VIEW to the U: An eye on UTM academic community Carla DeMarco

An ode to audio and the UTM academic community

Creator and current host of VIEW to the U (VTTU) Carla DeMarco is embarking on a secondment with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students at U of T St. George.

VTTU might return in some iteration, as yet TBD.

But for now, Carla is hanging up her headphones, and handing back the audio equipment. Please stay tuned and stay subscribed for further updates and episodes.

This last recording is just a big love letter from Carla to all the supporters and participants who made the show what it is.

Thank you!

Creating more equitable environments in academia

On this episode of VIEW to the U, guests are Profs Scott Jess and Lindsay Schoenbohm – Lindsay is a faculty member in UTM's Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, where she has served as its Chair since 2019, and Scott, a former postdoc in Lindsay’s lab, is currently a faculty member in the School of the Environment at Washington State University.

Over the course of this interview, Scott and Lindsay talk a bit about their field – geosciences and how they got into this particular area of research – but also their motivations for partnering up for a very profound collaboration that they undertook: “A Demographic Survey of Canadian Academic Geosciences.” Their “Demographic Trends in Canadian Academic Geoscience” report was published in 2023.
The findings in this report are stark, and, as will be discussed, focus primarily in relation to the state of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – or what’s commonly referred to as “EDI” or DEI – in geosciences, however, the statistics, which are not widely available in Canada – one of the reasons Scott spearheaded this research with Lindsay and Emily Heer from the University of Calgary in the first place.

Resources
- A full transcript of this interview is available at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dean/view-u-transcribed-scott-jess-washington-state-university-and-lindsay-schoenbohm-chemical-physical
- Scott, Lindsay, and Emily's report is at Report https://www.geodemographicscananda.com/
- U.S. National Science Foundation report https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23315/report/introduction#overview
- Lindsay Schoenbohm’s website https://www.lindsay-schoenbohm.com/
- Scott Jess’s website https://www.scott-jess.com/
- Dancy and Hodari article “How well-intentioned white male physicists maintain ignorance of inequity and justify inaction” https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-023-00433-8
- Lindsay was also on a previous episode of VIEW to the U in 2018 https://soundcloud.com/user-642323930/lindsay-schoenbohm-earthy-pursuits

Kids, kindness, and community

On this episode of VIEW to the U, Tina Malti, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, and the Director of the Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy – or CCDMP for short - talks about her work at CCDMP, which was established in 2019, and for which she is the Founding Director.

But Tina is a world-renowned expert, whose contributions to child mental health and development extends over the past two decades. Prior to the birth of CCDMP, in 2010 she established the Laboratory for Social-Emotional Development and Intervention (SEDI), which seeks to explore the roots and ramifications of kindness and aggression in children. She discusses some of her findings related to children’s mental health and also offers a few suggestions for fostering more empathy in people.

And, in conjunction with our theme for this season of the podcast, Tina also talks about the benefits of community-engaged scholarship and how it differs from traditional scientific research. She also shares some of the unexpected but extremely valuable outcomes that she’s seen in her research over time in working with various communities, as well as what she sees on the horizon for her field.

Resources
- A full transcript of the interview is available at https://uoft.me/9YH.
- Read accompanying profile "Kids, kindness, and collaboration" at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dean/news/kids-kindness-and-collaboration.
- Find out more about Tina Malti's work on her website at https://www.tinamalti.com/.
- Go to the CCDMP website for more information https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/ccdmp/.

This is, once again, a VIEW to the U first: it’s a Part II continuation of another episode with guests Mary-Rebekah Reyes and her brother Romario, just in time for Halloween to talk about their short horror film Short Drop.

It is audio from the chat with them in September 2023, however it contains some spoilers on their film Short Drop.

So, if you don’t want the plot of the film ruined for you, please stop listening and go and watch the film now: it is available through Liquid Matter Studios’ YouTube Channel; link below.

We talk a bit more about Trinbagonian folkloric characters and they also divulge some technical and creative insights that make that final shot of the film so iconic.

Resources

- You can view the short (9-minute) horror film Short Drop through the Liquid Matter Studios' YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdW08LVSkHc.

- Listen to both Mary-Rebekah and Romario Reyes on the recent episode of VIEW to the U: https://soundcloud.com/user-642323930/mary-rebekah-reyes-and-romario-reyes.

- Also see the article "Family, filmmaking, and folklore" at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dean/news/family-filmmaking-and-folklore.

- Also see the article "Short Drop screening leads to long-lasting contemplation and admiration" at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dean/news/short-drop-screening-leads-long-lasting-contemplation-and-admiration.

- To get in touch with any members of the Short Drop team, their social media handles are the following:

Romario Reyes is on Twitter https://twitter.com/Romariojreyes?t=NoI8NiTJma1VZbmOv2KmmA&s=08 and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/romariojosereyes/.

Mary-Rebekah Reys is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merr.rebeks/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-rebekah-reyes-a54003292/.

Liquid Matter Studios is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/liquidmatterstudios/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@LiquidMatterStudios.

Community support, love, and art

On this episode of VIEW to the U, Mary-Rebekah Reyes and Romario Reyes, a sister and brother team and a truly dynamic duo, talk about Short Drop, a short film they made together – Romario was the writer and director, and Mary-Rebekah produced it. Short Drop has recently made the rounds at film festivals over the past few months – notably the Film and Folklore Festival in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival in Toronto – and it will be celebrated at a special watch party at UTM on October 25, 2023.

Over the course of this interview, Mary-Rebekah and Romario also talk about art and creativity, as well as the ins and outs of working on creative projects with family, and what’s on the horizon for them both. They also discuss the long line of artists they stem from, and how family has played a significant part of their community, influencing and contributing to their creative pursuits throughout their lives.

The value of community engagement in academia

On this episode of VIEW to the U, Andreas Bendlin, a faculty member in the Department of Historical Studies, and UTM’s current Vice-Dean, Academic Experience, touches on his work in Classics & Roman History, with expertise in ancient religion and ancient civilizations, in many areas, but particularly in the Graeco-Roman world.

But he provides insight with regards to the two portfolios that he oversees within the Deans’ Office at UTM: Academic Integrity, which has many interesting challenges arising right now, as well as Experiential Education, an area in which UTM has particularly thrived over the past few years, providing students with many unique opportunities to gain valuable and practical experience outside of the classroom to better prepare them for future career paths.

Resources
- A full transcipt of the interview is available at https://uoft.me/9Lg.
- Learn more about Professor Bendlin's work from his website at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/historical-studies/people/andreas-bendlin.
- Learn more about UTM's Academic Integrity Unit at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/academic-integrity/.
- Learn more about UTM's Experiential Education Unit at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/experience/.
- The Research Opportunity Program can be found at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/experience/rop.
- See all the Lecture Me! events at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/experience/events/lecture-me-series.