Dear Members of the Massey College Community, chers collègues,
The latest JCR Podcast was released on Friday. Episode 5: If Phones Were Our Friends – Junior Fellow Noah Khan, a SSHRC doctoral fellow at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto reflects on our love-hate relationship with our phones. LISTEN HERE
The Massey is Lunch program connecting Senior Members of the community to Junior Fellows for lunch will now be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Register here. It is a nice way to rebuild our connections. Please sign up.
Please join me in welcoming Taras Lyutyy, professor of Philosophy and Religion Studies, Faculty of Humanities, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, And Senior Fellow, Department of Philosophical Anthropology, Hryhory Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Science of Ukraine. He will be staying at Massey for a month.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 14 | 4:30pm
The Reverend Canon Paul Wright, Sub Dean of HM Chapel Royal will visit Massey College on March 14th. To mark the occasion, there will be a ceremony in the Gi-Chi-Twaa Gimaa Kwe Mississauga Anishinaabek AName Amik (Chapel Royal at Massey College), to dedicate and install the eagle feather gifted to the College by former National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
Following the ceremony, there will be a reception in the Junior Common Room, featuring the premiere of Learning Together, a short documentary video about the Chapel Royal.
Massey Loves to Read
Book Launch – Mothering Alone: A Plea for Opportunity by Mary Kay O’Neil
March 15 |7:45pm
You are invited to join an essential discussion on themes from the book Mothering Alone: A Plea for Opportunity by Senior Fellow Mary Kay O’Neil with a discussion led by Justice Susan Lang.
March 16 | 12:00pm
Ethics Series: Political Spin
Politics is competitive: there is a constant communication battle to cast issues into the most favourable light according to your beliefs or your party. Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations described his profession as “the engineering of public consent.” Today, we call it “political spin,” and governments, parties and private sector companies employ a plethora of professionals to advance their communication priorities.
But when does spin become dangerous? When does exaggeration veer into lying? (The fact checker of the Washington Post reported that in the course of his presidency Donald Trump uttered over 32,000 falsehoods or 21 lies a day). How should journalists and the broader public react to spin? What can be done if the truth is totally discarded as a virtue – which occurred with Trump and Boris Johnson?
L’anglais suit le français
Vous êtes invités à vous joindre à nous le vendredi 17 mars pour un souper spécial afin de célébrer avec la communauté francophone la Journée internationale de la francophonie. Le souper aura lieu dans la bibliothèque (Upper Library) et la conférence/réception aura lieu dans la salle commune (Junior Common Room).
Calendrier des événements:
17h00 – Conférence
18h00 – Réception
18h30 – Dîner
You are invited to join us on Friday, March 17 for a conference and special dinner to celebrate the Francophone community in advance of International Francophonie Day (March 20). The dinner will be held in the Upper Library at 6:30pm. Conference at5:00pm, followed by reception. Register here.
March 21 – South African scholar and social anthropologist, Dr. Divine Fuh will be joining us at Massey to present The Original Sin of AI: Keyhole Masculinities and the Problem of Customary Surprises. Dr. Fuh pushes for a critical examination of the fundamental principles and assumptions that underpin AI technology, particularly the social aspects; emphasizing that decolonization must involve a critical investment in understanding how to develop digital technologies from contexts that do not have the kind of relationships to reductionist data that ‘modern’ society has.
March 21 | 5:30-8:00pm – The inaugural finals competition of the Toronto edition of Ma Thèse en 180 Secondes, the French language version of the Three Minute Thesis. Come meet the next generation of researchers in your city and encourage candidates from your university! Refreshments will be served.
March 22 – Massey Dialogues: 175 Years of Canadian Democracy (more details TK, but this is organized by JRS and Thilo. JRS will be on the panel.) Hyperlink TK
March 22 – Filmmaker-in-Residence screening and panel discussion of Category Woman by director, producer and former Olympian Phyllis Ellis.
March 22 – 12:30-1:30 Science @Massey lunch with Massey alumna and Senior Fellow, The Rt. Hon. Julie Payette. More information on our website, here.
Le jeudi 23 mars 4:00-6:00pm
Le journaliste et réalisateur Raed Hammoud discutera de ses travaux pour assembler divers récits d’immigration au cours de sa carrière. Venez l’écouter. Cet événement en français est organisé en collaboration avec l’Université de l’Ontario français.
Journalist and director Raed Hammound will discuss his work of assembling various “immigration stories” throughout his career. Come and listen to him. The event is organized in co-operation with the Université de l’Ontario français.
WALTER GORDON SYMPOSIUM
March 24 | 9:00am-2:00pm
Join the Walter Gordon Symposium on Canada’s Changing Energy Landscape.Bbreakfast begins at 8:15am.
Global energy markets are rapidly changing in response to energy security needs and demands for a decarbonized global supply of energy. While Canada pursues various initiatives to transition into a low-carbon economy, including electrification and the decarbonization of energy, energy security concerns facing Canadian allies are showing a need for energy sources like natural gas. This has sparked heavy debates across Canada about what Canada’s energy future should look like, for domestic and foreign consumers.
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March 29 | 12:00pm
Massey Dialogues: Rethinking the Role of (Indoor) Public Space. How would future public space be in response to social and health issues such as pandemics and densification? Join the conversation online or in person with Senior Fellow Brigitte Shim, Hilary Simple, Junior Fellow Ran Bonnie Li and myself.
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Convocation High Table – there are only a couple of tickets left, RSVP here.
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April 3 – Massey College Book Club
The final Book Club of the term is the Cundill History Prize Winner – All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles. Presented by Massey alum and Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Review of Canada Kyle Wyatt
April 4 – Rose Wolfe Seder with Rabbi Yael Splansky.
APPLICATIONS
Applications are now open and will close on April 11, for the Collaborative Specialization in Book History and Print Culture. Please click here for more information. To learn more, our College Printer, Kit MacNeil, will be giving tours of the Bib Room at a special Hybrid Visitor’s Day on March 17.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
The Syrian refugee, Hassan, who was sponsored by the 2016 Massey Refugee Support Initiative became a Canadian citizen recently. Thank you to everyone who participated to help make this possible.
The Alum from the MRSI: Jennifer Bonder, Sophie Borwein, Kiran Banerjee, Patrick Steadman, Jennifer Orange, Alex Harris, Leah Welsh, Anthea Darychuk, Maripier Isabelle, Taylor Self, James Rendell, Vanessa van den Boogard, Ayesha Valliani.e, with support from Senior Fellow Michael Valpy. They said: Our whole community came together to be part of this larger Canadian project to resettle Syrian refugees, and we couldn’t be more grateful or thrilled to see this milestone reached. Thank you, Massey!
Hassan said, “I would like to tell you and share with you my joy and happiness in obtaining Canadian citizenship. All thanks to you for helping me, supporting me, and standing by my side, and without your presence, I would not have reached what I am now. Thank you very much for everything.”
Senior Fellow John Ralston Saul has published a piece in the Globe & Mail examining the anniversary of Canadian democracy. Read it here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-on-this-day-175-years-ago-canada-became-a-democracy-why-arent-we/
Senior Fellow Armine Yalnizyan in the Toronto Star: https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2023/03/08/not-so-rosie-on-the-46th-international-womens-day-46-facts-showing-how-much-we-do-and-dont-value-womens-work.html
Junior Fellow Zahida Rahemtulla’s play The Wrong Bashir debuted in Vancouver. Read the review here. https://www.createastir.ca/articles/the-wrong-bashir-theatre-review – She is also profiled in The Georgia Straight https://www.straight.com/arts/zahida-rahemtulla-overcomes-self-doubts-and-finds-a-universality-in-ismaili-experience-with
Alum Amir Abdul Reda has a co-written paper in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, you can read it here. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19331681.2023.2183301?af=R
À bientôt,
Nathalie
