The Conversation
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

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

Bahareh Jahandoost brings literature, performing arts and new media together to express Iranian society. Mehdi Khosravi

Traditional storytelling meets activism in Iran

Laura Bisaillon, University of Toronto

A Canada-Iran collaboration uses performance art, storytelling and new media to confront the troubles of global migration and borders.
Actors Laura Harrier and John David Washington humorously and believably drive home the film’s strong racial irony.

Film

‘BlacKkKlansman’ provides comic relief to deep racism

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 graffiti portrait of Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World. Thierry Ehrmann/Flickr

Trump’s Brave New World and Huxley’s dystopian vision

Keith Booker, University of Arkansas and Isra Daraiseh

A lack of respect for history, a population conditioned to consume goods at breakneck pace, and pacification of individuals via an entertainment culture: parts of Huxley's novel strikingly resemble our own world.
Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate, 2004. Stainless steel, 1,006 x 2,012 x 1,280 cm. Mike Warot/Flickr

Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate”: playing with light

Joel Chevrier, Université Grenoble Alpes

Anish Kapoor made “Cloud Gate”, a giant bean-shaped mirror in Chicago. Visitors play with the light in the city and its surroundings, where our future lays.
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.
shutterstock.

The Taj Mahal is wasting away

Carolyn Roberts, Keele University

Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, but over the last four centuries it has aged and darkened from pollution.
SCI + POP is a new social media project that circulates images to communicate research findings and provides commentary on science and health policy.

Science & art make truth more interesting than lies

Timothy Caulfield, University of Alberta

There are many reasons why scientists collaborating with artists makes sense, now more than ever.
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 at Carnival

Henry Navarro Delgado, Ryerson University

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival reclaims alternative ideals of beauty while building community in Toronto.
One plastic is particularly well-suited for the kitchen’s extreme temperatures. Oksana Shufrych

How silicone took over our kitchens

Kiersten Muenchinger, University of Oregon

Kitchens are like mini laboratories, with foods and utensils exposed to extreme temperatures. So it's no surprise that a material used for Mars missions has found its way into a range of cooking ware.
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.
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 Man Booker wins are 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.
A scene from the best-selling ‘Red: A Haida Manga,’ a revenge story. Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Haida manga: An artist embraces tragedy, beautifully

Marie Mauzé, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)

The "Haida manga" by Indigenous artist Yahgulanaas opens a graphic dialogue between the different cultures of the Pacific Northwest and East Asia.

Quote of the Day

Sedaka’s wholesome image and infectious cheerfulness are easy to slight and have too often belied an extraordinary career. Robert Morrison Professor of English Language and Literature, Queen's University, Ontario

Editor's Picks

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

Lepage: ‘I don’t see race’

Corrie Scott, 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.
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 is healing and resurgence

Riley Kucheran, Ryerson 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.
The Pulitzer Prize winning emcee Kendrick Lamar recently asked a white fan to refrain from rapping the n-word. A video recording of the incident has reignited a controversy that gained wide attention last year. In this 2016 file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs in New York. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)

White people should never rap the n-word

Darin Flynn, University of Calgary

At one of his shows, rapper Kendrick Lamar asked a white fan to refrain from rapping the n-word. A video of the incident has reignited a controversy: can white people ever rap the n-word?
An orange flag with the traditional Indian swastika on top of ancient Hindu temples in the Himalayas. (Shutterstock)

How Nazis twisted the swastika into a symbol of hate

James M. Skidmore, University of Waterloo

The swastika, an ancient and innocent symbol in many cultures for hundreds of years, now represents racial hatred. Should the swastika be banned in North America as it is in Germany?
Cover art from “Annie Muktuk and Other Stories,” Norma Dunning’s first book filled with sixteen Inuit stories which portray the unvarnished realities of northern life via strong and gritty characters. (University of Alberta Press)

Writing is the air I breathe: Publishing as an Inuit writer

Norma Dunning, University of Alberta

Inuit poet, scholar and writer Norma Dunning shares her experiences of trying to get published in Canada.
The theme at the core of Rowling’s wizarding world speaks directly to a universal human reality: The struggle to come to terms with our mortality. Shutterstock

Harry Potter and the surprisingly poignant literary theme

J. Andrew Deman,, University of Waterloo

We may think of _Harry Potter_ as escapist delight, but J.K. Rowling’s books also contain an extended theme that has more in common with _King Lear_ than most English professors might care to admit.
Barn Hammer Brewing Company Head Brewer Brian Westcott, Matt Gibbs of the University of Winnipeg and Barn Hammer owner Tyler Birch teamed up to re-create an ancient beer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

The taste of an ancient Graeco-Roman beer

Matt Gibbs, University of Winnipeg

Beer is the most consumed beverages in the world with a long history. What does the ancient art of brewing tell us about culture and tastes?

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  3. How Nazis twisted the swastika into a symbol of hate
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