Menu Close
The Conversation

University of Toronto

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto has one of the strongest research and teaching faculties in North America, presenting top students at all levels with an intellectual environment unmatched in depth and breadth on any other Canadian campus.

With more than 75,000 students across three campuses (St. George, Mississauga and Scarborough) and over 450,000 alumni active in every region of the world, U of T’s influence is felt in every area of human endeavour.

Links

Displaying 221 - 240 of 954 articles
In hackathons, people come together to build more extensive and cohesive datasets. (Shutterstock)

Hackathons should be renamed to avoid negative connotations

P. Alison Paprica, University of Toronto; Kimberlyn McGrail, University of British Columbia, and Michael J. Schull, University of Toronto

“Hackathons” can imply breaching security and privacy. To more accurately reflect their creative and constructive intent, they can be referred to instead as “datathons” or “code fests.”
Many caregivers were prevented from seeing and taking care of their loved ones in long-terms care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Caregivers were traumatized by COVID-19 public health and long-term care policies

Charlene Chu, University of Toronto and Vivian Stamatopoulos, Ontario Tech University

Family caregivers of residents in longterm care homes experienced a collective trauma as they were kept away from their loved ones during the pandemic. This isolation has long-ranging impacts.
Health-care workers in Toronto protest the Canadian truckers convoy last February that was against vaccine mandates. (Shutterstock)

Understanding why people reject science could lead to solutions for rebuilding trust

Aviva Philipp-Muller, Simon Fraser University; Richard Petty, The Ohio State University, and Spike W. S. Lee, University of Toronto

To communicate scientific findings that are relevant to the public, science communicators need to understand how to overcome attitudes that are anti-science.
OxyContin, an opioid drug heavily marketed by Purdue Pharma, is associated with billions of dollars of health-care costs in Canada related to the opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

$150M is not enough: Canada’s proposed Purdue Pharma settlement for opioid damages is paltry and won’t prevent future crises

Daniel Eisenkraft Klein, University of Toronto and Joel Lexchin, York University, Canada

The Purdue Pharma settlement is paltry compared to costs of the opioid crisis. Without major changes to pharma industry regulation, there is little reason to think a similar crisis won’t occur again.
Community vegetable gardens, such as this one in Pickering, Ont., support health and should be seen as part of the city’s food system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

A prescription for health: City vegetable gardens produce more than just food

Sarah Elton, Toronto Metropolitan University and Donald C Cole, University of Toronto

Publicly accessible gardens are an essential part of our food system. It’s important for policymakers to understand that growing food in city gardens is central to health, food security and culture.
Child-care policy needs to be designed to ensure children have stable access to high-quality care. (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)

Low-income families should not lose child-care subsidies while on parental leave

Samantha Burns, University of Toronto; Calpanaa Jegatheeswaran, University of Toronto; Michal Perlman, University of Toronto; Petr Varmuza, University of Toronto, and Sumayya Saleem, University of Toronto

Stable child care can protect kids in the face of major life stressors — so should subsidy policies.
Positive representations of higher-weight women exercising can counter the idealization of thin bodies that is common on social media, while cultivating health-promoting exercise behaviour. (Shutterstock)

Why social media ‘fitspiration’ can fail: Weight-inclusive fitness posts are more likely to motivate young women to exercise

Eva Pila, Western University and Madeline Wood, University of Toronto

Social media content that positively represents body size, shape and weight diversity may help to address the negative psychological effects of ‘fitspiration’ that depicts narrow body standards.
Jubilant sports fans flew the Canadian flag in 2019 after the NBA playoffs. Since then, the ‘freedom convoy’ has used the flag to try to represent their values. Has the symbolism of the flag changed? THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Has the meaning behind the Canadian flag changed? — Podcast

Vinita Srivastava, The Conversation

What does it mean to be a settler of colour in Canada? Has the symbolism of the Canadian flag changed since the Ottawa convoy?
A new study on Canada’s affordability crisis has found that visible minorities have less access to affordable housing than whites in Canada. (Shutterstock)

Ethno-racial minorities in Canada have less access to affordable housing than white people

Kate Choi, Western University and Sagi Ramaj, University of Toronto

Ensuring visible minorities have equitable access to affordable housing is an important step in fulfilling the National Housing Strategy’s goal to make affordable housing available to all Canadians.
Smaller animals that feed lower in the food web might be at greater risk from microplastic exposure than larger ones. (Shutterstock)

Microplastics may pose a greater threat to the base of marine food webs

Garth A Covernton, University of Toronto; Hailey Davies, University of Victoria, and Kieran Cox, University of Victoria

We need to advance our understanding of the effects of microplastics on aquatic ecosystems, especially on small animals at the base of food webs that might be ingesting more of these particles.
Anti-mask protesters hold signs during a demonstration against measures taken by public health authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 in St. Thomas, Ont., in 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins

Canada’s trust divide is growing, and that could spell bad news for the future

Cary Wu, York University, Canada; Alex Bierman, University of Calgary, and Scott Schieman, University of Toronto

Trying to convince people to trust the basic institutions of Canada and each other is not enough. Economic divisions create a trust divide that threatens Canadians’ way of life.
People stand on Parliament Hill in July 2021 alongside a makeshift memorial for children who died at Indian Residential Schools during a rally to demand an independent investigation into Canada’s crimes against Indigenous Peoples. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Newcomers to Canada support Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation

Andrew Parkin, University of Toronto; Anna Triandafyllidou, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Seyda Ece Aytac, Toronto Metropolitan University

Newcomers to Canada tend to be more supportive of Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation than other Canadians.
Ontario’s child care policy now creates a universal, flat-fee child care for medium and high-income families but doesn’t guarantee subsidies to low-income families. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Ontario’s child-care agreement is poised to fail low-income children and families

Petr Varmuza, University of Toronto; Linda A. White, University of Toronto, and Michal Perlman, University of Toronto

Ontario’s flat fee for child care should be replaced by an income-tested fee reflecting family incomes.
Food and agribusiness billionaires reportedly raised their collective wealth by 42 per cent in the last two years. (Shutterstock)

Food giants reap enormous profits during times of crisis

Phoebe Stephens, University of Toronto

High food prices are exposing yet another risk of our hyper-concentrated global food system and strengthening the case for more diversified and decentralized alternatives.

Authors

More Authors