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Out on the Town, Student Life

A guide to Montreal’s best holiday markets

by Emma Carr on

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December is nearly upon us, and that means two things: Finals are just around the corner, and, perhaps more enticing, holiday markets are opening up around Montreal. These pop-up shops are one-stop spots for picking up unique gifts, enjoying cold-weather snacks, and experiencing live entertainment. Not sure where to start? The McGill Tribune compiled a list of the city’s most festive–and free–markets to visit before winter break.

Le Grand Marché de Noël

(Daria Kiselava / The McGill Tribune)
 
Runs: Dec. 1 to 24
Location: 175 Sainte-Catherine street west

In the middle of Quartier des Spectacles, Le Grand Marché de Noël is one of the city’s largest holiday markets. This year, the venue will showcase products from a wide array of Quebec-based businesses, from vineyards to handmade clothing retailers.

Visitors can also participate in a number of activities scattered throughout the market, including a “tire d’érable” station and a tour of the festival grounds on the Via Rail Little Train. Additionally, guests can grab winter treats, like hot chocolate and maple taffy, from one of 13 food and drink vendors.

Noël dans le Parc

(Daria Kiselava / The McGill Tribune)

 
Runs: Dec. 1 to 25
Location: Parc des Compagnons-de-Saint-Laurent, Parc Lahaie, and Place Émilie-Gamelin

This music festival-turned-holiday show has been a Montreal favourite since 1994, when it was founded by three Montreal-based musicians as a platform to showcase local talent. Over the years, Noël dans le Parc expanded its setup to include a campfire, a marketplace, and a petting zoo. Today, the event is staged at three spots across the city: Parc des Compagnons-de-Saintt-Laurent, Parc Lahaie, and Place Émilie-Gamelin.

It’s the perfect place to grab a bite to eat on a winter’s night. Be sure to to stop by the food tents, where you can find hot drinks, sausages, and marshmallows to toast around the campfire, all while enjoying free live performances.

The Nutcracker Market

(Daria Kiselava / The McGill Tribune)


Runs: Nov. 30 to Dec. 10
Location: Palais des congrès, 1001 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle

Located in the heart of downtown, The Nutcracker Market offers visitors the opportunity to give back while doing their holiday shopping. Organized by Les Grands Ballet, 10 per cent of all proceeds are donated to the Nutcracker Fund, which pays the transportation costs for sick and low-income children to see its production of The Nutcracker and attend educational workshops.

What makes this market unique is its variety and charity-oriented nature. This year, 105 vendors will be participating, selling everything from chocolate to cozy sweaters. Standouts include quirky candy from Candy Labs, handmade alpaca wool goods from Alpagas des Appalaches, and winter accessories made out of recycled materials from Gibou.

Etsy Montréal: Holiday Market

(Daria Kiselava / The McGill Tribune)


Runs: Dec. 16 to 17
Location: Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, 4353, rue Sainte-Catherine Est

Shopping at Etsy Montreal: Holiday Market is an ideal opportunity to support local artists and entrepreneurs. The brain-child of Etsy and the local business co-op Hochelag, this market is the place to pick up unique handmade gifts. This year, the craft show will feature the work of 110 artisans from in and around the Montreal area, making it the ideal spot to buy a little piece of Montreal to send to both friends and family. At the market, visitors can browse jewelry, accessories, ceramics, and clothing. Be sure to also check out the food display, where cake, chocolate, and popcorn will be for sale.

Instagram, McGill, News

Quebec Studies minor program no longer under review

by Arvaa Balsara on

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At the Nov. 8 Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Legislative Council meeting, AUS Vice-President (VP) Internal Rebecca Scarra put forth a motion to establish a Quebec Studies Students’ Association (QSSA) in order to facilitate negotiations between the AUS and the Quebec Studies program administrators at McGill. This, among other measures, part of an effect made to increase student retention in the program, which was at risk of being cut earlier this year due to low enrollment rates.

The Quebec Studies minor program provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Quebec history, culture, and society. The minor program continues to be one of the smallest at McGill, with fewer than 20 students currently enrolled. The low enrollment rates resulted in the removal of the major program in 2016, according to Professor Eric Bélanger, the director of the Quebec Studies Program.

“The numbers were simply not high enough to justify the major program,” Bélanger said. “So, we decided to focus on developing the minor program instead.”

Due to provincial budget cuts over the past few years, the Faculty of Arts was forced to terminate 50 courses in the 2014-2015 academic year alone. According to AUS VP Academic Madeline Wilson, enrollment is the primary measure that determines a program’s viability. Programs with low enrollment are placed under review by the faculty in order to determine concrete strategies to increase enrollment. If there is no increase in enrollment over a certain period of time, these programs are cut from the Faculty of Arts. The North American Studies program is currently being phased out for this reason.

“In the case of the Quebec Studies Program, the program was placed under review a few years ago,” Wilson said. “As enrollment did not increase, the [Faculty of Arts] decided to cut the major program. However, the minor has recently been removed from review because [its] enrollment has increased.”

Despite the increase, the Quebec Studies minor is struggling to maintain its current enrollment. Olivia Kurajian, President of the QSSA, hopes that establishing a student association will make the program more visible to Arts students.

“It’s our goal to attract enough people to the department to reinstate the major program,” Kurajian said.  

Under Quebec law, all departments are guaranteed a student association to represent their interests in student government. Following the approval of the motion to establish the QSSA, AUS Council formed an executive committee comprised of a President, a VP External, a VP Events, and a VP Finance. These positions are currently held by Olivia Kurajian, Mary-Jane Roy, Sarah Dery, and Veronique Leblanc, respectively. Since the QSSA’s founding, the executives have been planning events for the Winter 2018 semester, including a trip to Quebec City.

In addition to the QSSA events, the Quebec Studies Program has implemented hands-on learning opportunities in an effort to increase student retention. In collaboration with the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE), many Quebec Studies courses offer a community engagement option, which connects students to local organizations that offer internships and volunteer opportunities, thereby integrating students into Quebec society.

“[The community engagement option] also caters to different types of learners,” Kurajian said. “You have the chance to understand the nuances of what you are learning about through hands-on experiences. There’s also something to be said about being a smaller program. [It] allows you to explore the material in a way that simply isn’t possible in a larger program.”

 

Science & Technology

Say ‘no’ to the nocebo

by Krithika Ragupathi on

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It’s that time of year again, when mental health initiatives are becoming more active. With finals looming ahead, it may seem like the pervading mood on campus is generally negative. However, it’s important that we question whether these initiatives themselves are responsible for subconsciously swaying our mood this way.

The number of McGill students seeking mental health or counselling services on campus has increased by 57 per cent over the last three years. While the implementation of a Fall Reading Week could work to combat this spike in demand, a nation-wide mental health epidemic requires more systemic solutions. Investigators have a plethora of suspects: Our sedentary, sunlight-deficient lifestyle, the prospect of graduating jobless, or the feelings of isolation brought about by superficial connections made over social networks. A psychological phenomenon called the nocebo effect could partially cause this post-modern mental health decline in students.

Known as the evil cousin to the placebo effect, the nocebo effect occurs when negative expectations result in negative consequences, which in some cases are tangible physiological changes. For example, when a physician warns a patient that a procedure may hurt, studies have found that the patient ends up reporting more pain than if the suggestion hadn’t been made.

In 1998, the nocebo effect led to an unnecessary evacuation at a high school in Tennessee. A teacher reported feelings of dizziness, nausea, and headaches after noticing the smell of gasoline in her classroom. The school was evacuated and 99 students and teachers went to the emergency room reporting similar symptoms. An investigation later found no evidence of toxins in the environment, and no gasoline leak of any kind, concluding that it was a mass psychogenic illness.  

Similarly, we can deliberate whether the mere suggestion of the symptoms of depression is partially responsible for this growing pandemic. Jay Olson, a PhD student in Psychiatry at McGill, agrees with this hypothesis.

“University students are often told that their program is difficult and that many of them will end up depressed,” Olson said. “Promoting awareness of mental health issues is good for obvious reasons, it reduces stigma and increases reporting of symptoms. But it could also help reinforce symptoms similar to the nocebo effect.”

While “Trying to Stay Afloat?” posters on campus play a significant role in destigmatizing mental health issues, it’s possible that they play a part in stimulating the symptoms through the nocebo effect.

Research on this topic is sparse; the broad effects are difficult to study due to the numerous variables that must be taken into consideration. Olson and his colleague, Samuel Veissière, an assistant professor in Psychiatry and Anthropology at McGill, are discussing ways to study the relationship between mental health initiatives and the nocebo effect.

With finals in sight, it’s important to be mindful of the nocebo effect’s impact on student well-being. Spend a minute sharing something interesting you’ve studied with a friend. Instead of taking lots of short interspersed study breaks scrolling through your newsfeed, save up and schedule a longer break to relax. Phone a friend, catch up on Riverdale, or buy yourself a cheesecake. Take up the activities that provide the positive reinforcement necessary to alleviate possible symptoms of the nocebo effect, and be successful this exam season.

Student Life

The link between gut health and mental health

by Janine Xu on

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University life can pose a challenge to maintaining healthy eating habits. From sugar-filled bars grabbed swiftly on the way out the door in the morning, to late-night cups of Tim Horton’s, the rigors of academia do little for the average student’s physical health. But stress-eating processed candy and grabbing rushed slices of pizza can be detrimental for mental health too, as research shows an important link between gut health and mental health.

While we may think of our bodies as belonging to ourselves, we are actually home to millions of microorganisms. These microbes, which include a variety of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, have tremendous potential to impact our physiology as they colonize many parts of the body, including the gut.

In turn, a 2017 University College Cork study suggests that gut bacteria may influence their host’s anxiety and depression. Increasing the number of ‘good’ bacteria in the gut can reduce stress, improve memory, and lower social anxiety.

Mariia Taguer, a third-year PhD candidate in Microbiology and Immunology, studies the community of diverse microorganisms living in the gut, which is collectively known as the gut microbiome. In addition to improving mental health, Taguer considers having a strong microbiome to be of great importance, as it impacts the immune system.

“[The gut microbiome] helps to clean our immune system,” Taguer said. “A lot of diseases we’re finding now, like inflammatory diseases, [relate] to how our gut microbiota [work with] the immune system. This is really based on […] disturbances to our gut microbiota […] in our early years, which can lead to an altered immune system [.…] It helps to digest a lot of our food [by breaking down] certain foods down for us. Fibre, which we can’t digest ourselves, is [broken down] by [gut] bacteria.”

For students looking to boost their mood, diet is an easy place to start. Instead of reaching for coffee when feeling under-the-weather, students should reach for a mango. Packed with healthy fibres that gut bacteria thrive on, the fruit is bound to improve stomach health—which can improve mental health, too.

Healthy eating habits are not a substitute for therapy or medication. If you are struggling with mental health, McGill offers both counselling and psychiatric care.

 

Mango and lime sorbet recipe

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

  • 500g frozen mango chunks

  • 1 lime, zest and juice

  • 100ml coconut water

  • 1 tbsp caster sugar (optional)

  • 200g fresh raspberries

  • 100g fresh coconut shavings

  • Fresh mint to garnish

Instructions

  1. Place half of the mango into a food processor. Add both the juice and zest of the lime to the mix. Process the ingredients until they are well mixed and the sorbet is formed.

  2. Taste your sorbet for sweetness. Add sugar to taste.

  3. In order to achieve the consistency you like, gradually add small amounts of mango and coconut water until you’re satisfied.

  4. For a fun way to plate your sorbet, place a few berries in the bottom of a clear glass. Add a couple spoonfuls of your sorbet on top of the berries. Decorate with more berries, shaved coconut, and a pinch of fresh mint.

Recipe adapted from Love Your Gut.

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