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McGill, News

Cundill History Prize lecture explores colonization and punishment in Siberia

by Elizabeth Kearney on

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On Nov.16, the 2018 Cundill History Prize was awarded to Maya Jasanoff for her account of the life of Joseph Conrad in her book “The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World.” Juror Jeffrey Simpson, former Globe and Mail national affairs columnist and winner of Canadian literary prizes, commented on the winning book in a press release on the Cundill Prize website.

“Extremely well plotted, technically brilliant, and beautifully written, this is a work of history that presents us with new ways of reading about authors and their times,” Simpson said.

Last year in 2017, the jury of the Cundill History Prize, administered by McGill University in honour of its founder and McGill alumnus Peter Cundill, made the unanimous decision to award the first prize to Daniel Beer, a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London. Beer received USD$75,000 for his groundbreaking study of Siberian penal colonies in his book “The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars,” while the two runners-up each received USD$10,000.

McGill invited Beer to return to McGill to deliver a lecture on his book as part of the 2018 Cundill History Prize event series. Beer’s lecture followed the gruelling 3,600 kilometre journey across Siberia made by one million Russian convicts on foot, in an attempt to both punish the prisoners and colonize the territory. Siberia had become a dumping ground for Russian criminals and political rebels from the beginning of the 19th century until the Russian Revolution.

“[In the book], I tried to humanize the large canvas of the exile system through a focus on individuals who were caught up in it,” Beer said. “That has its own frustrations, of course, because very large numbers of people who were illiterate left no record [….] Many of them vanish from historical records.”

One such untold story is that of Nataylia Sigida, a woman who was exiled for operating an underground printing press. Following the failed 1889 hunger strike protesting the harsh treatment in Kara, a Siberian women’s prison, Sigida escalated the conflict between the female prisoners and the authorities.

“Sigida requested a meeting to see the head of the prison, Masyukov,” Beer said. “[After being] admitted into his office, Sigida walked up to Masyukov and slapped him in the face.”

Beer explained that slapping Masyukov was considered a symbolic assault on the Tsarist system as a whole, an offence punishable by 100 strokes of a birch rod. Since educated Russians and women were usually exempt from corporal punishment, this event was considered an atrocity by Sigida, other prisoners, and the prison doctor who refused to condone the sentence.

“In the moments before flogging, Sigida declared [that] the punishment was, for her, the equivalent to a death sentence,” Beer said. “These were not empty words. After she was returned to her cell later that day, Sigida and three fellow women poisoned themselves.”

Beer critically examined the inadequacy of the Tsarist Empire’s exile system in the time period before the revolutions, explaining the difficulties the authorities faced in their attempts to control the exiled population.

“The authorities struggled to contain the exiles, let alone organize them into labour,” Beer said. “They couldn’t stop them simply walking out [….] In the last quarter of the 19th century […], up to a third of Siberia’s 300,000 exiles [were] on the run!”

Lyudmila Parts, associate professor in Russian Studies at McGill, concluded the lecture with a reflection on the significance and relevance of Beer’s lecture.

“The discussion this evening reminded us of how and to what extent the mechanisms of power continue to function across time and space,” Parts said.

McGill, News

Cracking the code

by Keating Reid on

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For the first time since 2013, McGill’s Code of Student Conduct is set to be revised. Proposed changes include expanding the formal definition of the ‘university context‘ which sets the code’s jurisdiction, removing intent as a requirement for charges of harassment and unnecessary endangerment, and expanding powers for disciplinary officers to issue Orders of Exclusion from campus.

The Office of the Dean of Students is responsible for the change, in coordination with a working group of over 40 representatives from student groups, faculty, and staff, which has been advising the office since Spring 2018. The group includes representatives from the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), McGill’s Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (O-SVRSE), the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM), and last year’s Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice President (VP) University Affairs, Isabelle Oke.

On Nov. 8 and 9, Dean of Students Christopher Buddle held two open consultations at his office, giving students a chance to voice their opinions on the changes. No students attended the first consultation.

“We’ve received almost no comments from our online form, which suggests people either aren’t interested, they’re pleased with what we’re doing, or […] they [don’t] care about it,” Buddle said. “We’ve been pretty vocal with consultations [….] It’s a hard time of year, though. I know that.”

According to Buddle, creating a written definition of the university context was one of the primary motivations for the revision process. In April 2017, The McGill Tribune published an article revealing that, in 2015, then-dean of students Andre Costopoulos did not bring disciplinary charges against Conrad Gaysford after he assaulted Kathryn Leci at a party in Montreal’s Milton-Parc neighbourhood. Although both were U3 students at McGill, Costopoulos argued that the events occurred outside the university context.

According to SSMU VP University Affairs Jacob Shapiro, the university context was a significant point of discussion during stakeholder consultations.

“It’s something most students resonate with, the question of whether we’re focusing in on someone’s intent or the outcome and what someone experienced,” Shapiro said. “Hearing the other voices once [the proposed change] was raised, I don’t think there’s anything [to the issue that’s] more complex than that. It’s a question of what’s being prioritized by that word being there or not.”

Shapiro also highlighted plans for a guaranteed minimum amount of time for the accused to review evidence before a disciplinary interview occurs. The exact amount of time is still under debate.

“Time limits are important,” Shapiro said. “Anything that helps students’ expectations when they’re going into [the disciplinary] process [such as] understanding how long it’s is going to take [or] the minimum amount of time [for students to review evidence before disciplinary interviews is useful]. Anything that can give students clarity in what can be a bureaucratic and difficult procedure is important.”

The word ‘knowingly’ is struck from sections 10(b) and 10(d) in the proposed update, which would mean that the university no longer has to prove intent when finding a student responsible for endangering or harassing another student. The current section 10(b) prohibits students from creating conditions that jeopardize another person’s safety or well-being. Luke Walker, Residence Life Manager for New Residence Hall, pursues complaints under these sections the most often.

“That’s the article of the code that applies to smoking in residence,” Walker said. “For a repeat offender, that would be where we would go.”

According to Walker, disciplinary officers will still take intent into account, even though it doesn’t need to be proved.

“The definition of ‘knowingly’ is far more complex than the definition that’s provided [in the Code],” Walker said. “Even though it’s crossed out now, especially since residence is supposed to be a developmental thing for a lot of students […] that’s something that I think that [disciplinary officers], at least in residence, have to take into consideration, that these are members of the community.”

The McGill Senate plans to review the proposed changes on Nov. 21, with a final vote scheduled for Dec. 5. Feedback can be directed to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Student Life

Winter prep 101

by Lucy Keller on

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For students who have lived in a cold climate and those new to the negative temperatures alike, Montreal winters are brutal. The McGill Tribune details a few ways to make these dark months feel a bit brighter.

Invest in winter gear

Most students know to splurge on a winter parka and snow boots; however, it is also helpful to have other cold-weather accessories on hand. Wearing a hat and scarf helps stop body heat loss. Alternatively, students can invest in a blanket scarf, which multitasks as both a quilt and a neck warmer. Blanket scarves are particularly useful inside chilly buildings on campus, and, when bundled up under the scarf, students can even trick themselves into thinking that they are still in bed.  

Go to the gym

While it is easy to hide out in bed when there is snow on the ground, going to the gym can drastically improve students’ moods. Exercise can also help decrease symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). At the McGill Fitness Centre, students can participate in a wide variety of pay-as-you-go exercise classes and intramural sports.  

Additionally, research shows that regular exercise can strengthen the immune system. This health boost is particularly important in the dead of winter when the flu and colds are circulating among students.

Experiment with winter hobbies

Going outside in these dark winter months can seem like an impossible task, but Montreal’s lively social scene can make the season feel shorter. One of the best ways to take part in Montreal’s offering of fun outdoor activities is to visit the skating rinks across the city. From the skating rink located on Beaver Lake on top of the scenic Mount Royal to McGill’s very own rink, there are plenty of different parts of the city to explore through ice skating. Alternatively, students can rent snowshoes from the McGill Recreation Centre and hike along the base of the mountain.

Memorize McGill’s underground tunnel system  

While the tunnels on campus are not as extensive as the Underground City, many McGill buildings are connected so that students can stay inside in between classes and avoid low temperatures during the school day. The system is marked by snail icons, and its entrance is easy to spot beside the large staircases outside of the front of the Burnside Building.

Students can also access directions for the tunnels on Google Maps by searching for ‘McGill tunnels.’ Though icy pavements can make the campus commute laborious, the tunnel system can make students’ winter days a little more bearable.

Socialize with friends at home

Coat checks and the hassle of wearing boots can make winter outings arduous and expensive. For an easy and fun Saturday night at home, host a board game night with friends.

While many students might deem board games childish, they can provide endless hours of entertainment—especially when paired with a bottle of wine. At Le Valet d’Coeur, a charming game store in the Plateau, shoppers can peruse an eclectic selection of alternative, independent board games. This popular spot has a plethora of board games, puzzles, and interactive games that can make any night in more entertaining.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV, Pop Rhetoric

Where does ‘Roma’ belong?

by Noah Simon on

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With new streaming platforms appearing left and right, the battle for viewers’ attention has become increasingly diffuse. And with more and more content to sift through on a daily basis right from the comfort of one’s couch, the movie theatre’s centrality in the cultural zeitgeist has taken a major hit. It has become a major source of debate: As movies assimilate further into the household, studios will cater their projects to that kind of viewing experience.

Filmmakers around the world are wondering what this shift might mean for their work and whether there will be sufficient opportunities to make movies for the big-screen as well as streaming sites like Netflix. Additionally, film purists worry that streaming giants will completely overtake the entertainment industry, resenting the move away from tradition.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma falls squarely into this debate. The film tells the story of Cleo, a housekeeper working in Mexico City, and her relationship to her wealthy employers. Set in the 1970s, the film’s gorgeous black-and-white cinematography portrays a time vividly inspired by Cuarón’s own memories. Filmed in a large 65mm format, Cuarón creates an immersive experience for the viewer. Only a master like Cuarón could draw as much beauty from shots of water going down a sewer as they could from wide Mexican landscapes.  Critics and fans alike have said this affect requires the big screen: It necessitates the clearest projection systems and best speakers. But here’s the catch: In April, Netflix purchased Roma’s distribution and the film is set to be released on Dec. 14. For many, this wonder of sight and sound will be relegated to their laptops. As the old adage goes, cinema is dead. 

Netflix offers eight billion dollars worth of content for its 137 million subscribers worldwide, which makes it a massive stage for curated productions.  Meanwhile, the average movie ticket price in North America is $9.27 and well over $10 in major cities. Netflix’s standard plan is $7.99/month.  Once you add transportation, snacks, or the added cost of a 3-D or IMAX screening, going to the movies has become an unsustainable expense. And with prices only increasing, more consumers are turning toward streaming platforms.  Cinephiles see the service as a blight, which is perhaps more indicative of the elitism of the industry and film nerds than anything else. Given the sheer number of people who have access to their work, in addition to Netflix’s relative creative control for filmmakers, it makes sense that independent directors like Joe Swanberg, and international auteurs like Cuarón and Bong Joon-ho, are flocking to the platform for distribution.

Industry giants have long contested this transition:  Steven Spielberg doesn’t believe that Netflix movies are real movies, and Quentin Tarantino hates streaming. But, streaming is the new reality of the entertainment industry, and Cuarón, who, admittedly, was granted a major theatrical release, still concedes to it.

“We’re going to live with this format,” Cuarón said in a press conference. “It’s important the two things exist not clash. It’s just a question of finding something that works.” 

Fortunately, it appears that Netflix and theatre companies are approaching some sort of synthesis: Roma will be released in select theatres on Nov. 21 before expanding nationwide up until its Netflix premiere. The Coen brothers are employing a similar model for their new film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, as is David Mackenzie with Outlaw King, which hopefully predicts a new symbiotic relationship between movie theatres and Netflix.

With the successes of films such as Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories and Bong-Joon Ho’s Okja, Netflix has shown it can nurture prestige films of any scale. Additionally, other recent films like Beasts of No Nation and Mudbound have solidified Netflix’s place as a perennial Oscar contender. With Netflix churning out quality films, it’s ideal that they are trying to get them onto the big screen in addition to their platform. This will allow viewers to watch movies how they want; they can seek out the theatre experience or stay at home. Having the choice is optimal. To deny that is to perpetuate the tradition of dividing art between the binary of ‘real’ and ‘populist,’ as if Netflix’s accessibility inherently worsens the film.

I was fortunate to catch Roma at the Toronto International Film Festival and can vouch for the impact of seeing it in theatres. However, not everybody shares the same priorities when it comes to watching movies. Roma is a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s also a personal, poignant tale of how to find meaning and fulfillment despite life’s adversities. There is no need for a big screen to convey that message.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

RIDM offers stunning portraits of humanity

by Leo Stillinger on

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The 2018 Rencontres Internationale du Documentaire de Montreal (RIDM) took viewers on an unconventional cinematic journey. In ReMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening the director takes a job as a teacher and basketball coach in small-town Alabama, while Distant Constellation sees Shevaun Mizrahi visiting residents in a Turkish retirement home. Such themes may not be typical subject matter for the big screen, but anything goes at RIDM, the documentary film festival that brings stories from every nook and cranny of the globe to theatres around Montreal.

Hale County is Ross’ portrait of a small, predominantly-black town in rural Alabama. Filmed over the course of five years, Ross accumulated more than a thousand hours of footage. The result is an intimate and impressionistic picture of life in Hale County. Viewers watch grandmothers play and banter with grandchildren and men stay up late playing video games. The sounds of teenage boys yearning to make it as basketball players, hope and doubt mingling in their voices, echo throughout. Hale County follows a child named Kyrie as he grows up, from the crib to a small plastic basketball hoop of his own. There is a certain tenderness immanent in every situation and every shot.

In a post-screening Q&A, Ross explained that his emphasis on tenderness was intentional: He wanted to defy traditional narratives of blackness in America. The documentary does not gloss over systemic injustice—the red and blue lights of police cruisers lurk in the backgrounds of multiple scenes—but nor does it dwelt upon it. Rather than the typical essentializing narratives of oppression, which Ross only half-jokingly called ‘trauma-porn,’ Hale County shows the real lives of real people, illuminated equally by beauty and pain.

Distant Constellation takes the viewer to an entirely different world: A retirement home for minorities in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey. Mizrahi’s patient camera captures the testimony of various residents, and the results are amusing, insightful, and sometimes heartbreaking. Two friends ride an elevator up and down, just to chat; a stuttering ex-photographer manages to take a photo out the window. One woman recalls her childhood experience of the Armenian genocide. Best of all, a man proposes to Mizrahi mid-interview.

“You’re very nice to me,” he says. “And, besides, I’ll die before you anyways.”

Outside the windows of the nursing home, an immense construction project is taking place, laying the groundwork for a massive skyscraper. In the Q&A portion, Mizrahi described her desire to construct a visual dialectic between two worlds: The realm of memories within the home and the rapidly modernizing face of urban Turkey just across the street.

The dialectic between nation and citizen is one with pointed political implications: Turkey’s surge toward modernization has left the country in an economic crisis, while Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic government has censored dissent and persecuted minorities. To even acknowledge the Armenian genocide is prohibited, and Mizrahi duly gives a measure of anonymity to her subjects, never revealing their names or the home’s location.  This context elevates Distant Constellations from simply an interesting art film to a radical tribute to memory.

Mizrahi, like Ross, touches on such political realities obliquely. Both Hale County and Distant Constellation seek to recover what lies at the bottom of political, historical and geographical circumstances: That is, the people themselves.

By slowing down, taking a deep breath, and really listening, each film bestows its narrative power to those in front of the lens. In an age dominated by visual culture, Misrahi and Ross have each sought to defy the standard subject-object relations of documentary filmmaking.

“I wanted to avoid the traditional use of photography as an objectifying lens,” said Ross.

Ross’ choice to privilege his subjects’ perspectives is as political as it is aesthetic. Depicting very different circumstances, the films are united in their reminder that behind every headline, every stereotype, and every work of art, lies a human face.

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Commentary, Opinion

SSMU votes to change the name. What now?

by Hannibal de Pencier on

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In the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Fall 2018 referendum, 78.8 per cent of students voted in favour of changing the McGill men’s varsity athletics teams’ name. The result comes in the wake of a petition launched by SSMU Indigenous Affairs commissioner Tomas Jirousek, which has over 10,000 signatures, and a recent on-campus demonstration that garnered widespread support.  

The SSMU referendum vote is the culmination of the massively-successful #ChangeTheName student movement. It is a triumph, but also the disconcerting beginning of a new chapter in the process of changing the name: That of the McGill administration’s response, over which students have little control. While the referendum result and #ChangeTheName campaign have demonstrated the widespread sentiment of the student body, the McGill administration is only beholden to this sentiment by principle. The decision to change the name ultimately rests within the hands of the administration, who will be acutely aware of the change’s potential costs.

In order to outweigh the influence of the deterrents confronting the administration, students must continue to publicly engage with this issue and remind the administration that concession to this motion is their moral imperative. Jirousek recently told the CBC that he plans on releasing a letter of support signed by more than 100 professors. This ongoing public engagement and demonstration of support will apply necessary pressure on the administration.

In an email sent to McGill students on Oct. 28, Interim Deputy Provost,  Student Life and Learning Fabrice Labeau, told students that the administration would be approaching a decision in December.

“In December, we will hear from the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming, and be able to use their findings as a source of guidance on this issue,” Labeau wrote.  

It seems dubious that the group will be able to present the administration with empirical ‘findings’ that make the decision to change the name simple. This is not an empirical issue, but a moral one in which the greatest instruments of influence are students’ voices. McGill students must insist that the administration take the referendum result seriously.

However, the administration will likely be wary of alienating the support of older conservative donors, whose conception of the McGill identity includes the name as a central element. Given the relatively-minimal cost of attending McGill for in-province students, McGill is more reliant on donors than other universities to fund extra-curricular programs. Alienating donors could put a significant strain on athletic programs. The logistics involved in dismantling Redman-branded accoutrements— such as jerseys and murals—would be daunting, both financially and practically. Additionally, the nagging appeal of preserving the university’s historical identity persists.

Yet, reconciliation and acknowledgement of wrongdoing to the indigenous peoples of Canada must take precedence over the relative triviality of preserving an athletic brand. Furthermore, if the McGill administration were to disregard the sentiment of the student body—as communicated through the SSMU referendum—they would be setting a precedent deleterious to our student government’s leverage to effect change. We are now in the precarious position of relying upon the administration’s deference to principle. For change to occur, we must make this position a vocal one.

McGill, News

Richard King discusses history of Indigenous representation in sports

by Ezra-Jean Taylor on

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On Nov. 8, the McGill Indigenous Studies Program and Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs hosted a lecture by Columbia College Chicago Professor Richard King on indigenous stereotypes in sports. For over 25 years, King has researched racial politics and representation in sports, publishing several books on the topic.

While the origin of the ‘Redmen’ name is unclear to most students, the McGill Athletics website supports the claim that the name stems from founder James McGill’s Scottish roots and from when Celts and the Scots were known as ‘Red Men’ because of their red hair. Jozéphine Crimp, U2 Arts, attended the lecture to learn more about indigenous representation in sports in connection to the Change the Name campaign.

“McGill’s records clearly show that, in the past, this school had a [large number] of indigenous slurs used in connection to our varsity teams,” Crimp said. “Therefore, [McGill is] the furthest thing from innocent when it comes to a racist past.”

From naming the women’s hockey team the ‘Squaws’ in the 1970s, to the stylized logo appearing on the football and hockey equipment in the 1980s, McGill’s use of indigenous slurs and stereotypical imagery extends far back in the university’s sports history.

King discussed his past experience with inappropriate uses of indigeneity. While he was completing a PhD at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the mascot and symbol of the athletic teams was Chief Illiniwek. Intended to represent the state’s Native American heritage, the mascot dressed in Sioux regalia—despite the Sioux not historically populating Illinois—danced at halftime shows, and led the crowd in chants. According to King, these experiences inspired him to continue researching the topic.

“This honourific rendering of indigeneity was always accompanied by a kind of [representation] in which mimicry and mockery go hand in hand,” King said.

In King’s examples of indigenous logos and names, mimicry transforms into mockery. What worries him most is that, no matter the original purpose or origin of a team’s name, there exists the possibility to alter the meaning in a ‘dehumanizing’ way.

However, many alumni and athletic groups, such as Friends of McGill Hockey and Friends of McGill Football, believe the origin of the Redmen name deserves more respect and have mobilized in an attempt to keep it. Bruno Pietrobon, honourary president of Friends of McGill Football, spoke as a representative of the coalition.  

“It is unfortunate that the name has been associated with any indigenous connotation,” Pietrobon said. “Even though that connotation was erroneously and regrettably attributed to the name at brief intervals [throughout more than] 140 years of McGill Athletics through the use of other names and imagery, the university acknowledged that, publicly apologized for it, and corrected it almost 30 years ago.”

To King, the context in which a team name is presented overshadows its specific origin.

“You can’t tell someone how to feel about a stereotype,” King said. “When you have a context in which people are belittled or dehumanized, it doesn’t matter what you intended. That’s what’s happening.”

With 78.8 per cent of students in favour of a name change according to the SSMU referendum which took place Nov. 9-12, Vice-President (VP) Internal Affairs Matthew McLaughlin affirmed SSMU’s support in an email to the student body.

“Tomorrow, and every day after it, we, as SSMU members, will continue to take every step necessary until McGill acknowledges the damage that the Redmen name has done, and addresses those damages by, first of all, changing it,” McLaughlin said.

 Next month, the McGill administration will receive its final report on the history of the name from the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming. According to an Oct. 23 email from McGill Provost Christopher Manfredi, the Board of Governors, which has the final decision-making power, will give a verdict shortly thereafter.

McGill, News

Changes to S/U grading scheme show promise

by Jacqueline Yao on

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The proposal to amend the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading scheme has gained traction following its endorsement by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council on Nov. 1. Spearheaded by Vice-President (VP) University Affairs (UA) Jacob Shapiro, the S/U project advocates providing students with the choice to receive a letter grade for their S/U courses. Under this amendment, students could change their ‘S’ or ‘U’ grade to the letter grade they would have received with the normal grading scheme after seeing their results. Shapiro is currently conferring with the McGill administration about amendment details and technological logistics.

The S/U option currently allows students to receive a final grade of ‘S’ or ‘U’—which stand for ‘Satisfactory’ and ‘Unsatisfactory’—rather than a letter grade for a selected course. As it stands, students cannot switch between the S/U and letter grading scheme after the Add/Drop deadline. Eligible students can only use the S/U grading option for one elective course each semester and for an overall total of 10 per cent of their total course credits. Professors do not know which students take their course as S/U and, consequently, report letter grades for all.

Since Summer 2018, Shapiro has been campaigning to change the S/U regulations. Shapiro explained that the Enrolment and Student Affairs Committee (ESAC), which oversees student records among other academic policies, generally favours his amendment to allow for students to switch from S/U to a letter grade. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that there will be implementation challenges if the McGill administration accepts his proposal.

“[The option to uncover a letter grade] seems to help both the students who are in the overachiever gap and students who need [more leeway],” Shapiro said. “The way I envision this right now […] is that the [S/U] policy would stay exactly as it is with [the option to switch to a letter grade] within two to three weeks after final grades are distributed.”

In response to Shapiro’s campaign, the Faculty of Science Academic Committee (AC), comprised of science professors and members of the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS), discussed the possibility of amending the S/U system at its Sept. 25 meeting. Committee members agreed that the amendment would benefit students who perform extremely well in elective courses but suggested that McGill would need to enforce more stringent S/U opt-out time limits. However, despite discussion, according to SUS President Reem Mandil, there have been no formal proposals for the S/U amendment put forth at the AC.

“[SUS VP Academic] Michael [Ogundeji] and I offered some of our own input [at the Sept. 25 AC meeting] and decided to receive opinions from [SUS] General Council [on Sept. 26],” Mandil wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Should [the S/U amendment proposal] move forward with a formal motion, myself, along with the other student members of the AC, will be sure to represent the voices heard at General Council and the overall Science and Arts & Science student bodies.”

Lawrence Ho, U3 Arts, supports the S/U amendment. He believes that the university should put education first.

“This change [in the S/U policy] would allow students to feel comfortable with stepping outside their comfort zone academically,” Ho said. “McGill should be encouraging students to take all kinds of different classes instead of having students be picky with their course selection because [they are scared of getting a low] GPA.”

Shapiro’s proposal has also faced opposition from some students, including Daniel Miller, U1 Arts. Miller voiced concerns about possible grade inflation, stating that students who are ineligible to take courses under S/U option will be at a disadvantage.

“Certain students, such as those doing a double major and a minor, […] would not be able to use the S/U option in the first place, and thus would be put at a disadvantage in comparison to their peers who could,” Miller said. “In my view, there could appear a grade on the student’s unofficial transcript indicating what [the letter grade] could have been, but this grade would have to be clearly marked as having no bearing on the GPA.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment

‘Wearing our Identity’ explores the cultural significance of indigenous clothing

by Keira Seidenberg on

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The McCord Museum’s newest addition to their permanent collection, Wearing our Identity. The First Peoples Collection, explores the historical, cultural, and spiritual significance of indigenous clothing. The exhibition showcases garments and artifacts associated with clothing production, such as needles and bone scrapers, to demonstrate how clothing shapes identity and the role of fashion as a tool for self expression within indigenous and First Nations cultures across Canada. The exhibition also documents the effects of colonialism and the relationship between westerners and indigenous people, as captured by their clothing.

The exhibition is organized around loose themes; placards on the wall describe indigenous clothing in relation to concepts such as belief, history, and suffering. The show explains that, within indigenous cultures, clothing connects a person to the natural world, and garments fashioned from animal hide or using plant resources display the bridge between the human and the non-human spheres. Clothing often combined the aesthetic and spiritual with the practical, and ornamental items such as beaded moccasins and cradleboards are used in everyday life.

Wearing our Identity approaches colonialist discourse by describing the ways in which Western settlements and institutional oppression shaped indigenous cultures and clothing. One of the placards addresses residential schools, detailing how administrators stripped indigenous children of their garments and visible cultural signifiers. This discrimination is made all the more visceral when contextualized within evidence of the importance First Nations people place on their dress and expression.

Clothing represents both a mode of resistance and a means of acknowledging indigenous history. Documenting the evolution of particular items of clothing can illustrate cross-cultural exchange and also helps to assess a previously self-contained culture’s evolution as it is forced to integrate and adapt. Having distinctive clothing with cultural meaning that extends beyond aesthetics marks them as different not in a way that others them so much as celebrates their distinctiveness.

Wearing our Identity curates sacred artifacts for a museum format in a way that is respectful of their cultural significance. By contextualizing the work with background information, the exhibition encourages engaged viewing, rather than relying on the  often brief relationship between the active viewer and the passive art object. The exhibition also features work by contemporary indigenous artists such as Terrance Houle and Maria Hupfield and is curated by the Aboriginal artist and curator Nadia Myre, indicating an involved indigenous presence in the creative process.

However, Wearing our Identity also prompts concerns surrounding consent and Western contextualization. Many of the works list names of donors or private owners; an overarching narrative of cross-cultural exchange appears missing. Simply listing a name at the bottom of a museum label ignores colonialist discourse, in which historically, westerners have often appropriated indigenous goods. Placing artifacts significant to indigenous religious and cultural practices without proper credit of the journey by which the artefacts traveled from their creators to the museum strips them of their historical and cultural worth, rendering them commodities that the wealth and often white viewer pays a fee to observe. While Wearing our Identity marks an important step in reconciling colonial Canadian and indigenous relationships, the limitations of the gallery context leaves room for active understanding and greater representation of First Nations media

Arts & Entertainment, Music

In conversation with Gregory Alan Isakov

by Bronwyn Cole on

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Given the rustic tone of his music, it seems appropriate that Gregory Alan Isakov recorded his fourth full length record, Evening Machines, in his barn-turned-studio in Colorado. The album, released Oct. 5, blends a familiar palette of indie-folk tropes with elements of haunting electronic production.  

Isakov’s interest in music first emerged during his early teens, when he was inspired by Americana legends like Greg Brown and Richie Havens playing the folk festival circuit around Philadelphia. By age 16, he was touring with bands as a multi-instrumentalist.

“It was all in my parents’ basement,” Isakov said in an interview with The McGill Tribune, recalling his early projects. “All the bands that I was in were in people’s parents’ basements. We just hung out. We were bad and we loved it. We got a chance to be really terrible [….] I think that time in a musician’s life is so important because you can actually explore. Your taste changes every other day and everything changes all the time. It’s so fun.”

Isakov draws from a breadth of influences, praising Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen as his ‘folk heroes,’ lauding Leonard Cohen’s lyricism, and professing his love for Michael Jackson and the pop music he grew up with.The USA for Africa 1985 single, “We Are the World” was the first record he ever obsessed over, and he remembers spinning it endlessly as a child.

Working in an industry obsessed with innovation, Isakov remains ever a fan of the classics. When it comes to songwriting, the artist is more interested in making albums feel like complete pieces from beginning to end than trying to force a unique sound.

“We’re not writing anything for the first time,” Isakov said. “There are only so many chords and so many ideas.”

When planning Evening Machines, Isakov focused on cultivating a dark atmosphere that unifies the whole album, cutting songs he loved but felt disrupted the cohesion of his work. The tracks vary from modest acoustic moments to lushly-layered experimentation; however a sense of completeness transcends these sonic differences. Isakov manages to say a lot while using words sparingly, penning sparse yet introspective lyrics brimming with haunting natural imagery. The conflicting feelings of warmth and eeriness expected of folk music permeate Evening Machines.

The five-year gap between Evening Machines and Isakov’s prior release, The Weatherman (2013), was not merely the result of a process of writing and recording. In 2016, Isakov released and toured a compilation album of 11 of his most popular songs, rearranged and performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. On top of his music, Isakov focused on expanding his farm outside of Boulder, Colorado.

The farm is more than a mere hobby or retreat from the hectic lifestyle of touring; it is Isakov’s first calling and complements his music career.

“I always farmed,” Isakov said. “I went to school for it. Next to my bed is a bunch of horticulture books–that’s mostly what I read. Music was something I did with my free time, and I got a chance to work on little bits of writing while I was working. It supplements my life in such an amazing way, not only monetarily […] but the work was good for me and good for the writing. I don’t know how they correlate exactly, but I feel like I need them both.”

As Isakov prepares for his 40th birthday, looming in the not-so-distant future, he feels nothing but grateful disbelief when he reflects on his career.

“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m not 20 anymore,” Isakov said. “Just running around with my band and trying to make the farm work, I feel like I’m doing the exact same stuff, but I’m not as stressed about it.”

Nonetheless, the singer has no lingering fears about growing older.

“I think I’ve sort of let go of the outcome, I’m just in it for the moment. If that’s what growing up is about, then I’m into it.”

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