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‘Hotel Mumbai’ is a gripping film that provides a glimpse into the fear and brutality of terrorism but also the everyday bravery of its victims. Here Armie Hammer in ‘Hotel Mumbai.’ Courtesy of TIFF

Terrorism at the Taj: ‘Hotel Mumbai’ pulls no punches

Joseph McQuade, University of Toronto and Emily LeDuc, Queen's University, Ontario

‘Hotel Mumbai,’ which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is an ‘anthem of resistance;’ a film that highlights the things ordinary people can do in extraordinary circumstances.
The lynch-pin of the marketing for the new ‘Titans’ TV series is a line in which Robin says “F@#k Batman!” Warner Bros. Television

Titans on TV: The life-changing magic of ‘F@#k Batman!’

J. Andrew Deman, University of Waterloo

In the trailer for the new DC TV series, Robin answers ‘F@#k Batman!’ when the bad guys ask about the Caped Crusader. This is a hopeful move to necessary character changes in superhero storytelling.
A line of protesters against the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota head to a unity rally on the west steps of the State Capitol in September 2016 in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Protecting heritage is a human right

George Nicholas, Simon Fraser University

Development projects are claiming ancestral sites at alarming rates. This ineffective protection of Indigenous heritage is a violation of human rights.
Crazy Rich Asians depicts cosmopolitan rich Asians with complex humanities. Warner Bros.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ – a movie and a movement

Gao Yunxiang, Toronto Metropolitan University

Crazy Rich Asians is an entertaining film, but also has been a long time coming. The struggle for Asian representation in Hollywood and Broadway started more than 55 years ago.
Actors Laura Harrier and John David Washington humorously and believably drive home the film’s strong racial irony.

‘BlacKkKlansman’ – a deadly serious comedy

Vershawn Ashanti Young, University of Waterloo

BlacKkKlansman is more than a good story: it expertly weaves together comedy with serious drama to bring the story of past racism to illuminate our present day issues.
A top hit in 1975, Neil Sedaka’s song “The Immigrant,” proves its continuing relevance, with the rise in xenophobia in the United States. Here people on an Atlantic Liner arrive at what is probably Ellis Island, the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the U.S. from 1892 to 1954. Library of Congress

Neil Sedaka’s 1975 song revived for anti-immigrant era

Robert Morrison, Queen's University, Ontario

Neil Sedaka’s song “The Immigrant” was a top hit in 1975, but today it seems even more relevant, as debates rage in the United States over immigration, repatriation and racism.
Sandra Oh, a U.S./Canadian actress of Korean descent, is an outspoken advocate for greater representation in film and television. She is the first woman of Asian decent to be nominated for an Emmy. Here, just before being inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Thank you, Sandra Oh – a first for the Emmys

Angie Wong, York University, Canada

Sandra Oh’s recent Emmy nomination for ‘Killing Eve’ is a sign of appreciation of her work but also a symbol of hope for the author as a former actor and as an academic.
Underneath the façade of the Caribbean carnival, historical, cultural and political undercurrents run deep. A parade participant performs during the Grand Parade at last year’s Toronto’s Carnival. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Joyous resistance through costume and dance at Carnival

Henry Navarro Delgado, Toronto Metropolitan University

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival reclaims alternative ideals of beauty while building community in Toronto.
In this 1999 photo, author Michael Ondaatje poses at Coach House Press in Toronto. In addition to receiving a coveted spot on the 2018 Man Booker longlist for ‘Warlight,’ Michael Ondaatje recently won the Golden Man Booker prize for his critically acclaimed novel ‘The English Patient.’ (CP PHOTO/Kevin Frayer)

Ondaatje’s win of the Golden Man Booker Prize is complicated

Jody Mason, Carleton University and Dessa Bayrock, Carleton University

The meanings of Ondaatje’s Golden Man Booker win is complicated and demonstrates the contradictions of literary value. Literary prizes permit us to imagine that literature is more than a commodity.
Quebec theatre director Robert Lepage’s play SLĀV was cancelled in Montreal after accusations of racial insensitivity because it featured few Black actors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

‘I don’t see race’ and other white lies

Corrie Scott, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

A recent controversy surrounding Québec director Robert Lepage has had some people claiming to be colour-blind when in comes to race. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Peter Thomas of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (left), Marcel Dionne of Roarockit (centre) and Jaimie Isaac, curator for Indigenous/Contemporary at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (right), are seen building a skateboard using a do-it-yourself kit in this 2017 photo. Art and design schools should reward those who actually build and create more than they do design theorists. (Author provided)

Art and design schools must cultivate creators, not theorists

Ted Hunter, OCAD University

Even as our world goes digital, there will always be an appetite for craftsmanship, for art and for the work only human hands can truly bring to life. Art and design schools should celebrate creators.
‘…Everything Remains Raw,’ a show at the McMichael gallery blends traditional art spaces with fresh ideas from hip hop culture such as this piece by Patrick Nichols, 10013 Michie Mee, 1993.

Hip hop culture paves the way forward

Mark V. Campbell, Toronto Metropolitan University

Hip hop is a vibrant cultural art form that Canadian public institutions need to embrace. Our aging institutions can get a new life by integrating hip hop with and into traditional art displays.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays addressed queer themes. Shutterstock

Shakesqueer in love: Exploring the Bard’s queer themes

Sky Gilbert, University of Guelph

We will never know whether or not Shakespeare was queer, but we do know his plays often tackled themes of sexuality in queer ways. Will this summer’s productions honour those original ideas?
An immigrant child from Guatemala is seen at a facility in Texas on June 21, 2018. President Donald Trump’s policy to separate children from their parents at the U.S. border is an example of an incident that could result in toxic socialization. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The damage we’re doing to our children and ourselves

Mike Sosteric, Athabasca University

We must work to protect our children from Toxic Socialization, violent experiences in their lives that do lifelong damage.
Refugee Journeys is a board game designed to help front-line workers and educators confront their bias towards refugees. Michelle Lam

Playing this board game will challenge your ideas about refugees

Michelle Lam, University of Manitoba

Many Canadians have volunteered to help newcomers adjust to society. This board game was developed to help these volunteers understand what it feels like to enter a new country and build a new life.
Rapper Drake watches the action at an NBA game in Toronto in 2016. A recent battle between Drake and Pusha-T brought the issue of blackface back into the headlines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The problem with blackface

Philip S. S. Howard, McGill University

Is blackface ever innocent? Is it less racist when a Black person enacts it as a statement of resistance? Because of our history of deep and ongoing racism in Canada, the answer is no.
Designs by Jeneen Frei Njootli on the runway at the Frost Moon Showcase at Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto last weekend. (Red Works Photography)

Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto is healing and resurgence in action

Riley Kucheran, Toronto Metropolitan University

The organizers of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto gathered a group of designers and creative thinkers to present and discuss the future of Indigenous fashion last week.
In a study on porn, viewers preferred to watch pleasure over aggression on a popular online pornography site. (Shutterstock)

Porn viewers prefer women’s pleasure over violence

Eran Shor, McGill University and Kimberly Seida, McGill University

Many claim that pornography is getting more violent. But a new study shows that porn has become less aggressive over the past decade, and videos in which women enjoy themselves are the most popular.
Margaret MacLean visited and wrote about the Royal Ontario museum’s collections as well as visiting Egypt for Saturday Night magazine. (Database of Canadian Women Writers)

Playing detective with Canada’s female literary past

Carole Gerson, Simon Fraser University

Did you know Lucy Maud Montgomery also published under the name Belinda Bluegrass? A new database of early Canadian women writers reveals thousands of stories about women’s lives in Canada.
‘Confessions of an English Opium-Eater’ was the first modern drug memoir and set the tone for opium use for decades. Here: Papaver somniferum (Opium poppy), a group of deep red flowers, buds and seed pods. Opium is extracted from the latex of the unripe seed pods. Ripe seeds are innocuous and widely used in baking. (Rowan McOnegal/Wellcome Collection)

The 19th century book that spawned the opioid crisis

Robert Morrison, Queen's University, Ontario

‘Confessions of an English Opium-Eater’ is considered the first modern drug memoir. Many believe it is responsible for our romantic ideas of opium-based drug use today.
An interactive documentary maps the lives of Palestinians in a Jerusalem neighbourhood. Dorit Naaman/Jerusalem We We Are Here

Lessons for the future from Jerusalem’s Palestinian past

Dorit Naaman, Queen's University, Ontario

A documentary filmmaker discusses her work which looks at the erased history of Palestinians in a Jerusalem neighbourhood in order to point to the possibility of a shared Jewish/Arab future.