York’s Glendon faculty members assembled on Nov. 4 to honour the accomplishments of their peers in research, publications and teaching excellence.
The annual celebration, a chance to display newly published books and articles, announce major research projects and acknowledge significant contributions to the college’s academic life, was organized by Glendon’s Research Department under the leadership of Alexandre Brassard, director of research, in collaboration with Reagan Brown, recently appointed research officer.
The display table was overloaded with new publications and a PowerPoint presentation detailing the activities of Glendon’s faculty was shown by Associate Principal Academics & Research Françoise Mougeon and Brassard. Brassard announced that the total of recent external research grants was $681,007 – an unprecedented amount for the college. In addition, Mougeon told the gathering that this year's financial commitment to the program of course releases for research will remain for the coming year, ensuring support for planned and continuing research activities at the Glendon campus. A comprehensive listing of current research and publications at Glendon is now available on the Glendon Faculty & Research Web site, in the section on Research Achievements.
Left: Research award recipient Gerald Young, a Glendon psychology professor
The highlight of the ceremony was the conferring of the Principal’s Awards of Excellence in three areas of achievement. “It is important to celebrate our achievements,” said Glendon Principal Kenneth McRoberts in his welcoming address. “These books, chapters, articles, conferences and the many other ways in which Glendon’s faculty affirms its academic excellence bring credit to these individuals and to the Glendon community as a whole.”
Psychology Professor Gerald Young received the Glendon Principal’s Award for Research Excellence for his ongoing work in the area of psychological injury and the law. A longtime member of Glendon’s Psychology Department, Young is co-editor of Psychological Knowledge in Court: PTSD, Pain and TBI (Springer, 2006) and co-author of Causality of Psychological Injury: Presenting Evidence in Court (Springer, 2007). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the first journal on the subject – Psychological Injury and Law. He is also the founder and president of the field’s first association – the Association for Scientific Advancement in Psychological Injury and Law. Young is currently working on a graduate-level text on rehabilitation, psychological injury and the law, as well as a book titled Origins of Behaviour.
“I feel honoured to be selected among so many great researchers on this campus,” said Young. “The number of publications emerging [from Glendon] and the financial support provided for research confirm the excellence of the faculty here. This award is a greatly valued recognition of the hard work I have been putting into my research and my publications.” Young holds a BA from McGill University in Montreal (1969), an MA from the University of Western Ontario (1972) and a PhD from the Université de Montréal (1974).
Right: Glendon Principal Ken McRoberts gives a teaching award to English Professor Igor Djordjevic
The second award, for teaching excellence for tenure-track faculty, was given to English Professor Igor Djordjevic, a specialist in English renaissance dramatic and non-dramatic literature, including Shakespeare. An author of several articles, Djordjevic is currently involved with the Oxford Holinshed Project as a contributor to the forthcoming Handbook to Holinshed's Chronicles from Oxford University Press. At Glendon since 2006, Djordjevic was nominated for this recognition by his students and peers. Proficient in Croatian and Serbian, in addition to English and French, Djordjevic’s current courses include Reading Shakespeare (a third-year course); The Literary Text: Genres & Approaches (for first-year students); and a fourth-year seminar called Imagining the Past: Literary Uses of History in the Renaissance. “I am flattered and honoured beyond words to learn that my students and colleagues consider me deserving of this award,” said Djordjevic.
Left: York contract faculty member Gaëlle Vercollier with her proud parents
The third award, for teaching excellence by a member of the contract faculty, was given to Gaëlle Vercollier who teaches French as a Second Language to beginners at Glendon, as well as two other French courses on the Keele campus. Glendon has been Vercollier’s home campus for quite some time. Not only is she a Glendon graduate with a BA in French studies and psychology (1995), but she is also the daughter of Professor Alain Vercollier, who teaches in Glendon’s French and drama studies departments. Gaëlle Vercollier has earned a doctoral degree in second-language teaching (Diplôme d'Études Approfondies en Didactique des Langues) from the Université Paris Diderot (Paris VII). She also earned a BEd from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto specializing in teaching French as a Second Language, English as a Second Language and dramatic arts. Vercollier’s research for her doctoral thesis centred on American Sign Language as second-language learning for adults. Her current research focuses on second-language acquisition, examining the use of contemporary French songs in FSL courses.
Right: Glendon MA candidate Alana Chalmers accepts a posthumous award for Daniel Simeoni
Vercollier thanked her parents, both professors and proudly present at the award ceremony, for being such outstanding role models for her teaching career. “I am very grateful to my students and colleagues for nominating me for this important award,” said Vercollier. “They make me realize how much I love teaching.”
There was a special fourth award for teaching and research excellence bestowed posthumously on the late Daniel Simeoni, director of Glendon's Graduate Program in Translation until his passing last year. His award nomination was led by one of his former students, Alana Chalmers, a longtime member of Glendon’s English studies departmental office and currently a translation master’s degree candidate.
Chalmers was there to receive the award on behalf of Simeoni and spoke in glowing terms about her late professor. “It was a last chance for Daniel’s students to express their feelings of love and admiration for him,” said Chalmers. “His students were always encouraged to find their own path. Daniel Simeoni was a great educator, a successful writer, a superb academic and critical thinker. The students he had taught are his legacy. With this award, we wanted to honour his memory and his achievements.”
Submitted to YFile by Glendon communications officer Marika Kemeny