The important role of basic research for society and how it is funded are at the heart of a special lecture titled, "Funding Basic Research, Promoting Excellence, and Building Trust", which will be delivered at 91��ɫ by Professor Helmut Schwarz, the president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and a leading international researcher in the field of molecular chemistry. This special lecture will be presented Oct. 31, from 3 to 4pm in the Senate Chamber, 940 North Ross Building.

Helmut Schwarz 

Schwarz will argue that publicly financed, fundamental research is neither a luxury nor a subsidy, but a cultural achievement and, as such, marks the starting point of every single value-added chain. In his comments, Schwarz will also reflect on the funding principles and core mission of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – the funding of individuals rather than projects, the emphasis on individual excellence and academic freedom. He will argue that more campaigning on behalf of the individual researcher is needed to support genuinely high-risk endeavors that are necessary for groundbreaking research.

Schwarz holds a research chair in organic chemistry at the Technische Universität Berlin.

Schwarz’s visit also marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry laboratory space on the second floor of the Chemisty Building, which he helped to celebrate 10 years ago at 91��ɫ.  A private roundtable discussion will be held in honour of this event and attended by Schwarz and the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Sabine Sparwasser.

91��ɫ’s Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry promotes and organizes research collaboration with other universities, hospitals, government institutes, such as , Ontario Centre of Excellence INC, ISTPCanada Incorporated, and the , and industries, such as , YESBiotech  and Concept 2 Clinic. Research in mass spectrometry has become an increasingly important and multi-disciplinary scientific activity world-wide.

“91��ɫ is delighted to host  Professor Helmut Schwarz, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin and pleased that Sabine Sparwasser, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany will also be joining us at this visit to mark this special occasion,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & Innovation. “We look forward to the continued development of collaborative research initiatives and to strengthening the ties between 91��ɫ and research institutions in Germany.”

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants research fellowships and research awards to researchers from around the world, allowing them to conduct research with collaborative partners in Germany. All researchers sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation become life-long members of the international “Humboldt Network”. Support from the foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time researching in Germany. The Humboldt Network numbers more than 25,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in over 130 countries worldwide - including 49 Nobel Laureates.

This lecture is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation and the Faculty of Science & Engineering. It is free and open to University community members. Seating is limited, so arrive early to avoid disappointment.

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

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The event, Queering Theatre in Toronto, will take place Thursday, from 2 to 4pm, in Winters Senior Common Room, 021 Winters College, Keele campus.

Newton, recently appointed a Winters College Fellow, is the founding artistic director of Ecce Homo Theatre. His newest musical, , is scheduled to run from Jan. 5 to 15, as part of the 2012 Next Stage Theatre Festival at the Factory Theatre in Toronto.

Written and directed by Newton, Loving the Stranger or How to Recognize an Invert, introduces the audience to Montreal’s Peter Flinsch, a theatre designer, visual artist and gay survivor of Nazi Germany, who was arrested in 1942 for kissing a friend at a Luftwaffe Christmas party. It takes in everything from the cabarets of 1920s Berlin and the battle over gay marriage to the office of the prime minister, and is billed as a provocative expressionist cabaret.

His previous work includes three consecutive productions for the SummerWorks Theatre Festival in which he was playwright and director of The Pastor Phelps Project: a fundamentalist cabaret, The Ecstasy of Mother Teresa or Agnes Bojaxhiu Superstar and Loving the Stranger or How to Recognize an Invert. Newton’s work has also been performed at the Rhubarb Festival – Leni Riefenstahl vs. the 20th Century – and the Victoria Fringe Festival – Woyzeck Songspiel.

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

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Right: A cooperatively owned high-rise building in Halle has a market at its base with three identical abandoned buildings behind it. Photo by Josh Neubauer

This summer, 13 master’s students from 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies travelled to Berlin and Leipzig to participate in a graduate urban planning course, co-taught by a team of 91��ɫ faculty members under the directorship of environmental studies Professor Ute Lehrer and urban studies coordinator Douglas Young, as well as CITY postdoctoral fellow Will Poppe. The students learned first-hand how German planners are responding to large-scale population decline in urbanized areas.

“This workshop gave me the opportunity to go to Europe for the first time, and Berlin simply blew me away,” says Nishanthan Balasubramaniam, a student in the Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) Planning Program. “I learned a lot about German planning and culture. This course abroad was an unforgettable experience.”

From June 24 to July 9, the students spoke with urban researchers, local planners, activists and residents. Through these conversations, along with many hours of exploring Leipzig, Berlin and Halle-Neustadt on foot and by bike, and taking hundreds of photographs, the students pieced together a picture of how East German cities are working to adapt to their shrinking populations and socio-economic challenges, and what these changes have meant for the everyday lives of residents.

Left: 91��ɫ planning students consult a map of Halle-Neustadt with local planners. Photo by Josh Neubauer

The students learned that many of the biggest changes are taking place in neighbourhoods that are visibly similar to parts of Toronto – demolitions are taking place in the clusters of pre-fabricated apartment towers on the edges of the city. These communities, like Toronto’s high-rise neighbourhoods, are often stigmatized even though many of their residents are relatively content. MES planning student Gwen Potter says residents are concerned about the way their community has been targeted for demolition. “From our conversations with local residents, we heard about their deep pride in their community,” says Potter. 

Despite the challenges that population decline has created for residents and planners, it has also produced unexpected benefits in communities like Grünau. With fewer apartment blocks, there are now more open spaces, and the community is surrounded by lush meadows and forests. Throughout Leipzig, residents are making the best of the shrinking population by turning demolition sites into new green spaces. As they walked and biked through these neighbourhoods, the 91��ɫ planning students were struck by how differently plants and trees were integrated in the community than in Toronto’s manicured neighbourhoods. “I was introduced to a new way of discussing the urban landscape and the importance of urban ecology,” says MES planning student Christine Furtado, who sees the benefits of this practice.

For the students, the course provided an important international perspective where they learned about the contradictions of new developments at the periphery at the same time that population decline is occurring in the core city. With continued sprawl and decreasing populations, planners in many German cities now work with community members, property owners and developers to shape their urban spaces with a focus on quality rather than quantity. The students indicated they were inspired by the innovative approaches to community building that have emerged as a result of these collaborations and hope to carry these lessons into their future planning work in Canada.

Right: Population loss leaves room for an abundance of green space in Grünau, Leipzig. Photo by Josh Neubauer

During the course, the students also had the opportunity to learn about the challenges of suburban neighbourhoods and outlying tower districts all over the world. They observed a two-day conference on suburban governance organized as part of 91��ɫ’s Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded major collaborative research initiative (MCRI) – Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land & Infrastructure in the 21st Century, which brought together international researchers studying suburbanization processes around the world. The direct link between the themes of the workshop and the conference were an essential component of the learning experience in Leipzig.

As Lehrer says, “This course had a different approach than your normal planning workshop because it was trying to make a regular course part of an international research project. This innovative teaching approach allows both students and researchers to learn from each other in ways that are not possible in a regular classroom. It was a huge success and we hope to replicate it by taking students to Montpellier, France, next year and to Shanghai in 2014.”

Left: Large apartment buildings being demolished in the Grünau neighbourhood in outer Leipzig. Photo by Josh Neubauer

The 91��ɫ students also shared findings and research interests with a group of Polish architecture and sociology students conducting their own analysis of the Leipzig-Grünau housing estate, which added another important international dimension.

The MES students are now producing a final report, aimed at planners and policy-makers in Toronto and the GTA, that will draw on their research in Germany to make recommendations for how Toronto’s tower neighbourhoods might be transformed.

This graduate course was a component of the Global Suburbanisms project based at 91��ɫ’s CITY Institute under the direction of Professor Roger Keil. The course was made possible with generous financial support of 91��ɫ International and the German Academic Exchange Service and benefited from institutional, academic and personal support of Professor Sigrun Kabisch and Professor Dieter Rink, as well as other colleagues from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, a partner in 91��ɫ’s Global Suburbanisms project.

By 91��ɫ MES students Gwen Potter and Josh Neubauer, who travelled to Germany this summer

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

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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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The first of its kind in Canada, the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference is organized by the 3D Film Innovation Consortium (3D FLIC), and researchers from 91��ɫ.

See the for start times, remarks and speakers.

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.

The conference will offer film and TV production companies, 3D practitioners and enthusiasts the opportunity for far-ranging discussions about contemporary challenges and possibilities in stereoscopic 3D. It will feature keynotes, panel discussions and presentations, with screenings and master classes rounding out the program.

Keynote presenters include renowned German director , who will discuss the creation of his 3D documentary , about the influential choreographer Pina Bausch; Irish director and stage designer Catherine Owen, who will share her experiences co-directing U23D, the first film shot in digital 3D; Graeme Ferguson, co-founder of IMAX and one of the filmmakers behinds some of its most successful films, and Thomas Elsaesser, renowned international film historian.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaB5Nc0XNOY&feature=player_embedded

The live-action nature drama Bugs, the science-fiction action blockbuster and , the IMAX exploration of the profound impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on the way we view the universe, will all be screened and introduced by their producers.

Panels include Stereography and Cinematography, Producing and Directing Stereo 3D, Expanding the Tool Set: Post-production and visual effects, Shooting for Conversion, Stereoscopic Perception and Cinema, History of Experiments in 3D Film and Photography, and many more.

All panels, presentations, keynotes and screenings will be held at the 350-seat 3D-capable cinema at TIFF Bell Lightbox, giving all speakers the possibility to show footage during their presentations.

The Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference runs immediately prior to , June 15 to 19, allowing for synergies and exchanges between the two international events.

The conference is produced and presented by 3D FLIC and 91��ɫ. Presenting partners: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Graphics Animation and New Media (GRAND) NCE, Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). Supporting partners: City of Toronto, Canadian Digital Media Network, Goethe Institute Toronto, IMAX, Cinespace Film Studios, 3D Camera Company, Creative Post, Studio SysAdmin and Geneva Films. Additional support from: FilmOntario and Computer Animation Studios of Ontario (CASO). Master classes co-presented by TIFF Bell Lightbox.

A full conference pass is $180. Passes for students and seniors are $60. A day pass is $75, with student and senior day passes priced at $25. Tickets for the Wim Wenders master class are $25 each, and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets for other master classes are $15 each, with students and seniors tickets priced at $10 per class.

Information and conference registration forms can be found on the website.

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

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The dialogue sparked by the leaders mystifies 91��ɫ City Institute director Roger Keil, himself a newcomer from his native Germany in the 1990s. “I’m puzzled (that) the national debate in Central and Western Europe is a point of reference in Canada,” he said. “Those making the comments have a specific agenda. They’re right wing and are under various influences, some fascist.”

Citing France’s republic, Germany’s federation and Italy’s struggles to define itself during a wave of Tunisian immigration, Keil said Canada demonstrates vastly different policies and history.

Canada has the highest per-capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification. Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s government in the 1970s.

. . .

Our welcoming nature and immigration policies have created a critical mass of socio-ethno cultural groups, creating a mosaic of diversity that outweighs influences by camps and enclaves found in Europe, Dr. Keil said. “Europe has a different political spectrum,” he said. “They have outspoken nationalists pushed by fascist forces stirring up unrest. We don’t see those forces operating in 91��ɫ Region.”

Keil leads the SSHRC-funded Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century project, which is the first major research project to take stock of worldwide suburban developments in a systematic way.

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

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The launch of Berliner Chic will take place Wednesday, Feb. 2, from 4 to 6pm in the Senior Common Room, 010 Vanier College, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

Ingram, who is affiliated with the (CCGES) and the Research Group on Translation & Transcultural Contact, co-authored the book with alumna (MA ’06), who also earned a Canadian Centre for German & European Studies graduate diploma at 91��ɫ.

Since becoming the capital of reunited Germany, Berlin has had a dose of global money and international style added to its already impressive cultural veneer. It is now a fashion showplace that attracts the young and hip.

Left: Susan Ingram

The book looks at fashion as it developed through a series of historical eras and events, including the confusion surrounding the split and reunification of East and West Germany, an unsuccessful effort to launch a fashion museum and the debut of Berlin Fashion Week in 2007. It explores the line between fashion and photography, its presence on the silver screen, the flux of corporate luxe and the state of fashion today.

Prior to 91��ɫ, Ingram lectured in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong and has taught in Germany and Poland. She is the author of (University of Toronto Press, 2003). She also co-edited a series of volumes on the mutually constitutive cross-cultural constructions of Central Europe and North America.

The launch is presented by CCGES and the Office of the Master of Vanier College.

For more information, visit the website. Attendees are asked to register in advance at ccges@yorku.ca.

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

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Webber, who retired from 91��ɫ in July, dedicated his career to serving the University and its students. Educated at Harvard and Yale universities, he was a founder of the CCGES and taught at 91��ɫ for 38 years.

At the reception, Webber received a model car as a gift from BMW Canada to mark his retirement.

Left: Christian Feilmeier, VP finance & administration, BMW Canada; Professor Mark Webber; and Sabine Sparwasser, consul general of Germany in Toronto

“Such a turnout is strong testimony to the impact Mark has had not just on institutions, but also on people and their lives,” said , current CCGES director. In addition to a crowd of 91��ɫ faculty, the reception was attended by Sabine Sparwasser, consul general, Federal Republic of Germany and Marek Ciesielczuk, consul general, Republic of Poland.

In 1995, Webber was presented with the Officer’s Cross of the , the German equivalent to the Order of Canada, for his work in fostering German-Canadian and Jewish-Gentile understanding.

He was a key figure in creating the Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange Program. For nine years he served as its academic coordinator. It is the largest single student exchange arrangement in Canada.

His legacy includes the Mark & Gail Appel Program in Holocaust and Antiracism Education, which he initiated with his colleague Michael Brown. This project brings together Canadian university students and fellow students from Germany and Poland to explore how best to counter racism through teaching about the Holocaust.

Right: Mark Webber with Professor Michael Brown

"With Mark's departure, 91��ɫ loses one of the people who care most passionately about it and who have worked to build an institution that was different from others: a place where scholarship was harnessed in the service of teaching; a place dedicated to the humanities but no less to the humane; a place where principles counted for much but never more than individuals; a place where people of all backgrounds would always feel comfortable and be eager to learn,” said Brown.

Funds are now being raised to create an award in Webber’s honour. Arrangement for gifts to the fund can be made by calling the 91��ɫ Foundation ������416-650-8210.

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

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"I am truly excited to be taking on the directorship of CCGES, which is both a privilege and a challenge,” says McIsaac. “My sense is that CCGES has begun to establish itself as a nexus of crucial research into a variety of important questions, but we have not begun to exhaust the possibilities of the 91��ɫ community. While Germany retains a central place in the centre's research agenda, we need to welcome the intellectual curiosity of colleagues working on other European questions under the CCGES umbrella. The European Union Centre of Excellence project, housed at CCGES, provides a perfect example of what is possible.”

Right: Peter McIsaac

McIsaac holds a PhD in Germanic languages and literatures from Harvard University and a bachelor of science in physics and German from the University of Michigan. In addition to numerous articles, book chapters and book reviews, McIsaac is the author of and has served as guest editor for the journals , and . He came to 91��ɫ in 2007 from Duke University, where he was an assistant professor. During the past year, McIsaac was a visiting associate professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

fosters and disseminates critical knowledge about Germany in its European context while examining Europe as a geographical, political, social, cultural and economic entity. Promoting new research into these core lines of inquiry is at the heart of McIsaac’s plans for the centre.

McIsaac succeeds Professor Roger Keil, director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ and professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, who has served as interim director for the past year.

"CCGES’ focus on European Union studies and affairs reflects the complexity and diversity of meanings attached to Europe in the modern world,” says David Dewitt, associate vice-president research (social sciences & humanities). “Its research supports 91��ɫ’s international focus while its student exchanges provide valuable opportunities for students from 91��ɫ and European countries to enhance their student and research experience through travel.

“I commend Professor Keil for his great service over the past year and am pleased to welcome Professor McIsaac into this new role.”

Submitted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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It has taken many years of toiling, but 91��ɫ Professor Emeritus Paul Herzberg has now completed a biography of his mother Luise Herzberg, the wife of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gerhard Herzberg (Hon DSc. '69) and an astrophysicist in her own right. Luise Herzberg, Astrophysicist: A Memoir is more than just a tribute to his mother, it is a chance for Luise to step out of the shadow of her world-famous husband and have her own accomplishments recognized.

Paul’s mother was born Luise Hedwig Oettinger in 1906 and educated in Germany where she received her PhD in physics in 1933. Her husband lost his academic post because Luise was a Jew. In 1935, they arrived as refugees in Canada. (See YFile, Nov. 15, 2007.)

In (91��ɫ Bookstore, 2010), Paul describes how Luise met the challenge of combining family and career. When she returned to research in physics and astronomy after the war, she faced nepotism rules and worked largely unnoticed. In the last decade of her life, however, she gained considerable recognition as an astrophysicist. Some of her work is still referred to today, although some is mistakenly attributed to her husband.

On Luise’s death, a friend wrote: “She remained totally female, despite high intelligence, active work in science and constant contact in the learned circles of the world. It was not her nature to want to shine, but nevertheless she was completely aware of everything that was happening.”

Luise died in 1971, just months before Gerhard won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, a success which he could not have achieved without her devotion and support.

Constructing the details of Luise’s extraordinary life was not an easy task. Paul, who was a professor in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, completed a two-year stint learning German just so he could read the cache of family letters, which would provide further insight into his mother’s life, and interviewed his elderly father several times before his death at the age of 94.

Paul started down the same path as his parents, but after earning a master’s degree in physics switched fields to specialize in quantitative psychology. He taught at 91��ɫ from 1966 to 2002 where he developed a unique introductory statistics course featuring learning-to-mastery, self-pacing and tutoring by undergraduate student peers.

In 1996, he received the University-Wide Teaching Award. It had always been in the back of his mind, however, to write about his mother. A biography of his father by Boris Stoicheff, , was published in 2002.

Paul's book may be purchased online or directly at the . For more information, contact Paul Herzberg at herzberg@yorku.ca.

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

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