York honours four distinguished professors

York bestowed titles of the highest order upon four of its long-serving faculty members at Spring Convocation this year. Historian Nicholas Rogers and mathematician Jianhong Wu were named distinguished research professors for sustained and outstanding scholarly, professional or artistic achievement largely accomplished at York.   Political scientist David Dewitt and education scholar Don Dippo were named University […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok speaks to the New York Times about the bilingual advantage

A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind, wrote The New York Times May 30: Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at […]

Graduate students to engage with lawyers, political economists and theorists at SSHRC-funded workshop

Some of the top Canadian and international lawyers, political economists, social and development theorists will meet with graduate students this week to analyze and debate the “new constitutionalism”, a central characteristic of the global political economy. It’s another way York students are being given opportunities to engage with the wider community, says York Distinguished Research Professor Stephen […]

Professors John Saul and Paul Lovejoy to receive lifetime achievement awards from CAAS

For two York professors, receiving an award for Lifetime Achievement in African Studies from the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) represents a major acknowledgement of decades of work in African liberation, research and teaching. York Professor Emeritus John S. Saul and York Distinguished Research Professor in African history and Canada Research Chair Paul Lovejoy […]

Professor Debra Pepler argues you can't just punish children who bully

Punishment isn’t the answer for kids who learned to bully at home, says a Toronto psychology professor, wrote Halifax’s Chronicle-Herald April 9. "If a child is bullied at home by his or her parents or siblings, they’re going to learn the patterns they need to learn about the use of power and aggression in relationships," […]

Professor and CRC Leo Panitch on renewed interest in Karl Marx

With the West suffering from the after-effects of the financial crisis and revolution in the air in parts of the world, could it possibly be springtime for Marx? wrote The Globe and Mail March 26: "I'm optimistic about the explosion that's happened in Wisconsin," says Leo Panitch, a political science professor at York University [Faculty […]

Professor Sheila Embleton receives York International Faculty Award

Sheila Embleton, Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is this year's recipient of the 2010-11 York International Award. 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 […]

LA Times cites Professor Ellen Bialystok in bilingualism story

Neuroscience researchers are increasingly coming to a consensus that bilingualism has many positive consequences for the brain, wrote the Los Angeles Times Feb. 26, in story that also appeared in the Chicago Tribune and on numerous US television news websites. Several such researchers travelled to this month’s annual meeting of the American Association for the […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok's report on Alzheimer's and bilingualism makes world headlines

Mastering a second language can pump up your brain in ways that seem to delay getting Alzheimer's disease later on, scientists said Friday, wrote The Associated Press and The Canadian Press Feb. 18 [via sympatico.ca], in a story that was featured in reports by more than 300 newspapers, television stations and radio stations around the […]

CRC Leo Panitch: Toronto needs objective analysis of garbage privatization proposal

Now that the garbage has hit the fan again in Toronto, so to speak, it would have been nice to have seen some serious investigative journalism before an editorial rushing to endorse privatization, wrote Leo Panitch, Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science in York’s Faculty of Liberal […]