Research & Ideas

Photo of crowd during Walk for Reconciliation.

Facing Up to Canada’s Past

Scholars at the Jackman Humanities Institute find optimism amidst the pain in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

A collaboration between U of T and community group Cabbagetown Releaf hopes to inspire people across Toronto care for their neighbourhood's trees.

An Army of Tree Lovers

U of T’s Faculty of Forestry is teaching Torontonians how to care for one of the city’s most valuable resources – its trees

Two photos shot in a studio against a light grey background: Kinnon MacKinnon (left), in a white and grey-polka-dotted short-sleeved, button-up shirt and black-framed glasses with a tattoo on his left bicep, and Cassandra Williams, in a black T-shirt with a white print illustration, wearing a lip ring and her long brown hair draped over one shoulder.

Generation T

For trans students at U of T, the fight for rights and equality is about much more than just washrooms

Redefining Gender

These days, talking about sex and gender can involve a lot of specialized terms. Here’s a guide

Photo of Elspeth Brown.

Partners in Transition

Prof. Elspeth Brown is interviewing partners of trans people as part of a project to record the stories of LGBTQ people

Photo of Jonathan Sun speaking into a microphone

Loving the Aliebn

Jonathan Sun tweets funny, heartfelt – and often misspelt – observations about what it means to be a 21st-century human

Photo of a pink, leather bag

In the Pink

Anabela Piersol showcases independent clothing designers, as well as her own lovely creations

Photo of Boy George

Mx

New honorific is for people who don't want to reveal their gender

Prof. Jooyoung Lee (left) with rapper Big Flossy

Rap Dreams

Where gangs rule, hip hop is a strongly positive force for youth, study finds

Designed for forests, the

Making Camp

U of T prof’s designs let campers sleep over wetlands or high among trees

A man surveys the rubble in Guangzhou, China

Cities in Ruins

Prof. Tong Lam's photographs depict urban decay in Asia, and the parallels between security and surveillance in east and west

Illustration of a blue shirt with white clouds, a green striped tie, and a joint being smoked

High Time?

When it comes to legalizing marijuana, drug and public health experts caution that “the devil is in the details”

Photo of open field with an array of seven wind turbines

Cooling Off

Will the Paris climate accord succeed where Kyoto didn’t?

Photo of Soviet poet Oleg Okhapkin sitting in his kitchen

Words of Freedom

U of T is now home to the world's largest digitized collection of Soviet samizdat journals

Illustration of City Hall, the

The 6ix

Rap star Drake popularized Toronto’s new nickname

A scene from Cracked: New Light on Dementia. Photo by TK.

Spotlight on Dementia

An innovative blend of research and theatre is enabling scientists to reduce the stigma around a distressing disease

Photo of people crossing a busy city street.

Mobile City

As Toronto's population grows, we will have to embrace alternatives to the car

Photo of model for theatre under Gariner Expressway.

Street Theatre

A design for the Gardiner Expressway illustrates how U of T students are reimagining Toronto

Photo of a rotten orange.

Spoiled Rotten

A familiar problem in the West, food waste is quickly becoming a global issue

Cisgender

Applies to someone who is not transgender, and is often used to signal awareness of gender politics

Illustration of two moving figures before an illustrious gold backdrop.

Architect’s Playground

Benjamin Dillenburger uses computers and 3D printers to create structures that are impossible to draw and almost impossible to imagine

Image from Grey Matter film poster, depicting the back profile of the director looking at a flag with red, yellow and green colours running vertically

U of T’s World Wide Web

The university’s scholars are collaborating with partners in every region of the globe to answer questions that challenge us all

Homophily

The like-attracts-like nature of social media could be bad for democracy

Photo of a Toronto street with a streetcar passing.

Travel Upgrade

For many Torontonians, the daily commute is a spirit-crusher. What if it could enrich your life instead?

Photo of derelict apartments.

Tower Trouble

In India, urban renewal schemes and corruption have created a violent economy around the demolition of apartment buildings