UPEI celebrates International Development Week February 2 to 6

The University of Prince Edward Island's eighth annual International Development Week, which will be held from February 2 to 6, will explore the theme of women in development through a variety of speakers and activities.

The week begins on Monday, February 2, with a research symposium presented by graduate students in the Masters of Island Studies program, at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), Lecture Theatre A, at 1:30 p.m. Simone Webster-Stahel will give a presentation on the Caribbean island of Dominica; Dolores Levangie on Chiloe Island, Chile; and Matt Funk on St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On Tuesday, February 3, at 7 p.m., Michael Wheatley-Daoust, who did a CUSO/VSO environmental internship in El Salvador, will open a showing of the film Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth), in AVC Lecture Theatre A. The film deals with a popular uprising by thousands of housewives in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. This event is hosted by WUSC and CUSO-VSO with CUPE, and sponsored by ACIC.

Popular Canadian hypnotist and comedian Scott Ward will perform in the Duffy Science Centre's lecture theatre on Wednesday, February 4, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 each or two for $20. To reserve seats, call Ashley Jadis or Stephanie Jadis at 620-5126.
A celebration of the life of the late Ralph Hazleton will take place in the Chaplaincy Centre at 4 p.m. on February 4. A former UPEI faculty member, Hazelton was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Canadian government for his work with Rwandan refugees in Zaire and was nominated with others for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the "blood diamonds" issue.

A student symposium on women in development will be held on Thursday, February 5, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the W.A. Murphy Centre's McMillan Hall. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, will be the guest speaker. As well, local organizations involved in international issues and ethical consumption will set up information booths.

In the evening, people are invited to bring their voices and musical instruments to a free 'Global Jam' from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 142 in the New Residence. This event is organized by UPEI, the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada and the Coopérative d'intégration francophone de l'Î.-P.-É. For more information, contact Nancy Clement at nancy@peianc.com or 628-6009.

The week concludes on Friday, February 6, with two events. A fundraising lunch for the UPEI Dr. Vianne Timmons International Award Fund will be held at the Rodd Royalty Inn at noon. Tickets for the meal are sold out, but interested people may come to hear Taulis-Corpuz speak at 1 p.m.

And the UPEI International Development Committee will host an International Night at The Wave in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. This event includes a sweatshop fashion show, the Quantum Cats band, trivia and live international performances. The cost is $3 per person with proceeds to go towards the UPEI Dr. Vianne Timmons International Award Fund.

For more information, please visit www.upei.ca/internationalization or contact Emily Gorman at edeighan@upei.ca or (902) 566-0576.

New voices from down east

The wealth of downeast literary talent keeps growing. Two dazzling new fiction writers, Libby Creelman from St. John's and Ian Colford from Halifax, will be featured in the Winter's Tales Authors Series on Thursday, February 5, at 7:30, in Confederation Centre Art Gallery. Their reading is co-sponsored by the Gallery and UPEI Department of English.
Creelman's first book, Walking in Paradise, a collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the first annual Winterset Award for excellence in Newfoundland writing. Her much-anticipated first novel, The Darren Effect, is a finely rendered portrait of both the physical and psychological effects of grief.
Heather Welbourne grieves secretly for the married man she loves. He is dying of cancer, and his wife and son cannot accept the loss, or forgive his betrayals. Into their small coastal community arrives Darren, a scientist consumed with the lives of seabirds. His unusual habits and knowledge of nature transform Heather's and others' lives. Shockingly funny, The Darren Effect vibrates with memorable characters, intimately recognizable in their struggle with self-mastery and desire.
The Globe and Mail writes, "Creelman is concerned with affirming life, even though she is well aware of how death lives among us. The novel marries the tragic and comic to wonderful effect in developing the complexity of ordinary lives."
Ian Colford, a librarian at Dalhousie University who has traveled extensively in Europe and Turkey, draws on his journeys for his first book of stories. Evidence is a sequence of adventures and reminiscences by a single narrator, Kostandin Birtri, a wanderer uprooted by war from an eastern European country. As he moves to Western Europe and then North America, searching for a home and his identity, he relates his encounters with brutality and corruption, but also with kindness and generosity.
These are writers we will hear a good deal more about in the future. Meet them and hear their compelling writing on February 5th in Charlottetown.

Island university’s supporters contribute $52,236,859 to build a legacy

At a public celebration to mark the accomplishments of the most ambitious private-sector fundraising campaign in the University of Prince Edward Island's history, President Wade MacLauchlan thanked UPEI's supporters for contributing a total of $52,236,859, well above the campaign's $50 million target.
"This Campaign has been an exhilarating effort," said President MacLauchlan. "The most impressive result is that we have done it ourselves; more than 90 per cent of the giving to the Campaign has come from people with long-time, close associations with UPEI and PEI. This spectacular achievement has come from our own hearts and pockets, and from our commitment to build a legacy through a great university.'
The Building a Legacy campaign was launched in April 2003. Since then, more than 250 new undergraduate and graduate student scholarships and awards have been created. UPEI has strengthened its support programs for student success through services such as the Webster Centre for Teaching and Learning. Access to electronic library resources has substantially increased, and student health and wellness programs have been expanded. In addition, major academic and research facilities have been upgraded or replaced, including extensive renovations of the Duffy Science Centre, construction of a new School of Business and Centre for Life-Long Learning, and extensions to the Atlantic Veterinary College.
Matthew Morrison, Student Union Vice-President, summarized the impact of donor support this way: 'Every UPEI student has benefitted. Every year we have enjoyed major improvements in programs, facilities, and services that have made a real difference to the quality of our education, and provided a real boost to our sense of pride in UPEI.'
Fred Hyndman, chair of the first phase of the Building a Legacy campaign, and the current chair of the UPEI Board of Governors, thanked the dedicated volunteers whose combined efforts were integral to the campaign's success. Hyndman offered a special tribute to the thousands of private individuals who have shown their commitment to university education in Prince Edward Island through their generous gifts.
'Every donor to our University in the past, the present, and the future, can take pride in every student achievement, every research discovery, and every campus improvement,' said Hyndman. "As we move forward, UPEI will continue to attract, and will require, continued donor support to enable our Island university to do extraordinary things.'

UPEI Alumni name gets high profile on campus

Alumni of the University of Prince Edward Island now have a place on campus that bears their name. The impressive outdoor athletics facility constructed for the 2009 Canada Games is now officially called the UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place in honour of the thousands of people who are, or will be, proud graduates of UPEI.

The UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place features a 400-metre track with eight competition lanes on an artificial surface, with seating for more than 1200 spectators. The track surrounds a natural grass infield called MacAdam Field. The new facility will be a major competition venue and the site for the closing ceremonies for the Canada Games in August.

Thanks to the support of 50 alumni who have already pledged $1000 a year for five years, the UPEI Alumni Association has raised enough funds to secure the naming rights. The official naming announcement took place on centre ice at the MacLauchlan Arena just before the puck dropped at the start of the men's hockey game between the UPEI Panthers and UNB on February 13.

'This appeal has drawn great interest from our alumni,' says past-president of the Alumni Association, Phil MacDougall, who is spearheading the special appeal. 'We are proud to participate as a group at this leadership level. It is exciting to note that those who have taken part so far span 61 class years, from 1948 to 2009. We look forward to having more alumni participate to help achieve our goal for the future benefit of our student athletes and the whole university community.'

Wayne Carew, vice president of the 2009 Canada Games and Friends of the Games division, the arm of the Games charged with raising funds, says, 'As both a UPEI alumnus and a member of the 2009 Canada Games Host Society, it means a great deal to me to see my alma mater joining in partnership with the Games through the naming of this wonderful facility.'

Joseph Spriet, president of the Games, added, 'We are so thrilled to have a partner on board like UPEI and we look forward to continue working with them as we move closer to August. UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place will provide a lasting legacy to future Island athletes.'

As part of the appeal, a 2008 Trius bus was branded for Panther athletics teams to travel to out-of-town games. The exterior has been completely transformed using high-impact colour images of Panther athletes in action. Inside, the bus has wireless internet access to allow student athletes to work on their studies while travelling.

The Alumni Association needs 50 additional $5000 pledges to reach the final goal of the appeal: to create new scholarships for UPEI athletes who will act as community ambassadors for UPEI. The names of all donors at this leadership level will appear on a recognition piece at UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place. To find out who has participated so far, or to make a pledge, visit upei.ca/alumni or call (902) 566-0761.

Social activist and author Maude Barlow to give public lecture at UPEI on March 4

Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, will give a public lecture called 'The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Fight for the Right to Water' on Wednesday, March 4, in the UPEI Duffy Science Centre's amphitheatre (Room 135), from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Barlow is co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works internationally for the right to water. 'The world is running out of clean water,' she says. 'This growing water shortage is perhaps the greatest ecological and human threat of our time and will affect two thirds of the planet by 2050.'
She will explain the impact of the crisis, especially on women, and give a recipe for a water-secure future and for hope. She will also discuss what she calls 'Canada's shameful position against the right to water for the world's poor.'
Barlow serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization, and Food and Water Watch, as well as a councilor on the Hamburg-based World Future Council. She is the recipient of six honorary doctorates, the 2005-2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship Award, and the 2005 Right Livelihood Award, known as the 'Alternative Nobel,' for her global water justice work. She is also the best-selling author or co-author of 16 books, including Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft of the World's Water and the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
For more information, please contact Emily Gorman, UPEI Internationalization Office, at (902) 566-0576 or edeighan@upei.ca.

Halifax poet Brian Bartlett gives public reading March 5

One of Atlantic Canada's finest poets and creative writing teachers, Brian Bartlett, will read from his new book, The Watchmaker's Table, on Thursday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. His reading is co-hosted by the UPEI English Department and the Gallery, with support from the League of Canadian Poets and Canada Council for the Arts.

Bartlett was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, grew up in Fredericton, lived for 15 years in Montreal, and moved to Halifax in 1990 to begin teaching creative writing and literature at Saint Mary's University. He has published five collections and four chapbooks of poems, as well as Wanting the Day: Selected Poems, which won the 2004 Atlantic Poetry Prize. His other honours include The Malahat Review Long Poem Prizes in 1991 and 1998, and a Hawthornden Castle International Writer's Retreat fellowship in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He has also established himself as one of Canada's best reviewers and critics of poetry, and has edited Earthly Pages: The Poetry of Don Domanski, another superb Nova Scotian poet, and a book of essays on Newfoundland-based master poet Don McKay. Bartlett lives in Halifax with his wife Karen Dahl, Youth Services Manager for the Halifax Regional Library System, and their two children.

Canadian singer Anne Murray among honorary degree recipients at UPEI convocation this spring

Internationally renowned Canadian singer Anne Murray, C.C., O.N.S., is one of four outstanding people who will receive honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island at its convocation ceremonies on May 9, 2009.

The convocation ceremonies will take place on Saturday, May 9, in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Murray will receive her degree and address the graduates during the afternoon ceremony.
Nova Scotia-born singer Anne Murray has delighted millions of fans around the world with her signature voice and well-loved songs. Having sold over 50 million recordings in her 40-year career, Murray has rarely been off the charts. She has received four Grammy Awards, 24 Juno Awards, three American Music Awards and three Canadian Country Music Awards. Murray is a Companion of the Order of Canada, has been inducted into both the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Juno Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame Walkway of Stars and has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Three Prince Edward Islanders will be honoured for their contributions to their home province: business and community leader Michael S. Schurman; long-time foster parent Marilla Millar; and agricultural innovator and entrepreneur Parker Jewell. Schurman will deliver the convocation address during the morning ceremony.
Michael S. Schurman, of Stratford, is well-known on P.E.I. and beyond for his business acumen and leadership, and his dedication to his community and family. After completing his education at Acadia University and UNB, he became involved in his family's construction, building supplies and concrete business, M.F. Schurman Company, Limited, becoming president and general manager. The family business was sold to J.D. Irving Ltd. in 2004. Schurman has been involved as a volunteer in the construction industry, the business community and the charitable and non-profit sectors. Among his many volunteer positions, he has served since 2005 as chair of UPEI's recently concluded $50 million Building a Legacy campaign.
Marilla Millar, of Ellerslie, has always loved looking after babies. With her six children growing up, she joined the provincial foster parent program in 1974, and in late June of that year, she and her husband Pete received their first young charge, a newborn baby girl. Since then she has fostered 128 children, mostly infants or preschoolers. She works closely with social workers on each case and, in recent years, with adoptive parents. Many of the people she cared for as children keep in touch with her. Now a widow in her late seventies, she is still taking babies into her home and her heart.
Parker Jewell, of York, has dedicated his life to Island agriculture and his community. He and his wife Irene operated a mixed farm with prize-winning Aberdeen Angus cattle, turkeys, vegetables and greenhouses. He has won numerous world grand championships in seed and tablestock potatoes at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto and additional championships at the Maritime Winter Fair in Moncton. They established Jewell's Greenhouses, the popular tourist attraction Jewell's Country Gardens and Jewell's Produce. Jewell has been a leader in 4-H and Boy Scouts, and was active in PEI United Church Presbytery. Now semi-retired, he continues to work with his son on the family farm.

UPEI partners with Nunavut on unique Inuit leadership program

Two representatives from the Nunavut Department of Education visited UPEI recently to develop plans for a unique Convocation ceremony to take place in Iqaluit on Canada Day. Twenty-one Inuit educators from nine communities scattered across all three regions will receive the first graduate degrees ever offered in their home territory.
The degree is a Master of Education in Leadership in Learning and it is being conferred by the University of Prince Edward Island. This leadership milestone presents the promise of positive change for the educational system in Nunavut.
'This Master of Education in Leadership in Learning enables graduates to provide leadership within the school and post-secondary systems of education, as well as in other educational settings,' says Dr. Fiona Walton, an associate professor in the UPEI Faculty of Education who co-led the development and delivery of the program. 'Graduates carry deeply-held Inuit values, beliefs and knowledge, as well as Western educational knowledge, and their own research and scholarship into these leadership roles.'
Mary Simon, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the organization that represents Canada's Inuit on national issues, has identified the importance of educational reform on numerous occasions. At a First Ministers meeting in Ottawa in January she stated, 'We need to invest in leadership development because it will take leaders to create the conditions in our schools to implement a program of change. We need to foster a whole new generation of education leaders like our business schools create business leaders.'
The Master of Education in Leadership in Learning is being offered as a unique partnership between the University of Prince Edward Island, the Department of Education, Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Arctic College and St. Francis Xavier University.
Cutline (l-r): Darlene Nuqingaq, Co-ordinator of Educational Leadership Development and Cathy McGregor, Director of School Services in Nunavut, and Tim Goddard, UPEI Dean of Education with Fiona Walton and Sandy McAuley, two members of the UPEI Faculty of Education who led the development and delivery of a unique master's program for Inuit leaders.

Motivational speaker Joe Sherren to speak at UPEI Business Society annual lunch on March 13

'Tomorrow is going to be amazing' is the theme of the UPEI Business Society's 32nd annual business luncheon on March 13, starting with a reception at 11 a.m., in the Delta Prince Edward Hotel ballroom in Charlottetown

For the first time ever, the event will feature a professional motivational speaker. Born and raised in Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Joe Sherren is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author and executive coach. Sherren has been delighting audiences with his thought-provoking, interactive and inspirational presentation for 25 years. His outstanding accomplishments include being inducted into the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame, becoming a national bestselling author, and appearing on the daytime talk show Oprah.
Since 1974, he has trained thousands of executives, leaders, and professionals. Some clients include BDP (Canada and Australia), Scotiabank, UBS Wealth Management, IBM, University Health Network, Easter Seal Society, ING Bank of Canada, Lexmark, Allied Beauty Association, Universal Studios, Canadian MicroAge Network, Financial Models, as well as various government ministries and agencies.
Sherren's presentation will be a dynamic wake-up call which will benefit management in dealing with employee issues and understanding the new loyalty. It will help participants deal with new expectations, shifting priorities, the information explosion and different reporting relationships, where roles are sometimes vaguely defined.
'The upcoming year will have its challenges, but we must take the attitude that, as Mr. Sherren says, ‘tomorrow is going to be amazing,'' says Greg MacDougall, president of the UPEI Business Society. 'Having a positive vision for your organization's future will be a key success factor when striving towards maximizing your bottom line."
The UPEI Business Society is a student-run organization dedicated to enhancing the educational experiences and social well-being of students throughout their time at the School of Business. Many activities and initiatives are undertaken each year, providing members with great opportunities to develop relationships with local business leaders, faculty members and, of course, fellow students.

After the reception, the lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m. Tickets for the lunch are $55 per person. Tables of eight or ten can be purchased. For more information or to order tickets, please contact the UPEI Business Society at (902) 566-0407 or at bussociety@upei.ca.

UPEI’s Island Studies program presents public lecture about the Aland Islands

UPEI's Island Studies program will present a public lecture by Bjarne Lindstrom, director of the Statistical Agency of the Aland Islands, on Wednesday, March 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Atlantic Veterinary College's (AVC) faculty lounge.
Located on AVC's fourth floor, the lounge may be accessed via the elevators on the right at the far end of the college's main entrance.
Lindstrom's presentation is entitled 'Economic Capacity and Political Room for Manoeuvre: Lessons from the Aland Islands.'
Lindstrom has been a key player in the development of the North Atlantic Islands program which developed at the Institute of Island Studies in the early 1990s. He was then research manager at the Nordic Institute of Regional Policy Research (NordREFO), based in Stockholm. He is currently deputy director of the Alands International Institute for Comparative Island Studies (AICIS) and a member of the International Editorial Board of Island Studies Journal. He has written some 150 publications in the course of his career, mainly in the area of regional policy and regional development.
The Aland Islands is an autonomous archipelago of some 26,000 people, located in the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Finland. It is part of the state of Finland, but its distinct culture and Swedish language have been protected by an international treaty since 1920. They are also outside the customs area of the European Union.
The lecture is free and open to all. Light refreshments will be available, courtesy of the Dean of Arts.
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