Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Re-imagining the pursuit of (sustainable) happiness

By Chantal Vallis. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

The thrill of same-day delivery, binging Netflix or having food delivered straight to your door is satisfying and a perfect dopamine hit in the digital age. It is also a form of happiness rooted in consumerism, where convenience is everything. However, these quick fixes come at a cost: our deeper well-being and the collective health of society and the environment.

A new course offered by the Faculty of Environment looks to reimagine the pursuit of happiness in ways that centre both people and the planet. Drawing insights from diverse knowledge systems, ENVS 474: Happiness, Well-being and Sustainability will explore how many of the pressing issues of our time are intrinsically linked to the pursuit of individual wellness. Through processes of co-creation, co-sensing, and co-healing, this course aims to help students move beyond consumer-based happiness towards collective flourishing.

“What we are being sold as happiness, particularly by Western popular culture, is deeply unsustainable,” says course instructor Dr. Kira Cooper. “This narrow conception of individualistic happiness via immediate gratification not only makes us unhappy but is driving crises of global scale.”

Cooper asserts that when happiness is interwoven with collective well-being, its potential to support transformations towards long-term viability expands exponentially. Her research investigates the nexus of inner and outer sustainability and looks at how we can nurture generative responses to planetary crises.  

“Many of the current global challenges we're facing emerge from a problematic worldview of separation,” she says. “Since mainstream solutions to these issues originate from a reductive and mechanistic perspective, they aren’t meeting the complexity of the metacrisis. Helping students recognize that their happiness is interwoven with the well-being of the natural world nurtures conditions for both individual and collective healing in these turbulent times.”

ENVS 474 will be offered for the first time beginning winter 2025. The course aims to help students cultivate resilience and other skills they will need as future leaders in the environmental field so that they can respond to urgent issues such as climate change without becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge.

The launch of this new course is the latest in the broader ecosystem of Waterloo’s courses on happiness. In the Faculty of Arts, ARTS 140, The Science of Happiness, is among many topics offered to first-year Arts students, designed to develop critical thinking, communication and information analysis skills. PHIL 125, Happiness, is an interdisciplinary meditation on the nature of happiness and its components.

Weighing climate change and sustainability with societal needs and inequities is no simple task. It makes advancing sustainable futures for the world a complex problem. However, as part of the University’s Global Futures vision, Waterloo strives to be a leader in sustainability education and research. We build on this strength by offering new courses like this one to create a world where happiness and well-being are possible for everyone.

Moving forward, we must centralize the environment in discussions around happiness, otherwise we risk perpetuating problematic systems that have got us into the current global sustainability crisis. 

“So long as happiness is approached solely for the benefit of the individual, progress towards sustainability will be limited. It’s time to reimagine what happiness might look like when it is in service to life,” Cooper concludes.

Legacy of Smith-Sedra textbook honoured with bookcase unveiling

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Faculty of Engineering website.

On Friday, November 1, the Faculty of Engineering and guests gathered to celebrate an enduring legacy in engineering education: the pioneering textbook Microelectronic Circuits, co-authored by professors Adel Sedra and K.C. Smith. This iconic book has shaped the academic journey of countless students worldwide. The event, held on the 5th floor of Engineering Building 7, featured Adel Sedra, a former Dean of Waterloo Engineering, as the guest of honor for the unveiling of a custom-designed bookcase dedicated to this important work.

First published in 1982 while both authors were teaching at the University of Toronto, Microelectronic Circuits has become a foundational text in engineering education, with more than one million copies sold in ten languages and eight editions. It is estimated that over 75 per cent of engineering students worldwide who have studied microelectronic circuits have relied on this book, often regarded as the gold standard for its depth and practical design-oriented approach to electronic circuits.

Dean Emeritus Adel Sedra stands next to a stack of his textbooks, or is it cake?

Dean Mary Wells opened the ceremony by recognizing the extraordinary impact of Microelectronic Circuits, quoting: “Over its many editions, it has been praised for its clarity, relevance, and ability to engage students in one of the most rapidly advancing fields of engineering.” The Dean shared messages of support from University of Waterloo President Vivek Goel and former President and Governor General of Canada David Johnston, who played an instrumental role in bringing Dr. Sedra to Waterloo.

University of Waterloo Vice-President, Academic, and Provost James Rush followed, highlighting Dr. Sedra’s academic leadership and the textbook’s profound influence. He reflected on the how Microelectronic Circuits aligns with Dr. Sedra’s experience as an educator, stating, “The structure of the book is aligned with what you would expect from a great teacher.”

Additional comments were shared by Tony Chan Carusone, a professor of electronics at the University of Toronto, and Vincent Gaudet, a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who have been collaborating with Dr. Sedra on the book's latest edition. Together, they emphasized the book's importance for Canadian engineering, noting that it “put us on the map.”

Read the full story on the Engineering website.

PhD candidates sought to teach The Wicked Problem of Accessibility

A message from the Teaching Innovation Incubator.

As part of the University’s strategic plans to develop talent for a complex world and focus on interdisciplinary scholarship, a team of PhD candidates will come together in Winter 2025 to design, develop and offer a course related to contemporary Wicked Problems. The course will be offered to upper-year undergraduate students from across the University to create a community of scholars, sharing different perspectives from the PhD candidate instructors and the learners in the classroom. 

The undergraduate course offered in Spring 2025 and will focus on the Wicked Problem of Accessibility.

This course approaches the wicked problem of accessibility from diverse disciplinary perspectives (e.g., applied sciences, social sciences, health sciences, humanities, engineering, technology, policy, and planning) to address the various dimensions of this global challenge. Topics covered in this course may include: intersectionality and disability identities; historical and cultural representations of disability and accessibility; technological advances to support access and inclusion; integrating accessibility into the design of programs, buildings, cities, and community areas; considering physical, developmental, cognitive, and learning disabilities; mental health; social justice; policy development; the representation of accessibility and disability in media and literature; disability advocacy, among others.

The course prepares students to analyze the wicked problem of accessibility from an interdisciplinary perspective, to evaluate and critique diverse perspectives on the issue, and to devise potential solutions to support access for disabled individuals.

Open to all undergraduate students in level 3A or higher, the Wicked Problem of Accessibility course takes an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to investigating how accessibility is understood in the world, and the research, efforts, and initiatives being taken to improve the lives of disabled people.

We know that there are researchers at the University of Waterloo doing this work. They may also welcome the opportunity to be part of an interdisciplinary teaching team that will provide undergraduate students with a classroom experience where the academic content spans disciplinary boundaries.

We encourage PhD candidates to apply using the online application form – details found on The Wicked Problem Accessibility Teaching Innovation Incubator website. The deadline to apply is Monday, November 18 by end of day.

Wednesday's notes

Conrad Grebel's Noon Hour Concert series continues today with Lost and Found featuring Blackwood in concert. Blackwood is a duo consisting of Jeff Reilly on bass clarinet and Peter-Anthony Togni on piano. “Lost and Found” is Blackwood’s program of atmospheric music performed on bass clarinet with piano: a haunting and atmospheric mix of new and old, composed and improvised on a unique foundation of jazz, Gregorian Chant, and Minimalism.

The concert takes place at 12 noon in Conrad Grebel University College's Chapel. Admission is free.

As part of Treaties Recognition Week, Daniel Secord will be a guest speaker at an event today about the history of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and their relationship with treaties. With extensive knowledge of the community's history, Daniel will provide a comprehensive overview of the area's treaty history and its significance.

Secord was raised and lives in The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation with his children and is a graduate of The Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, Fanshawe College and McMaster University. He has spent his entire life participating in First Nations’ Traditional Song, Dance, and Culture and has been involved in The North American Indigenous Games, The Pan Am Games & Para Pan Am Games, the Special Olympics, multiple Winter Games, and The Winter Olympics in Canada. 

The event, Treaties as Foundations: The Legacy of the Mississauga's of the Credit First Nation, takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon in EC5 1111.

Check out the Office of Indigenous Relations' Treaties Recognition Week website for more details of events happening on campus.

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions this week include the DPR Group. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.