Canada Research Chair Archives | Research & Innovation

Gender Equality in Low-Carbon Economies

ls1207 — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 19:58:50 +0000

Written by Elaine Coburn, Director of the Centre for Feminist Research, 91��ɫ

Bipasha Baruah

(91��ɫ PhD 2005) is Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Global Women’s Issues. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Professor Baruah specializes in interdisciplinary research at the intersections of gender, economy, environment, and development; gender and work; and social, political, and economic inequality. Her current research aims to understand how to ensure that a global low-carbon economy will be more gender-equitable and socially just than its fossil-fuel-based predecessor. She has published one book, Women and Property in Urban India, (University of British Columbia Press 2010) and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, working papers, policy briefs and professional reports, in journals like World Development, Feminist Economics, Development in Practice, Water Policy, and Labor Studies. Her work can be found .

In her presentation at the Centre for Feminist Research at 91��ɫ, “Gender Equality In Low Carbon Economies: Continuities, Contradiction, Disruptions”, 91��ɫ alumni and Canada Research Chair Bipasha Baruah observes that, “Globally, women represent only 22 per cent of the oil and gas industry and 32 per cent of the renewable energy workforce. Women are particularly underrepresented in the energy sector in jobs that require science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) training (28 per cent) compared to non-STEM technical jobs (35 per cent) and administrative positions (45 per cent).” For Baruah, this underrepresentation is not only a problem but an opportunity, as nations around the world are confronted with the urgent need to re-orient the energy sector for environmental sustainability. In developed, emerging and developing economies, the energy sector can be transformed to support more sustainable energy -- and better jobs and more equity for women.

This is true in the developed nations, like Canada, where skill shortages in the renewable energy sector are a challenge but, Professor Baruah emphasizes, also an opportunity, “to train, recruit and promote women, Indigenous peoples, new immigrants, workers with disabilities, and other groups that have historically been marginalized in the energy sector.” This requires support for women to obtain degrees and diplomas in the better-paid science and technology fields, for instance, but also more flexibility for women who take maternity and parental leave to return to work and mandatory quotas for women in upper management and administrative positions.

Developing nations face their own challenges in the energy transition, but some offer useful models for ways forward for the rest of the world. In a chapter with Rabia Ferroukhi and Celia García-Baños López published in 2021, “Global Trends in Women’s Employment in Renewable Energy,” Professor Baruah and her colleagues point to Zambia’s gender-transformative approach as one helpful example. “Zambia’s National Energy Policy identifies measures to mainstream gender considerations in all energy access programs” they observe, “and highlights the role of women not only as beneficiaries but as also active energy providers and entrepreneurs within the sector.” They conclude that “This is a good example of a[n]…approach that views women not simply as primary end users and beneficiaries, but as actors in the design and delivery of energy solutions.”��

If the energy transition to sustainable industries is necessary and urgent, Professor Baruah’s work is a reminder that there is hope in this transition for creating a more gender-just world. This will require women’s active role as decision-makers, not just in the energy sector but in the social, political and economic structures that now reproduce inequities. They can and must be transformed to bring about both environmental sustainability and gender equity in the critical years ahead.

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The University recruits a new Canada Research Chair and gains a renewed Canada Research Chair

muellerm — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ welcomes the appointment of Christian Haas as its new Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Arctic Sea Ice Geophysics and the renewal of a CRC in the History of Modern China for Joshua Fogel.

As Tier 1 CRCs, Haas and Fogel will each receive $1.4 million over seven years. The CRC is part of a package of CRC appointments announced Oct. 12, by Gary Goodyear, ��minister of state (Science and Technology).

“Our government’s top priority is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity,” said Goodyear. “By investing in talented people through programs such as the Canada Research Chairs, our government is supporting cutting-edge research in Canadian post-secondary institutions. This fosters innovation by helping researchers bring their ideas to the marketplace, where they can touch the lives of Canadians.”

In all, the government announced an investment of $121.6 ��million to fund the appointment of 155 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 42 Canadian degree-granting post-secondary institutions.

“The appointment of Professor Christian Haas as Canada Research Chair in Arctic Sea Ice Geophysics and the renewal of Professor Joshua Fogel as Canada Research Chair in the History of Modern China recognizes the excellence of their research and provides them with opportunities to further develop their exceptional research programs,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “Through the CRC program, 91��ɫ continues to build on its research strengths and enhance opportunities for graduate training.”

Christian Haas

Haas, a professor of geophysics, in the Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, is examining the underlying reasons for the recent, rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice and the consequences for the Arctic climate system and ecosystem, for Northerners, and for better access to Arctic resources and shipping routes.�� His research also addresses the role of changes in winds and ice drift as well as of variations in atmospheric radiation and temperature and ocean salinity and temperature on ice thickness and areal coverage.

A thorough understanding of the reasons for the recent Arctic sea ice decline will help fuel predictions of future scenarios and identify links to possible human-induced causes for climate change.

Ice information obtained by Haas’ research utilizing airborne and ground-based field campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctic, satellite remote sensing and numerical modeling provides important information for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and extraction, as well as shipping and over-ice travel.�� His research contributes unique information on ice thickness, one of the most important sea ice properties for the design and regulation of offshore structures and ships, safe ice utilization and assessment of oil spill development.

Fogel, a professor in the Department of History in the��Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and member of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Asian Research has been examining the dynamic cultural and political relations between China and Japan over the past two centuries.

Joshua Fogel

The history of modern China cannot be fully or properly understood, Fogel maintains, without examining the dynamic cultural, political, and economic interactions between China and Japan over the last two centuries. Fogel’s research focuses on this interaction and the importance of Japan in China’s modern development.

He is presently writing a comprehensive history of Chinese-Japanese relations from antiquity through the present as well as a more focused monograph on the history of the Japanese expatriate community in Shanghai (1862 to 1945). His work is premised on the fruitful assumption that the modern history of China is incomprehensible without a full consideration of modern Japanese history.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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CRC Georg Zoidl congratulated by Canada's prime minister

fmaquito — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Biology Professor Georg Zoidl, 91��ɫ’s Canada Research Chair in Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience,��has received a framed letter of congratulations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The letter was delivered to Zoidl by 91��ɫ Vice-President Research & Innovation, Robert Haché, Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner and Faculty of Science & Engineering Dean Janusz Kozinski.

Above: from left, Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner; VP Research & Innovation Robert Haché; Professor and CRC Georg Zoidl; and Faculty of Science & Engineering Dean Janusz Kozinski

“On behalf of the 91��ɫ research community, I am delighted that Dr. Georg Zoidl’s research and appointment as Canada Research Chair in Mollecular and Cellular Neuroscience has been acknowledged by Canada’s Prime Minister through this correspondence,” said Haché.�� “Professor Zoidl is a highly accomplished, world-class researcher who we look to for leadership in the development of this exciting area of research and 91��ɫ's broader research agenda.”

Zoidl’s research examines the functions of nerve cells in the brain and the visual system as a means to understanding overall brain activity in health and disease.��The research explores the communication processes in the brain that contribute to disease-causing conditions. Even small changes in communication between these nerve cells might get amplified over a lifetime and will be at the heart of a wide spectrum of diseases.

He is addressing the role of electrical communication in the visual system and the brain using genetically-altered zebra fish; their brains and eyes utilize the basic communication principles found in humans. His research combines high-end imaging tools with careful molecular and cellular manipulations to track how information flows into the brain and eye under healthy and diseased conditions.��The research will foster insight into the molecular and cellular basis of epilepsy and could ultimately lead to improved treatment for vision loss.

“I am honored to receive this letter from Canada’s Prime Minister, which recognizes the importance of my research,” said Zoidl. “In Canada, securing and preserving quality of life is highly dependent on an individual’s prolonged and sustained quality of health. With vision loss listed in the top 10 most costly disease groups and approximately 15,500 new epilepsy patients each year, it is important to study the fundamental communication processes in the nervous system from molecules to systems in order to develop preventative health measures.”

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

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Graduate Studies honours two professors for excellence in teaching

fmaquito — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

On Thursday, March 1, the Faculty of Graduate Studies honoured Professors Joel Katz and Paul Lovejoy for their excellence in graduate teaching and mentoring at 91��ɫ.

The two professors were each presented with a Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award at the the meeting of the Faculty of Graduate Studies Council. In introducing the awardees, Associate Dean Academic Affairs Thomas Loebel said the professors’ students wrote of them “with an appreciation – and affection – otherwise reserved for family.”

From left, Patrick Monahan, VP academic & provost; Allan Hutchinson, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies; and Professor Joel Katz

Joel Katz, teaches in the Faculties of Health and Graduate Studies. A Canada Research Chair in Health Psychology and affiliated with Toronto General Hospital, he sports a book-length CV of awards, boards, invited lectures and publications in the fields of psychology, anesthesiology and pain management.

In his introduction, Loebel said that Katz’s students were grateful for the his level of care, patience, kindness and enthusiasm. He displays “care for how they think, research, represent themselves and 91��ɫ, and how they interact– care from the macro to the micro levels, in theory and in practice,” said Loebel.

In their letters of assessment and recommendation, Loebel said that students noted repeatedly that learning from Katz’s published findings made them realize that if they wanted to develop their minds and their approaches to their career fields, and if they wanted to participate truly and significantly in the solution of health problems, then they needed to come study with him.

“When I was informed by my students that they wanted to nominate me, I felt I had already gotten the award” said Katz. Though he has received a number of awards, this one, he says, “is by far the most meaningful. I have students who make it easy and enjoyable for me��to do my job.”

Paul Lovejoy, a distinguished research professor and an internationally renowned expert on the African diaspora, teaches in the Faculties of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and Graduate Studies. Among his accomplishments and credits, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples.

Patrick Monahan congratulates Professor Paul Lovejoy shortly after being presented with the Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award by Allan Hutchinson

A pioneer in the digital humanities, Lovejoy’s work has global significance because it opens access to rare documents and creates online-networked communities. The nomination submissions highlighted how Lovejoy integrates his students in ways that allow them to build skills for their own work. Loebel said that his students expressed great gratitude for his open-access approach to his personal library of volumes and documents that are simply not available elsewhere.

His students repeatedly commented that Lovejoy teaches them to network by example, not only as a career development tool, but more importantly, said Loebel, “as part of the process of learning and discovery, to make community by vibrant communication.”

“It’s the highest honour a professor can receive, based on the ability to share new knowledge and inspire students to achieve their potential,” said Lovejoy, who sees the award as a highlight in his career. “Of the many awards and honours I have been blessed with,” he said, “this one is special – the best.”

Before presenting the awards, Allan Hutchinson, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, said that Katz and Lovejoy were recognized by both peers and students. They are “raising the bar with the extent of their commitment to their students." Most remarkably, he said, “their graduate students described these professors as genuinely caring and as active participants in their development as students, as scholars and as individuals.”

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

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91��ɫ gains new Canada Research Chair

fmaquito — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ Professor Georg Zoidl has been appointed��Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience.��

Zoidl, a professor at 91��ɫ since July 1 in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, and the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and a member of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Vision Research, is examining the functions of nerve cells in the brain and the visual system as a means to understanding overall brain activity in health and disease.��

Left: Georg Zoidl

As a Tier 1 CRC, Zoidl will receive $1.4 million over seven years.��The CRC is part of a package of CRC appointments announced recently at the University of Guelph by��Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state (Science and Technology).

“Our government is investing in the people and ideas that will keep Canada at the forefront of the global economy,” said Goodyear. “The Canada Research Chairs are helping to develop, attract and retain the world’s top researchers here in our country.”

In all, the government announced an investment of $203.9 million to fund the appointment of 253 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 56 Canadian degree-granting postsecondary institutions.

“I am delighted that Professor Georg Zoidl has joined 91��ɫ as the Canada Research Chair in Molecular and��Cellular Neuroscience,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ.��“Through the CRC program, 91��ɫ is building on its research strengths and enhancing opportunities for graduate training.”

Zoidl's research explores the communication processes in the brain that contribute to disease-causing conditions. Even small changes in communication between these nerve cells might get amplified over a lifetime and will be at the heart of a wide spectrum of diseases.��

Zoidl is addressing the role of electrical communication in the visual system and the brain using genetically altered zebrafish, which have a brain and eyes utilizing the basic communication principles found in humans.��He uses��high-end imaging tools with careful molecular and cellular manipulations to track how information flows into the living brain or eye under health and disease conditions, with a focus on epilepsy and ischemia. His research will foster insight into the molecular and cellular basis of epilepsy and could ultimately lead to improved treatment for stroke.��

Zoidl came to 91��ɫ from the Faculty of Medical Science at Ruhr-University Bochum in Bochum, Germany.

For more information, visit the website.

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

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Professor Caitlin Fisher speaks to Globe and Mail about how digital technology is changing the way writers tell stories

fmaquito — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:00:00 +0000

The e-book is changing the publishing business, but will digital technology actually change the way we tell stories, the way writers write – for better or for worse? asked The Globe and Mail July 9.

Multimedia experiments often use short texts because readers seem unlikely to tolerate long passages of type in a video or interactive environment. "Maybe the chunk is not the chapter; maybe the chunk is the paragraph, and one paragraph can lead to more, different paragraphs," says Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture at 91��ɫ [Faculty of Fine Arts], who used that approach in her 2001 multimedia novella These Waves of Girls. "People have been figuring out how to get their message onto a single screen. It makes some writing better and some writing worse."

91��ɫ's Fisher agrees that the issue is how to draw the reader through the text. "It's interesting to say maybe people would navigate your novel like a game environment," she says. "People find a game environment compelling. [But] does it always have to be a puzzle or maze? Could great writing draw you through it?... We don't have serious writers experimenting with it."

Fisher also notes how seductive video is, hoping books will not simply be replaced by some version of interactive film or augmented reality. "We have this push that all literature can become movies. Everyone can cheaply make and edit moving pictures. It is pushing out interesting experiments in writing."

"I'd be happy to purchase an $80 electronic novel that promised to take me places I hadn't been before, but it's a hard sell," says Fisher, who wants to see writers making technology work for them rather than technology shaping the form. "It is crucial writers be there asking what kind of tools might be useful...and not just accept what computer science hands them."

Posted by Arielle Zomer, research communications officer,��with files��courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference begins Saturday

fmaquito — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Conference driven by 91��ɫ research in digital media, psychology, vision and computer science

The , a one-of-a-kind gathering of experts in stereoscopic 3D art and entertainment, takes place in Toronto June 11 to 14. Major figures from the USA, UK, Russia, Germany and Canada will convene at TIFF Bell Lightbox to address and analyze the latest developments in the field.

Speakers include renowned German director , Irish director and U2 stage designer , , co-founder of IMAX and leading international film historian .�� Minister , will deliver remarks.

The Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference is organized by the (3D FLIC) and researchers from 91��ɫ, including the . Bridging academia and industry, the event is designed to create dynamic synergies to funnel cutting-edge research into 3D production and best practices, to continue to improve the stereo 3D experience and respond to the growing audience appetite for 3D entertainment across all platforms.

Saturday, June 11
What: �� Official opening night of the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference

When: �� 5pm (Please arrive 1 hour early for sound feed)

Where:�� Cinema 2, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto

Remarks:

Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director
, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91��ɫ
James Weyman, Manager of Industry Initiatives, Ontario Media Development Corporation
Awad introduces Ali Kazimi, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91��ɫ
Kazimi presents German filmmaker and keynote speaker Wim Wenders

5:30pm Keynote address by Wim Wenders, titled “On PINA”

Sunday, June 12
What: �� Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference, remarks by Honourable�� Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism & Culture.

When: �� 10am (Please arrive 1 hour early for sound feed)

Where:�� Cinema 2, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto

Remarks:

Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director
Nell Tenhaaf, Professor of Visual Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91��ɫ
Honourable Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism & Culture
Tenhaaf introduces Bill White, partner, 3D Camera Company

10:30am Mini Keynote Canada’s lead on the Stereoscopic 3D World Stage

Dr. Paul Salvini (CTO Side FX Software)
Dr. Kevin Tuer (MD Canadian Digital Media Network)

For more details, see and a previous .

Artistic Direction and Organization Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director 91��ɫ; Professor Janine Marchessault, Canada Research Chair in Art, Digital Media and Globalization, 91��ɫ; and Sanja Obradovic, PHD Candidate Communication and Culture, Ryerson University/91��ɫ.

By Amy Stewart, publicist, Faculty of Fine Arts

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

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Professor and CRC Gordon Flett on coping with psychological distress, the silent killer

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

If there was ever any doubt, Charlie Sheen is not winning, wrote . While it was beauty that killed the beast, it was most likely pressure (brewed in wealth, drugs and women) that pushed Sheen from atop his skyscraper of a life:

Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health, examines psychological distress, emotional maltreatment and coping responses at 91��ɫ [Faculty of Health]. Flett says while Sheen’s exploits are obviously an extreme case of a stress-related health problem, dealing with pressure and its resulting stress is by no means an uncommon condition.

“I feel badly for the guy [Sheen] because obviously, he’s out there. Everybody is watching him and he’s saying that he’s winning. He’s got millions of dollars to be able to cope with pressure and he has the girls that he keeps around, but mental well-being is not something he’s put a price tag on," says Flett. "There are people that are dealing with all kinds of stress and suffering and they keep quiet about it so nobody even knows what they are going through. They keep it to themselves as opposed to going on national or international TV and letting the world in on it."

And while Fleet doesn’t recommend booking time on "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" or "eTalk" to share your story with 34.4 million Canadians, he says heading down to the local pub or the bowling alley with friends for a few hours Friday night after work may be just what you need when it’s time to depressurize.

“Social support is crucial when battling stress. So anybody who is experiencing significant stress, and is also leading a pretty lonely, isolated life, is much more at risk," explains Flett. “If you have supportive people around you, that can really serve as a buffer. I think that’s one reason why people turn to the Internet. They find people there that they can chat with online."

But talking about stress with your partner, friends or co-workers isn’t for everyone. Flett says a lot of people stay quiet about how they feel because there is a stigma attached to it, but if those same people are truly feeling overwhelmed, they should seek psychological assistance.

“Maybe 3-in-10 of the people that should go for some kind of assistance actually goes, while the rest try to cope on their own or they don’t try to cope at all," says Flett. “In the case of stress, people can go for counseling or people can quite easily learn the skills of how to relax whether it’s breathing or yoga or exercise. But usually when somebody is chronically stressed, they need to change some thinking patterns too."

. . .

[ ] unlike blood pressure medication, there is no pill that combats stress, which is too bad, as researchers have charted ‘the silent killer’ through cortisol, the hormone, which is formed in response to stress.

Whether medication is available or not, we can still make moves to help ourselves and minimize stress by first pinpointing exactly where the pressures in our lives are stemming from. Pressure comes from a variety of different sources including major life events like marriage, divorce or even a new job, but wherever it comes from, Flett says it’s usually related to some kind of expectation that’s being imposed on a person to live up to a standard or some other kind of obligation.

“Because the pressure often comes from an external source and it’s weighing on the person, it’s usually a chronic form of stress," says Flett, “so it can have quite an impact because the individual could be thinking about the source of the stress all of the time."

And that’s not good. Paraphrasing the late Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye, considered by many as the father of biological stress, Flett says, “Every day that we have stress; we die a little bit more." Flett acknowledges it’s the small stuff, the daily things that people need to realize fuels chronic stress.

“Experts talk about blood pressure being the silent killer. I think stress is the silent killer. People may not realize how much stress they’re under or if they do realize it, they don’t see any way they can lessen it and it just continues to rack��up."

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files 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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Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's 91��ɫ Circle event

fmaquito — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

From the ‘burbs to birds and from social justice to Olympic poetry, the next installment of the 91��ɫ Circle’s��popular Lecture & Lunch series returns on Saturday, April 30. It promises plenty of new ideas for inquiring minds.

As with previous 91��ɫ Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University’s leading thinkers. For full details, download a PDF of the 91��ɫ Circle schedule.

In her��lecture, “The Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds”, 91��ɫ Professor Bridget Stutchbury (left), Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, will explain why some birds readily divorce their partners, why females sneak out to have sex with neighbouring males and why some mothers sometimes desert their babies. Based on her book (2010), this lecture promises to raise the blinds on the secret lives of birds.

On a more serious note,��Stutchbury will examine��whether��bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s,��Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is��author of the book (2007)��– a��finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award.

"The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade" is the intriguing title of the presentation by 91��ɫ��history Professor��Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and��director of the��. In his��lecture,��Lovejoy will explore the pivotal role of Gustavus Vassa, better known by his African name, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1742-1797), in advancing the abolition of the British slave trade. Many scholars consider William Wilberforce (c. 1759-1833) and Thomas Clarkson (c. 1760-1846)��to be��the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was��the��seminal influence��in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

Lovejoy��is a member of the executive committee of the UNESCO “Slave Route” Project, co-edits African Economic History and Studies in the History of the African Diaspora – Documents (SHADD), and is research professor and associate fellow of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the��University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91��ɫ Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund’s first poet-in-residence during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games. In her lecture, which is aptly titled, "My Gold Medal Experience: Olympic Poetry", Uppal��will describe��how she��celebrated with the Canadian athletes and their families by writing poetry about winter sports, the games, and the personalities and performances that captured a nation’s imagination.

How she designed and then “trained” for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she’s undertaken to bridge the sometimes separate worlds of sport and art, will all be addressed. In addition, Uppal will read a short selection of the some of the 50 poems written at the games and recently collected in the book Winter Sport: Poems (2010).

"A World of Suburbs? Finding the Heart of the Urban Century in the Periphery" with 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91��ɫ Circle members insights into urbanization. The 21st century has been heralded as an urban century. Indeed, urbanization is now the most tangible shared experience of humanity. Keil will explore what is behind the story of the "urban revolution". He will uncover��an important and perhaps astonishing truth: Most urban dwellers now live in the periphery. From the squatter settlements of the Global South to the wealthy gated communities of North America, from the tower block peripheries of Europe or Canada to the newly sprawling cities of Asia, a common theme emerges: where cities grow, they grow at the margins.

Keil is the director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ and professor��in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.��Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil’s current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance.��He is the co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and a co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action.

This free series includes two events annually –��in the spring and fall each year��– and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91��ɫ Circle and their guests, each of whom are offered a complimentary lunch sourced from 91��ɫ Region as part of the day.

The 91��ɫ Circle receives generous support from 91��ɫ's Alumni Office (program partner) and the Toronto Community News and Metroland Media Group 91��ɫ Region (print media sponsors).

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

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