Friday, October 13, 2023

University launches speaker series on antagonism and intimidation in academia

The Faculty of Arts and the Office of Research are organizing a new speaker series entitled “Antagonism and Intimidation in Academia” that will run from the October 2023 to March 2024.

Special Advisor on Interdisciplinary Research Suzan  Ilcan (Professor in Sociology and Legal Studies and University Research Chair) will lead the speaker series.   

"The speaker series involve talks by members of the University of Waterloo academic community on the broad subject of antagonistic and intimidating responses to academic research and pedagogy," says a statement by organizers. "Scholars in many fields have experienced hostile responses to their work, such as those whose emphasis is on social justice scholarship that focuses on discrimination based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and religion; science and technology research; health and vaccine research; and environment, sustainability, and climate change research. Aggressors aim to silence the individual researcher and attack those advocating certain scholarly ideas through various hostile actions, including cyberbullying, disruption of public presentations, personal threats, and in the worst-case scenario, physical violence."

The inaugural panel discussion of this series is scheduled for Tuesday, October 24 and is entitled Antagonistic Responses Based on Gender and Race in the Academy. 

Panel participants include:

• Dr. Carla Fehr, Associate Professor & Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy, Philosophy;
• Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, Assistant Professor, Philosophy;
• Dr. Logan MacDonald, Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair of Indigenous Art, Fine Arts; and
• Dr. Rashmee Singh, Associate Professor, Sociology and Legal Studies.

Chairing the event will be Suzan Ilcan, Professor and University Research Chair, Sociology and Legal Studies, and the panel discussion will be moderated by Seçil Dağtaş, Associate Professor of Anthropology.  

The event takes place from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. in QNC 0101 and will be livestreamed. Register today.

A toast to the new school year

By Rebecca Wagner.

What do you remember most about your time at St. Paul’s United College/St. Paul’s University College/United College?  Whether alumni graduated in 1963 or 2023, the hands down, most frequently cited response, is “toast time.”    

Toast time is a treasured, decades old, United College tradition that saw a trolley full of bread, toasters, and all the toppings (e.g. jam, Nutella, random inventions!), rolled out in the cafeteria every night. Dozens of students from all United College residence wings would gather around at the end of a long day to relax and connect with friends from all corners of the college campus.       

Toast time is United College lore, commemorated in “The Toast Chronicles,” the annual college yearbooks from the 1990s.     

Legend has it that back in 2010, the City of Waterloo fire department was on hand at United College more than ten times during one academic year, forcing everyone to evacuate at night. All breadcrumbs always led back to the toaster and its unfortunate proximity to the fire alarm.      

The beloved tradition of toast time continues to this day, a full 60 years after United College first opened its doors. It is one of the ties that bind the generations of United College friends and family.        

To help officially welcome its 60^th cohort of students and usher in a new school year at the inaugural Principal’s Welcome (on October 5), the college unveiled its brand-new, and very first, mascot, Toasty, a throw-back to this long-standing tradition.     

Toasty made its grand entrance to cheers from dozens of students who offered a toast to the start of a new school year, full of adventure, promise, and butter days ahead.

Ontario Universities Fair coming up next weekend

A message from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment.

The Ontario Universities’ Fair (OUF) is fast approaching, and will be taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on October 21 and 22. This event is part of a series of Ontario universities’ events, which provide opportunities for students and their supporters from across the province to connect with representatives from Ontario’s universities in person and virtually.

Last year, approximately 400 Waterloo staff, students, and faculty representing all areas of the university connected with tens of thousands of event attendees. Over 37,000 Waterloo brochures were distributed, with more than 11,000 prospective students and supporters sharing their information with Waterloo to stay in touch.

Next weekend’s anticipated attendance is 80,000+, and this event would not be possible without the contributions of the hundreds of Waterloo staff, students, and faculty who make it a success each year.

Mike Becks named Acting Director, Special Constable Service

"Please be advised that Mike Becks has been appointed Acting Director, Special Constable Service effective immediately," wrote Vice-President, Administration and Finance Jacinda Reitsma in a memo sent to Executive Council in late September. "In addition to his current duties, Mike will be responsible for communications, administration, and management of the Special Constable Service (SCS)."  

Becks has been a police officer with the Waterloo Region Police Service (WRPS) since 1999. In January 2023, he was seconded from the WRPS to the Special Constable Service to become the Operations Manager.   

"The Special Constable Service is an integral part of our campus operations," writes Reitsma. "I am grateful that Mike is willing to provide leadership during this time. As always, the SCS is committed to ensuring safety remains a priority across our campuses."

Special Constable Service Director Alan Binns is currently on leave.

Ian MacNaughton's planning footprint spans Ontario

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

The University of Waterloo is remembering Ian MacNaughton (BA ‘68, MA ‘71), a remarkable force in Ontario’s urban planning sector, after his death on Saturday, October 7, 2023.

To honour his rich legacy UWaterloo, which awarded MacNaughton its 50^th Anniversary Alumni Award in 2007, is inaugurating an award in his name, the Ian MacNaughton Memorial Award, and naming a space in his honor. With this award and space naming, MacNaughton will continue the impact he made in life by inspiring and supporting future environment students.

A lot of people dream of making the world around them a better place. MacNaughton is a rare individual who managed to make that dream happen.  In fact, it was from an early age, exactly what he’d planned.

In the four-plus decades after he became one of the first three students to graduate from the University of Waterloo’s nascent school of urban and regional planning, he proved it time and again. Thanks to MacNaughton’s professional and voluntary work, communities across southern Ontario work better, the province’s natural environment is better guarded and economic growth is more sustainable today.

The tiny company he started with a handful of staff was a seed that blossomed into one of Ontario’s most successful private planning firms, MHBC Planning. Today, MHBC employs 130 people in Kitchener, Toronto, Burlington, Barrie and London. MacNaughton and his company helped manage decades of unprecedented growth in Ontario by promoting responsible development that aimed to reconcile economic, environmental and social needs.

“He was a star in our planning community,” said Ken Seiling, Waterloo Region’s regional chair from 1985 to 2018. “During all my years in municipal government, Ian stood out as a forceful yet fair, balanced and ethical planner. He was part of the community and wanted good things for this region, which was evident in many of the things he did.”

As proud as he is of his life’s work, MacNaughton admitted it couldn’t have happened without his years at Waterloo. He arrived in 1964 on a campus less than a decade old to study geography because he was “lousy at math and sciences.” A self-confessed late-bloomer who flunked grade 13, MacNaughton also chose Waterloo to play football. He also built a silo-building enterprise as a summer job to pay his bills.  The lessons in teamwork, drive and perseverance he picked up as a student lasted throughout his impressive career.

“I was the first up the silo and the last down,” he recalled, explaining the work kept him fit for football while honing his leadership skills.

Read the rest of the story on Waterloo News.