TST Graduate Students' Association (TGSA)

Dear TST Graduate Students, 

This is a notice for you all that TGSA will be inviting nominations for positions on its Board of Representatives. The nomination period will begin on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 and will end on May 1, 2021.  

A full list of vacant positions will be advertised in Monday’s email. All positions are for a two year term, and have duties as described in section D of the TGSA Policies and Procedures, available at: http://tgsa.sa.utoronto.ca/files/2018/04/April-2018-TGSA-Approved-Policies-and-Procedures.pdf

Candidates must be nominated by two of their peers and be willing to serve. College reps must also be registered at the college in question. Nominees will receive either notice of their acclamation or details regarding the election process (if necessary) by email after May 30, 2021. 

Please take the time during this weekend to discern whether you are interested and called to serve your student body through TGSA! 

For future inquiries or nominations, please address them to the Chief Returning Officer (CRO), Fiona Li at fionakay.li@mail.utoronto.ca

Many thanks for your time and consideration! Please be on the look out for the official opening of the nomination period on Tuesday. 

Hi everyone, we hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

TGSA would like to invite you to our last event of the year: Getting (Back) on Track for Writing: A Time and Task Management Workshop. As graduate students, we might find that dedicated time for writing is often placed on the “back burner”, as our focus is spread across several other commitments each semester: coursework, teaching and grading, research, and other tasks that add up. Moreover, managing our time and projects across several platforms – and even devices – can result in fragmented workflows. Do you find yourself in this situation, in addition to navigating issues around motivation, procrastination, and/or perfectionism?

If so, join us Friday, April 16th from 1:00-2:00 pm where we will discuss practical strategies to get (re-)started on your writing, maintain momentum without burning out, set realistic milestones that work for you (and your supervisor), and deal with any distractions that might come your way. Also bring your questions and feel free to share your past experiences so that we can troubleshoot any roadblocks together as a group.

Our facilitator, Yaseen Ali, is a learning strategist at U of T who works with students on all areas of academic performance, ranging from metacognition and effective study techniques to co-creating personalized time management approaches. He is also completing his Ph.D. part-time in the Language and Literacies Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83926893868?pwd=TUg0MmFLUytYUWVOMlJ1UlFqVG5pdz09

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Sent on behalf of Patrick Nolin, VP Conference.

Call for Papers
Toronto School of Theology Graduate Students’ Association (TGSA) Conference
Traditioning Sources for Contemporary Theological Engagement
June 11t​h​, 2021

Theology when properly conceived is informed both by its past expressions and the theologian’s response to the present context. There thus resides a continual tension in theology: between contemporary concerns facing a faith-based community and a commitment to particular traditions. “Traditioning Sources for Contemporary Theological Engagement” seeks to explore projects that reflect upon past sources in their constructed argumentation, employed methodology, or underlying assumptions that may provide insights for contemporary theological projects. ‘Traditioning’ may be interpreted as a process of: creatively, constructively, and/or critically retrieving traditional sources (broadly conceived across denominational and religious perspectives) for the production of insights to meet the need for a theology “at the level of our times.” This conference seeks a wide range of perspectives on this topic and is open to proposals from a variety of disciplines, including: theological ethics, religious studies; Biblical studies; historical, systematic, practical, and/or critical theologies. Papers might explore:

• The uses and abuses of ‘tradition’ as a theological source/norm;

• The authority of tradition(s) in relation to other theological sources;

• Re/consideration of what rightly counts as ‘tradition’;

• Theologies of retrieval/​ressourcement;​

• Dynamics of power in the ‘traditioning’ process;

• The interplay between traditions’ authority and contemporary pressures;

• cultural, religious, and/or ethnic plurality and traditional particularity

Graduate students are invited to propose 20-minute presentations by submitting a title and abstract of no more than ​400 words ​in a ​MS Word ​document and sent to tgsaconferences@gmail.com no later than ​Monday, April 5t​h​. Selected proposals will be presented ​Friday, June 11t​ h ​2021 ​in an online format in accordance with current health and safety precautions. All inquiries can be directed to ​tgsaconferences@gmail.com​.

Hi everyone, I hope you had a productive and restful reading week! 

As promised, attached is Director Angela Tregalia’s slide show from her presentation on the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre from our Graduate Student Town Hall which was held on Friday, February 5th. 

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that our workshop—Building an Online Presence through LinkedIn—will take place this Friday, February 26th from 10-11 am. 

Registration is required for this event. If you would like to attend please sign up via the google dochttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1tK3DXfKfdGQHza4PIowAsp6pYXADbmz4W7ZxVxZk98E/edit?usp=sharing. Deadline to register is Wednesday, February 24th. Those who sign up will receive an email with the Zoom link. If you signed up but didn’t receive an email please reach out to me personally atmia.theocharis@mail.utoronto.ca. 

Looking forward to seeing you all there! 

Hi everyone, 

TGSA would like to invite all of you to our workshop Building an Online Presence through LinkedIn with Mary McAuliffe, a Career Educator at Career Exploration and Education at the University of Toronto. 
Workshop: Building an Online Presence through LinkedInDate: Friday, February 26^th 10 – 11amPlatform: Zoom

NB: Registration is required for this event, only those who have registered will receive a Zoom link. If you wish to attend, please register via https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tK3DXfKfdGQHza4PIowAsp6pYXADbmz4W7ZxVxZk98E/edit?usp=sharing.

Workshop Description:LinkedIn is considered to be one of the top social networking sites for job seekers. Whether you are new to LinkedIn or looking to update your profile, this session will help you optimize your LinkedIn profile and use various features to support your job search, career exploration & networking goals. By attending this workshop you will:

1. Understand why LinkedIn is an important tool for career exploration, job searching and networking with professionals in your field of interest.
2. Understand best practice (dos and don’ts) with regard to having an online presence.
3. Identify key elements to optimize your LinkedIn profile and strategies for showcasing your professional identity(ies).

Workshop Facilitator:Mary McAuliffe is a Career Educator, at Career Exploration & Education at U of T.  In her role Mary works with undergraduate and postgraduate students to help them identify career exploration opportunities through one on one sessions and workshops. Prior to this role Mary worked for many years as an Occupational Psychologist and Consultant in the fields of Recruitment and Human Resources in role in Banking, Education, Government and not-for profit and brings a wealth of HR consulting, selection and coaching experience.

We look forward to seeing you there. Wishing everyone a peaceful and productive reading week!