Close to 75 York faculty gathered in the Senate Chamber March 11 to celebrate research in the Faculty of Arts. Dean Robert Drummond praised the breadth and depth of research in the Faculty of Arts, highlighted by the more than 50 books published by faculty members in 2003 that were on display.
Publications ranged topically from mathematical treatises on Relative Logic for Intelligence Based System, by York mathematics and statistics Professor Silviu Guiasu, to Booze: A Distilled History by history Professor Craig Heron.
Also on display were three novels: Just Murder, humanities Professor Jan Rehner’s spine-chilling murder mystery set partly in Toronto; The Swinging Bridge by contract faculty member Ramabai Espinet and; Pack Up the Moon by Creative Writing Program coordinator, Professor Richard Teleky. This Faculty of Arts Council meeting and the reception that followed in honour of the many authors offered a unique opportunity to showcase the diversity and vitality of research in the Faculty of Arts.
Two faculty members, humanities Professor Stanley Tweyman and English Professor Lesley Higgins, shared entertaining anecdotes about the research experiences that led to their respective publications.
In Tweyman’s case, the experience of publishing an e-book provided a glimpse about the possible future of research and research publication, as well as the potential for virtual library building.
Higgins, who recently published The Modernist Cult of Ugliness: Aesthetic and Gender Politics as well as a collaborative work on Walter Paret, Transparencies of Desire, compared her experiences as both an individual and collaborative researcher, advocating collaboration as an opportunity to open new ways of thinking about one’s area of interest.
York University’s steering committee on the proposed transformation of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) presented information on the future of research funding. Committee Chair and Faculty of Education Dean Paul Axelrod engaged faculty members in a lively discussion about SSHRC’s transformation. For more information, visit the York Research Web page on the topic. (York passport required.)
Associate dean Irmgard Steinisch provided an overview of key research and funding issues facing faculty members in Arts. Visit here for information on the SCOR Forum on Research: Building York’s Research Culture, scheduled to be held April 23. (York passport required).
Right: Participants at the Faculty of Arts celebration, with some of their books on display