Issue 1 – Odyssey

1. Appointment of William Robins as Interim President and Vice Chancellor of Victoria College
   • Interview William Robins on the journey back to this position after previously holding the role in 2015-2022.
   • What is William Robins’ approach to the 2026/2027 school year and any outstanding plans/changes for Victoria College?
   • Are there any pieces of advice William Robins can offer for the incoming Victoria college students as they go through Orientation and their first year
   • What do you (William Robins) think orientation means to the Victoria College Community, why should students take part?
2. The UK’s Decade Long Odyssey to Political Stability continues
   • Brief coverage over the last decade of PM resignations
     – What caused them? Scandals? Poor Economy? Unstable Party? Political Fatigue?
   • Is this an individual (prime minister) issue or a problem that can only be solved by addressing the United Kingdom’s recent political landscape?
   • Are these resignations a byproduct of the UK’s parliamentary electoral system? Why hasn’t Canada suffered a similar fate?
3. The 2026 Wildfire Season has made home unrecognizable
   • Cover the devastation of the wildfire on First Nation communities in Ontario, the destruction of their homes
   • What is the provincial and federal government doing for aid, because some “residents fled without help from the province.” (Aerial photos show devastation of Ontario First Nation as wildfires burn across north – Yahoo News Canada)
   • How will Canada’s pledge to expand the oil and natural gas sector intersect with the growing trends of Canadian and worldwide fires.
     – What does a “journey/odyssey” back to stabilized national and global forest fires look like?

Send your pitches to Ethan at [email protected]

1. The Joys and Sorrows of Watching a ‘Cinderella Story’:
   • Whether it’s the Jays at the World Series, the Knicks at the NBA Finals, Robert Downey Jr. going from rehab to global super stardom in a suit of armor, or Alysa Liu reclaiming the ice as her domain at the Winter Olympics, we love a good story where a celebrity, a sports team or any unsuspecting underdog gets their glass slipper and reaches a moment of triumph after a prolonged journey spectated across the world. Why do we find ourselves building narratives around celebrities, groups, teams and other entities, and where do we derive the joy in seeing them ‘win’? How heavy does it weigh on us when their journey to the top is cut short? What journeys have invested us the most?
2. Social Life at U of T: Is it the Wrong Time or the Wrong Place?:
   • Among the many shifts you face heading into university, friends from years past can become footnotes in your personal history, befriending others can often be an exercise in an irregular amount of proactivity and extraversion, and those you do bring into your life may be difficult to consistently maintain relationships with due to being at the whims of individual scheduling and the dreaded misalignments with others’ interests that will arise. When so much of our present time appears to strongly emphasize the individual, isolated experience while filtering personal expression through impersonal social media posting and direct messaging, what has the university environment offered in terms of reinvigorating or further suppressing a more intimate relationship with the student body? For those who are about to face such a significant shift in their personal lives, what advice would you impart on them for navigating such a turbulent aspect of postsecondary life?
3. The Way It’s Meant to Be Seen: Is ‘Shot on IMAX’ Technical Prestige or Pretentious FOMO?:
   • As opposed to being unanimously praised for innovating the industry by shooting his sprawling Homerian epic The Odyssey exclusively with IMAX cameras and presenting the film to a scale worthy of the journey it chronicles, filmmaker Christopher Nolan has instead incited division among enthusiast and casual filmgoers, regarding the perception that he deliberately restricted the format most true to his intended vision, to a narrow selection of theaters at prices that only further heighten what is seen as an increasingly expensive barrier to entry. Does The Odyssey represent the epitome of decreased accessibility for the theatrical experience? A return to the time of movie palaces conceiving the luxurious image behind the act of watching films in a social setting? Has Nolan reached his threshold for obnoxious auteurism? Does it even matter if you get to watch the film anyway?

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1. The Odyssey (2026)
   • Amidst IMAX controversy, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, with its A-list cast, epic run-time, and creative reliance on practical effects, is already being regarded as the movie of the year. Do you agree? Write a review of the film, or reflect on the qualities that make a film great in the eyes of its audience. What should we value in cinema? Is it right to judge a movie before its release? Why are some films more “hyped” than others, and is this always an accurate reflection of their merit? How does The Odyssey (2026) reflect the biases that exist in movie audiences, or the changing landscape of film?
2. Feminism in Translation’:
   • Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey, the inspiration for Nolan’s recent film, was the first translation of the ancient epic to be published by a woman. How has the traditionally male-dominated field of translation changed over time, and what roles have female scholars played in that? How has academia been affected by the progression of feminism? Is the attention that Wilson’s translation is receiving in light of Nolan’s film a positive step for feminist translators, or yet another sign of how male-centred the field is?
3. Tell Me, Muse
   • Odysseus’ story has survived into the 21st century because the concept of a long, wandering journey was not unique to the 7th century BCE. Write about an odyssey you have been on in your life. Maybe it’s the journey of how you got to UofT, a life-changing trip you went on, or a goal you worked for years to achieve. How did your journey open your eyes? How did you lose yourself along the way? Who were you when you finally made it back home?

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1. Odysseys of Song
   • How has the concept album evolved over time? Are they still relevant and effective? How has the internet revolutionized or harmed the delivery of a concept album? Could such albums be connected to the tradition of bard songs? This pitch is also open to any reviews or analyses of recent concept albums.
2. Epic Poem, or Epic Fail?
   • The recent Odyssey movie has promoted a major increase in sales of physical copies of the original Homeric epic. How can revisiting the foundations of the Western Canon help us contextualize our world today? Will the original fall flat with modern audiences, or does the story outweigh the form? How and why have ancient myths continued to capture the 21st century imagination?
3. Lost in Transcription
   • The odyssey from Homeric Greek to another language is one which has challenged translators and classicists for centuries. Is there beauty unique to translated literature which when found can surpass the interpretive nature of translation? Which linguistic nuances that create tension when translating do you find fascinating? (Was it Mother or Maman who died today?) What’s your favourite multilingual work of art? Has experiencing the same work of art across different languages changed the experience? This pitch is also open to any reviews of recently translated literature.

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1. The Great Migration
   • Every year, millions of African wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle embark on a vast odyssey across the Serengeti and the Masai Mara as they search for fresh grazing. They do so in an intricate, clockwise cycle that covers about 2,900 kilometres, moving through thick grasslands, predator-wracked woodlands, and crocodile-infested rivers. From a biological and physiological perspective, tell us more about why these animals make this strange, dangerous journey year after year. On another note, how will the Great Migration be affected by the continuous degradation of grass quality and the shifting of rainfall patterns (effects of global warming)? You can also focus on other ‘migrations’ that take place in nature, such as that of the monarch butterfly, or the beluga whale.
2. Odyssey to the Red Planet
   • NASA’s Mars Odyssey (the first spacecraft to chart the chemical elements and minerals of the Martian surface) celebrated its 25th birthday this year, having launched from Florida in April 2001. So far, Odyssey’s THEMIS camera has provided scientists with over one million images of Mars’ dunes, craters, frost, and volcanoes, allowing them to study the planet’s geological features and potential landing sites. Give us some updates on Odyssey, and tell us about its newest images: the Angustus Labyrinthus, the Kaiser Crater Dunes, etc. What do these images imply about Mars and its potential habitability (or if it should be inhabited at all)?

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1. Tell Me, O Muse
   • Before Homer tells the story of Odysseus, he invokes a muse—a Greek goddess of the arts—to inspire and guide him: “Tell me about a complicated man. / Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost / when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy.” If you were to call upon something or someone before telling your own story, where would you look? Who or what has guided your creative process along the way? Try beginning your poem with an invocation of your own.
2. Nostos
   • The Greek word nostos describes both the physical journey of homecoming and the deeper reclamation (or reconstruction) of the hero’s identity. Think of the odysseys you’ve experienced in your own life. What does homecoming mean to you—physically, psychologically, spiritually? Where, what, or who is home? How do you know when you’ve reached it? Who were you when you left, and who do you become when you return?
3. Pure Symbols
   • In Margaret Atwood’s work of poetic prose, The Penelopiad, she writes from the maids’ perspective: “You don’t have to think of us as real girls, real flesh and blood, real pain, real injustice […] Consider us pure symbols.” Reflect on The Odyssey’s portrayal of female characters—Penelope, Calypso, Circe, the sirens, the maids—and write a poem from one of their perspectives. What does it mean to wait, to tempt, or to guide? To remain behind while others pursue their odysseys?
4. Epic Comparison
   • One of the most memorable literary devices in The Odyssey is the Homeric simile—the expansion of a single moment into another, extended image. In Book 8, Odysseus is compared to a widow: “Odysseus was melting into tears; / his cheeks were wet with weeping, as a woman / weeps, as she falls to wrap her arms around / her husband, fallen fighting for his home and children.” Consider a moment in your life that warrants an epic comparison. When have you experienced an emotion so profound that it can only be expressed by being expanded on?

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1. Tips for aspiring movie snobs who fell asleep watching The Odyssey:
   • Provide your fellow sleep-deprived movie-goers with just enough conversation points and distraction strategies to get through these tough few weeks of high-brow discussion.
   • Are there flowery phrases they can repeat? Any plot points you remember from English class? Is there a right number of head nods that conveys being super duper cultured?
   • Matt Damon is in it. Hang onto that.
   • You could write this as an advice column or as a reporter detailing how they achieved this feat.
2. Write a parody article – what breaking news have you heard surrounding Odysseus’ journey? What murky rumours are flying around? See examples of headlines below.:
   • The same guy who always wore shorts during winter proclaims: “Monsters in The Odyssey were honestly tame.”
   • English teachers threaten to compare sirens in The Odyssey to the impacts of social media: “Was Homer forewarning the double chunk chocolate chip cookie?”
3. Provide a list of the best spots on campus to embark on journeys of self-discovery.:
   • Did you reach the end of the Philosopher’s Walk born anew?
   • Did you start to see new colours while staring blankly into the cold grey walls of Robarts Library?
   • Regale new and returning students alike with your discoveries.
4. Dating advice for the hopeful ex: what to do while waiting for your long-lost partner to (maybe) return:
   • Has your partner suddenly embarked on a quest for an unspecified amount of time? Do you now have hundreds of potential suitors ready to pounce the second you announce your singledom?
   • Address some of these problems in a dating column written for the modern Penelope.
5. Which Greek gods are the UofT colleges?:
   • Introduce incoming students to the college system in a way their inner Percy-Jackson-loving middle schooler would understand.
   • Which god best encapsulates Trinity’s trust-fund supremacy? Would Demeter approve of Ned’s vast selection of stale sandwiches?

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