Amazon announced its vision for home assistant device Alexa to play a more active role as a personal assistant in November. In interviews with The McGill Tribune, Will Hamilton and Jackie Cheung, professors in McGill’s Department of Computer Science, outlined the basics of the technology behind voice-controlled home assistants like the[Read More…]
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The lecture hall: The space where my two cultures met
I was born in Iran, but my family and I moved to Canada when I was four-years-old. Although Farsi was my first language, English quickly became my dominant one and, even though I was surrounded by Iranian culture at home, at school I was being exposed to a completely different[Read More…]
Students’ reliance on technology is increasingly distressing
Upon entering the typical McGill classroom, a sea of screens makes it clear that the use of laptops and tablets for note-taking has become commonplace. In response to this phenomenon, professors tend to clarify their technology policy during their first lecture of the semester: Even if they permit the use[Read More…]
Hundreds join walkout for fossil fuel divestment
Gathered around the snowy steps of the McGill Community Square on Nov. 12, over 200 students and faculty took part in a walkout calling for the university to divest from fossil fuels. The protest was co-organized by Divest McGill, Greenpeace McGill, and Climate Justice Action McGill (C-JAM). Protestors chanted and[Read More…]
Mental Health Commission of Canada announces post-secondary mental health standard
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) recently announced a collaboration with the Canadian Standards Association to develop a standard for the psychological health and safety of post-secondary students. According to the Commission’s website, post-secondary educational institutions are free to adopt and modify the policy, known as the Post-Secondary Students[Read More…]
44th SQEBC covers cognitive ecology and animal behaviour
The 44th Société Québécoise pour l’Étude Biologique du Comportement (SQEBC) took place in the McIntyre Medical Building from Nov. 1–3, drawing speakers and attendees from around the world. This year, the theme of the conference was cognitive ecology, the study of cognitive phenomena in social and natural contexts. Organizers Simon[Read More…]
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer gives lecture on Gorbachev
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and renowned political science professor at Amherst College Bill Taubman gave a lecture on the life of Soviet Union (USSR) leader Mikhail Gorbachev to a packed audience of McGill students and professors on Nov. 1. Drawing from his 2017 biography, Taubman presented the head of state as[Read More…]
Construction is inevitable, accessibility barriers are not
The McGill experience would not be complete without campus construction. However, while some campus improvements are necessary, construction should not bar students or faculty with disabilities from participating in classes and campus life. Able-bodied people may see construction as damaging to the campus’ aesthetics, but for disabled McGill students, construction[Read More…]
Black Student Network aims to pass ‘Black students’ Bill of Rights’
McGill’s Black Student Network (BSN) is working to pass a motion this year through the McGill Senate that would establish several rights that Black students would be entitled to on campus. The BSN aims to shed light on the distinct experiences and barriers that Black students face at McGill. The[Read More…]
Racial profiling in Montreal threatens safety of racialized people
A report released by three professors at l’Université de Montreal released on Oct. 7 found that the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) were 11 times more likely to stop Indigenous women on the street than white women, four to five times more likely to subject black[Read More…]