Sept. 16, 2021
Seneca News
New course at Seneca helps students take on city hall
Initiative a partnership between City of Toronto, eight postsecondary institutions
Seneca students interested in learning more about the inner workings of Toronto’s municipal government now have front-row seats at city hall — with council chambers as their classroom and government leaders as their professors.
Toronto: Citizenship in the 21st Century is a new course in the School of English & Liberal Studies. The elective for degree students is offered in partnership with the City of Toronto and eight postsecondary institutions across the city.
“It’s a unique and innovative course designed to help us understand the city and how it works,” said Dr. Gus Lyn-Piluso, a philosophy of education PhD who has been teaching at Seneca for 31 years. “We want our students to become active citizens and contribute to Toronto’s development over the next 50 years.”
This fall, more than 30 students from Dr. Lyn-Piluso’s class are joining colleagues from the other Toronto postsecondary institutions to participate in the course, which is currently delivered virtually.
Classes take place every other week from council chambers, featuring panel presentations from government representatives.
Dr. Lyn-Piluso has been working with Joe Mihevc, a former Toronto city councillor who now teaches at York University and the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, to develop the course.
“Joe has been working with the city to bring in postsecondary institutions and break down the wall between city hall and the citizens,” Dr. Lyn-Piluso said. “By bringing in our students, we want them to get used to walking through the doors of city hall and become familiar with different faces and meet elected officials.”
Each participating school has designed a part of the course with a specific focus — Seneca’s is on citizenship. Dr. Lyn-Piluso says schools are collaborating and inviting each other’s professors as guest speakers.
“Our students will be exposed to different academic programs from all over the city,” he said. “They will be able to learn from professors from Centennial, Humber, OCAD, the University of Toronto, York University and others.”
In addition, each class at city hall will be led by a different professor, with topics ranging from economic recovery and health to public transit and climate change. Collaborative projects among students from different schools are already in discussion.
Dr. Lyn-Piluso says the online delivery of the Toronto: Citizenship in the 21st Century course is temporary until it’s safe to hold classes at city hall.
“We want this course to run forever,” he said. “And we want our students to be part of the decision-making process at city hall and feel like it’s their building.”