Ethics, Society & Law celebrates 20 years of community-engaged research and its graduating class of 2026
By John Duncan, Director, Ethics, Society & Law
罢谤颈苍颈迟测鈥檚 Ethics, Society, and Law program (we say 鈥淓, S, AND L鈥�) hosted a poster session and graduation celebration on the last regular day of classes during the winter term (April 2, 2026) in the Rigby Room at St Hilda鈥檚 College.
The poster session featured the work of students completing ES&L鈥檚聽Community Research Partnerships in Ethics program聽(CRPE). Each CRPE student works with a community partner organization and a U of T faculty supervisor from September to April with the goal of meeting knowledge needs of the community partner.
Dr. Heather Hermant from U of T鈥檚 Centre for Community Partnerships, Professor Nick Terpstra, 罢谤颈苍颈迟测鈥檚 Provost & Vice-Chancellor, U of T faculty, community partners, and ES&L students and staff came together for the poster session so the students could share their work.
Valued CRPE community partners include聽,听, , , , and , among others. This was the 20th year of CRPE, which was started under the ES&L directorship of Professor John Duncan in collaboration with the Centre for Ethics at U of T in 2006. Since 2021-2022, ES&L Associate Director Professor Jennifer Leitch has been running the program.
U of T鈥檚聽聽generously supported the poster session, as did the family of Celia Siriopoulos, a recent ES&L grad.
The poster session flowed into the 2026 graduation celebration. ES&L鈥檚 Student Association President Jocelyn Ankenmann delivered a wonderful speech with laughs and inspiration. ES&L alum Christie Bates provided inspiring remarks to welcome the new grads into the alum community. A 2011 ES&L grad, Christie is a trademark and copyright lawyer at Smart & Biggar LLP, Canada鈥檚 leading intellectual property firm, where her work representing some of the world鈥檚 largest brands has been recognized by Best Lawyers听补苍诲听Managing IP, and she also teaches intellectual property (at U of T, McGill and Seneca).
All reflected on memorable experiences shared in ES&L, and the grads look forward to law schools and graduate programs around the world!
Categories: College News; Ethics, Society & Law; Student News; Trinity Grads