The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Toronto Mississauga since 1974
Issue 017 Volume 47 February 8 2021
themedium.ca
U OF T CONVOCATION 2021
STUDYING HUMAN REMAINS
HEALTHCARE WORKERS
On February 2, the University of Toronto Office of Convocation announced that the Spring 2021 convocation ceremony for this year’s graduates will be held on June 23, 2021, via a virtual ceremony.
It’s a dark evening. The smell of rain is heavy in the air. She walks along a newly put-down trail behind a townhouse complex. Suddenly, she steps on something that feels distinctly brittle and dense.
We’ve connected via zoom and social media but remain more disconnected than ever before. With everything online and virtual, most of us have noticed a toll taken on our mental health.
>> CONVOCATION continued on page 03
>> REMAINS continued on page 08
>> HEALTHCARE continued on page 12
NEWS
Mayor Crombie’s office launches climate action initiative for youth Razia Saleh Contributor
T
he City of Mississauga is attempting to find solutions to mitigate climate change effects by getting students involved. On October 19, 2020, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie announced a challenge for high school and post-secondary students to participate in Mississauga’s climate change action. “Mission to Earth: Climate Change Youth Challenge” is an initiative for students to propose policies and ideas for the city to consider in the fight against climate change.
>> CLIMATE continued on page 02
FEATURES
COMMENT
Professor Adrien Rannaud on francophone literature and childhood reflection
The fight for human rights is continuous
May Alsaigh Associate Features Editor
A
ssistant Professor of Québec and Francophone Canadian Literatures Adrien Rannaud teaches in the Department of Language Studies at UTM. Professor Rannaud also partakes in numerous research endeavors that focus on the literary and cultural history of Québec within the 19th to 20th centuries, women’s writing and cultural practices, history of media culture, celebrity studies, and middlebrow culture. Yet, Professor Rannaud’s achievements extend beyond his extensive research portfolio to his everyday life. Born in Lyon, the third largest city in France, Professor Rannaud spent much of his childhood reading books on history, French culture and literature, and the early modern period of the monarchy state. Professor Rannaud contends that these subjects were most interesting to him and structured how he envisioned his future in academia. Although many individuals face the common challenge of deciding on a career or a field of study, this was
not the case for Professor Rannaud. From an early age, he envisioned himself to be a writer or historian when he grew up. Professor Rannaud was also captivated by the stories and unique experiences of women. His career today ties in these aspirations and interests as he continues to work in a field that pertains to history and literature studies as well as women’s writing and practices. He is particularly intrigued by “the relationship between print history, poetic, gender and cultural value” as well as the structure of cultural hierarchies. Professor Rannaud did not attend university immediately upon graduating high school but rather took a twoyear program that offered interdisciplinary courses—a form of higher education that is common in France. This program is known in French as “classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles,” or in translation, “preparatory classes for grandes écoles.” Typically, students enroll in these classes following their high school graduation in order to prepare for a post-secondary education. After completing these classes, Professor Rannaud entered his third year of university at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 to pursue his bachelor’s degree in a literature program. >> RANNAUD continued on page 06
Aroni Sarkar Associate Comment Editor
O
n February 1, Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, performed a coup by detaining democratically elected members of Myanmar’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy, and civil society activists. The detainees included State Counsellor and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. The coup occurred a day before newly elected Members of Parliament from the 2020 general elections were to be sworn in. The Tatmadaw has declared a year-long state of emergency, called for new elections to take place, cut off telecommunications, and declared Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing as leader. This has brought an end to civilian governance and put the military back in power. There are years of complicated history at play here. However, the most peculiar and significant revelation is that the Commander-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing, is directly and credibly implicated in the humanitarian crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic cleansing that Suu Kyi stubbornly denies.
>> RIGHTS continued on page 04