Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Amid global uncertainty, U of T course asks undergraduates to ponder: What is happiness?

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 16:30:13 +0000

Amid global uncertainty, U of T course asks undergraduates to ponder: What is happiness?

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 04/06/2022 - 12:30

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A class offered by U of T’s Kevin Lewis O’Neill examines the idea of happiness, spanning its roots in major religions to celebrity proponents like Oprah Winfrey (photo by Andrew Chin/Getty Images)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Academics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Religion

What is happiness? Are you happy? Do you even want to be happy?

These are the fundamental questions that the ��߲ݴ�ý’s Kevin Lewis O’Neill poses in his popular undergraduate class named – appropriately enough – “Happiness.”

“We’re bombarded with this expectation to be happy, and happiness acts as a metric for one's life,” says O’Neill, a professor in the department for the study of religion and the director of the Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies. “So the intention of this course is to provide a conceptual literacy when it comes to happiness.”

Kevin Lewis O'Neill

The course examines the study of happiness from its earliest roots thousands of years ago through religions like Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

The class then explores theories of happiness connected to religion through philosophers such as Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist regarded as one of the principal architects of modern social science. He believed happiness came from the joy of belonging to a group, regardless of faith, ideology or activity.

Karl Marx believed that religion was a primary source of happiness. But he was also anxious about the impacts of religious belief, comparing it to an addictive drug: “the opium of the people.”

The class also studies Sigmund Freud, who suggested that happiness is found in the pursuit of something. Losing oneself in artistic creativity or intellectual work is the path to higher contentment, as opposed to things like sex, revelry or even religion.

The class explores other models of happiness as well, including happiness through solitude, through the control of one’s desires or the cultivation of virtues, as promoted by Mohamed al-Ghazali – one of the Islamic tradition’s most influential theologians.

O’Neill's course covers more contemporary approaches to happiness, too, including the rise of cognitive and behavioural sciences, new age spirituality and famous happiness gurus, such as Oprah Winfrey and Tony Robbins, who have created billion-dollar empires by inspiring people to lead happier lives.

Regardless of the thinker, scholar, scientist or entrepreneur, most happiness theories can be traced back to religious roots. “You may think this interest in having a minimalist aesthetic or being mindful or following your breath are recent recommendations of psychologists. But no, it goes back much farther,” O’Neill says.

Is O'Neill's course a sure way for students to find happiness? Perhaps not, but he believes it will give them an opportunity – and the ability – to reflect on what brings them fulfillment.

“There are a lot of courses here at the university that teach skills, whether it's engineering or the hard sciences or mathematics – and that's great,” he says.

“But I’ve framed this course as an intellectual event for students to take pause and think about what they want from their lives. And in the classic tradition of the humanities, this is a moment of real reflection – not in the hopes that they'll become more marketable – but ideally better citizens of the world, and have a deeper appreciation for life and their place in it.”

O'Neill says the course is particularly timely given anxieties surrounding the war in Ukraine and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone is taking a moment to reflect on what they're doing in the world, how they're existing now, how they were living prior to the pandemic and what the future holds,” O’Neill says.

“And those kind of moments of reflection that take place when one's an undergraduate are even more important in this moment – it's not just ‘Do I want to go to law school?’ but ‘Where do I want to live? How do I want to live?’ So, the course comes at a good moment for students.”

Julia Shokeir, a second-year student double majoring in anthropology and religion as a member of Trinity College, says the class “was one of the best courses I have ever taken in my university career.”

“This course has provided me with the philosophical, religious and psychological tools to be happy. Yet, as an individual, I have to make the decision to use them,” she said.

Shokeir’s classmate and fellow Trinity College member, Katie Jones, also enjoyed the course.

“I didn’t go into the class thinking that Professor O’Neill was going to teach me how to be happier,” says Jones, a second-year student majoring in religion and double minoring in philosophy and diaspora and transnational studies.

“But I plan to continue my study on happiness and pursue the open-ended questions that Professor O’Neill provided us: What is happiness? Are you happy? Do you even want to be happy? These three questions are of paramount importance to us as undergraduates as we figure out what kind of life, career and future we want to create for ourselves,” she said.

Samantha Martin-Bird began writing as a pandemic pastime – and won an award

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:01:42 +0000

Samantha Martin-Bird began writing as a pandemic pastime – and won an award

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/28/2021 - 11:01

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Samantha Martin-Bird, a U of T alumna who is a member of Peguis First Nation, recently won the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award for unpublished poetry in English (photo by Sarah McPherson)

Sarah MacFarlane

Topic

Our Community

Indigenous Studies

Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Indigenous

Poetry

St. Michael's College

��߲ݴ�ý alumna Samantha Martin-Bird began writing during the pandemic – and it wasn’t long before her work was noticed.

She recently won the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award for unpublished poetry in English for “the indian (adultery) act & other poems.”

But Martin-Bird’s poetry wasn’t destined to remain unpublished for long. ROOM, Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal, recently featured “the indian (adultery) act” in its Indigenous Brilliance issue, lauding the poem for its use of “humour and a calm severity to expose the racist policies enacted by the Indian Act.”

A member of Peguis First Nation, Martin-Bird grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo and Upstate New York before moving to Toronto to attend U of T. She majored in Indigenous studies and diaspora and transnational studies, earning her honours bachelor of arts in 2014 as a member of St. Michael’s College. She then completed a bachelor of education program focused on Indigenous pedagogy at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina.

In 2019, Martin-Bird joined the Thunder Bay Public Library to help lead its decolonization initiative and, last year, she began her current role as program partner at the Mastercard Foundation, where she works on the Canada Programs team with a focus on Indigenous youth education and employment.

How important was winning the Indigenous Voices Award to your work?

I was very surprised to win the award because I only started writing in the past year as a pandemic hobby. The recognition from this award has led to a few unexpected opportunities to share my work with others at poetry events, and so I’m thankful for that.

What inspired you to write “the indian (adultery) act & other poems”?

The poems are about men, the land and the languages – specifically Cree and Anishinaabemowin. I started with the poem, “the indian (adultery) act.” I drew inspiration from a conversation I had with a nêhiyaw man, who shared with me that he wished he had married a Cree girl. The irony of this confession was that he had – his wife was Cree, and, more importantly, she was a 6(1) Status Indian. However, she didn’t grow up in her community, or even in Canada. She was raised in Europe. As such, her demeanour, sense of humour and cultural identity were not Cree.

As someone who has often contemplated the extent to which status should influence who I start a family with, I was struck by the way in which finding a 6(1) partner can still end in immense marital discord and loneliness. I started the poem with the line, “i shoulda married a cree girl,” and built the poem out from there. In a way, this poem is about the way the Indian Act continues to wreak havoc on Indian relationships.

What drew you to U of T for your undergrad, and how was your experience?

I chose the ��߲ݴ�ý for its program in Indigenous studies. Although I didn’t know it existed until my second year, I also thoroughly enjoyed the diaspora and transnational studies program.

My experience as a U of T student was transformative. Before moving to Toronto, I was living in a small semi-rural town in Upstate New York. I spent much of my first year quite culture-shocked, but I am so thankful for the time I spent at U of T. I enjoyed my programs, especially the Anishinaabemowin courses I took.

I lived on campus for my entire degree, so I was also able to participate in many campus experiences, such as dorm life and student clubs, where I formed a lot of lifelong friendships.

Can you tell us about your work in developing and leading initiatives that focus on Indigenous engagement and education?

During my time working as the Indigenous relationships supervisor at the Thunder Bay Public Library, I was able to work in a variety of ways to continue the decolonization work of the library. I focused on trying to create spaces that were welcoming and safe for Anishinaabeg. I organized events that featured Indigenous speakers, authors, poets and writers. I started an Indigenous book club exclusively for Indigenous library users. I also helped deliver a program with Sheridan College that led to the co-creation of Indigenous furniture for the library.

For the past year, I have been working at the Mastercard Foundation on the EleV program. This work is focused on addressing inequities in employment and education so that Indigenous young people can realize their visions of Mino-Bimaadiziwin, the good life. Our work prioritizes systems change by partnering with post-secondary institutions and Indigenous-led organizations. Across the country, young people are the drivers of change in their communities; my role at the foundation is to ensure Indigenous young people are included in the ongoing design and delivery of our partnerships.

How did your degree in Indigenous studies and diaspora and transnational studies help prepare you?

My experience in Indigenous studies in university was one of the first times I had the opportunity to learn about Indigenous history, including the history of residential schools and colonization, and to study an Indigenous language (Anishinaabemowin). The program also helped me better understand my own family history. I did not understand the ways in which colonialism and intergenerational trauma affected us before that program. Ultimately, it helped me understand the ways in which colonialism is the root of many of the challenges Indigenous communities face today, which has helped me in my career working with Indigenous communities.

What’s next for you?

I hope to continue to work for Indigenous young people through my role at the Mastercard Foundation.

U of T's Andrea Allen studies the 'invisible' Black women of Brazil’s LGBTQ community

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 14:37:50 +0000

U of T's Andrea Allen studies the 'invisible' Black women of Brazil’s LGBTQ community

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 07/08/2021 - 10:37

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Andrea Allen, an assistant professor of anthropology, has spent her professional life researching marginalized people in Brazil, particularly Black women in the LGBTQ community (photo courtesy of Andrea Allen)

Cynthia Macdonald

Topic

Global Lens

Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Anthropology

Brazil

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

LGBTQ

Andrea Allen has spent her professional life researching marginalized people in Brazil – a country known for racial, cultural, sexual and religious diversity, but which also suffers from economic inequality and intolerance.

The assistant professor in the ��߲ݴ�ý’s department of anthropology and the Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies in the Faculty of Arts & Science has taken a particular interest in Black women in Brazil’s LGBTQ community. Allen’s 2015 book Violence and Desire in Brazilian Lesbian Relationships showed that, while lesbian women in the country reject a cultural norm of male domination and female submission, they themselves are not exempt from intimate partner violence in their own relationships.

Allen says she found her way to Brazil through a fortunate accident.

“In many ways I owe my interest in Brazil to the United States military,” she says, noting that, as an undergraduate, she joined the United States Army Reserve and was given the opportunity to learn a second language – which turned out to be Portuguese.

“I mean, I had no choice in the matter. I was an enlisted soldier.”

Returning to university as a double major in religion and African-American studies, Allen’s newfound linguistic fluency merged with her interest in the Brazilian religion of Candomblé. Like Santeria and Vodun (also known as voodoo), Candomblé is a new world religion originally practised by enslaved people from Africa.

“For my senior year, I did an independent research project about the experiences of LGBT practitioners of Candomblé,” she says. “There was a perception that this religion celebrated same-sex sexuality, so I was particularly interested in learning about the experiences of lesbian women with it.”

Years later, Allen’s PhD dissertation also sprang from research conducted in Brazil – but on a very different topic. “I wanted to focus on the relationship between nationalist ideologies and nationalism, and how they might influence lesbian women,” she says.

However, the link proved difficult to make. And while talking to her subjects, she started to notice something else:

“They’d say, ‘My girlfriend slapped me.’ Or, ‘Here’s a bruise, here’s a scar that I got from my girlfriend.’ The more I talked to people, the more I realized that this was a common experience. And once I began to realize that intimate partner violence was an important theme of my research, another closely related theme was infidelity.”

Intimate partner violence is indeed common in Brazil, where 25 per cent of women are estimated to be physically victimized by men. As Allen found, however, this phenomenon was also very much present in lesbian relationships.

“One of the things I argue is that, when we talk about violence, it’s important to look at it not only as a product of masculinity, but as a human enterprise. We can then look at how the histories of different peoples and places can influence and shape how people think about violence,” she says.

Allen’s research has largely been conducted in the port city of Salvador de Bahia, where the population is 80 per cent Black. And yet, the city’s municipal leadership is overwhelmingly white, with white residents earning more than three times what Black residents do.

Consequently, Allen argues that to be not only Black, but female and queer in Salvador, is to be “invisible,” with few outlets for expression. This frustration has given rise to a vibrant culture of protest in the city – protests that appear beautiful and joyful to tourists, but are rooted in sorrow. Street paintings are one example. Another is Banda Didá, an all-female drumming group.

“Culture in itself is a form of activism,” Allen says. “The fact that Banda Didá is an all-female drum corps is significant, because in many Candomblé temples, only men are allowed to play drums during religious ceremonies.”

Formed in 1993, Banda Didá is an all-women Afro-Brazilian percussion band that is itself a form of protest (photo: O Rebucetê (CC BY-NC 2.0))

Allen’s next book will focus on religion. When she was completing a master of theological studies degree at Harvard Divinity School, she noted how Brazilian immigrant women in the Boston area would use religion to relieve the many stresses caused by dislocation. This led to her interest in how the LGBTQ community in both Brazil and the diaspora interacts with evangelical Protestantism.

In Brazil the question is fraught, given the increasing involvement of right-wing evangelicals in Brazilian politics. But only lately, says Allen, has evangelical religion become politicized. “If you look at the history of mainstream evangelicalism, you see this idea that ‘we should not be of this world.’ But the last time I was in Brazil, at a church run by two lesbian pastors, one of the pastors’ sermons criticized evangelicalism for not following the true spirit of the Word.”

Allen’s continuing research shows that while Brazil’s cultural richness is justifiably the envy of the world, it is also a country beset by myths. Chief among these is its reputation as a model of racial and sexual tolerance.

“White Brazilians like to think of Brazil as a land of happiness – almost a racial paradise. But if you look underneath, you see a lot of racial, sexual and gender inequality. You can’t look at any one of these things without looking at the others,” she says. “Because that is the history of Brazil.”

Four U of T scholars awarded Guggenheim Fellowships

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 19:26:03 +0000

Four U of T scholars awarded Guggenheim Fellowships

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 04/12/2021 - 15:26

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From left to right: Kamari Clarke, Eugenia Kumacheva, Kevin Lewis O'Neill and Amira Mittermaier.

Cynthia Macdonald

Topic

Global Lens

Institute of Biomedical Engineering

Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Anthropology

Awards

Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies

Chemistry

Faculty of Arts & Science

Religion

Four ��߲ݴ�ý scholars are among the recipients of this year’s prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships.

The four researchers from the Faculty of Arts & Science – Kamari Clarke, Eugenia Kumacheva, Amira Mittermaier and Kevin Lewis O'Neill – have published groundbreaking research in fields ranging from religion, law and chemistry to anthropology and transnational studies.

They are among 184 artists, writers, scholars and scientists selected through a rigorous peer-review process from almost 3,000 applicants this year.

“Congratulations to Professors Clarke, Kumacheva, Mittermaier and O’Neill on this prestigious honour,” said Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “We are thrilled that four members of our faculty are receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship. This is an incredible career achievement for a scholar, and it will allow them each to continue their important work in their respective areas of focus.”

Offered annually since 1925, the Guggenheim grants support mid-career individuals who have shown exceptional capacity as scholars or artists, and who continue to produce transformative work.

Clarke, a distinguished professor at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies and the Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies, is both a legal scholar and anthropologist. Her careers spans more than two decades and she is an expert in such areas as international justice, religious nationalism and the politics of globalization and race. Her award-winning research has shown how different legal frameworks, shaped by forces such as neocolonialism, both influence and are influenced by contemporary social movements.

An author and editor, Clarke is currently completing a book that describes how social movements in the developing world are using modern technologies – such as mobile phones and GPS – to challenge the way justice has been historically accessed and delivered.

“It’s a recognition of lifetime achievement; it’s a grant to continue to write and to think about the core issues that I’m committed to – and, in many ways, will map maybe the next 10 years of the contribution that I’ll make to the field,” Clarke said of the award.

Kumacheva is a University Professor and distinguished professor in the department of chemistry who is cross-appointed to the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Her research explores the field of “soft matter” – that is to say, polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, hydrogels and living matter. She has designed and developed soft materials for use in a broad range of areas, including telecommunications, security, data storage, drug delivery and tissue engineering.

An Officer of the Order of Canada and the first Canadian winner of the L’Oreal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, Kumacheva is now collaborating with noted U of T researcher Alán Aspuru-Guzik in a bid to use artificial intelligence to fuel the development of innovative anti-cancer therapies.

“The Guggenheim Fellowship is a mark of recognition and one of the great career achievements for a scientist,” said Kumacheva. “It will support the collaborative research with Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik, with an ambitious goal to accelerate anti-cancer drug discovery.”

A professor in both the departments of religion and anthropology, Mittermaier’s work weaves textual analysis with ethnographic fieldwork. Her research focuses on modern Islam in Egypt.

“The question of how theologies shape lives has stayed with me throughout my career,” she says. “Working with Egyptian interlocutors with whom I have established long-term relationships, I study and write about Islam as it unfolds in the midst of their everyday lives.”

Her first book, Dreams that Matter: Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination, explores Muslim practices of dream interpretation as they are inflected by Islamic reformism, Western psychology and mass mediation. Her more recent work, Giving to God: Islamic Charity in Revolutionary Times, describes a religious ethic of giving in which believers engage with God by way of giving to the poor.

She describes her upcoming book as her most ambitious to date: an ethnographic study of God. In this work, she will both apply her expertise in Islam and work with other scholars in the Abrahamic faiths.

“I’m thrilled and honored to have received a Guggenheim Fellowship,” Mittermaier says. “I look forward to getting started on my book about God and humans in Egypt today. My recent half-sabbatical was taken over by COVID-19, so I’m doubly grateful for this extra time coming my way.”

Kevin Lewis O'Neill is a professor in the department for the study of religion, as well as director of the Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies. He is a pioneering scholar on the subject of clerical sexual abuse, particularly as it transcends borders. O’Neill is currently writing two books. The first considers clerical sexual abuse in Latin America, with a focus on U.S. priests who moved – or were moved – to Central America to evade suspicion. The second is an ethnography of traffic in Guatemala City that realigns conversations about security, mobility and infrastructure in Latin America.

O’Neill’s examination of the moral dimensions of contemporary political practice in Latin America informs the trilogy he has written on the politics of Pentecostalism in Guatemala. Each book explores the “waning viability of disciplinary institutions and how new strains of Christian piety have become recognizable modes of governance in Central America.”

“The Guggenheim Fellowship comes at exactly the right time for me: at a moment when I need some time to consider the conceptual and political intricacies of transnational clerical sexual abuse,” O'Neill says. “I’m very grateful to the Guggenheim Foundation.”

Ten universities across North America saw four or more of their community members receive Guggenheim Fellowships this year. They include University of California, Los Angeles, Stanford University, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Northwestern University, U of T and Yale University.