Let your voice be heard!
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Macdonald Campus will host the Principal’s Town Hall Meeting in which members of the McGill community are encouraged to talk with Principal Heather Munroe-Blum about…well, whatever is on their mind. Unlike previous such meetings, this Town Hall will have no set theme or topic – just an open forum to engage in a healthy exchange of ideas that, ideally, will make McGill a better place to work and study. An extended question and answer period will follow the Principal’s opening remarks. Don’t be shy, come by and have your say.
Principal’s Town Hall Meeting; Nov. 12; 12:30 – 2 p.m.; Macdonald Campus; Raymond Building, Room R2-045. All are welcome.
Is our health care system on life support?
Health care reform is a hot topic in both Canada and the U.S. For its annual J.R. Mallory Lecture, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) is pleased to welcome renowned health policy expert Theodore Marmor of Yale University to deliver a lecture titled Health Care in Crisis: The Drive for Health Reform in Canada and the United States.
Marmor’s scholarship primarily concerns welfare state politics and policy in North America and Western Europe. He lectures frequently on health policy, management issues, and law to both management and law students. He has been an expert witness in cases ranging from the constitutionality of the Canada Health Act to asbestos disputes.
Professor Antonia Maioni, Director of MISC, will act as a respondent to the lecture.
J.R. Mallory Lecture, Health Care in Crisis: The Drive for Health Reform in Canada and the United States, Nov. 12, 5 p.m.: Faculty Club, 3450 McTavish St. A reception will follow. RSVPs are encouraged: misc.iecm@mcgill.ca or (514) 398-8346.
Teaching 101
Many graduate students will tell you that the very first time they faced a class full of students they felt a rush of adrenaline with occasional gusts of panic. And who could blame them? Many have received precious little training – or even basic advice – on what to expect on the other side of the lectern. Grad students who are currently teaching or who are preparing to become professors are invited to the one-day Learning to Teach workshop on Nov. 8 to develop essential pedagogical knowledge and skills. Through small and large interactive group sessions, participants will learn about everything from designing a course outline and grading papers to issues of multiculturalism in the classroom and new technologies for teaching and learning. Also on tap, brief presentations from Teaching and Learning Services, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and by library staff. The day will close with a dynamic group of panelists exploring “What I wish I had known about teaching when I started.”
Learning to Teach: A professional development workshop for graduate students; Nov. 8; 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Leacock Building, Rm 132, 855 Sherbrooke St. West . Refreshments from 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. A catered lunch will also be provided. Open to all graduate students (full-time and part-time) at McGill. To register and to see the workshop’s full program go to www.mcgill.ca/tls/resources/gsi/workshops/#Program
Trottier Symposium to debate origin of good and bad
Are humans intrinsically good or are we forever motivated only by self-interest? Does ethical behaviour have an evolutionary basis or is it something we have learned through culture and civilization? Philosophers have debated these questions for centuries. And now an international panel of leading economists and evolutionary biologists are set to join the debate at the fourth annual Trottier Symposium “Apes or Angels: What is the Origin of Ethics?” on Nov. 6. In honour of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, this year’s Symposium will see what economic theory and natural selection have to say about ethics and human development.
Apes or Angels: What is the Origin of Ethics? The Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium; Nov. 6; 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.; Leacock Building, Rm 132, 855 Sherbrooke St. West. Admission is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Simultaneous French translation will be provided. The symposium will also be available on the Internet via delayed webcast.For more information please see www.mcgill.ca/science/trottier-symposium/
Voice of democracy rings loud and clear
Broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist and author Amy Goodman is also the co-founder of Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report – an award-winning syndicated program of news, analysis and opinion aired by more than 500 radio and TV networks in North America. On Nov. 7, – just three days after the U.S. elections – the woman the L.A. Times called radio’s “voice of the disenfranchised left” will deliver a keynote lecture on “Independent Media on War and Elections.” This event is part of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcaster’s 25th anniversary activities, in collaboration with Media@McGill, and is co-presented with Culture Shock, CKUT Radio, QPIRG McGill, SSMU, The Link, and The McGill Daily.
Independent Media on War and Elections; Nov. 7; 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.); Leacock Rm 132, 855 Sherbrooke St. West. Free admission. Simultaneous translation into French will be available. For more info call 514-448-404, ext. 6788 or visit http://www.ckut.ca.