YORK UNIVERSITY: MAKING INNOVATION A TRADITION
BACK-TO-SCHOOL STORIES IN THE MAKING
TORONTO, September 3, 1997 -- The following are only a few examples of the new and innovative initiatives awaiting the more than 40,000 students heading toYork University this week.
A timely and ground-breaking new course, The Innocence Project, is beginning this year at York's Osgoode Hall Law School. Under the leadership of professors Alan Young and Dianne Martin, the course combines classroom learning with practical research and courtroom experience. A small group of law students will spend the year researching and advocating on behalf of people who say they have been wrongfully convicted. The course is modelled after an American project of the same name. Students will take on three cases this year, using DNA testing, private investigators, and hundreds of pages of old court records, police reports, and other documentation in an effort to reopen the cases or have them reviewed by the Ministry of Justice.
The Premier Lecture Series -- York's Centre for the Support of Teaching is organizing this weekly, year-long series of lectures that are geared not only to York students, staff and faculty, but also to the general public. We'll hear about how galaxies are made, what we should do about politically incorrect art, and vegetarianism. Speakers include author and York professor Susan Swan, renowned historian Jack Granatstein, and York's Grammy-winning pop musicologist Rob Bowman. The first lecture is on October 16th, and lectures run every Thursday evening throughout the year.
Some fascinating research is underway at the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement at York. Psychologist Debra Pepler is leading a team of researchers looking into bullying and harassment among immigrant and ethnic minority high school students. Sociology professor Luin Goldring is examining how immigrant and refugee men and women participate in civic life, through municipal politics and schooling issues. And Neita Kay Israelite, from the Faculty of Education, will explore the impact of social policy changes and budget cutbacks on immigrant and refugee women.
As of September 1, York University welcomes Cuban dissident Ismael Sambra as a York writer in residence. Sambra arrived in Canada from Cuba earlier this year after PEN Canada obtained his release from prison, where he had spent five years for handing out leaflets protesting Fidel Castro. Sambra, a poet and writer who is being sponsored by an anonymous donor, will be based out of York's Vanier College where he is writer in residence.
York's Faculty of Education is expanding its primary/junior certification program for teachers trained outside Canada. The five-month evening program provides internationally trained teachers with the opportunity to build up their employability skills, and also benefits Ontario schools by preparing experienced teachers who are potential role models for our ethnically and culturally diverse school population. The program provides language support, an orientation to Ontario schools and employment processes, and a minimum 15-day student teaching experience.
Discovery Debate @ York: The Discovery Channel has chosen York University to be the site for its first Discovery Debate. On October 6 and 7 at Burton Auditorium in the Fine Arts building, a panel of the country's leading minds will engage students, special guests, community members and the general public in a discussion exploring the many perspectives and issues which emerge from separate debates over Animal Rights and Genetic Testing. Renowned and respected science journalist Jay Ingram will host the debate.
YORK'S PRIZE PEOPLE -- below are examples of the kinds of students and scholars that York yields:
Second-year York biology student Farrah Kassam is one of four students in Canada to be awarded
the Fessenden-Trott Scholarship from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The award, worth $9,000 per year for each of the next three years, goes to students entering their second year of study with high academic standing. Kassam is a promising biology student who is headed for medical school. The four Fessenden-Trott scholarships are offered to students in a different region of Canada each year.
Kym Bird, a graduate student in English and a contract faculty member at York, has won two major honours for her teaching and research. Her dynamic and engaging teaching in the Faculty of Fine Arts theatre department has been rewarded with a Parents' Association University-Wide Teaching Award, a $3,000 prize. Bird is also one of four winners of the Graduate Studies Dissertation Prize for her PhD thesis on the history of Canadian theatre. She was also York's nominee for the Canadian Association of Graduate Students' national dissertation competition. Bird, who will graduate with her PhD this fall, is a perfect example of how York scholars blend excellent teaching skills with rigorous academic research.
-30-
For more detailed information, or if you are interested in interviewing any of the individuals listed above, please call:
Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca
Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/074/97
|
![[to York's Home Page]](../../images/yorklogos.gif)
