Former UC principal SYLVIA BASHEVKIN, a professor emerita, received an honorary degree from Memorial University in Newfoundland in 2023 in recognition of "her trailblazing and uncommonly impactful career as a political scientist and educator."
Beginning July 1, 2024, DIRK BERNHARDT-WALTHER, associate professor of psychology, will assume the directorship of UC’s Cognitive Science program for a five-year term. Bernhardt Walther earned an MPhil in Physics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Computation and Neural Systems at the California Institute of Technology. He joined U of T in 2014 and served as a visiting professor at the Samsung Artificial Intelligence Center in Toronto from 2019 to 2020. Bernhardt-Walther’s research focuses on the neural and computational mechanisms that underlie the perception of complex real-world scenes. His recent research interests include the cross-modal perception of real-world environments as well as visual aesthetics. Let’s welcome Professor Bernhardt-Walther to the UC community!
Assistant Professor SEIKA BOYE, director of the Institute for Dance Studies at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, earned a $10,000 2023-2024 Emerging Projects grant from the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Critical Digital Humanities Initiative. "Look at These Oral Histories!: Graphic Recording and Visual Data in Dance Research" aims to create new graphic recordings using oral history interviews from Black Canadian dance artists. By identifying data embedded in existing graphic recordings, the team will also explore future uses and representations of this data.
JILL CARTER, an associate professor of Indigenous Studies who teaches at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, co-leads the project “Developing a New First Story Toronto Website" with colleague Jon Johnson from Woodsworth College. The project aims to create a website that hosts diverse digital content supporting the First Story Toronto initiative, transforming how Torontonians share stories about land and place by amplifying Indigenous voices, leadership, and stewardship.
Professor GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE edited a new book, Black Activist, Black Scientist, Black Icon: The Autobiography of Dr. Howard D. McCurdy (Nimbus), which launched in January 2024. Clarke, the E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature, is a renowned poet, playwright, and literary critic. McCurdy was Canada's first Black tenured professor, as well as a scientist, city councillor, and Member of Parliament. The book is about being Black--and unapologetic--in the workplace.
UC faculty member BRENDA COSSMAN, former director of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, was honoured with the 2023 Berry Smith Award for Doctoral Supervision. The award, given annually by the School of Graduate Studies, aims to recognize outstanding performance in the multiple roles associated with graduate supervision.
Professor COLLEEN DOCKSTADER has agreed to serve as director of the Health Studies program at University College from July 1, 2023, until June 30, 2027. Professor Dockstader is an associate professor, teaching stream, with a background in biological health science. She is an alumna of U of T’s Department of Psychology (HBSc) and Department of Medical Biophysics (PhD) and was a postdoctoral fellow and researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children in neurosciences and mental health. Dockstader joined U of T in 2015.
KATHLEEN GALLAGHER, director of the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, won a Distinguished Book Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education for her work Hope in a Collapsing World: Youth, Theatre, and Listening as a Political Alternative.
KATHLEEN GALLAGHER, director of the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, won a Distinguished Book Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education for her work Hope in a Collapsing World: Youth, Theatre, and Listening as a Political Alternative.
Professor PIA KLEBER, who is affiliated with both UC and the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, received a Long Service Award, which celebrates faculty members, librarians, and staff who have reached 25, 30, and 35 years of continuous service at U of T. The awards, organized by the Recognition and Engagement Team within the Division of People Strategy, Equity and Culture, are presented by the president.
LARISSA LAI, PhD, the new Richard Charles Lee Chair in Asian Canadian Studies at UC, launched her newest book at the College in May 2023. The Asian Canadian Voices: Facets of Diversity collection showcases the works of 11 authors who share remarkable stories, reflections, and insights on the Asian Canadian heritage and experience. The launch event featured a talk by Lai and a five-person panel discussing the Asian Canadian experience.
IZUU NWANKWO, PhD, joined the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies in August 2023 from Mainz, Germany, where he was a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University. Nwankwo is a theatre scholar, teacher, playwright, and essayist whose research interests revolve around Africa and African diaspora theatre, performances, and popular culture.
UC welcomes back Professor SIOBHAN O’FLYNN as interim director of Canadian Studies. The College will search for a new director of Canadian Studies this term, with the aim of filling the role by July 1, 2024.
University College's dean of students NAEEM ORDÓÑEZ was honoured with a 2023 Faculty of Arts & Science Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Established in 1999, the Outstanding Achievement Awards recognize staff-appointed administrative and technical employees who have achieved excellence in support of the Faculty’s mission of teaching and research.
THE QUEER AND TRANS RESEARCH LAB at the Mark S. Bohham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies launched End of the Line Press in January 2024. The press is a publisher of poetry, prose, and visual art monographs by trans, non-binary, and two-spirit artists.
Celebrated Canadian playwright and theatre director DJANET SEARS, an assistant professor at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, received an honorary degree from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. At the December 2023 ceremony, Sears delivered a convocation address, “Shakespeare, Shaw and Me: Repositioning Centre; Confessions of a Reluctant Playwright.”
UC faculty member DANA SEITLER has been reappointed director of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies from January 1, 2024 until December 31, 2029. Seitler, a professor of English, is the author of Atavistic Tendencies: The Culture of Science in American Modernity (University of Minnesota Press, 2008) and Reading Sideways: The Queer Politics of Art in Modern American Fiction (Fordham University Press, 2019), which was a 2020 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best Book in LGBTQ Studies.
UC Principal MARKUS STOCK, a professor of German and medieval literature, has been appointed for a second term through June 30, 2030. In addition to serving as the 17th principal of University College, he has held the role of vice-dean, college relations in the Faculty of Arts & Science since 2022. A particular focus of Professor Stock’s first term has been to enhance the undergraduate student experience: UC has leveraged its revitalized spaces for innovative co-curriculars; the College has also restructured and considerably increased academic advising and student support services. In addition, Stock initiated new academic and administrative partnerships on campus to the benefit of UC’s academic programs, including the newly established undergraduate Certificate in Black Canadian Studies.