Professors BARRED from Teaching Homelessness in Canadian Society Course

Dear Petitioners,

Thank you for your messages of hope and support. Through all of this, you have shown the instructors and guest speakers of this course how important their work and dedication to student success is to each of you. We have close to 5000 signatures now. This is something to be very proud of!

After the first 2000 signatures, the Ryerson administration posted 4 classes online for Fall 2020 with the same name and course code. However, Pascal Murphy, Isaac Coplan, and Chris Munro, with a combined 17 years of teaching experience, have been barred from teaching it. None of the guest speakers have been asked to be involved in the new version of this course either.

Internal communications have revealed that the administration has brought in 2 other people to develop a class online that will inevitably be radically different from the content and live delivery methods that made Homelessness in Canadian Society one of Ryerson’s most popular electives.

Behind the scenes a power struggle over the quality of higher education during a global pandemic is at play. The issue focuses on the delivery of a class live and online. One can’t help but wonder, are certain voices that bring difficult issues around inequality and injustice into the classroom being silenced?
We will be moving forward with bringing attention to this matter. If any of you have any contacts within the media, please reach out by emailing: connect@emilywright.ca