Graduate Professional Day 2018 Thursday, January 18Graduate students: you are cordially invited to our sixth annual Graduate Professional Day at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus. This free event is co-sponsored by the Centre for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Vice-Principal Academic and Dean. GPS credit will be available (3 – 5

sessions = 1 credit, 6 sessions = 2 credits); repeat credit is possible.

To hold your place, register at https://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/booking/graduate/ by Tuesday, January 16, at 5 pm. If you have any questions, contact Sheryl Stevenson, Centre for Teaching and Learning: sheryl.stevenson@utoronto.ca.

9:00 – 9:30 Sign in: coffee and light refreshments; sign-in proceeds during later breaks.AA160

9:30 – 10:30 Effective Oral Presentations in the Age of TED ~ Joanna Heathcote AA160

Stories: We all want to hear a good one, we all have a great one to tell, but what’s the best way to present it?  In this session, we’ll take a hands-on approach to telling the story of your research or your lecture.  We will work on setting the tone, structure and timeline of your talk and ensure that you disentangle what you know versus what the audience needs to learn.  Lastly, I will provide suggestions based on tricks of the TEDx trade . . .

Joanna Heathcote is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Management Department at the University of Toronto.  She received her Ph.D. in the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Western University. She has expertise in the areas of Leadership, Training, Communication, and Mentoring and Coaching. Joanna occasionally offers a Masters-level course in Mentoring and Coaching at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, and in the BBA she teaches Business Communication Skills as well as International Leadership Skills and Human Resource Management.  

10:45 – 11:45 Distress Tolerance and Well-Being ~ Norman Farb, with Stephanie McCall AA160 and Sarah McDougall

How are you supposed to 'just relax' when school is so darn stressful? What if well-being isn't just about learning to eliminate stress, but instead based on the development of coping skills that can be cultivated through practice? In this talk, I will review some emerging research on emotional resilience, proposing a new model for promoting well-being that focuses on developing positive qualities rather than obliterating any signs of stress or negative emotion. I hope to show that both awareness of experience and tolerance of unpleasant events are skills that can be learned over time, with powerful consequences for long-term mental health.

Norman Farb is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where he directs the Regulatory and Affective Dynamics laboratory (www.radlab.zone). He studies the social neuroscience of the self and human emotion, with a focus on how biases in self-representation shape emotions to determine well-being. His work employs varied measures, including self-report, behavioral tasks, physiology, and brain activity. He’s particularly interested in how training practices such as meditation and yoga foster resilience against stress, reducing vulnerability to

disorders such as depression.

Norm Farb will be joined by respondents Stephanie McCall and Sarah McDougall, who will begin a dialogue that the audience will be invited to join.

Stephanie McCall has over 15 years of experience working with youth as a clinical social worker, mindfulness facilitator, and yoga instructor. She creates opportunities for individuals living with psychosis, depression, PTSD or anxiety to explore and experience their true nature and greater fulfillment through innovative individual and group programming. Stephanie also leads a nature-based group with Parks Canada (The Mood Walks Program), and teaches yoga with the Mindful Moments program (St. George campus) and at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

Sarah McDougall has spent over a decade working in the field of couple and family therapy, dealing with issues ranging from depression and anxiety to parenting and couple communication problems. Sarah also has specific knowledge in supporting people who have experienced trauma and/or violence in their lives. She is an LGBTQ affirmative therapist and member of the queer community herself. She uses social justice informed approaches to wellness and has a special interest in incorporating mindfulness and distress tolerance skills in counselling.

11:45 – 12:15 Break: A light lunch will be served, continuing during the next session. AA160

12:15 – 1:15 Why Doing the Right Thing Is Hard, and How to Make It Easier ~ Cendri AA160 Hutcherson

Doing the right thing (eating healthy, working efficiently, being kind) often seems like a battle between our inner demons and our better angels. I will show how cutting-edge neural and computational models of choice shed new light on this issue, and reveal new insights into how to choose better for both ourselves and others.

Cendri Hutcherson is the director of the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. She received degrees in psychology from Harvard (B.A.) and Stanford (Ph.D.), and spent several years as a post-doctoral scholar studying neuroeconomics at the California Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the computational and neural underpinnings of decision making and self-control.

1:30 – 2:30 Stressed Out? How to Improve Health and Increase Productivity: The Science AA160 of Work Breaks ~ John Trougakos

Do you feel over-worked? Stressed out? Worn out? Burnt out? Not as productive as you could be? You are not alone. Statistics and studies suggest that work is intruding more and more on people’s personal time, and that stress and burnout are at near epidemic levels.

The question is: Are we really working as smart as we can? In spite of recent advances in some countries (e.g., Sweden and France), the answer seems to be no. This talk will detail ways in which you can work smarter, be more productive, and be healthier while actually working less. 

John Trougakos is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and HR Management in the Department of Management at University of Toronto-Scarborough,

with a cross-appointment to the Organizational Behaviour area at Rotman.  His research explores the

dynamics of employees’ daily organizational life, focusing specifically on employee well-being and productivity with emphasis on self-regulation, emotions, social interactions, and work recovery. His research has been published in numerous top journals; he currently serves as a member of the editorial board of the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management, and the Journal of Business Psychology.

3:10 – 4:10 Overcoming Exercise Barriers for Mental Health ~ Catherine SabistonMW170

The benefits of exercise are extensive and include improvements in physical health, emotional well-being, self-esteem, concentration and memory (and many others). Unfortunately less than 15% of Canadian adults are exercising, and the majority of one's day is spent sedentary. The top barriers for exercise will be discussed, and tips for overcoming these barriers will be presented. The 'perfect' exercise for physical and mental health will also be disclosed . . .

Catherine Sabiston is a professor of exercise and health psychology at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Mental Health. She has nearly 170 publications and has given over 350 published talks and workshops. Catherine has received over 19 million dollars to conduct her research, which includes delivering a number of mental health programs for healthy and clinical populations. Dr. Sabiston led a lifestyle intervention television segment on CTV, and her work has appeared on a number of media outlets including Global Television, Metro Morning, CP24, various radio shows, and has been featured in popular print (e.g., Shape

Magazine, Toronto Star), and health foundations and organization reports.

4:10 – 4:30 Break, with light refreshments.

4:30 – 5:30 The Burnout Gamble: Achieve More by Beating Burnout and BuildingMW170 Resilience ~ Hamza Khan

According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, one third of full-time workers globally say that managing work-life has become increasingly difficult. Workers all over the world revealed that

they are working longer hours and harder than ever before, leaving very little time for much else. One could argue that we’re living in a golden age of workplace stress, largely due to the changing role of work in our lives. Perhaps it’s time to resist the binary construction (or fallacy) that is work-life and consider a new framework altogether. This talk explores the transition from overachiever to high performer.

Born in New York and raised in Toronto, Hamza Khan is an award-winning marketer and accomplished entrepreneur. He is making waves as the co-founder of Splash Effect, a boutique digital marketing and creative agency that helps clients who do good, to do better. He has worked with leading institutions and forward-thinking brands such as the Rotman School of Management, Restaurants Canada, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, HootSuite, University of Toronto, RBC, and PepsiCo. A two-time TEDx speaker, he is regularly invited to speak on subjects such as how to build digital communities, master productivity, navigate the multi-generational workforce, develop resilience, and more. Hamza has spoken to more than 15,000 people across 50 events, 15 cities, and 4 continents.

5:30 – 6:00 Book signing, concluding remarks, event evaluation and a drawing for prizesMW170