A1
Concurrent Session A1
Cultivating Inclusive Learning Environments
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: TBD
Let’s Walk the Talk: Centering Black Urbanism in the Redevelopment of the Planning Studio Curriculum
In 2021 and 2022, the Faculty of Community Services (FCS) established the Anti-Black Racism Curriculum Development Funds to support FCS schools in redesigning their curriculum to be more inclusive of critical Black scholarship and studies. In response to the School of Urban and Regional Planning’s commitment to combating systemic racism and discrimination, the SURP Studio Curriculum Review Team (SSCRT) has utilized the FCS ABR Curriculum Development Funds awarded in both 2021 and 2022 to assess how our studio curriculum translates the principles of Black urbanism and equity-based planning to our students.
This assessment was conducted through a series of research and outreach activities, including literature reviews, self-reflections and evaluations, consultations with Black urbanists from Canada and the USA, collaboration with a curriculum specialist at the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and a SURP student survey. We have identified key learnings and important insights from the perspectives of both Black urbanists and SURP students, encompassing a range of topics such as course content, student engagement, studio teaching tools and topics, community connections, and addressing power and privilege.
Building upon the self-study and the recommendations provided by the Black urbanists, we have conducted a school-wide survey that provides insight into students’ baseline understanding and perceptions of anti-Black racism in the planning curriculum and profession. Student respondents highlighted the need for curriculum redevelopment within the studio courses. They emphasized the need for more guidance in the planning profession, experiential learning opportunities addressing anti-Black and systemic racism in the planning program, as well as integrating supplementary content into the curriculum.
Additionally, the lessons learned from this project can be applied to other undergraduate and graduate courses to critically engage with Black urbanism throughout the planning program.
Presenters
Prof. Victor Perez-Amado is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) at the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Urban and Regional Planning. He is trained as an architect and urban designer, graduating from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
His academic research is based on aging-in-place studies and multigenerational housing, including in 2SLGBTQI+ communities. These projects include Aging Together and Queering Home, a partnership with Egale-Canada, Lathrop Communities in Massachusetts, a masterplan and design for independent and assisted living focusing on seniors with dementia and autism, and the Boston Home-Harmon Apartments, independent living for seniors with mental disabilities led by DiMella Shaffer, a Boston-based architecture practice. On another scale of engagement with the city, Perez-Amado is interested in activating public spaces by designing and building equitable and educational installations. His methodology is based on theories of placemaking, where he explores prototyping, visualization, public realm activation and community engagement.
Perez-Amado’s work has been exhibited at the 2019 and 2023 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism and the Harvard GSD Grounded Visionaries, among others.
Dr. Samantha Biglieri, RPP, MCIP is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Health, Access + Planning Lab in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University. As a professional planner, her research uses critical approaches at the intersection of planning and health/ wellbeing, making connections with practice to build inclusive and accessible communities. She is co-editor of Aging-People, Aging Places (Policy Press) and recently won the Ontario Professional Planners Institute PlanON Award for Innovative Research. Her work includes understanding experiences of people living with dementia in their neighbourhoods; aging in the built environment, housing and policy; and accessibility in planning.
Dr. Zhixi Zhuang is a Registered Professional Planner and an Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning. As the Academic Director of the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement and Founder and Director of DiverCityLab, her research explores the growing urban diversity in Canadian cities and how city-builders can instil the values of equity and inclusion into planning policies and practices. Specifically, she investigates the intersections of individual characteristics and the impacts on lived experiences in cities, and how diversity and differences shape places and communities.
Her work focuses on the long-lasting marks of immigrant and racialized communities on urban and suburban landscapes, inscribing places with important cultural, historical, and political meanings. Her recent and ongoing research involves interdisciplinary projects examining the intersection of immigrant settlement, urban landscapes, and municipal policies, which has generated key peer-reviewed publications on topics such as building welcoming infrastructure to attract and retain migrants in non-traditional gateway cities, the influence of immigrant entrepreneurship on city building, ethnic place-making in ‘third places,’ migration and suburban transformation, and the role of municipal planning in immigrant settlement and integration.
She has conducted mixed-method, arts-informed, and community-based research, effectively engaging immigrant community members and city building professionals to gain a holistic perspective on immigrant integration, place-making, civic engagement, and inclusive policy-making. Her research addresses the impacts of global migration on local governance as well as inclusive community-building and sheds light on equity-based approaches to planning with diversity. One of her recent creative outputs funded by SSHRC is a documentary “Globurbia: Suburban Place-making Amidst Diversity”.
Dr. Zhuang is currently an appointed member of the Global Planning Education Committee (GPEC) at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), an Associate Editor of the Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER), and a Director on the Board at the International Association of China Planning (IACP).
Alexandria, Ellington-Hayden (BURPl, MPS), is a Contract Lecturer and a Research Assistant at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, and an Emergency Management Professional. Alexandria instructs the Field Research Project course within the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University. Within this course, she takes students to various cities, educating students on how to conduct research and interviews with relevant stakeholders. Alexandria is currently working with the School of Urban and Regional Planning to conduct a critical review to determine how Black Urbanism, Black Planning, and anti-Black racism in Planning theory can be better integrated into the Urban Planning Studio courses. This research will help to shape the way in which planning students are instructed within the school’s core studio courses in the future. Alexandria is currently an Emergency Management Assistant and Security Coordinator with the Ontario Public Service. She has an extensive background in Urban Planning, Physical Security, Business Continuity Planning, and Community Engagement. Her passion for emergency management lies in the development and implementation of response plans to support the revitalization of communities before and after emergency events. Bridging her education in Urban Planning with Public Safety and Emergency Management has allowed her to better understand the way in which people inhabit space and how various risk factors can alter the built environment. Alexandria’s current work in Emergency Management centers around identifying physical security risks at office buildings in the Downtown Toronto core. Further, she provides Emergency evacuation training to all staff within her ministry and focuses on Economic emergencies that could impact the province.
Women in Physics: Empowering Students to Address Gender Bias
Students in TMU’s Department of Physics are facing a career path that is marred by known systemic gender bias and a notable lack of diversity [1]. Women make up 29% of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physics’ membership [2] and there are comparatively fewer women in leadership roles in cancer clinics [3]. A robust education for students facing these challenges must include direct discussions of the systemic barriers in the field, while empowering students to surmount them [4]. This session proposes, via case study, a student-led, faculty-supported approach to tackling issues of equity, diversity and inclusion that expands beyond the classroom. Women in Physics (WiP) is a student group funded directly by the Department of Physics at TMU whose objectives are to:
- Promote the accomplishments and discuss the challenges faced by women and/or underrepresented genders working or studying in the field of physics.
- Provide a support system for women and/or underrepresented genders in all stages of their career (i.e. undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and working professionals).
The WiP Leadership Committee is responsible for all of the group’s decisions and is composed equally of graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in physics programs. This 50/50 split encourages a mentor/mentee relationship within the committee itself that has expanded to encourage similar interactions at the group’s events. WiP is currently in its second year of operation and has just been awarded a grant from the American Physical Society (APS).
Some WiP events include:
- hosting professional women in physics at coffee chats open to students, post-docs, faculty and staff to discuss their career paths and experiences in the field
- colloquiums on the topic of Gender Bias in Research with a panel of visiting faculty open to everyone in the Faculty of Science
- study sessions and exam “destresser” events, and
- social and networking events for students.
This session will cover the details of the successful partnership between faculty and students that led to in-depth community discussions, facilitated by students, of the current culture and realities of gender equity, diversity and inclusion in Physics.
Presenters
Charlotte is Graduate Education Developer and a PhD Candidate in Medical Physics (CAMPEP) at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is the Co-Founder and former President of the Toronto Metropolitan Graduate Students' Union (TMGSU), the Physics Graduate Students' Union (PGSU), and the Women in Physics (WiP) student group. She is currently the Coordinator for WiP which is in it's second year of operation. Charlotte serves on the Sexual and Gender Minority Subcommittee and the Students and Trainees Subcommittee of the American Association of Medical Physics (AAPM). In addition to her ongoing research of ultrasound and microbubble mediated chemotherapy at St. Michael's Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology, Charlotte is a TA/GA in Physics and an Instructor for CILT100 Learning and Teaching in Higher Education I.
Implications of Internationalization of Higher Education for Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)
Drawing on the results of a recent survey of international students at TMU and Ontario Tech University, the authors suggest ways to make courses more responsive to the unique needs of this group. The session will draw on the push and pull factors framework (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). Push factors may include a desire for better educational opportunities, career prospects, geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, or dissatisfaction with the educational system in their home country. Pull factors may include the reputation and quality of education at the chosen destination, costs, safety, opportunities for research or internships, cultural diversity, or the chance to experience a different lifestyle.
We will be aiming to help instructors see how they might draw on understanding of these factors in designing course experiences. To the best of our knowledge, there is no literature addressing the need to fit instructional methods to the needs of international students. Our suggestions will be drawn from our own experiences. We will frame our presentation in terms of the technology intensive teaching currently in use in online education and the ways in which lessons learned might serve to mitigate some of the disruptions that have accompanied the rapid increase in international students in Ontario.
Presenters
Dr. Nagina Parmar is a highly experienced educator and clinical researcher who has dedicated over 20 years to working in academia and healthcare settings. For the past two decades, she has been teaching Biology, Microbiology, Life Sciences for Clinical Practice and drug development courses at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). On top of that, she is an executive member of the TMU Research Ethics Board. As an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Microbiology at CCS Haryana Agricultural University in India, she also provides guidance and supervision to master's and Ph.D. students. Dr. Parmar holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and has completed postdoc training at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto. She has authored over 30 journal articles, books, and reviews for various national and international journals.
Nagina also recently completed a Master's in Education at Ontario Tech University, with a research focus on the internationalization of higher education in Canada. She is particularly interested in student immigration from countries such as India, China, and Pakistan, as well as clinical research, active and cooperative learning, building inclusive and culturally competent classroom environments, and promoting mental health.
Dr. Hunter is an educational psychologist who studies human learning and development, educational measurement and research methodology/statistics. In the early 1980s, his interests were in educational technology with early foci on coding (LOGO) and the impact of technology on writing, for which he coined the term "technography." More recently, he has focused on innovative uses of technology in postsecondary settings and on the ways that K-12 schools internationally have used online learning to promote intercultural learning.
Dr. Joe Stokes is the University Registrar at Ontario Tech University, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education. Joe’s portfolio includes the leadership of enrolment management, including domestic and international admissions & recruitment, student awards, financial aid, records, registration, scheduling, and convocation, university-wide student communication and the international office. Joe is the past Chair of the Ontario Universities’ Council on Admission, and is the President of the Ontario University Registrars’ Association, Dr. Stokes has led work across the post-secondary sector on governance, student retention and student success. His research interests include student involvement theory and connections to undergraduate persistence, Leader Member Exchange in higher education, Higher education policy and governance, international student mobility, and online learning modalities.
Session Details
Time
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Venue TBD
Room # TBD
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