Two 快播视频 professors, two PhD students and a Connected Minds postdoctoral fellow recently took part in an international meeting on Multi-Species Society, funded by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and hosted by the Nature Conservation Foundation of India in Valparai, India.

The York delegation included Kristin Andrews, professor of philosophy and York Research Chair in Animal Minds; H茅l猫ne Mialet, professor in Science, Technology and Society; Julia Espinosa, Connected Minds postdoctoral fellow; Marriah Alcantara, PhD candidate in philosophy; and Meghana Sharma, PhD student in Science, Technology and Society.

The meeting brought together anthropologists, biologists, ecologists, conservationists, a filmmaker and a photographer to explore shared human-animal norms, the possibility of human-animal politics and new approaches to interdisciplinary collaboration.

"Valparai was a unique experience that was imagined to test on the ground some of the hypotheses and new methodologies we are developing in the context of the CIFAR鈥檚 Future Flourishing Program,鈥� Mialet shares.  鈥淚t was a complete immersive experience in an extraordinary landscape, an open-air laboratory, where students, world renown experts in restoration and conservation, scientists, anthropologists, philosophers, photographers and filmmakers shared their experience and knowledge to imagine the multiple ways in which humans and animals can co-exist. It was also the first time in my life that I had to run out of the room in the middle of my presentation to observe wild animals crossing the garden!鈥�

Valparai was chosen for its unique history of human-animal interactions. The plateau is home to elephants, bison, monkeys and other species, as well as Indigenous communities. British colonization and the introduction of tea and coffee plantations disrupted long-standing ecological balances, creating conflicts between humans and wildlife. Today, efforts continue to mitigate these tensions in and around the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, a protected area that surrounds the region.

鈥淲e walked the tea plantations and saw how human workers and buffalo live side by side. We watched an elephant browsing in the fields one morning, and that afternoon talked with ecologists about the interventions they developed to minimize conflicts between humans and elephants,鈥� Andrews explains. 鈥淏eing there in the field with the scientists and walking the landscape in the mornings, having talks and sharing ideas in the afternoons and evenings, is an ideal way to do scholarship. Bringing students and postdocs along means that we are also training the next generation of scholars in these place-based interdisciplinary methods that CIFAR's Future Flourishing program is advancing.鈥�

Participants engaged in both indoor research presentations and outdoor field observations, witnessing animals in urban and wild landscapes. The meeting sparked new research collaborations, including projects on social norms between elephants and humans, theoretical innovations for studying animals and addressing human-wildlife conflicts, and a forthcoming study on human-dog social norms in central India led by Espinosa.

鈥淲e met with a variety of scholars across disciplines who are all interested in the same questions about how to live with, share a planet with, and flourish with nonhuman animals,鈥� Alcantara says. 鈥淏eing there allowed us to take our discussions outdoors, thinking about how to mitigate human-elephant conflict while watching an elephant forage and learning about strategies for conserving and rehabilitating the rainforests while watching a pair of hornbills at the edge of a forest fragment. As a student, this trip was invaluable to my development as a scholar and will shape how I approach my research for many years.鈥�

The urgency of this work was underscored during the meeting when a tragic human-elephant conflict occurred nearby, resulting in the deaths of a woman and her grandchild.

Canada鈥檚 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has awarded $5,786,741 in federal funding to 快播视频 researchers as part of the Insight Grants program. The funding supports 34 projects and builds on an additional $1.7M in funding that York researchers recently received through SSHRC Insight Development Grants, supporting scholars in the social sciences and humanities. Half of the funded projects are led by researchers from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), who are listed below.

Kelly Bergstrom, Department of Communication & Media Studies
Project: Platforming Leisure: Navigating worker experiences of labour and leisure in the digital platform economy 
Funding: $228,512 

Marie-Helene Budworth, School of Human Resource Management
Project: Diversity at work: Beyond a monoracial framework 
Funding: $85,155 

Natalie Coulter, Department of Communication & Media Studies
Project: Understanding Our Digital Futures: KidTech, AdTech and Branded Content in the DigiVerse 
Funding: $291,354 

Benjamin Kelly, Department of History
Project: The Politics of Repression in Ancient Rome: Discourses and Practices 
Funding: $82,358 

Anja Krstic, School of Human Resource Management
Project: Increasing gender equality: An examination of why and how gender roles influence men's parental leave-taking decisions 
Funding: $112,174 

Geoffrey P.J. Lawrence, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Project: Examining Generative Artificial Intelligence in Post-Secondary English for Academic Purpose (EAP) Programs 
Funding: $89,678 

Matthew A. Leisinger, Department of Philosophy
Project: Ralph Cudworth's Freewill Manuscripts 
Funding: $77,009 

Bernard V. Lightman, Department of Humanities
Project: The collected letters of John Tyndall (1820鈥�1893), influential Victorian scientist: editing and publishing volumes 18 to 21 
Funding: $88,785 

Muyang Li, Department of Sociology
Project: Shaping the Future of AI: Artificial Intelligence Governance in Global Dynamics 
Funding: $93,966 

Marcel Martel, Department of History
Project: Un nouveau spiritueux: le cognac, la mondialisation et la temp茅rance au Canada et aux 脡tats-Unis, 1870鈥�1933 
Funding: $61,204 

Antulio Rosales, Department of Social Science
Project: Crypto-bans versus crypto expansions: explaining variation in cryptocurrency mining prohibitions across global north and global south contexts 
Funding: $279,986 

Anoosheh Rostamkalaei, School of Administrative Studies
Project: Entrepreneurial outcomes and liability of poorness 
Funding: $73,299 

Fuminori Toyasaki, School of Administrative Studies
Project: Collaboration between Competitors in Product Innovation 
Funding: $179,390 

Antonella Valeo, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Project: Context Matters: A 快播视频 of Corrective Feedback in Adult Language Teaching and Learning 
Funding: $199,630 

Alexandra E. Widmer, Department of Anthropology
Project: Disability Matters: Kinship Networks, Integration and the Social Consequences of Medical Diagnoses in Vanuatu 
Funding: $121,317 

David Weitzner, School of Administrative Studies
Project: Humanistic Stakeholder Theory and a Minimalist Ethics Litmus Test for Firm Purpose 
Funding: $190,790 

Jelena Zikic, School of Human Resource Management
Project: Are alternative careers sustainable? Towards health and well-being of immigrants across Canada 
Funding: $201,095 

Congratulations to all grant recipients and their team of researchers.

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Canada鈥檚 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has awarded $1.7 million in federal funding to 快播视频 researchers as part of the Insight Development Grants program. The program will provide funding for projects lasting up to two years, supporting a broad range of topics and disciplines as researchers investigate key societal challenges. A number of applicants from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies received funding for their projects, including:

Gemechu Abeshu, Department of Sociology 
Project: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Refugees Resettled in Canada through the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$62,498鈥�

Kelly Bergstrom, Department of Communication & Media Studies 
Project: Context Collisions and Critical Events: Investigating the True Crime Convention Circuit鈥� 
Funding: 鈥�$73,181鈥� 

Sheetala Bhat, Department of English 
Project: Long-distance Gods: Hindu Nationalism and the South Asian Diasporas in Canada鈥� 
Funding: $65,433鈥� 

Sarah Blake, Department of Humanities 
Project: Technologies of Beauty and Enslaved Practitioners in the Graeco-Roman World鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$67,215

Zeyad El Nabolsy, Department of Philosophy 
Project: Theories of Education in Nineteenth-Century African Philosophy鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$46,414鈥�

Denielle Elliott, Department of Anthropology, Department of Social Science 
Project: Cinematic Minds: Exploring brain injuries through science fiction horror film鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$74,995

Ida Ferrara, Department of Economics 
Project: Advancing Gender Diversity in Leadership Positions: An Integrated Multidisciplinary Approach鈥� 
Funding: $60,720

Benjamin Kelly, Department of History 
Project: Space and Power in the Flavian Palace: 3D Digital Visualisations as Tools for Historical Research鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$69,030鈥�

Sunwoo Lee, School of Administrative Studies 
Project: Retirement Planning for Low-Income Households in Canada鈥� 
Funding: $48,547鈥�

Sudeshna Maitra, Department of Economics鈥� 
Project: More Skilled Jobs or Subsidized Education? A Micro-to-Macro Approach to Evaluate Anti-Poverty Policy in India鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$71,508鈥�

Margaret O鈥橞rien, Department of Philosophy 
Project: Disagreement, Standing, and Politics鈥� 
Funding: $43,751

Jacqueline Petropoulos, Department of English鈥� 
Project: Reanimating the Moderns: Canadian Adaptations of World Drama鈥� 
Funding: $65,820

Leila Pourtavaf, Department of History 
Project: From Gulistan to Lalezar: The Urban Life and Afterlife of Slavery in Tehran鈥� 
贵耻苍诲颈苍驳:鈥�$57,461鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Nicholas Taylor, Department of Communication & Media Studies鈥� 
Project: Building Good Relations鈥� 
Funding: $56,215

Natasha Tusikov, Department of Social Science
Project: Governance Challenges of Digital-Contraceptive Apps鈥� 
Funding: $74,918

Jun Zhao, Department of Economics鈥� 
Project: The Evaluation of Minority Preference Programs in Canada鈥� 
Funding: $53,823鈥� 

Jelena Zikic, School of Human Resource Management鈥� 
Project: How remote workers of an extreme type cope with the 鈥榗onnectivity paradox鈥�? From nomadic to lonely work lives鈥� 
Funding: $63,253

Congratulations to all LA&PS applicants and their team of researchers.

Read the full story in YFile.

快播视频 faculty members were recognized with the President鈥檚 University-Wide Teaching Award and among the recipients were four members from the LA&PS community. The award recognizes the contributions made by faculty and instructors to student success and excellence in teaching. The awards were presented at the Spring Convocation and recipients will have their names engraved on plaques displayed in Vari Hall.

Brian Huss, a professor in the Department of Philosophy, was recognized for his ability to spark dialogue in the classroom and for making abstract concepts digestible for learners.

Keith O鈥橰egan, a member of the Writing Department, was honoured for creating programming that helps students improve their writing while contributing to scholarship around teaching and learning.

LA&PS teaching assistants Sarah Vanderveer and Fatemeh Gharibi were recognized for their contributions to inclusive teaching and mentorship.

Read the full story in YFile.

快播视频 has achieved significant progress in the field of philosophy, as revealed in the latest edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report for the 2024-25 academic year. According to the report published by Leiter Reports in November 2024, York鈥檚 Ph.D. program in Philosophy, and its specializations in both cognitive science and the philosophy of law, have attained impressive rankings. The Ph.D. program has been distinguished as the fifth best philosophy Ph.D. program overall in Canada, underscoring its dedication to academic excellence and strength as a top Ph.D. program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. Moreover, in the specialty ranking of philosophy of cognitive science, York鈥檚 Ph.D. program has been ranked as the top program in Canada and is globally outranked by only seven others. This recognition emphasizes the university's commitment to nurturing intellectual growth and scholarly accomplishments in the field of philosophy.

鈥淲e are thrilled to see the hard work and dedication of our faculty and students reflected in these prestigious rankings,鈥� explains Michael Giudice, Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy.聽 鈥淭hese rankings are a testament to the exceptional quality of education and research taking place at York. These rankings not only validate our ongoing commitment to academic excellence but also inspire us to continue pushing the boundaries of philosophical inquiry. We are proud to be part of a vibrant intellectual community that values critical thinking and rigorous scholarship, and we look forward to further advancing the field of philosophy at LA&PS.鈥�

York鈥檚 Ph.D. program also ranked very strongly in the specialty field of the philosophy of law, further solidifying the position of philosophy at LA&PS. In the philosophy of law York鈥檚 program is second only to one other program in Canada, and is tied for 15^th globally, rivalling top universities in the US, the UK, and Australia.

In the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, philosophy ranked in the top 100 globally and tied for second place in Canada, highlighting the Faculty's commitment to excellence in philosophy education. The acknowledgment in both national and global rankings reaffirms York鈥檚 reputation as a leading institution in the realm of philosophy education. This news has generated excitement and pride within the academic community, showcasing LA&PS' continued dedication to excellence in philosophical research and education.聽

The Philosophy department in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) has received a generous donation of $100,000 over the course of five years from鈥� Benn Barrantes, a graduate of the Faculty鈥檚 undergraduate program in philosophy. This significant gift will establish the Barrantes Prizes in Philosophy, aimed at recognizing exceptional student essays that explore the intersection of philosophical thinking and social impact across a diverse range of topics.聽

Read the full story in YFile.听听

Associate Professor Jacob Beck and Professor Kristen Andrews were honoured during the 2024 快播视频 Research Awards Celebration.

The 快播视频 Research Award Celebration honours York鈥檚 scholars across all faculties and schools for their remarkable achievements and contributions to creating positive change.

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Gerard Naddaf, Professor Emeritus of 快播视频鈥檚 Department of Philosophy, has published a new book with McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press that explores the importance of myths as creators of selfhood and group identity throughout history.

To most, myths are merely fantastic stories. But for Luc Brisson, one of the great living Plato scholars and prominent philosophers of his generation, myth is a key factor in what it means to be human 鈥� a condition of life for all. Essential and inescapable, myth offers a guide for living, one that illuminates our need for belonging and group identity.

In these free-flowing conversations, Brisson provides a lucid historical analysis of why the history of his native Quebec is inseparable from that of the Catholic Church in Quebec society, and the links he draws here provide a perfect paradigm of myth and mythmaking. Ultimately, Brisson seeks to explain how his work on myth corresponds with his own biographical path, which, as he shows in these conversations, was itself rooted in Catholic and Quebecois myth. But we soon see that his theory of myth and its practical application is relevant to all people, regardless of one鈥檚 particular background.

Brisson begins these conversations with an overview of his genealogy before turning to the story of his escape from an all-encompassing myth promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church of his youth. The myth(s) that made Brisson who he is are thus front and centre here. We learn of his recruitment by a Catholic seminary as a gifted (but handicapped) child from a modest rural Quebec family at age eleven, the emotional and intellectual awakening he subsequently underwent, and his own 鈥渘oble lie,鈥� which allowed him to get an education that he would not have otherwise received. There is something for everyone here, but the book offers first and foremost a philosophy of myth that doubles as a philosophy of life. 

The earlier conversations originally recorded in French (with Louis-Andr茅 Dorion) contain some of the most insightful ideas on the origin of bisexuality. There鈥檚 also ample coverage of Brisson鈥檚 Orphic research, and a rich discussion of why the big bang is still a myth on a par with Plato鈥檚 Timaeus. Brisson鈥檚 world travels, his decades living in Paris, and his deep immersion in Quebec culture and politics also occupy a prominent place here, but always in the background is Brisson鈥檚 attention to myth and, by extension, politics.