Canada's former governor general, Right Hon. Michaëlle Jean, will discuss national and international issues during a public talk.
WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, May 5, 2011) - Canada's former governor general, Right Hon. Michaëlle Jean, will discuss national and international issues during a public talk hosted by St. Paul’s University College at the University of Waterloo on May 12.
Jean, the UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti, will give the 2011 Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Service Lecture, an annual St. Paul's University College event. The talk will take place on campus in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages building, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and pre-registration is required.
An award-winning journalist, Jean will share her perspective on national and international issues through the prism of cultural diplomacy, philanthropy, good governance, deep diversity and global solidarity.
St. Paul's College, affiliated with the University of Waterloo, partners with Waterloo's faculty of environment in offering students a bachelor of environment degree in international development.
"The unique skill set and hands-on training proposed by Waterloo’s international development program will provide an opportunity to impact human development at the community project level in many countries," Jean said.
The degree program, which provides students with environmental knowledge so that they can plan sustainable projects, features an eight-month international field work placement.
"This is a wonderful occasion for students to hear from such an accomplished person as the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, who has a strong sense of social commitment and interest in national and international politics," said Larry Swatuk, director of international development. "Highly regarded for her life-long dedication to improve the lives of the disadvantaged, especially women and children who are victims of domestic violence, she has also reached out to Canadian youth."
Jean, who served as Canada's 27th governor general from Sept. 27, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2010, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1968, fleeing the dictatorial regime of the time.
After earning a bachelor of arts degree in Italian and Hispanic languages and literature at the University of Montréal, she pursued her master's studies in comparative literature and taught at UdeM's faculty of Italian studies. Three scholarships allowed her to pursue her studies at the University of Perugia, the University of Florence and the Catholic University of Milan. She is fluent in five languages - French, English, Italian, Spanish and Haitian Creole - and reads Portuguese.
During her studies, Jean worked for eight years with Quebec shelters for battered women, while contributing to the establishment of a network of emergency shelters throughout Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.
Afterward, she entered journalism and became respected in the field, anchoring information programs at Radio-Canada and CBC Newsworld. She also took part in documentary films produced by her husband, filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond.
Jean has won many awards, including the Prix Mireille-Lanctôt for a report on spousal violence; the Prix Anik for best information reporting in Canada for her investigation of the power of money in Haitian society; and the inaugural Amnesty International Canada Journalism Award.
In 2010, Jean was appointed as the UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti with an aim to fight poverty and illiteracy and raise international funds.
She has launched the Michaëlle Jean Foundation to focus on promoting education, culture and creativity among youth from rural, northern, and/or poor communities in Canada.
The Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Service Lecture honours the late Stanley Knowles, who served 41 years as a federal parliamentarian and was known as “the conscience of the House."
About St. Paul's
St. Paul's University College, an affiliated institution with the University of Waterloo, teaches Waterloo students courses in international development and world religions. Waterloo undergraduate students can live in the 190-bed residence at St. Paul's. They can also join an environment living learning community at the university college. As well, St. Paul's provides students with the opportunity to live in La Bastille, the French-floor residence. For more details, go to www.stpauls.uwaterloo.ca.
About Waterloo
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 30,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For further details, visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
Contacts:
Kelly Deeks-Johnson, advancement co-ordinator, 519-885-1460 ext. 218 or kideeks@uwaterloo.ca
John Morris, Waterloo media relations, 519-888-4435 or john.morris@uwaterloo.ca
Waterloo news release no. 29
