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York University

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:''This article is about the Canadian university. For the British university, see University of York.'' {{Infobox_University |name = York University |image = Image:Yorkucrest.gif 125px|York University Crest |motto = Tentanda via(''The way must be tried'') |established = 1959 |type = Public university Public |president = Lorna Marsden |city = Toronto |state = Ontario ON |country = Canada |undergrad = 43,635 |postgrad = 3,339 |staff = 7,000 |campus = Urban area Urban/Suburb Suburban, 263 ha (650 acres) |free_label = Sports teams |free = Lions |website= [http://www.yorku.ca/ yorku.ca] |}} '''York University''' (YorkU) is a large comprehensive university, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In terms of physical size, it is Canada's largest university, and second-largest in terms of student population. York has over 50,000 students and 7,000 staff and faculty spread over two campuses.

History
York University was founded in 1959, by virtue of the ''York Act'', which received Royal Assent in the Ontario Legislature on March 26 of that year. Its first class was held on September 1960, in Falconer Hall on the University of Toronto campus, with a total of 76 students. In the fall of 1961, York moved to the Glendon College Glendon campus, and began to emphasize liberal arts and part-time adult education. In 1965, York moved into its permanent home on the Keele campus. The campus, located at the northern edge of the City of Toronto, was regarded as somewhat isolated, in a generally industrialized part of the city. Petrol storage facilities are still located across the street. Some of the early architecture was unpopular with many, not only for the brutalist designs, but the vast expanse between buildings, which was not viewed as suitable for the climate. In the last two decades, the campus has been intensified with new buildings, including a dedicated student centre and new fine arts, computer science and business administration buildings, as well as a small York Lanes shopping mall, and Beatrice Ice Gardens hockey arena. York has hosted the Canadian open tennis tournament for years. Faced with a threat of losing the high-profile competition, an agreement was reached to build a new stadium on campus. In 2004, the result was the Rexall Centre tennis stadium on the west end of campus. As Toronto has spread further out, York has found itself in a relatively central location within the built-up Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and in particular, near the maligned Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Although its master plan envisions a denser on-campus environment commensurate with that location, the university's administration has made very limited efforts towards creating a centralized, urban feel. A controversial low-density, suburban-style housing development has served as a flashpoint for this tension.

Academics
Image:Canada-toronto-york-university-01.jpg thumb|230px|View from Vari Hall York University has ten faculties, with an eleventh, the Faculty of Health, being initiated 1 July 2006. This new faculty will house the School of Health Policy & Management, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, School of Nursing, and the Department of Psychology. Several of these faculties' programmes overlap. The Faculties of Arts, Science & Engineering, Liberal & Professional Studies (Atkinson), and Glendon College, for instance, each house separate mathematics departments. The Schulich School of Business, which figures in a number of prominent international MBA rankings, offers a unique International Business Administration programme which is the first of its kind in Canada, while the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies' School of Administrative Studies is the largest business undergraduate programme in Canada. Other faculties are unique, such as the Faculty of Environmental Studies, although it too has begun to overlap with aspects of the environmental sciences and engineering programmes whose professorial staff are resident in the Faculty of Science & Engineering. Steps have, however, been undertaken to begin to unify similar departments in separate faculties, and in some areas these overlaps have in fact contributed to York's efforts to brand itself as a university focused on interdisciplinarity. York University's Faculty of Graduate Studies is Ontario's second largest graduate school offering graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines, such as psychology, which is the largest in Canada. There are several joint graduate programmes with the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. The university has also been traditionally strong in arts and social sciences: York's Faculty of Arts is the largest in Canada and the school has the greatest number of humanists and social scientists in Canada. The political science department, a leading centre for the study of radical political economy, has been singled out in Maclean's annual ranking of universities. Its history department is especially strong in Canadian history. The [http://www.arts.yorku.ca/wmst School of Women's Studies at York University] is one of the oldest of its kind and offers the largest array of courses in this field in the country, some of which are offered in French. The [http://www.ccges.ca/york Canadian Centre for Germanic and European Studies]is co-housed at York University and Université de Montréal. The Centre was awarded to York University and Université de Montréal by the German Academic Exchange Service. The [http://www.yorku.ca/finearts Faculty of Fine Arts] also enjoys an excellent reputation, offering programmes such as ethnomusicology and a degree in cultural criticism referred to as "cultural studies"; York's joint Bachelor of Design programme with Sheridan College is the first and largest such joint programme in the province of Ontario. York's Faculty of Education (also known as the "Toronto School of Liberal Education") is distinguished by the unusual amount of teaching experience that students acquire. The prestigious Osgoode Hall Law School is Canada's largest and among its oldest, having moved from a downtown location to the York campus in 1969 following the requirement that every law school affiliate with a university. While engineering is new to York University, the school has long been involved in certain niche areas related to engineering within its Faculty of Science, now Faculty of Science & Engineering. Space projects are a particular strength, and York offers both a unique Space & Communication Sciences undergraduate degree and a pair of small telescopes on campus to help support it. York’s Centre for Vision Research, for example, has developed a ‘virtual reality room’ called IVY (Immersive Virtual Environment at York) in order to study spatial orientation and perception of gravity and motion. The Canadian Space Agency and National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) use this research to strengthen astronauts’ sense of ‘up’ and ‘down’ in zero-gravity environments; the room, a rare six-sided immersive environment in Canada, is made of the glass used in the CN Tower’s observation deck and includes walls, ceiling, and a floor comprised of computer-generated pixel maps. York's [http://www.library.yorku.ca five libraries] contain more than six-and-a-half million items including more than two million books and subscriptions to over 13,000 electronic journals. The Osgoode Hall Law School houses the largest law library in the Commonwealth of Nations. [http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/ArchivesSpecialCollections/index.htm The Clara Thomas Archives] contains the literary and personal papers of many notable Canadian cultural figures such as Margaret Laurence, Rohinton Mistry, Adele Wiseman, bill bissett, and others. York's approximately 1,200 full-time professors and academic librarians are represented by the [http://www.yufa.org York University Faculty Association].

Athletics
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the York Lions. Beginning in 1968 York's sporting teams were known as the "Yeomen", later the term "Yeowomen" was created to allow for female sport participation under a gendered name specific to themselves. Popular sentiment ran against the name scheme however, as many students noted that a "yeowoman" was fictitious, neither a real word nor possessed of any historical merit. After extensive internal study a polling a name change was proposed which came to fruition in 2003. York's "Yeomen" and "Yeowomen" were no more, and in their place the "Lions" emerged. This change of name also necessitated a change in logo and sports merchandizing which brought the sports icon of the university, now a white and red lion, into line with the university's new visual scheme. The name change also brought York university in line with the 92% of other Canadian universities which use a single name for both gender's sports teams. Interestingly, and perhaps due to the school tradition of gendered sporting names, many students currently refer to the female lions teams as the "York Lionesses" despite the fact that the term "Lion" can be applied to either gender. [http://www.universitysport.ca/e/story_detail.cfm?id=397] SportYork offers 29 interuniversity sport teams, 12 sport clubs, 35 intramural sport leagues, special events and 10 pick-up sport activities offered daily. York U has several athletic facilities, some of which are used for major tournaments. These include a football stadium, 4 gymnasia, 5 sport playing fields, 4 softball fields, 9 outdoor tennis courts, 5 squash courts, 3 dance/aerobic studios, an ice arena, a swimming pool, an expanding fitness centre and the new Rexall Centre (Home of the Rogers Tennis Cup). Plans in 2005 to build a new football and soccer stadium to host the Toronto Argonauts Canadian Football League team and future football tournaments were scuttled, however, when a deal was signed by the Argos to remain at the Rogers Centre (formerly known as the SkyDome). York's proximity to many of Toronto's cricket-playing communities and role as host of an annual "[http://www.yorku.ca/yorkisu York is U]" cricket tournament has led to speculation that the university might act as a permanent home for Canadian cricket team Canada's growing cricket programme, which headed to the World Cup in 2003 and has qualified again for 2007. No concrete plan for a permanent cricket facility has yet been developed, however.

Campuses
Keele Campus, York's main campus, is located in North York, Ontario North York and most of the University's faculties reside here. The Schulich School of Business and Osgoode Hall Law School each have a satellite campus downtown, however; Schulich's is known as the Miles S. Nadal Management Centre, while Osgoode's is known as the Professional Development Centre and is located in the Dundas West Tower at Yonge Street Yonge and Dundas Street, Toronto Dundas. Glendon College, a bilingual liberal arts faculty which conducts its own recruitment and admissions and hosts its own academic programs, is also housed on its own campus in a tonier part of North York. Glendon is the only university-level institution in Southern Ontario that offers university courses in both French language French and English language English; others elsewhere in Ontario include the University of Ottawa and Laurentian University in Greater Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury. A shuttle bus runs regularly between the Glendon and the Keele campuses.

Students
York is Canada's third-largest university, with almost 50,000 students enrolled. Most students come from the Greater Toronto Area, but there is a sizeable population of students from across Canada and abroad. To serve this large population, there are 225 student clubs and organisations; two student-run publications and three broadcast programmes; six art galleries; 33 on-campus eateries; and a retail mall. [http://yorkonline.ca/index.php Yorkonline.ca]is a website run by students as a way for students and faculty to communicate with each other.

Colleges
York has 9 undergraduate residential colleges: * Atkinson 1961- named after The Toronto Star founding publisher Joseph E. Atkinson * Bethune 1970 - named after Dr. Norman Bethune * Calumet 1970 - a native nations word for "Peacepipe" * Founders 1965 - named after the founders of the university * Glendon College Glendon 1966 - a combination of "glen," meaning "valley", and "Don" for the Don River. * McLaughlin 1968 - after Sam McLaughlin, patron and manufacturer. (McLaughlin College's affiliated residence is really named Tatham Hall although this is named for a separate historical York figure Professor George Tatham, the founding master of the residence [http://www.yorku.ca/mclaughlin/residence_index.html].) * Stong 1970 - named after the family on whose land is the main campus * Vanier 1965 - named after Governor General Georges Vanier * Winters 1968 - named after federal Liberal MP Robert Winters

Faculties and Abbreviations
* Arts (AS) * Atkinson, Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies (AK) * Education (ED) * Environmental Studies (ES) * Fine Arts (FA) * Glendon College (GL) * Graduate Studies (GS) * Health (opening July 2006) * Osgoode Hall Law School (OS) * Schulich School of Business (SB) * Science and Engineering (SC)

Seneca@York
York also shares the Keele Campus with Seneca College, [http://www.senecac.on.ca/home/campuses/yorku.html Seneca@York], and offers a number of joint programmes with Seneca College: * School of Communication Arts * Computer Studies * Biological Science and Applied Chemistry * Corporate and Technical Communications

Transit
York University is a classic commuter school. Over 85% of the students and 90% of the staff have home addresses in the GTA, and most of them commute by car or transit. Due to the high numbers of commuters leaving and entering the campus every day, traffic congestion, shortage of parking space and long bus lines result. York University's Glendon and Keele campuses are served by the Toronto Transit Commission, the Keele site is also served by York Region Transit buses (both regular and YRT Viva Viva) from the immediate north, GO Transit express buses from several other Toronto suburbs and Greyhound buses for regional transportation. The department of Security, Parking and Transportation Services operates a shuttle service to GO Transit's York University train station on its Bradford corridor, as the station is not within walking distance. Close to fourteen hundred buses move people through the campus each day. A proposed Toronto subway and RT#Future expansion extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line beyond its current terminus would run directly under the campus, creating new stations at Keele and Finch (Finch West (TTC) Finch West), at the centre of campus (York University (TTC) York University), and at Steeles Avenue, interfacing with York Region Transit (Steeles West (TTC) Steeles West).

Controversies
There is a long tradition of activist politics on campus, often resulting in vocal demonstrations, particularly concerning issues relating to the Middle East and economic globalization. There have been criticisms of both the activists, for disrupting classes and provoking confrontations between students, and of the university administration for its response to demonstrators and activists, including expulsion and alleged police misconduct against activists. As well, a recent (2005) controversy arose regarding the sale of university land for a low density housing development. The land was sold for C$15.8 million to a developer, Tribute Communities which has close ties with the university administration. Tribute Communities allegedly did not pay the full market price for the land. York University maintained that the proposal, mostly consisting of townhouses, was the best overall proposal. An independent investigation conducted by retired judge Edward Saunders reported that there had been no misconduct. In October 2005, Professor David Noble, in opposition to York's practice of cancelling classes on the Jewish High Holidays, which originated in 1974 in deference to the university's large proportion of Jewish students and faculty members at that time, applied to the university's [http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate/ senate body] for review of the policy. Upon the York senate's affirmation of the policy, he pledged that he would teach on those days anyway, but later decided to instead poll students in his courses, asking if they wished future classes to be cancelled out of respect for other religious holidays.

Former Presidents
* Murray G. Ross 1959-1970 * David Slater 1970-1973 * H. Ian Macdonald 1973-1984 * Harry Arthurs Harry W. Arthurs 1985-1992 * Susan Mann 1993-1997

Most Famous Chancellor
* Jazz piano great Oscar Peterson, a student of Art Tatum was chancellor of York from 1991-1994.

Noted alumni
* Michael Bryant - Attorneys-General of Ontario * Jim Flaherty - Minister of Finance * George Drew - 14th Premier of Ontario * John Robarts - 17th Premier of Ontario * Bill Davis - 18th Premier of Ontario * Ernie Eves - 23rd Premier of Ontario * Robert Stanley Welch - former Deputy Premier of Ontario, Former Attorney General of Ontario * David Young - former Attorney General of Ontario * Charles Harnick - former Attorney General of Ontario * William Ross Macdonald - former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario * John Black Aird - former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario * Marion Boyd - former Attorney General of Ontario * Ian Scott - former Attorney General of Ontario * Roy McMurtry - former Attorney General of Ontario * Barbara Hall - former Mayor of Toronto * Patrick Kerwin - former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada * John Robert Cartwright - former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada * Bora Laskin - former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada * Frank Joseph Hughes - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada * Wishart Spence - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada * Wilfred Judson - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada * Peter Cory - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada * Murat Akser - film director, cultural historian * Christian Bök - poet * Ward P.D. Elcock - former Director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service * Karen Cockburn - Olympics Medallist (Silver in 2004, Bronze in 2000) * Michael Davey - sculptor and faculty member * Jian Ghomeshi - CBC host, musician, writer and producer * Edmund Ho - Chief Executive of Macau * Janice Fukausa - Chief Financial Officer, Royal Bank of Canada * k-os K-OS (Kheaven Brereton) - Canadian musician * Ringo Lam - Hong Kong action director * Floyd Laughren - former Ontario NDP MPP and finance minister * Jack Layton - Leader of the New Democratic Party * Richard Leblanc - named to Canada's "Top 40 Under 40", York University Professor * Steve McCaffery - poet * Steven MacLean Steve MacLean - astronaut * Rachel McAdams - actress * Kardinal Offishall - Canadian music artist, rapper * Beatrice Politi - political specialist on CP24 in Ottawa * Sandie Rinaldo - news anchor * Peter Robinson (novelist) Peter Robinson - England English-born Canadian-based detective novelist * Albert Schultz - actor * Greg Sorbara - former Ontario Liberal Minister of Finance and current MPP * Trish Stratus - professional wrestler currently working for WWE's WWE RAW RAW brand * Belinda Stronach - president and CEO of Magna International, Canadian politician * Scott Thompson - actor, famous for "Kids in The Hall" * Paula Todd - host of TVOntario's ''Studio 2'' * John Tory - Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario * Michael Tziretas - Toronto city councillor * Richard Van Huizen - Olympic volleyball player * Paul P. - Increasingly successful visual artist, whose homoerotic drawings inspired Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme spring 2006 ad campaign.

Noted faculty
* R. Darren Gobert - Professor of Drama in the Department of English, noted director of the stage * Robert Albritton, Professor Emeritus, Political Science and Social and Political Thought * Leslie Green (philosopher) Leslie Green, Professor, Law, Philosophy, and Social and Political Thought * Bruce Powe - Professor of English *Kenneth McRoberts - Professor of Political Science and current Principal of Glendon College *Bernard Frolic - Professor Political Science * Christopher Armstrong - Professor Emeritus of History * J.T. Saywell - Professor Emeritus of History * Jerome Ch'en - Professor Emeritus of History * Jack Granatstein - Professor Emeritus of History * G. Ramsay Cook - Professor Emeritus of History * H. Vivian Nelles - Professor Emeritus of History * Irving Abella - Professor of History * Sergei M. Plekhanov - Professor of Political Science * Harry Arthurs - Professor Emeritus of Law * Rob Bowman (music writer) Rob Bowman - Associate Professor: Ethnomusicology, Grammy Award Winner * Barbara Godard - Professor of English Literature * Michael Ondaatje - author and filmmaker, Professor of English Literature * James Laxer - author, columnist and commentator, Professor of Canadian Politics * Ed Broadbent (1960s) - former leader of the New Democratic Party * Stephen Hellman - author, Professor of European Politics * Hédi Bouraoui - author, Professor of French and English Literature * Lorraine Code - Professor of Philosophy * Christopher Dewdney - author, Professor of English Literature * Robert W. Cox - political scientist, internationally influential as the founder of Neo-Gramscianism * Jack Layton - leader of the New Democratic Party * L. S. Rosen - Professor Emeritus of Accounting, one of Canada's leading forensic accountants * David Noble - Historian of Technology *John Ridpath - Professor Emeritus of Intellectual History and noted Objectivist philosopher * Alan Young - Professor of Law * Andreas Papandreou - Greek Prime Minister, Economics Professor (1969-1974) * Paul Axelrod - educational theorist, Professor of Education * Leo Panitch - Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, editor of the Socialist Register * Stephen Gill - Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, theorist of International Political Economy * John Saul - Professor Emeritus of Political Science, leading Africanist * Robin Wood - Professor Emeritus of Film and Video, famous film critic * John Greyson - film director * Phil Hoffman - independent experimental filmmaker * Paul Roazen - Professor Emeritus of Social and Political Science, founder of meta-psychotherapy

External links

- York University
- Y-File: York's Daily Bulletin
- York University's Online Community
- Osgoode Hall Law School
- Canadian Center for German and European Studies {{Ont_Uni}} Category:York University York University Category:1959 establishments Category:Nursing schools in Canada de:York University fr:Université York pl:Uniwersytet York zh:约克大学 {{catmore}} Category:Universities and colleges in Toronto

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