $2-million permanent endowment for undergraduate environmental studies students at 91��ɫ.

“HSBC believes that education is a fundamental building block for communities, which is why we fund scholarships and bursaries at postsecondary institutions across Canada – including right here at 91��ɫ,” said Linda Seymour, executive vice-president, commercial banking, and regional president, central and eastern Canada, HSBC Bank Canada. “We are very pleased that the HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards will support more than 15 environmental studies students each year, allowing them to focus on their research, studies and contribution to the environment.” ��

The awards, equivalent to one year’s tuition, will be given to third- and fourth-year bachelor of environmental studies students who demonstrate academic achievement, community service and are in financial need.

“This is a transformational investment to 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies,” said Rahder. “These scholarships enable students to focus on their research, studies and contribution to the environment, lifting the stress of cost of going to university.”

Several dozen students, faculty and staff attended yesterday's announcement at 91��ɫ’s Keele campus. In addition to highlighting key projects and research currently taking place within the Faculty of Environmental Studies, students also shared their thoughts on the potential impact of these awards.

“As a student, tuition and other costs associated with a university education are always top of mind,” said Mike Zhang, a fourth-year student majoring in urban sustainability. “The new HSBC award will help relieve students like me from this financial worry so we can focus on our studies, take advantage of valuable internships and even come up with the next big idea to address environmental challenges."��

With��this announcement, HSBC Bank Canada has donated close to $2 million��to 91��ɫ over the past two decades. Previous donations have created six endowed scholarship funds at 91��ɫ, which have provided awards to 41 students to date.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professor Peter Victor wins Molson Prize

fmaquito — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Peter Victor has been named the recipient of this year’s prestigious Canada Council Molson Prize in the social sciences for outstanding lifetime achievement.

Victor, a��renowned research professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, is being recognized for his trailblazing research which has led to the emergence of a new discipline named ecological economics.��The $50,000 Molson Prize is presented by the in collaboration with the .

Right: Peter Victor��

Two awards are bestowed upon Canadian scholars annually to honour their lifetime achievements and ongoing contributions to Canada’s cultural and intellectual life.��Prizes are awarded in the social sciences and humanities category, or in the arts, with one prize offered in each category.

“A distinguished environmental economist, Peter is a most commendable choice for the Molson Prize,” said Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research��& innovation.��“Peter has earned international recognition for his important contribution to the field of environmental studies and his commitment to research excellence.��His recent book��– Managing Without Growth��– has received international attention.��His work is a prime example of the leadership 91��ɫ’s research-intensive faculty members continue to provide in order to advance knowledge and develop solutions to the many challenges we face in our everyday lives.”

A top��expert in his field, Victor has examined environmental issues as an academic, consultant and public servant for��more than��four decades.��His pioneering research explores the many ways in which the economy is embedded in and dependent on the environment.

“Professor Victor has demonstrated that we, as a society, can explore novel approaches to managing without economic growth while sustaining our environment and improving our lives,” said Barbara Rahder, dean of 91��ɫ's Faculty of Environmental Studies.��“His groundbreaking research can have a far-reaching impact on how people all over the world can develop healthy communities for generations to come.”

Victor has written Managing��Without��Growth: Slower by Design, not Disaster, among several other publications.��His extensive portfolio currently includes serving as a member of the advisory committee on the National Accounts for Statistics Canada, the academic advisory panel of TruCost, the board of the David Suzuki Foundation, the board of the New Economics Institute, and the editorial advisory boards of several academic journals.��He was also��recently appointed��chair of the Greenbelt Council of Ontario (see YFile, June 2).��

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ and United Way of 91��ɫ Region examine link between living conditions and health

fmaquito — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000

If where you’re born, live and work − and the health-care system you access − determines a lot about how healthy you’ll be, what can local governments and community agencies do to improve your well-being?

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has awarded 91��ɫ and the United Way of 91��ɫ Region $93,000 to develop research initiatives that will examine how living conditions − the social determinants of health − affect health.

The funding, announced yesterday at 91��ɫ’s fifth annual Knowledge Mobilization Expo at the Markham Convergence Centre, will be used for projects that will draw on the University’s strong interdisciplinary health research to respond to community needs and systemic social challenges identified by United Way of 91��ɫ Region.

“Social determinants of health are experienced where Canadians live − right in their communities,” said Ian Graham, vice-president of Knowledge Translation at CIHR. “University researchers and their partners in community health agencies, including those supported by the United Way, are critical to developing novel health services and health policies that have a direct outcome on the health of Canadians.”

“Collaborating and making research more accessible to our community partners and co-developing knowledge is a cornerstone of 91��ɫ’s research enterprise,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “For the last five years, we have collaborated with the United Way of 91��ɫ Region to connect researchers and graduate students with community and government organizations to find novel approaches that impact health and human services. 91��ɫ’s faculty members and our partners in community health agencies continue to work together to create innovative solutions that benefit the quality of life in our community.

The United Way of 91��ɫ Region also announced funding during the Knowledge Mobilization Expo. It is committing $150,000 through Change Inc., a social innovation incubator that it developed with 91��ɫ to invest in new solutions to persistent social and health challenges faced by 91��ɫ Region residents.

Based at the University’s research offices in 91��ɫ Region, Change Inc. was . The United Way funding, through its will allow Change Inc. to provide socially focused entrepreneurs, organizations and collaboratives with seed funding, physical space, shared administrative services and access to mentors, 91��ɫ researchers and graduate students.

“By allowing social innovations to start early, Change Inc. helps them to either fail fast or succeed quickly, allowing the innovation to scale across the region,” said Regional Councillor John Taylor. “91��ɫ Region has all the elements needed to support social innovation: a research university, a change catalyst in United Way, a well-organized community sector, businesses who care about their employees as much as their products, innovative hospitals, and regional and municipal governments investing in health and human services. This innovation ecosystem will allow 91��ɫ Region to fill a gap in Canada’s innovation agenda.”

United Way of 91��ɫ Region’s Strength Investments is an example of this innovation, providing seed funding to build civic muscle. Strength Investments bring community, faith, business and agencies together to work on simple, collaborative and innovative solutions. The funding, which arose through research undertaken by three 91��ɫ graduate students in the summer of 2010, represents a new way for the United Way to support the rich, informal network of caring and innovation that already exists across the region.��

“Graduate student research was instrumental in undertaking neighbourhood level data collection and analysis that allowed us to develop an effective program,” says Daniele Zanotti, CEO, United Way of 91��ɫ Region. “It provided a framework for United Way of 91��ɫ Region to commit $150,000 to Strength Investments, which currently supports six separate projects.”

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Worldwide Short Film Festival salutes 91��ɫ's Film Department with retrospective

fmaquito — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Hailing it as “one of the best film schools in Canada”, the Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival (WSFF) is honouring 91��ɫ’s Department of Film with a dedicated retrospective screening at the Royal Ontario Museum on June 1.

Now in its 17th year,�� is the leading venue for the exhibition and promotion of short film in North America and is one of the world’s premier short film festivals. This year it presents 275 films from 36 countries and offers one of the largest prize packages for short film in the world. Along with public screenings, WSFF hosts a professional development symposium and the largest short film marketplace in North America.

Right: Director Scott Boyd (BFA ‘07) heard about a death-defying world record attempt by a dangerously cool-headed magician and decided to turn it into a short film of epic proportions. The result is the 2007 short film��Escape Clause, which will��be screened as part of the WSFF's tribute to the Department of Film

WSFF’s 91��ɫ Retrospective celebrates the department’s 40th anniversary and the outstanding creative talent it has nurtured over the years. The festival programmers ��delved into the archives of 91��ɫ student productions to select a collection of films made in the past decade. Interspersed in the 76-minute program are a number of one-minute segments from The 40 Film, a specially curated collection of snippets spanning the department’s entire history. ��(The 40 Film with an alumni preview downtown at the Camera Bar and a party on the Harry W. Arthurs Common at 91��ɫ’s Keele campus.)

“We’re very pleased to help 91��ɫ celebrate this milestone,” said WSFF director Eileen Arandiga. “What’s truly exciting about this program is the variety of shorts and the mature talent of these young filmmakers. There’s no denying it – 91��ɫ’s Film Department shines.”

“We’re delighted to cap our 40th anniversary celebrations with this retrospective at the Worldwide Short Film Fest,” said Professor Anmon Buchbinder, chair of the department. “The featured productions are an excellence representation of the remarkable work our students are doing.”

The retrospective comprises six shorts, all of which were nominees or winners at CineSiege, the department’s annual juried film showcase, in the year they were produced.

Current student Vu Van (Franco) Nguyen’s short fiction film Plants out of Sunlight (2010) makes its world premiere at WSFF. It tells the story of Mia, who works her fingers to the bone at a thankless factory job and longs for a better relationship with her son, who’s taken to staying out all night and sleeping all day.

Above: The character Mia in Vu Van (Franco) Nguyen's 2010 short fiction film Plants out of Sunlight

The WSFF retrospective is yet another feather in the cap of Hugh Gibson (BFA ‘04), who has enjoyed international festival success with his gritty drama Hogtown Blues (2004). The film portrays a Russian immigrant woman living in Toronto who tries to patch up her fractured relationship with her father, for the sake of her son. Hogtown Blues has been seen at more than 20 festivals, including Toronto, Montreal, Austin, Palm Springs, Brno and Bilbao, where it won the audience award.

Above: Vladimir Radian in a scene from Hogtown Blues

Luo Li (BFA ‘05, MFA ‘09), winner of ��Toronto’s 2011 Images Festival Prize for his thesis feature Rivers and My Father, created the experimental short Fly in 2005 as an undergraduate student.��The film weaves together ink, paintbrush and experimental filmmaking techniques to form an astute exploration of flight and calligraphy.

Left: A scene from the 2005 film Fly

Director Scott Boyd (BFA ‘07) heard about a death-defying world record attempt by a dangerously cool-headed magician and decided to turn it into a short film of epic proportions.��Having screened at festivals across Canada and on television in the US, UK and Italy, his documentary Escape Clause (2007) receives its Toronto premiere at WSFF.

Tess Girard (BFA ‘05) created her hauntingly beautiful documentary Benediction (2005) as a homage to her recently deceased grandmother. The film has earned many accolades, including a showing at the Toronto International Film Festival and a special citation at TIFF’s Student Showcase as well as the prize for best overall production at the Canadian Student Film Festival in Montreal.

Right: A scene from the doucmentary Benediction (2005)

The School (2003), co-directed by Matthew Miller (BFA ‘03) and Ezra Krybus (BFA ’03), is a darkly comedic fable that asks: “Is it death which gives meaning to life, or is it life which gives meaning to death?”��- Edgar Gibson’s elementary school class finds out the hard way. The School was the jury’s selection for outstanding achievement at CineSiege 2003 and went on to become a hit on the international festival circuit. It has screened at more than 25 fests worldwide and won numerous awards, including best Canadian short at the Atlantic Film Festival and the gold plaque for best student narrative at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Above: Students participating in a classroom experiment that involves planting beans in a scene from the��dark fable The School

The 91��ɫ Retrospective unspools Friday, June 1at 4:15 pm at the ROM, 100 Queen's Park. The cinema is accessed by the south entrance. Tickets are available , at the WSFF box office in Cumberland Terrace, 2 Bloor St. West (entrance on Cumberland between Bay and Yonge, 10am to 6pm), or at the door one hour before the screening. Tickets are free, in person, for students with ID.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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YRDSB recognizes ABEL program director Janet Murphy for service to education

fmaquito — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Teaching with technology is a good thing, and no one knows it better than Janet Murphy.

The (YRDSB) has awarded Murphy,��director of 91��ɫ’s (ABEL) on applied research program in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, an Outstanding Service Award.

Under Murphy’s leadership, ABEL’s team has worked with teachers in��more over 100 YRDSB schools to help them better understand and integrate technology’s research impacts into their curriculum. Any teacher in 91��ɫ Region’s public district can become part of ABEL; the program is also active in the Toronto, Simcoe County and Upper Grand District School Boards.

Right: Janet Murphy

“We work with teachers from kindergarten to Grade 12 across disciplines to help them ��to best use technology to support their curriculum goals in the classroom,” said Murphy, who received her award on April 25 at the YRDSB’s annual Awards Evening.

This support includes extending the reach of university research and expertise into high school classrooms.��For example, , an interactive learning event led by the Faculty of Science��& Engineering in May, was made accessible to schools across 91��ɫ Region through the ABEL program. Through the effective use of video conferencing, collaborative technologies and streamed on-demand video, the ABEL platform distributed the event’s science content, making it available for classroom use.

ABEL also provides technical support and facilitation to support and enhance YRDSB teachers’ professional learning through a blended learning program. Leveraging interactive technologies, ABEL delivers professional learning to the classroom or school in a variety of online formats, including real-time and/or asynchronous transmission.

“The advantage to ABEL’s approach is that it allows teachers to engage in their individual learning at a time and place convenient to them, apply their learning and then re-visit the archived session as needed. This collaborative approach allows participants to gain feedback from the group about what worked and what didn’t, and continuously improve their practice,” says Murphy. “For example, 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education recently ran a session on teaching mathematics that was streamed live and archived to ensure teachers wanting the latest numeracy pedagogy had flexible ways to access the material.”

Outstanding Service Awards reflect the YRDSB’s commitment to quality, service and teamwork. The recipients��– who may include individuals, teams or departments��– provide extraordinary service that has had a positive impact on the school board’s efforts to achieve its mission and goals.

Typically, those recognized have introduced positive change, significant and permanent improvements to the organization, and/or positively influenced individuals or teams around them to make great contributions.

“Janet received the Outstanding Service Award for her ongoing leadership, vision and commitment to mobilizing new knowledge for 21st-century system change,” said John Steh, manager of Leadership Development, YRDSB. “Her team’s approach has led to new organizational structures and system change, and is an excellent example of social innovation initiated by the District’s participation in the ABEL program.”

”Janet’s recognition reflects her strong leadership and the success of��the entire ABEL team. ABEL’s niche is staying ahead of the technology curve in making 91��ɫ’s research in ICT, pedagogy and digital media accessible to the education community from kindergarten through to Grade 12,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “Through the partnership with ABEL, the YRDSB has continually demonstrated their commitment to seeking out best pedagogical practices while ensuring teachers have access to the latest professional development. For 91��ɫ, ABEL provides an institutional platform to move the latest research out to schools while helping to attract the best high school students to programs.”

About the ABEL Program at 91��ɫ

Launched with funding support from , Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network, to a consortium led by Shapson, ABEL has nearly 10 years of experience helping teachers to make better use of technology. Through public and private sector partnerships and networks, ABEL has gained national recognition as a research-based authority and leader on the effective use of existing and emerging information communication technologies (ICT) within new models of teaching, learning, training and collaboration.

ABEL’s combination of networks, partnerships and research focus drive institutional transformation and create new opportunities:

Facilitates community outreach for researchers interested in working with public school boards.
Demonstrates the value of inter-institutional and jurisdictional collaboration by providing research and outreach platforms.
Leads the effective use of technology in teaching, training and learning environments.
Provides a platform for applied research, along with expertise into the effective use of interactive and collaborative technologies.

ABEL’s partners include the , the Ministry of Education’s , the (including��more than��10 school boards), , the , the , the , the and many others.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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Osgoode Professor Stepan Wood's co-authored book in running for best book on Canadian Politics

fmaquito — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Prize named to honour Professor Emeritus Donald V. Smiley

A new book by Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Stepan Wood (LLB '92) and University of Toronto political economist Stephen Clarkson has been nominated for the 's prestigious for the best book on Canadian politics.

Examining Canadians’ complicated roles as agents and objects of global forces, shines an urgent light on the dangerous imbalances in contemporary forms of globalized law and governance. From French and British colonial politics to the SARS epidemic, Canadians have long known how it feels to be objects of global forces. But they are also agents who have helped build structures of global governance that have highly uneven impacts on prosperity, human security and the environment.

Right: Stepan Wood

The winner of the 2011 Smiley Prize will be announced at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference in Waterloo, Ontario, on May 17.

A Perilous Imbalance examines Canada's experience of globalization in the context of three interlinked trends: the emergence of a neoconservative global “supra-constitution”, the paradoxical retreat and expansion of the Canadian nation-state and the growth of unconventional forms of governance beyond the state. It advocates a revitalization of the state as a vehicle for pursuing human security, ecological integrity and social emancipation, and for creating spaces in which progressive, alternative forms of law and governance can unfold.

With its critical analysis of the challenges faced by middle powers such as Canada in a globalizing world, A Perilous Imbalance further cements Osgoode's pre-eminence in the study of international and transnational legal issues, says Wood. The book has been very well received. Reviewers have praised it as “sophisticated, bold and accessible,” “important reading for anyone seeking to assess Canada’s legal and political engagement with globalization” and “a comprehensive account of Canada’s entanglement with globalization’s legal rules and institutions.”

The Smiley Prize honours the life and work of the late Donald V. Smiley (1921-1990), a leading Canadian political scientist and former Professor Emeritus at 91��ɫ. It is awarded each year to the best book published on Canadian government and politics��– one award for an English-language book, one for French.

“I took an advanced seminar with Professor Smiley when I was an undergraduate political science major at 91��ɫ in the 1980s,” recalls Wood. “He fostered a challenging yet friendly atmosphere that brought out the best in his students. I feel particularly honoured to be associated with his name again after so many years.”

The book was the fruit of a cross-disciplinary collaboration that began when Wood and Clarkson were both virtual scholars in residence at the now defunct Law Commission of Canada. Working with Clarkson, whose contribution to the study of Canadian and North American political economy was recently recognized with the Order of Canada, was a highly rewarding experience for Wood.

“Collaborating with Stephen was a pleasure from start to finish,” says Wood. “Our very different knowledge and expertise complemented each other nicely and Stephen has been an exceptionally generous and supportive colleague and friend.”

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professors John Saul and Paul Lovejoy to receive lifetime achievement awards from CAAS

fmaquito — Thu, 05 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

For two 91��ɫ professors, receiving an award for Lifetime Achievement in African Studies from the (CAAS) represents a major acknowledgement of decades of work in African liberation, research and teaching.

91��ɫ Professor Emeritus John S. Saul and 91��ɫ Distinguished Research Professor in African history and Canada Research Chair Paul Lovejoy will be presented with the awards during the opening reception of the conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies – Africa Here; Africa There – at 91��ɫ May 5 to 7.

As 91��ɫ history Professor José C. Curto, co-organizer of the conference along with sociology Professor��Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, says, “They’ve spent a lifetime fighting, in one way or another, for Africa. You can’t get any better than them.”

Right: John S. Saul

President of the CAAS Dennis Cordell��wrote that��Saul’s research achievements, along with his “deep and long-standing commitment to the struggle for equity, equality and human rights in Africa” are legion. He also pointed to Lovejoy’s “wonderful abilities to teach and mentor” students and younger colleagues.

Left: Paul Lovejoy

Lovejoy says the award is significant to him “because of the recognition of my contribution to understanding the history of people of African descent especially so since this is the UN International Year for People of African Descent and my personal commitment to exposing the crime of the ‘slave route’ and seeking reconciliation that can only be based on truth about the past.”

In addition to receiving lifetime achievement awards, both Saul and Lovejoy will launch books in conjunction with the conference Saturday, May 7, at Accents on Eglinton Bookstore, 1790 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto. Saul’s Liberation Lite: The Roots of Recolonization in Southern Africa (Three Essay Collective) will launch beginning at 6:30pm, followed by The Harriet Tubman Institute Series of which Lovejoy is the general series editor at 7pm. There are 10 books in the Tubman series, including Slavery, Islam and Diaspora; Africa, Brazil and the Construction of Trans Atlantic Black Identities; and Africa and the Americas: Interconnections During the Slave Trade.

Liberation Lite is comprised of��five essays. “The theme I’m emphasizing is that of liberation as a multiplex concept,” says Saul. His definition of liberation would include race, nation, class and gender, but also a democratically empowered voice. "Others in Africa and elsewhere��have come to define liberation only in terms of the narrow construct of national independence."

Saul says liberation has to be multidimensional to be a useful concept. “We expected the liberation struggle would yield more than that,” more than simply national liberation, but also class, race and gender freedom.��It is not simply an emphasis that��"we white lefties had dreamt up and��taken over to Africa. We learned it there. We learned it there from Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO's first president, for example.” As it stands, “liberation has been pretty light and those who are concerned have to figure out how to deepen and enrich��it,” he says. He also takes a��critical stance towards global capitalism and corporate imperialism, and what he calls��the "re-colonizing" of Africa by a new "empire of��capital". In consequence, the concluding essay looks at why socialism still has significant resonance and merit in southern Africa and beyond.

Saul has published��some 19��books, including Revolutionary Traveller: Freeze Frames from a Life (Arbeiter Ring, 2009) (see YFile, Jan. 13, 2010), Development after Globalization: Theory and Practice for the Embattled South in a New Imperial Age (Fernwood Publishing, 2006) and Decolonization and Empire: Contesting the Rhetoric and Reality of Resubordination in Southern Africa and Beyond (Fernwood Publishing, 2008).

He is hard at work on three more books. He says the lifetime achievement award��may well be��an acknowledgement of his body of work, but��he is also accepting it “on behalf of all those who have worked diligently in support of��South African-related struggles over the years, as well as against Canada's own complicity – that is, our government and corporations too often being on the wrong side of such struggles there.” In 2004,��Saul was elected fellow of the .

Last year, Lovejoy received the Distinguished Africanist Research Excellence Award from the University of Texas at Austin for his dedication, lifetime of service and contributions to the discipline. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, and has dedicated his career to researching and teaching African history.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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