Organizers of the UWill Discover Sustainable Futures conference invite proposals from students in any discipline to present their research or reflections, March 20 to 24.

Conference chair Ehsan Ur Rahman Mohammed, a master’s student of computer science, says he is excited to see the work of undergraduate and graduate students.

“UWill Discover — we mean it,” he says. “You will discover your hidden talents of presentation, you will discover research insights, and most importantly, you will discover those important connections with amazing people around the campus.”

Students may submit proposals for posters, articles, business pitches, prototypes, musical or drama performances, compositions, art installations, movie trailers, and educational tools, among others. Student research-assistants can present research reflections sharing their experiences working with faculty advisors. Organizers have prepared templates and short tutorials to help students develop their proposals.

UWill Discover is a year-long project including pre-conference workshops, opportunities for mentorship, and a writing retreat for the students. This year’s conference theme is “sustainable futures” in recognition of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Project lead Tim Brunet of the Student Success and Leadership Centre says the conference structure is a “pedagogical persuasion where students are at the front of the room sharing their vision of research, scholarship, and creative work.”

The conference boasts $10,000 in student awards. Select research reflections and work by the presenters will be added to an annual journal to be published in the summer of 2023.

UWill Discover is run by the Student Success Centre and supported by the Office of the Vice-President of Research and Innovation, the Leddy Library, and the Office of the Provost. Find details on submitting to the conference on the UWill Discover Sustainable Futures website.

Find updates and information on the conference social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Send questions to uwilldiscover@uwindsor.ca.

—Medha Muppala

Law professor Valarie Waboose, an Anishinabe Kwe and director of the Indigenous Legal Orders Institute, will address the devastating and long-lasting impact of the residential school system on the survivors in a free public presentation entitled “Studies of the Indigenous Residential School System and Stresses of the Compensation Process for Survivors” on Thursday, Dec. 8.

Part of the Canterbury College Indigenous Speaker Series, the event will take place at 3 p.m. on the Zoom teleconferencing platform as well as in person at 2500 University Ave. West.

Dr. Waboose graduated from Windsor Law in 1993 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995 before going on to earn a master’s degree in alternative dispute resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School and a doctorate in Indigenous studies from Trent University. She served as in-house legal counsel to the Walpole Island First Nation and joined the Faculty of Law in 2016 with areas of specialization that include Indigenous legal traditions, the legacy of residential schools, and the ways in which First Nations within Canada reconcile with their past.

Register to attend Thursday’s event at www.eldercollege.ca.

The Amherstburg Freedom Museum will host a UWindsor history professor and two of his former students for a presentation as part of its series on Black history Thursday, Dec. 8.

Prof. Gregg French, psychology major Chadene Griffiths, and history student Karleigh Kochaniec will discuss “Teaching and Learning about the History of Race and Slavery in University Classrooms” on MS Teams from 2 to 3 p.m.

The three will address the creation of a safe and productive classroom environment; the use of various theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical approaches; the course content; student experiences; and the topic’s relevance in the present.

Join the webinar here.

After a two-year absence, the annual University of Windsor High School Boys Basketball Christmas Tournament is set to get underway Dec. 9 to 11 at the Toldo Lancer Centre.

This year’s edition of the tournament will feature a new format, with a division featuring competition between the traditional high school teams, and a second division showcasing some of the top prep teams in Canada. Both divisions will split their games between the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse and the new Lancer Centre gym.

The traditional high school bracket will vie for the tournament trophy, while the prep teams will participate in a showcase format as they take a holiday break from their respective leagues. Click here for the complete tournament draw and schedule.

Lancer men’s basketball head coach Chris Cheng said he is excited to welcome back the event, now in its 64th year: “We look forward to hosting and showing what our University, Lancer program, and community have to offer all participating teams.”

Find more information, including a list of the 14 participating teams, at goLancers.ca.

Tickets for the tournament are free; fans will enter through the main doors of the Lancer Centre, where they will be directed to their respective gyms.

While Bonnie Stewart welcomes returning to in-person classrooms, she does miss one element of online teaching: chat, the feature of digital meeting platforms that enables a real-time scroll of participant contributions to run along the side of the screen throughout a class, meeting, or session.

Dr. Stewart is an associate professor of online pedagogy and workplace learning in the Faculty of Education, and author of a column in University Affairs on “The Digital Classroom.” In the most recent entry, she explains that the chat function empowers students to be their own active Greek chorus in spaces where they might otherwise be passive.

“Online, I heard from probably 90 per cent of my students voluntarily in the chat,” Stewart writes. “No matter how welcoming I try to make my in-person classrooms, verbal contributions have never come close to that number. Nor could they, without taking up all our class time.”

She argues that by giving a little bit of power back to learners, chat can open a one-way medium into a participatory one.

“I’m excited to go back to the classroom again in January,” Stewart concludes. “But I still want to find a way to build a choral chat experience into our work inside those familiar four walls.”

Read her entire piece, “The online meeting chat is dead: long live the online meeting chat.”

Published by Universities Canada, University Affairs provides news, commentary, and in-depth articles, as well as practical advice and tools to help your career, whether you’re a university administrator, faculty member or graduate student.

Interested in the national urban park proposed for the Ojibway complex? The City of Windsor and Parks Canada are holding a public drop-in session Wednesday for discussion of the concept.

At the event, attendees will be able to learn about the proposal, including the steps toward designation, view maps of the draft study area, and share ideas about the park.

The event is being held at the John Muir Library, 363 Mill St., on Dec. 7 from 4 to 6 p.m.

“There is currently only one national urban park in Canada and the fact that we’re working towards transitioning the Ojibway Prairie Complex and surrounding natural areas into a national urban park is truly a testament to what a gem we have here in Windsor-Essex,” said Deepashika Senaratne, a third-year biochemistry student and a member of the Friends of Ojibway Prairie board.

“I would highly recommend attending this event so you can learn more about what this park would mean for our community.”

With the drop-in format of the event, interested parties can stop by at any time convenient for them between 4 and 6 p.m. More information can be found on the City of Windsor website.