There is a passage in Plato’s //Meno// that goes something like this: The well-born Meno asks for proof of Socrates’ claim that no one is ever taught anything, and instead they recollect things they already know. Socrates calls over one of Meno’s enslaved attendants and asks the boy, who has[Read More…]
Articles by Tasmin Chu
So you’ve just met an Asian girl
So you’ve just met an Asian girl. There she is, assigned to your group for the final project in HIST 208, with her Hydro Flask and laptop stickers. She’s kind of cute. This could be your chance. Time to shoot your shot: Where is she from? Oh, she’s Chinese. Yikes![Read More…]
Finding new words for my identity
It took me until I was 12 to realize that my father’s English was accented. Before that, it was just my father’s voice: Familiar and melodic, a vestige of his first, tonal language. Like many mixed kids, I was hyper-aware of the racial categories I fit into from a young[Read More…]
McGill Senate approves motion to create COVID-19 advisory committee
The McGill Senate held its first meeting of the 2021-2022 academic year on Sept. 22, where it passed several routine motions and approved the creation of an advisory committee that will counsel the university’s senior administration on COVID-19-related academic policies and planning. During the meeting, the Senate considered a motion[Read More…]
Stuff we liked this break
This holiday season was a weird one. With not much to do and three extra days not to do it, binging a new series on Netflix or getting lost in a good podcast wasn’t so much an option as it was a necessity. As always, the team at A&E took[Read More…]
McGill Alumnus Steven Pinker presents McGill’s 2020 Beatty Lecture online
Cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker presented this year’s Beatty Lecture to the McGill community and the general public on Sept. 25. Every year, the Beatty Lecture brings leading thinkers to McGill to present a public talk on a topic of their choice. During the online lecture, which drew in[Read More…]
Students in residence urged to return home amid COVID-19 pandemic
SHHS requests that residence dwellers move out According to an email co-signed by the Senior Director of Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) Marisa Albanse and Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Fabrice Labeau, practicing social distancing during the COVID-19 crisis in large student residences is difficult due to the[Read More…]
Experts encourage students not to panic in wake of COVID-19 crisis
Despite the ongoing global COVID-19 crisis, McGill experts are advising students to remain calm. About one million students and educators have been affected by the two-week closure of Quebec’s CEGEPs, secondary schools, and universities, leaving many wondering as to the possible extent of the crisis’s disruptions to their daily lives. [Read More…]
No online or physical classes for two weeks during COVID-19 crisis
McGill suspends all online and physical classes Associate Provost (Teaching & Academic Programs) Christopher Buddle announced in a video update that McGill will be suspending all academic activities for the next two weeks during the COVID-19 crisis. “All classes are cancelled for the next two weeks, [both] online [and] in-person[Read More…]
McGill closed for two weeks following provincial COVID-19 update
Quebec Premier announces closure of all schools Following a directive from the Quebec government on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, McGill has cancelled classes and exams for the next two weeks. On March 13, Premier François Legault announced the two-week closure of CEGEPs, secondary schools, universities, and daycares province-wide. The McGill[Read More…]
Friday classes cancelled following coronavirus update
Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) Fabrice Labeau has announced that McGill will be cancelling classes and exams March 13 in an email sent to staff and students.
SSMU Indigenous Affairs hosts Have A Heart Day for Indigenous youth
Content warning: Mentions of racialized and colonial violence. The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs hosted Have A Heart Day, a reconciliation-based event held at the First Peoples’ House on Feb. 14. At the event, some participants wrote Valentine’s Day letters with messages of support to Indigenous youth,[Read More…]
McGill begins Black History Month celebrations with Opening Ceremony
McGill held its fourth annual Black History Month Opening Ceremony at the Faculty of Law on Feb. 3. The event was a collaboration between the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi, the Black Students’ Network of McGill (BSN), and the McGill African Students’ Society (MASS). The ceremony[Read More…]
Over 100 march in protest against nationalist Indian government in Montreal
Over 100 people marched in protest against India’s government outside Montreal’s Parc metro station on Jan. 26. The march, hosted by India Civil Watch Montreal, was part of a worldwide protest against the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP government has come under[Read More…]
Relevant McGill hosts forum on the potential consequences of porn
Content warning: Explicit mentions of sexual exploitation, sexual violence. Pornography has never been as easily accessible as it is today. On Jan. 17, Relevant McGill, a week-long series of talks about faith, science, and culture organized by multiple Christian groups on campus, including Power to Change and the McGill Christian Fellowship[Read More…]
Education Undergraduate Society misses quorum to strike
The Education Undergraduate Society of McGill (EdUS) and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held a General Assembly (GA) on Jan. 10 where they condemned Bill 21. During the GA, students in the Faculty of Education voted on the possibility of striking for two days on Jan. 17 and[Read More…]
AUS votes to send out email condemning free trips to Israel
In its final Legislative Council meeting of the fall semester, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held a moderated discussion about an all-expenses paid trip to Israel offered to AUS members by Hillel McGill, a cultural organization for Jewish students on campus. The trips, which were explicitly targeted to McGill student[Read More…]
TEDx McGill holds annual conference on theme of ‘pushing the envelope’
TEDxMcGill’s annual conference was held on Nov. 16 and featured nine presentations from students, innovators, and business leaders notable for their actions that tested the limits of possibility. Emma Lim Emma Lim is a climate change activist and U0 Science student at McGill. As an organizer of Climate Strike Canada,[Read More…]
Students protest Wellness Hub’s scheduled open house
Content warning: Mentions of suicidal thoughts. Approximately 20 McGill students protested outside of the Brown Student Services Building for accessible healthcare on Nov. 12, the day of a planned open house of the Student Wellness Hub. The open house was postponed the day before due to weather. The demonstration, organized[Read More…]
McGill announces creation of online Bachelor of Nursing degree
McGill announced that it will be launching Quebec’s first online Bachelor of Nursing degree in on Oct. 24. The program, which aims to address a lack of baccalaureate-holding nurses in the province, will be offered in both English and French starting in 2021. Quebec’s nurses are less educated than their[Read More…]
SSMU Legislative Council addresses affordable housing with new committee
The Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) fourth Legislative Council meeting of the year saw the long-awaited creation of an Affordable Student Housing Committee, first proposed in February 2019. The motion to create the project in collaboration with the nonprofit housing organization Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant[Read More…]
McGill holds active shooter response workshops
On Sept. 18, McGill held one of three active shooter workshops scheduled for this year. The workshops, which McGill began facilitating five years ago, is designed to inform students and staff about how to stay safe during an active shooter situation. This scenario is defined in McGill’s security protocol as[Read More…]
First wave of students completes sexual violence prevention training
Over the summer, McGill released an online sexual violence prevention course called “It Takes All of Us” to its first wave of students, with incoming first years gaining access as early as June 2019. Eventually, all students and staff will be required to complete the course. “”It Takes All of[Read More…]