Joint PhD in Educational Studies Newsletter - Fall 2019 Edition
Dr. Max Haiven hosting various lectures at the Brodie St. Library
September 19, 2019 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
Dr. Max Haiven, Lakehead University's Canada Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice, will deliver three free public lectures at the Brodie Street Library this fall on timely topics that will interest people of all ages.
Dr. Haiven is the author of several books including "The Radical Imagination" and "Art After Money, Money After Art." In addition to his research and teaching, he also co-directs the ReImagining Value Action Lab, which organizes many public events in Thunder Bay and elsewhere.
“The idea for this lecture series is connected to a class in cultural studies I'm teaching online this fall at Lakehead,” Dr. Haiven said. “I think it's important to link research to teaching and to make this accessible not only to students but the broader public as well.”
In the first lecture on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 2 pm, called The power and poverty of the imagination, Dr. Haiven will summarize his research into the role of creativity today. Once thought of as the property of artists, today creativity has become a key part of the global economy. But that same economy, he said, leaves many so overworked, distracted or impoverished that creativity suffers.
The economy of anxiety, the second lecture on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 pm, was partly inspired by the rising rates of mental illness among youth. The lecture links it to the rise of what Dr. Haiven called “financialization.”
“Financialization is the process where everything in society gets transformed into a private asset, where debt is the norm, and where we're each supposed to imagine ourselves as an ‘investor,’ with one foot in a future that is just the same as today.”
Dr. Haiven said the final lecture, Our age of revenge on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 2 pm, is the most provocative. Presenting the main point from his book on the subject to be published next year, he said the “revenge politics” that seem to be at work around the world today is actually an expression of an underlying “revenge economy” that creates extreme social tensions.
The series is free and open to the public, and will also be webcast here. For more information, please visit rival.lakeheadu.ca/fall-2019-lecture-series.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8177 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University has approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff in 10 faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies. In 2018, Research Infosource named Lakehead Research University of the Year in its category for the fourth consecutive year. Maclean’s 2019 University Rankings place Lakehead University among Canada's Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities and found that students ranked Lakehead University as one of the top 10 universities in Canada and top three universities in Ontario that prepare them for employment. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Research and Innovation Week Showcase is now online
Lakehead University's Research and Innovation Week 2019 Showcase is now online, featuring images from the Lakehead Orillia and Lakehead Thunder Bay events held in February and March.
Team approach to palliative care focus of local conference
October 11, 2019 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
Lakehead University’s Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health (CERAH) and the North West Regional Palliative Care Program at St. Joseph’s Care Group will be hosting a two-day Teaming up for Whole-Person Care conference on Oct. 24 and 25 in Thunder Bay.
Focused on sharing and strengthening the work of interdisciplinary approaches to palliative care, and identifying the tools and resources available to support a whole-person, team-approach to care, the 2019 Northwestern Ontario Palliative Care Booster Teaming up for Whole-Person Care is for local and regional healthcare professionals, educators, students and palliative care volunteers.
There will be a variety of sessions held throughout the two days, including a keynote address on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. by Dr. Robert Sauls, Clinical Lead of the Ontario Palliative Care Network. Dr. Sauls will discuss the new Palliative Care Health Services Delivery Framework, and what it means to frontline workers and their leaders.
Other presentations include the Anishinabek approach to palliative care, the role of allied health in palliative care, and the regional care delivery systems taking place in smaller communities, such as Atikokan and Geraldton.
“There is a role for everyone in health care to provide primary palliative care, and actually a role for all of us as community members and human beings too,” said Stephanie Hendrickson, Knowledge Broker, CERAH. “This event is an opportunity for health care providers to learn how to support each other as a regional team, as we work together to meet the needs of those who could benefit from a palliative approach to care.”
The two-day conference will be held Oct. 24 and 25 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott in Thunder Bay.
Free public session on Oct. 24
There will be a free public session, Die-Alogues – Conversations on Life and Death, hosted by Hospice Northwest on Thursday, Oct. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. The session will focus on ensuring your wishes for end of life care are documented by engaging in advance care planning.
For further information, please visit cerah.lakeheadu.ca/events or call 807-766-7271.
The registration deadline for both events is Friday, Oct. 18.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4008 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 8,500 students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Maclean’s 2020 University Rankings, once again, included Lakehead University among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities, and in 2018, Research Infosource named Lakehead Research University of the Year in its category for the fourth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Department of Health Sciences Fall 2019 Newsletter
The Fall 2019 edition of the Department of Health Sciences newsletter is now available. Click here to read department highlights, news about our programs, as well as student and faculty success stories.
Lakehead’s Department of Economics Hosts Successful Conference
The Economics Department is happy to announce that the Canadian Network for Economic History successfully wrapped up their meeting in Thunder Bay, sponsored by Lakehead University. The three-day event from September 27th to 29th, 2019 included three days of sessions, two keynote speakers, and also provided Professor Ann Carlos, from the University of Colorado-Boulder, as the speaker for the Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies September 26th Science Speakers Event.
The Conference Theme was the economic history of Indigenous communities, and interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous economies in Canada and attracted national and international scholars. Generous financial support was provided by the Canadian Economics Association, the Alan Green Memorial Fund, Lakehead University's departments of history and economics, the Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies at Lakehead and the Office of the Vice-Provost of Aboriginal Initiatives.
Monsters Teach Us about Ourselves
by Brandon Walker
Professor Ryan McVeigh believes we can learn a lot about the world by studying monsters.
As an assistant professor in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Lakehead Orillia, Dr. McVeigh understands how life connects people in various ways, which is why monsters fascinate him.
“Since people are so deeply connected to each other, it’s interesting that they hurt other people, which is why I also started to study violence,” he says.
“Because monsters in some sense permit or promote you directing violence towards them, I started to wonder what the sociological significance of monsters was.”
Dr. McVeigh says civilizations from all recorded periods of history have some semblance of a monstrous “other.” In myth, legend, and folklore, all cultures feature creatures that those societies do not allow to belong.
“These excluded ‘others’ are characterized as evil outsiders that we are supposed to stay away from. They do violence to us and we are allowed to do violence to them, so there’s historical significance to studying monsters, but I’m interested more in the sociological significance.”
The sociological significance hinges upon how the presence of monsters changes the way we act compared to the way we normally act around people who are more like us.
“An easy way to think about this is to pretend there’s a zombie apocalypse. What happens to the everyday norms of society – the rules and regulations we abide by?”
“You pack up your car and your kids, everyone is ready, you’re going to flee, you need to get out of the neighbourhood, and – oh, you come to a red light. Are you going to stop at the red light? Probably not,” Dr. McVeigh says. Those regulations and rules “get tossed out the window,” Dr. McVeigh says, much like prescriptions against violence.”
“Violence is not something people are normally allowed to do,” he says. “But if a zombie walked into your office, what would you do?”
“You would probably ignore the law and do your best to kill it. If you have ever seen the show the Walking
Dead, you know there’s no question. If you’re faced with a zombie, there’s no, ‘Hmmm, is it morally okay?’ In fact, you are morally responsible to attack a zombie. They invite that violence.”
Dr. McVeigh defines monsters as humans and non-humans who society does not allow to belong because they disrupt the separation between particular categories.
“A werewolf is monstrous because it calls into question the category of wolf and the category of person. A zombie breaches the line between life and death – now there is something both dead and alive.”
Brandon asked Dr. McVeigh if the following fictional characters are monsters:
Walter White from Breaking Bad
Ruling: Monster.
He is a disruption of category. It’s interesting to watch Walt become the character that he has created for himself. This tough guy pose that he adopts, he leans in and doubles down to become Heisenberg. He’s for sure a monster by the end, so he has to die – it was the only ending that made sense.
The Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz
Ruling: Monster.
Even her portrayal was designed to be seen as monstrous due to her bright green skin, plus she surrounded herself with flying monkeys – not normally the company you want to keep.
Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty
Ruling: Monster.
She was a stepmother. Step or otherwise, as a mother you’re culturally expected to care for your children, and she turns into a dragon at the end – in case there was any doubt.
Edward Scissorhands
Ruling: Monster.
Others see him as a monster but he really struggles to be accepted and belong. One of the defining traits of monsters is that they are not allowed to belong even though sometimes they want to. You empathize with him trying not to appear as a monster. He looks monstrous but you want to give him another chance.
The Hobbit Apocalypse
What rats can tell us about the rise and fall of Homo floresiensis
by Tracey Skehan
For almost a million years, ‘hobbits’ lived on the Indonesian island of Flores.
These 3.5-foot-tall hominins – officially known as Homo floresiensis – thrived until about 50,000 years ago. Then, inexplicably, they disappeared without a trace.
Their existence only came to light in 2003 when a group of Indonesian-Australian researchers unearthed the skeleton of a female hobbit in a vast limestone cave called Liang Bua. The find was a major breakthrough in the evolutionary field.
Since the discovery, most anthropologists have been in consensus that hobbits went extinct when they vanished from Liang Bua 50,000 years ago. But now, Dr. Matt Tocheri, the co-leader of the Liang Bua excavations, and his team have uncovered evidence to the contrary.
Dr. Tocheri says that Komodo dragons, giant marabou storks, and vultures were once large species common at Liang Bua. Like the hobbits, they were probably attracted by herds of stegodons grazing outside the cave. Stegodons – an extinct elephant approximately the size of a large cow – were the main food source for these scavengers.
“The hobbits probably waited until the Komodo dragons and the scavenging birds were done picking over the stegodon corpses and then they cracked open whatever bones were left and sucked out the marrow,” he explains.
Dr. Tocheri, who is also a Lakehead University associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Human Origins, initially went to Liang Bua as a hominin expert. “Early humans, though, tend to be rare,” he says, “which meant that a lot of the time I didn’t have much to do, so I started looking at everything else being excavated. I soon noticed that rat bones made up 85-90% of all the animal bones being recovered from the cave.”
He saw the rodents as a potential trove of information about Homo floresiensis and their environment. That’s why from 2009 to 2014, Dr. Tocheri measured the hip joints of over 10,000 rats while his graduate student, Grace Veatch, measured more than 1,000 elbow joints. Their research established that diverse rat species – ranging from mouse-sized to common rabbit-sized – inhabited the cave and its surrounding area but that the frequency of the different-sized rat species varied over time.
“A striking pattern emerged that gave us new insights about the kinds of habitats that surrounded the cave at various points through time.” During the age of the hobbits, the cave was dominated by a medium-sized rat called Komodomys. This species still survives today in grassland regions, however approximately 60,000 years ago at Liang Bua, it was replaced by smaller and larger rat species more common in forested areas.
“We realized from the rats that there was a dramatic environmental change at Liang Bua around 60,000 years ago – when habitats shifted from mostly grasslands to dense forest.” It’s likely that this drove the stegodons, which prefer more open habitats, to another part of the island with more hospitable terrain.
The hobbits and other scavengers probably followed them.
If that’s the case, there’s another intriguing mystery to solve. How much longer did the hobbits survive after leaving Liang Bua and why did they die out? “I consider it most likely that modern humans were responsible for the extinction of Homo floresiensis, however, we need more evidence to prove that,” Dr. Tocheri says.
“Modern humans show up in Australia around 60,000 years ago,” he notes. To get there, they had to travel across the many Indonesian islands that lie between the Asian and Australian continents. “Despite this, the earliest evidence of modern humans within the Indonesian archipelago only dates to 40,000-45,000 years ago,” says Dr. Tocheri. “Yet, the hobbits and stegodons disappeared around that time – it’s suspicious. A lot of our work at Liang Bua is focused on refining the timeline and seeing if we can find evidence of modern humans arriving a little bit earlier.”
Even if modern humans never directly interacted with the hobbits, their behaviours could easily have led to their extinction. “Modern humans could have done enough damage to stegodon herds within one or two seasons after arriving on the island to cause the stegodon population to crash and quickly go extinct.”
In this bleak scenario, once the primary animal the hobbits had relied upon to survive for a million years was gone, their fate was sealed.
Lynda.com @ Lakehead is now LinkedIn Learning!
All current students, faculty, and staff have full access to LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) through Lakehead University. As part of this new learning experience, you’ll receive:
- The same, high-quality Lynda.com content that you’ve enjoyed before
- More relevant content recommendations informed by insights from your LinkedIn network
- Learning when and where you want, whether that’s on your mobile phone, tablet, or desktop
LinkedIn Learning offers a highly customized, simplified, and engaging experience, so take charge of your growth and development and explore this exciting new resource today!
Log into LinkedIn Learning using your Lakehead University username and password. If you accessed Lynda.com prior to the upgrade, all your learning activity and history from Lynda.com will be available in LinkedIn Learning as long as you login before March 2020.
During the activation process, you can choose to connect your Lakehead LinkedIn Learning account with your personal LinkedIn.com profile if you have one. This is completely optional and can be changed at any time. Refer to the Managing Your Account and Privacy Settings article from LinkedIn Learning to learn more.
Have questions? Start by checking out the How to use LinkedIn Learning course or visit Lakehead’s LinkedIn Learning website. If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact the Teaching Commons at teachingcommons@lakeheadu.ca
Don’t forget to stop by the LinkedIn Learning booth on October 10th between 10:00am and 2:00pm on the main floor of the Chancellor Paterson Library.
Lakehead University, Confederation College and Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service sign MOU for forest science research and education
From left, Kathleen Lynch, President, Confederation College, Dr. David Nanang, Director General, Canadian Forest Service-Great Lakes Forestry Centre, and Dr. Andrew Dean, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, at Lakehead University signed the agreement on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
February 26, 2019 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
On Tuesday, February 26, Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service, Lakehead University and Confederation College signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with Forest Science Research and Education.
“One of the goals in Lakehead University’s strategic plan is to create local and global partnerships, and this MOU helps us do that as well as grow our research capacity,” said Dr. Andrew Dean, Vice-President, Research & Innovation, Lakehead University.
“We are especially pleased that this signing is occurring during our 14th annual Research and Innovation Week. This week highlights our research accomplishments, and this partnership with the Canadian Forest Service and Confederation College will offer unique opportunities for increased research in forest science,” he added.
The MOU is aimed at increasing opportunities for all organizations to share expertise and resources in forest science and related research, collaboration and education initiatives. It recognizes the potential for this relationship to assist each organization in strengthening forest science research, education, and commercial development in Canada.
"On behalf of the Canadian Forest Service, we are excited to further strengthen our relationship with Lakehead University and Confederation College through this memorandum of understanding. This MOU represents our mutual support for the advancement of forest science research and education within our respective organizations and throughout Canada,” said Dr. David Nanang, Director General, Canadian Forest Service-Great Lakes Forestry Centre.
“Confederation College is deeply committed to providing access to programming that supports the needs of our region, and this partnership with Lakehead University and the Canadian Forest Service will help to advance that effort,” said Kathleen Lynch, President, Confederation College. “In particular, we are excited by the opportunities this MOU will create for students interested in the natural resources sector and the numerous applied research possibilities we will be able to collaboratively explore.”
The MOU provides a variety of opportunities and benefits for all organizations involved. There will be increased opportunities in forest science research and education that may exceed what the organizations could do separately.
There will also be increased sharing of intellectual and technical resources, including faculty and staff expertise and sophisticated research infrastructure and equipment and research sites.
Finally, the development of collaborative research projects, including more competitive grant proposals as well as the increased participation of CFS researchers as adjunct professors contributing to active mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students will support an increased collaboration of forest science research and education.
Together, Lakehead University, Confederation College and the Canadian Forest Service will continue to advance forestry research, collaboration and education throughout Canada.
Background:
The Canadian Forest Service (CFS) is a science-based policy organization within Natural Resources Canada, a Government of Canada department that helps shape the important contributions of the natural resources sector to the Canadian economy, society and environment. Their mission is to promote the sustainable development of Canada’s forests and competitiveness of the Canadian forest sector. The CFS has six research Centers located across Canada, with research scientists and professionals who conduct studies in areas such as forest ecology, impacts of global climate changes, insects and diseases, forest health, biotechnology, landscape analysis, hydrology and aquatic systems, fire behaviour and impacts, and forestry practices and inventory, which contribute to national CFS priorities.
Lakehead University is globally recognized for its research and education in the area of natural resources management and forestry-based studies. Lakehead’s program offerings are diverse; they focus on conserving and sustaining our forests for a full range of uses – from timber harvesting, bio-products, inventory and recreation to wildlife management to the conservation of biodiversity. The scope of their reach is not limited to Canadian Forestry practices. Lakehead also has a rich history of successful international collaborations with universities, NGO’s and government agencies which have focused on community-based forestry practices, land-use planning and advancing the forestry profession through the training of highly qualified personnel domestically and internationally.
Confederation College prepares students for careers in natural resource management including forest management, forest resource inventory, forest resources conservation and protection, environmental technology, silviculture and biomass energy. Confederation College is growing its capacity in applied research and is looking for collaborative opportunities to leverage recent investments in programming and infrastructure.
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For more information, please contact:
Lakehead University Media Enquiries:
Brandon Walker, Communications and Marketing Associate
807-343-8372
Confederation College Media Enquiries:
Vince Ponka, Media & Communications Officer
Ph: (807) 475-6137, Cell: (807) 620-0043, E-mail: vponka@confederationcollege.ca
Natural Resources Canada’s Media Relations Unit:
Toll-Free in Canada: 1-855-862-1809
Telephone: 343-292-6100
TTY: 613-996-4397
Email: NRCan.media_relations-media_relations.RNCan@canada.ca
Lakehead University has approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff in 10 faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies. Maclean’s 2019 University Rankings place Lakehead University among Canada's Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities and in 2018 Research Infosource named Lakehead Research University of the Year in its category for the fourth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Confederation Collegehas been serving the citizens of northwestern Ontario since 1967 meeting the educational needs of students in a catchment area of some 550,000 square kilometres. Along with its main campus in Thunder Bay, Confederation College has eight regional sites located in Dryden, Fort Frances, Geraldton, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Wawa. Confederation College delivers exceptional education and training to an average of 6,500 combined full and part-time students per year and currently has a total of 850 full and part-time employees. Confederation’s regional economic impact and contribution is valued at $643.4 million annually.
The Canadian Forest Service (CFS) is a science-based policy organization within Natural Resources Canada, a Government of Canada department that helps shape the important contributions of the natural resources sector to the Canadian economy, society and environment. Their mission is to promote the sustainable development of Canada’s forests and competitiveness of the Canadian forest sector. The CFS has six research Centers located across Canada, with research scientists and professionals who conduct studies in areas such as forest ecology, impacts of global climate changes, insects and diseases, forest health, biotechnology, landscape analysis, hydrology and aquatic systems, fire behaviour and impacts, and forestry practices and inventory, which contribute to national CFS priorities.
