York's Glendon campus officially opened its Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education to provide increased postsecondary offerings in French, reported Academica, May 16.

Paul Rowland, of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, will discuss making universities green at the IRIS speakers' series on Friday, followed by a campus tour led by CSBO.

York psychology Professor Gordon Flett is guest editor of an issue of the Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy dealing with perfectionism.

We currently have access to Encyclomedia on a trial basis: http://scuola.encyclomedia.it/enter-eol

Encyclomedia Online is a multimedia project designed to aid the study and understanding of the history of European civilization, directed by Umberto Eco and produced by EM Publishers for Italian language institutes for italian language.
Encyclomedia covers the history of politics and government, social and economic history, the history of philosophy, religion, sciences, music and musical practice, communication, literature and theatre, and art and architecture.
Encyclomedia is a cross-disciplinary reference tool which employs digital reference technology to bring out spatial and temporal interconnections and facilitate users’ understanding of the context surrounding and the relationships between people, events, and ideas.

The trial expires May 30th.

If you have any questions about the trial please contact ereport at yorku dot ca

Design alumna  Sharis Shahmiryan is part of a team of nine Toronto Star journalists nominated at the inaugural international Data Journalism Awards for her data-driven work Known to Police . Sharis is  a designer for the Toronto Star and has taught part-time in the Design Department. Congratulations Sharis!

Award-winning filmmaker Ali Kazimi will discuss the issues and questions raised by his new book, Undesirables: White Canada and the Komagata Maru, at its launch next week.

The Green Office Program is a new initiative that is designed to help offices at York incorporate a variety of sustainable practices into day-to-day operations.

. . . & . . . mEet the&MAN & e-Chair @ thE 18th Media City Film Festival in Windsor, Ontario May 23 - 26 . . . & . . . rEad more about Media City on this blog . . . & . . . :

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/05/14/media-city-film-festival-returns-for-18th-year-of-experimentation/

. . . & . . . a program of mostlE never-bEfore-scrEened Super 8 films shot by IAIN BAXTER& in thE 1960s & 70s will bE fEatured on opening night (May 23) @ 7:30 at thE Capitol Theatre . . . & . . . the&MAN will bE in attendance to prEsent thEse extrEmlE rare & fascinating works . . . & . . . then join the&MAN & e-Chair in conversation on Friday, May 25 @ 2:00 pm at thE Art Gallery of Windsor for a discussion & scrEening of new & old vidEo work by BAXTER&, including thE premier of at least one new vidEo . . . & . . . check out thE Media City website & schedule for more info. on thEse exciting Events . . . & . . . :

http://mediacityfilmfestival.com/

. . . & . . . hope to sEe you there! . . . & . . .


image : IAIN BAXTER&

Schulich School of Business marketing Professor Markus Giesler spoke to the Toronto Star May 14 about the challenges the troubled tech giant Yahoo must overcome if it is to succeed.

May 14, 2012 brings the latest attempt at copyright reform, Bill C-11 one step closer to fruition. Bill C-11 began with its Introduction and Initial Reading before the House in September of 2011, and is presently, as of May 14 2012, in its Report Stage. Otherwise known as Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act, Bill C-11 was [...]

Trying it out

The Fit 4 Life Employee Program offers employees the chance to get active and re-energized during their lunch hours through a variety of classes.

York psychology professors Jane Irvine and Debra Pepler of York’s Faculty of Health have recently been named two of the most published women in the ...

The Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation hosted a York Leadership Roundtable on May 8. The event brought together knowledge experts in business, industry, government and ...

Washington State University (WSU) Professor Noël Sturgeon will be the next dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University. Sturgeon will take ...

The deadline to register for this year's faculty and staff golf tournament is May 22. .

The top men's tennis players will compete in this summer's Rogers Cup, presented by National Bank, at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, from August 4 to 12.

The results of 39 innovative and imaginative projects dedicated to enhancing teaching, learning and the student experience were put on display during a day-long event on May 9.

York University’s Glendon College will officially open the Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education in a ceremony on May 15 at 9am. “I ...

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! Below is a brief outline of what to do and expect at convocation on June 14, 2012. Ensure you RSVP online at www.yorku.ca/mygraduation/  – have your credit card ready for robe rentals and a printer for printing  guest tickets and confirmation. DEADLINE:  May 28th, 2012.  (After this deadline the rental [...]

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal issued a decision last week that caused my eyebrows to raise ever so slightly. The decision involved  an application for reconsideration of an earlier decision in which the Tribunal dismissed a complaint under Section 45.1 of the Code.  That is the section that allows the Tribunal to dismiss a human rights complaint when another tribunal has already dealt with the substance of the human rights complaint.

It’s not last week’s reconsideration decision that provoked a brow movement, but the original Tribunal decision.  It ruled that a decision by the OLRB finding the employer violated various sections of the ESA has dealt with the substance of the human rights complaint, and therefore it dismissed the human rights complaint.

What’s somewhat peculiar about this case is that no human rights issue was raised before the OLRB (as far as I can tell), nor was any human rights remedy ordered.

Should it matter when relying on Section 45.1 to dismiss a human rights complaint whether human rights issues were actually considered by the other tribunal?

Basic Facts in Shi v. Holcim (Canada)

The employer announced that the employees in the tax group would be required to work as much OT as necessary to meet certain end of year deadlines, including working weekends and for 12 straight days.  Shi said she had family responsibilities, and couldn’t work all of the hours required, including the weekend work, although she did offer to work from home.  The ESA allows a maximum of 48 hours work in a week (Section 17) and 8 hours in a day,  Section 18 requires that employees be given 24 hours off work each work week, so 12 straight days of work is illegal too.

After Shi complained about the hours, she was dismissed with notice for “not being a good fit”.  Shi filed two complaints, one alleging a violation of the ESA provisions prohibiting reprisals for insisting that the employer comply with the ESA, and the other under the HRC alleging that the imposition of long overtime hours and unusual weekend work constituted constructive discrimination on the basis of family status, marital status, and an illegal reprisal for complaining about the human rights violation.

The ESA Complaint Succeeds

The Ontario Labour Relations Board found a violation of Section 74 (the no ‘reprisals’ section’), deciding that the employer had failed to establish that its reasons for dismissing Shi were unrelated to concerns she raised about the unlawful requests to work hours beyond the ESA limits.  It also found that the employer had failed to pay overtime for some 15 hours of OT worked by the employee in violation of Section 22.  There is no consideration in the OLRB decision about whether the requirements to work weekends and long overtime periods amounted to constructive discrimination under the Human Rights Code.

Human Rights Complaint Dismissed

Under Section 45.1 of the Code, the Tribunal can dismiss a complaint if: “another proceeding has appropriately dealt with the substance of the complaint.” The Tribunal, citing a case called Gomez v. Sobey’s, noted that this section permitted the Tribunal to dismiss a complaint when the “reasons in the other decision dispose of the human rights issues before the Tribunal”. In Gomez, an arbitrator had considered in detail whether the Code had been violated, and the Tribunal therefore found that a Section 45.1 dismissal was warranted.

In the case of Shi, on the other hand, the OLRB did not consider at all whether the Code had been violated.  The discrimination issue did not come up.  The OLRB focused on whether the ESA’s reprisal section had been violated.  Nevertheless, the Human Rights Tribunal dismisses Shi’s complaint under Section 45.1, finding that the OLRB had dealt with the substance of the human rights complaint:

I find that the Application should be dismissed pursuant to section 45.1. In both the OLRB proceedings and the Application, the applicant raised concerns about the amount of overtime, where she would work that overtime and alleged that she was terminated for raising these concerns.  It is clear from both the August 2011 OLRB decision and the November 2011 OLRB decision that the same facts and same issues were at play in those proceedings as raised in the Application. The OLRB heard evidence and rendered decisions which, in my view, appropriately dealt with the substance of the issues in this Application.

Issues for Discussion

What do you think of that reasoning?

Did the OLRB deal fully with the “issue” of whether a demand by the employer to work excessive amounts of overtime and weekends constitutes a violation of Section 5 and/or Section 11 of the Human Rights Code because it adversely effects workers with family responsibilities?

Even if it did not consider whether the employer had violated the Code, is it enough that the factual basis of both complaints overlap?

Is it enough to dismiss a complaint under Section 45.1 of the Code that most of the remedies sought under the human rights complaint have, or could have been, ordered by the OLRB, even though the OLRB never considered the Code?

On this last point, note that Section 104 of the ESA grants an employment standards officer and the OLRB authority to reinstate an employee dismissed in violation of Section 74 (Reprisal). Therefore, since the OLRB had authority to order damages for violations of the ESA, including reinstatement, does that mean that there is nothing left that the Human Rights Tribunal could order, beyond what the OLRB could grant Shi?  [Consider the remedial powers of the Human Rights Tribunal (in Section 45.2)]

The York University Rover Team (YURT) will be having their 2012 Rover Send-off presentation in Vanier College this week. The event, held on May 16, will give supporters, and the greater York community, a sneak-peek at YURT's 2012 Model, two weeks before they head off to their first competition of the year.

YURT is a fully student-run project, that has created a platform of success beyond that of any other club or organization at York. During the school year, the team dedicates countless time outside of the classroom, researching, building,

Noël Sturgeon, a professor of Women's Studies in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender & Race Studies at Washington State University, will begin a five-year term on August 1.

• Universities have been taken over by administrators
• Making Our Ideas More Accessible (by blogging, twitter, etc)
• University Of Toronto's Lawyer In Access Copyright Deal Also Advised Access Copyright On Related Legislation
• NLLA advising universities & colleges not to sign AUCC's proposed model license with Access Copyright
• Motion for Senate concerning Access Copyright (8 May 2012)
• Why Investing In Faculty Is the Best Method To Promote Innovation
• RUSQ, Open Access, and Me
• HBO Has Only Itself To Blame For Record 'Game Of Thrones' Piracy
• Periodicals Price Survey 2012
• Research Blogs and the Discussion of Scholarly Information
• Cultural Toxicity in the University
• Writer's Cramp: In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year Is Slacking
• Tough love: An insensitive guide to thriving in your PhD
• The Net as paradigm
• Pushy Textbook Publishers
• Paying to Learn (to Program) (motivation & MOOCs)
• Think Outside the LMS (more on connecting to real people in MOOCs)

Read the comments on this post...

The Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation hosted a York Leadership Roundtable on May 8. The event brought together knowledge experts in business, industry, government and academia to discuss eHealth and connected solutions for health care delivery. The roundtable provided a forum for participants to discuss technological advancements, research partnerships and community collaborations for the benefit of [...]

In an article looking at the abuse of prescription drugs, Professor Joel Lexchin of York’s School of Health Policy & Management, said ”there are a lot more people with mild depression than serious depression. So drug companies market to people with mild depression because there’s a lot more money to be made,” reported the Winnipeg Free [...]

York psychology professors Jane Irvine and Debra Pepler of York’s Faculty of Health have recently been named two of the most published women in the field of clinical psychology in Canada, according to an article in the Canadian Psychology journal. “Assessing the Publication Productivity of Clinical Psychology Professors in Canadian Psychological Association-Accredited Canadian Psychology Departments,” [...]

The Centre of Excellence for French-language & Bilingual Postsecondary Education, which opens today, will broaden the range of postsecondary programs and courses in French in Southern Ontario.

Open Science Presentation Open Science Presentation Fun Stuff! The Joy of Books New Spice — Study like a scholar, scholar Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the earth yet? pipl.com What does Facebook publish about you and your friends? Free Citation Management Software RefWorks site (Login) can help you manage your footnotes & bibliography on the web. [...]

The May 2012 issue of History of Psychology is now online. Included in this issue are a number of all new articles, including pieces on the history of postpartum depression, a late-nineteenth century nerve training controversy, and the use of psychology by American ministers in the mid-twentieth century. Other items in this issue include an interview with Philip Zimbardo on the 40th anniversary of the Stanford Prison Experiment, the incorporation of cross-cultural examples in teaching, and a look back at the Holocaust interviews conducted by psychologist David Boder in the 1940s. Additionally, Frances Cherry, Rhoda Unger, and Andrew Winston comment on an earlier article by William Woodward on Jewish émigré psychologists and Woodward responds. Full titles, authors, and abstracts follow below.

“Can’t a mother sing the blues? Postpartum depression and the construction of motherhood in late 20th-century America,” by Lisa Held & Alexandra Rutherford. The abstract reads,

Popular depictions of 20th-century American motherhood have typically emphasized the joy and fulfillment that a new mother can expect to experience on her child’s arrival. But starting in the 1950s, discussions of the “baby blues” began to appear in the popular press. How did articles about the baby blues, and then postpartum depression, challenge these rosy depictions? In this article, we examine portrayals of postpartum distress in popular magazines and advice books during the second half of the 20th century to examine how the unsettling pairing of distress and motherhood was culturally negotiated in these decades. We show that these portrayals revealed a persistent reluctance to situate motherhood itself as the cause of serious emotional distress and a consistent focus on changing mothers to adapt to their role rather than changing the parameters of the role itself. Regardless of whether these messages actually helped or hindered new mothers themselves, we suggest that they reflected the rarely challenged assumption that motherhood and distress should not mix.

“Delsartean hypnosis for girls’ bodies and minds: Annie Payson Call and the Lasell Seminary nerve training controversy,” by John M. Andrick. The abstract reads,

In the summer of 1890, news that two students at Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Auburndale, MA had suffered a complete nervous collapse as a result of being hypnotized by an instructor in a nerve training class caused a brief but sharp national sensation regarding hypnotism and nerve training in girls’ education. The instructor, Annie Payson Call, denied practicing hypnotism, and the seminary’s principal defended both Call and the “mind concentration” course she taught at Lasell. Call’s approach to nerve training blended Delsartean relaxation exercises, New Thought psychology, and self-hypnotic techniques into a therapeutic regimen which can be termed “Delsartean hypnosis.” Developed further in her 1891 popular self-help handbook, Power Through Repose, Call’s variety of Delsartean hypnosis was incorporated into the procedures of proponents of suggestive therapeutics, and it served as a model for subsequent relaxation training programs in the early- and mid-20th century.

“‘Be the love of God rather than talk about it’: Ministers study psychology,” by Stephanie Muravchik. The abstract reads,

After World War II, American ministers successfully drew on training in psychology to nurture their spiritual and vocational development. Contrary to what critics of a therapeutic ethos in American culture have asserted, this social history of ministers shows that their adoption of psychological modes of thinking was neither atomizing nor secularizing. Rather, it helped them become better people and better ministers. It nurtured their faith as well as their social connections. Thus, I argue against critics who have feared the civically enervating effects of psychological outlooks in American society.

“Philip G. Zimbardo on his career and the Stanford Prison Experiment’s 40th anniversary,” by Scott Drury, Scott A. Hutchens, Duane E. Shuttlesworth, & Carole L. White. The abstract reads,

We interviewed Philip G. Zimbardo on April 19, 2011, in anticipation of the 40th anniversary of the Stanford Prison Experiment in August 2011. While Zimbardo’s name is mentioned often in tandem with the experiment, he has distinguished himself in many other areas within psychology before and after the experiment, beginning with an accomplished early career at New York University in which he took interest in social psychology research on deindividuation. We discussed the Stanford Prison Experiment in the greater context of his varied and illustrious career, including recent pioneering work on heroism, the establishment of The Shyness Clinic at Stanford University, and the iconic Discovering Psychology series. We also addressed his adroit and candid approach to the experiment itself over the years.

“Visual illusions and ethnocentrism: Exemplars for teaching cross-cultural concepts,” by Kenneth D. Keith. The abstract reads,

This article discusses the origins of cross-cultural interest in two concepts fundamental to psychology students’ views of the world: simple visual illusions and ethnocentrism. Although students encounter these ideas in introductory psychology, textbooks rarely describe the nature or origin of cross-cultural knowledge about them. The article presents a brief account of the history of these concepts and relates them to contemporary notions of psychology and culture. Using visual perception and ethnocentrism as examples, the article suggests the importance of teaching that different people see the world in different ways and the role of that lesson in a future demanding increased cross-cultural understanding.

“The wonder of their voices: The 1946 Holocaust interviews of David Boder (New York: Oxford, 2010),” by Alan C. Rosen. The abstract reads,

Writing a study of psychologist David Boder’s 1946 displaced persons (DP) interview project gave me a chance to further document the substantial early response to the Holocaust. This was clearly one important piece of my study, and one that was eminently straightforward. Yet much of the research on Boder’s project at the point in time that I carried it out was elliptical, partly because the primary interview materials were coming to light at an astonishing pace, partly because the archive collections were virtually untapped, and partly because of the misconception of Boder and his interview project itself.

“Gender, ethnicity, and career trajectories: A comment on Woodward (2010),” by Frances Cherry, Rhoda Unger, & Andrew S. Winston. The abstract reads,

Woodward (2010) argued that Maria Rickers-Ovsiankina, Eugenia Hanfmann, and Tamara Dembo constituted a group of Jewish émigré psychologists who received substantial help in America from a “Jewish network” of patronage. This comment focuses on the historiographic problems and pitfalls of essentialized ethnic identification. There was no evidence that Maria Rickers-Ovsiankina was a Jew or that Eugenia Hanffman, raised Russian Orthodox, identified herself as a Jew, in contrast to Tamara Dembo, who did so. We argue that these women were part of an active network of Gestaltists, topologists, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues leaders, and that any help that they received may be explained by the shared theoretical and disciplinary outlook of these groups as opposed to a “Jewish network.”

“Reply to a commentary on gender, ethnicity, and career trajectories,” by William R. Woodward. The abstract reads,

Cherry, Unger, and Winston suggest that a more nuanced way of treating ethnic differences is called for, suggesting that professional groupings are more salient than ethnic backgrounds in understanding the careers of three émigré women. I affirmed a broader thesis, and I explicitly referred to “Russian women émigrés,” because in fact the ethnic and professional as well as scientific identifications were far more complex. I suggest here that the existing literature on Jewish academics may be guilty of essentializing Jews, leading me astray in minor ways, whereas I attempted to demonstrate the complexities of these women’s career trajectories with particular attention to informal networks of Jews and non-Jews. “Informal Jewish networks” exemplified here include Kurt Lewin, David Shakow, Jerome Frank, Thelma Alper, Heinz Werner, Abraham Maslow, the University of Iowa, Brandeis University, and The New School. Consistent with poststructural and postcolonial literatures, ethnic and multiethnic networks offer apt terms that have broad ramifications in psychology and beyond.

In addition to providing a fun way to get fit and meet new friends, the marathon is a fundraiser for a bursary supporting students who use Counselling & Disability Services at York University.

Representatives from business, industry, academia, health care and government discussed the important role eHealth will play in fostering a sustainable health system.

York health policy Professor Joel Lexchin talks about the role drug companies play in the rising rates of prescription medications in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Paul Rowland

Paul Rowland became the Executive Director of AASHE on August 1, 2009. Paul was one of the founders of the Ponderosa Project at Northern Arizona University where he served in a variety of capacities including Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Education, Coordinator of Environmental Education, and Director of Academic Assessment. More recently he has served as Dean of the School of Education at The University of Montana and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Idaho. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from New Mexico State University and an M.S. in Ecology and a B.A. in Biology from Rutgers University.

Links:

• Campus Services and Business Operations
• UNESCO Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability: 7th Biennial Meeting of the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions

Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia: Susan Chalmers, Masters of Environmental Studies Candidate at York, continues her installments on climate change adaptation in Canadian coastal communities by discussing the results of her research. The current blog highlights the adaptation work underway in Halifax, Nova Scotia . In 2004, the regional municipality began to develop Climate [...]

. . . & . . . check out e-Chair Adam Lauder's article on Canadian artist, author & advertising executive Bertram Brooker (1888-1955) in thE latest issue of thE journal TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (no. 27, Spring 2012) . . . & . . . :

http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/topia/index

. . . & . . . "Bertram Brooker and the Toronto School of Communication" positions Brooker at thE centre of a pre-McLuhan sensuous medEa culture in Toronto ca. 1921-55 which, I argue, served as a backdrop to thE communications writings of both Harold Adams Innis & Marshall McLuhan . . . & . . .

. . . & . . . stay tuned for more & news . . . & . . .

. . . & . . .


image : TOPIA

IP Osgoode would like to congratulate the York University Faculty of Science and Engineering as well as Douglas Bergeron and his wife Sandra Bergeron on their two million dollar endeavour to support entrepreneurial programs and initiatives focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors. Announced last week, the Bergerons’ gift will create 100 fellowships [...]

Using a quote that he attributes to Pablo Picasso, the late Steve Jobs stated in a 1994 interview that “good artists copy, great artists steal.” It seems somewhat ironic that Apple Inc., the company he co-founded, now finds itself in an entrenched legal battle with Samsung over a number of alleged patent and trademark infringements. The twist? [...]

The National Archival Development Program (or NADP ) is administered by the Canadian Council of Archives and it - and it's previous incarnations- have been vital in the completion of a number of projects here at the Clara Thomas Archives … Continue reading →

AHP’s readers may be interested in some of the podcasts recently made available by Situating Science. Situating Science is a seven year project funded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Strategic Knowledge Cluster grant in order to promote “communication and collaboration among humanists and social scientists that are engaged in the study of science and technology.” While there are a number of talks from Situating Science’s Trust in Science and Trust in the New Sciences series available online, two in particular may be of especial interest to AHP readers. In the first talk, sociologist Nikolas Rose discusses selfhood in the 21st century, and in the second Cornelius Borck explores the how the neurosciences attempt to explain what it is to be human. Audio of both talks is embedded below and can also be found online here.

Nikolas Rose, “Engineering Selfhood in the 21st Century.”

Dr. Rose discusses the implications for the ways we understand and govern ourselves and the new dilemmas of rights and obligations that confront us taking examples from biomedicine, genomics and neuroscience.

Cornelius Borck, “Mind the Gap: The Neurosciences and Their Determination to Explain the Human.”

Understanding the brain and the biological basis of mind, consciousness and behaviour is the ultimate challenge. It stimulates researchers to look into the brain with ever more sophisticated technology such as functional neuroimaging. This colourful visualization of mental processes in the living human brain enthrals scientists and the public alike.