In brief: International Day, Boisclair, JMSB games

International Day
Concordia students interested in traveling abroad can find out more about their options at Concordia’s first annual International Day Fair. The event is being organized by the John Molson International Exchange Committee, but organizer Sameer Devji said it isn’t just for business students.
“[It’s] the chance for all Concordia students to learn about all the opportunities they have to go abroad, whether it be working, studying, traveling or volunteering abroad.”
He said that many students find out about the opportunity in their last year and “they don’t realize that some of this stuff takes a bit of planning. This is the chance for students to learn about it.well in advance.”
The International Day Fair takes place Wednesday Jan. 16 in the library atrium of the SGW campus.

– Jacob Serebrin

André Boisclair to become part-time teacher at Concordia
Former PQ leader André Boisclair is set to begin a new career teaching at Concordia this semester after stepping down from his political position in 2007. In a turn of fate, Boisclair was recruited by a former political adversary of his, current special advisor to the president John Parisella, who was General Director of the Liberal Party of Quebec in the 1980s.
Boisclair will be teaching Public Affairs Strategies in the school of Community Affairs along with professors Jonathan Goldblum, Bob Rae’s former campaign director, and Parisella. The three will share a single part-time instructor’s salary. Parisella said the decision to bring Boisclair in was based on the nature of the course.
“The course deals with public relations, crisis management and what we call issue management. I felt there were only two people that I knew very well that could join me in teaching this class. One was Jonathan Goldblum, the other one was André Boisclair,” he said.
Although Boisclair has no practical experience as a teacher, Parisella said this will be a non-issue for him given his past work experience. “He is a good communicator, he has a lot of experience in small groups and this is going to be a class of only 25 people so I think the students will be able to benefit from his first-hand experience,” said Parisella.
Furthermore, Parisella doesn’t believe Boisclair’s background as a sovereignist will illicit a negative reaction since the course doesn’t include any political theory.
“The bottom line is that we have the experience of a man who was a minister of at least two portfolios, was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec for over 20 years, has dealt with pressure groups, interest groups, the media and he has dealt with pushing issues so I think he brings a really complete experience.”
– Francois Lemieux

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