For University of Toronto students Gigi Hoi and Alfonso Ralph Mendoza Manalo, one of the first steps in dealing with anti-Asian racism is having difficult, honest conversations. “Having a space where people can feel safe and share … whatever it is that they're going through,” is crucial says Hoi, a PhD candidate in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Hoi and Manalo are guests on “Scapegoat,” a special two-part episode of The New...

Anti-Asian racism and violence in North America have been called a “shadow pandemic” – one that has intensified over the past year and builds on a long history of discrimination. How, then, can we stop it? “One of the things that I've been trying to promote in the aftermath of the shootings in Georgia is the power that allies and bystanders have,” says Jooyoung Lee, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto. “If you're a witness to harassment in public, just speaking...

For some, it was the last time they remember hugging a friend or a colleague, the last time they were with a class, in a crowd or with a group, the last time they took public transit without thinking about risk. In episode 18 of The New Normal podcast, University of Toronto students, alumni and faculty talk with host Maydianne Andrade about the moment they realized COVID-19 had changed their world – and what they’re most looking forward to when the pandemic ends. “On Friday, March 13th of...

One year into the global pandemic, with vaccines on the horizon, The New Normal podcast explores how far we’ve come – by looking back at where we started. In episode 17, host Maydianne Andrade, a professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough and Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology, revisits the debut episode of the podcast, which was recorded shortly after the pandemic abruptly changed our lives. “No one was talking to each other,” Andrade observes. “It was almost...

Did the printing press transform the world and lead to freedom of information – or is that a myth promoted by white, Western society? In episode 16 of her podcast, The New Normal, Professor Maydianne Andrade explores the origin stories of societies and nations with Alexandra Gillespie, a professor of English and vice-president and principal of the University of Toronto Mississauga. “Societies and nations have origin stories. Their histories are used to build justification for present-day...

COVID-19 has disrupted and changed our lives – and our ideas about how we want to live. When the pandemic ends, what changes will we want to keep? What kind of cities will we build? In episode 15 of her podcast, The New Normal, Professor Maydianne Andrade explores these and other questions with Professor Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto. “We are used to thinking of cities as static, solid entities and yet they aren't,” says Andrade, Canada Research Chair in Integrative...

What does a more inclusive society look like – and what are the responsibilities we hold as citizens when it comes to building one? In the latest episode of her podcast, The New Normal, Professor Maydianne Andrade explores these and other questions with Professor Wisdom Tettey, vice-president and principal of the University of Toronto Scarborough. It’s the first in a series of episodes that will feature Andrade in conversation with university leaders. Upcoming instalments include a...

The pandemic has shone a light on the systemic and structural oppression of vulnerable populations, says the University of Toronto’s Kimberley Tull. “There's been so much revealed,” says Tull, the director of community and learning partnerships and access pathways at U of T Scarborough. “Who has and hasn't. Who can and can't be safe. Who can breathe and who cannot. What does it mean to be vulnerable? What does it mean to be on the margins?” In episode 13 of The New Normal podcast...

When the pandemic hit, Fiona Rawle – a professor of biology and the associate dean, undergraduate at the University of Toronto Mississauga – was quick to analyze the challenges of remote teaching and learning and determine that a new approach was needed. “Students, faculty, staff, and teaching assistants are all under more stress than usual,” Rawle says. “If ever there was a time for a pedagogy of kindness, it's now.” Rawle designed and co-led a series of workshops to help faculty members...

What is it like to take part in classes at the University of Toronto from your home in southern Brazil? How does it feel, as a student from Cameroon, to witness anti-Black racism in North America? The New Normal, a podcast hosted by Professor Maydianne Andrade, vice-dean faculty affairs, equity and success, at U of T Scarborough and a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology, explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our daily lives. In episode 11, Andrade turns the...

Over the past four months, Maydianne Andrade, vice-dean faculty affairs, equity and success, at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology, has used her podcast, The New Normal, to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our daily lives. But in episode 10 of the podcast, Andrade and producer Lisa Lightbourn discuss how the show took on a life of its own, venturing into reflections on larger problems in society. “Equity is a...

Toronto’s streets have seen fewer cars during the pandemic as the city closed some major roads and expanded the cycling network. Now, there more walkers, cyclists and people sitting at café tables. Is this what a more livable, equitable city looks like? “Like many cities, Toronto has figured out ways to give people space to move in the outdoors while respecting physical distancing, which involve quieting down the streets to reduce traffic volume and expanding the cycling network,” says...

What can you learn from equity-deserving groups? How to be resilient? How to thrive – even in an environment that doesn’t affirm your right to existence?  What are the challenges, achievements and opportunities for the queer community? These are some of the questions explored by Maydianne Andrade, a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and the University of Toronto Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity, in “Queering The New Normal,” episode eight of her...

After months of a global pandemic and weeks of protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality, are we at a crossroads? “It feels like we are at a critical moment,” says Maydianne Andrade, a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and the University of Toronto Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity. “Will we choose the path that is more challenging but more just? In episode seven of her podcast, The New Normal, Andrade is joined by Joe Wong, the Ralph...

The University of Toronto’s Dr. Onye Nnorom, the Black health theme lead for the Faculty of Medicine’s MD program and the equity, diversity and inclusion lead for the department of family and community medicine, is a guest on Professor Maydianne Andrade’s weekly podcast, The New Normal.    The second instalment of a special two-part episode, titled “Enough,” explores the intergenerational impact and trauma of anti-Black racism and violence through scholarly perspectives and personal...

This episode explores the intergenerational impact and trauma of anti-Black racism and violence through the scholarly perspectives and personal experiences of Andrade, Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and the University of Toronto Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity, and her guests: U of T Scarborough Assistant Professor Mark Campbell, of the department of arts, culture and media, an expert in hip hop and the music of Black communities, and Assistant...

Chika Oriuwa, valedictorian of the Faculty of Medicine, talks with Professor Maydianne Andrade a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and U of T Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity, in episode five of The New Normal. The weekly podcast, hosted by Andrade and created in collaboration with a University of Toronto Communications team led by producer Lisa Lightbourn, also features undergrad Isheeta Chakrabarti and Lily Mason, Andrade’s 17-year-old daughter.

In episode four of her podcast, The New Normal, Maydianne Andrade – who is a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and U of T Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity – talks with some of her students and with members of her own family to see how they’re coping with distancing and uncertainty. The New Normal is a weekly podcast hosted by Andrade and created in collaboration with a University of Toronto Communications team led by producer Lisa Lightbourn.

Episode three of The New Normal – a weekly podcast hosted by Maydianne Andrade and created in collaboration with a University of Toronto Communications team led by producer Lisa Lightbourn – looks at how people are coming together during the pandemic. Andrade speaks with sociologist and associate professor Erik Schneiderhan of University of Toronto Mississauga about our need to connect and whether, as Schneiderhan says, “we'll be a little kinder, a little more open, a little more...

In the second episode of her weekly podcast, The New Normal, Maydianne Andrade – who is a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and U of T Scarborough’s vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity – introduces listeners to Professor Katherine Larson. The chair of the English department at U of T Scarborough, Larson is also a singer. Her husband, Lawrence Wiliford, is a classical tenor singer and their four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Lyra, sings and plays violin. Producer:...

In episode one of her new podcast, Maydianne Andrade, the Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology and the vice-dean of faculty affairs and equity at U of T Scarborough brings listeners into her neighborhood and on a trip to her local grocery store. Producer: Lisa Lightbourn Host & Writer: Maydianne Andrade

The global pandemic has altered much of our daily lives – school, work, shopping, how we connect with family and friends – and is shaping how we view our future. In a new weekly podcast, Andrade, the Canada Research Chair in integrative behavioural ecology and vice-dean of faculty affairs at equity at U of T Scarborough, explores how we’re coping with this “new normal” and what kind of future we’re building in the process. Over the next few weeks, Andrade will introduce listeners to members of