Abstract: Community based learning and the infusion of creative arts in teaching are rich and distinctive aspects of York's academic character. At Osgoode, these themes have found expression in a several recent initiatives which I believe can chart a compelling path for York's future.

First, we have created opportunities for law students to put their insights and abilities to work through community organizations seeking to advance public interest and social justice goals  Whether as part of a curricular requirement for public interest volunteering, clinical and intensive programs, or as part of academic credit based research courses, community based learning has become a foundation for legal education at Osgoode , For example, the Osgoode-CAMH Collaborative Research Course in Mental Health and Justice challenged students to apply substantive knowledge of the law to address particular community problems and to reflect in so doing on the possibilities and limits of law.

Second, the integration of creative arts in legal education can generate opportunities for critical analysis and imaginative pedagogy, To this end, Osgoode has launched an Artist in Residence Program to bring artists working in a variety of media together with students in order to engage with legal subject matter in novel and creative ways. For example, our first Artist in Residence, the noted Canadian-Croatian photographer Cindy Blažević, worked with a group of students in a Directed Research course on the Kingston Penitentiary and Criminal Justice, Through the creation of photo-essays of the decommissioning of Canada's oldest penitentiary, law students grappled with the criminal justice system from a novel and provocative perspective.

Through this focus on community and creativity, we have sought to advance York and Osgoode's traditions of outwardly focused University education, to engage students, enhance communities and pursue new frontiers in law and legal ideas.

Plenary – First Year Experience

Diane Beelen Woody, Tanya Da Sylva, Rosanna Furgiuele, Mazen Hamadeh, Janice Newton, Agata Stypka
Panel presentation: Highlights of the annual First Year Experience Conference held in Dallas Texas, February 6-10, 2015.
The primary goal of the annual First Year Experience Conference is to assist institutions of higher education in the planning, implementing and refining of programs designed to enhance the first year experience. It is organized by the National Resources Centre for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition housed at the University of South Carolina (http://www.sc.edu/fye/index.html).
York University was a co-host of the February 2015 conference and a number of representatives from York attended the conference. Highlights from the conference were shared in plenary relating to current trends and issues the latest research findings on pedagogy and assessment, and promising practices to support first year students.
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Panel Presentation on the First Year ExperienceatTIF2015

Day 2