The first lecture will take place on Monday Oct. 3 from 11am to 1pm in 305 91��ɫ Lanes. Professor Matthew Evenden (right) from the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia (UBC) will present his lecture titled “Of muskrats and minerals: The Second World War and the Canadian environment.” Evenden’s talk will focus on the processes of economic and environmental transformation in Canada during the Second World War through an examination of commodities such as aluminium, timber, wheat; even muskrats have a part in the story.

Other speakers in the series include geography Professor Arn Keeling and history Professor John Sandlos from Memorial University, and geography Professor Graeme Wynn, history Professor Tina Loo and Professor Emerita of geography Julie Cruikshank, all of UBC.  

The series is run in conjunction with a series at UBC's Green College with additional support from Networks in Canadian Studies and the Environment (NICHE) and the UBC Canadian Studies Program.

The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies is located on the seventh floor of the 91��ɫ Research Tower.

For more information, visit the Robarts Centre website, or contact Laura Taman, Robarts project coordinator, at llt@yorku.ca.

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

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Can universities cure political indifference? Yes they can, according to 91��ɫ Professor . “Universities must address the democratic deficit,” said Fallis, this year’s Giambattista Vico Lecturer. They can play a critical role in confronting the democratic deficit pervading politics at every level – declining voter turnout, strident and polarizing debate and public decision-making dominated by business elites and experts.

Right: George Fallis

In a lecture titled “Democratic Deficit: Universities and the Future of Democracy”, delivered Feb. 15 at Founder’s College Assembly Hall, Fallis, who is professor of economics and social science in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), argued that the problem of political indifference must be confronted not just by political parties and parliaments but by universities. Universities are not just institutions of teaching and books, not just institutions of the economy, but institutions of democracy, he said.

The current disconnect between the interests of citizens and those in positions of power, Fallis believes, creates widespread skepticism towards our institutions and a lethargy around political participation – known as “the democratic deficit”.

In examining the sometimes-uneasy relationship between universities and the growing movement towards democracy over the centuries, Fallis stated that universities initially resisted democracy: “Democracy and the university did not develop in parallel.”

“The background is great economic change. We’ve moved from an agricultural to industrial, then service-based and now a knowledge-based economy,” said Fallis.

These momentous economic changes moved the university from a more peripheral role – preparing a small number of elites – to the new role of central engine to the economy, providing mass education. This transformation has resulted in the phenomenon of the “multiversity”, with no central theme but many diverse responsibilities.

Above: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Dean Martin Singer introduces Fallis to the capacity crowd at the 2011 Giambattista Vico Lecture

While originally seen as a democratizing force, especially in the decades immediately following the Second World War, Fallis argues that this mission creep is now forcing universities to all but abandon their role of preparing highly engaged political citizens. Instead, universities’ movement closer to government and to business has created a meritocracy ruled by a class of new patricians – highly accomplished and successful individuals who feel less responsibility for the general population because they have “earned” their status through intense competition. He describes these new patricians as moving within a privileged Davos culture – named for the Swiss town where political, business and academic elites retreat each year for the World Economic Forum.

An edited recording of Fallis’ presentation is posted on the .

The fifth annual lecture in the series, it was sponsored through an endowment created by Elvio DelZotto, his brothers Angelo and Leo DelZotto, and other friends and family members. The lecture was created as a tribute to the late Fred Zorzi, Elvio DelZotto's friend and law partner.

has published widely on housing, urban policy and constitutional reform. His current research focuses on universities: their roles and responsibilities in the 21st century; the value of undergraduate liberal education; and the role of university-based research in national innovation. His most recent book is .

At 91��ɫ, the Princeton-educated Fallis has served as chair of economics, dean of the former Faculty of Arts and chair of the Senate Academic Policy & Planning Committee. He has been academic colleague on the Council of Ontario Universities and an auditor of degree programs at Ontario universities.

The annual Giambattista Vico Lecture was named after an 18th-century Italian philosopher of history, culture and myth whose ideas had a profound influence on the humanities and social sciences.

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

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She was recommended by Ruth Klein, national director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights and executive director of the National Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (NTF), and Adam Fuerstenberg, Professor Emeritus at Ryerson University and former director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto. Fuerstenberg is assisting Sapoznik with a book project, Holocaust by Bullets, which looks at the mass murder of Jews in Berezne during World War II. Sapoznik has been invited to make a presentation about her research to a coming meeting of the NTF in Toronto later this year.

“I’m incredibly humbled and honoured and I look forward to the opportunity,” said Sapoznik, who had just returned from an international conference in Sierra Leone, Africa, on forced marriage in conflict situations.

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

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A leading scholar in the field of politics and media communications policy in Canada, Prof. Siegel was instrumental in shaping 91��ɫ’s Communication Studies Program. His writings and teachings contributed widely to our current understanding of censorship, press freedoms and referenda.

Left: Prof. Arthur Siegel

Prior to arriving at 91��ɫ in 1976, Prof. Siegel was a successful journalist and wrote for Time magazine, Life magazine and Sports Illustrated, to name just a few. He also spent years working as a writer and commentator for Radio Canada International.

Prof. Siegel's family fled Germany on the eve of the Second World War, and he grew up in Trinidad. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University and the Heidelberg University and completed his PhD at McGill University. His doctoral thesis compared English and French newspaper coverage of the 1970 FLQ Crisis.

Prof. Siegel was a devoted and dynamic teacher, colleague and a friend to many at 91��ɫ. Over the course of his 34-year career, Prof. Seigel taught thousands of 91��ɫ students. He was an exuberant, colourful and inspired member of the University community and he always encouraged his students to aim high. He brought wisdom and laughter to 91��ɫ and he will be missed by his many colleagues in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, his students and the alumni of the Communication Studies Program.

Prof. Siegel also worked tirelessly as a fundraiser for Toronto's Baycrest Centre, where he was chair of the Honour Roll and chair of the Men's Executive Service Group. He served as Editorial Advisory Board chair of the Jewish Tribune, and, at the time of his death, was on the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University. He was also former president of Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University. For several years Prof. Siegel was the chair of the Board of Directors for the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE).

Prof. Siegel leaves his wife Mireille, three daughters (Ariane, Alisa and Maura) and six grandchildren.

Funeral services take place today at 11:30am at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Ave. West. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in his memory be made to a favourite charity.

In memory of Prof. Siegel, the 91��ɫ flag will fly at half-mast from sunrise today until 1pm on Saturday. Condolences and memories may be sent by e-mail to Alisa Siegel at alisa.siegel@sympatico.ca.

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

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