Every year, thousands of motivated entrepreneurs launch new businesses. While led by determined and ambitious individuals, half won’t make it past the fourth year. Yet fail or succeed, these same entrepreneurs and founders still receive high praise when it comes to...
More than a contest seeks real-world connections
Like a parent pressed to name a preferred child, Constanza Burucúa demurs when asked to single out any one photo she likes most from among the 60.
CulturePlex explores global reach of ‘Gabo’
The continued, universal appeal of Nobel-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez – who would have turned 92 on March 6 – is evident in the latest DataPoints publications of the CulturePlex Lab.
Mapping memories nets team Humanitarian award
A Western-led team is helping El Salvadorans share and archive their stories of genocide and massacre during the country’s civil war.
Germany presents Darby with its highest honour
A near lifetime affinity for, combined with a rich professional connection to, the Federal Republic of Germany has led to David Darby receiving one of the country’s highest honours.
Accept the challenge of Arabic’s grammatical cases
By Yahya Kharrat, Western Communications For those learning Arabic for the first time, the language’s case endings are challenging. Yet, understanding the background of these grammatical rules offers the learner insights into the language and culture they will find...
Professor tracks medieval winds of (climate) change
While greed, pride and curiosity brought about some change in the The Middle Ages, one Western researcher argues food and climate change were also main drivers.
Researchers analyze peace with computer science
Words can play a critical role in turning dreams of peace into reality. Researchers at Western have found this is particularly true for victims of the Colombian conflict, which ended in 2016 when the government and the country’s largest insurgent group, the...
Rediscovering Mexican art, one historical painting at a time
It has taken almost three centuries for Mexican painter Antonio Enríquez to capture the world’s attention. Until now, his paintings of 18th-Century Mexico have languished, forgotten, in places all across Guadalajara, the United States and Spain. His works have been...
Project opens book on learning here and abroad
Aikansha Chawla had never written a children’s book – let alone one in Spanish. But that is exactly what the Science student did this semester. And soon, her book, along with more than 125 others created by fellow classmates, will come to life in the hands of school...
Music provides way to Arabic language understanding
Educators have long aspired to create innovative pedagogical methods to improve the instruction of languages to non-native speakers. But the reliance on emphasizing grammatical rules, without capturing the attention or stimulating the enthusiasm of the students, has...
Kharrat: How music provides way to Arabic language understanding
Educators have long aspired to create innovative pedagogical methods to improve the instruction of languages to non-native speakers. But the reliance on emphasizing grammatical rules, without capturing the attention or stimulating the enthusiasm of the students, has failed to create deeper understanding. Therefore, I propose presenting language to learners in a new way – through song.
Taking students deeper into a foreign language
A little conversation goes a long way. Just ask Meredith McGregor.
Database lends ear to language evolution
Four years ago, Yasaman Rafat became a mother and faced a dilemma that affects millions of the country’s non-native English-speaking immigrants. “How much of my native language, Farsi, do I speak with my son compared to English? When we are outside, do we speak in...
Newsmakers: The Bridge
Juan Luis Suarez Juan Luis Suárez knows when it comes to the arts, humanities and social sciences, universities are standing at an impasse. And it will take scholars from these fields to move towards progress, he said. Named Associate Vice-President (Research) in...
On digital pills, humans and beasts
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved the first digital pill for human use, an antipsychotic drug paired with a sensor that will tell whether, and when, a patient has taken the prescribed medication. The mix of drug and digital device works so the...
China invite opens faculty eyes to possibilities
For the Western world, Homer’s Odysseus is a hero. The legendary mythical king of Ithaca is admired for his cunning intelligence; his slaying of 108 misbehaving suitors who attempt to court Penelope on his long journey home is widely considered a heroic feat. But as...
Arabic has found an historic home in London
Starting in 1890, and continuing throughout the 20th Century, generations of Arab immigrants came to London, Ont., to establish a new life for themselves and, in turn, to build a community that continues to flourish today. Many of the original names from those early...
UWOFA celebrates Ratcliffe’s lasting legacy of unity
Shortly after her arrival as a tenured professor in the late 1990s, Marjorie Ratcliffe took up the cause to unionize Western’s faculty. It was at that time the late Allan Heinicke, a Math professor and former Chair and President of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA), told her she was making a big mistake.
Suárez: Time of retreat is over for humanities
Juan Luis Suárez knows when it comes to the arts, humanities and social sciences, universities are standing at an impasse. And it will take scholars from these fields to move towards progress, he said.