Feds’ investment in university infrastructure comes with environmental benefits
A year of social distancing has given many of us a closer look at where our homes could use an upgrade—a leaky tap wasting water, a drafty window sending heat outside, a furnace that rumbles through the night. Picture that on a much larger scale where a campus is home to thousands of students, faculty […]
Research excellence requires equity, diversity, and inclusion
OTTAWA—As a mathematician, I am drawn to numbers, and one particular set caught my eye not long ago. According to data compiled in 2019 by the Diversity Gap Canada, a project by University of Calgary political science professor Dr. Malinda Smith, the deans of Canada’s top 15 universities are mostly white and male, and only […]
The time for innovation in higher education is now
This month, Concordia University is launching its Innovation Lab, a bold move to support students to become skilled and confident innovators who can turn ideas into solutions that make the world a better place. The Lab is one response to the era of profound changes arriving at dizzying speeds, prompted by the growth and spread […]
Canada cannot afford a knowledge recession
As countries around the world continue to grapple with new dangers presented by COVID-19, Canada must also work to stave off a danger of a different kind: a knowledge recession. Last year ended with more hope than we have had in a while. With vaccines starting to roll out, it was possible to imagine a […]
Polarization in Canada, real or not?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—When it comes to politics, we Canadians are becoming increasingly polarized. Or are we? After all, maybe all the gloomy warnings we’re hearing these days about how our society is becoming divided along stark ideological lines is nothing but media hype or exaggeration. So, always eager to get to the bottom of things, I […]
Connecting work to education should be priority beyond pandemic
COVID-19 has disrupted labour markets unlike anything since the Great Depression. Young people have been especially hard hit by the economic slowdown, with school closures and a transition to remote learning. Youth were also among the hardest hit when employers reduced operations. One of the biggest disruptions has been a transition to remote work. Remote […]
The N-word is hate speech, not free speech
CALGARY—The aroma of burning crosses dotting the landscape of this “multicultural” nation sure smells like the anti-Black racism most “leaders” are purported to stand against. The proliferation of N-word usage, primarily among educators in publicly funded institutions is becoming a crisis of mental and emotional abuse that manifests itself in structural violence. Coined in the […]
‘Six systemic crises’ confronting Canada, and politicians, policy-makers, health-care professionals need ‘systems thinking’ to tackle them, says public policy expert
Politicians, policy-makers, and health-care professionals have been too busy focusing on beating back the pandemic and trying to ensure Canadians are shielded from the worst of the economic fallout while there are six larger, systemic crises that have the potential to dwarf the trauma already experienced in this country if left unchecked, according to Irvin […]
Why the government of Canada will not appoint a temporary minister of education
Adhering to the dictum “never let a good crisis go to waste,” Irvin Studin has proposed in The Globe and Mail that Canada needs a temporary minister of education to address what he calls “Canada’s post quarantine education crisis.” I do not dispute that COVID-19 has produced an unprecedented crisis in education. In fact, I recently published a […]
How the pandemic has driven us to up our game in research and teaching
Tragedy, suffering, and uncertainty have trailed in the wake of COVID-19, bringing social and economic turmoil, and hurting people everywhere. The pandemic is a grand challenge that threatens our safety and our very existence. This challenge is also a unique opportunity for universities to lead and innovate in ways that will benefit humankind well beyond […]
