If you’ve walked past the E.J. Pratt Library here at Vic, you’ve probably noticed a frequenter seated on one of the benches near the entrance. Sometimes you’ll see him sporting a pair of sunglasses that someone left for him, sometimes you’ll see squirrels trying to sit on him, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll see how people react when they mistake him for an actual person. Yes, I’m referring to the iconic statue of one of Vic’s resident celebrities, Northrop Frye.
The spring before my first year at UofT, I decided to apply to one of the First-Year Foundations programs—namely, the Vic One: Frye Stream. I knew I wanted to study literature, and I knew I wanted to enrol in small, seminar-style classes; I did not know who Northrop Frye was (oops). One of the questions on the application for Vic One included a quote from his lecture-turned-book, The Educated Imagination. Intrigued by the title and wanting enough context to answer the question, I looked it up and found myself listening to recordings of Frye from 1962. Across the six half-hour lectures, Frye discusses the purpose and importance of literary studies in cultivating an “educated imagination.” Why? Because “[t]he fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life… is to produce, out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in.”
Now that I’m halfway through my undergraduate degree, I can safely say that my Vic One: Frye Stream classes, and the subsequent courses I’ve taken in literary studies, have helped to cultivate my imagination. But this phenomenon isn’t specifically tied to a humanities education—or formal education in general, for that matter.
Yes, your classes will provide you with the theoretical foundation that you need to imagine transformative change in society—but there are also limits to what you learn in an academic setting. Humanities programs, for example, tend to focus on Eurocentric knowledge and the small, homogeneous group that produces it. Beyond the syllabus, the hustle culture at UofT makes it easy to cram all night for an assessment and never want to think about the course material again. And, of course, it’s one thing to conceptualize a better world and another to actually work towards it.
In this issue, The Strand shares stories about contributing to “the society we want to live in” from outside the classroom. Maia Roberts provides a glimpse from the frontlines of the fight for climate justice. Roy Shi speaks with the University–Rosedale MP candidates so that you can make an informed choice when voting in next week’s federal election. Janna Abbas pushes against attributing our self-worth to our academic success. And Albert Cheng advocates for diversity in the medical field.
Textbooks and lectures have their place in helping us imagine the world we desire. But university also offers many other ways to learn and to put what we learn into practice. So, get involved with the amazing levies and clubs at Vic, attend the Global Climate Strike on September 24, take time to rest, and make the most of your education.
