Friday 27 March 2015

The Residential School Experience


On Tuesday, March 31, Susie Jones will visit the college. Susie Jones is a Walpole Island First Nation Elder and a residential school survivor, and she's visiting to share information with us. This presentation will provide an opportunity for us to learn more about the residential school system--a system that, while it's no longer in practice, continues to have a powerful effect on the lives of many first nations people. It's a piece of Canadian history that we should all be aware of.

The title of Susie Jones' talk is "The Residential School Experience and the Intergenerational Impact on First Nations." We'll meet in the Lambton College Residence and Event Centre from 5-8, and soup, frybread and cookies will be served.

This is an important topic, and the presenter deserves our full attention and our respect, so we've asked that all who are attending enter the event in a spirit of reverence and thanks. We're asking that all in the audience avoid using cell phones during the presentation to demonstrate to the speaker that our full attention is on her and her story.

Registration is required, and space is limited: if you'd like to attend, please email Kim Jackson at pprc@lambtoncollege.ca to reserve a seat.




Thursday 26 March 2015

Words

Thea deGroot, one of the members of our Centre for Social Justice Advisory Committee, wrote a guest column for today's Sarnia Journal. You can read her column, called "The words you use do matter," here.

Thea reminds all of us to think about the implications of the language we use. Thea writes, "Easy labels allow us to differentiate ourselves from those who differ from us in one aspect, and thus make all kinds of judgments about them and keep our distance." Even (and sometimes especially) when we're not thinking about the power our words hold, they can be used to reinforce hierarchies and stereotypes. 

The words we choose to use have power both to harm and to help. 

http://thesarniajournal.ca/guest-column-words-use-matter/

Friday 13 March 2015

Focus on Palestine

If you're free on Wednesday, March 18, please consider joining us at Lambton College for an information session titled "Post-secondary Education under Political Conflict – Focus on Palestine." 

Dr. Khaled Nigim will be leading this presentation for us. It's a chance to learn more about a complicated and ongoing crisis. 

In addition to his teaching role at Lambton College, Dr. Nigim works as a consultant with the World Bank, investigating post-secondary options for Palestinian students. He will share background information and video clips to explain some of the challenges young people face when pursuing higher education in unsettled situations. 

No prior knowledge is necessary. Please email me (Erica.Kelly@lambtoncollege.ca) to RSVP or to ask more about the event.

Thursday 12 March 2015

In the News!

The successful launch of our new social justice student group, Vocalize, made the local papers!

You can read the full story here: A Voice for the Voiceless. Thanks to Carl Hnatyshyn from Sarnia this Week for telling the story.

Congratulations to Vocalize! We're all looking forward to seeing what's next for you.

Friday 6 March 2015

Vocalize!

One week ago, our students launched a new and exciting Lambton College student-led group, Vocalize. 

This group is all about encouraging Lambton students to use their voice to advocate for changes they believe in. They're off to an exciting start: they've been holding "coffee house" sessions to gather student ideas and opinions, and they'll use these conversations to guide their direction.

If you'd like to learn more--or if you'd like to join these awesome and passionate people in fighting for a cause you believe in!--email them at socialjusticeawareness@gmail.com