With Susan Aaron, MA, Med.

The Women, Environment, and Art is a series of discussions on how women use art in relation to our environment.  What is the environment to women and how are we defined or restricted in relation to it? How does art alter our understanding of what “environment” is? How can art be applied to activism and creative change?

November 15, 2011, 12—1:30pm, Free
Centre for Women’s Studies in Education (CWSE), room 2-227, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
For more information: cwse@utoronto.ca
Bring your lunch!
Susan Aaron is a graduate of the OISE with a Masters in education from Adult Education, focused on arts-based inquiry and the environment. She has a background in nature-related studies, medical studies, and media and culture studies. Her research is on embodiment aided by art.

Wednesday, 9 November | 12:30pm | 626 York Research Tower | York University

Qiang Zha (Education, York University) and Ruth Hayhoe (OISE)

As a result of globalization, academics have become more mobile and are tempted to move to institutions that have the most favourable research funding and work environment. The university is now viewed as a global magnet for academic talent, and a key institution that enhances competitiveness by connecting cities and nations to global flows of knowledge and talent. Then, what factors may influence and explain the direction of global brain flows?

This research intends to shed light on the relative strengths of the various factors that prompted a group of Canada Research Chair (CRC) holders originating from China to choose to work in Canadian universities, which is also happening against the backdrop of a gradual shift of the global centre of economic gravity towards Asia.

Qiang Zha is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education, York University. This talk draws from his recently completed SSHRC- funded project, "China’s Move to Mass Higher Education: Implications for Democratization and Global Cultural Dialogue". He studied China’s move to mass higher education in terms of the policy-making process and the empirical experience.

Ruth Hayhoe is a specialist in comparative education and a leading Canadian Sinologist with over 30 years of engagement with Asia. She is a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), where she was chair of the Higher Education Group and associate dean. Dr. Hayhoe’s work has focused on higher education in China, and its dramatic shifts in interaction with the global community over the twentieth century.

2011 Tuesday Lecture Series

Climate Justice: Perspectives from the Margins

Date and Time: Tuesday, November 8^th, 12:45-2pm

Location: HNES 140

As world leaders prepare to gather in Durban, South Africa, for yet another ineffectual climate change conference, those affected by climate change are calling for direct action to address the climate debt of the rich. This panel will give an overview of climate justice proposals from the Arctic, Latin America and Africa. FES professor ELLIE PERKINS will speak about proposals addressing climate justice as alternatives to the bankrupt international UNFCCC progress. FES postdoctoral fellow RACHEL HIRSCH will speak about her work on climate justice in Nunavut, as well as her coordination work of Pan-Canadian and South African network that has created space for communication prior to COP 17. MES student ERIN KONSMO will address the links between Indigenous youth, women, climate justice and sexual and reproductive health.

Challenge what is. Imagine what could be.

Date: Thursday, November 3, 2011

Location: North York Civic Centre, Council Chambers

Refreshments  at 6:30pm

Presentations & Discussion

7:00 – 9:00pm

Gary Miedema: Heritage Toronto

How we got there: North York and the post-war boom

Steven Logan, York & Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture

Cultural heritage of the single family suburb: The Leona Drive Project

Douglas Young, City Institue and Urban Studies, York University

Planning and the modern suburb: Then and now

Helene Lardas, Senior Planner, Urban Design, North York District, City of Toronto

North York landscapes

Paul Hess, Department of Geography and Program in Planning, University of Toronto

The planning heritage of tower communities: Findings from the Walkability Studies

Laura Taylor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University

Cultural landscapes of North York’s Modernist high rises

Scott Barrett, Heritage Preservation Services, City of Toronto

Heritage Conservation District Policy

Moderated by Christopher Hume, Toronto Star columnist

Suburbia Heritage of the Everyday

A dialogue on post-war suburban architecture as part of the city’s heritage, presented by the North York Community Preservation Panel (NYCPP) together with the City Institute at York University (CITY)

Come join us on November 10th at York Lanes room 305 from 12:00 to 1:30pm to meet Dr. Anne Russon and learn about the Borneo Orangutan Society of Canada (BOS Canada) and their research projects in Kutai National Park.

Brief Overview of Anne's Work:
Dr. Anne Russon is a prominent Canadian primatologist and York University professor of psychology, who specializes in research on wild orangutan intelligence. She has recently taken-over Camp Kriu in Kutai National Park, in Indonesian Borneo, where she studies a large population of wild orangutans. Her work is represented in Canada as part of BOS Canada - The Borneo Orangutan Society of Canada.

In 2002 Borneo suffered massive fires, and Kutai National Park was heavily damaged.  The park was all but thought to be a write-off, although as Dr. Russon will now describe, this is anything but the case. Secondary growth in the forest of Kutai has taken-off, providing an incredibly rich habitat for wildlife, with faster growing plants, and more available fruit than in a primary forest setting. Consequently, a healthy wild orangutan population is now thriving there. The park, however, is not unthreatened. Across the narrow Sangata River that divides Kutai from private land, there is a coal mine large enough to be seen from space. Like the rest of Borneo, the park risks being rezoned for timber, mining or palm oil, should its value as a nature reserve come into dispute. It is important to note that this region of Indonesia represents the second most biologically diverse area of the world after the Amazon. It is quickly being swallowed by the oil, timber and mining industries.

Dr. Russon's profile in the park, as someone living and working there, help to keep it protected. In order to continue building the profile of her project, and expanding the research activities at Camp Kriu, Dr. Russon is welcoming interested students and researchers to join her. This event is designed to help spread the message about her work, about the work of Borneo Orangutan Society of Canada and about the many potential opportunities for research, available in this incredibly unique and threatened wilderness.

The Brazil Chair and the Brazilian Studies Seminar proudly present the talk:

Rebels With a Cause: Women in Brazilian Politics

Speaker: Dr. Lucia Avelar Professor of Political Science University of Brasilia, Brazil

The broadening of political representation is one of the institutional innovations that have taken place recently in Brazil. We will discuss some of these innovations stemming specifically from the political participation of women, who along with other organizations from civil society, are making an important contribution to the deepening of democracy in Brazil. We will stress that, beyond the dichotomy between participation and representation, other forms of representation have been added to the traditional configuration. Nevertheless, the traditional forms of representation remain impermeable to the new dynamics and pressure exercised by new actors – among them, women. To illustrate such impermeability, we will present data showing that, despite the election in 2010 of the first female president in the history of Brazil, women candidate have fared poorly in the same elections.

The Brazilian Studies Seminar thanks the Consulate General of Brazil for sponsoring this talk.

Cost: Free! Everyone is welcome.

Light refreshments will be served.

Date and Time: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - 2:30-4:30 pm

Location: York University Vanier College Seminar Room (Vanier College on York map

Please RSVP at brazilst@yorku.ca

E-mail sbohn@y horku.ca for the presentation paper

Date: Sunday, October 30, 2011 - 10:30a.m. - 12:00p.m.
Cost: $5 donation
Meeting Location: Entrance to East Lynn Park Near Woodbine Subway Station Toronto

Join LEAF and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon  for a colourful fall tour of the Upper Beaches area. We’ll visit towering oaks, Merrill Bridge Park ravine and some quirky species in the neighbourhood. This tour is just before Halloween so costumes are highly recommended. In partnership with Ward 32 Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon.

RAIN OR SHINE!

Please register for this event.

The City Institute at York University (CITY) presents:

The City Seminar
An interdisciplinary series of presentations and discussions on urban landscapes, past and present.

"The City and Colonial Spatial Regimes in Wolastoqiyik Territory: A History of the Present"

Karen Bridget Murray
Associate Professor, Political Science
York University

This presentation examines how urban space in New Brunswick has operated as a key field of state racism into twenty-first century. Drawing upon interview data, extensive archival research, as well as legal and policy documents, the presentation will show how British and later Canadian colonial officials have problematized the locations of  “Indian reserves” in relation to cities in Wolastoqiyik territory. Several interrelated questions are posed: How has urban space figured historically as a colonial problem or solution in relation to reserves?  What have been the predominant colonial presuppositions, objectives, and mechanisms brought to bear on the urban-reserve relationship? How did such problems and their attendant solutions alter over time? Finally, what were the political and governmental implications of each spatial configuration? Four spatial regimes are identified, each of which is underpinned by distinct racialized problematics.

Date and Time: Friday October 28, 2011, 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Location:  305 York Lanes

Everyone is welcome!