Joyce Wieland stares with dots of navy for eyes, a dash of white for a nose, and no mouth. She is pale and faceless, yet her portrait seems to pose defiantly. She is challenging us. Heart On—which opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) on Feb. 8—commemorates Joyce[Read More…]
Author: Mia Helfrich
Black History Month panel investigates representation in genetics research
On Feb. 12, McGill’s DNA to RNA (D2R) initiative hosted a webinar in honour of Black History Month. Led by Mariloue Daudier, Senior Advisor, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for D2R, the session explored the opportunities and challenges faced by Black individuals in genetics research. The webinar featured three guest speakers[Read More…]
Preserving music on principle: How Habibi Funk sets the gold standard
As a radio host on CKUT 90.3 FM, a non-profit, campus and community radio station based at McGill, I constantly scour the internet for obscure tracks to fill the airwaves. In November, I had the pleasure of co-hosting CKUT’s World Skip the Beat alongside my friends Monique and Isla, where[Read More…]
Lip service won’t save lives amid the Indigenous domestic violence crisis
This Valentine’s Day, the Centre for Gender Advocacy and The Native Women’’s Shelter of Montreal’’s Iskewu Project co-hosted their annual memorial march and vigil in honour of Montreal’s Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+). With the Canadian government offering little more than[Read More…]
When there are no words
When I was little and my parents were checking out at the grocery aisle, I would wander over to the greeting cards and wait. It was only upon discovering the floral-fronted sympathy cards that I began to realize death was all around us. With a history as banal as its[Read More…]
What’s up, doc? Discrimination against foreign doctors runs rampant amid Canada’s doctor shortage
Canada faces a dangerous shortage of medical doctors, leaving approximately five million Canadians without access to primary care providers in 2022. Simultaneously, internationally-trained physicians (ITPs) struggle to meet unnecessarily burdensome requirements to practice medicine in Canada. Foreign-trained doctors must undergo eight cumbersome steps to obtain a Canadian medical license—as opposed[Read More…]
New SSMU food pantry offers students groceries at affordable prices 
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) recently launched a new pay-what-you-can student food pantry on Jan. 30 to promote greater food security on campus. Planned in partnership with the ECOLE project, a sustainability-focused communal student housing cooperative, the pantry is located in the foyer of the ECOLE building at[Read More…]
Unearthing Canadian veins of greed
How the country enables the global mining industry’s exploitation of people and the planet On Jan. 13, 2025, Mali took a bold step in reclaiming control over its natural resources, as the government began seizing $245 million CAD worth of gold stocks from Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold. The seizure is part of[Read More…]
My cultural identity is not dependent on a language
A few weeks ago, my friend Toscane and I were stopped by a man who asked us if we were French. With our affirmative response, he excitedly expressed his love for our accent before noticing the Hamsa pendant on my necklace. Also called the Hand of Fatima, the Hamsa symbol[Read More…]
McGill Classics Department wields love to explore Medea’s story in ‘The Argonautica’
The ancient Greek figure of Medea likely makes your skin crawl with discomfort—or maybe causes you to shiver with morbid curiosity. For how could a woman, scorned nevertheless, be pushed to the extreme of killing her own children? Euripides’ play, Medea, features such a story, where the titular character’s heartbreak[Read More…]