Dear Colleagues,
As we mark Black History Month at Seneca, I would like to draw your attention to a remarkable new art installation in the S@Y library. The piece is by artist Ekow Nimako. He is a Ghanaian-Canadian internationally exhibiting sculptor, who crafts futuristic pieces using Lego blocks.
The piece itself is striking, drawing inspiration from Afro-futurism and West African mask-making traditions. It took 37 hours to build and is composed of more than 5,000 individual pieces of Lego. But what is even more impressive than Nimako’s creativity and painstaking attention to detail is the way his art reflects his culture and identity.
"When I make faces, creatures, or children using Black LEGO their identity is never in question so it can never be intentionally or unintentionally erased or denied. The living entities I create are undeniably, eternally Black,” he told BuzzFeed.
This latest purchase by Seneca’s Art Committee reflects a concerted effort to make Seneca’s collection more diverse, with a focus on supporting Indigenous artists and artists from other racialized communities. The committee recently restored, reframed and reinstalled works by the celebrated Indigenous artists Norval Morrisseau and Christian Morrisseau, as well as Potawatomi and Lenape Two-Spirit artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher. It also recently purchased several outstanding paintings, prints and sculptures by emerging Black Canadian artists, including Benny Bing, Ekow Nimako and Yung Yemi.
I see a connection between this work and the wider Curriculum Integration Project also underway at Seneca. The CI project, supported by Seneca’s amazing Teaching and Learning team, is an institution-wide initiative aiming to integrate three pillars - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenous Worldviews, and Sustainability - into every Seneca course.
In the same way Nimako’s art allows Black children to see themselves reflected the sculptures, the CI project will allow more students to see themselves in their programs of study – in a way that acknowledges students’ lived experiences, identities, and opinions. In this way Seneca is focused not only on providing the students the skills needed to thrive in an interconnected economy, but on building a more inclusive society.
Stay well and stay safe,
Kurt
Teaching and Learning Day Winter 2024 is all about Hot Tech Topics! Join the day to explore the cutting-edge innovations that put technology at your fingertips and revolutionize the way we teach and learn. The keynote speaker, Maya Georgieva, is a leading voice in the fields of immersive storytelling, design with emerging technologies, and the future of learning and creativity. Her keynote address is titled Learning Reimagined: The Next Frontier of Immersive Learning.
Workshops will cover topics related to artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR). The sessions will give you an opportunity to consider how to integrate these modalities into your educational practice.
Monday, February 26 at Newnham Campus
Academic Quality invites full-time faculty interested in conducting research in teaching and learning to apply for funding with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at Seneca program.
SoTL is a field of research designed to bring teaching and learning together. The aim of the program is to provide full-time faculty with an opportunity to study their teaching practice enabling them to better meet the learning needs of their students.
Seneca will fund up to three SoTL projects to begin in the Fall 2024 academic year. Proposals are due Thursday, March 28, 2024.
For more information visit the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning space on MySeneca or add your name to the Expression of Interest list.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto and the Accelerating Accessibility Coalition (AAC) collaborated with SCAA professor Donna Saccutelli last fall on the Design for Social Change class. The ULI and AAC work to significantly increase the supply of housing that is physically accessible in Canada.
This collaboration culminated in a presentation by one of the student teams at the First Anniversary Meeting of the Coalition last week at the World Urban Pavilion at Regent Park.
The students sparked a lot of energy and inspiration as they shared their case for change and graphic design ideas on what an accessible housing campaign could look like.
"Collaborating on design for social change with students and clients is crucial for shaping the future of accessibility in Canada," says Donna. "By involving diverse perspectives and fostering collaboration, we empower students to become catalysts for positive societal transformation, ensuring that accessibility is not just a goal but a fundamental aspect of our collective future."
Several coalition members spoke with students during the course and they were gratified to see this topic embedded in the Graphic Design course and in this next generation of young professionals.
Illustration professors JoAnn Purcell and Martha Newbigging both had work published in Sugar, Spice, and the Not So Nice. The collection offers an innovative, wide-ranging and geographically diverse book-length treatment of girlhood in comics. The various contributing authors and artists include insights into established themes within comics studies, children’s comics, graphic medicine and comics by and about refugees and marginalised ethnic or cultural groups.
JoAnn’s paper Comics, Caregiving and Crip Time talks about living beside her daughter and the details of getting out the door in the morning - especially during the pandemic. She explains how the practice of creating daily comics alongside her daughter, born with Down syndrome, enhances her caregiving, visualizes crip time and makes time to take care.
Martha Newbigging’s visual essay Looking for Queerness investigates how drawing autobiographical comics might enable them to make sense of queer ways of being in their childhood – ways of being that may have been discounted, ignored, or suppressed. Their practice looks at how drawing and performing the self through the medium of comics has the potential to produce new understandings for the maker of these self-representations.
Two top Seneca School of Fashion students shared their collections at an international show in Milan last month. George Brown College was the only other institution from Canada to also participate in the show.
The City of Toronto invited Seneca to participate in Fashion Graduate Italia’s Internationalization Project Talent to Talent, in honour of the 20th anniversary of the partnership agreement between Toronto and Milan. Local press interviewed 2023 graduates Eunice Chow and Bella Cai before the show, and the collections were well received.
Tristan Barrocks, a Seneca alum from 2007 and current School of Media professor, spoke with Loop News about his career as a filmmaker and photographer. He shared his goal of zooming in on stories of the West Indian, African and diasporic communities across the world.
“I want to continue to write and direct, but more importantly produce projects that go off the beaten path and challenge audiences to see people, situations, cultures, and ethnicities in a different way,” Tristan explained of his abiding creative storyboard. “That's the end goal [for me]… to tell these stories for the rest of my life and help other filmmakers coming behind me to do the same, without barriers in front of them. If that morphs into being a film studio or a mentor working in a school, however it manifests itself,”
Megan Murphy, a graduate of the Documentary Filmmaking Institute (DFI), spoke with Kawartha Now to share advice that helped her reach success in her career and in life. The advice, compiled as six life lessons, covers everything from finding creative sparks, to how the arts bring people together and why to say yes even when you don’t have it all figured out.
“I’m actually far more collaborative, which is what I love about theatre — it’s what I love about all the arts,” Megan says. “The reasons I went into theatre are about expression and storytelling, unravelling the mystery of what it means to be a human being and collaborating with other people, raising each other up.”
Event Management - Creative Design (EVC) students were given the opportunity to design tabletops and centrepieces for Chair-man Mills event rental group in their six-table main showroom. The challenge was to design spring themed tabletops, utilizing the various rentals available to them, in addition to design, source and build a centrepiece within a limited budget. Five student designs were chosen to be implemented into the space. On Thursday, February 15 all students who participated supported the chosen designers and installed the tabletops amongst some of their faculty to transform the showroom from winter/holiday to spring-time fresh.
Business - Marketing student Sebastian Davila Escobar was selected as the valedictorian for FCAD at the Winter 2024 convocation. Professors Nancy Bodi and Scott Campbell nominated Sebastian after witnessing his hard work and dedication throughout the program.
"I taught Sebastian in his first marketing course at Seneca in Summer 2022 and from the first day he was incredibly dedicated, curious, ambitious, and professional,” says Scott. “As an international student from Columbia, Sebastian put a lot of effort into his academics and was clearly interested in marketing. Less than a year later Sebastian was selected to be on the prestigious Seneca team for the Ontario Colleges' Marketing Competition (OCMC), representing the retail marketing category. He enthusiastically participated and prepared for the competition with guidance from his coaches. His hard work paid off earning him and his teammate a gold medal finish among 13 colleges, which contributed to Seneca's overall first place standing. Sebastian is the ideal Seneca student. Not only has he prioritized academics with a 4.0 GPA and has a professional attitude, but he is also a respected and caring peer among his classmates. I am sure he will have much success in his future career."
Sebastian shared this message about being selected:
Certainly, having made the decision to move to Canada from Colombia to study Business Marketing at Seneca Polytechnic stands out as the most formidable challenge I have embraced. As I reflect on this decision today, nearly two years into my academic journey, I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and consider myself incredibly fortunate. My process at Seneca began in May 2022, and from the first day of classes, what motivated me most was meeting professors who were so expert in the industry and so passionate about the academic process of their students that I was filled with reasons to believe that I made the best decision. Driven by my enthusiasm for business and marketing and drawing on the knowledge I acquired during my semesters of classes, I seized the opportunity to represent Seneca in November 2023 at the Ontario Colleges' Marketing Competition (OCMC), securing the first position in the retail category. This experience forced me to break schemes and understand how the marketing industry really works and the problems that companies face daily, in addition to thinking and proposing viable solutions that were creative and memorable. This process would not have been possible without the close support I had from the entire Seneca staff. To all of them, my deepest and sincerest gratitude.
Being selected as a Valedictorian by Seneca Polytechnic is the most important recognition I have received during my life, and I accept it with happiness and great pride, as it is a representation of all my academic effort. I never imagined reaching this point, but I am increasingly convinced that there are no limits to achieving everything I set my mind to, as long as I do it with responsibility and effort. I extend all my affection and gratitude to Seneca for shaping me academically but, above all, for giving me the necessary tools to develop as a professional. Forever #SenecaProud
The Seneca Polytechnic community is mourning the loss of Professor and Program Co-ordinator Jeff Roach.
It can be hard to measure the impact a special person has on the lives of others. They make such a difference to so many for just being their kind, genuine self, and Jeff Roach was one of those extraordinary people.
A colleague within the Seneca community since 2006, Jeff was so much more: a mentor, a leader, an advocate, a shoulder, a champion and a true friend.
As one co-worker graciously shared, “Jeff was a gentle giant.” And he was beloved by his students. His legacy, the Public Relations Corporate Communications program, will live on forever through the inspiring careers of each graduate, and through his team members, who will continue to honour his visionary work.
While at Seneca, Jeff also developed and introduced two post-graduate certificate programs: Government Relations and Investor Relations. He was one of the very first to become an Accredited in Public Relations member in 1971 — this is an elite distinction, recognized globally. As well, Jeff was recognized as an Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Public Relations Society.
A brilliant talent, Jeff also brought to the classroom more than 55 years of experience as a senior corporate communications, public affairs, and investor relations executive with some of Canada’s leading corporations. He was an entrepreneur too, founding Jeff Roach & Associates in 1993. Jeff’s vast expertise was complemented by his compassion and support for each student he met.
Teaching was Jeff’s passion, not just a profession. He was committed to helping his students achieve their dreams, and they knew it. Jeff believed in the talents and potential of the many people he worked with and taught. If you needed him, Jeff was always there to help without hesitation, his loyalty unwavering.
Jeff made time for all of us — for a lunch, a chat or a laugh after work. His kind spirit was infectious. Jeff enjoyed life, inside and outside of the classroom. His family was his core, and he spoke of them with a loving sparkle in his eye. Jeff lived a noble life, rich in experience and with treasured relations. We all felt like his best friend, and as many have shared, he was one in a million, and he will be deeply missed.
Information about a memorial for Jeff will be shared as soon as it is available.
If you need support, please contact our Employee Assistance Family Program.
Pranay Nichani, a grad of the Documentary & Non-Fiction Media Production (DNM) program and now Professor of Editing for both DNM and the Documentary Film Institute (DFI), worked as an Assistant Editor and Post-Production Supervisor on the documentary feature film To Kill a Tiger – which was nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Oscars.
Further, Pranay is the editor of Becoming Canadian: Citizens’ Stories (2023), the first documentary he was given the full Editor credit. It is a one-hour documentary film produced in association with the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and CPAC. And this year, he will be editing a biopic on L. M. Montgomery, the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables.
The latest episode of The Dean’s Desk Podcast features Jason Dojc, a veteran marketing agency strategist and the program coordinator of the Creative Advertising program. Jason speaks about how he got into advertising thanks to early interest in website development, some of his experiences working with different companies, his curiosity for scoping out digital trends, and how he got into teaching. His love of engaging with the minds of future advertisers and excitement for the program fuelled his decisions when restructuring courses to reflect the needs of the industry. Jason also shared his work with TSN at the Olympics in Australia.
One of Canada's most popular radio personalities, Mocha Frap from the Roz and Mocha show on KiSS 92.5 in Toronto, visited Seneca to speak to radio and journalism students.
Mocha, a grad of the Radio program in 2001, spoke to the students about his journey in radio from Kitchener to Calgary, Manhattan and then Toronto where he continues to dominate the audio landscape.
Mocha is an engaged member of the RTVR PAC and gives back to the program in many ways.
Gagan Singh, a graduate of the Fashion Business program, spoke to Sustainable Biz Canada about the app his company created that provides guidance on how to reuse and recycle specific items of clothing. The app provides users information on each article of clothing via QR codes. When scanned, the app reveals the garment's material composition, the company that made it, where it was made, how to care for it, and a way to return it for reuse or recycling.
“Now all of a sudden, the circular economy is happening. People are returning their bottles, people are returning their metal to gain some sort of incentive," says Gagan. "I thought 'this actually works and it doesn’t happen in textiles,' so that’s why 85 per cent of our clothes end up in a landfill.”
The following is a message from President David Agnew that was sent to Seneca employees on February 1st.
Last Monday, I emailed you about the changes announced by the federal government affecting international students. I want to follow up today with what we know now and how we will be managing the impact on Seneca Polytechnic.
In sum, the major changes announced were:
- An immediate cut of up to 50 per cent on the number of study permits issued to international students coming to Ontario postsecondary institutions, with exemptions for master’s and doctoral students.
- A new requirement for a letter of attestation from the provincial government that must accompany each application for a study permit.
- Starting in September, changes to the Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) program that will affect some students.
- Ending the eligibility for PGWPs for graduates from programs offered by private colleges in partnership with public colleges.
Some changes to the study permit system were expected given the spike in the numbers of students and temporary workers coming to Canada. Unfortunately, the announcement bore the hallmarks of a policy that was made hastily, created without consultation and bereft of the details necessary to implement it.
More than a week has gone by and we still do not know how many study permits will be allocated to Seneca nor does the province have a system to provide attestation letters. We may not have either of those for several weeks to come.
The impact on Seneca – and the rest of the postsecondary system – has been immediate. The federal government stopped processing new study permit applications from students accepted for the May and September terms. We cannot welcome those students to Seneca until we know our allocation of permits and a system for attestation letters is put in place.
The cumulative effects of these changes will hurt us financially next fiscal year – which starts April 1 – and for a few years after. The federal government says the cut is for two years, but governments can change, and they can also change their minds.
Both directly and through our advocacy associations, we are trying to influence the federal and provincial governments to ease the impact.
For Ontario, that includes acting on the recommendations of a recent advisory panel to improve government funding to public postsecondary institutions, which is the lowest in Canada. That panel also said the domestic tuition freeze – in place for four years after tuition was cut without compensation – should be lifted.
However welcome those actions would be, we will still require restraint for as long as the cut in study permits last.
Seneca is fortunate to have been financially successful for several years but we are entering tougher times. While we will continue to invest in the high-quality education and campus experience our students and employees deserve, we need to manage our resources carefully. We are also exploring new revenue opportunities both in Canada and abroad.
Innovation is critical. Ideas are welcome. Please share yours with planningoffice@senecapolytechnic.ca.
Collaboration is key. The impact of last week’s announcement will cascade through all areas of Seneca. We need to work together to navigate through this effectively.
And respect is always required and expected no matter what the circumstances.
This is Seneca. We will get through this together and emerge stronger on the other side. That’s who we are, thanks to you.
David
Resources
- Discover teaching tips to help launch your virtual and in-person courses.
- Online nutshells are available, including Designing for Emotion in Online Courses, Getting Started with Online Teaching and Setting up Question Pools, Tests, and Assignments.
- Register for an upcoming Blackboard Ultra webinar.
- Find out how to meet the Learn@Seneca minimum requirements in Blackboard Ultra.
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