VANIERVANIER COLLEGE COLLEGE | |SOCIAL SOCIAL SCIENCE SCIENCE FESTIVAL FESTIVAL 2020 2019 COMMUNITY
OCTOBEROCTOBER 19-22,21-25, 2020 2019 VANIER COLLEGE SOCIAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2020 MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 COMMUNITY 9:55-10:00 OPENING REMARKS OCTOBER 19 TO 22, 2020 Ara Karaboghossian, Event Organizer
10:00-11:00 ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME & COMMUNITY: SHARED IMPACTS & The Covid19 pandemic; environmental crises; the rise of populism; crises and concerns of SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES social justice and equity faced by women, the destitute, visible minority and Indigenous groups; Peter Stoett these phenomena have noticeably created local, national and global level fractures. Consequently, cooperation and solidarity seem to be under assault while discord, division and Peter Stoett is Dean of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech self-centredness are visibly on the rise. It therefore seems timely to take pause and re ect about University, located near Toronto. Previously, he was the Director of the Loyola notions of community and explore how community can potentially harness the collaborative Sustainability Research Centre at Concordia University. He works with the and unifying potential inherently present within the aforementioned phenomena and events – United Nations on several fronts and is presently co-chairing a global as opposed to falling prey, as they have, to bringing forth the more nefarious impacts that they assessment conducted by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on have. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The fully virtual 2020 Covid19 edition of the Vanier College Social Science Festival (a rst of its kind for the Vanier community) will explore notions of community from various angles to We think of environmental crime as an illegal act by a poacher, and the victims press students and the community to re ect about how community can potentially serve as an as endangered species. However, environmental crime should be thought of an anchor to reverse course on current trends emerging as a result of the pandemic, environmental organized assault on nature that impacts entire communities, and in the case of crises, populism and the various crises faced by women, the destitute, visible minority and climate crime, the entire biosphere. Likewise, the blame for environmental Indigenous groups. crimes needs to extend beyond individuals: it involves organized criminal Community is by nature dichotomous; it can be inclusionary or exclusionary. Let us foster and groups, governments, and corporations. This presentation will cover the "wider inculcate in our students and societies the empowerment, emancipation and grati cation that lens" view of eco-violence, and remind us that not only is community security its inclusionary potential can confer. Join us at this year’s Social Science Festival. at stake, but also that community participation is necessary to ght eco-violence. All events are free of charge and open to the Vanier community and to the public. No registration is required. Any questions regarding the Social Science Festival can be directed to 11:30-12:30 THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY IN MENTAL HEALTH Ara Karaboghossian, event organizer/coordinator, at [email protected]. Stephanie Gilbert
The Social Science Festival was started in 2000 by anthropology teacher, Mark Prentice. Every Stephanie Gilbert is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Los year, we showcase the work of researchers, activists, community workers and others from Angeles, California, USA. In private practice, she provides individual, family, Vanier, from the local Montreal community and from elsewhere. and group therapy. Her areas of specialization are eating disorders/disordered eating, body image issues, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and We acknowledge that this event will take place on land situated within the traditional unceded depressive disorders, and spiritual issues. lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) peoples, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. There is also a strong historic presence of Anishinaabe peoples in what is now known as the Now more than ever we are nding how community (or lack of it) impacts our Greater Montreal area. Tio’tia:ke, or Montreal, has also long been, and continues to be, a mental health. Join Stephanie as she shares what community is, why it matters, gathering place for many First Peoples from all directions. We honour and thank the traditional and where we can nd it. custodians of this land and strive to work for the success of future generations. 13:00-14:00 MIGRANTS IRRÉGULIERS, “ANGES GARDIENS”, CITOYENS? WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21 Agnès Gruda (talk in French)
Agnès Gruda travaille depuis plus de 30 ans à La Presse où elle a longtemps 9:30-10:30 THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY DURING CRISES suivi l’actualité internationale ainsi que les questions d'immigration et de Jasmine Sharma diversité. Elle occupe actuellement les fonctions d'éditorialiste. Jasmine Sharma obtained her MA at Carleton University in Political Science, Quand ils ont traversé la frontière canadienne depuis les États-Unis, en passant specializing in public policy and public administration. She completed her par le chemin Roxham, on les voyait comme des migrants irréguliers. Quand ils undergraduate studies at Concordia University in the same eld and obtained a se sont retrouvés au front de la COVID-19, ce printemps, ils sont devenus des Certi cate in Public Relations Management at McGill University. Before her "anges gardiens." Eux, tout ce qu'ils souhaitent, c'est devenir des citoyens election as municipal councillor in Vaudreuil-Dorion in 2017, she worked as a comme les autres. public relations professional in parapublic and government organizations for 15 years. What drives her life choices is a strong sense of community which is why TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 she volunteers for several organizations. As the COVID-19 pandemic led to a global lockdown, Mrs. Sharma observed how the strong sense of community in Vaudreuil-Dorion inspired initiatives and 16:00-17:00 INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES & RESILIENCE activities to help citizens cope with the loneliness of isolation. In this talk, Maïtée Saganash (sponsored by the Vanier College Indigenous Studies discover how the “Je Suis” project, a municipal cultural meditation initiative Certi cate Program) launched ten years ago, gave the community wings to adapt to the 2020 public health crisis. Maïtée Saganash is a Cree woman from the community of Waswanipi. She is a columnist for Métro Montréal, the Nation magazine and works for the Cree . Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay. She has been advocating for Indigenous rights in Canada for several years.
Settlers have long portrayed Indigenous communities as dangerous places where people with primitive beliefs live in poverty. This stereotype was reinforced in Quebec by the Oka Crisis in 1990 by governments and media and has remained intact since. Beyond the stigmas, Indigenous communities have survived and thrived despite colonial tactics to tear them apart. This talk presents a story of resilience and community. 11:00-12:00 COMMUNITY: VIBRANCE, COLLABORATION, BENEFITS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 Charbel Mourad
Charbel Mourad is currently the Director of Corporate Training for the nine 10:00-11:00 COVID19: FAULT LINES, FRACTURES & POLICY English Schools Boards working closely with the Provincial Directors of Daniel Weinstock Continuing Education (PROCEDE) and the Ministry of Education. He also teaches in the Department of Education at the University of Sherbrooke. His Daniel Weinstock holds the Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and experience working for the Lester B. Pearson School Board has allowed him to Public Policy in the Faculty of Law and the Department of Philosophy at McGill develop various business and community partnerships over the years. He holds University. Until this year, he was also the Director of the Institute for Health a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Public Administration and a Bachelor’s and Social Policy at McGill. His published work focuses on the ethical and Degree in Political Science from Concordia University and is a graduate of normative underpinnings of public policy in such areas as health care and Vanier College education.
Mr. Mourad will focus on the English community within Quebec’s educational At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was often said of the novel system. He proposes that by focusing on key indicators as presented in the 2013 coronavirus that it did not discriminate. Seven months in, we now know that that Canadian Heritage, Portrait of the English-speaking Communities in Québec is not true. The pandemic has revealed and exacerbated fault lines of advantage report, English-speaking communities are vibrant communities. During his talk, and disadvantage across Canadian society. In this talk I will show how some of he will weave in some of his current professional and personal experiences the measures that we have taken to contain the virus have at times exacerbated highlighting how the English community collaborates to the bene t of the these fault lines, and will suggest ways in which policy with respect to the group. pandemic can be formulated so as to address these issues, so that we emerge from the pandemic as a less fractured society.
16:00-17:00 ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEMS & COMMUNITY Frantz Saintellemy
Engineer, innovator and internationally recognized expert in advanced technologies, Mr. Saintellemy has over 20 years of experience in the high tech and automotive tech sectors. A dedicated entrepreneur, angel investor, mentor, coach and philanthropist, he is co-founder and chairman of Groupe 3737, an incubator/accelerator and entrepreneurial innovation centre that helps minority led ventures and entrepreneurs leverage technology and innovation to massively scale their start-ups and transform one of the most underprivileged neighbourhoods in Canada. Opened in March 2012, Groupe 3737 is recognized for addressing the issue of diversity, inclusion and nancial equity with private investments, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship. Mr. Saintellemy is also currently President and COO of LeddarTech.
In his talk, Mr. Saintellemy will discuss leveraging entrepreneurship ecosystems (regional and international) as a foundation for improving our communities and opportunities for the future. 11:30 AM DR. CHRIS BARRINGTON-LEIGH rience that you will not soon forget! Previous participants have said that their un- 1:00 PM WHAT MAKES SOCIETIES HAPPY? derstanding of the lives of Indigenous peoples today increased because of their participation in this exercise, even if they had already read about these topics in THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE: HAPPINESS-GUIDED POLICIES their classes. (Auditorium) Limited space available. Please reserve your spot by writing to indigenous- [email protected]. The location will be disclosed to people who Dr. Barrington-Leigh looks at the state of the science of happiness and its mat- Kelly MacDonald; Melissa Paradis; Angelo Philippas; Alena Perout; Patti Kingsmill; Bruce Norton; uration into knowledge about policies for happiness. The transformation of how register. society perceives and measures its ultimate purpose could be, and indeed must Meiji Estrada; David Scharing-Riendeau; David Abraham; Sydney Ong; Azhar Saïdoo; Rebecca Acone; be, transformative. Economic measures of output and productivity are antiquat- Jennifer Joseph; Carlos Joseph Avila; David Scott; Jacky Vallee; Marlene Grossman; Alyson Jones and ed in light of modern research, and involve serious fallacies. I will include a dis- the Vanier College Indigenous Studies Certificate Program; Giovanna Arcuri; Marguerite Corriveau; cussion of what a map of world happiness could look like in 2050, under both Janelle Villanueva, Nora Soukiassian, Ivanka Hillel and Zsofia Orszagh. optimistic and pessimistic scenarios.
4:00 PM ROSE BLOOM 5:30 PM PULL YOUR SOCKS UP! —THE POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENCE IN THE WORKPLACE SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE: (Auditorium)
CPA, CA and Vanier teacher, Rose Bloom, wants to inspire tenacity and resilience The VCTA, The VCSA, Jake’s Co-Op, Krista Riley, Marguerite Corriveau, MRWXYHIRXWƶIZIV]HE]EXXMXYHIWERHPMJI;IEPPLEZIHMǽGYPXXMQIWMRSYVPMZIW Miles DeNora, Rose Bloom, Jacky Valee, Karen White, Jean Albert, Marya Grant, projects that don’t go as planned tests that we fail, bosses that we don’t partic- Nora Soukissian, David Spadatto, Ivanka Hillel, Alena Perout, Nirmala Bains, ularly like, and so on. Does it make sense to walk away when things don’t go 1IMPE'HIMV)EZMH&PER;SRK,SVHER&VERSǺ/YH].RKIVQER/IRRMJIV+PIXGLIV as planned? Rose wants to motivate students by showing the value of “pulling Carlos Joseph Avila, David Scott, Mark Prentice, Peter Gantous, up our socks” and facing life with positivity and gusto, so that we can enjoy the Frederique Denis, Kelly Purdy MRGVIHMFPIJIIPMRKSJPSSOMRKFEGOSRIZIRXW[MXLTVMHIERHGSRǻHIRGIXLEX[I were committed and did our absolute best.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 - PASS DAY
9:00 AM PASS DAY: 12:00 PM KAIROS BLANKET EXERCISE
This activity takes participants through the process of the colonization with the use of blankets on the ground, representing North America. Participants become the First Peoples and circulate on the continent freely, until contact with Europe- ERI\TPSVIVWERHWIXXPIVWGLERKIWXLIMVPMZIWJSVIZIV&JXIVXLII\IVGMWIMWǻRMWLIH members of the Montreal urban Indigenous community will lead talking circles to help participants process what they just experienced. The exercise, combined with the follow-up talking circle, is a powerful, educational, and emotional expe-