| VOLUME 28, NUMBER 27 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1998 | ISSN 1199-5246 |
When I sit alone in a theatre and gaze into the dark space of its empty stage, I'm frequently seized by fear that this time I won't manage to penetrate it, and I always hope that this fear will never desert me. Without an unending search for the key to the secret of creativity, there is no creation. It's necessary always to begin again. And that is beautiful.
Josef Svoboda, sceneographer and theatre visionary
GUILT-RIDDEN ATMOSPHERE: Actress Terri Cherniak was a principal player in a recent Manitoba Theatre Centre production of The Crucible with sets and lighting by York professor Phillip Silver.
On March 14, the final curtain went down on the latest creation of one of Canada's top theatrical set and lighting designers. The production was a month-long run of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, directed for the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg by acclaimed Canadian actor and director Martha Henry.
The masterful set and lighting design was by Phillip Silver, a professor in York's Department of Theatre.
Silver's contribution to the production, the critic for the Free Press wrote, was "an ominous blend of smoke, shadows and stark Puritan furnishings that create[d] the guilt-ridden atmosphere for this historical tragedy about the Salem witch trials, an allegory for the McCarthyism of the '50s."
Silver's projects in the last few years have included designing a notable production of The Merchant of Venice at the Stratford Festival two years ago and the touring production of Aspects of Love for Garth Drabinsky's Livent.
So that he could devote himself to The Crucible project throughout the month of January 1998, his colleagues covered his classes for him, Silver says. The timing was not ideal, but his stage work is dependent on when a suitable project is offered. "It's a real problem," he concedes, and it's common to many theatre projects. "So much of what we do is collaborative and the timing is often determined by our collaborators."
He and his departmental colleagues feel theirs is a dilemma that's "not totally understood by others on campus," says Silver, who's convinced the theatre faculty's off-campus work is an important part of the department's success as a training ground. Whereas many American schools "have become experts in the machine of educational theatre, we have avoided that in Canada," he says. "It's helpful for students to have practising artists as their teachers and role models."
York's Theatre Department is having more and more success in helping to place its graduates in professional careers in theatre. At least five recent York graduates now are employed at this summer's Stratford Festival in jobs that demand a solid, working knowledge of set design and lighting. "We have regained the reputation that York had in the late '70s as a top training ground," says Silver.
For himself, Silver realized early on that he wanted to make his life's work in theatre. After studying the dramatic literature en route to a BA in English from the University of Alberta, he proceeded to the National Theatre School in Montreal to soak up "the practical side" of theatre.
His first 11 years in the profession, 1967-1978, were spent as resident designer of Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, housed at that time in a converted Salvation Army building. Six years into the job, he began doing work on a proposed new theatre. The expertise thus acquired led to a complementary career the design of performance and rehearsal spaces at such locations as the University of Lethbridge, Edmonton's Grant McEwen College, McGill University and, with architect Douglas Cardinal, the spectacular Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.
Eight years as a free-lance designer for regional theatres in almost every Canadian province and in the U.S. and England followed Silver's departure from the Citadel. It was then that he learned how to cope with the challenges presented by theatres of varying sizes and honed the versatility he needed for the approximately eight projects he undertook each year.
Silver accepted York's offer of a tenure-track appointment in 1986. Since then, he has continued to travel to the Keele campus from his home in Stratford.
How did The Crucible assignment come about?
"The director, Martha Henry, called and asked if I would design for her. She had already decided that I'd be sympathetic to the approach she wanted for her production. I'd done several shows with her at Grand Theatre, London, and [Ibsen's] An Enemy of the People at Stratford. She's a wonderful creative partner.
Before agreeing to do a project, Silver says, "it's important that there be something in the play that means something to you, something you feel can be communicated to the audience." Once the commitment is made, usually producer and designer sit down and haggle over the project schedule and the not-incidental matter of remuneration. Then the work begins.
"The process starts with my reading the script several times," says Silver. "As you do this, you're getting a really good sense of words and images." Next, employing a spreadsheet format, Silver analyzes everything the characters say and do. "The dialogue and action in a play have physical implications," he says.
During the course of the entire project, "the amount of paperwork that's generated is quite astonishing," he says, hefting the three thick binders from The Crucible.
Miller's play is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, which meant that, early on, Silver undertook a lot of research about the historical community its architecture, what the buildings looked like, who the people were who lived there then. "You get caught up in the minutiae of their lives," he says.
In 1690, a correspondent in Boston wrote a letter in which he mentioned the arrival of a fork from England. "There were probably only two forks in all of Massachusetts," says Silver. So, in the Manitoba Theatre production, when John Proctor, one of the central characters, was seen to be eating stew, his implement was not a fork, but a spoon.
It is as the research continues, Silver says, that "you start really being an artist. You begin to deal with the images that come to you. The texture, the line of the play. The Crucible has a certain geometry and rigidity, not a lot of curves.
"Sometimes, the most creative side is at the early stages of the process. That's when the intitial artistic rush occurs. I've been doing all my drafting on a CADD program for several years now. It's very helpful now that I'm fluent with it."
Other things to consider as the planning process continues are the physical limitations of the theatre and the budget restrictions. "With this production, we ended up spending three dollars more than the theatre had budgeted," says Silver with a smile.
The design process could be seen as five or six major steps. Step one, the preliminary proposal, is followed by step two, development of the rough set of plans the theatre uses for budgeting the production. Once the theatre gives the go-ahead, step three entails completion of full drawings and a half-inch to one-foot (1:24), scale model of each scene. Step four is developing the final plans and step five is supervising the construction of the sets.
"Usually I'm also responsible for the furniture and props, so that's step six," Silver says. "With The Crucible, I designed all the furniture and we built most of it for the show."
In one evening scene, set in the first storey of a home, three children are asleep upstairs. Silver added a 17th-century rocking horse to the set and scattered bowls and spoons here and there to substantiate the children's unseen presence. Whereas a novelist helps the reader by describing the physical context of the action, frequently in theatre, it's left to the set designer to invent and supply the quotidian details.
It's important, then, for the designer to learn as much as he can about the times and locale that he is required to represent. "I spend a little bit of my time acting out all the characters. Everything in our personal worlds has a history. If I'm going to put a livingroom on stage, I'm going to want to know who furnished it," Silver says. "What's the story with this place?"
More often than not, Silver also serves as the lighting designer. "So much of what I do as a set designer is sculptural, three-dimensional, and lighting reveals that, so I prefer to do my own," he says. "I use lighting to assist in orchestrating the audience's emotional response to the play."
Using computer lighting programs, Silver plotted the lighting for The Crucible. "Time," he says, "is implicit in the play. The original witchcraft trials were held in May, June, July and August 1692. We wanted a quality of light on the characters that expressed what it was like to live in those times when small windows and candlelight supplied whatever light was available indoors."
In the end, using "a curious combination of science and art and instinct," he deployed 185 lighting instruments to light the play.
Martha Henry and the actors in the Manitoba Theatre production spent three weeks in a rehearsal hall before moving to the stage for the final week of rehearsals. "I was there for the read-through and to show the scale models to the actors," says Silver. "After that, I popped in to rehearsals about every second day."
In the meantime, he was supervising the activity in the prop shops and scene shops where the painters created the rustic New England interiors, using three coats of paint and glazes and dollops of scenic dope, "more commonly known as pig poop." He shopped for suitable fabrics for use in the production and continued his ongoing discussions with the director. In the evening, back in his hotel room, he was designing props that were added during the day's rehearsal and developing the lighting plot. His month in Winnipeg was "extremely intense," he says.
"When the set finally goes on stage, usually 10 days before the first preview performance, 16-hour days become the norm. Once the scenery is in place, I start realizing the lighting. In the case of The Crucible, I had exactly eight hours for focussing the lights and another eight for setting the lighting cues. While I'm doing that, 10 men may be sitting backstage, waiting to change into the next scene. So it can be a very pricey time and you're watching the clock as you work.
"It's slightly different in commercial theatre, but regional, not-for-profit theatres have to spend money very carefully," says Silver, speaking as someone who knows. "The whole exercise is really a very curious left-brain, right-brain combination."
"Everyone in Toronto learned to drive somewhere else in the world," says David Wiesenthal. The consequence is "a driving culture where it's difficult to predict how people are going to behave."
To make matters worse, the existing informal rules continue to change, the York psychology professor says. "Now two cars can make a left turn, going through an amber traffic light. That wasn't so 20 years ago."
When the Toronto news media want to consult an expert about driver behaviour, including the increasing acts of violence and vengeance that have been dubbed "road rage," frequently they get in touch with Prof. Wiesenthal.
"Probably, driving is one of the few situations in the modern world where you have vengeance occurring regularly," Wiesenthal told the Globe and Mail recently, following an incident in a Mississauga parking lot where two strangers, a 30-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman, came to blows when the man and his vehicle lingered in a parking space while the windshield was defrosting. The woman lost a tooth in the dispute.
Road rage can take even more extreme forms. One of Wiesenthal's studies cites the case of Arthur Salomon, age 52, a prominent Wall Street investment banker. "This seemingly model citizen attacked an unarmed college student in 1987 in a road dispute that began with some friction over the right to pass on the freeway. It escalated to verbal exchanges on the side of the road and ended with Salomon shooting the student as the younger man was walking back to his car, saying that he had the license plate of Salomon's Mercedes."
Another example from the United States is the case of a 54 year-old man, who killed another driver with a crossbow. After the drivers cut each other off in traffic and flashed their headlights at each other, they pulled onto the shoulder, whereupon the archer removed a crossbow from the trunk of his car and shot a bolt into the other man's chest.
Wiesenthal is convinced that incidents of road rage here are on the increase and will continue to climb. It's not surprising, considering how crowded our roadways are becoming. Ministry of Transportation figures indicate that, over the last three years, the number of drivers in Ontario rose 43 per cent, from seven million to 10 million. "More drivers are competing for limited space," notes Wiesenthal. "Indeed, stress, frustration and anger are a common aspect of the commute to and from the city."
In such parlous circumstances, it is far from reassuring to learn that the Ontario Provincial Police arrested a number of people with loaded weapons in their vehicles, a few summers ago, during a blitz to crack down on speeders on Highway 401.
Wiesenthal's expertise on driver psychology derives from a number of studies he has conducted at the Lamarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution. The studies have been partly funded by the Ministry of Transportation.
One such study measured how stress that was induced by traffic congestion affected drivers and recorded how they coped with it. Another, The Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ), measured a tendency toward aggression in individual drivers. A 1992 study examined how personalized license plates, on the one hand, and tinted windows and high traffic volume, on the other, had an effect on the extent to which drivers complied with traffic regulations.
To measure drivers' coping mechanisms, volunteers were equipped with "no hands" cell phones and asked to report on their behaviour in rush-hour traffic on Highway 401. They reported three types of behaviour: "direct" (listening to radio traffic reports and devising an escape route), "time facilitation" (listening to music or talk-radio, daydreaming), and "aggressive" (purposeful tailgating, swearing or yelling at others, horn-honking).
In both congested and low-volume traffic, aggressive behaviour proved to be the least common method of coping, though aggression did increase as the traffic did.
The DVQ proved to be an effective measure of an individual's tendency to become aggressive or violent while driving. The study also confirmed that young drivers will respond more aggressively than older ones, and male drivers more aggressively than women drivers. Wiesenthal can foresee a time when a prospective driver would have to pass a test that measured violent tendencies in order to be granted a driver's permit.
The 1992 study investigated whether drivers of vehicles equipped with tinted, "Privacy Glass" windows were more likely to engage in aggressive driving than others. It also looked at whether people with vanity license plates were more likely to drive courteously.
Cars afford considerable privacy to their operators, the study's authors note, and many a driver acts as if anonymous or even invisible. "Drivers may frequently engage in behaviours that would be improbable in a bus or subway. They may comb their hair, sing, move rhythmically to music, or engage in romantic activities. These actions suggest that the driver is 'off-stage.'"
Tinted windows tend to increase the operator's feeling of freedom from observation and lessening of inhibition and restraint. Indeed the study found that drivers of such vehicles were less likely to come to a full stop at stop signs, as required by law. They were also more likely to speed away from traffic lights and more often failed to signal before turning.
Drivers with personalized plates, on the other hand, were expected to think of themselves as being identifiable and to exhibit more positive social tendencies. As predicted, such drivers were far more likely to drive properly and according to the rules of the road.
"Traditionally, we have considered the problem driver to be the alcoholic driver," Wiesenthal says. He argues that, now it's time to begin taking into account those drivers who, in high-stress conditions, are pre-disposed to violence and retaliation. Road rage, like drunk driving, kills.
As for the rest of us, there are lots of things we can do to reduce the stress associated with driving a vehicle, says Wiesenthal. They include taking the TTC.
by John Dwyer
Teaching Portfolios have come of age. Portfolios increasingly are being used to encourage reflection in teaching, to enhance applications for academic positions, and to support promotion and tenure. It used to be the case that good teaching practice was difficult to evaluate, but many of today's teaching portfolios blow away the traditional academic c.v. for documenting attributes of excellence.
The time spent in creating a good teaching portfolio can be daunting. Once established, however, a portfolio is relatively easy to maintain. It documents contributions that might otherwise be overlooked and it acts as a benchmark for future development. Some excellent models of teaching portfolios created by York University professors are maintained at the Centre for the Support of Teaching (111 Central Square) and any of the CST staff will be happy to direct you to them.
When used in tenure and promotion, teaching portfolios are only as good as the committees that review them. If universities are going to mandate teaching portfolios, they need to develop explicit guidelines for evaluating them. York is a leader in this area. In 1994, the York University Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning developed a Teaching Evaluation Guide that set the standard in Canada and that has been imitated across North America. This document is distributed through the Centre for the Support of Teaching and we'd be happy to send anyone a copy.
In addition, you might want to take a look at Peter Seldin's useful book on the Successful Use of Teaching Portfolios (Bolton MA, 1993). Here is a much-abbreviated checklist for evaluating teaching portfolios in relation to tenure and promotion.
1. Portfolios must present evidence that departmental and academic institutional goals are being met in the classroom.
2. Candidates must present evidence of accomplishment, not simply reflections on teaching.
3. Reflective statements and goals must be consistent with student evaluations and documentation.
4. Portfolios must demonstrate clear evidence of student learning.
5. Documents from students, peers and self should show balance and variety.
6. Candidates must provide evidence of peer evaluation through classroom visitation.
7. While focussing on recent performance, portfolios should demonstrate teaching improvement over time.
8. Any research/publications cited should relate directly to teaching.
9. All claims made in the portfolio must be supported by evidence in appendices.
Seldin's bottom line presents the challenge to institutional evaluators. When assessing the merits of teaching contributions, he suggests that institutions focus attention solely on the evidence supporting teaching effectiveness. Good teaching, like quality research and effective administration, needs to be examined on its own merits.
John Dwyer is consultant to the Centre for the Support of Teaching.
York's Bryan H. Massam appointed to Commonwealth Geographic Bureau management committee
Bryan H. Massam F.R.S.C., the acting Chair of Geography at York University and president of the Canadian Association of Geographers, has been appointed as the representative for the Americas on the Commonwealth Geographic Bureau Committee of Management. His term of office extends until the next Assembly of Commonwealth Geographers to be held at the International Geographical Union Congress in Seoul, in 2000.
Living and Learning in Retirement luncheon
The Living and Learning in Retirement organization, based at Glendon College, is celebrating its silver anniversary with a for-members-only luncheon on Tuesday, May 5, commencing with a reception at 11:30 a.m. Glendon College Principal Dyane Adam will introduce the guest speaker, University President Lorna Marsden.
Canadian Perspectives on German and European Studies conference
York will host the first international conference of the newly-established Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, Friday, April 3 to Sunday, April 5. Entitled Continent in Change: Canadian Perspectives on German and European Studies, the conference will bring together European and North American scholars to examine political, historical and cultural questions from an interdisciplinary perspective. For further information, contact the Centre at 736-5695 (email: ccges@ yorku.ca) or browse the website at: www.yorku.ca/research/ccges.
Interactive TV event brought Parliament Hill to York
Recently, Professor of Social Work Francis J. Turner conducted an interactive television event in his class, ably assisted by Jim Poole of the Instructional Technology Centre. As Bonnie Brown, the federal Member of Parliament from Oakville and chairperson of the cabinet's social policy committee, spoke to the class from Parliament, she could see the students in their Toronto classroom and the students could see and interact with her.
"Although, originally, her office in Ottawa told us they could only allow us about 15 minutes, Ms Brown stayed with us for an hour, during which she answered questions and engaged in dialogue with the students," Prof. Turner reports. "Partly because of her background in social work and teaching and, as well, her current responsibilities in social policy, she was able to talk about issues related to the professional interests of our social work students in a manner which the students found very helpful and interesting.
"The purpose of the exercise was twofold. One, to give the students, all of whom are in the BSW program, an opportunity to discuss macro issues with a member of government in the privacy of the lecture room; and, two, to give them an experience to help them appreciate the potential of this available technology. In the discussion following the meeting, the students identified several ways in which this technology could be of considerable assistance in both micro and macro social work practice. I have been asked by the students if we could do the same thing with a provincial MPP, and I am exploring this possibility."
Cancer Research Society grant was one of two highest rankings in the country
Twice erroneous information has appeared about my grant from the Cancer Research Society, Inc., once in the Gazette and once in Profiles. In each case it was said that the CRS gives out 60-70 grants. This may be true, but this grant was awarded in a special annual national competition which awards no more than two each year, but for larger amounts. By mentioning other grants in other competitions, the significance of York in achieving one of the two highest rankings in the country was misrepresented. This was a relatively large grant, almost half a million dollars initially, not to mention that it carries with it, in the CRS phraseology, the "presumption of renewal."
John A. Heddle
Department of Biology
Theatre @ York winds up its season with a pair of contemporary classics running in repertory from March 30 to April 4.
The Love of the Nightingale, by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, is a searing drama about the violence that results from enforced silence. Based on Sophocles' lost tragedy Tereus, the play takes an uncompromising look at the timeless issue of power and voice: who speaks, and for whom, and whose voice is suppressed. Sarah Armstrong directs this explosive mixture of ethics, politics and feminism.
The Toothbrush, an absurdist comedy by Chilean writer Jorge Diaz, is a keen and witty dissection of a modern relationship, played out over the breakfast table of a married couple. This Latin American classic receives its Canadian premiere in a translation by director Pablo Felices-Luna.
Starring in both productions are members of the Theatre Department's Graduate Acting Ensemble. Set, costume and lighting design are by fourth-year production students.
Performances take place on alternating nights in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in the Centre for Film and Theatre.
The Love of the Nightingale plays Wednesday, April 1 and Friday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. with a 1 p.m. matinee, also on Friday.
The Toothbrush runs Thursday, April 2 and Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Wednesday matinee starts at 1 p.m.
Admission is $10, students/ seniors $7, group rate $5. VISA and MasterCard accepted. Tickets are available at the Theatre @ York box office, telephone 736-5157. For more information, please call the Department of Theatre, 736-5172, #3.
Inter-American Institute
for Global Change
Initial Science Program (ISP)
The ISP supports research projects, pilot studies, and training and education activities in the area of global change in the Americas. The seven themes of particular interest are: Tropical Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycles; The Study of the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity; El-Niño-Southern Oscillation and Interannual Climate Variability; Ocean/ Land/Atmosphere Interactions in the Inter-tropical Americas; The Comparative Studies of Temperate Terrestrial Ecosystems; High Latitude Processes; and The Comparative Studies of Oceanic, Coastal and Estuarine Processes in the Temperate Zones. Up to $130,000 (U.S.) is available for projects of up to three years' duration.
Deadline: mid-/late April for preproposals; full application due July 31
Science and Technology
Foundation of Japan
Japan Prize
The Japan Prize consists of 50 million yen to award scientists and researchers who have made original and outstanding achievements in science and technology. The laureates are recognized for contributing not only to the progress of science and technology but also to peace and prosperity. This year, there are two categories for awards: (1) Systems Engineering for an Artifactual Environment; and (2) Biotechnology in Medicine.
Deadline: April 30.
Materials and Manufacturing Ontario (MMO)
Collaborative Competition
MMO supports research relating to the interaction of materials and manufacturing, including: the interactive design of products; the design of materials and their processing to products in such fields as biomedical devices, optoelectronic and electronic materials, metal, ceramic and plastic products, polymer and wood products, and films, surfaces and coatings to control or enhance product properties. In addition, research projects in the field of manufacturing processes, including intelligent controls, robotic, automation, product and process design, machine-person interfaces and management processes are sought. MMO will also support projects designed to create and further design materials not currently in commercial application. The Collaborative Competition is for those proposals where (an) Ontario company(ies) agree(s) to fund (cash and in-kind) at least 50 per cent of the research project.
Deadline: Proposals can be submitted at any time.
Deadline Dates
April 15
American Historical Association: Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Secondary Teaching
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC): Research Cooperation Program between Canada and Latin America (Travel Grants for Canadian Faculty, Travel Grants for Latin American Lecturers)
Easter Seal Research Institute: Postdoctoral Fellowships; Research Projects
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD): Grants for German Studies: DAAD-AICGS Grant
Industry Canada: Science Culture Canada
National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC): NCIC Program Project Grants (letter of intent due; full proposal is due September 15)
NATO: Science Program and Cooperation Partners: Networking Infrastructure Grant
NSERC: Research Partnerships Programs (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Department of National Defence, National Research Council, Strategic Projects
Royal Bank of Canada: Royal Bank Award
Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada: Research Grant
York University (administered by ORA): Supplementary Research Grants
mid-/late April
Inter-American Institute for Global Change: Initial Science Program (preproposals due; full application due July 31)
April 30
Consulate General of Greece (State Scholarships Foundation): Scholarships for foreign national scientists in Greece
Hospital for Sick Children Foundation: External Grants Program (full application due; letter of intent due March 1)
Parkinson Foundation of Canada: Fellowship; Research Grant; Wherret Fellowship
Roeher (G. Allan) Institute: Research Grants in Intellectual Disability; Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation Major Research Grants
Science and Technology Foundation of Japan: Japan Prize
York University (administered by ORA): SSHRC Conference Travel Grants (for travel during June 1-October 31)
The Office of Research Administration (ORA) would like to remind faculty members of these research opportunities with upcoming deadlines. Deadlines listed are those of the granting agencies. Applications for external sources of funding (i.e., outside York) must be submitted to ORA before forwarding them to the agencies. To assist in meeting these deadlines, it is recommended that applications be submitted to ORA one to two weeks prior to the deadline dates.
For more information, please contact ORA at -55055 in S414 Ross Building (e-mail: research@yorku.ca).
BLOOD ON THE SAILS: The exhibit of photographs by Ian Brookes (shown above) includes depictions of dories and fishing gear and bloody sails.
An exhibit of arresting black-and-white photographs by Senior Scholar Ian Brookes is on display in the Faculty Club, S166 Ross Building, until Thursday, April 9. The 18 photographs, shot with a 35 mm Miranda and one roll of film in August 1969, depict aspects of the Portugese White Fleet in the harbour of St. John's, Nfld.
Prof. Brookes was in St. John's for a meeting of Canadian geographers. Twenty-nine of the fleet's 32 boats were moored in the harbour, sheltering from Hurricane Blanche. "I remember very little about the geographers' meeting, but I shall never forget the Portugese boats and their friendly crews," says Brookes.
Fortunately, conditions were right for photography. "It was one of those white-sky days with no shadows," Brookes recalls. "So there are excellent details." The subjects range from blood-stained sails draped from a mast to a pick-up soccer match. Three "stately ladies" boats named RioAntua, Conceição Vilarinho and Santa Maria Manuela are shown resting side by side, and a 16-year-old crewman is depicted high atop a mast.
"The name 'White Fleet' derives from the colour the boat hulls were painted to indicate neutrality during World War II," Brookes explains in the exhibit notes. "The fishery continued in the North Atlantic until Canada declared a 200-nautical mile limit to its territorial waters, barring foreign fishing after 1977."
The White Fleet's annual expedition to the Grand Banks was a 500-year-old tradition and crew members lived "a very hard life," Brookes told the Gazette. In 1969, most had only two career choices, fishing or joining the Portugese army to go off to Mozambique or one of Portugal's other African colonies.
The fleet operated 24 hours a day for six months straight. There were 50 to 80 one-man dories on each boat (one photograph shows dories stacked bottoms-up on the deck like inverted soup bowls). Each man went out alone on the sea, 12 hours at a time, to hand-line (jig) for cod, skate, halibut and flounder. It was not a rare event when a man got lost in the fog.
Encountering the Portugese boats and their crews "transported you back in time," Brookes says.
"Thanks largely to the enthusiastic energy of a Portugese colleague at York, Carlos Teixeira (now at Toronto), my photographs were exhumed from my files and exhibited in Toronto, Portugal and St. John's during 1996 and 1997," Brookes' notes relate. "This exhibit owes much to John Warkentin, who has organized it for the York Retirees Association."
Prof. Brookes retired from York in 1996 after teaching physical geography at the University, beginning in 1965. In Newfoundland, his research has focussed on effects of the Ice Age on landforms and sea-level change. His other research interests lie in the evolution of Middle Eastern landscapes.
BRAIN TEASERS: Professor Igor Kusysyn challenges students with puzzles
and mind-games. "There are no right answers," he says.
Igor Kusyszyn is on a mission. He wants to change the world.
"The best way for me to make a contribution to this world is to inspire and teach students how to think creatively," he declares, "In that way, a larger contribution can be made to the human race than by just one person me."
Idealistic? Definitely. But not impossible, according to the professor, whose courses include Pure and Applied Creativity, the Psychology of Individual Difference and the Advanced Seminar on Creativity. "Creativity," he says, "can be taught and our innate creative ability can be enhanced with maturation and training."
It's one thing to acknowledge that creativity can be developed. It's another to teach it. "One way of teaching creativity is to review and get students to practice the thinking tools and styles which have been discovered by others," Kusyszyn explains. "The second and more powerful way is to encourage students and give them confidence in their own abilities. In pursuing their own dreams, they'll even invent their own tools!"
This is evident in students' reactions to the mini-puzzles and mind-games called "brain-teasers" that he assigns them. Students often come up with their own way of solving them. "There are no right answers and, as a result, no fear of failure," Kusyszyn says.
Kusyszyn always shares students' answers with the class, validating them and emphasizing the fact that there are many ways of conceptualizing and solving problems. The popular brain-teasers not only give students confidence, but also awaken and energize them. A former student in Kusyszyn's Pure and Applied Creativity class once claimed that, "A class without a puzzle is like a morning without a coffee."
Another confidence builder and rated the most important part of the class by previous students is the Creativity Project. Worth 50 per cent of the course evaluation, the project provides students with the opportunity to apply the creative thinking tools learned in class and encourages them to exercise their own natural, creative abilities. Individuals and groups are required to create a product or a process that improves one of: the environment, the University or the creativity course. They are marked on the basis of six criteria: originality, usefulness, cost effectiveness, elegance, social impact, and importance in relation to solving serious real world problems.
Past projects have included a method for improving traffic flow, an express line at copy machines, a folding portable desk and a method for tree planting supported by local merchants.
Research shows that all of us have the creative ability demonstrated by Kusyszyn's students so why aren't we all more creative? Kusyszyn's response is to quote Mark Twain: "The problem with human nature is human nature."
"One of the main blocks to creativity is the Principle of Least Effort," says Kusyszyn. "We want to minimize our work and pain while maximizing our pleasures. Since producing something creatively takes a lot of work and effort, most of us won't do it." Other blocks to creativity are mental sets (conditioned ways of thinking), and fear of making mistakes or being criticized.
Are there detours that enable us to manoeuvre around these blocks? "There are two times in which people are most likely to be creative," Kusyszyn says. "One is when their survival is threatened. The other is when the activity promises pleasure. Therefore, teachers have to make learning fun by translating the work into play."
Part of making learning fun means being in tune and trying to meet the needs of students' different learning styles. "No matter what is being taught, the way a subject is presented can always be made more interesting, more aesthetic, more challenging and more appealing to a person's natural curiosity," says Kusyszyn.
It also involves letting students have an effect on their education. This means giving them some choice of course materials and the ability to communicate their concerns, experiences, questions and suggestions. "I encourage students to interrupt me," Kusyszyn says. "They really like this approach because they get to contribute actively, rather than just sit there. But the tragedy in class is that not many have the courage to interrupt the teacher. They have been conditioned from grade one to be relatively passive."
That's because students' minds have been held up by what Edward de Bono refers to as the "gang of three." The world's leading authority on thinking, with a PhD in psychology and a medical degree as well, de Bono believes that the education system is dominated by the philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and their emphasis on logic, analysis and criticism. "Students are asked to learn terms, materials, theories, and facts," says Kusyszyn. "They are required to memorize and regurgitate information, but very few are asked to add their own unique point of view.
"Students are expected to think critically and not creatively. There's nothing wrong with critical analysis, but it does not go far enough. It is reactive, rather than proactive or novel.
"If I was in charge of the education system in Canada, I would begin at the public school level and do tests to find out children's strengths and build on them," Kusyszyn asserts. "I wouldn't focus on students' weaknesses.
"If educators devoted as little as 15 minutes a day to directly teaching creative thinking at each grade level, our quality of life would be improved beyond our wildest dreams. Billions and billions of dollars would be saved through the improvement of existing social programs and development of new programs and billion and billions of dollars would be earned through new inventions and entrepreneurial initiatives."
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Professor Louise Ripley costumes for every class.
It's a few minutes to 7 p.m., one Wednesday in March in Curtis Lecture Hall K. The students of Introductory Marketing are seated with their books open and snacks primed in preparation for the three-hour Atkinson class. Professor Louise Ripley arrives and proceeds to write the evening's academic agenda on the top-right hand corner of the blackboard.
This scene may seem typical of most courses and professors except that Ripley is attired in a yellow hard-hat, slightly faded blue jeans and genuine steel-toe boots. This evening's class is on "Channels of Distribution," which happens to be Ripley's doctoral research topic and relates to one of her favourite personal hobbies trucks. Donned in her "truck-wear," she tells the class the story of how she learned to drive a 22-wheel, 18,000 kg Peterbilt truck attached to a dump trailer:
"I was taught by my friend, Bernie, in Nova Scotia, and it took me one-and-a-half hours to turn the wheel the right way when backing up. When I first realized in my gut how it worked, it was one of the best learning experiences of my life. Bernie is one of the greatest teachers I have ever known."
It is this way of teaching of relating to students through stories, costume, sharing of experiences and facilitating dialogue - which made Ripley the recipient of 1996 Atkinson College Alumni Association's Teaching Excellence Award.
It is also a way of teaching which is appreciated by students. "Professor Ripley presents herself as 'one of the group' and makes herself very available to students," states Brenda Brautigam, an occupational health nurse and student in the Introductory Marketing class. "I like how she applies the course content to everyday life. She makes it so interesting."
Ripley believes that being creative in one's teaching methods is not only desired but essential. "You cannot explain concepts to students before you have their attention," she says. "Because of our society's orientation with video, everyone has a shorter attention span. You have to doing something a little out of the ordinary to get and keep students' interest."
In her 18 years at York, Ripley has developed many components to her teaching style. For instance, she costumes for every class starting with formal dress on the first day and dressing accordingly for every lecture. "I always wear my 'power suit' the day I return exams," she says, "but I've gotten a lot more relaxed since the strike."
She allows students two-minute breaks in-between lecture topics and an extended 20-30 minute period in which they can move around, relax and mingle. "People cannot physically sit for more than 20 minutes at a time, so it's important to have lots of intermissions," she says.
The series of videos, colourful overheads and film clips Ripley has developed all illustrate her motto of show, don't tell. "The older I get and the longer I teach, the less lecturing I do," she says. "There's strong evidence to indicate that listening is an inefficient way of retaining information. Students are more likely to remember what I show, rather than what I say." Sources such as the newsletter, The Teaching Professor, continue to shape how she teaches.
"I have taught the Introductory Marketing class 20 to 30 times but I have never taught it the same way," remarks Ripley, who acknowledges that teaching creatively requires a lot of preparation. She even plans differently for the same course, depending on whether she is teaching it to Atkinson students in the evening or to day students. "My Atkinson students tend to be older, more comfortable. They've had a longer experience in the working world. Those classes tend to have much more discussion, relative to my day classes. In both situations, however, I verbally affirm students' contributions, repeat questions they ask and encourage participation."
Moments of spontaneity have resulted in some of her best classes. A few years ago, too ill to teach, she came to her Women and Business class and asked the students to cover the case they had been asked to read about from the week before. The outcome was energized, eager students. "They did a fantatasic job!" Ripley exclaims. "Sometimes you just have to hand it over to the students. There is so much creativity on the other side of the desk."
However, sometimes the other side comes to class tired from a long day at work. Continuing students are juggling work, family and school and can feel overwhelmed. Ripley admits to being partial to students in these situations because it mirrors her own experiences. After attending Shimer College, a small liberal arts school in the midwestern United States, she enroled in the MBA program at Loyola University in Chicago, graduating in 1978. She majored in finance while working full time in downtown Chicago's financial district, but eventually left the job, she says, because "I didn't want to make money for people who already had more money than most people would ever see.
"It was not my idea of a good time."
Ripley did her PhD at the University of Toronto while working full time at York and raising a family. It took her eight years to complete her degree. She graduated in 1989. She shares these stories with students in class and on her website in order to motivate them to continue despite their frustrations. The theme of survival over adversity is even the theme of her upcoming novel, A Love of War. "I am very personal with my students because I believe that it is important to make professors more human," comments Ripley. "It demystifies the professor and reduces the tendency for students to believe that only professors have ideas of value."
Ripley believes she has a responsibility to make all of her courses interesting, not least those whose basic content might discourage creativity in the teacher. "It is more important to apply creative teaching methods to courses which may not be intrinsically interesting to many students," she says.
"To be creative in your teaching style and and to provide students with many opportunities to participate and contribute their ideas and feelings is not only beneficial to their learning but it is also a positive self experience," Ripley asserts. "You challenge yourself and when you tap into students creativity, you can't help but tap into yours."
Applications are now being accepted for the position of Academic Advisor of Stong College. Candidates must be associated with York and have an interest in and knowledge of undergraduate education. The Academic Advisor acts as chief assistant and advisor to the Master of the College, organizes co-curricular support for the Foundations courses, organizes the College's first year academic orientation, and serves on various committees. The role of the Academic Advisor continues to change with the introduction of the Foundations courses in the Faculty of Arts, but advising students will remain the core of the work.
The appointment is for a three year term, renewable annually, beginning July 1, 1998. A letter of application, including three references, should be addressed to Chair of the Search Committee for Academic Advisor, 315 Stong College, 736-5132.
THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS
APRIL 9, 1998
"We all have to commit ourselves to making things better for First Nations people, Phil Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, informed a standing room only audience at McLaughlin College recently. "When we do, we make things better for all." Chief Fontaine expressed himself pleased with recent moves by the federal government to be more open and conciliatory with First Nations representatives. Together, the government's Statement of Reconciliation, its official apology to the former residents of residential schools, and the $350-million healing fund the government has established for those who suffered abuse are a good starting point in the process of righting the wrongs endured by Canada's Aboriginal communities, he said.
