Xiang’s talk, “The Intermediary Trap: International Labour Recruitment, Transnational Governance and State-Citizen Relations in China,” will take place Nov. 5 at 519 York Research Tower, Keele campus. A reception will begin at 2:30pm, followed by the lecture at 3pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the event hosted by the York Centre of Asian Research (YCAR).

Xiang Biao

“Dr. Xiang is a young and exciting anthropologist working on migration in Asia. His work comprises detailed ethnographic studies in multiple contexts including India, China, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Australia. He epitomizes the 'open' and 'non-territorial' concept of Asia-as-region that we espouse at YCAR,” says Philip F. Kelly, YCAR director.

Xiang’s forthcoming book Making Order from Transnational Mobility (Princeton University Press) is the result of four years of field research across East Asia.

Beyond the appeal of Xiang's pan-Asian ethnographies, his work on the transnational governance regimes that regulate migration will also be of interest to a wide range of scholars at York, says Kelly.

Xiang’s lecture will trace how transnationally-linked commercial labor recruiters gain a dominant position in cultivating, facilitating and controlling migration.�� These intermediaries render themselves indispensable both for migrating workers and for the states seeking to make order from migration.

The intermediary trap is more dynamic and complex than a simple “capture” by identifiable interest groups and is deeply implicated in changing state-citizen relations in China. Rooted in Chinese and other Asian states’ agenda to liberalize socioeconomic life without compromising sovereign power, the intermediary trap may become a worldwide phenomenon with the resurgence of state power alongside a continuing neoliberal hegemony beyond Asia.

Through its Asia Lecture Series, YCAR showcases some the best of scholarship on Asia and initiates discussion in both academic and non-academic communities about major issues relating to Asia in a global context.

For more information about YCAR, visit the YCAR website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Where have all the girls gone? That’s what York Professor Sharada Srinivasan examines in her new book, Daughter Deficit: Sex Selection in Tamil Nadu, about the elimination of daughters in India��through sex selection, female infanticide and neglect.

It is neither an aberration nor an idiosyncrasy. It accounts for a large proportion of missing girls in India, says Srinivasan, so much so that the proportion of boys to girls in the zero to six age group��is 1,000 to 826.

Daughter Deficit (Women Unlimited) will launch Wednesday, March 7, from 2:30 to 4:30pm, in the Senior Common Room, 010 Vanier College, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend and light refreshments will be provided.

The book explores the issue of girls who are denied the right to live or to be born in India, and it asks why and how such a situation has come about, says Srinivasan. In Tamil Nadu, the practice of eliminating daughters is more recent, and not as severe as in northern India – it is a state that sits between the northern and southern Indian states and has implemented programs to prevent the practice. And, although it may seem economic or socio-cultural at first glance, Srinivasan says it is a much deeper issue.

Sharada Srinivasan

A professor of International Development Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Srinivasan examines the issue from the context of women’s lives, unraveling the causes of daughter elimination and the mechanisms which create and sustain an environment in which this is imaginable. Reflecting on the way ahead, the book concludes that even as public policies can and should play a decisive role in reversing the immediate outcomes in favour of daughters, an environment favourable to daughters will need fundamental changes in social norms, attitudes and policies of governments and non-governmental organizations.

The launch is sponsored by the Office of the Dean,��Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, International Development Studies, the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migration of African Peoples, the Alliance Against Modern Slavery and the �첥��Ƶ Bookstore.

Republished courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The York professor received the $10,000 prize Oct. 20 at the 2011 ceremony at the annual Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch. More than 300 artists, business leaders, cultural professionals and community builders gathered for the event.

"I feel elated to have received this prestigious award,” says Sankaran. “It is great to be recognized in a big way.��Such recognition only encourages an artist to go even further and��enhances the quality of the artistic community as a whole."

The Toronto Arts Foundation cited as a globally respected artist, composer, educator and cultural ambassador, who consistently demonstrates mastery, creativity, ingenuity, humility and devotion. Since his professional debut at age 13, he has had a prolific international performing career, appearing as a featured musician at major music festivals and cultural events in Europe, Australia, North America and Asia, including the World Drum concerts at Expo '86 (Vancouver), Expo '88 (Brisbane) and Expo 2000 (Hanover).

Left:��Arts award winners, from left, Alan Convery of the TD Bank, York's Trichy Sankaran, Michael deConinck Smith and Deborah Lundmark of the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, filmmaker Adam Garnet Jones and arts administrator Jane Marsland

As an active contributor to the music scene in Canada, Sankaran has also composed a dynamic body of work that bridges the musical traditions of India and the West. Collaborations include performances with new music, jazz, Western classical, world fusion and Carnatic and Hindustani musicians, such as Zakir Hussain, U. Srinivas and Hariprasad Chaurasia.��

Other finalists for the Sherrin award were pianist and music director Andrew Burashko, and singer-songwriter Rita Chiarelli.

Republished courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The first event of its kind,��the��workshop,��which began yesterday and continues��today,��offers a forum for participants to share ideas, resources and��technologies, and��engage in discussions about current and future topics of importance to science and engineering in Canada and India.

Speaking at the workshop are��Vijay Saraswat, scientific adviser to India's defence minister; William Selvamurthy, chief controller of��research & development at India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO); David Kendall, the general director of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Professor��Janusz Kozinski, dean of York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering.

Right: Janusz Kozinski

Over the course of the event, participants will be��exploring��shared synergies, knowledge and advancements in��areas such as��space exploration,��nanosatellite technology,��space robotics and disease modelling research. They will also be examining how to collaborate on a new project known as the��Early Warning and Advance Response Network��(e-WARN). Spearheaded by Kozinski, e-WARN��is intended to detect, quantify and initiate an effective response to chemical and biological��threats��released in public buildings. Researchers from both countries will discuss and plan how to collaborate on the e-WARN project.

Attending the workshop from India��are representatives from the��DRDO, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, the University of Calcutta and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Also attending are��researchers from �첥��Ƶ, the University of Saskatchewan, McGill University, Concordia University and Ryerson University, and representatives from the Canadian Space Agency, COM DEV International, Unique Broadband Systems, Microstat Systems Canada, Canadian Light Source, MDA Technologies, Xiphos Technologies and the Canada-India Business Council.

Other topics��that are part of the workshop��include advances in��alternative energy, space science and engineering, advanced materials and instrumentation, and life sciences.

For more information, visit the website.

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��

Above: From left, Suranja Das, vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

“We are pleased to sign this agreement with India’s Calcutta and New Delhi Universities,” said Shoukri. “At York, we recognize the value of internationalization for our community. This partnership provides our faculty and students with comprehensive learning and research opportunities, allowing them to collaborate, share ideas and grow their worldly experiences, thereby enhancing their contributions to our global economy.”

The agreement allows for the exchange of students and faculty across disciplines and offers opportunities for collaborative research, joint project development and more. The first concrete area of collaboration��will likely be in the area of nanotechnology, which is the study��of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Following the signing ceremony, Das who was on his first visit to Canada, gave a well-attended talk titled “India at the Crossroads”.

The impetus for the linkage between �첥��Ƶ and the University of Calcutta came through a connection with��Sampra Badra, a professor of physics in York's Faculty of Science & Engineering and associate dean of the��Faculty of Graduate Studies. Badra and Das were��schoolmates in India and have kept in touch ever since.

Left: Sampra Badra

“Badra was the initiator and driving force for our two universities starting talks,” said York Associate Vice-President International Lorna Wright. “Our connections with the University of Calcutta go back before there was a �첥��Ƶ. Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Lee Lorch, gave a talk on mathematics there in 1944 on the Summability of Infinite Series.

“This is a University-wide agreement with so much potential in a wide variety of subjects, including history, women’s studies, political science, peace and conflict resolution, mathematics, nanotechnology, and fine arts,” Wright added.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Das��met with Badra,��Martin Singer, dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and York mathematics and statistics Professor Jianhong Wu, who is��Canada Research Chair in Industrial��& Applied Mathematics.

Later that day, at Osgoode’s temporary offices in South Ross, Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin and Wright met with a delegation of three vice-chancellors from three law schools in India. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with��Ranbir Singh, vice-chancellor of the National Law University (Delhi). The MOU outlines a basis��from which a future agreement may be signed that��would include cooperative research and exchanges of students, faculty and fellows, between the��two institutions.

Left: From left,��Ranbir Singh, vice-chancellor of the National Law University (Delhi) and Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin

Sossin also met with��Veer Singh, vice-chancellor of NALSAR University of Law,��and��Balraj Chauhan, vice-chancellor of Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University in��Lucknow.��The group��engaged in exploratory meetings to learn more about each other and where the two��institutions could build a future agreement.

"We are excited about this new partnership, which further deepens Osgoode's engagement with India and will provide additional learning and research opportunities for students and faculty," said�� Sossin.

Discussions toward the agreement began in March when Sossin and several other Osgoode faculty members including Lisa Philipps, associate dean research, graduate studies & institutional relations, visited India and had an opportunity to meet with faculty and students and tour the excellent new facilities at NLU (Delhi). "Monday's signing ceremony at Osgoode was a wonderful launch for our official institutional relationship," Sossin said.

NLU (Delhi) was established in 2008 by the Delhi Government at the initiative of the Delhi High Court. The University has state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities for learning and research and has been offering a BA, LLB (Hons) program for three years. Starting this August, NLU (Delhi) will offer LLM programs in specialized areas and a PhD program.

Above: From left, Lorne Sossin,��Ranbir Singh, Lisa Philipps, Balraj Chauhan, Veer Singh, Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Poonam Puri, and Lorna Wright, associate vice-president international��

For more information, see the .��

Republished courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The conference is the first of many large events planned for 2011, declared the Year of India in Canada.

Q: What's the conference about for you?

What I really like is that it's not totally about only diaspora issues. It's about the issues of the day: youth issues, gender issues, which are not the issues of one diaspora or another. Our country should be looked at not only as isolated communities. We should have a say in policy-making. People doing jobs they're over-qualified for is not an Indian issue, it's an issue for all of Canada. If not, we lose the sense of Canada as a whole.

Q: How would you describe the Indian diaspora in Canada?

In Canada, we have representation from all over India, with the dominant group being the Punjabi community. In the last few years I've seen more of an effort to have a pan-Indian presence. We do tend to have more engagement with the mainstream, partly because of our prominence in the professions and our facility with English. We had the right colonizers.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Right: Professor Sanjeev Purshotam Sahni (left), head of strategic human resources and assistant dean of Research��& International Collaborations at Jindal Global Law��School, and Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin

Osgoode is leading the way among Canadian law schools in this kind of research-driven collaboration in India and in thinking creatively about how to engage legal educators and the legal profession in both countries to achieve mutually beneficial results, says Lisa Philipps, Osgoode associate dean research, graduate studies & institutional relations.

The delegates found the trip valuable both for their current research on transnational legal issues and for the development of Osgoode’s institutional relationships and collaborative programs in India.

“As this Osgoode trip to India vividly demonstrated to those who participated, we have much of value to learn from India, and much to share as well,” says Osgoode Dean .

Above: Professor Charles D. Maddox, assistant director of the Centre for Global Corporate & Financial Law & Policy,��Professor Vikramaditya Khanna, visiting faculty at Jindal Global Law School,��and Philipps, associate dean research, graduate studies & institutional relations at Osgoode,��discuss issues at the symposium in India

Sossin and Philipps were among the Osgoode delegates to attend a two-day joint symposium, , with faculty and graduate students from Jindal Global Law School at O.P. Jindal Global University. The symposium explored issues ranging from access to justice and legal regulation of sexuality to the tax treatment of foreign investment.

Left: From left, Arun Khatri, Jindal Global Law School research associate,��with Dayna Scott, Lorne��Sossin and Allan Hutchinson of Osgoode

It was a continuation of last year’s symposium at York, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and Osgoode's , which included a delegation from India (See YFile, Oct. 25, 2010).

“This two-part conference was designed to establish an Indian-Canadian conversation on issues of pressing mutual interest,” says Philipps. “Indeed, too often, a separation of opinions between elements of the global North and global South is presumed insurmountable on issues ranging from climate change to development. In the last five years, from Hong Kong to Copenhagen, critical global issues have been mired in a difference in perspective between nations.”

Right: From left, Philipps; Professor Y.S.R. Murthy, assistant dean of projects & institutional development and executive director of the Centre for Human Rights Studies; and Charles D. Maddox

Through research and collaborations, such as the one with India, “We can facilitate discussions about innovative solutions to local and global policy issues,” she says. “Canada and India have the possibility to play bridge-builders in this North-South dialogue. It is believed that a Canadian-Indian dialogue can adopt a more sober, and potentially incisive, outlook on a range of global policy issues that simply cannot be ignored as yet another decade draws to a close.”

One of the benefits of the collaboration is a Memorandum of Understanding between the two law schools, which is currently being developed to include JD and graduate student exchanges and continued faculty visits. Discussions are underway toward a variety of joint teaching and research initiatives. Osgoode also renewed its student exchange agreement with the National Law School of India at Bangalore and strengthened relations with other law schools, including the National Law University in Delhi.

Left: Professor François Tanguay-Renaud (left), acting director of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime & Security, and Sanjeev Purshotam Sahni

“Osgoode faculty, staff and students have expressed both interest and excitement to develop more exchanges, internships, joint conferences, research projects and collaborative pro bono projects, just to scratch the surface,” says Sossin.

In addition, Osgoode faculty met with Supreme Court justices, government ministers, independent think tanks, non-governmental organizations and leading members of the legal profession.

A selection of the best new research coming out of this collaboration will be published in an upcoming��peer-reviewed special issue of the .

Republished courtesy of YFile– �첥��Ƶ’s daily e-bulletin

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Embleton was nominated by York Vice-President Academic��& Provost Patrick Monahan for her leadership in being “a strong proponent for internationalization” and for providing a “broad and deep foundation on which we can build.”

Right: Sheila Embleton

“I'm thrilled at the award, and thrilled to be part of the team that has really moved York, in the last decade, from being ‘in the pack’ as far as international is concerned, to being an undoubted leader in Canada,” said a delighted Embleton.

“It was during her term [as vice-president academic��from 2000 to 2009] that her greatest impact was felt,” Monahan noted in his nomination document. “She created the position of associate vice-president��international and appointed its first incumbent [Adrian Shubert]. She also created an annual competition for funds, in order to stimulate and promote innovative international projects in support of research, teaching and the student experience. Under [her] leadership in partnership with the AVPI, York’s position as a leader in Canada in internationalization was enhanced and solidified.”

Some of Embleton’s accomplishments in this area��include: expansion of York’s language curriculum, supporting the establishment of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) award-winning York International Internship Program (YIIP); establishment of the York International Mobility Award to help support students with exchange and study abroad expenses; establishment of numerous exchange agreements with universities abroad; helping to��introduce the Letter of Recognition program as a complement to a student’s academic record; helping expand the CBIE award-winning Emerging Global Leadership Program�� into the Caribbean; and contributing to the development of��a number of programs incorporating international dimensions and opportunities including the international bachelor of science��and bachelor of arts��programs.

She��has also played an important role as an adviser to numerous government agencies��and has helped develop and strengthen York's global academic ties,��in India in particular. She spent a year as president of the and is now president of the . She had a long and distinguished international career before she became the vice-president academic. In 1999 she was named a Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose by the government of Finland for contributions to Canadian-Finnish relations; and in 2005 received the CBIE International Leadership Award.

“I truly believe internationalization enhances the University’s reputation. York is actually quite well known and well respected in Germany and in India, for example,” said Embleton. “But the real reason is for our students��– all that is said about needing to educate students to be the global citizens of tomorrow��– I think it's absolutely true, and absolutely essential to our students' futures, to get some solid exposure to things international now and to develop those competencies��– wherever they will end up working.”

Award Ceremony to be held March 25

Embleton will receive her award at York International’s annual Cultural Gala on March 25, along other members of the York community recognized by York International. Tickets are still available at their office at 200 York Lanes. Cost for each ticket is��$5 and a donation of three non-perishable canned��food items, or $10 without a donation.��All canned food collected will be donated to the �첥��Ƶ food bank.

"We are very pleased to present these awards to outstanding members from our University’s community,”��said , �첥��Ƶ’s associate vice-president international. “Once again we have outstanding faculty, staff and students doing fabulous work to promote internationalization at York and beyond our borders, too.

"Internationalization is pervasive and integral to all teaching and learning at York. These awards recognized people and groups that continue to raise the international profile of �첥��Ƶ,” said Wright, who was��a York International faculty recipient in 2006-2007 when she was a professor at Schulich School of Business.

More information is available��on the website.

Submitted by Edward Fenner, York International

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It is by far the best method to ensure food security, especially when women are the producers, said Mukherjee-Reed, who was here recently as part of the research project on farming activity by women's groups. The advantage is access to food in the hands of those who need it (are food insecure), she said.

Mukherjee-Reed, whose works include and series, said there is a lesson in here that the world can take to fight food crisis.

About 2.5 lakh women in the state in about 30,000 groups are engaged in collective farming. Together they cultivate over 27,000 hectares, growing paddy, tapioca, pineapple, plantain, vegetables and other items that are used to ensure that the growers get enough to eat and the surplus is sold in the open market.

“Most of the groups of women, who started with small areas for cultivation, have increased their production by taking up more fallow land, rejuvenating it and cultivating it,” said Mukherjee-Reed.

Her study involved 100 groups spread across the state. Among her major findings, Mukherjee-Reed said that land is the major constraint of the women engaged in collective farming. Women are unsure about retaining the leasing rights of the vacant, fallow land that they rejuvenate and prepare for cultivation.

About 21 per cent of women groups expressed their wish to become landowners. In fact, it is a major aim of some groups, who have managed to buy land.

In spite of the constraints, women are happy, said Prof. Mukherjee. Most of the women who have been able to leave wage labour are very happy. Organic farming is the aim of at least 45 per cent of the 100 groups she has studied. Some groups among them make organic manure for their cultivation. There are women who have had no previous exposure to go out of the house for any activity, now fully engaged in collective farming and also inspiring other women to follow an activity of economic independence, she said.

In Kudumbasree, she found a strong support system that provides a platform for women. The Mission has an elaborate structure and allows functioning as an institute.

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The key mandate for these meetings is to enable researchers from �첥��Ƶ and from across India to establish joint bilateral research and developmental projects. �첥��Ƶ, the third largest university in Canada, is the country's leading interdisciplinary research and teaching institution with an academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide.

Leader of the delegation is , dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering, and professor in York’s Department of Earth & Space Sciences & Engineering. Among others, Kozinski's brainchild is an anti-terrorism project evocatively called eWAR (Early Warning & Advance Response) system that seeks to detect, quantify and initiate an effective response to chemical and biological agents released in public buildings.

In a special interview to Business Line during his visit to this newspaper office in Mumbai despite a hectic schedule, Kozinski shared for the benefit of readers the mission's objectives, research priorities, funding and related matters:

Kozinski: India is one of our three focal points. We want to engage in projects with practical social applications. Specifically, we are looking at, among other areas, space science which would cover micro and nano satellites to carry communications tools. Our focus would also be atmospheric monitoring to study global warming and climate change.

Also, we are keen to develop partnerships in the field of biotechnology for healthcare; analyse propagation of infectious diseases – their origin, spread, control and eradication through bio-sensors.

We firmly believe in creating value and sharing it with the society. Where societal benefits are involved, I am somewhat wary of creating barriers like intellectual property rights and so on. We want the society at large to benefit from our research.

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