Social Science Festival 2020 goes virtual to explore to explore "Community”

October 16, 2020 - At a time when the needs of the wider community are being sorely tested whether because of political or social upheavals and differences, or the restrictions due to Covid 19, the 2020 Annual Vanier College Social Science Festival taking place October 19-22, will explore the theme of Community. Given public health restrictions, this year's festival will be fully online/virtual - a first of its kind for the Vanier community!

??oeThe Covid19 pandemic; environmental crises; the rise of populism; crises and concerns of social justice and equity faced by women, the destitute, visible minority and Indigenous groups; these phenomena have noticeably created local, national and global level fractures,” says Vanier Political Science teacher Ara Karaboghossian, who is the principal organizer of this year's Festival.

??oeConsequently, cooperation and solidarity seem to be under assault while discord, division and self-centredness are visibly on the rise. It therefore seems timely to take pause and reflect about notions of community and explore how community can potentially harness its collaborative and unifying potential to reverse course on many troubling current trends.”

Some highlights from the program include the following:

Covid19: Fault Lines, Fractures & Policy: Daniel Weinstock, from McGill University. It has been said that the novel coronavirus does not discriminate. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was often said of the novel coronavirus that it did not discriminate. Seven months in, we now know that that is not true. This talk will show how some of the measures taken to contain the virus have at times exacerbated problems, and suggest ways in which policy with respect to the pandemic can be formulated so as to address these issues. Thursday, November 20, from 10 am to 11 am.

Migrants irréguliers, ??oeanges gardiens”, citoyens?: Agnès Gruda (talk in French). For 30 years, Agnès Gruda has worked at La Presse often focussing on international news, immigration and diversity issues. Her talk will look at migrants from the United States who became front line workers in Canada during Covid 19. Monday, November 19, from 1 pm to 2 pm.

Indigenous Communities & Resilience: Maïtée Saganash is a Cree woman from the community of Waswanipi, a columnist for Métro Montréal and the Nation magazine and works for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay. Her talk presents a story of resilience and community to overcome a history of stereotypes and stigmas. (Sponsored by the Vanier College Indigenous Studies Certificate Program). Tuesday, November 20, from 4 pm to 5 pm.

Environmental Crime & Community: Shared Impacts & Shared Responsibilities: Peter Stoett, Ontario Tech University and former Director of the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre at Concordia University. He works with the United Nations on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. His presentation will cover the ??oewider lens” oewider lens” view of eco-violence and remind that community participation is necessary to fight eco-violence. Monday, November 19, 10 am to 11 am.

Accessible to all on the festival's web page at https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/social-science-festival/.  Zoom Webinar will be the technological platform used for the festival. Each presentation has its corresponding webinar. To attend talks, participants will simply have to use the hyperlinks contained in the festival poster to join the different webinars. For those that might not be able to attend the presentations live, they will be recorded and made available for rebroadcast on VTV's YouTube channel at:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=plm3yy45tybox6i7pkteiqpdlonxvstd_u

2020 Vanier College Social Science Festival

Posted in College Life, Festivals, Social Science, Social Science Festival