Media Releases
Below is a selection of recent press releases. For all the latest news please visit www.utoronto.ca/news
General Inquires +1 (416) 978-0100 Email media.relations@utoronto.ca
Wearable computing and augmented reality conference comes to U of T in June
TORONTO, ON – Internet-connected eyeglasses and similar technologies will soon be on the market, but their benefits and dangers are little understood. University of Toronto Engineering Professor Steve Mann hopes to change that at a groundbreaking conference at U of T in June 2013. Mann is a pioneering researcher in the fields of wearable computing and 'augmediated reality' (AR). He’s bringing together renowned experts in wearable technology, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and privacy to discuss both the potential and the…
University of Toronto faculty and alum prominent in list of Order of Ontario appointees
TORONTO, ON – The University of Toronto congratulates its many distinguished faculty and alumni appointed to the Order of Ontario today. Among the 25 extraordinary Ontarians receiving the province’s highest honour are professors Gail Robinson, Ron Deibert, Izzeldin Abuelaish, Stephen Cook, Shafique Keshavjee and Rory Fisher. Joining them on the list of those appointed to Ontario's highest honour are Brian Stewart, Distinguished Senior Fellow with U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs, adjunct faculty and alumna Phyllis Creighton, alumni…
Broker fees from mutual funds affect advice; predict worse performance, new study says
TORONTO, ON – Brokers are supposed to recommend investments that are in the best interests of their clients. But a study published in the February 2013 issue of the Journal of Finance has found that mutual funds offering higher broker fees attract the most investments, especially when the broker is not affiliated with the mutual fund company. Every additional dollar paid to a broker corresponds with another six dollars invested into the fund, and another fourteen dollars if the broker…
Disasters can prompt older children to be more giving, younger children to be more selfish
TORONTO, ON - A natural disaster can bring out the best in older children, prompting nine-year-olds to be more willing to share, while six-year-olds become more selfish, researchers at the University of Toronto, the University of Chicago, and Liaoning Normal University found in a rare natural experiment in China around the time of a horrific earthquake. A crucial difference between the two age groups emerged one month after the disaster. Six-year-olds’ willingness to share in a test to measure altruism,…
Leading authority on globalization addresses conference on cities and conflict at the Munk School of Global Affairs
TORONTO, ON — Saskia Sassen, a leading authority on globalization from Columbia University, will be the keynote speaker at a conference on cities and conflict being held at the Munk School of Global Affairs on February 1-2, 2013. The first conference of its kind in Toronto, The Urban Era: Comparing Challenges in the World’s Cities will examine issues of peace, conflict and justice as they manifest themselves in cities. The panels will address a wide range of these topics through a comparative…
A City of Neighbourhoods? Local Associations & Their Critics in Toronto
TORONTO, ON – A very large number of neighbourhoods in Toronto include active resident associations that vigorously intervene in decisions impacting on issues of planning and design. For some, this makes the City democratically vibrant; for others it means that responsible decision making is impeded by ill-informed and “NIMBY-ist” interference. It is therefore important to know whether or not neighbourhood activism is a positive or negative force and, therefore, how it can be either further empowered or, for its detractors,…
R v Morgentaler: Reflections After 25 Years
TORONTO, ON — Media are invited to a panel discussion January 29, 2013, 5:30 – 7:30 pm on one of Canada’s most momentous decisions in Canadian law: R v Morgentaler. It was 25 years ago, on January 28, 1988, that the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s abortion law using the still new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The legal battle was long, dramatic and groundbreaking – including a police raid on a clinic, novel constitutional evidence and arguments,…
University of Toronto and Columbia University libraries launch Tibetan Studies partnership
TORONTO, ON – An international collaboration between the University of Toronto and Columbia University’s research libraries will harness existing expertise in Tibetan collection services at both universities to increase the availability of Tibetan resources to a wider community of scholars in both Canada and the United States. The faculties and students of both institutions will benefit from the innovative service model created by the partnership, which provides for jointly sponsored acquisitions trips to enhance the Tibetan collections at both universities,…
IMFG releases report that examines the fault lines at Toronto City Hall
TORONTO, ON – A report by the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) looks at local government in Toronto in the wake of the tumultuous recent events at City Hall. The paper, by the IMFG’s André Côté, examines three of the fault lines that are causing friction: The leadership dynamic in a system in which Council is supreme, and the mayor has fewer formal powers of agenda control and persuasion than his parliamentary counterparts; How accountability is understood and applied, both through…
David Mulroney, former Ambassador to China, to deliver keynote address at INDePth Conference in March
TORONTO, ON – Accomplished diplomat, innovative former Canadian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Munk School's Canada Centre for Global Security Studies, David Mulroney is set to deliver the keynote address for INDePth Conference 2013 at the University of Toronto, his alma mater. In its sophomore year, INDePth 2013’s focus is China, framing the conversation around the notion of the “end of development.” With the leadership transition, the conference is situated at a…