UNews - Suzanne Lenon

Women scholars to explore issues related to death in four-part virtual series

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:42:36 +0000

The Women Scholars’ Speaker Series (WSSS) will tackle an especially prominent, albeit difficult, theme in 2021-2022, examining issues related to death throughout a four-part virtual series.

The series of online panels and presentations will engage participants with the latest research around pressing and multifaceted topics including discrimination, equity, death and labour.

The opening event is Tuesday, October 19, 2021, when a panel presents, Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying & Grief, inviting researchers, artists and educators to discuss various topics including memorialization, the materiality of death, ecological approaches to death and dying, death in popular culture and performance.

“Bringing together a multitude of insights and perspectives on death, dying and grief feels all the more urgent in this time of COVID-19,” says Mia van Leeuwen (Faculty of Fine Arts, drama), WSSS co-Chair and one the presenters, along with Rebecca Many Grey Horses (Educator, MA in Jurisprudence in Indian Law) and Dr. Jennifer Otto (Department of Religious Studies).

In November, Dr. Tara Mehrabi of Karlstad ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Sweden, will present Queer Ecologies of Death in the Lab.

Two more talks follow in the new year, including a January presentation, Death in the Age of Rationality: Playing with Death in Popular Amusement, and a concluding talk in March, Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying and Grief: Closing Panel.

The Women Scholars’ Speaker Series was initiated in 2002 and is dedicated to engaging the community with female scholars and their exceptional contributions to academic research.

For more about the Women Scholars’ Speaker Series, visit the web page.

Women Scholars’ Speaker Series Event Lineup 2021-2022

Tuesday October 19, 2021
7 to 8:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/92722112562

Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying & Grief: Opening Panel
Rebecca Many Grey Horses
Dr. Jennifer Otto
Mia van Leeuwen

Tuesday, November 16, 2021
12:15 to 1:15 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/91338149041

Queer Ecologies of Death in the Lab
Dr. Tara Mehrabi, Karlstad ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Sweden

Tuesday, January 25, 2022
6 to 7:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/97307656022

Death in the Age of Rationality: Playing with Death in Popular Amusement
Joanna Ebenstein, Creative Director of Morbid Anatomy

Tuesday, March 29, 2022
6 to 7:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/s/95751335357

Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying and Grief: Closing Panel
Barbara J. King
AGLENNCO, MFA

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge names Dr. Suzanne Lenon the 2021 Board of Governors Teaching Chair

trevor.kenney — Wed, 12 May 2021 19:36:40 +0000

Helping her students develop critical thinking skills by encouraging them to be curious about the world around them, Dr. Suzanne Lenon has been named the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge 2021 Board of Governors Teaching Chair (BOGTC).

Lenon teaches a wide range of undergraduate courses in the Department of Women & Gender Studies and she continually explores ways to bridge theory and practice in the design of her courses. This thoughtfulness has led to creative courses that students have said gave them a new way of looking at the world and helped them understand how the theories they learned in the classroom play out in everyday life.

Lenon will be presented with the Board of Governors Teaching Chair at the Chancellor’s Reception on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Suzanne Lenon

Suzanne Lenon obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies and Development Studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and a master’s degree in Development Studies at Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Her doctoral degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto was in the Department of Sociology & Equity Studies and part of the Graduate Collaborative Program at the U of T’s Women & Gender Studies Institute. Lenon joined the U of L’s Women’s Studies Program as an assistant professor, and she has been an associate professor in the Department of Women & Gender Studies since 2015.

In her teaching, her main goal is to empower students to think rigorously about the world around them, their own place in it and their own place in producing it. By bridging scholarship and engaged citizenship, Lenon opens students’ eyes to how complex theories play a role in their lives in ways that can disrupt established ways of thinking. While this process can be uncomfortable, Lenon works to create a positive learning environment that encourages students to participate and engage in critical work in ways that are respectful and constructive.

She sees teaching as an ongoing process and is committed to continually learning from her students and colleagues to find new and respectful ways of engaging students. Lenon designs her courses to develop students’ critical thinking skills, to spark their curiosity and to question the social structures and relations of power they see.

Symposium and exhibit focus on local queer history

caroline.zentner — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 19:50:31 +0000

An exhibit devoted to local queer history, set to open on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Galt Museum & Archives, is the first of its kind in southwestern Alberta.

For the past year, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professors Drs. Kristine Alexander (history) and Suzanne Lenon (women and gender studies) have been working with Aimee Benoit, curator of the Galt Museum, undergraduate students and the teenage members of the Queer Impact Club (QIC) of the Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District on a project that documents the queer histories of Lethbridge and southwestern Alberta.

The Inqueeries: 2SLGBTQ+ Histories of Southwestern Alberta exhibit features a variety of objects from the community, including the first pair of high heels from a local drag queen, a chest binder and costumes created by artist and scholar Shawn Singer to personify two-spirit people in Blackfoot history. Objects will be paired with a quote from the donor describing the object, what it means to them and their relationship to it. The exhibit will also showcase buttons and promotional material from Pride Fest and OUTreach and issues of The Occasion, a queer newsletter.

“Inqueeries is, for me, a great starting point to begin challenging misconceptions about the history of Lethbridge and Alberta as a whole,” says Liam Devitt, a student involved in the project. “Alberta is often thought of as a place of the “severely normal,” which overshadows much of this province’s rich queer history. With this exhibit and the upcoming symposium organized by the U of L’s Institute for Child and Youth Studies, I hope Lethbridge can become a hub for queer history research and we can begin to realize Alberta as a place of the severely queer.”

A week after the exhibit opens, a one-day symposium on Friday, Oct. 18 will allow for further discussions of queer and community-engaged approaches to oral history, museums, and child and youth studies. The symposium features presentations by the QIC youth curators, keynote speakers, paper presentations by the U of L undergrads involved in the project and a roundtable discussion. The speakers are authors and professors with expertise in the history of queer communities in Western Canada, transgender children and youth and queer literature.

“Queer Youth Curating Queer History is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the historical research and intergenerational collaboration that has resulted in Inqueeries: 2SLGBTQ+ Histories of Southwestern Alberta, an exhibit open to the public until February, 2020,” says Alexander. “Featuring the work of queer youth, U of L undergraduate students and faculty, and invited keynote speakers from across North America, the symposium is going to make important contributions to academic and public discussions about resistance, community and queer histories in Lethbridge.”

New Take Two speaker series to focus on U of L research

caroline.zentner — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 17:34:17 +0000

As Associate Vice-President Research, Dr. Claudia Malacrida wants to demonstrate the diversity and depth of research done at a small, liberal arts institution like the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. To that end, she created a new speaker series called Take Two. Once underway, the Take Two sessions will feature two researchers who approach a topic from different perspectives.

For the inaugural talk, Malacrida will provide the community a report on the federal review panel, of which she was a member, and its findings on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m. (Markin Hall Atrium). Attendees will have the opportunity to sign a petition to increase support for research funding that will be submitted to the Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan.

Dr. Claudia Malacrida

“Part of my rationale for wanting to give this talk is to galvanize our response to the recommendations of the review panel and to garner support for the idea that fundamental research in Canada should be a level playing field for universities, regardless of their size,” says Malacrida.

Following consultations across the country, evidence gathered by the panel points to a research system that is underfed and overworked. The Alliance of Canadian Comprehensive Research Universities, to which the U of L belongs, has thrown its support behind the panel’s recommendations and is advocating for increases to annual federal spending on research and that it be distributed fairly to universities, both large and small.

The balance of the Take Two series will take a different direction, offering fresh insights on research being done at the U of L. The events will offer talks by two researchers who take different approaches to a related issue. Each researcher will have about 20 minutes to present, followed by a question-and-answer session.

“We wanted to create a novel format for the Take Two series,” says Malacrida. “We are asking these researchers to talk across disciplines in a way that will help people understand that exciting work happens here. We want to show that we have people working in all areas on campus who are contributing to our understanding of our social, cultural and physical worlds.”

The second session on Oct. 25 will focus on understanding childhood and difference. Dr. Jeffrey MacCormack (Education) conducts research on attentional issues in the classroom in children who experience difficulty socializing and regulating emotions. He’s interested in how play-based interventions can help regulate and modulate children’s behaviour in the classroom. The other speaker, Dr. Jan Newberry (Anthropology) will discuss the partnership between the U of L’s Institute for Child and Youth Studies and the Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society. Through the Raising Spirit project, they’ve been collecting stories and images for a digital storytelling library to highlight Indigenous ways of knowing and to build community capacity collaboratively.

“Despite differing approaches, both researchers’ work is not about fixing kids who don’t fit in; it’s about changing the way we think about what ‘in’ ought to look like,” says Malacrida.

The third session on Nov. 23 brings together Drs. Maura Hanrahan and Monique Giroux (Native American Studies) to talk about their research. Hanrahan examines policy, especially as it relates to the way current approaches to Indigenous health research can operate to exclude the health concerns of Métis peoples. Giroux is both a scholar and fiddler. She studies how Métis identity is produced and regulated through dramatic works, as well as through performances at fiddling contests and cultural festivals.

In the fourth talk scheduled for Feb. 1, Dr. Chris Hopkinson (Geography) will talk about his research using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors to create three-dimensional topographical maps used by governments and industries to assess flood hazards, manage wildlife habitat or create greenhouse gas strategies. Leanne Elias, a New Media professor, will talk about her experimental visualization of agricultural data, such as crop production.

“Elias visualizes those data through sound, light and visual images to produce art but also to convey information,” says Malacrida. “Both she and Hopkinson are working very different approaches to sustainability and environmental visualization.”

The fifth session of the series features Drs. Paul Vasey (Psychology) and Suzanne Lenon (Women and Gender Studies) talking about their research into gender, sex and sexuality. Vasey does fieldwork looking at both gender and sexuality in two cultures that recognize a third gender, the fa’fafine of Samoa and the muxes of the Istmo region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Lenon’s research focuses on the history and material aspects of marriage law, with respect to race, gender and sexuality, especially regarding same-sex marriage and polygamy.

Talks are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., with the Sept. 21 session taking place in the Markin Hall Atrium. Light refreshments will be provided and everyone is welcome to attend.

Marynowski, Stewart, Lenon appointed as Tier II Board of Governors Research Chairs

trevor.kenney — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 21:15:31 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors appointed three Tier II Board of Governors Research Chairs recently, rewarding outstanding faculty members who are committed to excellence in graduate student training and who possess outstanding records of attracting highly qualified personnel.

Drs. Richelle Marynowski (education), D. Andrew Stewart (fine arts) and Suzanne Lenon (women & gender studies) have been appointed to three-year terms as put forward by the Office of the Vice-President Research.

“The calibre of the three individuals is outstanding,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, Vice-President (Research). “Without exception, each individual has demonstrated, or shows potential for, exceptional scholarly distinction. Each one is recognized as an innovative scholar who has made an impact in their field of study.”

Dr. Richelle Marynowski (Education)
Marynowski instructs future math educators. She is an emerging scholar with a growing reputation among her peers and is routinely sought out by Alberta Education for service and leadership in many curriculum innovation activities.

Dr. D. Andrew Stewart (Fine Arts)
Stewart maintains an extremely versatile and productive creative practice. His practice centres on combining acoustic instrument and digital instrument composition, and establishing performance practices for digital instruments.

Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women & Gender Studies)
Lenon has a growing reputation internationally in the area of socio-legal studies. Her research is located at the intersection of socio-legal studies and critical race feminisms, with a particular focus on the complex ways race and sexuality interlock in law and culture.

Sexual and reproductive rights to be examined during conference

caroline.zentner — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 21:01:44 +0000

Alberta has its own dark history of controlling sexuality, starting with the Alberta Sterilization Act enacted in 1928. While the act was repealed more than 40 years ago, organizers of the Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference felt it was time to explore the current situation concerning people’s sexual and reproductive rights.

“It’s a human right to have access to sexual and reproductive autonomy, to have the capacity to make choices about your sexuality and your family life,” says Dr. Claudia Malacrida, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge sociology professor who, with Dr. Suzanne Lenon of the Women and Gender Studies department, is organizing the conference set to run from Aug. 12 to 14. “We’re seeing that in new ways around things like gay marriage but there have always been groups of people for whom such autonomy is not permissible.”

Organizers of the Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference include, from left to right, Drs. Claudia Malacrida and Suzanne Lenon, and Tiffani Semach, Sociology department project co-ordinator.

Such groups can include people with disabilities or mental health problems, people with non-heterosexual practices or identities, transgendered people, First Nations people, those who practice polygamy or polyamory, and impoverished people.

“People who were targeted 100 years ago are every bit as likely to be targeted in this era. It’s just a leopard that doesn’t change its spots in a lot of ways,” she says. “The hidden message is that there is an ideal citizen who is entitled to emotional relationships, committed sexual encounters and the capacity to have children and raise them.”

The Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference will bring together presenters in a variety of disciplines, including history, sociology, women and gender studies, anthropology, law, and disability studies, from around the world.

“We have people from all of those disciplines represented, speaking about varied ways of constraining perceived troubled sexuality and reproduction,” says Malacrida. “The conference really does address all kinds of notions about what ‘normal’ looks like and what kinds of privileges are conferred upon those deemed to be normal, while the rest are left to struggle to obtain their rights.”

The conference opens on Aug. 12 with a keynote speech from Dr. Paul Lombardo, a professor of law with Georgia State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ who has written about the legal history of the American eugenics movement. The next two days will be filled with almost 60 presentations, poster displays and several workshops. Presentation topics include everything from transgender reproduction to the birth control movement in China. In addition, an information and book fair will be available Thursday. Closing keynote speaker Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Pennsylvania and author of ‘Killing the Black Body,’ is a social justice advocate whose work touches on law and the intersections of race, class and gender.

In addition, a gala on the evening of Aug. 13 will showcase performance-based artists, poets and dancers. Included in the lineup are CRIPSiE, an Edmonton-based inclusive dance organization, and Kathy Austin, a spoken word artist.

The opening reception, keynote speeches, academic talks and the information and book fair are open to the general public.

“We organized this conference not just to have a bunch of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ standing at a podium giving a talk, but to show that change is being produced at the grass roots level and that academic work matters,” says Malacrida.

Tickets to the gala evening and performances are available online through Conference Services. Conference events can be followed using the Twitter hashtag #controllingsex2015.

Parkland Institute and U of L partner to support diverse research projects

robert.cooney — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 20:12:39 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge humanities and social sciences researchers studying vastly different projects will receive support for their work from the Parkland Institute, a not-for profit organization based at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta that supports the study of economic, social, cultural and political issues facing Albertans and Canadians.

Pictured from left to right, Dr. Trevor Harrison, Ann Holden and Dr. Suzanne Lenon

Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women and Gender Studies), whose research interests are in the area of law, gender and sexuality, will receive $5,000 to further her research on the complex relationships between gender equality and the recognition of valid foreign polygamous marriages.

Ann Åsfrid Holden, graduate studies Master of Arts candidate in History, takes her research into the Subarctic and Arctic to compare legal policies that affect first Nations and Inuit people in Northern Quebec, and those of the Sami people of her home country of Norway. Both groups were affected by large-scale hydroelectric power developments that changed their land and lifestyles, and the legality of the expropriation of indigenous land for these developments was questionable. She will also receive $5,000 to further her studies.

“Parkland is excited to be able to support the diverse research represented by Dr. Suzanne Lenon and Ann Holden,” said Dr. Trevor Harrison, a U of L sociology researcher and Director of the Parkland Institute.

“Parkland’s emphasis has been, and remains, on research that is academically sound, that is important to the broad public and that dares to push the boundaries of our understanding. Both of these research projects fit that bill.”

Harrison added that though they are very different, both projects deal with legal issues and social policy.

“Dr. Lenon’s work will contribute to the body of knowledge that deals with immigration, polygamy, and gender equality, and how those concepts are intertwined, in an often confusing way, from a policy perspective. Ann Holden’s work will explore and explain how the respective legal systems of Norway and Canada have framed the implementation of hydroelectric projects on indigenous land. Though they are far apart geographically, there are some striking similarities that both parties could gain from knowing more about.”

SUZANNE LENON

In Lenon’s case, she is using the recent (2011) Polygamy Reference case in British Columbia as a springboard for discussion, which upholds the prohibition of polygamy in Canada as constitutionally sound. “As in the United States, polygamy is illegal in Canada, but people often immigrate to Canada from a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East where polygamous relationships are, in fact, legal,” Lenon said.

Lenon said that one of the reasons for the continued criminalization polygamous marriages in Canada (and in the West) is that of gender equality.

“The second spouse cannot be legally acknowledged, and has very few, if any, rights if the relationship breaks down. The same challenges apply to people in Canadian polygamous relationships in communities such as Bountiful, BC, where the law applies to the individual who is considered to be legally married, but not to other polygamous spouses. While this law is upheld in the name of gender equality, in these cases the law prevents women from being legally supported if there are problems, and this, ironically, has created gender inequality.”

There is, she says, vigorous debate as to whether continued criminalization of polygamous marriage is a viable public policy strategy to address the complex issues arising from it.

ANN HOLDEN

Holden’s work involves a topic that is just as complex, involves a number of inequality elements, and has affected people -- but in a different way.

The development of hyropower projects in both Norway and Canada a few decades ago and 1980scaused more grief for the politicians than they would have expected, because the negative reactions to it was so strong. Both the James Bay Cree, a fishing, hunting, and trapping community in eastern James Bay in Canada, and the reindeer-farming Sami people in Finnmark, Northern Norway argued that they had rights that stemmed from their immemorial usage of the land.

“Historically, land ownership, in the Western meaning of the word, was a foreign concept for both the Sami and the James Bay Cree,” Holden said. “The Norwegian and British legal systems suited a farming culture, and private ownership over land was the most common form of a legal connection to land, although not the only form of legal rights to land. When the Scandinavian legal traditions met the Sami traditions and the James Bay Cree met the English and later French traditions, the needs of both communities were written into the laws - but not equally.”

Holden said that her work will help Indigenous groups learn more about how the laws of land ownership -- and land management -- can apply to current issues where land is disputed, in particular in cases that involve oil, gas and mining exploration in the northern areas of several Canadian provinces and Territories, and also in northern Sweden, where similar activities are taking place.

“In Canada, resource extraction (i.e. mining) on indigenous land happens in several Provinces. In Sweden, civil disobedience that mirrors the actions the Norwegian Sami used in the 1970s and 1980s was used as a tool to put a mining project on traditional Sami reindeer herding ground on the political agenda. These events are taking place right now, and have significant parallels to the challenges I am looking at which took place decades ago. The historical context is important to understand current issues because changes to the law in both the cases I study were consistent with legal traditions in Canada and Norway.”

Ultimately for Harrison, funding projects that stimulate not only public conversation but social change -- and that allow researchers to explore topics of public interest -- is what makes him happy as a researcher and as a representative of the Parkland Institute.

“This is the second year that the Parkland Institute has partnered with the U of L to deliver the scholarships. I want to thank the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge for its tremendous support given to Parkland, in particular for making the awards possible.”

The project period is two years, and the researchers are expected to deliver a final report on their work to the Parkland Institute, which will make their findings public.

Contacts:

Dr. Suzanne Lenon, Women and Gender Studies (403) 380-1876
suzanne.lenon@uleth.ca
http://directory.uleth.ca/users/suzanne.lenon

Ann Åsfrid Holden, School of Graduate Studies Candidate (History)
ann.holden@uleth.ca

Dr. Trevor Harrison, Sociology / Director, Parkland Institute (403) 329-2552
trevor.harrison@uleth.ca
http://directory.uleth.ca/users/trevor.harrison
http://parklandinstitute.ca/home/

Peers bringing message to campus

trevor.kenney — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:52:18 +0000

One of the highlight speaking events of the fall semester will take place Monday, Oct. 1 when the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ welcomes Danielle Peers to campus for her talk entitled Interrogating Disability: The De-Composition of a Recovering Paralympian.

Co-sponsored by the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Office of the President and numerous departments and organizations on campus, this event promises to have wide appeal, as Peers's work is provocative, interdisciplinary and creative.

Peers is a Trudeau and Vanier scholar who studies the relationship between disability, sport and social justice movements in Canada. The timing of her talk could not be better, coming on the heels of the Paralympic Games in London, Eng.

Danielle Peers is a Trudeau and Vanier Scholar.

Bringing Peers to the U of L is a coup for organizers. An activist filmmaker, performance artist, former Paralympic athlete, wheelchair basketball coach and community organizer, Peers is a sought-after speaker. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, and has been involved in research projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Sport Science Association of Alberta. Her academic writings have appeared in such scholarly venues as Disability and Society, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, and Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise. Several U of L faculty members teach Peers's work in their classes on campus.

In her talk, Peers will weave personal stories, creative writing and critical disability theory to explore how the daily questioning and storytelling about disability serve to create certain kinds of disabled (and able-bodied) subjects. She will revisit her own experiences of diagnosis, Paralympic classification, basketball games, media interviews, conversations and internal struggles to consider how she has been composed, and has decomposed herself as a disabled Paralympian.

The event provides a valuable forum for intellectual discussion and it is an important opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, to hear a provocative and engaging speaker who will challenge us all to think about the ways in which particular bodies are constructed as the "Other."

Organizers of the event include Drs. Carly Adams (kinesiology and physical education), Jason Laurendeau (sociology) and Suzanne Lenon (women and gender studies).

The event is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. in the SU Ballroom and is free and open to the public. Following Peers's talk, there will be a reception with light refreshments. Peers will also meet with interested graduate students at a luncheon earlier on Oct. 1 as well as speak to undergraduate classes on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

This story first appeared in the September 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Opening a dialogue of respect

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:31:04 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender and Diversity Caucus is looking to initiate a conversation about diversity and respect – and it wants everyone's voice to be heard.

The inaugural event, a week titled, Show Respect, Get Respect at Your U, will be held at the U of L from Mar. 7-11 as the caucus looks to get the campus thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and as we walk down the hallways.

"One of the things we've seen in the last 10 years is incredible growth here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," says Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Chair of the Gender and Diversity Caucus. "It's also grown in terms of diversity, and we thought this was a positive way to talk about that diversity. We want the conversation to focus not on tolerating one another but rather on respecting each other."

The U of L campus is fertile ground for academic debate, and such debates often result in academic discovery. However, when the debate is held in an atmosphere of disrespect, nobody benefits.

"Universities are places for academic freedom, but with that freedom comes a responsibility of making choices and accepting diversity of opinion," says Jiskoot. "You don't necessarily have to agree with someone exactly, but you still have to respect the other person's opinion, traditions, culture and lifestyle, just as much as you would your own."

She explains that although there have been cases of discrimination/disrespect on campus, they are not interested in highlighting these specific instances, but rather want to address a "general feeling" among faculty members about issues of disrespect in U of L classrooms and meeting rooms. To stem such behaviour, Jiskoot says we need only look at our own Strategic Plan for guidance.

"We want people to see this more as an opportunity to enrich their own lives through diversity. Our Strategic Plan speaks to promoting and enhancing diversity and to presenting students with a welcoming environment," she says. "Everybody should feel welcome and respected for being in the classroom, both students and professors."

Dr. Carly Adams is also on the caucus, and she has seen students intimidated in the classroom, something that undermines their educational experience and what she is trying to accomplish as a professor.

"It's constantly a challenge, especially in senior level classes, to make sure there's an atmosphere where everyone's voice is respected," says Adams.

While respect in the classroom is not a new concept, the initiative of establishing a week that celebrates respect and diversity through a series of events is unique. The caucus does not know what to expect from the week, but more than anything hopes it can open up a dialogue. The group would also like to make it a recurring event that will grow in future years and include activities and events organized by undergraduate and graduate student organizations and clubs.

"We're really trying to raise awareness about all of these issues," says Adams. "We want students talking to students about how classrooms could be more diverse and more respectful places, and at the same time we want colleagues talking to one another about these issues as well."

The Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) is on board with a Friday, Mar. 11 Talking About Teaching session that will address the topic of respectful teaching and respectful learning. Other events include the Monday, Mar. 7 Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group film screening and a Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar workshop.

"We're hoping that by the end of the week, people are willing and open to talk about making this a much more diverse and respectable place to be, whether it's inside or outside the classroom," says Adams.

As Jiskoot adds, it all starts with initiating the conversation.

"I think the main goal is mutual respect, understanding and gaining an awareness," she says. "Even if people don't actually go to any of the activities, at least if they start talking about it, that's a beginning."

GET THE FACTS

• The CAETL Talking About Teaching seminar features panelists Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women's Studies), Andrea Glover (Library/FNTP), Dr. Bruce MacKay (Liberal Education) and Dr. Sameer Deshpande (Management). The session is Friday, Mar. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in AH100.

• The LPIRG film screening of, The Experimental Eskimo, is Monday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m., Galileo's Lounge (in the Student Union Building).

• The Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar is titled, Diversity, Inclusivity, Civility, and runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in L1168.

• Gender and Diversity Caucus members include: Dr. Pamela Adams (Education), Dr. Carly Adams (Kinesiology and Physical Education), Ardis Anderson (Philosophy), Dr. Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Don Gill (Art), Andrea Glover (Library), Dr. Hester Jiskoot (Geography), Dr. Rob Sutherland (Neuroscience), Dr. Janet Youngdahl (Music).

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Opening a dialogue of respect

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:34:37 +0000

The inaugural event, a week titled, Show Respect, Get Respect at Your U, will be held at the U of L from Mar. 7-11 as the caucus looks to get the campus thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and as we walk down the hallways.

"One of the things we've seen in the last 10 years is incredible growth here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," says Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Chair of the Gender and Diversity Caucus. "It's also grown in terms of diversity, and we thought this was a positive way to talk about that diversity. We want the conversation to focus not on tolerating one another but rather on respecting each other."

The U of L campus is fertile ground for academic debate, and such debates often result in academic discovery. However, when the debate is held in an atmosphere of disrespect, nobody benefits.

She explains that although there have been cases of discrimination/disrespect on campus, they are not interested in highlighting these specific instances, but rather want to address a "general feeling" among faculty members about issues of disrespect in U of L classrooms and meeting rooms. To stem such behaviour, Jiskoot says we need only look at our own Strategic Plan for guidance.

"We want people to see this more as an opportunity to enrich their own lives through diversity. Our Strategic Plan speaks to promoting and enhancing diversity and to presenting students with a welcoming environment," she says. "Everybody should feel welcome and respected for being in the classroom, both students and professors."

Dr. Carly Adams is also on the caucus, and she has seen students intimidated in the classroom, something that undermines their educational experience and what she is trying to accomplish as a professor.

"It's constantly a challenge, especially in senior level classes, to make sure there's an atmosphere where everyone's voice is respected," says Adams.

While respect in the classroom is not a new concept, the initiative of establishing a week that celebrates respect and diversity through a series of events is unique. The caucus does not know what to expect from the week, but more than anything hopes it can open up a dialogue. The group would also like to make it a recurring event that will grow in future years and include activities and events organized by undergraduate and graduate student organizations and clubs.

"We're really trying to raise awareness about all of these issues," says Adams. "We want students talking to students about how classrooms could be more diverse and more respectful places, and at the same time we want colleagues talking to one another about these issues as well."

The Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) is on board with a Friday, Mar. 11 Talking About Teaching session that will address the topic of respectful teaching and respectful learning. Other events include the Monday, Mar. 7 Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group film screening and a Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar workshop.

"We're hoping that by the end of the week, people are willing and open to talk about making this a much more diverse and respectable place to be, whether it's inside or outside the classroom," says Adams.

As Jiskoot adds, it all starts with initiating the conversation.

"I think the main goal is mutual respect, understanding and gaining an awareness," she says. "Even if people don't actually go to any of the activities, at least if they start talking about it, that's a beginning."

GET THE FACTS

• The CAETL Talking About Teaching seminar features panelists Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women's Studies), Andrea Glover (Library/FNTP), Dr. Bruce MacKay (Liberal Education) and Dr. Sameer Deshpande (Management). The session is Friday, Mar. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in AH100.

• The LPIRG film screening of, The Experimental Eskimo, is Monday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m., Galileo's Lounge (in the Student Union Building).

• The Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar is titled, Diversity, Inclusivity, Civility, and runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in L1168.

• Gender and Diversity Caucus members include: Dr. Pamela Adams (Education), Dr. Carly Adams (Kinesiology and Physical Education), Ardis Anderson (Philosophy), Dr. Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Don Gill (Art), Andrea Glover (Library), Dr. Hester Jiskoot (Geography), Dr. Rob Sutherland (Neuroscience), Dr. Janet Youngdahl (Music).

For a look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

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