As the world prepares for December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, I talked with Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign that helped organize events in countries around the world, including Canada, for the international day of action on climate change on October 24. In the interview, McKibben discusses [...]

“Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.” – Voltaire

Mark Cosgriff, Atheism , 2007
Certains droits réservés.

The predominant historical cause of Western atheism was, until the 21st century, the increase and development of scientific knowledge available to human observation. The discovery of electricity made Zeus’ ‘thunderbolts’ obsolete; they remain part of our consciousness only as [...]

When musicians are invited to show in a contemporary art context, their sub-cultural cache is not all they bring to the situation; a two-person exhibit at Galerie Lucile Corty by singer-songwriter David-Ivar Herman Düne and visual artist Marlie Mul generates unexpected (and unintentional) perspectives on the relationship between popular culture and high art.

Régine Debatty, [...]

Though this was supposed to have been an essay on silence written in collaboration, in the end, you’re left with only one voice here; if perhaps only for now. I’ll come back to the reasons why the collaboration failed below, but can say in the meantime that this remains, still, an essai on silence. An [...]

In the midst of the greatest economic crisis of the post-war era, Bernard Madoff was forced to reveal the Ponzi scheme he had been running for years, when there weren’t enough funds to pay off the flood of redemption requests during this time of financial market turmoil. In fact, the trustee supervising the bankruptcy of [...]

An increasing trend towards non-traditional health practices is emerging internationally. This presents promising healthcare options, yet some basic issues remain unclear. In an effort to provide a broader understanding of this emerging issue, various types of complementary and alternative medicines are explored, and the reasons for increased use briefly examined. Understanding complementary and alternative medicine [...]

Un an après le très bon American gangster, Ridley Scott revient en grande forme avec un thriller politique – adapté du livre éponyme de David Ignatius(1) – qui décortique le métier d’agent secret dans une région du monde ultra-sensible, le Moyen-Orient.

Freeparking, backyard view through a viewfinder, 2007
Certains droits réservés.

L’agent Roger Ferris [...]

The climate on planet Mars is too cold and too dry to house water in liquid form. Images of Martian topology, however, reveal river beds and water gullies, suggesting that large amounts of liquid water once shaped the landscape. Even the estimated amount of water molecules in the planet’s polar ice caps is well short [...]

The Impressionist paintings in America today enjoy a revered place in artistic venues, as well as both official and personal comments of individual artistic appreciation. But was it always so? Looking at the time when Impressionism was in its nascent stages shows us that, much like some new art forms that we see emerging today, [...]

The 2008 financial crisis was all about a mispricing of risks. For years investors reaped the rewards of investing in risky securities such as mortgage-backed ones, and now they are simply bearing the costs. But the fact is, very few investors knew these assets were risky. Thanks to triple-A ratings by the credit rating agencies, [...]

The histories of jazz in New York City and Montreal flow together along a current of authenticity.  As Montreal prepares to receive $120m, how can its jazz tradition further strengthen its identity as an international cultural destination?
It is no accident that the cities which have historically been centres of intense jazz activity have been those [...]

The ongoing financial crisis is receiving enormous amounts of attention and a plethora of analyses every day. However, reports and opinions rarely reflect the historical underpinnings that reach farther than 2001, and remain mainly oriented on very recent years, wars, and presidents, especially G.W. Bush; the effect of neoliberal policies is often neglected as well. [...]

In 2003 and 2004, a controversy regarding the use of antidepressant medications in children and adolescents made the headlines. It was reported that these medications increased the risk of suicide. During the last four years, many studies have been conducted to assess whether antidepressants are beneficial or detrimental in the treatment of pediatric depression. Since [...]

High levels of sexual and gender-based violence characterize current civil conflicts. Canada prides itself on upholding human rights and gender equality in such conflicts and during peacebuilding. It has adopted a narrow approach to gender equality, however, that does not address the rights of LGBT populations. A broader approach is necessary to uphold human rights [...]

While at play with the border in the virtual and futuristic world of the video game Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter2, we are confronted by the extent to which it imitates actual U.S.-Mexico border politics. The extreme sense of urgency and panic evident in the game about the potential penetration of American soil by borderhackers, [...]

2009 marks 25 years since the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was linked to the transmission of the retrovirus Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In these years, HIV/AIDS has become one of the largest human health pandemics in recorded history. An estimated 33 million people are infected and AIDS causes approximately two million deaths each year (1). [...]

To mark the 60th anniversary of the publication of the Refus global manifesto, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts has organized a survey of fifty-eight paintings and drawings made by some of the manifesto’s signatories and members of Quebec’s artistic collective “Mouvement Automatiste” (1). An historical evaluation of this movement and  the circumstances that surrounded [...]

The current global financial crisis has raised questions about the future of capitalism. What is overlooked is how capitalism is related to civilization. In order to delineate this relation and unmask its essence, we must begin with the inverted image of capitalist civilization, which we will elucidate by way of metaphor – a possible civilization [...]

Ingrid Betancourt survived six years of captivity in the middle of the Colombian jungle. When all hope was lost, she was rescued in an extraordinary military operation. With her popularity intact, will she be able to recover her political career? Is she destined to solve the chronic instability created and supported by her former captors? [...]

In September 2005 Senator Inhofe invited science fiction author Michael Crichton to Washington to counsel the U.S. Congress on the issue of climate change. Due to his celebrity influence, Crichton’s melding of science fiction with policy recommendations risks hindering the capacity for informed public discussion on scientific matters of concrete social importance. Crichton’s speech collapsed [...]

The expressive freedoms promised by the vanity plate are predicated on an inherently false understanding of their bureaucratic function. The vanity plate eradicates « plagiarism » within its system and promulgates seriality rather than individuality akin to those who affix numbers to their email addresses in order to use their own name.

Jerry « Woody », ALBERTA 1915 [...]

Amidst dizzying imagery and language teeming with metaphor, Katia Grubisic’s debut poetry collection, What if Red Ran Out ($16.95), manages to create a space within which to explore the in-between and often overlooked moments of everyday experience.
“What goes on at the edge of the bank / could last years, centuries… Yet— / the [...]

An important change is taking place in psychology. A recent direction within psychology called “positive psychology” focused on understanding what makes life of people more fulfilling and worth living. It is believed that the concept of passion is one key factor in achieving that. Passion can fuel motivation, enhance well-being, and provide meaning in everyday [...]

This think piece ponders the rhythm of recent Cuban history and seeks to open a space of reflection about how to envision the passage of history. In Cuba, a post-revolution political imaginary often seems to have bound the past to one place. Within obscure time dynamics, the future, in turn, appears uncertain and blurry, or [...]

At this year’s International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, there appears to be a disjuncture between research and reality. Resources are being aimed at ‘our’ AIDS problem, a problem which is rooted in small pockets of the developed world’s population; whereas, ‘their’ AIDS problem is of a different nature altogether – and it forms the [...]

Play fighting is very common in young children and research suggests there might even be benefits to play fighting for early child development. Even though play fighting resembles real fighting and its roughness is often perceived by adults as problematic, recent findings have us to reconsider whether it is really as bad as it may [...]

In On Becoming Cuban (1), Louis A. Pérez Jr. attempts to provide an encompassing account of the relationship between Cuba and North America and the resulting trends in the formation and development of Cuban national identity. Like many previous events, the retirement of Fidel Castro launched a series of predictions of imminent change in Cuba; [...]

Aboriginal people have harvested throughout North America for thousands of years. National parks, which have long been places of refuge for stressed ecosystems, have normally prohibited such traditional practices. Concurrent developments in Aboriginal rights and ecological thinking have put pressure on parks to allow Aboriginal harvesting. What does this mean both for national parks and [...]

Omar Khadr’s detention at Guantanamo Bay raises a number of issues. Whether or not he is guilty of the charges he stands accused of, the circumstances and legality of his detainment shake the very foundations of justice that are allegedly being protected. Furthermore, the silence of the Canadian government on the matter betrays Canadian principles [...]

‘Mad,’ ‘Psychiatric Survivor,’ ‘Crazy,’ ‘Lunatic,’ and ‘Inmate’ are terms being (re)claimed by those who are a part of a human rights movement resisting ‘normal’ culture and reformulating what it means to be a person who has been labeled and treated as crazy. Two separate events – one in July, the other in September – will [...]

Bisphenol-A (BPA) made headlines late in 2007 when Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) suspended sales of bottles made using the chemical. MEC cited growing consumer concern that BPA may leach from polycarbonate bottles (1). In the last six months retailers such as Walmart, Lululemon and Canadian Tire have all pulled or stopped stocking selected BPA-containing products, [...]

Terrorism has ruined the fiction market, according to publishers. The book-buying public descends on titles like The Post-American World and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, and fiction is cast once again as something pleasant and childish to be put aside when things get serious. Author and sculptor D. [...]

How many planets are there in our solar system? This would be a relatively easy question, were we to forget the demotion of Pluto to minor planet status in 2006. What about the planets outside of our solar system? Could any of those planets support life as we know it here on earth?

Ian Davis, [...]

Stories have a role to play in environmental debates and problem-solving because they help to engage a wide range of voices and perspectives. Literary writing in particular provides a means of exploring the nuances and complexities of environmental issues. In this context, how might stories enable us to re-imagine our ways of living in response [...]

The campaign to expose the hidden history of genocide in Canada opened a new front recently, when hereditary Squamish Chief Kiapilano ordered the churches that directed the horrific Indian residential schools off his territory, and his followers began a series of occupations and protests to enforce his eviction order. In this article, Kevin Annett describes [...]

Cyclone Nargis is not the first tragedy to befall the Burmese. The oppressive, violent rule of the military junta has been under international scrutiny for the past twenty years. Now, after Cyclone Nargis, that same regime is responsible for providing relief to those affected by the cyclone and managing millions of foreign aid. But does [...]

Social interaction depends on the ability to recognize the beliefs, knowledge and experiences that determine the actions of others. How we gather this abstract information was largely unknown before the last decade,when researchers discovered mirror neurons in the monkey brain. In the decade following this discovery, these neurons have been implicated in a host of [...]

Scientists in New York have recently constructed a blanket of carbon nanotubes shown to be the blackest material ever made, or, put another way, a nearly perfect anti-mirror. Nanotubes seem to have found their way into the spotlight yet again, but this time, these tubes are taking it all for themselves.

Kevin Krejci, Mirrors [...]

In an effort to detect oncoming enemy aircraft by means of acoustic amplification of the propellers’ drone, Britain built a series of concrete Sound Mirrors between 1915-1935.  Primitive, massive and accidentally sculptural, the Sound Mirrors represent a lost link in the transformation of modern warfare.  Although now obsolete, the mysterious structures still loom over the [...]

Social trends and consumer preferences appear to spell the end of the suburbs and the resurgence of downtown living, but for many, suburbia is not a lifestyle choice. In Toronto, the suburbs are only now becoming what they have long been in Europe: the subordinated pole in the centre-periphery relation.

ashley, SUBURBIA, 2006
Certains droits réservés.
[...]

Authentic artworks compel recognition, respect, and protection. Unless mistaken for the real thing, forgeries typically don’t. Philosophers have provided numerous accounts of the importance of aesthetic authenticity, conceptions of what constitutes authenticity in art, and suggestions for how the art community ought to deal with authentic works. What is the significance of a crack in [...]

Throughout the 20th century, protest music had been the backbeat of anti-war movements from West to East. But response to the Iraq War has not generated a sustained protest within the spectrum of popular music today. Has a new type of “protest music,” in the form of political comedy and satire, taken up the [...]

Parents and educators often debate and struggle with the decision to raise a child bilingually or whether to focus on one language first. I spoke with Dr. Fred Genesee, a leading expert in the domain of bilingualism and child development, about the issues surrounding the topic of children growing up with two languages, a scenario [...]

By examining economic distribution in various countries, can we better understand the impact these countries have on their indigenous plant and animal species? Recent research suggests that we can1. A consideration of income inequality may improve our ability to predict how much of the flora and fauna in a given country is threatened with extinction, [...]

With time running down to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, international political pressure has increased on China to assume accountability for its poor human rights record, domestically and abroad. While the media contemplates the appropriateness of sport and politics as bedfellows, a more pertinent question should be whether the symbolic actions taken in the [...]

Today’s youth will be faced with very challenging decisions with regards to social equity and ecological sustainability. The Pembina Institute, a Canadian non-profit environmental think-tank, and Pearson College, an international school focused on peace and sustainability, are collaborating to develop an experiential field school for young people interested in taking leadership in ecological sustainability and [...]

The gender income gap in Canada is wide and persistent. While gender-role attitudes in society have become more egalitarian, and while more women than ever before are pursuing advanced degrees and joining the workforce, the disparity between men’s and women’s income has remained unchanged over the past decade. Why is this the case?

Hannah Webster, 160/365 [...]

The Guarani aquifer – a vast subterranean aquifer located in Southeastern South America– has recently become a contested site for resource management. Lying beneath four countries and holding the possibility to sustain humanity’s basic need for potable water for generations to come, the delineation between national, regional and international jurisdiction, profit and sustainability, remain worryingly [...]

This article examines the political administration of humour in Australian civil society from both an historical and contemporary perspective, as well as a range of cases involving cross-dressing prostitutes, police impersonators, political satirists and rebellious bare-bottomed colonial prisoners. Why are these moments of cheerful vulgarity met with dour repression on the part of police? How [...]

The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto is a unique service that approaches the issue of food security by integrating nutrition, the environment, and social justice. The Stop illustrates the integrated approach necessary for dealing with the problems of rising fuel costs, the loss of agricultural land to biofuel production and social inequity.

Jeffrey, Food, [...]

The video game is decades old and rivals film and music in revenues, yet mainstream reporting on the medium remains sensationalistic and largely uninformed. While Europe and Asia are getting wise to the diversity of this “tenth art,” North American portrayals lag far behind. Why is this the case?

Elias Parra Cardenas, Cutesy Monster, 2005
Certains [...]

The War on Terror presents an interesting if difficult case for applying classic notions of justice to the idea of war. To try and resolve some of these difficulties, it may help to look back to the political philosophy of Aristotle and Hobbes, who, in similar ways, address problems inherent in the pursuit of justice [...]

For several decades now, the “quantum computer” has promised to be the next great evolution in technology. Despite intense research by many of the world’s leading scientists, no significant progress has been made towards realizing an actual working device. Recent discoveries in fundamental electron physics, together with a paradigm shift in our approach to quantum [...]

A new incarnation of popular music singers can be heard playing their craft on popular airwaves. The recent parade of jazz-oriented artists such as Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, Jamie Cullum, and others have many adult contemporary listeners thinking “maybe I actually do like jazz,” and tempts many jazz practitioners into whispers of a [...]

At a recent conference in Toronto entitled Nature Matters: Materiality and the More-Than-Human in Cultural Studies of the Environment (Oct. 25-28, 2007), presenters spoke on a wide range of topics, all of which touched in some way on the difficulties – linguistic, conceptual, ethical and political – of researching, writing and talking about [...]

China’s growing economic prosperity has incurred both admiration and suspicion. The People’s Republic marches into world history as the heir apparent to global supremacy. In light of China’s ubiquitous geopolitical influence, it seems ineluctable to interpret China’s current socio-political formation as a model for future regimes and nation states. One would inevitably ask: what kind [...]

The news outlets have lately been busily covering the Serbian province of Kosovo and its unilateral declaration of independence. Implicitly pre-established images of Serbia—evoking war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and, most horribly, genocide—have been used by Western politicians to secure public support to recognize the self-proclaimed state. However, when the claims of genocide are closely examined [...]

Moving into the XXI century, images of lives devastated by floods in Asia, droughts in Africa and cyclones in Central America are becoming increasingly familiar, reminding us of how vulnerable people in developing countries are to climate change. Considering the hardships these people face every time a catastrophe dawns on them, could they not perhaps [...]

The written word has often been criticized as an asocial medium. However, recent actions of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah are an example of the political power of writing and suggest that writing can be a salient and influential communicative medium. In light of this recent event, Marshall McLuhan’s seminal criticism of writing as inherently isolating [...]

Stress contributes to the development of various physical and psychological illnesses. While the effects of cortisol on stress have been thoroughly studied, the role of the enzyme alpha-amylase has only recently been investigated. The latest research suggests that alpha-amylase is linked to our emotions and our health.

Manicosity, Stress Relief, 2006
Certains droits réservés.

Stress is [...]

Postmodern wit parades around in a historicist coat of many colours. It toys mockingly with the original sin of believing you can be original as an artist. We find it in art’s reflexiveness toward its own history, its own objecthood, and its own institutional settings. Marcel Duchamp’s pissoir of 1917 was the prototype for a [...]

The poems included in Soleïman Adel Guémar’s recently published State of Emergency document the brutal political repression carried out by the Algerian government for over a decade. In them, we find voices of hope, of despair. The great strength of the volume, however, lies in its ability to speak to a larger audience at [...]

The genocide in Darfur has been met with systematic dithering regarding humanitarian aid and the prevention of atrocities. Canada encountered similar problems almost a century ago regarding humanitarian and military assistance to Armenia. This article examines Canada’s failed mandate for Armenia in early 1920, which I hope offers a practical perspective to consider more recent [...]

Biodegradable anti-personnel mines, recyclable explosives, reduced-led ammunitions and fuel-efficient military planes are some of the measures one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers is taking to protect the environment in its list of social responsibilities. Experts are divided over the move by BAE Systems—some commend it while others are appalled by it.
(Translation of Mines compostables, [...]

Cycling my way across Alberta and gathering stories about the impacts of the development boom with a group called “To The Tar Sands,” I realized that it was our slow pace that gave us access to perspectives on the boom that most Albertans are not hearing. By slowing down the pace of development, Albertans will [...]

Canada’s immigration system attracts highly skilled workers to better compete in the global economy. Upon arrival in the country’s largest cities, however, immigrants find themselves ghettoized in highly racialized and gendered labour markets. A business-led campaign in Toronto to have foreign credentials recognized promotes an individualistic, market-based approach to the integration of immigrants that fails [...]

Some Girls: Griffiths/Simms/Wagschal/Werner, curated by James D. Campbell, is billed as an exhibit which “contributes to a vital dialogue concerning the state of portraiture in contemporary art.1” The tradition of portrait painting has focused on head and shoulders representations of noteworthy individuals. Some Girls is also an exhibit whichcontributes to ongoing feminist discussions: [...]

The United States detains thousands of people as suspected terrorists. It claims that the open-ended detention of terror suspects is a national security necessity. The contemporary legal issues of these terror suspects have correlations to America’s past. The treatment of slaves and their attempts to gain freedom through the courts in the antebellum period [...]

As recognized by the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore’s style of science communication reflect complimentary approaches to global capacity-building in the face of ‘wicked planetary environmental issues’. How do these initiatives work to strengthen communication between science, politics and people? Might their effects be enhanced by [...]

Social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace have achieved widespread popularity in only a short time. On any given day swarms of people update and build their contacts on these sites, posing an interesting challenge to traditional notions of human relationships, says author Christine Rosen. Even more interesting though is the possibility that Facebook and [...]

What is the effect of HIVS/AIDS on the state? Civil society can be considered the ‘immune system’ of the state in that it is a pre-requisite for sustaining democracy and is an integral requirement for combating HIV/AIDS.  What emerges is a recursive crisis, where any state that fails to cope with the epidemic will see [...]

Ecologists, conservation biologists, and wildlife managers often accept that the invasion of exotic species leads to the extinction of native species. One reason for their consensus is that native species declines often occur simultaneously and in the same place as exotic invasions. However, the data supporting invasion as a leading cause of extinction is often [...]

Feminist scholars have recently argued that both ballet and modern dance inscribe restrictive definitions of gender on the body. Is formal dance irredeemable as a mode of feminist expression? The Canadian dance troupe Lalala Human Steps, under the direction of famed choreographer Edouard Lock, challenges the normative gender types of traditional Western dance. Dancer and [...]

A growing number of citizens demonstrate in favour of the adoption of laws and international conventions that promise to protect the environment. The demonstrations triggered by the Kyoto protocol are an example. However, despite all these genuine efforts, our planet’s recent “checkup” still causes alarm. The environment continues to deteriorate despite the norms implemented both [...]

Mainstream macroeconomic theories tend to leave out environmental issues in their basic calculations. Despite increasing awareness of alternative macroeconomic models among academics, students today  continue to be exposed to conventional theories that treat the environmental consequences of economic activity as ‘externalities’. Green National Accounting attempts to include environmental protection as a value in its alternate, [...]

While elites in Germany bemoan young peoples’ lack of knowledge of the history of East German Communism and occasionally reveal the limitations of their own understanding, they neglect to preserve the landmarks that ground the historical knowledge of this period in the urban landscape. Effacing collective memory may be the intention. Indeed, the recent demolition [...]

Over three hundred students, professors, and members of the general public packed into a former Catholic chapel at the University of Windsor last month to hear historian and novelist Tariq Ali lambaste the imperial wrong-headedness of American policies in the Middle East and around the world. Mr. Ali delivered his message in a voice whose [...]

In Part II of his interview with Tariq Ali, Lorenzo Buj asks the historian and novelist about his take on the meaning of Islamic jihad and his reaction to Iranian President Ahamdinejad’s recent visit to Columbia University, New York.

Daquella Manera, Jihad for Mayor, end
regentrification, 2006
Certains droits réservés.

Buj: What do you [...]

Transparency and access to information are two key topics that have emerged from Mexico’s political transition in 2000. This article examines the measures taken towards establishing these democratic markers, and argues that these policies have failed to include provisions for punishing the misconduct of public servants in the government.

Codo, Ready Ok, 2006
Certains droits réservés.
[...]

The month of September was marked by a flood of interest and attention on the political situation in Burma. As repression and abuse have been common and enduring traits of the military regime, why has this particular round of violence sparked such universal outrage around the world? Various factors could help explain this apparent anomaly, [...]

In recent years, the global production of farmed fish has exploded. There have been many ecological concerns over aquaculture practices, but when it came to health issues, matters were overlooked until the publication of a controversial paper in Science, 2004. Since then, debates over the safety and health issues of fish consumption have intensified. This [...]

This September’s issue of U.S. Vogue, touted as the “Biggest Issue Ever”, contains only 13% editorial content. Nevertheless, an aesthetic continuity ties the magazine’s advertising to its editorial features, betraying implicit ideological concerns in the content. Drawing on images of leisured femininity, popular in the 1920s and 50s, the latest Vogue reflects a deepening anxiety [...]

In Memoirs of the Maelstrom: A Senegalese Oral History of the First World War Joe Lunn reveals a side of the “Great War” that is commonly neglected. He explores in detail the participation of Black Senegalese recruits on the European frontlines under the French banner, and the politics that surrounded their recruitment, thereby giving [...]

What are the effects of the Nazi legacy on the Federal Republic of Germany? What effects did it have on German national identity and collective memory in the decades following WWII? A connection exists between the shifting conceptions of collective memory/identity and the new wave of Nazism witnessed today. West German attempts to construct a [...]

This article presents a case study of a small car-share and the operation of a micro biodiesel production facility. In addition to providing anecdotal evidence of the feasibility of biodiesel ‘homebrewing’, this example also highlights how a cooperative ethics of ‘making do’ may be relevant to the cultivation of environmental solutions more broadly.

Celine Nadeau, [...]

Contemporary magician Criss Angel and his millions of viewers are examples of the resurgence of magical performances—both on television and in public spaces. Angel’s revelatory DVD and the unveiling of magic secrets by other illusionists re-inflame the question of how magic can keep its secrets in the information age.

Codo, 2007
Certains droits réservés.

On www.crissangel.com, one [...]

The immigrant diaspora is the backbone of the North American success story and its growth pushes the boundaries of both nationalist identity and the urban landscape. Recently, a Hindu temple/heritage museum was erected in Toronto by the local Indo-Canadian community as a physical reminder of Canadian multiculturalism. The traditional stone-carved edifice is impressive and heralds [...]

In the 1980’s, an era of rapid globalization, South American countries joined together to form the “Mercado Comun del Sur” (MERCOSUR), the “Common South Market”, in an attempt to strengthen their position in international trade (1). However, political disruptions and asymmetries have been holding back the bloc’s potential growth. How is MERCOSUR to remain a [...]

The constitutional project for the European Union, shelved since the failed ratifications of 2005, is currently witnessing a revival. Under the guise of a new “Reform Treaty” most of the original Constitution’s content has been preserved, but is now being presented in an underhanded manner that expressly avoids public dialogue. This strategy on the part [...]

Technological and medical advancements have led to a steady increase in the life expectancy and in the size of the older adult population. Consequently, the number of age-related ailments, such as Alzheimer’s disease, is on the rise. In addition to the emotional and psychological struggle experienced by patients and their families, Alzheimer’s disease poses a [...]

Touch is now recognized as a stand alone contributor to a young child’s healthy development. Aside from providing comfort and security, touch has also proven to be fundamental to the social and physical development of the infant. Such findings have wide implications for health-promotion programs and for managing costs of early infant care.

Marco Fedele, [...]

Ray Hsu reflects on his experience teaching incarcerated writers in a Wisconsin prison and on how his work foregrounds the politics of funding in education.  As a poet and student, he explores how authorship amounts to a form of privilege in some publics and not others, divisions produced and exacerbated by funding bodies.

Nico Hogg, [...]

Artists Damien Hirst and Tobias Wong recently unveiled controversial pieces that, in contrast with the anti-commercial work of their contemporaries, celebrate the luxury object. Do these artists represent a conservative strain in contemporary art that makes art complicit with commodity culture? Or is their work on luxury a modern expression of art-for-art’s sake, an aesthetic [...]

Since the 1980s we have seen the rise of forensic-based human rights organizations working to scientifically document crimes against humanity on an international scale. It is perhaps too early to tell what effect the conjunction of scientific data and eyewitness testimony will have on historical writing. However, discernible changes are already apparent with regard to [...]

Last February Al Gore and British billionaire Richard Branson presented the Virgin Earth Challenge. It operates on the assumption that there is a technological solution to the climate change crisis. Technology materializes a particular relationship to the world. Does modifying our technology change this relationship? And how do technological innovations help or hinder our attempts [...]

The Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) is being touted by industrialized nations as a way to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 25 percent within the span of the next decade, with the added benefits of forest conservation and capacity building in the developing world. Among the serious [...]

New York is set to become the first North American city to levy fees on drivers accessing downtown streets. Promoted originally by a business think tank and later championed by New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, the plan would charge private motorists $8 and truck drivers $21 to access Manhattan south of 86th Street from [...]

Exploitative violence – the brand depicted in many popular films, including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s recent release, Grindhouse –is a prevalent fixture of the media landscape. Violence figures differently in various societies. For some, violence, or the threat of violence, is a daily terror. For others, violence is predominantly entertainment. Popular culture’s portrayal of [...]

Claiming land was one of the central motivations for European settlement of Canada. For centuries, Europeans took possession of territory occupied by First Nations under the pretext of possessing superior cultural institutions. Recently, an Algonquin First Nations cultural centre in Quebec was vandalized with white supremacist insignia. The act, as well as societal reaction to [...]

Despite their explosive commercial and popular success, video games continue to be limited in their ability to convey messages outside of their purposes of entertainment. This essay looks at the example of the game Super Columbine Massacre RPG (SCMRPG) and explores what its rejection from an independent games festival means for the potential of the [...]