York University is well known for being a largely commuter-based campus. Between the two of us, for example, we can count the amount of people we know who live on campus on one hand. Most of our peers come from the Greater Toronto Area and beyond: Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Oakville and even Ajax. […]
Story
Speaking Up for Fair Fares at Queen’s Park - ENVS 1200 Taking Action
On March 9, 2020, six FES students in ENVS 1200 - Taking Action: Engaging People and the Environment, travelled to Queen’s Park on the invitation of Jessica Bell, the NDP critic on transportation issues. They were there to listen to the debate on a motion presented by Bell and NDP leader Andrea Horwath to […]
Gandhi versus Ambedkar: The Story of Two Statues in the Scott Library - L. Anders Sandberg
A sunny day in late December 2018 turned out to be my one-day immersion course on India. It was almost Christmas and I went to one of the stores at York Lanes and bought some sweatshirts with York logos on them. I discovered that they were made in India and, so the enthusiastic sales […]
The Walkers Walk: The Pavilion That Was Not To Be - L. Anders Sandberg
In 2008, Mark Osbaldeston wrote a book called Unbuilt Toronto: A History of a City That Could Have Been documenting and telling the stories surrounding unrealized building proposals in the city. This short reflection is inspired by that idea. But it is also much more. It also reflects on the questions and trepidations involved […]
A (not so) little bird is telling us...: Thinking with geese on the York University Campus - Seema Shenoy
Towards the end of the summer in 2015, having just arrived from India, I made my way to the York University campus for the very first time, to see the place where I would be spending the next two years in the Master of Environmental Studies program. The fall term hadn’t begun yet. When […]
Visiting one of our Neighbours: Walking the Black Creek Pioneer Village Site - Jesse Thistle
The entrance to Black Creek Pioneer Village Black Creek Pioneer Village, a re- creation of a white settler farming settlement in southern Ontario from the 1860s, is one of York University’s prominent neighbours. In 2013, the Village reported it attracted 145,000 visitors per year. It even has its own new subway stop (as of December […]
Now You See It, Now You Don't: Looking for the Tree of Heaven at Founders College - Darren Patrick
Who arrives? Who invades? Who is welcome? Who is not? When does a plant become a weed? Since 2012, I have developed an unlikely relationship with Ailanthus altissima, a species of tree more commonly known as the Tree of Heaven. Tree of Heaven is one of the most “successful” global plant species. […]
Safety Phone at Central Square - Michaela McMahon
This safety phone in Central Square is one of the 35 emergency phones located on campus. The bright yellow colour and spinning blue light are supposed to make these phones easy to see…but how often do we look up from the phones in our own hands as we walk across campus? And if we […]
Vari Hall: A public or private space? - L. Anders Sandberg
Adorned with yellow brick and two lower rectangular structures extending from its sides, Vari Hall is a well-designed and extraordinary space. When I enter the building I am engulfed by a cylindrical-shaped hall and stories echoing of its outer walls. The building was constructed in 1992 and named after one of York University’s […]
The Ross Building Ramp and Terrace: Curse or Promise? - L. Anders Sandberg
Some time ago I conducted a campus tour for a group that included a couple of senior faculty members at York. When walking across the ledge leading over the narrow empty and largely vacant space between the Ross Building [originally called the Ross Social Sciences and Humanities Building] and Vari Hall, the faculty members […]
