October 2025 Recap
October was an eventful month!
Events
At the beginning of the month, we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, an event organized by Dr. Xinliang Jiang and Dr. Xiaohui Ren. Everyone learned about some of the cherished Chinese traditions in celebrating this festival, including participating in a classic arrow-pitching game (投壶 (tóu hú)), making rabbit-shaped lanterns, eating mooncakes, and drinking chrysanthemum tea.
Photos courtesy of Dr. Xinliang Jiang
On October 17, we hosted a French cultural activity for students to watch the first episode of the popular recent adaptation of La Peste, Albert Camus' classic novel, which led into thought-provoking discussions. Students watched the episode in French, with French subtitles.
Students also had the opportunity to chat with Prof. Magda Tigchelaar over lunch at this month's Meet Your French Professor event!
We also collaborated with the student group Literature is ALIVE!, the UTM Career Centre, and the Department of English & Drama to host a roundtable discussion for students interested in career pathways in education. The event was well attended, and students had the opportunity to hear firsthand about how some of our UTM alumni have integrated their education at UTM in their current roles.
In the Community
On October 21, we were delighted to welcome the Honourable Frank Iacobucci (third from the left in the top picture) to deliver the inaugural talk in the Canadian Italian Development Association Lecture Series. Justice Iacobucci shared about the experience of Italian immigrants in Canada in the early 1920s and also about his personal journey in becoming the first Italian-Canadian judge in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1991. This event brought together members of our Italian-Canadian community, Professors Emeriti Salvatore Bancheri and Michael Lettieri, our Chair, Professor Arsalan Kahnemuyipour, our Associate Chair, Professor Teresa Lobalsamo, students, and staff. We are grateful to the Canadian Italian Development Association for their generous donation and for making this lecture series possible.
It was also a busy day at this year's UTM's Fall Campus Day! Jennifer Fischer, Jester Manansala, Professor Zain Mian, Dr. Catherine Phillips, Professor Mai Ha Vu, and Professor Ai Taniguchi and her students from LIN352 English Language Linguistics in the Public Sphere welcomed high school students and their families, sharing information about our programs.
