Jillian Holland-Penney, Saher Zaidi, and Jessica GlazewskiJillian Holland-Penney, Saher Zaidi, and Jessica Glazewski facilitate Flip the Script workshops in sexual assault resistance.

Training available in sexual assault resistance

The Office of Sexual Violence Prevention, Resistance, and Support is once again offering its sexual assault resistance education program for university-aged women, “Flip the Script with EAAA” for Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act.

The 12-hour workshop is the centrepiece of the “resistance” aspect of the office’s work, says director Dusty Johnstone.

“Prevention is a goal that requires active involvement from the community and social change, which takes time,” she says. “But we also need short-term solutions that can make an immediate difference in the lives of women on campus — and that’s the goal of resistance education.”

Dr. Johnstone describes Flip the Script, developed by UWindsor psychology professor Charlene Senn, as the gold standard program of its kind.

“This program has been extensively researched and shown to decrease the likelihood of experiencing sexual assault in the future,” she says.

Sexual violence education specialist Anne Rudzinski says Flip the Script builds on the knowledge and tools that women already have.

“We’re already really good at knowing when something doesn’t feel safe,” she says. “What we do is help expand on options for resistance, without limiting your choices or your freedom.”

The next two-day workshop is scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 22. Attendance is limited to registered UWindsor students who identify as women and are under the age of 26.

The workshop is focused on this cohort because statistically they are the group at the highest risk for experiencing sexual violence, says Dr. Johnstone.

“We know that programs need to be targeted to be effective, and the structure of facilitation is designed to work specifically with women in that age group,” she says. “It has been our experience that older women don’t find the program as relevant or interesting.”

The office also offers classes in Wen Do women’s self-defence, a program of comparable length for women of all ages on campus, and Acts of Resistance, a similar course for members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.

Sign up for Flip the Script through MySuccess.

To learn more about all the office’s resistance programming, contact Rudzinski at arudzins@uwindsor.ca.

booth at the Canadian Greenhouse ConferenceOfficials from the University of Windsor and Horteca showcased their expertise at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference, Oct. 5 and 6 in Niagara Falls.

Regional partnership to advance agricultural research

The University of Windsor announced a local partnership to advance agricultural research, development, and innovation in the Windsor-Essex region Thursday during the Canadian Greenhouse Conference (CGC).

The University of Windsor and Horteca — a joint venture of greenhouse operator JEM Farms and Ecoation, developers of pest management and yield forecasting platforms — will establish and operate a two-acre fully operational innovation greenhouse for research, proof-of-concept designs, and partnership opportunities with industry and community partners.

Under the banner “Agriculture at UWindsor” (AgUWin), the space will provide access to prime growing and technical environments for researchers and industry, with the ability to field test the deployment of upcoming technologies in a cost-effective, secure, and safe environment.

Chris Houser, UWindsor interim vice-president, research and innovation, says the partnership will increase the University’s ability to provide hands-on student learning experiences in such areas as growing conditions, sensors, biologics, data and artificial intelligence, autonomy and robotics, security, sustainability, supply chain, and Indigenous partnerships. New programing will be developed to support talent development and leadership in the agriculture and greenhouse sectors.

Windsor-Essex is home to the largest number of greenhouses in the world outside the Netherlands.

Saber Miresmailli, founder and CEO of Ecoation, says controlled environment agriculture is the answer to a growing world population and climate change induced limitations that negatively affect the food supply chain.

“Through this partnership with the University of Windsor, the country’s best minds are getting together in Horteca to solve yet another major issue that impacts humanity as a whole — clean, sustainable, and nutritious food production.”

Dr. Houser says AgUWin will network with greenhouse growers and suppliers to focus on the region’s reputation and opportunities within the greenhouse sector.

“The University is well positioned to support the advancement of new technology and greenhouse innovations, and the Windsor-Essex region is exceptionally well aligned to support greenhouse growers and global industry leaders in advancing these new and exciting technologies,” he says.

Houser invites companies interested in partnering on projects with the University of Windsor and Horteca to reach out to: research@uwindsor.ca.

Olivier Tristan BalmokuneMFA graduand Olivier Tristan Balmokune created a virtual reality experience as his film thesis project.

Virtual reality thesis breaks new ground

When MFA film and media arts student Olivier Tristan Balmokune defended his thesis on Aug. 29, he broke new ground. Balmokune hasn’t created a film, he has created a virtual reality (VR) experience.This project incorporated several of his skills and interests: storytelling, learning new software platforms, and virtual reality.

“I was always interested in virtual reality, and I’ve always been doing research on it,” says Balmokune. “So when it came to doing my master’s thesis, I had a big discussion with my thesis supervisor, professor Nick Hector.

“We discussed my desire to take a different angle as opposed to making a short animation or a short film. I decided to go in a different direction and explore immersive narration. Prof. Hector was very encouraging and very supportive. He’s made my MFA experience amazing!”

Then Balmokune started watching a lot of YouTube videos to learn how to do it.

“I have been trained as a creative. So, I have done visual effects before and movie editing, of course,” he says. “So, this project takes all those skills that I had and morphed to build the virtual reality environment. I've been telling stories since I was a kid. This is going to sound super geeky, but I've been role-playing in Dungeons & Dragons games since I was young.“

Pre-pandemic, Balmokune planned to shoot live action segments and incorporate that into the animation and into the actual VR experience. But when COVID-19 caused everyone to isolate, he decided to go completely virtual.

“Everything you see has been done virtually,” he explains. “Even the voice acting is done through artificial intelligence. It's not an actual person talking. My project is completely digital, completely virtual, and pretty much everything was done remotely from my house, from my home computer. Everything from the facial expressions, to building the environment, to the talking, to the lip-syncing.”

The creation process took time because Balmokune was learning as he was making it.

“When you film something, you might have to build the set, but everything is there. The person is there, their voice exists, when you close the door, the sound of the door closing is there. Everything can be recorded,” he says. “However, when you're creating VR, all that stuff must be made. So I must create the character. I must create the voices. I must create even the sound of somebody walking. I must create the sound of the footsteps. Nothing exists on your set until you make it.”

The time it takes to complete Balmokune’s VR experience depends on the person, because it depends on how long a person explores the environment.

“Overall, it's only about three to four minutes long to go through the whole thing,” he says. “There are only two puzzles. You listen to some of the characters talking, you’re able to explore some stuff and you figure out some puzzles — about four minutes. And that’s been a year’s work.

“There is the code that goes behind it. Everything else has code in there, especially if you are going to make things interactive. To be able to have responsive elements there must be enough code behind it to be able to have characters respond to what somebody's doing.”

Researching and creating this thesis project helped Balmokune land a job with Hitachi.

“I’m now a XR developer, so a mixed reality developer. That incorporates virtual reality, augmented reality, that sort of thing,” he says. “I am on the innovation teams right now and I’m working on developing interfaces and applications for wider use. I want to continue exploring the narrative side of immersive narratives.”

Due to current health and safety restrictions, people weren’t able to put on VR headsets at Balmokune’s thesis defence.

“I recorded some friends of mine going through the experience,” says Balmokune. “And then I made a video of myself going through the experience and then talking about what people are doing.”

His support document goes into greater technical detail regarding how the virtual experience was created and tested.

Shelley NiroArtist Shelley Niro will discuss her work over a beading circle and turkey lunch on Friday, Oct. 7.

Beading circle to frame artist’s discussion

Artist Shelley Niro will discuss her work and her exhibition Boundless, currently on display at Art Windsor-Essex, over a beading circle and turkey lunch on Friday, Oct. 7.

Presented by the Aboriginal Education Centre - Turtle Island and Windsor Law in partnership with Art Windsor-Essex, the event is open to all and starts at noon in room 115, Dillon Hall.

It will open with a drop-in beading circle — participants may bring their own projects or can receive a Red Dress kit in advance by emailing katpasq@uwindsor.ca. After lunch, Niro will speak and take questions.

Niro is a member of the Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk from the Six Nations Reserve. An artist and filmmaker, she has exhibited across Canada and presented her work at the 2003 Venice Biennale.

Boundless gathers photographs demonstrating Niro’s reflection on her community and relationship to landscape.

grad cap on pile of booksThe Special Appointments Committee invites nominations and applications for the title of Distinguished University Professor.

Applications welcome for appointments as Distinguished University Professor

The Special Appointments Committee of the University Senate welcomes nominations and applications for the title of Distinguished University Professor.

Intended to recognize faculty at the rank of professor who have distinguished achievements in teaching and an international reputation for scholarship or creative or professional accomplishment, the title has been conferred on 46 individuals since its inception in 1986.

An application for an eligible candidate must be submitted to Senate governance officer Danny Anger in the University Secretariat by Nov. 30. Criteria and process can be found here.

The title “professor emeritus” is now granted automatically. Those faculty or librarians who did not receive automatic emeritus status on retirement because they did not meet the minimum required years of continuous service but do fulfill the other criteria may submit an application to the Special Appointments Committee for consideration.

For additional information, contact Anger by email at angerd1@uwindsor.ca.

Chris Baillargeon presents a tuition remission bursary to Elijah Sevilla-GarciaOPUS president Chris Baillargeon presents a tuition remission bursary to Elijah Sevilla-Garcia, who won a draw for the prize at a welcome barbecue outside Assumption Hall on Sept. 22.

Barbecue provides warm welcome from part-time student body

Computer science student Elijah Sevilla-Garcia won a draw for a tuition offset worth up to $1,850 at the welcome barbecue hosted by the Organization of Part-time University Students on Sept. 22, but everyone in attendance was a winner, says executive director Maryan Amalow.

“There was a tremendous turnout that included part-time undergraduate, full-time undergraduate, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University,” she says. “Over 500 students, staff and faculty members were fed during the two hours.”

In addition to a free meal, they received door prizes and information from booths that included the Canadian Federation of Students, Lancer Recreation, and the Office of Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility.