Dr. Marsden will travel to Stockholm to participate in the Public Services Summit 2005 – part of Nobel Week – and will attend events related to the Nobel ceremonies.

“The Nobel is considered to be the most prestigious prize in the world,” said Lorna Marsden, President and Vice-Chancellor. “It has brought honour to an esteemed list of human rights activists, statesmen and women and some of the greatest thinkers of our time. I am pleased that York University will be represented at the Public Services Summit, as part of Nobel Week.”

During the summit, Marsden will be participating in a panel on “connected communities.” Her presentation, “Cultural Communities: Transforming Culture and the Arts through Interdisciplinary University and Regional Collaboration,” highlights York’s ability to connect its teachers, researchers, students and alumni via regional and global networks such as the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION), and Canada’s Advanced Internet Organization (CANARIE).

“In the field of fine arts, there is no such thing as a one-way connection – it’s a conversation between performer and audience, artist and teacher and the wider arts community,” Dr. Marsden said. “At York, we’re enabling the collaborations that are so vital to culture and creativity by connecting our students, teachers and researchers to other universities and institutions both globally and locally.”

One such initiative is ABEL (Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning), which is funded by the CANARIE e-Learning program. ABEL has developed an interactive, collaborative learning model for teacher and faculty professional development and education delivery.

The panel will feature presentations on how large-scale connected communities around the world are transforming cities, countries and education.

For Nobel Week participants who are building a vision for the future, the Connected Communities panel consists of high-profile global leaders at the intersection of education, government, and the private sector. The Public Services Summit presents an unprecedented opportunity to explore the possibilities of the Internet with global peers in education, healthcare and government and to honor the achievements of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate(s) at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city.  The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries.  This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation. 
 

-30-