Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Black History Month is shared history month

A message from St. Paul’s University College Chancellor Michaëlle Jean.

When you start feeling despondent, discouraged, and so very alone, who can you turn to? These trying, turbulent times put the core of our humanity to the test. Will we overcome the suffering brought on by this deadly global pandemic? How can we survive and maintain sanity?

Every year, the month of February brings an opportunity to recognize painful historical truths, as well as the luminous, exemplary struggles for freedom that brought more humanity into all of our lives.

As your new chancellor for St. Paul’s University College, I’d like to extend this invitation to you: you can use Black History Month as a source of personal inspiration. There is nourishment, courage and fierce determination to be found. I know it serves me always, and it may serve you.

We come from 400 years of humiliation, abject violence, untold cruelty and endless suffering. For centuries, colonialism feasted on the odious practice of mass enslavement of its conquered peoples, Black and Indigenous, deemed inferior, deprived of their humanity, robbed of their freedom, reduced to being called “savages” and treated as beasts of burden. This gruesome reality, with the most abusive and barbarous acts ever perpetrated against human beings, gave rise to the most epic, uplifting struggles ever waged. Against all odds we emerged, our humanistic values harder than steel through the fire of hatred.

Black history is Human History, inextricable from the story we all share, the story of our one and only race: the human race, its labours and ultimate triumph. Black history shows how strength of character and a collective capacity for protracted struggle can become the greatest force for change. And that is good news. Shining examples of intelligence and perseverance in the face of extreme adversity are there for the taking.

It is a legacy we yearn to share with the world. How cultural resistance keeps us alive. The feat of the abolitionists who ended the institution of slavery, the first movement to go global. The campaigns to stop public lynching. The right to vote. The end of racial segregation. The current worldwide mobilization to value racialized lives as much as other lives … Countless stories await to sustain you. Look around. Read a book. Watch a movie. The CBC, the NFB, your local library all have tons to offer. This month and beyond, online and in the flesh, join the celebrations, join the work.

At St. Paul’s University College, where community learning and social innovation serve the larger purpose of creating a more just and humane world, the foundational Indigenous presence, the African diaspora, every culture is honoured. Here lies our greatest treasure, a source of unimaginable wealth.

The year 2020 heard a resounding cry for justice that arose from the depths of history. This year, our many voices are coming together with concrete actions to eradicate racism, the age-old template for other forms of oppression. To fight against discrimination—and the fatal inequities it produces—is to fight against all forms of systemic exclusion based on ethnic, racial and other features including age, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, social origin, political opinion, property, birth… This is a fight for humanity itself. Human beings were not made to be oppressed.

In the end, the question that matters most is this: what role you will want to play “in the fierce urgency of now,” as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used to say. To borrow another phrase dear to President Obama, Dr. King, and other anti-slavery abolitionists before them: Will you join in helping bend the arc of history faster towards justice

My invitation to you

Please consider joining Black History Month as Shared History Month. Make it a year. Make it a life.

New entrepreneurship training program launches for Indigenous students

Indigenous post-secondary students from across Canada will soon be able to participate in a new entrepreneurship training program.

Hosted by St. Paul’s University College and lead by industrious entrepreneur Jacob Crane, the program will be administered online by the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre and GreenHouse social impact incubator at the College.

“We are delighted to start offering programs which will support Indigenous students in their entrepreneurial aspirations,” said Richard Myers, principal at St. Paul’s. “As an institution, I believe we are uniquely suited to provide an innovative learning experience, which focuses on an Indigenized approach to business.”

Programming will be tailored to meet the needs of Indigenous youth and their communities while also training host organizations with the cultural competency required to work with Indigenous youth.

Over four months, students will receive four weeks of classroom coaching from notable Indigenous entrepreneurs from across the country and a three-month period for which students will work to achieve specific milestones within their enterprise. At the end of the program, students will receive co-curricular credit, a certificate of achievement and be able to compete for up to $3,000 in funding for their venture.

“By investing in Indigenous entrepreneurship, we can help solve problems at the forefront of our communities,” said Jacob Crane, program manager. “When an Indigenous person starts a business, 20 people are positively impacted in the first month alone.

“This is very empowering because it allows them to take economic ownership of their life.”

“Indigenous Entrepreneurship is very different because it focuses more on solving problems and sharing wealth with the collective,” said Crane. “There are 631 indigenous communities in Canada, if we had just one member from every community participate in the program, it would make a significant positive and direct impact on our communities.”

This training program will pilot the entrepreneurial work integrated learning (WIL) component of an Indigenous Entrepreneurship minor to be offered by the College starting in Fall 2021. A total of sixty Indigenous students will participate in the WIL experience.

Waterloo Centre for German Studies announces book prize winner

A message from the Waterloo Centre for German Studies.

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies is pleased to announce the winner of its prize for the best first book published in 2019. Characters before Copyright: The Rise and Regulation of Fan Fiction in Eighteenth-Century Germany, written by Matthew H. Birkhold and published by Oxford University Press, was selected from a shortlist of seven excellent academic monographs. The prize includes a cash award of CAD $3,000.

It may come as a surprise to us, but fan fiction was a phenomenon in 18th-century Germany, and Birkhold explores the emergence and rapid proliferation of the practice of literary borrowing after 1750. In doing so, he sheds light on several interwoven issues: the nature of publishing and the German book market in the later eighteenth century, the extent and practices of reading and the development of a reading public, and the conventions which developed to define the intellectual property rights of authors, which ultimately led to the formulation of formal legal codes. The legal and copyright issues surrounding fan fiction in our own day were also apparent in the 18th century, but with one singular difference: the idea of copyright was in its infancy, and authors had to find other means to pursue their grievances.

Birkhold’s intriguing investigation of 18th-century German book and literary culture earned the admiration of the award jury. The originality of Birkhold’s “new approach to forgotten, neglected, overlooked material . . . . recovers a thriving literary culture and sees it has doing something really important: debating and creating new norms around what constitutes ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’ use.” The jurors thought this “superb” and “brilliant” book also deserved recognition for its ability to make “connections to today’s copyright questions such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.”  

Matthew H. Birkhold is Associate Professor of German at Ohio State University where he is also Affiliated Faculty in the Moritz College of Law. His teaching and research focus on law, culture, and the humanities. He earned his BA and JD from Columbia University and his PhD from Princeton University. Prior to joining Ohio State he worked as an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. In addition to publications in leading academic journals, Professor Birkhold has published in venues such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.  

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies takes great pride in sponsoring an award that celebrates the dynamic and engaging scholarship occurring in all fields of German Studies. The prize is adjudicated by a jury of German studies scholars chaired by James M. Skidmore, Director of the Waterloo Centre of German Studies. Members of the jury were Ann Marie Rasmussen (University of Waterloo), Joachim Whaley (University of Cambridge), and Stephan Jaeger (University of Manitoba). Over 20 books published in 2019 were nominated. In addition to Birkhold’s book, six of the nominated books were named to a shortlist that illustrates the quality and range of German studies today: 

• Kata Gellen. Kafka and Noise: The Discovery of Cinematic Sound in Literary Modernism. Northwestern University Press. 
• Seth Howes. Moving Images on the Margins: Experimental Film in Late Socialist East Germany. Camden House. 
• Richard N. Lutjens, Jr. Submerged on the Surface: The Not-So-Hidden Jews of Nazi Berlin, 1941–1945. Berghahn Books. 
• Philipp Nielsen. Between Heimat and Hatred: Jews and the Right in Germany, 1871–1935. Oxford University Press. 
• Zef M. Segal. The Political Fragmentation of Germany: Formation of German States by Infrastructures, Maps, and Movement, 1815–1866. Palgrave. 
• Tyler Whitney. Eardrums: Literary Modernism as Sonic Warfare. Northwestern University Press. 

Nominations are now open for the WCGS Prize for books published in 2020. Eligibility guidelines and nomination procedures can be found on the WCGS Book Prize site. Nominations must be received by March 31, 2021. Questions and comments may be directed to wcgs@uwaterloo.ca.

Treat your team, or yourself, to a sweet Valentine's gift from W Store

A message from W Store.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, W Store has introduced a collection of limited-edition gift sets guaranteed to spark joy. Whether it’s a token of appreciation for your co-worker’s hard work, or a “just because” mid-February pick-me-up for your team (or for yourself!), these sweet gift sets are sure to hit the spot.

All Valentine’s gift sets come wrapped in cellophane and ribbon with a Valentine’s tag for easy gifting.

Shop limited-edition Valentine’s gift sets and more at wstore.ca. 

Wednesday's notes

The latest in the Noon Hour Concerts @ Home series will take place today at 12:30 p.m. Do̩ nàke 齐心 (Two people, one mind) is a collaboration between mezzo-soprano Michelle Lafferty and Pianist Kimly Mengyin Wan. 

Compositions include pieces by Ian Cusson, is a Canadian composer of art song, opera and orchestral work. Of Métis (Georgian Bay Métis Community) and French Canadian descent, his work explores the Canadian Indigenous experience, including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures.  Emilie LaBel and Michelle Lafferty are the other two composers featured. 

Mezzo-soprano Michelle Lafferty is a First Nations indigenous woman from the Northwest Territories and graduated in 2019 from The University of Western Ontario with her Master’s in Literature and Performance. In 2017 she performed the roles of Mrs. Peachum in Benjamin Brittens opera The Beggers Opera, Katisha in The Mikado and La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica. She recently performed the role of Eileen in the Ecstasy of Rita Joe by Victor Davis. 

Pianist Kimly Mengyin Wang is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano at the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Pei-Shan Lee and Cameron Stowe. Born in China, Kimly studied at Musikgymnasium C.P. E Bach in Berlin, Germany before she immigrated to Canada.

Check the event website for a link to the virtual performance.

Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (HREI) is soliciting applications for a new Senior Manager, Anti-Racism Response. Reporting to the Director of Equity, this position will be responsible for providing direct support to individuals experiencing racism and will engage in informal mechanisms to resolve complaints. The senior manager will also help to develop a centralized process to manage complaints related to racism and will provide senior leadership with advice in handling disclosures/complaints of racism.

The senior manager will respond to individual disclosures of racism from students, staff and faculty by providing support, advocacy and referrals based on individual needs and will collaborate with internal support units and external organizations to appropriately support racialized members of the campus community. The position will also advise senior administration, central communications, and associate deans on their response to concerns related to racism.

Details relating to the new role are available in this week’s Positions Available listing on the Human Resources website. To learn more about efforts to advance anti-racism on campus, visit the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) website.

Instructors can self-register for the Instructor Resources for Student Success site in Learn to download student resources they can upload into their Learn courses. A collaboration between the OAI, SSO, and WCC, find resources that will teach students how to manage their time, prepare for tests, cite their sources, work in teams, create effective presentations, organize their writing, understand academic integrity expectations, and much more.