The Conversation

McGill University

McGill University is one of Canada’s best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the country’s leading research-intensive universities. McGill was founded in 1821 and offers degrees and diplomas in more than 300 fields of study.

Links

Displaying 1 - 20 of 52 articles

A Rohingya Muslim child kisses his mother after they fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in September 2017. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled their country for places like Malaysia and Thailand, where a UN agency assesses their refugee claims. But can the UNHCR unwittingly cause countries to neglect investigating war crimes? (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The trouble with impunity: War crimes and a humanitarian agency

Didem Doğar, McGill University

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees assesses the refugee claims of millions of people worldwide. It needs to be more open about what it discovers and how it makes decisions.
A commonly cited statistic that 60 to 90 percent of gender dysphoric children grow up not to be transgender is based on studies that are deeply flawed. (Shutterstock)

Why ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ is bad science

Florence Ashley, McGill University and Alexandre Baril, University of Ottawa

'Rapid-onset gender dysphoria' suggests children are being persuaded into transgender identities before they know what that means. This theory is best explained by transphobia and research study biases.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, with World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, right, and Nigerian Health Minister Isaac Folorunso Adewole, at the End TB Summit in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2018. (AP Photo)

Hope rises for a world free of TB

Madhukar Pai, McGill University

On World TB Day 2018, eradicating TB finally looks like a goal that could be met — if political leaders can step up with cash and actions to match their political declarations.
People protest gun violence outside the White House on Feb. 19 following the latest mass school shooting, this one in Florida. Like the teens and children who showed up at the White House and elsewhere to protest, Americans must rediscover themselves as a revolutionary people who are not afraid to start over. (Shutterstock)

U.S. gun violence is a symptom of a long historical problem

J.M. Opal, McGill University

Proposals for gun control run into vehement opposition from many Americans who, for deep historical reasons of race and revolution, continue to claim the right to use deadly force.
Investment in AI research is growing in Canada, but there’s little thought about ethics, privacy and governance issues. (Shutterstock)

Here’s how Canada can be a global leader in ethical AI

Fenwick McKelvey, Concordia University and Abhishek Gupta, McGill University

Canada has a clear choice. Either it embraces the potential of being a leader in responsible AI, or it risks legitimating a race to the bottom where ethics, inequity and justice are absent.
‘Biomusic’ technology collects autonomic nervous system signals, such as heart rate, through a wearable sensor and maps them to sound. (Shutterstock)

How we can design the music of our emotions

Stefanie Blain-Moraes, McGill University

Imagine a collaboratively-designed smartphone app that could provide cues to an autistic individual -- about the emotional state of people they are communicating with.
Former governor general David Johnston invests Toronto scientist Janet Rossant as a Companion of the Order of Canada during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada’s unsung female heroes of life sciences

John Bergeron, McGill University

Canada's female scientists are superstars in their fields yet most Canadians have never heard of them. On International Day for Women in Science, it's time to give them the recognition they deserve.
Elle : « Comment tu peux savoir si une nouvelle est vraie? ». Lui « Si je suis accord avec ». Signe Wilkinson

Science contre fake news, la bataille est engagée

Boris Chaumette, McGill University

Dans une société progressiste, les scientifiques ne devraient pas seulement se préoccuper de leurs recherches mais inlassablement expliquer quelle est leur démarche, éclairer le débat public.
Nov. 24, 2015: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in S.C. The bloc of Trump voters was significantly weighted with white born-again Christians. (AP Photo/Willis Glassgow)

Trump’s lies are white nationalist gospel

J.M. Opal, McGill University

How did Trump came to be a symbol of national pride for evangelical Protestants who value strict morality and good manners? It has to do with their shared master narrative of white power and domination.
A Malawi boy sits among drying tobacco leaves in 2014. Jeffrey Drope

Big Tobacco woos African farmers with bogus promises of prosperity

Ronald Labonte, University of Ottawa; Donald Makoka, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Jeffrey Drope, Marquette University, and Raphael Lencucha, McGill University

The tobacco industry claims that tobacco- growing is essential to the livelihoods of millions of small-scale rural farmers in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya. Research shows that's untrue.
Only one Canadian researcher has ever received the Nobel Prize for medicine, for the discovery of insulin in 1923. And yet Canadians have been essential to developments in stem cell research, gene sequencing and treatments for cancer and brain trauma. (Shutterstock)

Why can’t Canada win another Nobel Prize in medicine?

John Bergeron, McGill University

Only one Canadian has ever received the Nobel Prize for medicine, in 1923. But Canadian discoveries have been essential to stem cell research, gene sequencing and treatments for cancer.
Women’s NGOs work hard to improve the lives of women in the developing world, including in countries like India and Tanzania. But then they’re often cut out from the process. This photo was taken in the remote village of Uzi on Zanzibar Island in Tanzania in April 2016. (Shutterstock)

Women’s NGOs are changing the world – and not getting credit for it

Dr. Bipasha Baruah, Western University and Dr. Kate Grantham, McGill University

NGOs (non-government organizations) run by women in India and Tanzania fuel the success of development projects, but the women are too easily marginalized once the projects get off the ground.
Pacific seabirds, such as this Great Blue Heron, can accumulate mercury in their bodies from the fish they eat. (Flickr)

Mercury decline in seabirds due to diet, not emissions controls

Kyle Elliott, McGill University and Mehrnoosh Azodi, McGill University

Mercury levels in seabirds living off the coast of British Columbia have been stable in recent years. New research suggests that this may be due to changes in their diet, not pollution control.
Warda Naili poses for a photograph at a park in Montreal in October. Naili, a convert to Islam, said she decided to cover her face out of a desire to practise her faith more authentically and to protect her modesty. Bill 62 forces women to remove their niqabs while using public services. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

The link between Quebec’s niqab law and its sovereignty quest

Efe Peker, McGill University

Bill 62 is likely to trigger even tenser controversies on Quebecois identity before next year's provincial election. A historical perspective helps us understand the connection to Quebec sovereignty.
India boasts strong research expertise and technological and pharmaceutical capacity, yet lacks strong financial and political commitment from the government - to end the tuberculosis epidemic. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

India’s ambitious new plan to conquer TB needs cash and commitment

Madhukar Pai, McGill University

India has a radical new plan to eliminate TB, backed by research and technological expertise. The country just needs strong financial and political commitment from government to implement it.
Un étudiant en médecine explique les soins à une enfant, dans le cadre de l'opération Hôpital des nounours à Caen. Des études à risque de souffrance psychique. Gaëtan Zarforoushan/Flickr

Épuisement, dépression, suicide : comment protéger les étudiants en médecine

Boris Chaumette, McGill University and Yannick Morvan, Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris Lumières

Un nouveau suicide d'interne, à Paris, déclenche une polémique. Une proportion importante des futurs médecins souffre de symptômes anxieux et dépressifs. Pourtant, les remèdes existent.
Le conducteur qui a foncé dans une pizzeria à Sept-Sors en Seine-et-Marne, causant la mort d'une fillette, présente des signes de troubles psychiatriques. Léonard Ortuso/communication Sdis 77

La place des malades psychiatriques est à l’hôpital, pas en prison

Boris Chaumette, McGill University

Les personnes présentant des troubles psychiatriques sont trop souvent incarcérées en cas d’acte grave. Cette problématique ressurgit avec les drames de Marseille et de Sept-Sorts.

Research and Expert Database

Authors

More Authors