December 10, 2021
Photo from iStock
Vaccine hesitancy in certain communities may reveal systemic issues rooted in racism, according to a new research project co-led by third-year science student Sinéad Osivwemu and Kharissa Edwards, BSc’21.
Photo by Inzmam Khan via Pexels
An international team of researchers, including Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor Shehzad Ali, has developed an artificial intelligence tool that facilitates more personalized treatments for depression and improves patient outcomes.
Photo by Shvets via Pexels
A new partnership between Western and the Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Program of St. Joseph’s Health Care London will provide additional support on campus to students who have experienced sexual assault or domestic violence, with 24/7 services as needed.
Lisa Anne Floyd. Photo by Mark Wolfe, School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Faculty of Education PhD candidate Lisa Anne Floyd, one of the first educators to champion teaching computer coding to young people, was recently recognized with the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Photo by Anete Lusina via Pexels
A first-of-its-kind study by Schulich Medicine & Dentistry's Greta Bauer and her team at Trans Youth CAN! dispels a controversial gender dysphoria theory that activists and experts have called inaccurate and harmful to transgender people.
Photo by Lucie Liz via Pexels
Get into the spirit of giving by supporting small businesses founded by Western students and alumni. Western News has compiled a list of inspirational gift ideas certain to add a little ‘purple pride’ to your holiday season.
Working at Western
Photo from The Rotary Club of London South
London Heritage Collectible Ornaments: University College
Give your tree a Western-touch, with the new pewter University College ornament offered by the Rotary Club of London South. Proceeds support vulnerable youth in the London community.
COVID-19 update for the campus community
With the end of term around the corner and some newly emerging guidance from the Middlesex-London Health Unit, Western shared an update regarding on-campus activity for December and into January, health and safety protocols during exams, university travel and our vaccination clinic.
United Way 50/50 raffle
Western’s United Way 50/50 raffle starts Monday, Dec. 13, and a winner will be selected on Friday, Dec. 17. When you win, we all win! Half the proceeds go to the winner and half to our community. Buy 50 tickets for $50, 10 tickets for $20 or three tickets for $10. Tickets can be purchased online starting Monday.
Photo of the Week
Wide receiver and third-year urban development student Mohsen Jamal celebrating the Western Mustangs winning their 8th Vanier Cup on Dec. 4. Photo by Brandon VandeCaveye, Western Athletics
Coming Up
Photo by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope via Flickr
Saturday, Dec.11 (7 p.m.)
Peering further, fainter and finer with JWST
Learn from experts about the James Webb space telescope, the most powerful space telescope ever built, at this virtual event hosted by the Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory.
Friday, Jan. 7 (12:30 p.m.)
Artists in residence Tafelmusik
The first 'Fridays at 12:30' concert series of 2022 will feature Tafelmusik musicians Felix Deak, cello, and alumna Julia Wedman, violin, performing a programme featuring a variety of baroque composers, including Bach, dall’Abaco, Corelli and Biber.
Friday, Jan. 7 (1:45 p.m.)
Talking Music: From the hunt to the concert hall
Following the Fridays @ 12:30 Concert Series, this research series features Faculty of Music professor and Tafelmusik alumnus Derek Conroda on the evolution of the French horn, with live demonstrations on his own instruments.
Jan. 13 to Feb. 17, 2022
Six feet | between us
This exhibition at McIntosh Gallery will feature a 10-dyad, transdisciplinary dialogue between Derek Boswell, photographer and Western grad, and poet Kevin Andrew Heslop on topics of single-use consumption, capitalist ecocide, and the fetishized individualism of the Anthropocene vis-à-vis the COVID-19 pandemic in London, Ont..
Western in the News
Janice Forsyth. Photo by Debora Van Brenk, Western News
Global National
Calls to rename Lou Marsh Trophy due to racist legacy
Sociology professor Janice Forsyth is leading a review of Lou Marsh’s work as part of a call to rename the trophy that bears his name.
CBC The Current
U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing
Angela Schneider, Olympic rower and director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies says diplomatic boycotts are already achieving what they were intended to do, which is to bring attention to China’s human rights issues.
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Does smiling really make you look younger?
Melvyn Goodale and a team of neuroscientists from Western found that smiling actually makes people look older, unless they are over 60. The team showed participants hundreds of photographs of faces of people between the ages of 20 and 80, either smiling or with a neutral expression.
Montreal Gazette
So how were Canadian teens feeling during pandemic's first wave?
Faculty and students at the Human Environments Analysis Laboratory connected with young Canadians to better understand the effects of the pandemic on teens. They found many adopted positive coping strategies during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
Commentary
Women's monument at Victoria Park in London, Ont. Photo by Wayne Ray via Wikimedia Commons
Jordan Fairbairn, sociology professor at King's, on how the media can make a difference by raising awareness through accurate representation when reporting on femicides.
