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

From federal budget analysis to new research on toxic chemicals in food packaging, experts 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 24, 2023

• Assistant Professor at the Centre for Indigenous Studies, Ninaatig Staats Pangowish discusses the revitalization of Indigenous languages with CBC: The Current and CBC online.
• Citizen Lab Director and Department of Political Science Professor Ron Deibert’s research is highlighted in a Los Angeles Times (paywall) op-ed about how TikTok is no worse than other social media platforms.
• Lynette Ong, associate professor of Political Science and the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy comments for Verge on the government pressure in China in the context of the TikTok hearing.
• Department of Geography & Planning Professor Deborah Cowen tells CBC Podcast: The Secret Life of Canada that the Morningside Mall in Scarborough is the perfect example of a shuttered mall that was once full of life.
• Geography & Planning Professor and Infrastructure Institute at the School of Cities Director Matti Siemiatycki comments for Global News on Toronto’s King Street Transit Priority Corridor, and for CBC News online on using public-private partnerships to build schools.
• Political Science Professor Emeritus Nelson Wiseman tells Yahoo! Canada News that the reaction to the price tag of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s hotel room for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral is overblown.

March 25, 2023

• Department of Computer Science University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed the “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence,” discusses with CBS: Saturday Morning and Fox online the past, present and future of AI.
• Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology and Department of Philosophy Assistant Professor Karina Vold comments for The Globe and Mail (paywall) on AI technology development.

March 26, 2023

• Department of Political Science Associate Professor Diana Fu, also director of the East Asia Seminar Series at the Munk School’s Asian Institute, talks to BBC News online about what could be considered a success of the Hong Kong anti-government protests.
• Department of English University Professor Emeritus J. Edward Chamberlin shares with CityNews online the evolution of storytelling as outlined in his new book, Story Lines: How Words Shape Our World.
• The Munk School’s Scott McKnight, postdoctoral fellow at the Innovation Policy Lab, and Giancarlo Da-Re, Master of Global Affairs program student ambassador, argue in The Globe and Mail (paywall) that including liquefied natural gas in Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy could extend influence in Asia.

March 27, 2023

• Veda Jain-Allington, Master of Public Policy student at the Munk School writes in the Ottawa Citizen (paywall) that Canada must be at the forefront of the fight to end tuberculosis.
• Vice-president International Joseph Wong of the Department of Political Science and the Munk School discusses on TVO: The Agenda his new book From Development to Democracy: The Transformation of Modern Asia.
• The Citizen Lab at the Munk School is highlighted by The Wall Street Journal (paywall) for establishing that Russia provides internet-censorship software to Iran, and later in the week by  The Wall Street Journal (paywall) for implicating an Israeli private detective in a hacking-for-hire operation.
• Political Science and School of the Environment Associate Professor Kate Neville writes in The Globe and Mail (paywall) about her academic focus on the politics of energy transitions and transformations.
• Kamari Maxine Clarke, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies professor, and Anna Shternshis, director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and Al and Malka Green professor of Yiddish and Diaspora Studies in the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, discuss on TVO: The Agenda how Canada should effectively engage with diasporas.
• Ron Deibert and Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton offer insights to CNN, the Associated Press, the Washington Post (paywall) and NBC online on the finding that at least 50 U.S. government employees were targeted with phone spyware.
• Matti Siemiatycki comments for Toronto Star (paywall) on the above-ground rail line SmartTrack and its tie to former Toronto Mayor John Tory.

March 28, 2023

• Department of Earth Sciences Professor Miriam L. Diamond shares with CBC Science online, Toronto Star (paywall), CTV News, CTV News online, and CityNews new research on toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in food packaging.
• Sunil Johal, professor in Public Policy and Society at Victoria College, and Enid Slack, director of the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance at the Munk School, comment for CBC News online on the mismatch between municipalities’ services and revenues.
• Lynette Ong comments for the Toronto Star (paywall) on “foreign influences” and their impact on Canadian politics.
• John Scott-Railton comments for the Washington Post (paywall) on the Biden administration’s executive order to outlaw the federal government’s use of commercial foreign spyware.

March 29, 2023

• Ron Deibert is featured as a Canadian hero by Reader's Digest Canada.
• David Jones, Master of Public Policy candidate at the Munk School, argues in The Hill Times (paywall) that the House Health Committee’s workforce report lacks key recommendations.
• Matti Siemiatycki comments for CityNews on the provincial budget gap.
• School of Cities Director and Department of Geography & Planning Professor Karen Chapple comments for the National Post (paywall) on the federal budget.
• Nelson Wiseman talks to the National Post (paywall) about a donation received by the University of Montreal from Canadian businessmen Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng.
• Diana Fu says to CBC online that there needs to be proactive measures to encourage Chinese Canadians to participate in politics without fear.
• Enid Slack comments for The Globe and Mail (paywall) on the federal budget.
• Chris Ramsaroop, sessional instructor in the Caribbean Studies program at New College, shares with CBC online that Toronto’s upcoming municipal election could turn the issue of TTC violence into a campaign against unhoused people.

March 30, 2023

• Political Science PhD candidate William O’Connell argues in The Globe and Mail (paywall) that banks need to be taxed more.
• Ron Deibert provides insights to the Toronto Star (paywall) on the U.S. effort to restrict commercial spyware.