Institute Services and Facilities

ACCOMMODATION

The Institute does not provide accommodation for visiting fellows. Like any major city, Toronto’s occupancy rates for rental housing vary considerably from year to year. It is best to plan well in advance of arrival on campus.

The Institute is located on the campus of University of St Michael's College. Visiting fellows interested in living in residence at the college should contact the Office of the Dean of Students to inquire about availability as soon as possible (telephone 416 926 7127). They should mention their affiliation with PIMS, as fellows will be given priority over outside residents. In the past, most PIMS fellows have been accommodated in Teefy House, a small graduate floor located in the south end of the Queen's Park Building.

Useful information on residential accommodation may be found at the University of Toronto’s Student Housing site, as well as the pages devoted to both new and visiting faculty at the Faculty Housing information site. The following websites for rentals in and around Toronto may also prove useful: Apartmentcorner, craigslist, PMRentals, Rent Compass RentHome, Rent Canada, Rentershotline, SoYouWanna, TorontoRenter, Trivest Development, and ViewIt. Visiting fellows should also find useful the nonprofit site devoted to Ontario Tenants Rights, which provides information on tenants' legal rights, finding affordable housing, discrimination, and apartment security. In addition, the classified ads in the University of Toronto Bulletin, and local editions of The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail can provide further assistance.

BENEFITS AND SERVICES

Please refer all questions relating to financial matters to the Treasurer, and enquiries regarding visas to the Registrar . General information about many issues of concern to non-Canadian residents, such as visas, UHIP (University Health Insurance Plan), child care, cost-of-living, income tax, etc may be found at the International Student Centre website.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

The Institute’s academic programmes, including its post-doctoral Licence programme and the various fellowships offered, are described in detail in the Academics section of this site. Please refer all enquiries regarding admission, requirements, academic meetings (including the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar), and issues of policy to the Registrar.

OFFICES AND FACILITIES

As far as possible, visiting scholars are assigned offices in the Institute building or in the Library for the duration of the academic term. Please refer all questions regarding offices and facilities to the Treasurer. Offices are sparely furnished, but are not equipped with computers. High-speed internet access, however, is available (see below). Telephone service is provided by the University of St Michael’s College. For further information, please consult the Institute Directory. Detailed instructions about voice mail are available from the Institute Secretary.

INSTITUTE EVENTS

Over the academic term, the Institute hosts a variety of endowed and guest lectures and other meetings of interest to research fellows. The Centre for Medieval Studies in the University of Toronto also holds several events in the Laurence K. Shook Common Room at the Institute. In the autumn and spring, the Institute holds its open meetings of Council, when all visiting fellows and their guests are encouraged to attend, and each March brings a distinguished medievalist to deliver the Gilson Lecture. For a comprehensive and up-to-date listing, please consult the Calendar.

LIBRARIES

The Institute library is housed on the fourth floor of the John M. Kelly Library at St Michael’s College. Its collections of printed books, manuscripts, and microfilms is non-circulating; admittance is by pass only. For additional information about hours, access, and a guide to the collections, see the Library section on this site.

All visiting fellows have access to the University of Toronto library system, a network of over forty libraries that together make up the largest academic library in Canada. The Robarts Library, across Queen’s Park, houses the social sciences and humanities research resources; the Gerstein Science Information Centre serves the science and health science disciplines. The Institute’s collections in reference works, manuscripts, and early printed books are complemented by the resources of The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, the Fine Art Library, as well as the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies. College libraries on the St George campus are rich in several related disciplines: philosophy and religion are especially well served by the collections at St Michael’s, Emmanuel, and Trinity colleges; classics, literature, and art by the E.J. Pratt Library at Victoria College. Registered users of the library system also have access to an impressive and growing range of electronic resources, from reference works and full-text e-journals to online databases. Surveys of electronic resources are provided in “Terra cognita,” elsewhere on this site.

Access to the Robarts stacks and borrowing privileges at all libraries are restricted to card holders. To obtain a photo library card (also known as a TCard), take a copy of the letter of appointment issued by the Registrar to the Reader Registration desk on the main floor of the Robarts Library. The TCard may also be used to purchase photocopies and computer printing at libraries across campus.

E–MAIL AND INTERNET ACCESS

With the proliferation of web-based e–mail, and the continuing availability of e–mail via telnet, visiting fellows may find that it is more convenient to retain their existing institutional or generic e–mail accounts. However, e–mail is also provided by UTORMail, the University of Toronto’s institutional e–mail service. Off-campus access to restricted online resources is now available through a new service called my.access.

All offices in the Institute and the PIMS Library are wired for internet access via the UofT computer network (NOTE: dial-up access via modem is not available). Any standard ethernet card may be installed on your computer; network cards may be purchased at the Campus Computer Shop. The IP address and other network settings required may be obtained from the Treasurer. Access to the network is controlled by Computing and Networking Services. Questions regarding network settings and computer configuration may be referred to the staff at Workgroup Technology Support (telephone help line 416 946 4009). Advanced users can find helpful information at World of Windows Networking.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The Scotiabank Information Commons, located on the first floor of Robarts Library, provides a range of technical resources and services such as software licensing and distribution, as well as video and multimedia services. The Information Commons Help Desk provides telephone, e–mail, and walk-in technical support on licensed software. The barcode on a valid TCard (see above) may be required to verify university association.The Resource Centre for Academic Technology supports the use of emerging technologies in teaching, learning, and research. The Classroom Technology Support Group maintains an inventory of audiovisual equipment for teaching.

The University of Toronto

Various colleges, libraries, and services within the University of Toronto have already been mentioned above. New fellows are urged to consult the university’s many web pages for further information; see “Terra cognita” for a conspectus of campus sites and services. Two navigational aids, in particular, may be worth keeping in mind: the constantly expanding list of campus websites and the very helpful campus maps including those of the St George Campus, as well as special maps of the St Michael's College campus.

The City of Toronto

Toronto is rich in services and cultural resources. An idiosyncratic perspective is provided by the following notes. General information about services in the city can be found at 211Toronto.ca and the Toronto pages ofServpro.ca. Official sites of the City as well as of Toronto Tourism provide valuable ancillary information on. Environment Canada’s website gives detailed information about Toronto weather. Links to attractions, events, and shopping can be found at Toronto.com and at the Toronto Life website. Where.ca provides a guide to travel and principal points of interest across major Canadian cities, including Toronto.

TRAVEL

The website for the Toronto Pearson International Airport provides details about all daily flights, both Arrivals and Departures. For inter-city rail transit, consult Via Rail; for travel by bus, see Greyhound Lines of Canada.City maps are now available on the web. Toronto is well-served by a network of buses, streetcars, and subways run by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Like many other North American cities, Toronto has an extensive (literal) underground: PATH provides a map of the walkways below the canyons of commerce downtown. Suburban transit outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is provided by GO Transit.

SHOPPING AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

The Institute is close to a range of shopping in mid-town Toronto. The Manulife Centre at 55 Bloor Street West contains Valumart, a reasonably sized grocery store, as the LCBO for wines and spirits, both a regular storeand Vintages, among many other shops and services. The centre is connected underground to the Cumberland Terrace shopping mall, which terminates at the Hudson Bay Centre, whose principal tenant is The Bay, one of the country's main department stores. Several other areas for shopping are within walking distance of the Institute, including Yorkville. Office supplies can be purchased at the Grand and Toy store at Bloor and Avenue Road, or at Staples further south on University Avenue.
There are two outlets close by for Canada Post, one at the Manulife Centre, the other at the Colonnade. within walking distance of the Institute that provide most services. The closest UPS full-service store is at Bay and St Joseph Streets. Full and self-service locations of Fedex are also within close proximity (use the Institute's postal code to find the closest location).
Toronto boasts of several superior markets: especially worthy of note are The St Lawrence Market at Front Street (a short walk from Union subway station), Kensington Market (between College and Dundas Streets, west of Spadina), and the more recently arrived Whole Foods.

GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is the single largest gallery in the city and in the region. Several galleries and museums are within walking distance of the Institute: visitors may wish to explore, in particular, the Egyptian, Chinese, and Graeco-Roman collections of Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and delftware, European porcelain, and pre-Columbian artifacts at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The University’s art collections are housed principally in the J.M. Barnicke Art Gallery at Hart House, and the University of Toronto Art Centre, which also houses the Malcove Collection of medieval art. Contemporary art can be found at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. The Textile Museum of Canada and the gallery at Goethe Institute Toronto are but two of the city’s many specialized galleries. Option Art provides links to over thirty local-area galleries. For a comprehensive listing of galleries, please consult the Virtual Museum Canada website.

MUSIC AND OPERA

Music of a wide variety of styles, genres, and periods is well represented in Toronto. Close to the Institute, and on the other side of Queen’s Park, is the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, which through the academic term holds special concerts of orchestral and chamber music, as well as offering several free concerts in its Thursdays at Noon series. Hart House, the University’s cultural complex on the front campus, provides a wide range of musical fare, and concerts sponsored by the Royal Conservatory of Music at 273 Bloor St West, off Avenue Road, give listeners an opportunity to hear many young performers of outstanding musical promise.

Standard repertoire and, on occasion, new works are performed during the season at the city’s principal companies, among them: the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Opera in Concert, and theToronto Mendelssohn Choir. Innovative programmes of poetry, letters, and song by The Aldeburgh Connection, vocal and instrumental music from Amici, and an outstanding series of string quartets from Music Torontoprovide the music of smaller rooms. Vocal and instrumental recitals form the mainstay of the season at the Glenn Gould Studio in the CBC Broadcast Centre, and chamber, orchestral, and choral music at concerts held in the intimate acoustics of the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York are often worth the 45–minute journey by subway from campus.

Contemporary music by a rostrum of Canadian and international composers is the focus of New Music Concerts, Toronto and Soundstreams Canada. Devotees of early music will find themselves hard-pressed to select from offerings by Sine Nomine, the Institute’s ensemble in residence, the Toronto Consort, and Tafelmusik. Opera Atelier specializes in lavish performances of opera and theatre of the Baroque.

THEATRE AND DANCE

Ancient Greek tragedy and comedy, Shakespeare, the annual Massey Lectures, new Canadian plays, and children’s theatre are all to be found each season at the Hart House Theatre in the University of Toronto. The mainstream offerings of the National Ballet of Canada are supplemented by a host of smaller dance companies, among them Canadian Stage Company, Dancemakers. Classic and new plays, often in performances of astonishing reach and imagination, are found in the seasonal offerings of the SoulPepper Theatre Company and Tarragon Theatre. Productions more diverse and eccentric may be found at Théâtre Français de Torontoand Theatre Passe Muraille

BOOKSTORES

Academic book addictions of various sorts may be abetted in part by the large selection of titles at the University of Toronto Bookstore, in the Koffler Centre at 214 College St, and by The Bob Miller Bookroom at 180 Bloor St West, at Avenue Road. The ubiquitous and monopolistic Chapters.Indigo has two stores close to PIMS, one at 55 Bloor St West in the ManuLife Centre, the other at 110 Bloor St West. The independent chain of Book City (with a convenient location at 501 Bloor St West, at Bathurst) provides some leavening to these commercial offerings. David Mirvish Books and Nicholas Hoare at 45 Front St East remain two of Toronto's finer stores for art books.

An astonishing array of hard-to-find and out-of-print titles are to be found at Atticus Books on Harbord Street, a block from the Robarts Library. Abelard Books, Contact Editions, D & E Lake, Ltd., and Hugh Anson-Cartwrightare only a few of the city’s many used and antiquarian bookstores (for a comprehensive listing see The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of Canada). A distinctive selection of books on art may be found at David Mirvish Books and the bookstore of the Art Gallery of Ontario; an imaginative mix of books and journals in cultural studies, philosophy, poetry, is the mainstay of Pages Books and Magazines at 256 Queen St West.

RESTAURANTS

There are few cuisines or culinary fashions and distractions that remain unrepresented in Toronto. Toronto Life’s online guide to the city’s many restaurants remains authoritative. Also useful are MenuPalace, Taste Toronto and TorDine: Toronto’s Best Guide to Dining

EXCURSIONS

Tourist attractions in the city are legion: a limited selection would perforce include the ever-dominant CN Tower and lugubrious Ontario Place, as well as the more salubrious Harbourfront Centre. Excursions a few hours from the city can bring more wide-ranging satisfactions. Visitors to the city may wish to travel in particular to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg; the Toronto Zoo in outlying Scarborough, Ontario; theRoyal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton; or to the Wings of Paradise, the butterfly conservatory in Cambridge, Ontario. The Wineries of Ontario now provide mature fare for both seasoned oenophile and apprentice taster. 

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario is also the home of the Shaw Festival , one of the largest repertory companies in North America, and the only theatre in the world devoted to plays written by Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. The dramatic works of Shakespeare form the cornerstone of the venerable Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Some half-dozen plays by the Bard, as well as other contemporary works, are performed at the Festival’s four theatres between April and November each year. 

Visitors travelling farther afield may also wish to consult the the websites of the Federation of Ontario Bed and Breakfast Accommodation and BBCanada.com, bed-and-breakfast “online,” for further information.