The Learning Zone

In celebration of Freedom to Read Week, OCAD University Dorothy H. Hoover Library invites you to Check Out A Banned Book!

On display is a collection of books that have been contentious and subject to censorship — banned at some point in history. Celebrate your freedom to read these titles today. Unwrap a banned book to discover, question and enjoy.

Exercise your freedom of expression by participating in the inter-active display. What is your statement of intellectual freedom?

Discover your right to read; visit the Dorothy H. Hoover Library.

The Learning Zone is hosting a new exhibition of environmental activism posters, Colours for Conservation by Linda Montgomery’s first year students Colour in Context graphic design class.

Patagonia, a leading outdoor and sportswear apparel designer, collaborated with OCAD University first year design students last fall to create artwork inspired by the environmental concerns of local organizations.

The students brought forward their colour theory, graphic design and inter-personal skills to create original posters representing the voice of their chosen environmental organization. A few of the organizations represented were Friends of the Rouge Watershed, Not Far From The Tree, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

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The posters were exhibited at Patagonia’s King Street location, and a public poll selected the winning design. Patagonia donated a $1000 grant to Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) in recognition of Avery Kua’s winning design representing their environmental message. For Avery, Patagonia awarded a new winter coat.

The runners-up of the contest were as follows: 2nd place Rachel Hurst (Greenbelt Foundation); 3^rd place Jinhee Kang (Project Canoe) and Carmen Chan (Fresh City Farms); 4^th place Seraphima Zibnitskaya (Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront); 5^th place Michele Choong (Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy), Pei Ying Cheung (LEAF) and Katrina Mitchell (The PINE Project); 6th place Kaitlin Martin (Blue W), Vanessa Lira (Friends of the Rouge Watershed), James Pacitto (LEAF) and Brandon Meunier (The PINE Project).

“This kind of collaborative project helps broaden horizons for young designers and gives their work greater meaning and foundation in their community,” said Faculty of Design Instructor Linda Montgomery.

The exhibition is on until March 7th. We hope that everyone will take this opportunity to see this wonderful collection of posters.

Visit Snap Toronto and Mountain Life to read more about this successful collaboration.

I’m going to assume you already know that it’s Reading Week here at OCADU, but do you also know that next week it’s Freedom to Read Week in Canada?

Freedom to Read Week is organized by the Book and Periodical Council‘s Freedom of Expression Committee. All across Canada, book stores, libraries, schools, and community centers will join in to host events and celebrate our fundamental right to intellectual freedom.

While not as flashy as the right to education or clean drinking water, intellectual freedom is ridiculously important. As human beings, we all have pretty well-developed faculties of judgement and reason, but these faculties don’t work in a vacuum, and no individual can come up with all the answers themselves. What does this mean? It means we need as many ideas around us as possible — as many memes, worldviews, facts, opinions, statistics, dreams — or else we can’t make the right decisions. Intellectual freedom is about supporting human cognition; it’s about developing and maintaining democracy itself!

So, what will you do to celebrate and (re)dedicate yourself to the principle of free and public expression? Read a challenged book, like The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (call# PS3537 A44 C2), The Diviners by Margaret Laurence (PS8523 A7 D4), The Wars by Timothy Findley (PS8511 I5 W2), or Black Eye: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension (PN6726 B52 2011) — all of which are available at OCADU’s Dorothy H. Hoover Library!

If that’s a bit too solitary for your liking, check out the upcoming local events. On right now is CENSORED, a display of challenged books at Type Books on Queen West (right across from Trinity Bellwoods), but there’s lots more going on next week — check out the list of Ontario events for details!

If you’re thinking of working this summer (or sooner!), then think about the Career Development office, because they’re all about helping OCADU students and grads “develop the skills and knowledge base required to be successful creative professionals” — pretty awesome, right!? And here at the Learning Zone we bring the office to you, in the form of a drop-in resumé clinic!

From 1 to 4:30pm next Tuesday (26 February), representatives from Career Development and Experiential Learning will be here at the Learning Zone. Stop by with your resumé, CV, and/or your cover letters for immediate, personalized, relevant feedback and advice. Discuss your future career options. Find out what else the Career Development office has to offer. Shake the slush from your boots, and get ready for summer!