Tag: concordia

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Student Life

Encouraging the well-being of students

A creative arts workshop day will be held as part of Mental Illness Awareness Week

Connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment make up the acronym Chime In, which is a recently created student services group. “Our mandate is to help students better understand what the services are [at Concordia], how to access them and let them know what they do have access to,” said Alia Nurmohamed, a student representative at Chime In. “We are here for you. If you need something, there is always a willing hand to help.”

According to Nurmohamed, it can be very daunting to ask someone for help when starting at a new school. The vast service networks at universities can be confusing, particularly for students fresh out of CEGEP or high school. “It’s not that the [services] are hard to access, but sometimes it’s hard to navigate and the information isn’t always easy to find,” Nurmohamed said. “So having some place or some people who are always there to better direct students is a good goal to have.”

The group began in May 2017 and consists of students representatives Nurmohamed and Jade Se; Howard Magonet, the director of Concordia’s Counselling and Psychological Services; Jillian Ritchie, an outreach coordinator from AMI Quebec; and Alexis Lahorra, a student representative and youth mental health advocate for the mental health awareness student group Jack.org.

Chime In will be hosting a day of creative arts workshops on Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Library Building auditorium as part of Mental Illness Awareness Week. “To have a day of creative arts workshops speaks to everyone,” Nurmohamed said. “I personally believe that we all have our natural talents. Some of us naturally love music, reading—we all have these aspects in our lives that we turn to fulfill us, to sustain us.”

The various groups from Campus Wellness and Support Services will be present at the workshops, including Counselling and Psychological Services, Jack.org, AMI Quebec and Multi-Faith and Spirituality Centre. “There will be a Chime In member to help direct and talk to people—all of us are going to be there for this one purpose to raise awareness for mental health and well-being,” she said.

The event will feature five different workshops, one of which will be given by La Ruche, a community art studio created by Concordia’s creative arts therapy department. A large amount of art supplies for painting, drawing and sculpting will be made available to workshop participants. There will also be a creative writing workshop allowing participants to create their own graphic novel. “When you are writing for your well-being, it can be so deeply introspective, reflective and very personal—I think art and writing intersects in so many beautiful ways,” Nurmohamed said.

CJLO has prepared a silent disco as part of the music workshop where people can tune in to the radio with their smartphones, pop in their headphones and groove however they feel like in the moment. For those who enjoy physical relaxation, there will be a session of chair yoga. If you’re a fan of Concordia’s pet therapy program that takes place during midterm and finals, there will be a workshop offering some relaxing play time with a number of dogs. Cupcakes will also be provided at the event.

In addition to the workshops, there will be a banner where people can leave their own message of what well-being means for them. The banner will then be placed in common areas around campus. “Other students will be able to see what well-being means to their peers and just how much it touches every one of us all the time,” Nurmohamed said.

According to Nurmohamed, when people think of services at Concordia, they often think of health services in terms of physical bodily functions. “There is much more to that. Your well-being is every aspect of you—it is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual,” she said.

In order to fill in the gaps in the university’s services, Chime In student representative Jade Se is leading a new initiative called the Concordia Student Nightline. This active listening service will add to the similar services by other groups at Concordia. This student nightline will be available as a hotline for students to call and obtain well-being services at night and on the weekends.

Nurmohamed said students can access active listening services during the day from Counselling and Psychological Services and peer support at the Centre for Gender Advocacy and the Multi-Faith and Spirituality Centre. “But what happens at night? Or over the weekend?” she asked. Jack.org is among the other campus groups looking to better the well-being of students. The group often hosts social events like poetry slams, open mic nights and parties.

The university’s Counselling and Psychological Services also offer students access to eight sessions with a registered therapist. According to Nurmohamed, you can go through a 15-minute psychological triage, where you can talk to a professional and get some help, support, tools and resources.

“That’s what I like about Concordia—they never forget their students,” Nurmohamed said. “I’ve never met a group of administrators who are so willing to help all the time. Everyone that I have talked to about doing this, about the organization of this event, every group on campus is so for it. They just want to help. It’s a great way to remind people that we are here for you.”

All workshops are free and will take place on Thursday Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Concordia University’s Library Building auditorium.

Graphic courtesy of Alia Nurmohamed

Categories
Opinions

Curriculums and classes: Where diversity falls short at Concordia

Concordia University’s Campus Service website claims they support diversity on campus, and that Concordia is “a large, urban university with a multicultural population.”

Yet, a CBC News investigation in March found that many Canadian universities don’t actually keep track of how students identify racially and most promote diversity without having actual numbers to support their claims. One of these universities is Concordia.

CBC asked 76 universities across Canada to breakdown their student populations by race and found that most couldn’t provide data about their student bodies’ racial backgrounds.

Concordia told CBC News that they don’t keep such data because, “in Quebec, this is not an option and it is considered illegal to ask.” CBC countered that argument saying that it is legal to gather “race-based” data in Quebec.

This brings up a larger problem at Concordia—diversity is promoted and celebrated, but is rarely seen within the university’s curriculums.

Collecting race-based data and truly understanding who is in your student body can help a university be more aware of student needs. Not knowing how many black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) students Concordia has is problematic, and this is made obvious by the lack of representation in course curriculums and departments.

In January, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) announced the creation of the BIPOC Committee, led by Sophia Sahrane, the CSU’s academic affairs and advocacy coordinator. The Committee was created to serve black, Indigenous and people of colour and their interests at the university.

Among its projects, this committee is attempting to highlight the institutionalized racism within Concordia and its curriculum. This doesn’t mean teachers are outright calling their BIPOC students racial slurs. This means course curriculums are often Eurocentric—they focus on white stories, by white people, for white people.

Take Concordia’s English department, for example. There are less than 10 courses that cater to people of colour, among them African-American Literature to 1900, South Asian Literature, First Nations/North American Literature and Literature of Ethnic America. It’s disconcerting to realize that almost every other class in the English department focuses on literature that is catered to white people.

These courses focus on subjects that only pertain to white culture/white history. Even worse, some of these “diverse” courses are taught by white professors instead of people from the communities they discuss. This isn’t okay—BIPOC should be teaching their own histories and cultures so students have a more concrete understanding of the subject, and more importantly, so BIPOC students feel represented.

It’s startling to realize most teachers at Concordia are white, especially given the university’s preachings about diversity. Universities shouldn’t simply aim to have a diverse student body—faculty and staff should be included as well.

We at The Concordian believe Concordia should make more of an effort to implement courses that cater to BIPOC students and that are taught by BIPOC professors. Indigenous history classes should be taught by those who identify as such; African American literature lectures should be led by black professors, not white. Students need to feel represented in a school that claims to support diversity. They need to read about their own histories and cultures by people from their communities.
This is also beneficial for white students, who can learn more about other cultures and histories. They can become more educated about topics that don’t directly concern them.

We believe that all students deserve to learn more than what they are familiar with, and to have their ideas and backgrounds represented fully in school. It is only then that we can hope to strive for a future filled with tolerance, acceptance and understanding.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Categories
News

Concordia app: Cost unknown

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

University’s mobile tool gives access to shuttle bus schedules, directories and more

Concordia’s administration is keeping silent on the cost of its new mobile app. When The Concordian asked about it, the university responded that the “cost for licensing the app was minimal.”  

The app, which was released in August, has already been downloaded more than 1,000 times. It provides students with information about shuttle bus schedules, food around campus, health and safety resources and other subjects.

The university also would not confirm if the cost was within the projected budget, where the funding came from, the cost of maintenance or the expected return on investment.

Version 1.4.0 of the app––its latest––allows the university to access the user’s approximate or precise location, depending on whether the phone is network-based or GPS-based. It can also read the photo, media and file content of the phone’s USB storage, according to Google Play.

According to university spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr, “all the work was and will continue to be done in-house.” In the same email, Barr wrote that “an analysis was made to learn which apps were offered to students by other universities and, within those offerings, which apps were used most often by students.”

Two universities in Quebec currently offer mobile applications to their students, namely Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and McGill University. While it’s unknown how much Concordia spent to develop the app, Montreal-based Oohlala Mobile Inc. bidded $67,200 to acquire the contract to build McGill’s app, according to a public call for bids on Quebec’s Service électronique d’appel d’offre.

Oohlala Mobile has also developed apps for Rutgers and Seattle University as well as Harvard Law School.

Barr said in early 2017, consultations were held with various university offices and departments, including Student Services Departments, Library and Services and various faculties, to determine what information should be included in the app. The app was then tested for feedback by 180 students during fall orientation.

According to Barr, Concordia will continue to expand and improve the app according to user feedback.

“As feedback comes in, the team will evaluate whether new features can and should be added, and how long it will take to do so,” Barr wrote.

The app currently has an average 3.8/5-star rating on Google Play, including 15 five-star ratings and six one-star ratings.

According to the university spokesperson, information about faculty, staff, alumni and recruitment “will likely be added” in future versions of the app.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

Categories
Arts

From Dust to Zion, filmmakers are speaking up

A still from Dust when the character Sarah wakes up. Photo courtesy of Evangeline Kabuya.

At the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Concordia graduates Evangeline Kabuya and Irene Angelico. Both are producers of amazing but entirely different films exploring aspects of black identity and culture.

After graduating from the communications program in 2016, Kabuya created Poussière (Dust), a short silent film inspired by her experience working in a library.

Q: Can you to talk me through the events that take place in the movie and why you directed it that way?

A: I was inspired by the works of Maya Deren, especially her piece At Land (1944). I think the similarities between my short and hers are obvious, like how the protagonist seemed to move seamlessly from location to location. I like the absurdity of it, how you cannot help but feel involved in the storyline.

Now, when people watch Dust, they label it as experimental even though [that] was not my intention. The way I see it, there is a strong narrative line, nothing is unsure about it. Dust came to me in fragments. I stitched [the ideas] together almost randomly.

Q: What do you hope people take away from your work?

A: My goal is to create narratives that include black women. I want people to see us. Once they do, I want them to develop their own understanding of it. I want them to make the meaning of the work their own.

I believe that as soon as someone sees my work, it’s taken from me. The meaning of it is not mine to decide anymore. When each one of us tries to understand a movie, we all come with our own baggage. It’s impossible to read a work the exact same way as another person, and I think that’s the beauty of art in general.

How does Dust reflect your learning experiences at Concordia? Is Dust an expressed product of your knowledge or an independent exploration?

Dust is an exploration of my creativity. Of course my studies at Concordia had a great impact on it. Thanks to my film teacher at the time, Emily Pelstring, who was more into experimental works, we got to study more unique and less tradition materials.

As my first film, Dust is a product of multiple mistakes. It was shot in 16 mm through an analog medium and, at the time, I didn’t know if it was going to be good or bad. I just followed my gut. And it was the most rewarding experience.

Evangeline Kabuya, a Concordia communications graduate and the director of the short silent film, Poussière (Dust). Photo courtesy of Evangeline Kabuya.

*****

Angelico’s film, Reaching for Zion follows Bob Marley’s granddaughter, Donisha Prendergast, as she traces the foundation of her grandfather’s legacy, exploring the “untold story of Rastas and Jews.”

Q: How did you come to make films with a BA in humanities of science, (now known as human relations)?

A: I co-directed my very first film with George Mihalka in a humanities of science class at Concordia. I was sick of writing papers, and I convinced George that this would be great. We had no idea if it would even be accepted. It wasn’t a sexy title—something about a young woman in a modern technological age—but it was an OK film. And we both got an A+.

Q: What was your creative process behind Reaching for Zion? How does it relate to the overall theme of MIBFF, “Speak Up!”?

A: Reaching for Zion, like all my films—in fact why I am a filmmaker at all—is all about speaking up.

Most of my films are about battling racism, poverty and religious hatred. These are my obsessions. I believe that everyone deserves a home where they can live in peace and harmony.

A photo taken in Israel of Donisha Prendergast as the Queen of Sheba in Reaching for Zion. Photo courtesy of Irene Angelico.

Like so many others, I am a huge fan of Marley’s music and of his dream of “One Love,” which embodies all these values. When I met Donisha Prendergast, Marley’s granddaughter, I was inspired by her efforts to realize that dream in our present day struggles.

In exploring all this, I became fascinated by Rastafari’s connection to Judaism. Rastas and Jews share beliefs about Yahweh/Jah, Old Testament redemption, the mystical properties of human hair, dietary practices and symbols like the Star of David and Lion of Judah. Both also share a history of slavery and persecution.

Donisha has dreamt of the African Queen Sheba since she was a girl. The Queen of Sheba’s intellectual and spiritual connection with King Solomon, son of King David, evolved into one of the most legendary romances in history. Donisha believes Haile Selassie, the former Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974), was a direct descendant of them.

Q: How would you describe your experience as a white producer/director of black culture?

A: We consider it a great honour for our whole team to be included in the Montreal International Black Film Festival. I am not sure I have the right to be a producer/director of black culture, and I’m not. I am looking at the commonalities of my culture as a white woman, a Jewish woman and a child of Holocaust survivors and what we have in common with Rastafari culture.

Like Donisha and all the Rastafari I have met, I believe that we can live in peace and harmony, and we don’t need to make distinctions based on colour, religion, class or anything else. There are differences, and that is wonderful. But we are also all one.

The Montreal International Black Film Festival ended on Oct. 1 with a screening of Woodpeckers at Concordia. For more information about the festival, visit the MIBFF website.

Categories
Arts

A captivating story about an unlikely friendship

We’re Still Together will be released in select theatres in Montreal on Sept. 29. Photo courtesy of Pawel Pogorzelski.

Concordia alumnus’ new film, We’re Still Together, has already garnered worldwide attention

Picture a teenager, Chris, being accosted and bullied by two kids about his age who take pleasure in beating the crap out of him. Witness to the scene is a single dad, Bobby, who comes to Chris’ aid and stops the fight. Over the course of that night, the two of them forge an incredibly tight yet complex friendship.

Such is the story told in We’re Still Together, the first feature film by filmmaker and alumnus of Concordia’s communications program, Jesse Noah Klein. Klein partnered with Marley Sniatowsky, the producer of the film and an alumnus of Concordia’s art history program. With a theatrical release set for Sept. 29, We’re Still Together takes a look at relationships and just how strikingly influential they can be—even if they last only one evening.

One evening… in Montreal.

“Yeah, the movie takes place here,” Klein said. “I knew I was going to set the film here. I’m from Montreal, I grew up here, I went to college here, so there was never any doubt that I would set the movie here.”

True to the city’s nature, the film includes both English and French-speaking characters, though most of the movie is in English.

“The city plays a huge role in the film, and it’s kind of unmistakable,” Klein added. “So I never thought of setting it somewhere else.”

The film’s setting has a lot to do with the story itself. “Just the way these two strangers can come together and have this meaningful experience, it’s kind of an urban story in itself,” Klein said. “Ultimately, what I hope people can take [away] from it is just how sustaining the relationships we make can be for us.”

Not only does the movie explore the depth of fleeting friendship, like the one between Chris (Jesse Camacho) and Bobby (Joey Klein), but it also chronicles the other relationships in both the characters’ lives. Bobby is a distressed single father, facing challenges with his ex-wife, which in turn jeopardize his ties with his daughter. On the other hand, Chris is a socially awkward teen who doesn’t really get along with anyone. The experience they share throughout the course of one night teaches them a lot about themselves.

Writer/director Jesse Noah Klein teamed up with his brother and friends to make the film, which is already a huge success. Photo by Josh Hansen.

The essence of the characters is also integral the storyline. “I wrote [Bobby’s] role for my older brother,” Klein explained. “That was one of the starting points for me. I saw something in him. I saw his range as an actor.” Klein said he started with the idea for the character, “and let the story evolve from there.”

“I see a lot of myself in both characters,” the filmmaker added. “I don’t think we’re restricted to age or gender when it comes to how we create characters, and I think that’s kind of liberating.”

Even prior to its theatrical release, We’re Still Together has already made waves across the globe. The film had its world premiere in July 2016 at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic—an experience Klein described as highly unforgettable.

“I remember sitting there for 82 minutes and thinking, ‘This is boring. This is boring. This is boring.’ And I was just terrified,” he exclaimed with a smile. “And then the response was great. It was a crazy experience. I was elated. During that standing ovation, I was like, ‘Where am I? What is going on?’”

The film has garnered praise since then and has been shown at festivals in India, Italy, Argentina and Mexico, among others. Both lead actors, Joey Klein and Jesse Camacho, have won ACTRA (Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists) awards in Toronto and Montreal, respectively. Yet, there’s something special about a theatrical release right around the corner, Klein admitted.

“Quite frankly, the thing about a theatrical release is that we don’t know,” he said, referring to the public’s response. Ultimately, he has faith in the audience’s love for film.

“There are still movie theatres,” Klein said, nodding. “People do still go to the movies and look at the box office of the opening weekend.” He then added, with a knowing smile, “I’m excited about this.”

We’re Still Together will be released on Sept. 29 at Cineplex Odeon Forum and Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin. Jesse Noah Klein will be available for Q&A sessions on the 29th at the Quartier Latin (in French) and on the 30th at the Forum (in English).

Categories
Opinions

Why Concordia’s journalism program needs updating—again

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Change can definitely be a good thing. While it’s great to stick to a certain niche, it’s really important to evolve your ideas and abilities so that you can keep up with this fast-paced world.

Take Concordia’s journalism program, for example. It’s no secret that journalism has shifted from a traditional print platform to a digital one. Now, reporters are expected to know not only how to write, but also how to take photos, edit sound clips and record video. It’s a great shift, since it encompasses where our society is going in terms of technological advances. But we at The Concordian feel that, although the journalism program has changed for the better since its upgrade in 2016, there is still room for improvement.

It’s understandable that change had to come to a program like journalism—a field that’s always transforming and adapting. To be honest, though, the changes seem better in theory than in practice.

For example, under the old program, students had the option of choosing between a major in textual or audiovisual (AV) journalism. Regardless of which path students chose, though, all were required to spend a semester learning the basics of radio journalism, and another semester focusing on an introduction to video. Later on in their degree, students were offered a semester-long course on photojournalism.

Under the new program, however, students are expected to learn the basics of radio, video and photojournalism in just 15 weeks. That’s about four or five weeks per subject—simply not enough time to familiarize yourself with the basics let alone prepare you for more advanced radio and video courses.

While we at The Concordian agree with the department’s attempt to better prepare students for a work environment that requires journalists to be jacks-of-all-trades, the changes seem to go too far in the other direction. In trying to teach students so much material in so little time, many j-schoolers risk finishing courses with less knowledge than they would have under the old curriculum.

But the changes aren’t all negative. It’s extremely important to highlight the program’s necessary shift from traditional to digital media and its implications on young journalists. Writing, of course, is always going to be a critical tool for journalists. But video, radio and photography have also become necessary skills for a career in this field.

While the new program does offer in-depth audiovisual courses at the 300 and 400-level, we hope the department acknowledges that the overly condensed format of the program’s first year hinders rather than helps prepare students for the rest of their degree.

Another change that has been made to the program is that the course “Radio Newsroom” is no longer required for second-year AV students. Especially given the limited time spent acquiring radio skills in year one, we at The Concordian believe the department should create more of an opportunity for students to develop their broadcasting skills in a hands-on environment.

Ultimately, we believe the changes made to the journalism program show potential, even though they remain far from ideal. The fact that the department was willing to adapt to a shifting work environment gives us confidence that we haven’t seen the end of the department’s attempts to make adjustments for the sake of its students’ education.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Categories
News

Concordia department of journalism chair David Secko discusses new program

Concordia journalism department chair David Secko discusses the new journalism program. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Chair responds to student criticism and needs of contemporary media

Gone are the year-long classes and the opportunity to graduate with a 72-credit specialization from Concordia’s journalism department. Since 2016, all journalism students are enrolled in the department’s new 45-credit major.

A year after the change, department chair David Secko said the objective of the new format was to fully integrate all aspects of journalism––written, audio and video––into the program. As of next year, new students will also wrap up their degree with a digital magazine course where they will bring “all their skills together,” Secko said.

Despite the changes, some former students, like Salim Valji and Noëlle Solange Didierjean, are voicing their discontent with the program. In March, Valji and Didierjean sat down with Secko and the department’s undergraduate program director, Andrea Hunter, to discuss ways to improve the program.

Among their concerns were the department’s cutting of the radio newsroom course—a class where students are asked to produce a 15-minute newscast in two and a half hours—from two classes per week to one.

“The university is in deficit, and there are just not enough course sections to hold that many courses,” Secko told The Concordian when asked about the reduced number of radio newsroom classes. “It was obvious we [were] going to need to change some things because the university wasn’t going to allow us to have that many courses.” The chair said he turned to professor Paul Gott to “make the class as good as before, or as close as before, with less sections.”

Valji and Didierjean were also critical of the method by which the department selected students to be part of a class with Patti Sonntag, a Concordia alumna and the managing editor of The New York Times’s news services division. Sonntag, Concordia’s former journalist-in-residence, taught an independent study course in the Winter 2017 semester.

The students who were part of the class collaborated on an investigative journalism project published in the Canadian magazine The Walrus.

According to Secko, the students were chosen “based on criteria” set by former chair Brian Gabrial and “those sets of students had to go through an application with [Sonntag].”

Valji and Didierjean were also critical of the attendance selection process for a conference given by CBC foreign correspondent Nahlah Ayed in February 2017. In that case, the department invited students “that excelled in certain classes,” according to Secko. The chair said he received negative feedback from students following the closed session, but pointed out that when Ayed was invited in the fall to speak for a conference, and only nine students showed up.

“More [journalism] students should be interested, and they should be more engaged,” Secko said. “We try the best we can to engage students to think how journalism is. In the end, that passion and that fire has to come [from them].”

The department has written to journalism students about their lack of attendance at events in the past. In an email dated Sept. 28, 2015 obtained by The Concordian, Gabrial wrote: “The biggest question I received from our alumni at our 40th anniversary […] was, ‘Where are the students?’”

“I want to remind you that, just as our department will do whatever it can to support you, sometimes you need to support the department,” the email read.

Secko said the department intends to start micro-teaching courses where a journalist will give a two- or three-hour course on a subject they’re specialized in to combine the benefits of lectures and journalism practice.

Listening to students

Feedback and comments on the program currently come in many informal ways such as interactions between students and professors, debriefs with Hunter and course evaluations at the end of the year.

“Should we be doing more ‘active focus group-style’ [conversations] or things like that to [fix] holes? That’s going to take me a little bit of time to think through,” Secko said.

“Now in my own mind,” he added, “whether we’ll do it or not, [we have to] think where it will go, and I don’t want to distract people. I do think there’s space to formalize that even more.”

Despite not having any formal ways for students to suggest changes yet, Secko said students have come forward with ideas for classes.

For one, he said the idea of a “business of journalism” course has been “reflected a lot.”

“I couldn’t pick the brain of an instructor on how to pitch myself or my stories,” Valji told The Concordian. “Most of them had never worked as journalists in the digital media era. They had no experience in writing pitch emails and negotiating with editors.”

“Often, those elements of entrepreneurism are built into many of the classes,” Secko said. “Whether or not they need to all come out and get put into a specific class is something we often look at.”

Secko explained that new classes first have to be designed by a curriculum committee, then sent to the office of the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, André Roy.

“If the dean likes it, it would go up,” Secko said. Following the approval of the dean’s office, the course needs to be approved by the Concordia Senate.

“It takes, if you’re lucky, about a year,” according to Secko.

Before the beginning of the semester, the department chairs and instructors also met with representatives from Quebec and Montreal-based media. According to CBC Montreal managing editor Helen Evans, who attended the meeting, the department asked questions such as: “What do you need from our journalism graduates?”

Secko said conversations with media representatives have changed in focus from the need for national and international coverage “towards the need to understand what Montreal needs [and] what Quebec needs.”

The journalism department also plans to introduce a sports journalism class funded by a $650,000 donation made by Sportsnet in December 2015. Secko said the money––which has already been used for various scholarships––will pay for the professor “and any other thing” needed to run the course.

Valji, who has contributed to ESPN, The New York Times and most-recently started working for TSN, said Secko “really has to think about what the department’s identity is.”

“Are we a journalism school or a school that studies journalism?” the Concordia alumnus asked, referring to the department’s need to emphasize practical journalism.

“All of us need to really think very carefully about what is journalism in 2017,” Evans said. “The context has changed drastically and any journalism program at any point needs to be thinking about the exact time it’s offering that program.”

Secko’s vision is one where students are able to think critically and for themselves—a program where students have the “ability to be entrepreneurs […] and find new ways to interact with the constantly evolving media environment.”

“Part of what we need to do in thinking of the perfect program is to always interact with students, alums, with as many people as we can get through,” Secko said.

Photo by Alex Hutchins

Categories
News

Roméo Dallaire to youth at TEDx Concordia: “Why don’t we lead the pack?”

Romeo Dallaire talks to Concordia students at TEDxConcordia conference. Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Human rights icon encourages TEDxConcordia audience to be agents of change

Canada’s young people have the power and responsibility to be agents of change in the world, according to lieutenant general Roméo Dallaire.

The author and champion of human rights spoke at TEDxConcordia, an independently organized TED conference with the theme “Welcome to the Next Generation,” on Sept. 24. He called on the mostly-young audience to harness the power of modern communication technology, as well as their voting power, to take on global challenges.

“One of the great advantages that [today’s young people] have is that they’ve mastered a tool that none of us have ever had before,” Dallaire said, referring to modern communication technology and social media.

“We [were never global’ before],” he said. “Now, we can actually communicate in real time. With that extraordinary technological revolution, we should be maximizing it.”

He also encouraged young Canadians to take full advantage of their right to vote, saying that “if they all voted, they would actually hold the balance of power in this country.”

Dallaire criticized the Canadian government for not having a clear vision of its own future and place in the world, especially on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Confederation. “Where do we [see] this country, this Canada, in a global environment? What can it do to advance humanity?” he said. “It is in the hands of you, the young people, to articulate the absolute essentiality of giving that focus and moving beyond our borders.”

Since his time as force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the Rwandan genocide, Dallaire has become a globally-recognized champion of human rights. His 2004 memoir, Shake Hands with the Devil, which criticized the global response to the Rwandan genocide, was a national bestseller and recipient of several awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award.

He also founded an organization, the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, which works with governments, militaries and police forces around the world to promote non-lethal strategies for dealing with child soldiers on the battlefield.

Dallaire encouraged the young people in the audience to take on this cause as well. Describing the plight of child soldiers around the globe, he said, “In so many countries in the world, your peers are the ones being absorbed and becoming the victims and actually being destroyed by the decisions of adults.”

He said that, while there is a system of international laws designed to protect children, “there’s not much in the field to actually implement it.”

According to Dallaire, in at least 17 current conflicts around the world, “we are seeing tens of thousands of children being used as the primary weapon, of which 40 per cent are girls.” He said these children are recruited for a number of purposes, from front-line fighting to sex slavery. “There’s something fundamentally, morally corrupt about the world for permitting that.”

Dallaire concluded his talk by saying he is hopeful that one day the use of children on the battlefield will be not only eliminated, but will be deemed “unthinkable.”

Feature photo by Mackenzie Lad

Categories
News

MIGS’s Kyle Matthews on the situation in Myanmar

Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies executive director Kyle Matthews comments on the situation concerning Rohingya people in Myanmar. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Rohingya killings are textbook case of ethnic cleansing, says institute’s executive director

Last week, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, condemned the treatment of the Rohingya people by the Burmese government, labelling it a textbook case of ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar’s government has denied the media and international observers access to the Rakhine state located near the Bangladesh border where, according to fleeing villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch, soldiers from the Burmese military are executing civilians, raping thousands of women and burning down hundreds of Rohingya settlements.

Myanmar has never granted citizenship to the mostly Muslim Rohingya and tensions have been high between them and Myanmar’s Buddhist majority population for years. On Aug. 25, the conflict reached a tipping point when a Rohingya militant group staged a coordinated attack on 24 police stations and outposts in the region, Al Jazeera reported. Since then, the Burmese government has cracked down on the Rohingya under the guise of a security operation, according to the same publication.

The U.N. Refugee Agency estimates that, as of Sept. 11, over 370,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from northwestern Myanmar into Bangladesh.

Kyle Matthews, the executive director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia, agreed with the U.N. high commissioner’s accusation. He said the Burmese government is breaking international law by engaging in ethnic cleansing, and people need to speak out. Matthews works with parliamentarians, researchers and activists—including Quebec Senator Romeo Dallaire—to increase public awareness of genocide and violent extremism. MIGS’s goal is to prevent mass atrocities, like the Rwandan genocide, from ever happening again.

Researchers at the institute have been following the situation in Myanmar for years, but as it has become more dire, Matthews has started to speak out. Here’s what he had to say about the Myanmar crisis.

Q: Would you use the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe the situation in Myanmar?

A: I think it’s a textbook case. There are verified reports of villages being burnt. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have confirmed, through satellite technology, that it is taking place. There have been tales of refugees crossing into Bangladesh, giving accounts of Myanmar’s military attacking the villages and threatening that if the Rohingya don’t leave, they would kill everyone. It’s ethnic cleansing, that’s for sure.

Q: What’s the definition of ethnic cleansing?

A: Well, there’s a legal definition, and it’s encompassed as one of four mass atrocity crimes under the Responsibility to Protect principles, [a global political commitment endorsed by all U.N. member states]. The term “ethnic cleansing” came out of the Balkan conflict. It’s where you use physical violence to intimidate a population to get them to leave the area where they’re living and to ensure they never come back. So it’s not genocide, where you want to destroy the group in whole or in part, but it’s to basically kick them off the land and make sure they don’t come back. So it fits that. Others have said that there’s also a genocide going on.

Q: Is the distinction between genocide and ethnic cleansing important in this case?

A: No, I don’t think so. Whether it’s genocide or ethnic cleansing has to be analyzed by a court of law, but I think it’s safe to say there are mass atrocity crimes taking place.

Q: The Burmese government is denying access to observers and media in the Rakhine state. Why is that important?

A: I think they’re denying access because they’ve got something to hide. Before all this violence took place, there were crackdowns on international NGOs. We worked with some Canadian NGOs in Rakhine state. They’ve talked about very difficult challenges to get there. Media has had trouble accessing the area. That’s textbook when a government is conducting mass atrocities.

Q: Is it important for countries or leaders to denounce these types of situations?

A: I think it’s important. I think most leaders are afraid to do that, but we have a legal responsibility. Canada, for example, has an additional responsibility because [Myanmar’s leader] Aung San Suu Kyi is an honorary Canadian citizen. We have a responsibility to speak out. International law is quite clear; there’s nothing there that says we’re supposed to be quiet. I think we have to speak out. When you don’t name a certain human rights violation, then you’re avoiding what’s really taking place. So I think, politically, we need to stand out. However, the most positive thing about Myanmar has been all of these other Nobel Peace Prize winners denouncing what’s happening. That gives [the issue] a moral voice, and it also shows political leaders an incentive to be more forceful.

Q: What can individuals do?

A: There’s a lot you can do. First of all, we live in a democracy. We can use our individual voices to write to political leaders—be that the Liberal government or the opposition—to say that this is important to us and we want Canada to take more action, we want Canada to speak publicly and denounce this regime. We don’t have to fall into apathy. We can use our individual power to try to make change. In every humanitarian disaster, it comes down to individuals that show leadership and make a difference.

Photo by Alex Hutchins

Categories
Arts

Delving into queer experiences

The History of Sexuality will be playing at the MainLine Theatre from Sept. 21 to 30. Photo courtesy of Erika Rosenbaum Photography.

Dane Stewart debuts a self-written, directed and produced endeavour

While reflecting on the intent behind writing his newest theatrical piece, Dane Stewart expressed that he wanted “to combine Foucauldian, feminist, queer theorists and their texts with lived experiences of people in Montreal.”

As one of Concordia’s recent graduates of the individualized master’s program, Stewart is set to debut his play at the MainLine Theatre on Sept. 21. The production, titled The History of Sexuality, explores themes of power, sex and queerness in the context of student life in Montreal. The plot follows five graduate students who are enrolled in a seminar studying the philosophy of French intellectual Michel Foucault. Stewart said he had studied Foucault’s work at Concordia himself and became particularly inspired by the philosopher’s book, also titled The History of Sexuality.

Foucault’s philosophy, along with a number of theatrical pieces using a technique called verbatim theatre prompted Stewart to start writing his own play. Verbatim theatre involves the playwright conducting a series of interviews, transcribing the interviews and using the direct quotes to script the play. So, as Stewart explained, the actors in a verbatim theatre piece would speak the words of the interviewees.

Dane Stewart wrote the play as part of his thesis for his master’s degree. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Typically, this method is used in documentary-style plays so actors portray the real-life people whose words they are speaking. Stewart, however, decided to use the verbatim theatre technique in order to adapt real-life experiences into the lives of fictional characters. He conducted interviews with several people within Montreal’s queer community about their experiences. Then, Stewart extracted sections of these interviews to be spoken by the characters in his play. By doing so, the playwright added, he was able to include a variety of perspectives outside of his own without needing to speak for anyone.

Stewart called this technique “fictionalized verbatim theatre,” although he recognizes that he may not be the only playwright using it. He developed this method while working on his thesis for his master’s degree, and received a grant from CALQ (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec) to further improve it himself. The grant allowed him and his team to hold workshops in order to explore and develop this writing technique. With this help, they were able to write several drafts and spend time perfecting Stewart’s work.

After finishing his thesis and graduating from the master’s program where he studied theatre, communications, and gender and sexuality studies through an interdisciplinary program, Stewart began working towards showing his play at the MainLine Theatre. He worked alongside Michelle Soicher, a fourth-year undergraduate theatre student who took on the role of assistant director and stage manager to gain experience as well as academic credits.

“Queerness, non-normative sexual identity and sexual practice have been a big part of my life. It’s also been a very challenging part at times,” Stewart said.

Although drawing upon his own experience as someone who identifies as queer was extremely useful, Stewart said he wanted to capture the realities of other people in Montreal’s queer community as well. Through conducting a number of interviews and refining his writing technique with the workshops funded by CALQ, Stewart is finally left with a piece that he said he believes tells the stories of the individuals featured “very well.”

The playwright also recognized that the stories explored in his play are just a small portion of the diverse experiences that make up the queer community as a whole. He added, “I also am a believer in intersectionality and striving—as someone who takes up a lot of space or has the capacity to take up a lot of space in life and in society—to subscribe to the mandate of ‘take space to make space.’”

According to Stewart, The History of Sexuality is very much based in reality. The setting is a replication of what attending graduate school in Montreal is like today. It was important to Stewart to not only acknowledge the diversity within the queer community in Montreal, but also to represent the characters in his play as real people living real lives.

“One of my goals with the piece,” he said, “is to present queerness—to present non-normative sexual practices, sexual identities and expressions of gender—as just intimate and honest and real.”

“A lot of media and a lot of art that’s surrounding queerness and queer sexualities and genders these days, I feel is quite sensational,” he added. “[The characters in the play] are just people going through their daily lives. I think it’s important for us to see that.”

The History of Sexuality will be playing at the MainLine Theatre, at 3997 Boul. St-Laurent, from Sept. 21 to 30. Showtime is at 8 p.m. with additional showings at 2 p.m. on Sept. 23 and 30. Tickets are available through the Facebook event and the MainLine Theatre’s website. Prices can vary depending on your financial situation.

Feature photo courtesy of Erika Rosenbaum Photography

Categories
Opinions

Know your rights as a tenant

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

As we enter the third week of the fall semester here at Concordia, many students are beginning to settle into their routines, their workloads and their living spaces. The experiences students have with their living situations vary widely: some are finding themselves in the apartment of their dreams with a landlord who is attentive and sympathetic, while others, unfortunately, are not.

It is not uncommon for landlords to take advantage of the inexperience of their student-tenants. This is why we at The Concordian hope to help educate students about their tenant rights and how to defend them. We’ve heard many horror stories of students being taken advantage of by their landlords. It’s for this reason that we’ve decided to address some of the injustices that are commonly inflicted on student-renters, and encourage students to stand up against them.

Believe it or not, landlords are not allowed to ask for any kind of deposit—for keys, damage or otherwise—when you first move in. This will come as a shock to some students, as we have heard countless stories of landlords asking for these payments. But it’s an important fact to be aware of.

Even some of our own editors at The Concordian have experienced situations where their landlord asked for a deposit of one month’s rent. Not knowing otherwise, they complied. Yet when they moved out, the landlord kept the $200, claiming it was for cleaning fees, even though the tenant cleaned the space before leaving without existing laws requiring them to do so.

One of our editors, Matthew Coyte shared his experience with renting apartments. He had found an apartment that seemed ideal on Kijiji, for $1,600 a month. But when he and his friends got to the apartment, it was the complete opposite of ideal.

“The place was run down, unfurnished,” he said. “The worst part was the landlord, who had demanded that if we were interested in renting the apartment for the coming school year, we would need to put down a security deposit, which would cost us the first two months’ rent.” When Coyte and his friends explained that Quebec renting laws make it illegal for landlords to ask for payment before the beginning of the lease, the landlord cited reasons of “making sure [they] would honour the agreement.”

These are just a few of the many situations students face when trying to find an apartment. As a renter, you sometimes have to use your own discretion when deciding whether what a landlord is asking for is fair. You should be aware of the risk you are taking if you decide to go through with renting an apartment.

Students should also be aware that landlords are, by law, required to clean an apartment before the move-in date, perform necessary repairs in a timely fashion and give 24 hours notice before entering the apartment. Concordia Student Union’s Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO) has a website listing all of the things landlords are and aren’t allowed to do, as well as a list of precautions to take prior to signing a lease.

François Saillant noted in the Montreal Gazette in 2016 that the average rent in Quebec was $712 per month ($744 in Montreal). “To pay such a sum without spending more than the standard of 30 per cent of your revenues,” he wrote, “you must have an annual income of more than $28,500, which is obviously not the case for many tenants.” With rent this steep, students need to make sure they get what they’re paying for. It’s your duty as a tenant to stick up for your rights, not only for your sake, but for the sake of other tenants. It’s much harder to fight injustices when they become the norm.

Landlords have been taking advantage of young people for a long time because, well, first-time renters are often naive. If you’re renting an apartment this year, take the time to learn your rights so that you know when they’re being violated. If you think something about your rental agreement or living situation seems unfair or unclear, the university offers a variety of services, including HOJO, where you can speak to someone about the issue. The important thing though, is to make sure you speak up about it.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

Categories
Arts

Help save the environment and your wallet

CUCCR collects waste art materials on campus and offers them to students and the public for free. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

One of Concordia’s newest initiatives makes art production more affordable for students

Concordia’s newest, underground fine arts initiative (it is literally located in the basement) deserves some recognition. The CUCCR, nicknamed “sucker” by its creators and members, is both environmentally friendly and financially accessible to students.

It works by collecting excess supplies and used art materials from places around campus (studio classrooms, the Visual Arts building storage rooms, and the Grey Nuns residence) and making them readily available to the Concordia community and members of the public in one location. According to the initiative’s depot coordinator, Arrien Weeks, CUCCR’s members are people of all ages, spanning from ages “four to eighty.” Membership is required to utilize the centre, but both it and the use of the materials are completely free.

The centre is located in the Hall building and can be tricky to find. However, starting on the ground floor of the building, there are signs and stickers that help lead the way.

The CUCCR space was also built entirely from waste materials found on campus. The wooden signs, shelving, tables and organizers were repurposed to create a warm, welcoming and store-like room where materials are categorized and displayed in an organized way. The types of materials can vary depending on what is collected and donated, but what is currently available varies from wooden boards to rubber bands and even miniature sand buckets. Used canvases are also a “hot seller,” said Weeks.

Additionally, the centre also accepts material donations to be re-used by fellow Concordians. However, be sure to check CUCCR’s website before bringing something in, as the organization doesn’t accept certain materials such as used textbooks, oil paints and articles of clothing.

According to Weeks, since the centre’s opening in March, they have had an influx of memberships but hope to increase membership even more over the school year. Recently, they’ve gained more exposure through studio arts class presentations and trips to the centre. In the future, Weeks said, CUCCR hopes to expand their initiative to a larger and more accessible space on a ground floor, “to increase our visibility even more, but also to have more space to collect more materials.”

CUCCR’s main goal is to largely reduce Concordia’s waste. According to Weeks, “up to today, CUCCR has collected over four tonnes of Concordia’s waste, and members have checked out over two tonnes of that waste.” In the years to come, Weeks said, they hope to exponentially increase both of these numbers—which are recorded through the centre’s checkout system.

“We have pretty much everything, so just come by and take a look,” Weeks added.

CUCCR is open Tuesday to Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and is located at H013-7 in the Hall building. For more information on materials available, becoming a member, donating and more, check out CUCCR’s website.

Photo by Kirubel Mehari

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