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NOTAbene

Barbara Fischer

BARBARA FISCHER, an associate professor (teaching stream) in the Master of Visual Studies program in Curatorial Studies at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, and a member of University College, has been awarded a 2022 President’s Impact Award recognizing faculty members whose research has led to significant impact beyond academia. Fischer, who is also the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, was cited for her “exceptional contributions to curatorial theory, history and practice, enabling Canadian and international audiences to better understand and learn from contemporary art and artists.”

Thea Lim

THEA LIM (BA 2004 UC), a Singaporean Canadian writer whose debut novel An Ocean of Minutes received widespread acclaim, has been named University College's Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor (BFDV) for the 2022-23 academic year. Lim was working at the UC Writing Centre while writing the novel. The BFDV acts as a writer-in-residence, participating in UC events and meeting with students for one-on-one mentoring sessions related to all forms of writing. "University College is such a massive part of my psychic geography, and so formative for me as a thinker, writer, and teacher," says Lim. "I am beyond delighted to soon meet and work with the students who make the college what it is today."

Queer and Trans Research Lab (QTRL)

A cutting-edge QUEER AND TRANS RESEARCH LAB (QTRLopened at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies in September. Professor Dana Seitler, director of the Bonham Centre, called the groundbreaking new initiative a way to counter the isolation of queer and trans researchers, as well as a crucial opportunity to forge closer ties with the wider community at a time of increased systemic anti- Black, anti-Indigenous, and anti-queer violence. The lab will host an artist-in-residence and two community leadership residencies annually, in addition to research associates, post-doctoral fellows, faculty members, and student research assistants. It has received support from both Mark S. Bonham and Martha LA McCain, as well as the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Arbor Award Pin

Four UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ALUMNI received 2021 Arbor Awards, the University of Toronto's highest honour in recognition of exceptional and longstanding volunteer service: JENNIFER DOLMAN (BA 1986 UC), TOM DU (BCom 2008 UC), SHYROSE JANMOHAMED (BCom 1994 UC), and MARINA MILENKOVIC (BCom 2014 UC). Dolman serving her fourth year on the College of Electors, and her second year as Vice- Chair, she has also served on the Alumni of Influence (AOI) Selection Committee and was emcee at the 2019 AOI gala. Du has been a dedicated mentor and volunteer with Rotman Commerce since 2015 and has participated in numerous Career Services initiatives, and has served as a speaker at the Next Steps conference.  Janmohamed has served Rotman Commerce as one-to-one mentor and online mentor, volunteered as a guest speaker at Student Group and Career Services events and been a host for the Rotman Commerce Virtual Book Club. Milenkovic also volunteers for Rotman Commerce and contributed extensively to a wide range of initiatives led by Recruitment & Admissions, Career Services and student groups in Toronto and Vancouver.

University College (UC) Revitalization

The UNIVERSITY COLLEGE REVITALIZATION has garnered not one, but two, more awards a complement to KOHN/SHNIER and ERA ARCHITECTSthe administration and the entire UC community that supported the project. UC has been recognized by Canadian Interiors in its annual Best of Canada Design Competition for 2021 and by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO) as the 2021 winner of the Peter Stokes Restoration Award in the large scale/team/corporate category. "This was a project with many design mandates, but most significantly, the library's relocation and modernization had to accommodate, preserve, restore, and complement the legacy of University College, one of the University of Toronto's most significant heritage buildings," wrote Canadian Interiors. The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario called it an "exemplary restoration responding to the demands of 21st-century academia."

Book Cover Courtesy of Jane Wolff
Jane Wolff

JANE WOLFF, a UC faculty member, associate professor of architecture at U of T, and an advisory board member for U of T's Jackman Humanities Institute, has been awarded a J.B. Jackson book prize for 2022 for her new book Bay Lexicon, a field guide that defines place- based language for the changing edge of San Francisco Bay. The award is administered by the University of Virginia. Wolff's current research, which will be featured at the 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art, uses Toronto's metropolitan landscape as a laboratory to develop and decolonize landscape observation methods.