EEB students awarded prize recognizing best in undergraduate research

April 15, 2019 | A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Feature, Sciences, Undergraduate Research, Undergraduate Students

Twenty-four undergraduate students in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) showcased their research projects and competed for the department’s Corey A. Goldman Prize for Best Research Poster at the recent annual EEB Undergraduate Research Fair.

New program connects students with peer mentors to help navigate undergraduate life

April 1, 2019 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Undergraduate Students

A new peer mentorship program, launched last fall by the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, connects newly admitted second-year undergraduate students with a third-, fourth- or fifth-year student to provide guidance and advice throughout the year.

Making peace in the classroom

March 7, 2019 | Peter Boisseau, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Dragana Obradovic, Humanities, Slavic Languages & Literatures, Undergraduate Education

Dragana Obradovic fled Bosnia with her mother and sister in 1994 during a savage regional conflict. Now, the associate professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures is bringing students from formerly warring nations together to learn Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian as one language.

Industry-integrated learning experience introduced by Computer Science

March 6, 2019 | Winona So, Department of Computer Science

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Computer Science, Sciences, Undergraduate Education

Midway through its first term, the Department of Computer Science’s Technology Leadership Initiative (TLI) has already garnered success by bringing undergraduate students closer to industry.

Association of American Universities funds project to transform first-year math curriculum

February 20, 2019 | A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Undergraduate Education

Arts & Science partnering with U of T Engineering to reimagine math education for undergraduate students.

“Say yes to the text!” Sarah Dowling on new directions in reading, writing and studying poetry

February 19, 2019 | Jovana Jankovic, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Centre for Comparative Literature, Humanities, Victoria College

The work of literary criticism is often just that — critical. But Assistant Professor Sarah Dowling thinks we’re missing a crucial step before we delve into unpacking and critically analyzing a piece of literature, a step which could “lead to a more thorough and vivid understanding of a text.”

Jon Johnson’s stories bring 13,000 years of Indigenous history to life

January 29, 2019 | Chris Sasaki, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: First-Year Seminars, Humanities, Indigenous, Woodsworth College

Jon Johnson, an assistant professor, teaching stream, at Woodsworth College, sees the city through the lens of the Indigenous stories he has spent most of his career collecting, studying and sharing.

Undergraduate students evaluate Sid Smith Commons as campus becomes “living lab”

January 11, 2019 | Jovana Jankovic, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Geography & Planning, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research, Undergraduate Students

Rather than burying their heads in books, students in Professor John Robinson’s fourth year “U of T as a Living Lab of Sustainability” course are actively contributing to the improvement, usability and efficiency of the spaces they use on campus.

Making language learning more interactive – and fun

November 6, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Using teaching methods that emphasize interaction and incorporate community engagement, cultural experiences and new technologies, Assistant Professor Juan Carlos Rocha Osornio is showing students that learning Spanish is fun – and can lead to valuable connections.

Sharing the joys of opera

October 19, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: All News, Cities & Culture, Main Story, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Humanities, Slavic Languages & Literatures, Undergraduate Education

A recent symposium presented by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Canadian Opera Company (CoC) brought together students, faculty, and opera enthusiasts for an in-depth discussion of two of the most important cultural works from 19th-century Russia.

Classics students experience the ‘Bel paese’ excavating ancient ruins

October 15, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Archaeology, Classics, Graduate Students, International Experience, Social Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

For four U of T undergraduate and graduate students, the ruins of the ancient city of Populonia – near the modern Italian town of Piombino – were their classroom for the summer.

iPRAKTIKUM offers undergraduate students language skills development and international connections

September 25, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Experiential Learning, German, Humanities, iPRAKTIKUM, Undergraduate Education

Tianhao Wang started the new school year with a job offer after a successful internship he obtained through iPRAKTIKUM, an internationalization and experiential learning initiative offered by the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures.

From data visualization to AI in health care: Big ideas, new solutions from U of T undergraduate researchers

September 14, 2018 | Ryan Perez, Department of Computer Science

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Graduate Students, Sciences, Trinity College, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research, Woodsworth College

Faculty of Arts & Science computer science undergraduates had a unique set of problems to solve during U of T’s department of computer science undergraduate summer research project program.

Meet the 2018 Arts & Science Schulich Leaders

August 27, 2018 | A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Awards & Honours, Schulich Scholars, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

Two incoming A&S students were selected to receive Canada’s largest STEM scholarship. Congratulations to Daniel Hoogsteen and Sidrah Rana who will both be entering the Mathematical and Physical Science program in the Faculty of Arts & Science this fall.

Grad students experience life on the farm for pastoral literature course

August 20, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Andrea Most, English, Experiential Learning, Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Humanities

This summer, Professor Andrea Most’s American Pastoral course, offered by the Department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science, taught students what it’s like to work in the field – literally. The class left the lecture halls of U of T’s downtown campus behind to spend a week studying at Bela Farm in Hillsburgh, Ontario, where they didn’t just read literary classics of the pastoral mode, but experienced rural life for themselves.

Robert McGill honoured with Robert Kroetsch Teaching Award

August 3, 2018 | Wajiha Rasul, Department of English

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Awards & Honours, English, Graduate Education, Humanities, Robert McGill

Robert McGill, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of English, has been awarded the 2018 Robert Kroetsch Teaching Award by the Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs.

U of T’s Lost River

July 17, 2018 | Jessica Tucker, A&S News

Categories: All News, Cities & Culture, Main Story, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Andrea Most, English, Humanities, Undergraduate Education

When Andrea Most, an English professor in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science, learned about the history of the buried waterways on campus, she was intrigued.

U of T computer science introduces technology leadership initiative

June 28, 2018 | Nina Haikara, Department of Computer Science

Categories: Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Alumni, Computer Science, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

The Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Computer Science is launching a new technology leadership initiative for undergraduates entering the second year of their major or specialist program in the hopes of exposing students to industry ideas early in their program.

Age is but a number for U of T’s oldest and youngest graduates

June 22, 2018 | Geoffrey Vendeville, U of T News

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: #UofTGrad18, English, History of Art, Humanities, Undergraduate Education

U of T’s oldest and youngest graduates met this month to chat about their university experience, including the lessons learned and their latest all-nighter.

First in their family to go to university, these U of T students reflect on graduation

June 21, 2018 | Geoffrey Vendeville, U of T News

Categories: All News, International Engagement, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: #UofTGrad18, Book and Media Studies, English, Humanities, Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, Political Science, Social Sciences, Sociology, Undergraduate Education

Graduation is a milestone in many people’s lives, but especially for those who are the first in their family to don a convocation robe. Five first-generation students, including some first-in-family mentors, spoke to U of T News about their paths to graduation and plans for afterward.

Economics undergraduate student wins CEA-Bank of Canada poster session award

June 20, 2018 | Siri Hansen, Department of Economics

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Awards & Honours, Economics, Social Sciences, Undergraduate Education

Faculty of Arts & Science undergraduate student in the Department of Economics, Minnie Cui, took home the 2018 Canadian Economics Association’s Best Research Paper award.

Scholarship turns into full-time job at Bank of Canada for financial economics graduate

June 20, 2018 | Sean Bettam, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: #UofTGrad18, Awards & Honours, Economics, Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Social Sciences

It’s been quite a year for recent Arts & Science graduate Haeyeon Lee. This time last year she was preparing to begin the final term of a program that would earn her a Master of Financial Economics. Today, she is in Ottawa putting all that she learned into practice as an analyst at the Bank of Canada.

Undergraduate students trek mountains and rainforests of Peru for field research course

June 11, 2018 | Ariel Visconti, A&S News

Categories: All News, International Engagement, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, John Stinchcombe, Megan Frederickson, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research

Summer is the perfect time for students to travel the world, gain real-world experience or continue their studies through summer courses. Last month, 20 undergraduate students enrolled in Megan Frederickson and John Stinchcombe’s Tropical Field Biology course got to do all this at once – and experience remote and biodiverse ecosystems that few people ever get to see.

Allie Sinclair soars through university as U of T’s top student

June 7, 2018 | Geoffrey Vendeville, U of T News

Faculty of Arts & Science student Allie Sinclair finished at U of T with a 4.0 GPA and the highest marks of thousands of graduating undergraduate students across the university’s three campuses.

#UofTGrad18: Trinity College student receives scholarship to study at Yenching Academy

May 25, 2018 | Sarah Kidd, Trinity College

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: #UofTGrad18, Trinity College, Undergraduate Education

The coming year will be an exciting one for Trinity College graduand Andreas Kyriakos as he joins the 2018 cohort of Yenching Scholars. At this fully-funded, international scholarship program, Andreas will earn an English language Master’s degree in China Studies.

Students help develop new ways to find human remains

May 11, 2018 | Sean Bettam, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Charly Bank, Earth Sciences, Research Opportunity Program, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research, Undergraduate Students

In June 2012, 24 pigs and other miscellaneous items were buried in a farmer’s field near Toronto. For the next five years, groups of students measured changes in the soil around the objects over time and through the four seasons. It was all part of an experiment to figure out the best methods to locate buried murder victims and the items associated with foul play.

New U of T exams app saves time and trees

April 30, 2018 | Katie Babcock, U of T Information Technology Services

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

A new University of Toronto application is helping to ease exam anxiety by speeding up attendance, improving student tracking, and enhancing the overall staff and student experience.

How do we regulate artificial intelligence? Munk School students seek answers to big questions

April 10, 2018 | Dee Keilholz, Department of Statistical Sciences

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Munk School of Global Affairs

For many, artificial intelligence is synonymous with a distant future, where self-driving cars are the norm and humans work side-by-side with robots. In reality, we don’t have to look that far ahead to see artificial intelligence at work.

Music students make soundtracks for video games by computer science undergrads

April 3, 2018 | Geoffrey Vendeville, U of T News

Categories: Cities & Culture, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Computer Science, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

University of Toronto computer science students turned to their peers in the Faculty of Music for help making games that are as fun to listen to as they are to play. The games will be presented on April 4 at Level Up, an annual showcase for video games made by university and college students across Ontario.

University College Research and Practice Day showcases undergraduate work

March 20, 2018 | Jenna Charlton, A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research, University College

On Friday, March 16, students enrolled in UC One and University College’s three interdisciplinary programs (Canadian Studies, Cognitive Science and Health Studies), and Drama Studies presented their research, practicum and course work at Research and Practice Day.

Arts & Science students put classwork to use abroad

March 20, 2018 | Jessica Tucker, A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Humanities, International/Indigenous Course Module Program, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

From studying health concerns in Greece to African philosophy and political systems in Rwanda, nearly 80 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Arts & Science made the most of their time away from U of T to put their classwork to use abroad.

How often do university students get to do original scientific research just two years out of high school?

March 6, 2018 | Eric Geringas, A&S Office of Advancement

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Campaign, Sciences, Undergraduate Education

At U of T Astronomy, this happens more often than you’d think.

A&S student-made Kensington Market augmented reality app recognized with heritage award

March 2, 2018 | Sean Bettam, A&S News

Categories: All News, Cities & Culture, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Awards & Honours, Canadian Studies, Digital Humanities, Humanities, Social Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research

A group of Canadian Studies students received an Ontario heritage award for their work on producing a mobile app that brings to life the hidden histories of Toronto’s Kensington Market.

Arts & Science undergrad helps the future of urban transportation

February 23, 2018 | Jessica Tucker, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Research Opportunity Program, Shauna Brail, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research

How do you get around Toronto? The rapidly expanding digital economy – think Uber, Lyft and Toronto’s own InstaRyde – has given us more options to get around this city than ever before. But what kind of impact do these technologies have on the future of urban transportation?

Students packing passports for Reading Week field trips

February 16, 2018 | Jessica Tucker, A&S News

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: International/Indigenous Course Module Program, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

Nearly 80 undergraduate students from across the Faculty of Arts & Science will use their time off from classes at U of T during Reading Week to travel abroad to study topics ranging from ancient Egyptian cultural development to Islamic civil society.

Statistical Sciences’ Alison Gibbs honoured with 3M National Teaching Fellowship

February 8, 2018 | Sean Bettam, A&S News

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Awards & Honours, Sciences, Statistical Sciences, Undergraduate Education

Anyone who has taken a class with statistical sciences professor Alison Gibbs would agree there is nothing random about her being awarded a 3M National Teaching Fellowship from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) this week.

Teaching love and sex in the era of #MeToo

February 7, 2018 | Geoffrey Vendeville, U of T News

Categories: All News, Cities & Culture, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Jooyoung Lee, Social Sciences, Sociology, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

Around the water cooler, on social media and the red carpet, the talk is about #MeToo and the wave of sexual misconduct allegations in the headlines. The conversation is also unfolding in university classrooms.

Celebrating undergraduate research with first ever ASSU Undergraduate Research Conference

January 23, 2018 | Alexa Zulak, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: ASSU, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Research, Undergraduate Students

It was a celebration of undergraduate research for students, by students, as the Arts & Science Students’ Union (ASSU) held its inaugural Arts & Science Undergraduate Research Conference in Sidney Smith Hall last week.

End of an era: Undergraduate biology class evolves with passing of teaching torch

January 17, 2018 | Amy Huynh, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, James Thomson, Sciences, Spencer Barrett, Undergraduate Education

For over a quarter century, Professors Spencer Barrett and James Thomson of the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology have been two of the first teachers students encounter when they begin their undergraduate education at U of T. Both are retiring in 2018.

Airing our dirty laundry: Are our clothes harming the environment?

January 8, 2018 | Peter Boisseau, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Chelsea Rochman, Earth Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Hayley McIlwraith, Jack Lin, Miriam Diamond, Research Opportunity Program, Sciences

Plastic pollution is a huge environmental problem, with approximately eight million metric tonnes entering the oceans each year. How much of that is microfibers from laundering textiles has yet to be determined.

Mozilla teaches U of T students about the potential and pitfalls of the digital world

December 15, 2017 | Romi Levine, U of T News

Categories: Cities & Culture, International Engagement, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Book and Media Studies, Humanities, Social Media, St. Michael’s College, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

To help his students better understand the role they play in shaping the future of the internet, Paolo Granata, an assistant professor of book and media studies took his Social Technology and Networks class to Toronto’s Mozilla headquarters.

First-year students go behind the scenes of children’s publishing

December 14, 2017 | Jessica Lewis, A&S News

Categories: All News, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: English, First-Year Seminars, Humanities, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

It’s impossible not to have a soft spot for children’s books, even if you’re not a kid or a parent. So, the opportunity to explore the materials and process of bringing a book to life through documents from the books’ creators is extra special.

Broadening Options for Arts & Science Graduate Students

December 12, 2017 | Elaine Smith, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: English, Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Humanities

Various departments in Arts & Science at U of T have realized the value of showing students that there are alternatives to academic life.

Anthropology grad students get certified in X-ray technology: prep for future careers

December 4, 2017 | Jaime Weinman, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Anthropology, Graduate Education, Graduate Students

Until now, PhD student Branden Rizzuto was the only one in the Department of Anthropology qualified to use the portable X-ray Fluorescence device — but not for long.

Economics team finalists in Bank of Canada competition

November 29, 2017 | Siri Hansen, Department of Economics

Categories: All News, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Economics, Sciences, Social Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

The Governor’s Challenge simulates the monetary policy decision-making process by putting students in the role of advisor to the Bank’s Governing Council.

Indigenous star lore: Night skies over Turtle Island

November 10, 2017 | Hannah James, U of T News

Categories: All News, International Engagement, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Dunlap Institute, Graduate Education, Indigenous, Sciences

AstroTours teamed up with Indigenous Education Week to create an event featuring Indigenous perspectives on astronomy and star lore.

#UofTGrad17: How Indigenous studies helped Julie Blair connect with her culture

November 10, 2017 | Hannah James, U of T News

Categories: Cities & Culture, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Humanities, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Studies Student Union, Social Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Woodsworth College

Julie Blair has led various Indigenous committees and clubs at U of T, and she’s worked as the Indigenous Education Network coordinator at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Department for the Study of Religion helps doctoral students prepare for changing jobscape

November 10, 2017 | Peter Boisseau, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Humanities, Milestones & Pathways, Study of Religion

When opportunity knocks for PhD graduates in religious studies, it’s as likely to be organizations trying to understand conflicts abroad or lawmakers assessing domestic policy as it is a traditional academic career.

iPRAKTIKUM offers graduate students chance to explore careers outside academy

October 30, 2017 | Elaine Smith, A&S News

Categories: All News, Main Story, Our Community, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: German, Graduate Education, Graduate Students, Humanities, iPRAKTIKUM, Milestones & Pathways

This fall, iPRAKTIKUM – an internationalization and experiential learning project of the German department – offered paid internships to four graduate students to work under the supervision of Nicola Townend, who runs the German program at UTS.

Cracking the code: This group of U of T computer science researchers are decoding ciphers with AI

October 27, 2017 | Nina Haikara, Department of Computer Science

Categories: Our Community, Research Innovations, Teaching & Learning Innovations | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Google, Roger Grosse, Sciences, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students

Computer science undergraduate students are decoding encrypted text using a neural network, a framework for machine learning algorithms inspired by the brain.