The Spaces & Places guided walking tour explores the history of locations on and around the UTSC campus by sharing the personal recollections of members of our campus community — reflecting a variety of perspectives, positions, and points in time.
The Instructional Centre, often referred to simply as IC, is a 4-storey facility located on the campus’ northern end. It opened in 2011 in response to a pressing need for space on campus and marked the beginning of the university’s expansion north of Ellesmere Avenue, ushering in a new era of growth for the UTSC community. The building houses numerous classrooms, faculty offices, and student spaces that are markedly more open in concept than UTSC’s older buildings: a neatly maintained pedestrian plaza leads into a wide central atrium that is almost always flooded with natural light, and is accented by overhead balconies from which students can often be seen peering down. IC’s accessible rooftop, moreover, features solar panels and a community garden where UTSC students, staff, and faculty can gather to relax and work together to grow their own food. Every aspect of IC, it seems, has been designed to foster both individual and collaborative productivity; indeed, this gateway between the old campus and the new is best seen as representative of the energy with which the UTSC community charts the path ahead.
Credits: Conceived and produced by Amena Ahmed. All images courtesy of University of Toronto Scarborough, Michael Muraz, and University of Toronto Scarborough News.
Nick Cheng, a University of Toronto alum and current UTSC faculty member, describes his technique for convincing UTSC alumni to donate money to the university following their graduation: by promising to name department supplies after them.
Zoran Piljevic, the Director of Information Instructional Technology Services at UTSC, describes the original ad hoc data infrastructure supporting the university in 2010.
Credits: Conceived and produced by Amena Ahmed and Asmaa Helali. All images courtesy of Christine Berkowitz, Michael Muraz, and Zoran Piljevic.