A&S scholars sharing their expertise in the media this week

From Russia’s relentless attacks on Mariupol to Toronto’s tech industry boom, scholars from a range of disciplines across the Faculty of Arts & Science are sharing their expertise on a variety of issues in the media.

Here’s some of what they had to say this week.

March 18, 2022

• Department of Chemistry University Professor Emeritus John Polanyi writes about the life of Soviet nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov for The Globe and Mail.
• Department of Philosophy professor Mark Kingwell writes about truth norms for The Globe and Mail.
• In the Toronto Star, Department of Political Science and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy University Professor Janice Stein speaks with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly about Canada holding social media companies accountable for Russian propaganda.
• Deirdre Baker, an assistant professor in the Department of English, highlights books for children and teens that feature Black history, culture and family in the Mississauga Times.
• Department of Geography & Planning and School of Cities professor Matti Siemiatycki comments for The Narwhal on Ontario’s investments in public transit.
• Aurel Braun, a professor of international relations and political science at the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CERES) at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, explains to Global News the implications of neutrality for Ukraine.

March 19, 2022

• In The Washington Post, Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton warns Russia could target Starlink technology, and later in the week explains how a community of civilian social-media spies are combatting misinformation about the war.
• Department of History professor Andres Kasekamp comments on the West’s strategy to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine for Global News, and the potential for a ceasefire with the National Post.

March 20, 2022

• Alison Chasteen, a professor in the Department of Psychology, comments on how to respond to age discrimination in the workplace for CNBC.
• Mark Manger, an associate professor at the Munk School, tells The Globe and Mail that the interdependence of the United States, European and Chinese economies may deter the threat of economic warfare.

March 21, 2022

• The New York Times highlights Department of Computer Science University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton and professor Raquel Urtasun as game-changing talents who have helped Toronto become a tech industry powerhouse.
• Department of East Asian Studies Assistant Professor Michelle Cho reviews the new horror movie Umma, the first Hollywood film to feature a lead actor and director of Korean descent, for CBC Radio’s q.
• The Toronto Star talks to Mikinaak Migwans, an assistant professor in the Department of Art History and curator of the Art Museum, about sites of historic resistance in Toronto and the motivation behind the Scholar Strike.
• Citizen Lab senior researcher Christopher Parsons tells Global News that public oversight of Canada’s intelligence agencies is key to critical assessment of their operations.
• In the National Post, Munk School fellow Mark Kersten explains the protections that foreign fighters in Ukraine are under.
• Andres Kasekamp talks to Global News online about what to expect at the upcoming NATO summit and to CTV News Channel about Russia’s relentless attacks on Mariupol.

March 22, 2022

• Robert Bothwell, history professor emeritus, tells The Washington Post that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s deal with the NDP will likely expand the social safety net.
• Ron Deibert, Citizen Lab director and political science professor, is featured on Reader’s Digest Canada’s list of “20 Canadian heroes you might not know about – but should”.
• History professor emerita Margaret MacMillan discusses the challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin poses to international order on CBC’s The Current.

March 23, 2022

• Janice Stein discusses whether the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate on TVO’s The Agenda.

March 24, 2022

• Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and School of the Environment Miriam Diamond talks to Best Health about the health effects of chemicals in beauty products.
• Aurel Braun discusses the significance of Mariupol as a battleground with CBC’s The Current and Russia’s military capabilities with CTV News online.
• Rosemary Sullivan, English professor emerita, rebuts criticism about her book The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation and its claim about who betrayed the Frank family with CTV online.