August 28, 2020 by
A&S News
From lessons for the entertainment industry from the Spanish Flu of 1918, to the poisoning of a Russian politician, 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 A&S scholars had to say this week.
August 21, 2020
- Jessica Leonora Whitehead, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Italian Studies, examines COVID-19’s impact on the film industry in the Globe and Mail, drawing parallels with the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
- Department of Political Science professor Nelson Wiseman comments on engagement by members of the Conservative Party of Canada in selecting a new leader in a CTV News story.
- John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, comments on the prevalence of digital spyware vendors operating from Cyprus in Vice. “I can't imagine that the country is thrilled to see that a growing number of shady surveillance vendors are setting up shop,” he says.
August 25, 2020
- Professor Emeritus Anthony Doob at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies speaks about the practice of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons in the Globe and Mail.
- Matti Siemiatycki, an associate professor in the Department of Geography & Planning and interim director of the School of Cities, comments on the Government of Alberta’s approval of the development of a Hyperloop project for travel between Calgary and Edmonton, in the Globe and Mail. “It’s seen as transformative, but whether the tech can actually deliver, plus the cost, are still open questions,” says Siemiatycki.
- Political Science associate professor Seva Gunitsky speaks about the poisoning of Russian politician Alexei Navalny in the Globe and Mail. “It’s natural to assume Vladimir Putin had Navalny poisoned, but the scarier and equally plausible option is he can’t really control when and how people with a lot of enemies get poisoned,” Gunitsky says.
August 26, 2020
- Mike Reid, an associate professor in the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, comments on a new theory that life began on Mars before coming to Earth in CBC News.
August 27, 2020
- A Wired story describes a Citizen Lab report presenting evidence of censorship on messaging platform WeChat regarding the coronavirus pandemic. “This censorship shows the ongoing politicization of the pandemic and the importance of fact-based, open, and effective communications pertaining to public health,” says Citizen lab associate director Masashi Crete-Nishihata.