Category: The Land

Oral History with Brian Hamlin

As a vendor at the UTSC Farmers’ Market, Brian Hamlin discusses how he established rooftop beehives here at UTSC. He talks about how these beehives are just one of the many initiatives he has been involved in to bring bees into the city. He reflects on the educational aspect of

See More »

Making a Buzz on Campus

Brian Hamlin, UTSC’s resident beekeeper and a regular vendor at the UTSC Farmer’s Market, explains the nature of the beekeeping process and the role of bees in the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem, as well as the benefits of keeping apiaries on campus. Currently, the campus houses ten hives on

See More »

Strategizing Space

Franco Vaccarino, who worked as an Associate Professor in the UTSC Department of Psychology before serving as the campus’ President from 2007-2014, speaks about the lack of instructional space on the original campus and some of the different strategies adopted to deal with this problem.

See More »

The Curious Case of Lucy Doyle and the Triangle of Land

UTSC is currently undergoing a phase of unprecedented growth. This can largely be attributed to the various pressures exerted by the school’s ever-expanding student body: more students mean a need for more faculty, more programs, and, crucially, more space. On this last point, the university is making substantial progress, with

See More »

Oral History with William Gough

William (Bill) Gough joined the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences in 1993 at UTSC and has since served in a number of administrative positions as well including as the Vice Principal Academic and Dean Bill describes his early educational journey and the benefit of co-operative education, that led him

See More »

“Highland Creek? Wasn’t Anything There”: The McLean Estate and UTSC in the 1960s

Do you recognize the landscape presented in the aerial photograph presented above? No? Take a closer look. Give up? This is an aerial landscape shot of Highland Creek community and campus land prior to Scarborough College’s construction in 1964 (photograph courtesy of the Scarborough Historical Society and Archives). With a current student population of nearly 13,000 and seemingly endless new building projects, it might be difficult to imagine a

See More »

Marooned?: The Issue of Identity

In October 1964, after the formal opening ceremonies for Scarborough College, Varsity news reporter Margaret Sisson confidently reflected, “Scarborough College…will be able to provide students with a source of identity within the University structure” (Sisson 1964). While the first classes of Scarborough College certainly actively negotiated (and fiercely contested) their “Scarborough Identity” (Marooned Feb. 1967), building a collective student identity and community miles

See More »

One Way Tray to the Valley

While present UTSC students look forward to cross-country skiing or winter hikes in the valley, former students of the ‘60s and ‘70s turned to the cafeteria for some outdoor winter fun. Yes, you read that correctly – students piled into the campus cafeteria in anticipation of heading outside. Upon finishing

See More »