Corporate Knights is pleased to unveil its first Future 40 Responsible Corporate Leaders in Canada ranking, shifting the spotlight to those corporate up-and-comers that are top sustainability performers. York University placed second in the inaugural list, reported Corporate Knights April 3. Read full story.
How sociology trumps economics in marketing
Markus Giesler is a rock star in the world of business academia. Literally. An associate professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Giesler, 37, was named one of the world’s 40 best business school profs under 40 by the management education website Poets & Quants, reported Marketing magazine April 7. Read full story.
Should Toronto’s schools speak one cultural language, or many?
Professor Carl James, who teaches urban diversity at York University’s Faculty of Education, said he’s not worried about giving extra help to certain ethnic groups as long as they don’t forget they’re part of a larger society. “It might build the confidence and knowledge needed to feel more comfortable going into the larger community,” he said in the Toronto Star April 5. “Whatever we are as a country is a combination of all of us.” Read full story.
Henry Moore and Francis Bacon paired in ‘Terror and Beauty’
“Seeing these two artists as having things in common is sort of a radical argument to make, because they’ve been so rarely paired in the past,” said Dan Adler, an art historian at York University who ably took the reins of Terror and Beauty more than a year ago. “But there are things that correspond: contorted poses, contortions of the body. Even in terms of mood, I think; vulnerability was important to both of them,” said Adler in the Toronto Star April 4. Read full story.
How parents (and their lawyers) are killing minor hockey
Two years ago, 40 peewee-aged players in southern Ontario participated in a York University study on parental influence in hockey. When asked what they liked about the game, many spoke not of goals or big wins, but of intangibles. The camaraderie. The smell of a freshly flooded rink. The alone time spent with their moms or dads as they drive through early-morning darkness to practice. Most seemed able to handle criticism given one-on-one after the game, said York University Professor Jessica Fraser-Thomas in Maclean’s April 4. What they didn’t appreciate was mom or dad calling them out within earshot of others. Read full story.
For the Devils, shootouts become a no-win mind game
The Devils have lost all 11 shootouts they had been in this season and an NHL-record 15 consecutive over all since March 15, 2013. “Never have I seen anything like this,” said York University sports psychology Professor Paul Dennis in the New York Times April 5. He called the Devils’ futility a debilitating “emotional contagion”. Read full story.
The remarkably useful North Korea
“North Korea is unique in its isolation, secrecy and brutal totalitarianism. It is also a remarkably useful country for the world’s great powers – the US and China – and for other nations in East Asia,” wrote York University political science Professor Thomas Klassen in the Korea Times April 6. Read full story.
Lift the secrecy on rail safety: editorial
When it comes to trade-offs between curbing operator costs and ensuring safety, “the public has a right to know about, and to question, these arrangements,” said York University Professor Mark Winfield in the Toronto Star April 7. He’s right. But how can the public even know the questions that need asking when safety arrangements are veiled in secrecy? Read full story.
Caribbean gardener brings exotic plants and vegetables to Toronto
Damian Adjodha and helper Clentis Seraphin installed a taste of exotica at the recent Canada Blooms flower and garden show and it turned out to be a huge hit, reported the Toronto Star April 5. . . . He’s also teaching a course at York University in agro-ecology in May and is involved with Friends of the Greenbelt, which spreads the word about urban food crops. Read full story.
Unifor ‘wise’ to delay unionization bid at Ont. Toyota plants: expert
Unifor’s decision to withdraw its application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to represent workers at Toyota’s manufacturing facilities should not be viewed as a retreat but rather an attempt to bolster its chances of a successful unionization bid, according to Stephanie Ross, professor of work and labour studies at York University and co-director of the Global Labour Research Centre. “There has been an enormous amount of effort that has gone into the Toyota [organization] drive, but also there is a lot at stake,” she said in Canadian Manufacturing April 4. Read full story.
Get business, charity together: Kielburger
Earning a master’s degree in business administration is paying off in a different way than most for activist Craig Kielburger. The co-founder of Free the Children was the youngest graduate of the executive MBA program at Schulich School of Business and Kellogg School of Management when he received his degree in 2009, reported the Sault Star April 5. Read full story.
Mental health takes centre stage as Sears Drama Fest opens
Throughout April, high school students across Ontario will be performing in six regional showcases in the hope of moving on to the provincial finals of the 68th Sears Drama Festival, reported the Mississauga News April 5. . . . Only two schools will be selected by adjudicator Mark Wilson, a York University theatre professor, to move on to the Ontario finals in Hamilton next month. Read full story.