Panel Discussion

As our institutions and teams experienced acutely over the last eight months, the internationalization of education in Canada was severely disrupted due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Campuses were required to close, teaching and learning needed to move online, and the inbound and outbound mobility of students, faculty and researchers largely ground to a halt. These realities have represented seismic shifts for the international education sector in Canada and have exposed some of the limitations and vulnerabilities of international education. This crisis has also presented a unique opportunity for change and innovation in the work of international education and the ways and means available to us in continuing this important work.

As stewards of the international education endeavour in Canada, how should our sector responsibly “build back better” such that internationalization in Canada is made more equitable, sustainable and resilient? How do we best collectively chart the path forward towards more inclusive and sustainable internationalization in Canada in a post-COVID19 world? How do we shape and weave this path together coherently and ethically at national, provincial and institutional levels?

We invite you to join a group of thoughtful Canadian and international guests from diverse walks of life to exchange ideas and experiences on the future of internationalization in Canada.

Hans de Wit is since 2015 professor and Director of the ‘Center for International Higher Education’ (CIHE) at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College, USA, a leading global research center on higher education in the global environment. He developed the MA program in International Higher Education, as well as a Dual Degree of this master with the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico.

Before, he was Director of the ‘Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation’ (CHEI) at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, and Professor of Internationalization of Higher Education at the Amsterdam, University of Applied Sciences. He was Vice-President for International Affairs of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1996-2003.

He is a Senior Fellow of the International Association of Universities (IAU), and chair of the Board of Directors of World Education Services in New York/Toronto. He is founding member and past president of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), founding Editor of the ‘Journal of Studies in International Education’ (SAGE), consulting Editor of the  journal Policy Reviews in Higher Education, Associate Editor of International Higher Education, and co-editor book series ‘ Global Perspectives in Higher Education, Sense Publishers.

He publishes a blog in University World News, www.universityworldnews.com.  He has (co)written books and articles on international education and is actively involved in assessment and consultancy in international education, for organisations like the European Commission, UNESCO, World Bank, IAU, and the European Parliament.

Among his recent books are:

• • Thondhlana Juliet, Garwe Evelyn C., Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Avila, Futao Huang and Wondwosen Tamarat (Eds.). (2021). The Bloomsbury Handbook of the internationalization of higher education in the Global South. Bloomsbury, London/NewYork.
  • Lisa Unangst, Hakan Ergin, Tessa DeLaquil, Araz Khajarian and Hans de Wit (Eds). (2020). Refugees and Higher Education: Transnational Perspectives on Access, Equity, and Higher Education. Rotterdam, Brill/Sense Publishers.
  • Philip G. Altbach, Edward Choi, Matthew Allen, and Hans de Wit (Eds.). (2019). The Global Phenomenon of Family-Owned or Managed Universities. Rotterdam, Brill Sense Publishers.
  • Hans de Wit, Andrés Bernasconi, Visnja Car, Fiona Hunter, Michael James and Daniela Véliz. (2018). Catholic Universities, Catholic Identity and Internationalization. Rotterdam, Sense Publishers.

And his recent peer reviewed articles include:

• • • Anette Wu, Betty Leask, Edward Choi, Lisa Unangst, Hans de Wit. 2020. Internationalization of Medical Education – a Scoping Review of the Current Status in the United States. Medical Science Educator, Springer.
    • Hans de Wit and Philip Altbach. 2021. Internationalization in Tertiary Education: Global trends and recommendations post Covid-19. Policy Reviews in Higher Education.

Celeste Haldane was appointed to her second term as Chief Commissioner in April 2020. Prior to this she served as an elected Commissioner for three two-year terms commencing in 2011.

Celeste is a practising lawyer and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Constitutional Law from Osgoode Hall Law School (York University), and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Bachelor of Arts from UBC. In 2015, she began her doctorate in Anthropology and Law at UBC.

The Provincial Government appointed Celeste to the Legal Services Society (Legal Aid) where she served as Chair. She recently completed 6 years on the UBC Board of Governors and continues to serve on the UBC Indigenous Engagement Committee as the past Chair. Celeste is a Director of the Brain Canada Foundation and the Musqueam Capital Corporation.  She is an active member of both the Canadian Bar Association and the Indigenous Bar Association. She is an alumni of The Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.

Celeste is a member of the Sparrow family from Musqueam and is Tsimshian through Metlakatla. She is the proud mother of three and grandmother of two.

Zabeen is a Strategic Advisor to the private, public and academic sectors, and a director on corporate and not-for-profit boards. Prior to this she had a distinguished career at RBC, most recently as Chief Human Resources Officer from 2007 – 2017.

As Executive Advisor Future of Work at Deloitte, she advises the firm and its clients, focusing on leadership and talent, workforce and culture transformation, lifelong learning and reskilling, diversity and inclusion and purpose-driven organizations. She is a frequent speaker, writer and media commentator on these topics.

As a proponent of inclusive prosperity through unlocking human potential, she advises senior levels of government and academia on diversity and inclusion, talent, culture, and future of work. She is a member of the Advisory Group on Outbound Student Program, External Advisory Board for the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, External Advisory Board for diversity and inclusion for the U.K. Research and Innovation Council.  She is a former advisor to the Clerk of the Privy Council, and continues to advise governments on Human Capital Development and Diversity and Inclusion. Active in higher education, Zabeen is executive-in-residence at Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business, a visiting Professor at King’s College Policy Institute in London, U.K. and a former member of Governing Council for the University of Toronto.

Zabeen is Board Chair of CivicAction, a city-building organization that brings together established and rising leaders from all sectors to develop solutions for pressing issues in the Greater Toronto ad Hamilton region. She is a member of City of Toronto’s Economic and Culture Recovery Advisory Group.

She has received numerous recognitions for her contributions to business and society.

Rinaldo Walcott is Professor of Black Diaspora Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto. He recently served as the Director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute, where he holds his appointment. He is also a member of the Department of Social Justice Education at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; and he is a member of the Graduate Program at the Institute of Cinema Studies as well. His teaching and research is in the area of black diaspora cultural studies and postcolonial studies with an emphasis on questions of sexuality, gender, nation, citizenship and multiculturalism. From 2002-2007 Rinaldo held the Canada Research Chair of Social Justice and Cultural Studies where his research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust.

Rinaldo Walcott is the author of Black Like Who: Writing Black Canada (Insomniac Press, 1997 with a second revised edition in 2003); he is also the editor of Rude: Contemporary Black Canadian Cultural Criticism (Insomniac, 2000); Queer Returns: Essays on Multiculturalism, Diaspora and Black Studies (Insomniac, 2016). With Idil Abdillahi, BlackLife: Post-BLM and the Struggle for Freedom (ARP Books, 2019). As well Rinaldo is the Co-editor with Roy Moodley of Counselling Across and Beyond Cultures: Exploring the Work of Clemment Vontress in Clinical Practice (University of Toronto Press, 2010). He co-edits Topia: The Journal of Canadian Cultural Studies.

As an interdisciplinary Black Studies scholar Rinaldo has published in a wide range of venues. His articles have appeared in journals and books, as well as popular venues like newspapers, magazines and online venues, as well as other forms of media. He has two books forthcoming: The Long Emancipation: Moving Towards Black Freedom Duke University Press in 2021; On Property and (Biblioasis, 2021).

He was born in Barbados.

Dr. Denise O’Neil Green is Ryerson University’s first Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. This is a new portfolio for the organization and the first in a Canadian university with equity as its sole mandate for a vice president’s office. Under Dr. Green’s leadership and advocacy, Ryerson’s has earned the reputation for its excellence in equity, diversity and inclusion. She was appointed to this inaugural role in 2017 after four and a half years as the Assistant Vice-President/Vice-Provost Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

With over 30 years of experience, she is an inclusive, passionate and strategic leader. Her contributions have led to Ryerson being recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for five consecutive years from 2014 to 2019. In 2018, Dr. Green brought the White Privilege Conference Global – Toronto to the campus. The conference addressed the roles of privilege and oppression in Canada and was attended by over 600 delegates. Dr. Green also convened the first University and Research Funding Agencies’ Equity Officers Roundtable in 2018 to address strategies and greater alignment between universities and federal agencies with respect to equity, diversity and inclusion.

As a Black woman in the academy, she strives to create spaces for women and girls, particularly women of colour, to have their say, be heard and make the world the kind of place we want to live. Her leadership, programming and scholarship reflects this aim. As such, she is proud to be one of the co-authors of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women (2016 and 2018), advancing the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women project to make the invisible visible.

She has published over 50 books, book chapters, journal articles and conference papers, and is the Executive Editor of InstitutionalDiversityBlog.com. A frequent speaker on issues of equity and inclusion in higher education, she has received several awards including the 2017 Association for the Study of Higher Education – Council on Ethnic Participation Founder’s Service Award, the 2016 Pioneers for Change Award for Excellence in Women in Leadership and named a Woman Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal, in 2015.

Dr. Green earned her PhD in higher education and public policy from the University of Michigan, a Master’s from Princeton and a Bachelor’s from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Anver Saloojee serves as Ryerson’s Assistant Vice-President, International, providing university-wide strategic direction to Ryerson’s international activities and guides Ryerson’s evolution into a global urban university.

Dr. Saloojee had led the development of the first law school here at Ryerson University as the Dean of Record. Ryerson Law School will be the first new law school in Toronto since 1949 and will open its door to students in fall of 2020.

A member of the Ryerson community for almost 30 years as sessional instructor, lecturer and professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Anver has earned a number of awards including Ryerson Professor of the Year and the Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award. In 2005, he took on the role as special advisor to the presidency of the Government of South Africa, returning to Ryerson in 2008 and in 2014 was named special advisor to Ryerson’s President and Provost.

Anver has an extensive record of service including a number of roles at the Canadian Association of University Teachers including vice-president as well as chair, equity committee. He has also served as president, Ryerson Faculty Association; president, Laidlaw Foundation; and president, Community Planning Council of Toronto. Currently, Anver serving as co-chair on the Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism.