Open an anatomy textbook and any illustrations you find will mostly depict fit, young, white males.

The University of Windsor’s Dave Andrews and the University of Calgary’s Heather Jamniczky want to change that.

The professors are leading a project they call the Anatomy Video and Imagery Diversity project, or AVID for short. AVID is building an open-access repository of videos and anatomical illustrations showcasing the diversity of humans, including different ages, sexes, body compositions, skin tones, and hair colours and styles. People with amputations, prosthetics, tattoos, and piercings will also be portrayed. The images can be used in science, kinesiology, nursing, and medical programs, and for other non-commercial purposes.

“Diversity and inclusivity matters,” said Dr. Andrews, a kinesiology professor in the Faculty of Human Kinetics. “Students need to see diversity — to see themselves — in the material they’re learning.”

Dr. Jamniczky, a professor in the department of cell-biology and anatomy, said medical training historically has been the domain of Caucasian men.

“Students deserve and are demanding better from us.”

AVID has received $20,000 in funding to date, half from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and half from two University of Windsor sources that encourage and support equity, diversity, and inclusivity. With illustrations costing as much as $400 each, Andrews and Jamniczky are hoping to secure additional funding to expand the repository’s offerings.

“We are shaking trees wherever we can,” Jamniczky said. “After we show proof of principle, we envision potential for collaboration across North America and elsewhere in the world.”

UWindsor students who have taken Andrews’ functional anatomy course are working with him to develop short instructional videos featuring a cadre of diverse student actors demonstrating anatomical concepts, terminology, and structure.

Andrews and Jamniczky have hired medical illustrators working in higher education in Ontario and Calgary to create the images. These illustrators are also mostly from equity-deserving groups — an important factor in the project, Jamniczky said.

“One of our aims is also to showcase incredible artists who don’t always get the platform they deserve to share their work.”

Jamniczky and Andrews are both 3M National Teaching Fellows, Canada’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in educational leadership and teaching at the post-secondary level. They first met in person at a 3M Teaching Fellowship retreat in 2021, and the idea of AVID was born.

Jamniczky recruited colleagues Sarah Anderson and Lian Willetts, also professors at the Cumming School of Medicine, to help with the project.

While both Andrews and Jamniczky have already begun using the newest illustrations for a variety of applications, the repository should be open to the public in the new year.

—Sarah Sacheli

Organizers of events coming up in November and December ask students, faculty, and staff to mark their calendars for this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence.

The 16 Days is an international campaign that begins every year in late November and carries into December. Each year offers an opportunity to focus on efforts to address gender-based violence.

Scheduled for Dec. 1, the #IAmSahraBulle Conference is a collaborative effort between the Sahra Bulle Foundation and the Office of the Vice-President of People, Equity, and Inclusion. This hybrid event is dedicated to fostering dialogue, education, and actionable steps against gender-based violence. Through insightful sessions and engaging discussions, the conference aims to unite advocates, survivors, and change-makers to propel tangible steps in dismantling systemic barriers and promoting gender equality and respect.

The in-person portion will take place in the CAW Student Centre’s Alumni Auditorium from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The virtual link will be accessible closer to the event date. Find registration, a full schedule, and speaker bios on the conference website.

The Office of Sexual Violence Prevention, Resistance, and Support; the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance Womxn’s Centre, and the Unifor 2458 Women’s Advocate have collaborated to offer three events:

1. The 16 Days Information Fair: Stop by the CAW Student Centre Commons on Wednesday, Nov. 29, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Booths will include campus and community groups and organizations that offer education, support, or advocacy around gender-based violence.
2. Crafts and Chats: Come to room 115, Dillon Hall, on Friday, Dec. 1, from noon to 1 p.m. to make a sock puppet, pick up resources, and more.
3. The December 6th Memorial for the École Polytechnique Massacre: Meet in Ambassador Auditorium at 11 a.m. on Dec. 6, join a brief march and memorial to honour and reflect on the events of violence against women in Montreal in 1989.

For more information, email svsupport@uwindsor.ca.

Giving Tuesday is next week. The University of Windsor community has been participating in this global day of giving, held annually after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, for many years.

This year, the Nov. 28 event will mark the beginning of the faculty and staff fundraising campaign as well. Employees are encouraged to take part in this movement and join the greater UWindsor community by making a donation — and encouraging others to support UWindsor students as well.

Gifts can be directed to any area of campus, notes Chris Knack, co-ordinator of the Annual Giving Program.

“Consider asking family and friends to support your favourite scholarship fund, academic area, sports team, or the UWin Fund which supports the University’s greatest needs,” he says. “The impact of giving is felt directly by UWindsor students, as 100 per cent of your donation goes directly to the designation you select.”

Faculty and staff who take part this year will be entered into a draw to win one of two extra vacation days in 2024. Employees who make a donation prior to Dec. 15 will be eligible.

A second extra vacation day prize will be given to a faculty or staff donor who makes their gift on Giving Tuesday and shares #GivingTuesday content on their own social media feeds.

“Let’s unite in our commitment to higher education,” Knack says. “Join the movement to support our students and be a catalyst for positive change.”

The ceremonial lighting of the student centre’s holiday tree promises milk and cookies with UWindsor president Robert Gordon at noon Wednesday, Nov. 22.

Live piano music will help set a festive mood.

The event is open to everyone, says organizer Sandra Riccio-Muglia: “I promise that Yule have a good time!”

A blue-ribbon panel commissioned by the Ontario government to review and provide advice about the post-secondary sector has released its report.

It provides recommendations for enhancing financial sustainability, accessibility, and the overall student experience, among other aspects.

Following the report’s submission to the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities Nov. 15, Minister Jill Dunlop issued a statement, saying: “Our government is carefully reviewing the panel’s recommendations to create a path forward that will continue to strengthen the postsecondary sector.”

The blue-ribbon panel began its work in March, including conducting research and holding stakeholder consultations. The University diligently followed the blue-ribbon panel's activities, working closely with the Council of Ontario Universities and peer institutions to provide comprehensive recommendations on critical areas.

The University will continue to monitor the report's outcomes and plans to convene a Senate Information Session, ensuring the community stays informed as additional details unfold.

The Department of English and Creative Writing will host a free public reading by Griffin-nominated poet D.M. Bradford on Thursday, Nov. 23, at 4 p.m. in the Leddy Library Collaboratory.

Bradford is a poet and translator, the author of Dream of No One but Myself, which won the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards and the Griffin Poetry Prize.

Thursday’s reading will feature works from Bradford’s second book, the poetry collection Bottom Rail on Top, which explores complex themes of legacy and self-identity through a blend of history and personal reflection.

Bradford dissects then reconstructs stories of Black life and emancipation before the Civil War, bringing about a tale of lineage and moments of mastery bound by paper trails and curiosities.

The UWill Discover Sustainable Futures call for proposals is now open. You can submit your proposal on the UWill Discover website’s proposal submission page. University of Windsor undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline can apply to present their research, research reflections, and student initiatives March 19 to 24, 2024.

“UWill Discover is a one-of-a-kind learning experience where students share their work with the UWindsor community and consider how it connects with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” says UWill Discover ambassador Grace Taylor.

Students may submit proposals for posters, articles, business pitches, prototypes, musical or drama performances, compositions, art installations, movie trailers, and educational tools, among others. Organizers have prepared templates and short tutorials to help students develop a variety of proposals related or not to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

UWill Discover is a year-long project including pre-conference workshops, opportunities for mentorship, a writing retreat for participants, and the chance to compete for a spot in the new journal. This year’s conference theme is “sustainable futures” in recognition of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

“The UWill Discover conference aims to have a heaping helping of interactive events, conference prizes, and networking opportunities,” says project lead Tim Brunet, co-ordinator of student leadership in the Student Succes and Leadership Centre.

Select research reflections and work by the presenters will be added to the second edition of the UWill Discover journal to be published in fall 2024.

UWill Discover is supported by offices across campus. Find details on submitting to the conference on the UWill Discover Sustainable Futures website.

Find updates and information on the conference Instagram channel. Send questions to uwilldiscover@uwindsor.ca.

Zoe Dudzianiec needs help.

The eight-year-old from Tecumseh suffers from Diamond-Blackfan anemia, a rare blood disorder in which a person’s bone marrow fails to produce enough red blood cells to transport oxygen from the lungs through the body.

Just to survive, Dudzianiec must receive 10 hours of medical treatment every day. She travels to Toronto for a transfusion every 10 days, as the blood she requires is not available to her in Windsor.

Her best treatment option is a stem cell transplant — and that’s where the help comes in. She hopes that a stranger will be able to save her life by registering as a bone marrow donor and matching her.

The UWindsor Blood Club and the Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association will host a “Get Swabbed” event to identify potential donors Thursday, Nov. 23, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre Commons.

Registrants must be between the ages of 17 and 35 years old, and the need spans all ethnicities. All it takes is a simple swab of the inside of a cheek — less than 10 minutes to help Zoe Dudzianiec and almost 1,000 other Canadians seeking their match.

The Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association was formed in July 2005 by Windsorites Bryan and Joanne Bedard, who lost their daughter Katelyn at the age of 3 to leukemia. A worldwide search of over 10 million people in the donor registry at that time did not turn up a match for her. The message was clear — there simply are not enough people registered.