Dean of Dentistry Anil Kishen is on leave pending an investigation into “antisemitic and discriminatory” images used for several years in his course materials. On Friday, Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young wrote, in a statement shared with The Varsity, that the university has launched an investigation into the incident and that Kishen “has committed to participating fully.” 

Two images of the problematic course material have circulated online. The complaint was initially made by a second-year dentistry student, who reported the issue to the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario, which then brought the complaint to the university, CTV News reported on Friday.

The first illustration shows a figure bound in rope. On its torso is what appears to be an Israeli flag, with the Star of David missing, while the figure’s head bears the Palestinian flag. This image was used as the visual accompanying a slide on circulatory modulation, which reads, “Does strangulation theory occur in the dental pulp?”

The second illustration shows a man with a hooked nose sitting in a pool of money as a man in a wheelchair, a man with an eyepatch, a man with his arm in a sling, and a woman holding a crutch look up at him. The pool is labelled “immunity.” This image appeared in a slide about the immune system. 

“The Dean reports that he used these images without appreciating the antisemitic and discriminatory meanings, and their negative impact on Jewish colleagues and students and the broader learning environment,” Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young wrote in his statement. 

“He has removed the images from his course materials and has apologized directly to his class and the broader Faculty. He has also committed to exercising greater diligence in reviewing course materials to support an inclusive and respectful learning environment for all, and to improving his understanding and awareness of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.”

Kishen, who has taught at U of T since 2009, began his five-year appointment as Dean of Dentistry this past July. He is an oral health nanomedicine and endodontics specialist and an award-winning researcher who is cross-appointed to the Department of Dentistry at Mount Sinai Hospital. 

Kishen did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.