Research & Ideas

The Paperwork Burden

Helping high schoolers fill out financial aid forms could boost post-secondary enrolment

Professor Ron Deibert (centre) is speaking with a colleague, who is sitting in front of a laptop in the Citizen Lab. Another colleague is looking at notes on the wall behind him.

The New Freedom Fighters

Will the Internet help bring democracy to Iran? Professor Ron Deibert and the Citizen Lab champion free speech and human rights online

Denise Chong has written what she calls “the biography of a gesture” to explore just what drove Lu Decheng to jeopardize his life for a cause he believes in.

Act of Defiance

In her new book, Denise Chong profiles one of the men who, 20 years ago, dared to lob eggs at a portrait of Mao. As Western businesses vie for access to Chinese markets, do such political gestures still matter?

Photo of arabic script on an antique document

Revelations from Qumran

Ancient peoples may have viewed the Dead Sea scrolls much as we see the web – fluid, social and open to change

Photo of a black child

Africentric Schools

Professor George Dei says parents of black children have been concerned for 30 years that the Toronto school system is not serving their children. “It was time to try a new approach.”

Exit Strategy

This fall, the City of Toronto will test a U of T program that offers youths alternatives to gang life

The beginning of the gay rights movement in North America: Christopher Street Liberation Day, New York City, June 28, 1970

Out and Proud

How students, faculty, staff and alumni brought queer activism to the University of Toronto and changed the campus forever

Illustration by James Joyce

Why Smart People Do Stupid Things

Intelligence by itself doesn’t make you rational. Thinking rationally demands mental skills that some of us don’t have and many of us don’t use

Maureen Walter is participating in the Women in Transition program at the Faculty of Law

Women in Law

Some women leave the legal profession to raise a family. A new Faculty of Law program helps them return

Connecting Communities

Investing in high-speed rail and clean electricity could help lift Toronto out of the recession – and set the stage for a sustainable future

Children sit at a table at the Institute for Child Study

Head of the Class

U of T’s Institute of Child Study has influenced education in Canada for more than 80 years. A visit to the lab school reveals why.

An Animated History

Read about the creators of Superman, Betty Boop, Popeye and other animated characters at rarebit.org

Finch and Weston apartments

Tower Power

Toronto mayor picks up U of T plan to green, preserve and beautify the city's highrises

Close-up headshot of Dr. James Orbinski, wearing a blue-striped scarf, against a dark grey background

A Doctor in Kigali

Dr. James Orbinski served as head mission for Doctors Without Borders during the Rwandan Genocide. What he saw there transformed him

Smoke and Mirrors

So far, Canada has taken no real action on climate change. It’s time to get serious about Kyoto

Urban Legend

Celebrated American academic Richard Florida heads up the new Martin Prosperity Institute at U of T

Illustration of Leonardo DiCaprio

Cause Celeb

Do Hollywood stars change the public's perception of issues?

Show of Faith

U of T's ecclesiastic alphabet once began and ended with "A" for Anglican, but now embraces everyone from Ahmadis to Zenists

Enemies of the State

In her book Villa Bel-Air, Rosemary Sullivan asks why totalitarian regimes are so afraid of art

Last Neanderthals on Earth

Adjunct professor Clive Finlayson found that Neanderthals survived thousands of years longer than previously believed - in Gorham's Cave in Gibralter

Illustration of a schoolchild

School Ties

Research by child development professor Carl Corter shows that providing daycare at elementary schools benefits children, parents and teachers

OMG I Luv IM

Teens use a lot of instant messaging terms, but not in spoken conversation, study finds

The Nature of Things

Robert Bateman, 76, talks about wildlife art, conservation and the joys of painting predators

Illustration of a man sorting through a trash bin while behind another person looks into house with binoculars.

Life Ever After

Years of university – then what? As John Fraser discovered, first jobs can lead in unexpected directions

What Prejudice Does

Belonging to a stigmatized group reduces the self-control students use regulate to their behaviour

School of Jazz

For U of T Music students, it's all about the passion and the desire to play

Outdoor Sweatshops

U of T geography professor Ken MacDonald is challenging unfair labour practices on the slopes of the Karakoram Mountains