Jude Abu ZainehMFA grad Jude Abu Zaineh has added an installation piece to downtown Windsor’s Art Alley.

Work by grad brightens downtown Art Alley

A new installation brightens the Art Alley in downtown Windsor: Zatoun by UWindsor alumna Jude Abu Zaineh (MFA 2019) uses neon to produce a green glow drawing viewers in for a moment of discovery.

It sits in the rafters in the alley behind the parking garage between Ouellette Avenue and Pelisser Street, south of Park Street.

Zatoun, which Abu Zaineh translates from Arabic as “olive branch,” is a nod to her Palestinian heritage.

“This is a thrilling piece to the downtown collection because of what it means to the artist, and ultimately what it will mean to the core,” says Brian Yeomans, chair of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association. “Since the olive branch is universally recognized as a gesture of generosity and kindness, it pays homage to the generous spirit of the Windsor-Essex community.”

Abu Zaineh maintains an active studio practice employing art, food, and technology to investigate meanings of culture, displacement, diaspora, and belonging. She is currently a PhD candidate in electronic arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Learn more about the artist and her works in the release announcing this installation.

anti-Black racism bookshelfThe anti-Black racism bookshelf in the Leddy Library holds volumes to promote understanding and dialogue.

Book collection to facilitate conversations about anti-Black racism

What is anti-Black racism? How does it affect people’s lives? How does racism become institutionalized? What is the historical context? How does systemic racism get entrenched? How are people working to make a change? How can you get involved?

As a way to facilitate discussions of these questions, the Leddy Library has created a collection of books related to anti-Black racism that can be browsed and borrowed. From personal narratives to scholarly treatises, from sociological studies to creative works, the anti-Black racism bookshelf has something for everyone interested in engaging in these vital conversations.

Check it out on the library’s first floor.

Black History Black Futures

A Boblo boatFive contestants will each win two tickets to a Feb. 10 screening of Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale.

Win tickets to alumni screening of Boblo Boats documentary

The University of Windsor Alumni Association is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win two tickets to a screening of Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Capitol Theatre.

Interweaving local lore and mythology, the film explores the whitewashed history of amusement parks and one crew’s crusade to bring back the memories. The screening by the Windsor International Film Festival is sponsored by the alumni association.

To enter the contest, just send your answers to the following trivia questions. Five winners, selected at random from all correct responses received by noon Tuesday, Feb. 7, will each receive two tickets to attend.

  1. The name “Boblo” is a corruption of the French name “Bois Blanc,” referencing the island’s abundance of what trees?
    a) Ash
    b) Birch
    c) Chestnut
    d) Dogwood
     
  2. What were the names of the two steamships that ferried passengers from Detroit to Boblo Island?
    a) Columbia and Ste. Clair
    b) Erie and Huron
    c) Enterprise and Excursion
    d) Michigander and Ontarian
     
  3. In what year did Boblo Island Amusement Park cease operation?
    a) 1988
    b) 1993
    c) 1998
    d) 2003

Contest is open to all readers of the DailyNews. Send an e-mail with your responses to uofwnews@uwindsor.ca. One entry per contestant, please.

Friday’s screening begins at 7 p.m. at 121 University Ave. West. Tickets are available for purchase on the Windsor International Film Festival website.

Beat cancer T-shirtBuy a T-shirt at a Lancer home game Saturday and the proceeds will benefit breast cancer research.

Basketball bouncing back into Lancer Centre court

Varsity basketball will return to the Toldo Lancer Centre for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, hosting the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, Feb. 4, and the York Lions on Sunday, Feb. 5. The women will tip off at 2 p.m. and the men at 4 p.m. both days.

Lancer hockey will also play at home, hitting the ice in the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex. The women will face off against the Waterloo Warriors at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the men at 4 p.m. Saturday. The women will return to action for a game against the Nipissing Lakers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday is the Lancers’ annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day. The blue and gold will sell a commemorative T-shirt with all proceeds donated to breast cancer research. The shirt is only $15 and can be purchased at any of the Saturday events listed above or by contacting Elisa Mitton at emitton@uwindsor.ca.

Sunday is scoliosis awareness day. Ryan Brunelle, an assistant coach for men’s basketball, will take his campaign promoting awareness of the sideways curvature of the spine to the Toldo Lancer Centre from 2 to 6 p.m. Windsor players will don apparel during warm-ups bearing messages about the condition. Learn more on his website.

Women’s curling will compete in the Ontario University Athletics championship tournament, Feb. 3 to 5 in Oshawa, with skip Aiden Banks identified by the league as one of the players to watch.

It has been a lot of fun getting to know the team, says head coach Mike McKay: “We have grown together on and off the ice, and that relationship has been positive in mentorship of student-athletes.”

Find a preview analysis on the Lancer website.

Volleyball will travel to North Bay for matches against Nipissing, with men’s and women’s teams taking to the court Friday and Saturday.

Track athletes will compete in the Jud Logan Light Giver Open in Ashland, Ohio, Feb 3. and 4.

Learn more at goLancers.ca.

Symposium to consider legacy of philosopher of logic

Douglas WaltonA workshop Feb. 17 and 18 will consider the contributions made by the late Douglas Walton in the fields of argumentation and informal logic.

Dr. Walton, who died in January 2020, was a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric (CRRAR) and Assumption Chair of Argumentation Studies. A co-editor of the Critical Argumentation textbook series for Cambridge University Press, he published 50 books and more than 350 refereed papers in the area of argumentation studies.

The workshop focuses on Walton’s contributions to the Windsor journal Informal Logic and provides the first step in the development of a reader highlighting the legacy of his research.

CRRAR fellow Catherine Hundleby, lead on the project, explains that “Walton’s long and massive research career emerged in step with the development of informal logic as a distinct field of research — that is, the philosophy of argument — and the birth of Informal Logic as a journal.”

Walton’s early work and the work he continued to publish in Informal Logic focused on fallacies of argument. Because fallacies and Informal Logic remained a steady part of Walton’s research through his last work, they serve as a good entry point to his body of research, says Dr. Hundleby. This work extended into legal reasoning and artificial intelligence.

Among the presenters are four PhD students in the UWindsor interdisciplinary program in Argumentation Studies: Loris Isabettini, Philip Morais, Asma Tajuddin, and Jianfeng Wang.

The keynote speakers are David Godden from Michigan State, Fabrizio Macagno from the New University of Lisbon, and Alice Toniolo from St. Andrews. Toniolo will present virtually, as will speakers from Padua in Italy and from Sun Yat-sen and Nankai in China.

The Department of Philosophy and CRRAR will host the event in sessions on the afternoon of Feb. 17 and all day on Feb. 18, In Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall. Find a draft schedule here.

Attendance is free, covered by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, but those who wish to attend must register by Friday, Feb. 10. Register here to attend.

Sierra FarnhamSierra Farnham is the diva in “Into Diva,” one of 40-odd short plays from the University Players opening tonight as 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Jane Luk, set design by Nancy Perrin, costume design by Agatha Knelsen, lighting design by Kirsten Watt. Photo credit Jen Gurniak.

University Players taking short works to stage

Funny, fast-paced, and just a little absurd, the University Players production of Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays opens this evening at Essex Hall Theatre.

The piece is directed by Jane Luk, a Canadian actor whose resumé includes work on The Handmaid’s Tale and Kim’s Convenience, as well as for Canadian Comedy Awards for Funniest Female Improvisor. Her background in comedy is reflected in these performances, scene studies of more than 40 of the playwright’s 365 short works.

Brimming with everything from sock puppets and grandparents to dragons and divas, there’s sure to be something for audiences to love.

365 Days/365 Plays opens Feb. 3 with a 7:30 p.m. performance at Essex Hall Theatre and runs until Feb. 12. Recommended for ages 14+. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought at www.universityplayers.com. UWindsor student tickets are just $10, and regular price tickets start at $20.

Adam MillsPhysics and education grad Adam Mills has won national recognition for his work teaching high school students.

Physics and education alumnus recognized for commitment to teaching

Alumnus Adam Mills’ (BSc 2005, B.Ed 2007) passion for educating  has won him the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Ontario).

“It was an honour to receive such a prestigious award and be recognized for my teaching,” he says.

The Assumption College Catholic High School teacher graduated from the physics and high technology program before going on to complete a Bachelor of Education.

“Because of Science at UWindsor I had many opportunities while completing my degree,” says Mills.

“Due to the Outstanding Scholars program, I was able to work within a laboratory in the physics department starting in my first year, which opened my eyes to how much different ‘real’ science is compared to ‘textbook’ science.”

He says his undergraduate experience inspired him to pursue masters studies, which gave him the chance to be a teaching assistant and run tutorials.

“This was my first experience with teaching, and I absolutely loved it. I immediately decided to obtain my Bachelor of Education.”

Mills mentors other physics teachers through his work with the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers and mentors trainee teachers as an associate teacher with UWindsor’s Faculty of Education.

Among other subjects, Mills teaches International Baccalaureate physics. He says teaching physics allows him to discuss with the students all the tricks of nature and the joy of learning and investigating these tricks through experimentation.

“We cannot have a conversation with the universe, but we can get it to answer our questions by performing experiments and observing the results,” he says. “Many of my students get motivated by my overwhelming passion, excitement, and positive attitude. I think over the course of the semester this passion just begins to rub off on them.”

Mills is a strong proponent of showing his students STEM beyond the classroom by participating in competitions like Science Olympiads, engineering design, Canadian Youth Physics tournaments, sports (like curling), field trips, and having guest speakers from industry.

Physics department head, Steven Rehse, says Mills is nationally recognized as an exceptional teacher of physics and is very deserving of the CAP award.

“As an alumnus of the UWindsor physics department, he serves as an ambassador for the quality of physics education that one receives here,” says Dr. Rehse.

“Along with having a deep understanding and passion for physics, Adam is also an excellent communicator of that passion to younger students in the classroom. He is also devoted to investigating new and more effective teaching pedagogies that have been proven to be effective through years of Physics Education Research.”

Mills’ passion for teaching earned him a University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award in 2016.

“I have always strived to do ‘one new thing’ suggested by physics education research to make my teaching better each semester and this process has been transformative to my teaching pedagogy over the last 16 years,” he says.

“Being the recipient of this CAP Award is a testament that small, meaningful steps done well over a long period of time can yield great results.”

—Sara Elliott

Tool improves digital accessibility by offering alternative formats

A one-hour online session promises instructors information on YuJa Panorama, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. The training session is a great opportunity to learn more about this tool and to use it to make course sites accessible to everyone.

YuJa Panorama is available for instructors to opt into for the Winter 2023 semester on a course-by-course basis. Once enabled, this tool scans document formats uploaded to a course site and identifies common inaccessible properties. It then offers solutions for fixing those issues, making it easier for instructors to create accessible content.

Alternative formats generated by YuJa Panaorama include PDF, an Immersive Reader, text, EPUB, Braille, Audio, and more. These options allow users to choose the format that works best for them. The tool also generates a report for instructors, which displays files processed by type, alternative formats downloaded, and any issues noticed within the site’s documents. This report assists instructors to focus on the documents requiring improvements, as well as monitoring which alternate formats are generated the most.

More information about this session and other upcoming workshops offered by the Office of Open Learning is available at https://ctl2.uwindsor.ca/openlearning/workshops/.