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Album Reviews, Books, Poetry

Literary theorist Jeff Dolven pays a virtual visit to the English department

by Ella Gomes and Suzanna Graham on

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On Jan. 19, the McGill English Department held its 2022 Spector Lecture, an annual event that highlights contemporary work in the literary field. This year, the department welcomed Jeff Dolven, a poet, literary critic, and Princeton professor of English. Later, students and faculty had a chance to hear several of his new poems at a virtual reading hosted by Poetry Matters on Jan. 20. Originally planned to take place in McGill’s Wilson Hall on Mar. 24, 2020, organizers moved the lecture online after the pandemic prompted numerous reschedulings. 

To start it off, Dolven introduced attendees to his most recent area of study: Poetry and simultaneity. Dolven explored how human conversation is naturally inclined toward turn-taking—a tendency that poetic structure can disrupt to create metaphors that form overlapping connections. 

Dolven then explained the importance of taking turns during conversation. No known human language prefers both parties to speak simultaneously during a conversation; overlapping speech often leaves us disoriented and overwhelmed. However, English poet Sir Philip Sidney’s double-sestina poem “Ye Goat-Herd Gods”—Dolven’s case study for the lecture—challenges this inherently human pattern. As the two speakers, shepherds Strephon and Klaius, lament their love for an ambiguous and distant feminine figure, the poem begins to abandon the typical back-and-forth of human speech until the shepherds’ duet loses all essence of natural human behavior. While Strephon begins wailing “For she whose parts maintained a perfect music,” Klauis follows, echoing “For she, with whom compared, the Alps are valleys,” emphasizing the heavily formulated, yet related nature of their cries. With stark shifts between each shepherd’s longing confessions, Strephon’s and Klaius’ proclamations appear in sync, yet disconnected.  

Dolven highlighted that the shepherds repeatedly echo each other’s form, rhetoric, and figurative language, imbuing metaphors and figures of speech with multiple “stacked” meanings. Though literary theorists commonly argue that metaphors link, or condense, two disparate objects together through speech, Dolven argues that this constant echoing and build-up of multiple meanings deconstructs the metaphor’s linear connections, instead fusing them into a web of multiple meanings.

A recording of the lecture will be available soon on the Poetry Matters website, and Dolven intends to elaborate on these ideas as well as others in his upcoming project exploring poetry and simultaneity, tentatively titled All Together Now.

In addition to being a prominent literary theorist and critic, Dolven also writes poetry. His works have been featured in The New Yorker and/The Paris Review, and he also edits for Cabinet Magazine. Dolven’s poetry reading, focussing on attention and solidarity, was an effective counterpart to his denser, more theoretical lecture the day before. 

Discussing his forthcoming poetry collection, A New English Grammar, and Other Poems, Dolven explained his formula: Each poem begins with a grammar rule copied from a textbook, which he proceeds to break in the poem’s following lines. The rules encourage him to play with fun phrases that may make grammar purists uncomfortable, such as the line, “we’ve got any milk, but only any,” replacing the commonly used “some” with “any.” 

“[Grammar textbooks have] a bunch of sentences that have asterisks in front of them. That means this sentence is going to tell you something about how English works, but it’s wrong—don’t use it,” Dolven said during his presentation. “[I was] interested in what it would mean to try to make poems or make worlds within which this sort of strange, busted, broken language was, in fact, good currency.”

In addition to his grammar-defying poems, Dolven read several others that similarly break preconceptions, such as “State of Expectations,” a sweet lyric poem about an elephant, who, despite his title as “king of the beasts,” feels quietly insecure about living up to his status. On a heavier note, “Let the World Breathe for You” is a haunting pandemic poem about releasing self-ownership while living in an iron lung, a primitive respirator that helped save numerous polio victims in the 20th century. The poem asks readers to “sing poli-o, sing poli-oli-o,” using song to confront fear, much like the childhood tune “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Covering a wide range of literary terrain, from reading to theorizing about poetry, Dolven shared his love of literary experimentation with McGill’s faculty and students. His presentations proved that the rules and presumptions of grammar, conversation, and ultimately the human experience become meaningless—or rather, meaning-full—in the world of poetry.

McGill, Montreal, News

Max Liboiron leads webinar on anti-colonial technology within universities

by Charlotte Power on

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On Jan. 20, Max Liboiron led a webinar on “Building feminist and anticolonial technologies in compromised spaces” as a part of the fourth season of the Feminist and Accessible Publishing and Communications Technologies Speaker and Workshop Series. Co-sponsored by Alex Ketchum, a faculty lecturer at the McGill Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF), and Concordia University professor Damon Matthews, the webinar detailed how to navigate work in sites tainted by strong histories of colonialism—and ultimately, how to achieve structural change.

Liboiron, an associate professor in geography at Memorial University and formerly the school’s Associate Vice-President of Indigenous Research, is Métis and a leader in developing and promoting anticolonial research methods across disciplines. As the founder of the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), an interdisciplinary plastic pollution laboratory that operates out of Memorial University, Liboiron has shaped public policy on both plastics and Indigenous research.

During the webinar, Liboiron discussed the concept of “compromise”—not as a failure, as some proponents of institutional change might see it, but as a condition of doing ethical work within uneven power relations. They highlighted the necessity of establishing equitable research methods and policies within colonial systems and institutions.

According to Liboiron, even in the process of decolonization, individuals will inevitably reproduce parts of colonialism due to its pervasiveness. 

“When I’m talking about compromise and reproducing parts of the system that we are trying to change, it’s the condition of doing the thing. It is the condition for making change,” Liboiron said. “You don’t get to start from somewhere else, there isn’t somewhere else, this is the place, and that is the basis of your collaboration in the world.”

Liboiron also highlighted the role infrastructures play in upholding and defining colonial spaces and institutions. They explained that within the research sphere, structural power difference between Indigenous communities and universities is often downplayed; in practice, university researchers, rather than Indigenous people, often stand to gain the most from data collected on Indigenous communities. Thus, one of the key ways to decolonize research and combat unequal power dynamics, Liboiron explained, is to establish data agreements that empower Indigenous communities to own their own data. 

“Indigenous data sovereignty is about how and why they need to own and control their data,” Liboiron said. “A sovereignty model for a research collaboration with an Indigenous group can be that the Indigenous groups decide the priorities, the overarching ethics and goals of the research, but then I as the researcher ‘fuck off’ and do the work. That’s the recognition of unevenness and of owning your place in the uneven infrastructure.”

Ketchum, writing to The McGill Tribune by email after the talk, said she feels inspired by Liboiron’s recent book, Pollution is Colonialism, and is motivated to bring anticolonial scholarship into the classroom. 

“Dr. Liboiron thinks critically about university structures, lab structures, and research practices,” Ketchum said. “I’ve loved being able to assign Liboiron’s work in the GSFS feminist research methods courses that I teach, because their work helps students and researchers question what it means to do feminist and anticolonial research.”

Matthews, a professor, research chair of climate science and sustainability at Concordia, and director of the Leadership in Environmental and Digital Innovation for Sustainability (LEADS) program, hopes universities will use their influence to promote social and environmental sustainability.

“I really appreciate the idea that we can work toward achieving transformative change while also acknowledging the flawed nature of many of the institutions that we operate within,” Matthews said. “But, as institutions, few universities have succeeded in challenging the power structures that propagate the fundamental inequalities and injustices that could undermine our sustainability goals.”

Science & Technology

ROAAr symposium delves into the complicated relationships between scientists

by Madison Edward-Wright on

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The science behind friendship and how it develops between people has been a longstanding object of study. However, much less research has looked into the friendships between scientists themselves. The Rare & Special Collections, Osler, Art, and Archives (ROAAr) branch of the McGill Library held a symposium on Jan. 20 to explore exactly that. 

Stopes and Hewitt: A correspondence for the ages

Laura Jean Cameron, professor of Geography and Planning at Queen’s University, first met Ingrid Birker, manager of the Public Program at McGill’s Redpath Museum, when she reached out to her in hopes of gaining access to part of the Redpath’s fossil collection. Cameron had requested access to some Fern Ledges fossils housed at Redpath. These fossils had a history: They were important items in the friendship between Charles Gordon Hewitt, an entomologist, and Marie Stopes, a palaeobotanist and suffragette. 

Hewitt was first Stopes’ student at the University of Manchester, where in 1904 he attended her lectures on palaeobotany, the study of fossilized plants. When Hewitt moved to Canada in 1909 to become dominion entomologist, he and Stopes continued to communicate through letters. The two connected over the newly emerging field of ecology, but their friendship also inspired many of Stopes’ feminist writings. 

“The success of their friendship was […] one of the important contributions she may have wished to make for science,” Cameron said during her presentation. “In her writing on behalf of women’s suffrage […] Stopes expressed her belief that a friendship of equality between men and women was not only possible, but was an evolutionary imperative.” 

While Birker and Cameron acknowledged the other friendships that Stopes and Hewitt had with problematic figures in Canada such as Duncan Campbell Scott, the notorious deputy superintendent general of Indian affairs, and Helen MacMurchy, a staunch promoter of eugenics, the presenters glossed over Stopes’ involvement in the eugenics movement. Stopes was a vigorous supporter of birth control and family planning, but primarily because she believed these to be key tools in the practice of eugenics—which, for her, meant selective breeding to preserve the white race. 

Penfield and Cone: Advancement of science but the end of a friendship

Borrowing from his research for a larger exposé published by The Globe and Mail, journalist Eric Andrew-Gee examined the once prosperous, but ultimately volatile friendship between Wilder Penfield and William Cone. 

Penfield and Cone began working together at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 1924, where Penfield practiced surgery, primarily on the brain. When Penfield moved to Montreal in 1928 after being recruited by McGill University, he invited Cone to join him. The pair would eventually found the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (MNI) in 1934. 

“[Penfield and Cone] led a team together that made groundbreaking discoveries about memory, pleasure, anxiety, and learning,” Andrew-Gee explained. “They worked together in ‘double-harness,’ as they both liked to say, for 35 years.”

The friendship devolved, however, as Cone’s skills as a surgeon and dedication to the field of medicine surpassed Penfield’s, causing Penfield to grow jealous. Even worse, in 1953, Penfield was chosen over Cone for the directorship of the institute.

“By the 1950s, there were two camps at the [MNI],” Andrew-Gee said. “Cone’s people focussed on spinal surgery [while][…] Penfield’s focus[sed] on epilepsy.” 

Cone became extremely depressed not long after these events and eventually died by suicide in 1959, which greatly upset Penfield. Despite the tragic ending, Andrew-Gee concluded his talk by acknowledging the instrumental role friendship played in the lives of the two men and their scientific developments.

“Cone and Penfield had a deeply loving friendship, and together, sitting and talking over a microscope or the head of a patient, they helped give birth to the romantic mathematics of neuroscience,” Andrew-Gee said.

Science & Technology

A mother’s fight to bring an understanding of autism outside of the clinic

by Zoe Karkossa on

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From last century’s fears surrounding poor parenting to modern vaccine hesitancy, persistent misconceptions about the causes of autism have often resulted in the developmental condition being wrongfully associated with moral panic. During a recent talk hosted by McGill’s Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry for the Culture, Mind and Brain Program’s Speaker Series, Marga Vicedo, an associate professor at the University of Toronto studying the history of science, highlighted the story of one mother determined to understand her daughter’s experience with autism. 

Clara Park gave birth to Jessica, her third child, on July 20, 1958. After three years, Park realized that her daughter was different from the rest of her siblings. Seemingly uninterested in other children, Jessica was instead fascinated by numbers, art, and the aurora borealis.

As a stay-at-home mother, Park spent a great deal of time carefully observing her daughter and figuring out how to best support her, and was disappointed when her findings were dismissed by the child development experts she consulted. At the time, psychoanalysis would have interpreted  Park’s efforts to understand her daughter as evidence of refrigerator motherhood—an offensive term used to describe detached, uncaring mothers of autistic children.

“Rejecting the separation of thinking and feeling, Park aimed to show that objectivity and reason are not incompatible with love, and can be a valuable part of mothering,” Vicedo said. “[And] further, that intelligent love could be also a way to reach reliable knowledge.”

Despite the initial opposition, Park remained convinced that her efforts were not at odds with her mothering. She found fellowship in her beliefs through a correspondence with Bernard Rimland, a researcher who attributed autism to organic causes, and her collaboration with Marie Battle Singer, a psychoanalyst and fellow innovative thinker.

Contemporary clinical methods to treat autism were underdeveloped and prevalent therapies, including Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), were often criticized as cruel and ineffective. Park reworked such programs by identifying useful principles and tailoring them to the domestic sphere in a pragmatic way. Inspired by certain elements of ABA, Park collaborated with her daughter to develop a practical system for behaviour modification. Incorporating Jessica’s love for numbers, Park and Jessica assigned points to specific behaviours and tracked them using a golf counter.

“Jessica set her goals, chose her rewards, and agreed to the penalties,” Vicedo said. “Their program did not try to eliminate autistic behaviour such as rocking or flapping, but focussed on behaviour that Jessica said she wanted to change, because they made her feel anxious or interfered with other things she wanted to do.”

Park’s impact extended far beyond her household. She presented her knowledge in ///The Siege///, the most comprehensive account of raising an autistic child at the time and an invaluable resource to parents and therapists. She also brought together a large circle of mothers of autistic children who supported each other and corresponded at length.

This vibrant community met regularly at conferences and shared their experiences with each other, discovering important insights along the way. The children were also invited to speak at the gatherings to share their stories and perspectives once they were old enough.

Park was a dedicated proponent of the value of maternal insight and the fight against mother-blaming. She recognized the value of what she called the “deep knowledge of the child in context,” which refers to personalized catering to a child’s needs using observation of children in a wide variety of situations and a full understanding of their history. To Park, this lived maternal experience was a unique tool that did not undermine clinical methods, but complemented them.

“Park was not only questioning widespread notions of good mothering, but also challenging a central tenet in scientific epistemology,” Vicedo said.

Park harnessed both her love and her will in order to better understand her daughter. Her work remains a significant achievement that is deeply relevant to the current era of misinformation surrounding autism. Jessica has grown to be an accomplished artist.

Commentary, Opinion

Students should deal with choice, not chance

by Valentina de la Borbolla on

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On Dec. 31, McGill sent an email to all students and staff announcing that, in line with new Quebec regulations, the return to in-person learning would be delayed until January 24. The announcement came amid the surge in Omicron cases in the province and the world at large. However, despite McGill’s compliance with Quebec health mandates, the news puts students in a difficult position, stripping them of the option to choose when to come back to Montreal

Online learning has been very challenging for students due to increased screen time and prolonged isolation. While health risks associated with COVID-19 prompted many to postpone their return to Montreal, for some, the added support of family and friends made staying home during online school the best choice. Furthermore, even though individuals still need to pay rent in Montreal, staying home can be a way to save some money on daily things like laundry, food, and transit, especially when considering that many service jobs have been interrupted due to restrictions. In addition, the advantages of student life in Montreal, like being on campus, going to cafés, exploring the city, and hanging out with friends, are severely limited due to the Quebec lockdown. As a result, staying home might help avoid feelings of isolation and uncertainty. Considering the high rates of COVID-19 cases in the city, being home might also be the safest option for some, or at least a reassuring one—being sick and alone can be a very stressful situation. Lastly, depending on where it is that students call home, not going back to Montreal can mean better weather, safer COVID-19 environments, and more lax COVID-19 restrictions. 

But beyond the potential benefits of staying home, it is important to question why students were put in the position to make that choice in the first place. A major factor, of course, is the rise in COVID-19 cases. The epidemiological situation is critical right now and it has to be taken seriously. Furthermore, considering how COVID-19 disproportionately affects disabled, racialized, and low-income people, individuals should be doing all in their power to curb the spread. However, there is a limit to what individuals can do in the face of a surge as big—and as transmissible—as this one. The Omicron spread comes after months of the Quebec government mishandling the pandemic in many ways, including imposing ineffective curfews and having insufficient testing capabilities. There is little scientific evidence that curfews actually prevent a rise in COVID-19 cases, and yet the Quebec government decided to implement yet another one despite its known toll on mental health and disproportionate impact on other vulnerable communities. Other measures like accessible testing, timely booster shot rollout, and vaccine mandates may have been able to prevent this surge.

Institutions like McGill also have the responsibility of prioritizing the health of their communities. Although McGill has taken the necessary steps to comply with Quebec regulations, it has failed to provide safe and accessible learning environments for immunocompromised and disabled students throughout the pandemic. McGill has only taken steps to provide online alternatives when the government mandates them—but not when students advocate for them. Measures like continuing the S/U option, mandating professors to record lectures, and implementing a university-wide vaccine mandate could make the stress of university during a pandemic more manageable. 

Despite the recent  end of the curfew and the return to in-person classes, the pandemic is still not over, and neither are its impacts on students’ lives. Universities should not put student’s physical and mental health at risk. McGill should put their students’ interests first and take the necessary steps to make sure that its environment remains safe and accessible to all, no matter what type of instruction the government mandates. 

McGill, News

André Brock charts the hidden history of Black cybercultures

by Signy Harnad on

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André Brock, an associate professor of media studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, drew on the connections between Blackness, social media platforms, and Western technoculture in a webinar held on Jan. 12. The lecture was part of the Feminist and Accessible Publishing, Communications, and Technologies speaker series, which was founded by Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies Faculty Lecturer Alex Ketchum.

During the webinar, Brock discussed his 2020 book Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures, which is based on 15 years of research on Blackness and digital spaces, ranging from weblogs and periodicals to video games. The book argues that Black communities have been ardent participants and builders of a distinct and recognizable cyberculture.  

In his introductory remarks, Brock explained that while his goal with Distributed Blackness was to reframe the agency of Black communities, he thought it was essential to first acknowledge the limits Western technoculture poses in the digital medium. 

“My aim in that book was to unpack what Black technology use, or Black technoculture, would look like from the perspective of Black folk,” Brock said. “In doing so, however, I had to consider the context of what Black technoculture is gestated, that is, the white Western world and Western technoculture.”

Brock observed that while many name the trio of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson as the tech pioneers that will lead humanity into a bold era of space exploration, they have in fact only proved to be masters of the venture capital game. Instead, he sees these men as building a post-human and surveillance-state that goes hand-in-hand with a harmful culture of technophilia.

“There are a multitude of examples of technophilia to work with, whether it is the genital waving exercise of the three billionaires to see who could get to the outer reaches of lower reach orbit, or the current fascination with Web 3 and NFTs,” Brock said.

In the early days of the internet, systemic barriers such as high costs and sporadic broadband availability prevented Black communities from accessing online networks and resources. But by leveraging the tools they could muster, Brock argues, these communities were able to build an expansive and dynamic online space to call their own. 

In considering viable solutions to what Brock terms “weak-tie online racism“—racism that is enacted indirectly through digital networks of social interaction—Brock concluded that “online harms” cannot be fixed by technology.

“How do you fix this though? I don’t know if it can be fixed,” Brock said. “I’m wary of technical solutions to online harms or even the idea that ethics will fix the problems of technoculture [….] Perhaps, instead, we should be talking about a moral code of harm reduction when deploying complex algorithmic solutions to social problems.”

Following the event, Ketchum underscored the relevance of Brock’s book in light of McGill’s temporary return to remote teaching.

“[Brock’s book] is vital during a time when we are so online,” Ketchum wrote. “As we begin Winter 2022 on Zoom again, Brock’s work highlights the racism embedded in our digital technologies, which, as Brock explains, isn’t just a glitch.”

Madi Bothelo, U3 Arts, enjoyed the webinar, remarking on the importance of the conversation Brock has spurred.

“I feel like most people in the tech industry avoid speaking about race, but the relationship between the two has a layered history worth studying,” Botelho said in an interview with the Tribune. “If we can continue at least having this dialogue, maybe people can start intervening in the process of new and developing technologies.”

Features

Changing the narrative

by Shafaq Nami on

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I have a go-to answer when someone asks how I speak English so well, despite it not being my mother tongue: “I consume a lot of Western media.” Despite the benefits of this habit, that short phrase also encompasses the constant struggle of disentangling my self-worth from the harmful messages I have absorbed from the screen.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Pakistan largely surrounded by people who shared my culture and experiences. Because I could see myself reflected in those around me, I was mostly protected from the prejudices built into Western media.

Things changed when, in 2019, I moved to Canada to attend McGill. Suddenly, I found myself in the “Western World” that I had idealized in my head, and I was met with an identity crisis: Where did I fit in? It became painfully obvious that as a South Asian Muslim woman, I had never identified with anyone I had seen on-screen. Most of the people I interacted with here had preconceived notions of me that clashed with my self-identity and threatened to shake themy notion of who I believed I was. 

For better or worse, popular media has shaped my view of the world for better or worse. Media plays an important role in society, acting not only as a source of information about the world but also as a reflection of social norms and attitudes. On average, people around the world spend over 7.5 hours per day consuming media of some form, with American consumers tending to have a higher daily average than most. 

However, the dominant media we consume rarely  reflects the diversity of its consumers. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, almost 40 per cent of the U.S. population was non-white, yet in 2017 people of colour only made up 19.8 per cent of lead film actors, as per the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report. 

This disparity persists across multiple forms of media. A 2020 //New York Times// article revealed that only 11 per cent of books published in 2018 were written by people of colour. Similarly, a study conducted by Women in View that explored racial diversity in the Canadian film industry found that of all people given TV writing credits, only 6.3 per cent were Black, Indigenous, and women of colour.

Science & Technology

Faculty of Science presents the 33rd edition of Soup and Science

by Madhura Lotlikar, Zoe Karkossa, Adam Matthews-Kott, Jackie Lee, Madison Mclauchlan on

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The 33rd edition of Soup and Science, a popular Faculty of Science event showcasing the diversity of research being conducted at McGill, aims to provide students with an opportunity to interact directly with professors from different disciplines. Held remotely this semester, the mini-lecture series took place from Jan. 10 to 14. As always, we at the The McGill Tribune compiled some of the highlights of the week.

What can we learn about antibiotic resistance? A super close-up view of superbugs might help — Madhura Lotlikar

Since the first antibiotic was used on humans in 1910, antibiotics have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Today, however, 700,000 people die every year due to antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR). The overuse of antibiotics in people, animals, and food agriculture has given bacteria the chance to evolve rapidly and produce proteins that make these antibiotics ineffective, thus leading to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). 

In his talk, Albert Berghuis, a professor in McGill’s Department of Biochemistry, explained how bacterial resistance arose against Plazomicin—a three-year-old drug that treats complicated urinary tract infections (UTI). Plazomicin attaches to ribosomes—the protein-making machineries of bacteria—and inhibits protein synthesis, eventually killing them.

Unfortunately, Plazomicin’s chemical structure resembles that of many naturally occurring antibiotics which, millions of years ago, many bacteria evolved to resist. Berghuis and their team discovered that the 3D atomic structures of Plazomicin bound to ribosomes. Within the bacteria that contributes to UTIs, they also discovered an enzyme that alters Plazomicin’s structure, rendering it ineffective.

Identifying these 3D structures is a huge leap forward in designing drugs that can evade antibiotic resistance. Berghuis’ next step is to tweak the structure of Plazomicin so that the drug will eliminate the binding site of drug-resistant enzymes while still being able to bind ribosomes, thus preserving its effectiveness.

Governments and private funders are budgeting millions of dollars to develop more antibiotics, curb AMR, and save lives. The World Health Organization lists AMR under the top 10 pressing global health issues.

Computational and mathematical biology in health and disease – Zoe Karkossa

It is possible to describe cellular and molecular processes in the human body using a wide array of modeling and computational approaches. Anmar Khadra, a professor in the Department of Physiology at McGill, uses quantitative techniques to investigate the dynamics of a variety of physiological and biological systems, from cellular receptors to neural connections.

“Typically we use quantitative methods to conduct this research […] using two different avenues. One of them is developing mathematical models or biophysical models,” Khadra said. “Or we could develop computational techniques or algorithms that analyze the experimental data that we have, or even fit this experimental data to the mathematical models that we develop.”

An important theme of the work being conducted at Khadra’s lab is tuning into biological rhythms. For example, the recording and modeling of electrical activity of individual neurons allows for insight into the behaviour of ion channels. Rhythmic patterns can be detected through fluctuations in membrane voltage, interactions between different channels, and effects on hormone release.

“We do all of this type of computational work to make predictions, to validate mechanisms, generate hypotheses, test hypotheses, and […] generate the technological tools that could allow us to manipulate these systems,” Khadra said.

Our universe as a particle physics experiment – Adam Matthews-Kott

First discovered when the calculated mass of galaxies repeatedly failed to line up with the observed mass, dark matter has drawn interest and speculation from much of the scientific community. It was also the subject explored by Katelin Schutz, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, in her talk.

“We have a huge amount of evidence for the existence of dark matter,” Schutz said. “We have evidence across nine orders of magnitude in length.” 

Schutz went on to explain that dark matter is extremely pervasive in the universe, being five times more abundant than regular matter. This means that the majority of the universe is made up of a form of matter that humans still do not understand.

“We know how much of it there is by mass,” Schutz said. “We know it’s cosmologically stable, […] but most of all, we know it to not be accounted for by known physics.”

With this nebulous concept being on the front lines of scientific discovery, Schutz’ talk successfully summarized a complex topic that humanity still knows little about.

From soils to the Great Lakes: Tracing phosphorus in the environment – Jackie Lee

Following World War II, the rate of fertilizer production rose dramatically, and has only continued to accelerate since. The same is true for the use of phosphorus, an element essential to all living organisms, which agricultural producers often apply to conventionally farmed fields—with a generous hand—to ensure high yields and food security.

However, this agricultural enhancement has proven to be a double-edged sword, explained Christian Von Sperber, a professor in McGill’s Department of Geography. Phosphate fertilizer inevitably seeps from the soil into freshwater bodies, wreaking havoc on ecosystems through eutrophication, a process whereby an excess of nutrients prompts toxic algal blooms. The algae chokes aquatic ecosystems of oxygen, exterminating entire fish populations and contaminating drinking water, among other ecological consequences. Wetland restoration may offer a solution. 

“They actually retain phosphorus and other nutrients and contaminants in the solids and in the biomass,” Von Sperber said.  

His team is currently mapping and quantifying sources and sinks of phosphorus in both natural and rehabilitated land. They also look specifically at the prairie pothole region in Manitoba, whose unique topography allows for thousands of shallow wetlands. 

“We’re thinking that the restoration of wetlands might actually be a nature-based solution to the problem of eutrophication,” Von Sperber said. 

Beyond the context of phosphorus, wetlands also sequester large amounts of CO2, and are integral to wildlife.

“[Wetlands] provide a habitat for endangered species like waterfowl, or assistant professors and PhD students at McGill,” Von Sperber joked.

The Cytoskeleton – Madison McLauchlan

Students may know Gary Brouhard, a professor in the Department of Biology, from his fascinating BIOL 201 (Cell Biology and Metabolism) lectures, where he introduces large swaths of biomedical undergraduates to the micro-workings of the cell. In his brief talk, Brouhard gave a digestible overview of the main protein players in our cells and why it is so important that researchers investigate subcellular behaviour. 

Brouhard started out with a simple question: If every cell in our body contains the same DNA, how is it capable of making cells with a myriad of different shapes, from the arborized structure of a neuron to the flat pancake of an epithelial cheek cell? Rather, what internal elements allow them to specialize and perform their functions so well? 

“Just as the shape of an organism is determined by its skeleton, […] cells have an internal skeleton underneath their plasma membrane that determines their shape,” Brouhard said. “We refer to this as the cytoskeleton.” 

One component of the cytoskeleton are microtubules, cylinder-like polymers that flare out at the ends, assembled from individual proteins. They are constantly breaking down and reforming, lending these structures versatility in their function: Not only are they important for maintaining cell structure, but they also help form the mitotic spindle during cell division and even act as “cellular highways” to transport materials to key locations in the cell. 

“[Proteins] assemble like magic lego building block[s] into this long structure, and that is how cells can reorganize their microtubules,” Brouhard explained. “[Cells] can break these tubes down, and rebuild them in different places.” 

Beyond the basic research importance of Brouhard’s lab work, this domain has implications for understanding human health. Malfunctions in key proteins linked to microtubules, like doublecortin, have been associated with diseases such as type 1 lissencephaly, or a condition called “smooth brain syndrome” where the cerebral cortex is missing folds. By observing the behaviour of microtubules in the lab, researchers can understand what patterns are leading to disease phenotypes. 

McGill, News

Students release open letter calling for hybrid learning and stricter campus safety measures

by Juliet Morrison on

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An open letter, written and published just hours after McGill’s Jan. 14 announcement that in-person learning would recommence on Jan. 24, has been circulating among the student body. The letter, titled “Open Letter to the McGill Administration – Return to in-person learning on January 24th,” denounces the administration’s decision to return on the 24th, contending that it ignores and dismisses the reality of the pandemic. As of Jan. 17, the petition has garnered close to 22,000 signatures.

Written and drafted by U1 Arts student Lavinia Auhoma and co-written by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) vice-president (VP) University Affairs Claire Downie, the letter calls on the administration to mandate hybrid learning strategies, regulate the supply of adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the community, and release a more detailed plan for an eventual move to in-person learning. The writers also demand a comprehensive account of McGill’s contact tracing procedures and methodology, both on and off campus. 

The letter has been signed by members of the McGill community—including students, faculty, and parents—along with faculty and staff from other Canadian universities, such as Concordia University and the University of Toronto.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Auhoma noted that she was compelled to write the letter after reading McGill’s announcement which, in her view, dismissed and downplayed the reality of the ongoing pandemic. 

“I think everyone knows someone else who has COVID, maybe right now,” Auhoma said. “As the situation developed so rapidly, and with how unpredictable it was, I found it quite reckless and a bit shocking of McGill to carry on with its decision to open up so promptly. I think we even see in the specific language of the email, ‘Despite the rising case count in Quebec,’ [that] there is a lot of language that downplays the severity of COVID.” 

Auhoma believes that McGill’s decision prioritizes students’ desire for a regular university experience, rather than public safety at large, noting that it ignores members of the McGill community who are immunocompromised or vulnerable. 

“I think they’ve pushed forward with this in-person messaging to appease a big population of the student body who just want their university experience back,” Auhoma said. “I do want my university experience, but I don’t want it at the cost of people’s lives [….] And when McGill is dismissing that plea, because it wants to reflect the majority, I think the minority deserves to be heard too.”

McGill has followed through on its plan to resume in-person learning for most classes consisting of less than 200 people, despite the high case count in Quebec and the province’s limited testing capabilities. In a statement to the Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle justified McGill’s decision to move in-person, citing Quebec’s public health guidelines and the McGill community’s vaccination rate. 

“McGill has an excellent track record in keeping our community safe,” wrote Mazerolle. “Although there have been cases on campus, safety measures have worked [….] Nevertheless, our planning for Winter 2022 remains flexible and if the COVID-19 situation changes, we have contingency plans in place. We are monitoring the situation extremely closely and are prepared to act quickly in line with public health directives.” 

In an interview with the Tribune, Downie questioned the university’s assertion that it would pivot to online if the situation worsens. The unclear case counts due to the lack of available tests in the province, coupled with McGill’s decision to move academics in-person amid rising hospitalizations, led her to question McGill’s metric for being able to return to campus.

“I have been asking this question of administration members, what metrics they would use to decide that things […] aren’t going as well as they need them to be or what they’re willing to handle,” Downie said. “You can’t really get a PCR test in Quebec, unless you’re a member of a specific group. So I just assume that there will be outbreaks, but that there will be no real way for the university to confirm that they have occurred.”

While the letter has garnered much support, it has also been controversial. Some students, like Adam Menikefs, U2 Arts, are concerned that the letter does not take full account of the marked differences in this phase of the pandemic, notably the low hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccination rates among the 20-29 age group. 
“I do not want to invalidate people’s concerns, [but] some students I believe have yet to treat the current situation to what it will become, an endemic,” Menikefs wrote in a message to the Tribune. “Obviously I do not agree that everyone should be forced back, and accommodations should be made for those who are immunocompromised or live with high risk individuals, but [I] also think it is difficult to assume that McGill can make an entire decision based on individual accommodations.”

Editorial, Opinion

McGill’s rushed reopenings are reckless

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

More in Editorial:

On Jan. 6, just two days after the McGill School of Social Work announced that their classes would be held virtually until Feb. 24, the McGill administration sent a follow-up email stating that they had declined the plan. The move came as a surprise to students, especially considering the policy that the McGill Senate passed Nov. 5—Course Delivery Parameter for the Winter 2022 Academic Term—that states it is ultimately up to individual faculties to choose whether or not to adapt to in-person learning. Since then, McGill has confirmed that all faculties will resume in-person classes on Jan. 24, despite a sore lack of accommodations for immunocompromised and disabled students, and an unrealistic and inequitable demand that all students be back in Montreal by that date. This rushed, forced return to in-person instruction without proper accommodations or adequate consideration for faculties—especially those like social work, whose students are directly involved in at-risk communities —is a mistake that McGill keeps repeating.  

The return to in-person teaching was announced in an email that lacked both concrete details regarding safety measures and empathy for students and faculty. While a safe, gradual return to campus is possible, it has to be done with proper foresight: The plan should have given students and faculty the option to make decisions based on their needs, instead of pushing everyone into classrooms. With only a vague promise to communicate safety measures and address concerns in the coming days, students have been left in the dark about what exactly is being done to prevent outbreaks of the Omicron variant on campus. 

All the while, there has been no clear explanation of the options in place for students or professors who are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19—whether due to underlying health conditions or age—or who live with people who are more vulnerable. The university’s choice to recommend the booster shot for concerned individuals ignores the possible dangers of contracting COVID-19 even with a third shot, the appointments for which are already difficult to snag. It seems unlikely that the majority of the McGill community will be triple vaccinated by Jan. 24. And even if those in the McGill community were completely protected themselves, going back to school will inevitably increase transmissions, putting the broader Montreal community more at risk. 

While it is important to acknowledge the role the Quebec government plays in directing universities go back in person, other institutions such as Concordia have managed to push their return dates back by a week or two. McGill’s race to re-open has been a thoughtless one: Their refusal to respect the Faculty of Social Work’s decision to extend online learning, despite their own Senate decision, reveals a lack of consideration for students and faculty and for the communities and at-risk groups with whom they work.  Students complete fieldwork programs, often working with vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In turn, being forced to return to classes risks serious harm to these groups. The importance of the work done by social workers throughout the pandemic cannot be understated––the mandated return to in-person learning potentially violates an ethical mandate social work students have to those communities who rely heavily on their support. 

To everyone’s disappointment, McGill continues to make the same mistakes with their re-openings over and over again.  Students, alongside The Students’ Society of McGill University vice-president University Affairs Claire Downie, have penned an open letter to the administration demanding the release of an extensive return-to-school framework, and have also worked with professors to create a document crowd-sourcing information about Winter 2022 classes. Otherwise, McGill students must rally behind the School of Social Work as they fight to protect the health and safety of their students and those they work with.

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