Lecture & Lunch Series

The free series features lectures by York professors speaking about exciting research and hot topics, as well as opportunities to network with like-minded individuals.

Saturday, May 4, 2013 10am- 2pm

Location: York University, Keele Campus, Life Sciences Building

10-10:45am On-site Registration & Coffee, Light Snacks

10:45-10:50am Opening Remarks

MORNING LECTURES

11am - 12:05pm

Session 1A Room 103 - Bananas, Onions, and Pomegranates: The Self and Language

The self seems at once essential and elusive: everyone has a self, but it’s not easy to explain exactly what the self is. This talk investigates the way the self is represented in language. The first part of the talk concerns the theory and methods of philology. Philology is the interpretation of texts in context. Three brief examples show some of the theoretical principles and methods of philological investigation; some of these are contrary to much structuralist and post-structuralist theory. The second part uses philological method to explore in some detail the representation, and perhaps the creation, of the self in language and narrative.

Speaker: Professor Matthew Clark

Dr. Matthew Clark is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities at York University. He specializes in Classical Philology, and most of his publications concern Homeric Epic. Dr. Clark has an interest in the Ancient Novel; Rhetoric; and Literary Theory. He is also interested in literary traditions, both oral and written, and in the way artists use these traditions in the formation of their own works. All of these interests require close attention to the history of literature and the history of language. Dr. Clark’s next project will be a study of the ancient travel writer Pausanias and his use of Greek myth.

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Session 1B Room 106 - Deconstructing the "Special" in Special Education

What makes special education special? What does it look like in Ontario? What are the experiences of students who are educated under this umbrella? These are a few of the questions Dr. Killoran will explore in her talk. Although many think these issues are concerns only for the "other" within the system, Dr. Killoran suggests that everyone should be concerned with how we treat students with special education needs  because this treatment is a reflection of current societal values. Moving towards a more equitable and inclusive society will require a change in the school messages children internalize.

Speaker: Associate Professor Isabel Killoran

Dr. Killoran completed her B.Ed. at the University of Ottawa, her Master of Arts in Education (emotionally conflicted focus) and her PhD in early childhood education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research interests include early intervention, inclusive education, human rights and teacher preparation. Her research has focused on equity issues, most often around inclusion of children and adults with disabilities. Prior to her time at York University, Dr. Killoran worked as an elementary special education teacher and understands intimately the intricacies of what makes a school truly inclusive for children with disabilities.

12:05-12:45pm Complimentary Lunch - Lobby

AFTERNOON LECTURES

12:45- 1:45pm

Session 2A Room 103 - Signal Processing: The Enabling Technology for Modern Era Advancements

Signals describe a variety of everyday physical phenomena including, among others, acoustic waves generated by a human's vocal tract to carry speech, electromagnetic waveforms used to transmit multimedia (audio and video) data, and magnetic resonance imaging containing vital information on body organs, tissues, and bones. Signal processing is concerned with the representation, manipulation, and transformation of signals to better understand the information they contain. Dr. Asif's presentation will provide an overview of signal processing, what some of the state-of-art research directions in signal processing are, and the scope of signal processing activities being conducted in the Signal Processing and Communications Lab at York University. Particular focus will be on his current research related to applications of signal processing in genomic information science, MRI based cancer visualization and radiotherapy, ground penetrating radar based landmine localization, and early fault prevention systems in power distribution networks.

Speaker: Professor Amir Asif

Dr. Amir Asif is the Chair and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the founding department of the Lassonde School of Engineering. He received his Masters and PhD degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests are in signal processing and communications with current focus on time reversal; distributed signal processing for sensor networks; and genomic signal processing. Dr. Asif has authored over 100 international publications, and the textbook "Continuous and Discrete Time Signals and Systems" published by Cambridge University Press. He was the recipient of York University Presidential Teaching Award in 2008 and has served on several editorial boards including IEEE Signal Processing Letters (2001-2004, 2009-12) and IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (2013-date).

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Session 2B Room 106 - Bilingualism, Brain, and Behaviour: What's the Connection?

Bilingualism is an intense experience that has profound effects on both linguistic and cognitive ability across the lifespan. In brief, the changes make linguistic processing more effortful than it is for monolinguals but in some important respects cognitive processing is enhanced. The most dramatic results in this regard are the maintained cognitive performance in elderly adults and protection against the onset of dementia. In this talk I will describe our work showing behavioral advantages and disadvantages in children, younger and older adults, and the positive effects of bilingualism on the onset of dementia. In the final section I will describe recent findings on brain correlates of bilingualism and offer some suggestions as to how these brain differences may be associated with bilingual differences in normal and abnormal cognitive functioning.

Speaker: Professor Ellen Bialystok

Dr. Ellen Bialystok is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. Much of her research in the past 20 years has focused on the effect of bilingualism on children's language and cognitive development, showing accelerated mastery of specific cognitive processes for bilingual children. More recently, this research has been extended to investigations of adult processing and cognitive aging, showing the continuity of these bilingual advantages into adulthood and the protection against cognitive decline in healthy aging for bilingual older adults.

1:45 - 2pm Event Adjournment, Social Time

Event Registration: Admission is FREE and an RSVP is required.

Directions & Parking:

The York Circle Lecture and Lunch Series will take place on York University’s Keele Campus in the Life Sciences Building. For directions to York University’s Keele Campus, by car or public transit, visit www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/maps/keele.htm and click on the relevant link under the Transit and Driving Directions heading. If you plan to drive you will be required to pay for parking. Parking is available on a first come, first serve basis and the closest public parking lots are:

Arboretum parking garage #80 on the map. ($7.00 Flat Rate) Pull a ticket from the machine upon entry and pay at the pay station when leaving. Machine accepts cash, coins and credit card.

Thompson Road Pay and Display parking lot #79 on the map ($7.00 Flat Rate). You are required to purchase a ticket from the Pay and Display machine in the lot and place it on the driver’s side of the dash. Machine accepts coins only or credit card.

Northwest Gate Pay and Display parking lot #64 on the map ($5.00 Flat Rate). You are required to purchase a ticket from the Pay and Display machine in the lot and place it on the driver’s side of the dash. Machine accepts coins only or credit card.

See details of previous events.

Theme music composed by Greg Keyes, PhD Candidate Musicology:

                    York Circle is managed by Alumni Engagement in the Division of Advancement