Alexander Shvarts, Ph.D
Russian/Ukrainian Jews in Toronto: Ethnic Self-Identity and Issues of Integration
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a Jewish ethnic group, such as the Russian/Ukrainian Jews in Toronto that contains both strong ethnic and some religious components, will be more likely to assimilate into Canadian society or retain their ethnic identity. In it, Shvarts attempts to determine whether Jewish communities can integrate Russian/Ukrainian emigres because many Russian/Ukrainian Jews come to Canada with an ambivalent sense of Jewish identity coupled with a strong sense of Russian/Ukrainian identity. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with Russian/Ukrainian Jews who emigrated from the former Soviet Union in order to determine whether Russian/Ukrainian Jews show an interest in the Jewish traditions, practices, and communal organizations valued by the existing Jewish community in Toronto. In the interviews, Shvarts concentrates on a few factors in particular that strongly affect Jewish ethnic identity retention, which are grouped into the following sections: (1) fertility and intermarriage rates and views on intermarriage, (2) ethnic language retention based on fluency in Yiddish, Hebrew, or Russian and providing children with a Jewish education, (3) ritual observance, (4) institutional completeness, which refers to institutions, such as synagogues, schools, community facilities, and organizations that perpetuate their cultural and religious heritage, and (5) ties to Israel and memories of the Holocaust. Shvarts uses the debate between cultural pluralism and linear assimilation theory in order to investigate the assimilative trend for Russian/Ukrainian Jews in Canada.
Victoria Abboud, PhD
Diasporic Rhizomes: Finding Plantedness through Lebanese Literature
In the 1950s, Giddy, Victoria Abboud’s grandfather, crossed the Atlantic Ocean four times to find a home that could become “homeland,” a place for family and community outside of his small village in southeastern Bekaa (Lebanon). It would be decades before his children and grandchildren would consider themselves “Canadian” in all the complexity of that word. Though chronicling family history and finding a sense of “homeland” are herculean goals, there is a genetic compulsion to do so. The diasporic longing that is so familiar to generations of immigrants is often nostalgically (and perhaps stereotypically) reduced to the scent of spices or the sound of lullabies, yet writers continue to search desperately for the articulation of the experience. In parallel, the Japanese concept of "furusato" combines both the longingness inherent in migration and the pull of nature to reduce that distance.
Further, poets such as Ameen Rihani (1911) recount the dream of stretching “under an orange tree, on the soft green grass” of his Baalbek home, and Khalil Gibran (1926) urges "plantedness" for the “young tree whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon.” This rhizomatic search for place and connectedness continues through current-day writers like Rabih Alameddine, Hanan al-Shaykh, and Hoda Barakat whose responses to the segmentation of culture and politics urge readers to question the boundaries and permeable borders of identity, home, and community.
This presentation draws connections among Lebanese and Lebanese-X writers (those for whom Lebanese nationality is conflated due to their multiple identities) while tracing their uses of nature and the environment both to question and seek a homeland. Interspersed with the presenter’s own literary work, the paper will demonstrate the fundamentality of diasporic longing, the perceived salve that nature offers, and the emerging articulation of "furusato" to push Lebanese and Lebanese-X literature forward.
Zeina Seaifan, BA
Racialized Diasporas in Taylor-Massey, Toronto: Sustainability-Programming Impacts on Neighbourhood Improvement Areas
Taylor-Massey, Toronto is a largely racialized immigrant neighbourhood that is designated as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area by the City of Toronto. This indicates there are social inequities present in Taylor-Massey. This research asks how diasporic communities in Taylor-Massey access, understand, and take up sustainable lifestyles by attending sustainability-related programming through community organizations such as Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services. In connection, three sub-questions are explored: (1) How are Access Alliance sustainability-related practices adopted by diasporic communities that identify as racialized in Taylor-Massey? (2) What role do the cultural backgrounds of diasporic individuals have in understandings of sustainable practices? (3) How do barriers previously identified in Taylor-Massey impede the efforts of Access Alliance? (4) What are the possible interventions that community members are aspiring for in achieving sustainable practices?
Interviews and participant observations guided by a qualitative approach are used to explore these research questions. This project will contribute insights into how culture, mediated through diasporic communities, plays a role in understanding sustainable living. Findings presently include contrasting definitions of sustainability between Taylor-Massey community members and mainstream media, overlooked cultural practices that contribute to sustainable living, and the importance of word-of-mouth in promoting sustainability-related habits and stimulating community connectedness. Ultimately, these findings will advance and contribute to existing understandings of the intersection between sustainability and diaspora studies. Moreover, this study’s analysis will be relevant for contextualizing systemic inequities in similar Neighbourhood Improvement Areas in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Alexander Shvarts, PhD
Alexander Shvarts completed a BA in Russian/Sociology and Honors in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. He completed an MA and a PhD in Sociology at the University of Toronto and was awarded the University of Toronto Open Fellowship from 1999-2002. He has taught various Sociology, Crime and Deviance, and Race and Ethnicity courses at Humber College, the University of Guelph-Humber, the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo. He is currently a full-time professor at Humber College, where he has been teaching since 2001. Alexander Shvarts has presented papers on Russian Entrepreneurs, the Russian Mafia and Russian Jews at several conferences (ASA, CSA, ESS, Kokkalis, EGOS) in Canada, the U.S., and Europe including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Anaheim, New York, and Lyon. He published a book based on his dissertation, Russian Transnational Entrepreneurs: Ethnicity, Class and Capital. He has published articles on the Russian Mafia in Contemporary Justice Review, International Review of Modern Sociology, and Michigan Sociological Review. He has also published articles on Russian Jews in Diasporic Ruptures: Globality, Migrancy, and Expressions of Identity and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism.
Victoria Abboud, PhD
Victoria is a lecturer at the University of Windsor focusing on guiding graduate students in STEM fields to translate their technical expertise for broad audiences. As an educator for 22 years, she has held roles as faculty and in administration at colleges and universities in 3 Canadian provinces, the United States, and Brazil. Her work in the not-for-profit sector and as a consultant has included research and program development for organizations in post-secondary education, social impact, and workplace innovation. As a writer, she traces the complexities of diasporic identities and the politicization of personal experience. Of Lebanese, French, and Canadian heritage, Victoria's literary work is often bi- or tri-lingual and has been long-listed for the CBC Non-Fiction Prize ("Repairs," 2022). In 2021, her non-fiction piece, "Lessons," earned first place at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival Fringe Competition. It traces the experience of learning to play the qanun, a stringed instrument with roots in the SWANA region. Dr. Abboud earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) and Honours B.A. and B.Sc. degrees from the University of Windsor. Relevant Publications: "Lineage." Michigan Quarterly Review. October 2021. "Lessons." Emerge 2. Eden Mills Writers' Festival Fringe. PS Guelph, August 2021. "(Trans)Planting Cedars: Seeking Identity, Nationality, and Culture in the Lebanese Diaspora." Arab Voices in Diaspora: Critical Perspectives on Anglophone Arab Literature. Ed. Layla Al Maleh. Rodopi Press, 2009. 371-393.
Zeina Seaifan, BA
Zeina Seaifan completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, double majoring in Environmental Sciences and Diaspora Transnational Studies with a focus on Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. She is currently a master’s student in the School of the Environment’s inaugural Master of Environment and Sustainability program, specializing in social sustainability. Her research is broadly focused on examining how diasporic communities in Taylor-Massey, Toronto access and understand sustainability-related programming and lifestyles. She is also interested in researching and understanding questions of participatory processes and how they influence community connectedness by specifically examining power dynamics within diasporic communities. Her passion and interest in diaspora studies and environmental justice have taken her beyond the academic sphere as she is currently involved with numerous organizations that strive to advocate and promote the importance of sustainability by connecting like-minded folk together. For instance, Zeina is involved with the Toronto Climate Observatory at the University of Toronto which draws on methods from climate modeling and human-centered design to answer various questions in an equitable and action-driven way. She also is involved with the Women’s Healthy Environment Network (WHEN) in Toronto as a policy engagement researcher by informing the executive director of developments with environmental policy reforms and co-authoring Op-Eds with the other policy engagement researchers. Online publications: Seaifan, Z. (2021). Guide on Sustainable Tourism - Muslims for SustainABILITY. Muslims for Sustainability. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://muslimsability.com/guide-on-sustainable-tourism/ Seaifan, Z. (2021). Sustainability Development Goal #11 and Islam - Muslims for SustainABILITY. Muslims for Sustainability. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://muslimsability.com/sustainability-development-goal-11-and-islam/
