Are you interested in uncovering alternative campus narratives?
The next Jane’s walk at York will be an Alternative Campus Tour that uncovers un- and under-told stories delivered by professors, students, poets and writers.
The walk will take place Friday, May 2, from 11am to 1pm. To be part of the walk, meet at the water fountain in front of Vari Hall on York Boulevard, Keele campus. The tour will cover various sites on campus and then close with participant stories and observations. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the tour.
Central Square courtyard
Post-secondary institutions are often viewed as “ivory towers,” distinct from the larger community and overall human experience. For many people, universities and colleges are the backdrop of their fondest memories, critical social debates, thought experiments, character development and community building. Besides being halls of higher learning on scholarship, campuses are also important cultural sites.
As a tourist on the walk, expect to get an insider perspective. Learn about how Stong Pond was connected to the flash flood that washed out a section of Finch Avenue in 2005, hear the concerns of women studying on a campus originally built for men and cars, discover how the 2015 Pan American Games may be a threat to the Michael Boyer Woodlot and follow the migration of the Tiananmen Square memorial statue Goddess of Democracy across campus.
The walk will be led by Professor L. Anders Sandberg of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York, who likes to think critically about the everyday and seemingly mundane. He has led many tours across the campus. One of his recent co-edited books, Urban Explorations: Environmental Histories of the Toronto Region (2013), is a collection of essays that combines writing and field trips in the Toronto region, from downtown Toronto to Niagara Falls, indigenous Toronto to queer Toronto and Hamilton Harbour to the Oak Ridges Moraine.
For a selection of some of the sites visited on the tour, check out the Alternative Campus Tour.