Winter 2024
Canada’s justice minister and attorney general Arif Virani on tackling online hate, the importance of diversity in the judiciary, and how kicking around a soccer ball can break through partisan divisions even in a deeply polarized Parliament.
Society
Determined to give them back their names
Forensic scientist Cristina Cattaneo, BSc’87, heads up an effort in Italy to identify migrants who have perished in their attempts to reach Europe. “It’s important for the living, not just for the dignity of the dead.”
Health
New non-profit targets under-researched diseases
McGillians are playing key roles in Conscience, a new non-profit initiative that hopes to use artificial intelligence and a “team sport” approach to encourage research into the rare diseases and potential threats that Big Pharma tends to ignore.
From Exploring the roots of the war in Ukraine
“Segments of the Ukrainian electorate feared that [Zelenskyy] would sell out Ukraine to Russia. I don’t think anybody would have [foreseen] this Churchillian figure that emerged.”
Maria Popova
Associate Professor of Political Science
À la une
La longue marche vers l’architecture identitaire
L’architecte primé Alain Fournier a réalisé des dizaines de structures et de bâtiments distinctifs pour des communautés autochtones du Nord, dont ils sont le reflet fidèle. (This story is also available in English.)
Culture
An unconventional path to literary stardom
As an undergraduate, Kai Thomas, BA’16, examined old newspaper ads in the McGill Library about runaway slaves. That research helped inform In the Upper Country, his first novel, which won one of Canada’s top literary prizes last year.
Culture
There’s a lot more to Canadian art than the Group of Seven
As the executive director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Sarah Milroy oversees an institution whose collection includes works by the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson - some of the most famous art ever produced in Canada. But Milroy insists that is only one part of the McMichael story.
Culture
Updating big band jazz for the 21st century
Darcy James Argue and his big band the Secret Society make some of the most daringly ambitious music in contemporary jazz and they have the Grammy Award nominations and critical acclaim to prove it.
Discovery
Taking stock of the state of English in Canada
Do English-speaking Canadians still say “chesterfield”? Are we more likely to opt for “Zee” or Zed”? These are some of the questions that McGill associate professor of linguistics Charles Boberg hopes to answer with a national survey that is looking at how English is being spoken in different parts of the country.
Culture
An out-of-this-world composition
Composer Sophie Kastner, MMus’22, recently took part in a unique collaboration with NASA, creating a vivid piece of music about the Milky Way based on data about the galaxy that has been gleaned by the Chandra, Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
Alum notes
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