World Philosophy Day
November 20 is World Philosophy Day, an initiative by UNESCO. The event has been celebrated since 2002. This year’s theme is “Social Transformation and Intercultural Dialogue”. Programmed events for the day, as well as suggestions for how everyone can join the celebration can be found here.
Big Thinking speaker Bartha Knoppers in media
Bartha Knoppers, McGill University professor and Director of the Centre for Genomics and Policy makes the case for big health data in The Hill Times. Data from all citizens, rather than a select few, would greatly bolster the information available to healthcare researchers, but the public must also be convinced that their data is secure.
Dr. Knoppers was the Federation’s Big Thinking speaker on October 30. Her Big Thinking discussion was covered by Tim Lougheed in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
On November 20 Dr. Knoppers received the honour of being named Grande Montréalaise. Le Devoir has interviewed Dr. Knoppers, who discusses her academic background leading to this nomination, and what this title means to her.
Recession sends graduates back to school
Simona Chiose of The Globe and Mail describes the results of a Statistics Canada study showing that many students who graduated following the 2008-09 recession went back to school. While more students have been pursuing graduate degrees over the past decade, the recession cohort showed a jump in numbers. This was more so the case for B.A. graduates (49%) than any other category.
RSC report makes compelling case for why libraries and archives are essential, but vulnerable
A report released by the Royal Society of Canada provides a wide range of recommendations directed at multiple institutions and organizations to help protect the permanence and sustainability of Canada’s libraries and archives. Budget cutbacks are threatening what the report considers to be the irreplaceable value of libraries. Matthew McKean, Policy Analyst at the Federation, provides a concise summary and reflection on the 225-page report in this blog post.
Other interesting news:
The Forever Professors: Academics who don’t retire are greedy, selfish, and bad for students (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Mieux outiller les doctorants pour le monde du travail (Le Devoir)
Une traduction financée par le PAES reçoit le Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général (Federation blog)