Professor Randy Boyagoda serves as  Provostial Advisor on Civil Discourse. A Professor of English in the Faculty of Arts and Science, where he most recently served as Vice-Dean, Undergraduate and, previously, as Principal of St. Michael’s College where he also held the Basilian Chair in Christianity, Arts and Letter, Professor Boyagoda is a novelist and literary critic. He is author of six books, including four novels, most recently Dante’s Indiana and Original Prin. His research and writing has been supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council, and his work has been nominated for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year. He contributes essays, reviews and opinions to publications including the Atlantic, the New York Times, and The Financial Times (UK), regularly appears on CBC Radio, and hosts a literary podcast for the Toronto Public Library. Born in Oshawa to Sri Lankan immigrants, Professor Boyagoda received his BA from the University of Toronto and MA and PhD in English from Boston University and lives in the east end of the city with his wife and their four daughters.