Trent University Celebrates Indigenous Studies and First Peoples’ House of Learning Alumni at 50th Anniversary Weekend

Join a special gathering in honour of the Williams family of Curve Lake First Nation with 3 generations of Trent graduates

Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, ON

Trent University’s Indigenous Studies Program and the First Peoples’ House of Learning (FPHL) welcome visitors and media to celebrate Trent’s 50th anniversary at a special gathering on Saturday, August 9, 2014 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Ernest and Florence Benedict Gathering Space at Gzowski College. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

In partnership with the FPHL Indigenous Alumni Chapter at Trent, the celebration will acknowledge the amazing and unique achievements of the Williams family of Curve Lake First Nation, with three generations of graduates from Trent University (see detail below).

The gathering will also be the venue for the official opening of the Dr. Gilbert Monture Oral History lab, a portrait installation in the Jake Thomas room, and the launch of several new books:

• Aboriginal Knowledge for Economic Development, edited by Prof. David Newhouse, Jeff Orr, and the Atlantic Aboriginal Economic Development Integrated Research Program
• Indigenous Poetics in Canada, edited by Neal McLeod
• Spirit of the Island: Manitoulin’s People, by Prof. Rhonda L. Paulsen, translated by Prof. Shirley Williams and Isadore Toulouse
• Paa Giigoonh Ke Daa / Let’s Go Fishing, from storyteller Jim Shearer, and writer and illustrator Elizabeth Gauthier

The Indigenous Studies celebration will take place following the Saturday morning panel of the Ideas That Change The World Symposium at Trent University, taking place Friday August 8 and Saturday August 9 as part of the 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Weekend. Fifteen influential and renowned speakers will participate in panels for the Indigenous Peoples in Canada theme, on the topics of Politics and Policy, Education, and Socio-Cultural Development. More information about the Symposium’s Indigenous panels and ticket registration is available at http://www.trentu.ca/fifty/symposiumindigenous.php.

Event Details:

What: Trent University Indigenous Celebrations at 50th Anniversary Kick-Off
When: Indigenous Studies and FPHL Alumni Celebration on Saturday, August 9, 1:30 p.m.
Ideas That Change The World Symposium panels on Fri, Aug 8 / Sat, Aug 9
Where: Gzowski College, First Peoples’ House of Learning, Room 117, and Ernest and Florence Benedict Gathering Space, Trent University, 1 Gzowski Way Peterborough, ON K9J 8S6

The Williams Family:
Three generations of the Williams family, of Curve Lake First Nation and Trout Lake, Ontario, have graduated from Trent University over the past 40 years. Douglas Williams attended Trent in the early 1970s and was among the first graduating class of the Indigenous Studies program. He is an Elder of the Curve Lake First Nation and director of the Indigenous Studies Ph.D. program at Trent. Alice Olsen Williams also began studying at Trent part-time in the early 1970s, and later became a full-time student so that she could graduate during her friend Margaret Laurence’s time as Trent Chancellor. Alice graduated from Indigenous Studies in 1982 and received her degree from Margaret’s hand. Originally from Trout Lake, Alice is a renowned quilt artist and activist for Indigenous and women’s rights.

Douglas and Alice’s children, Saga (Alison Sagateh), Sarah Leona, and Keesic Williams, and their granddaughter Amelia Megan Williams-Millard, also graduated from Trent University. Sarah is now a medical doctor and senior advisor for Health Services with the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia, and will be a panelist discussing family issues in the Life and Health sessions at the Ideas That Change The World Symposium.

Indigenous people in Canada are just now beginning to access and successfully complete the educational requirements for degrees from Canadian universities. Since 1969, Trent University has had a longstanding commitment to provide First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, as well as non-status Native people, with access to the school through the Indigenous Studies Diploma program, which continues to facilitate admission and studies for Indigenous people from all over Canada. Trent is proud to have had the opportunity to educate members of this exceptional family for three generations. Their achievements have been outstanding as a family and as individuals.

For more information about the events, please contact:
Christine Welter, administrator, Indigenous Studies Department, Trent University
705-748-1011 ext. 7610 or cwelter@trentu.ca

Bring It On! Trent University Hosts New Students for Orientation Weekend

Unique program helps students develop academic and social strategies for beginning university in September

Friday, July 25, 2014, Peterborough

Trent University’s Office of Student Affairs hosts Bring It On! – a weekend-long orientation program for first-year students – on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27, 2014. Created in 2008, Bring It On! is unique among the student orientation programs offered at many other universities.

The program gives students an opportunity to become familiar with living in residence, develop relationships with other incoming students, and create a connection with the University before arriving in September. It also provides students with a chance to learn and build strategies for academic and social success. With its balance of social and academic programming, Bring It On! leaves participants feeling excited and prepared. Students who take part in the program have much greater success rates in their first year in university.

Students spend the weekend in small groups, participating in a variety of activities led by upper-year students, many of whom are leaders on campus. Activities include rock climbing in the Athletics Centre, canoeing on the Otonabee River, hiking up the famous Trent Drumlin, and workshops on transitioning from high school to university.

Watch video testimonials from past Bring it On! participants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKgo6MNmxdI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1PlVye7tiM

Event Details:

What: Trent University Student Orientation Weekend – Bring It On!

When: Saturday, July 26, 2014 and Sunday, July 27, 2014

Time: Photo opportunities on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. and Sunday at 3:45 p.m.

Where: Gzowski College outdoor quad
Trent University
1 Gzowski Way
Peterborough, ON K9J 8S6

For more information, please contact:
Sako Khederlarian, orientation coordinator, Office of Student Affairs
705-748-1011 ext. 7162 or sako@trentu.ca

New Trent President Leo Groarke Shares Thoughts on the Future of Education

Dr. Groarke began his term as president in July 2014

As Dr. Leo Groarke began his term as Trent University’s eighth president and vice-chancellor on July 1, 2014, he has wasted no time in reaching out to the community with op ed pieces in the Peterborough Examiner and in Peterborough This Week on July 18, 2014.

President Groake shared that he feels fortunate to have the opportunity to join Trent University, particularly as we approach the 50th anniversary, a milestone moment in our history. He looks forward to working with our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the community in Peterborough and Durham region to enhance a university already known for high quality teaching, excellence in research, and for the care it takes in preparing students for a successful future.

“As we enter the next 50 years of Trent’s history, I hope to continue to build Trent’s well-deserved reputation as a leading Canadian university offering a comprehensive and impressive range of academically rigorous programs while providing all the benefits of a personal, close-knit community,” said President Groarke.

In the editorials published today, President Groarke shares that his motivations for taking on his new role are rooted in university ideals and in Trent and the communities it engages. He also comments, based on his many years of experience as a post-secondary educator and administrator, on the impact of a university degree in providing students with the ability to see issues from a broader perspectives, to think critically, and to communicate well – skills and qualities which lead to higher earnings and more employment options. In sharing key aspects of his vision for the future of university education and of Trent, he points to several ways in which Trent aims to be a key component of the future of Ontario, of which community partnerships will be one critical part.

The entire University community warmly welcomes Dr. Leo Groarke. To read more about our new president, please visit www.trentu.ca/president.

Trent Anthropologists Discover Cultural Background is Key to Lucid Dreaming

Research published by professor and graduate student shows that experience of lucid dreaming depends on cultural assumptions

Thursday, July 15, 2014, Oshawa, ON

Have you ever had a dream in which you realized that you were dreaming? What did you do next? New research by Trent University Oshawa Anthropology professor Roger Lohmann and graduate student Shayne Dahl indicates that cultural learning shapes the kind of awareness and control we can experience while dreaming, how we explain it, and what we can do with it.

“Scouring the ethnographic record on dreaming for hints of lucidity under Professor Lohmann’s guidance, I found something surprising: that lucid dreaming is widely thought to have serious consequences,” said Mr. Dahl, who completed his M.A. thesis entitled “Knowing Means Connecting with the Source of Life: Knowledge and Ethics among Blackfoot Traditionalists” at Trent in 2012, and is now a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto. “As one of my Blackfoot informants put it, ‘You could die in your dream.’”

Prof. Lohmann and Mr. Dahl’s findings will be published in July 2014 in a piece called “Cultural Contingency and the Varieties of Lucid Dreaming” as part of the collection Lucid Dreaming: New Perspectives on Consciousness in Sleep. Lucid dreaming – waking consciousness arising during a dream – has been a hot topic of scientific research in recent years. According to Prof. Lohmann and Mr. Dahl’s research, the common assumption that dreams are products of isolated imaginations has distorted our understanding of lucidity’s variation in form, function, and real-world outcomes. While pop culture portrayals in films like Avatar and Inception present fantasies of lucid dreaming enabling marvelous powers outside the dream world, many traditional and religious cultural worldviews direct people in all seriousness to purposefully act while dreaming to effect changes in the waking world.

Prof. Lohmann’s fieldwork in Papua New Guinea among the Asabano people explored how they used dreaming as evidence for and contact with supernatural beings. “Asabano converts often told me that seeing dreams of Jesus or Heaven convinced them that what the missionary told them was true,” said Prof. Lohmann. “It struck me that they had to believe their dreams were more than figments of their own imaginations to reach that conclusion, and that I, for example, would not be convinced by the same experience because of my different cultural background.”

Similarly, Mr. Dahl’s M.A. fieldwork in Alberta included encounters with lucid dreaming practiced by Aboriginal medicine men. “Shayne’s field experiences and initial search of the world ethnographic literature brought home to us that lucid dreaming is an altogether different undertaking with profound potentials for people who think it’s more than just a fantasy. In fact, in our further investigation, we found that [descriptions of] lucid dreams are radically different in form, function, and outcome depending on the cultural assumptions of the dreamer,” said Prof. Lohmann.

Their research revealed evidence that in some cultures, lucid dreaming is unknown, while in others it is taught. In some, lucidity is tacit rather than acknowledged, but people nevertheless believe that they actively undertake goals in their dreams. Prof. Lohmann and Mr. Dahl found that this implicitly lucid “volitional dreaming” commonly appears in ethnographic accounts of dreaming. In cultures where “generative” theory holds sway, dreaming of something is understood to cause it to happen in the waking world. This leads people to experience lucid dreams as opportunities to create or do magic, spinning off a placebo effect or even a killing “nocebo” effect, as Dahl describes in his thesis. By contrast, people who believe dreams are what one sees during “soul travel” use lucid dreams as an opportunity to spiritually visit actual places.

“Even when we consciously disbelieve our dreams,” Mr. Dahl said, “they still affect us at a deeper, emotional level that we can’t easily control with reason.”

“All of this shows that cultural dream theories are multiple, that people invoke them in complex ways, and that they are at the very core of what lucid dreaming is and what it makes possible,” said Prof. Lohmann.

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For more information, please contact:
Dr. Roger Lohmann, associate professor of Anthropology, Trent University Oshawa
905-435-5100 ext. 5043 or rogerlohmann@trentu.ca

Show Your Alumni Spirit with Trent 50th Anniversary Gifts and Clothing

The Trent Alumni online store now features special merchandise items to help celebrate the University’s50th anniversary, kicking off this August and continuing all year long.

Show your Trent spirit with a brightly-coloured scarf from your college, engraved mugs and glasses, leather and canvas tablet messenger bags, and many clothing options for men, women and kids. Make sure you have your anniversary gear in time for the Kick-Off Reunion Weekend!

Proceeds from the sale of 50th anniversary merchandise help support the 2014-2015 celebration initiatives.

“It’s very timely to launch this new line of Trent Alumni merchandise,” said Lee Hays, director of Alumni Affairs at Trent University. “We know alumni love to wear their Trent gear and with this new online store, everyone has a chance to enhance their wardrobe or send a Trent gift, from the comfort of home!”

Visit the online Trent Alumni store to view the full selection of Trent products available. Post a photo of yourself and your family members with your Alumni items and hashtag #TrentU50!

Trent University Announces New Masters in Educational Studies Program

New M.Ed. program to begin in July 2015 will expand Trent’s capacity for building leadership in education

Thursday, July 10, 2014, Peterborough, ON

Trent University will open a new Masters in Educational Studies program in July 2015 at its School of Education and Professional Learning, providing an exceptional opportunity for teachers and professionals to build their educational leadership in an interdisciplinary, personalized, and research-focused environment.

The Masters in Educational Studies program will be deeply aligned with Trent’s mission, offering a truly interdisciplinary approach to educational studies. The M.Ed. program will benefit from the University’s established record of strong partnerships and collaborations with school boards and local communities, and from the focus on social and ecological justice that frames Trent’s programs.

“Since the inception of the School of Education and Professional Learning at Trent University in 2002, our faculty have anticipated the need to develop a graduate program in Educational Studies,” said Dr. Jacqueline Muldoon, dean of the School of Education and Professional Learning. “The interdisciplinary focus of the new M.Ed. program combined with a critical theory approach, a commitment to Indigenous education, and most importantly a focus on social and ecological justice make this program unique among others of its kind.”

Open to all individuals with a Bachelor degree, the M.Ed. program will feature a combination of course work, teaching and research seminars, and individual reading and research. Students will typically complete the program on a part-time basis over a minimum of two years.

“Trent’s School of Education and Professional Learning has a successful history of encouraging the development of its students through strong student-faculty connections, in line with the University’s values,” said Dr. Gary Boire, provost and vice-president academic, Trent University. “For a student group that will be largely composed of existing teachers and professionals, Trent’s commitment to fostering dialogue and mentoring in personal settings will make the M.Ed. program truly stand out.”

The Masters in Educational Studies will build on the University’s emphasis on research and enhance relationships with community partners such as school boards and educational organizations, providing research opportunities for graduate students. Students will develop the ability to contribute professionally in their future positions, to acquire skills that will enable them to contribute to knowledge creation and mobilization, and to think across disciplinary bounds.

The courses and research committees are designed to foster collaboration across a number of disciplines, theoretical perspectives and frameworks. Students will draw on the expertise of core faculty from education, business administration, Canadian studies, English literature, Indigenous studies, history and psychology. Trent’s M.Ed. program will also emphasize innovative use of education-related technologies to support high-quality student learning and to model best practices for the wider educational community.

As with the B.Ed. program, the Masters in Educational Studies program will attract students nationally and internationally. It will also meet a strong and documented need in the region. The M.Ed. program will attract professionals in the field of education, as well as students who wish to pursue academic careers in fields with related educational foci, such as medical or nursing education, environmental education, psychology and social work. It will also meet the needs of the local teaching profession who desire a higher professional degree, something increasingly seen as essential for professional development and advancement.

For more information about the Masters in Educational Studies program and to view the course pathway options, please visit trentu.ca/education/masters.

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New Governors Appointed to Trent University Board for Terms Commencing July 1, 2014

Newly appointed members will share skills in governance, education, Aboriginal relations, and financial leadership

Thursday, July 3, 2014, Peterborough

Trent University’s Board of Governors is pleased to announce the appointment of three new external members, who will bring to the Board a wide range of expertise in governance, Aboriginal relations, education, human rights and social justice issues, and financial and corporate leadership.

Mr. John Beaucage, Ms. Lucie Edwards and Mr. Ken Hartwick have been appointed external seats on the Board, each for a three-year term commencing July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2017.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome our new external governors,” commented Bryan Davies, chair, Trent University Board of Governors. “These individuals bring strong skills and experiences that will expand the Board’s perspectives and enrich its deliberations and decision-making. I am especially pleased that, as we prepare to mark Trent’s 50th anniversary in 2014, two of these external members are also Trent graduates.”

John Beaucage (External)
John Beaucage is one of Canada’s most respected First Nation leaders. He was elected as grand council chief of the 42-member First Nations of the Anishinabek Nation (Union of Ontario Indians) in 2004, after serving four consecutive terms as chief of Wasauksing First Nation. Since leaving his position as grand council chief in 2009, Mr. Beaucage has served on a number of boards, was the founding CEO of the Lake Huron Anishinabek Transmission Company and is working on green energy projects with several First Nations across the country. He worked for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for 15 years across the country and sat on the Premier’s Cabinet for Smoke-Free Ontario, Ontario’s Expert Panel on Climate Change and the Ontario Biodiversity Council. He is currently the principal at Council Public Affairs and also works as a freelance mediator and consultant on issues of green energy and land disputes. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with a combined degree in English and economics, he has done post-graduate work in First Nation planning at the University of British Columbia. Mr. Beaucage has been awarded an honorary Doctorate from Nipissing University.

Lucie Edwards (External)
Lucie Edwards is an instructor in international affairs at the Universities of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier, and is a candidate for a doctorate in Global Governance, specializing in science and environmental policy, at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Ms. Edwards enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Canadian Foreign Service, as Canada’s high commissioner in succession to Kenya, South Africa and India, and as permanent representative to the UN Environment Program. She also served as founding director general for global issues and senior assistant deputy minister for corporate services in the Department of Foreign Affairs. She retired as chief strategist and head of the Office for Transformation, steering an ambitious change management program within DFAIT. In 1995, she received the Public Service Award of Excellence for her humanitarian work during the genocide in Rwanda; she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2009. She has extensive experience in governance in the not-for-profit sector, having served as a trustee with international agencies specializing in education, public health, agriculture and scientific research. Ms. Edwards graduated from Trent University in 1976 and has maintained a strong connection with her alma mater, returning to lecture in development studies as the Ashley fellow and alumna in residence at Champlain College in 2011.

Ken Hartwick (External)
Ken Hartwick served as president and CEO of Just Energy until April 2014 after a career spanning more than 20 years in the financial sector. During his tenure at Just Energy, Mr. Hartwick served as president and CEO of Just Energy Group Inc. from June 2008 onwards, and as president from 2006 until June 2008, and chief financial officer from April 2004 to 2006. He played an integral role launching Just Energy’s businesses in Alberta, British Columbia, Indiana, New Jersey, California, Texas and the United Kingdom as well as growing the businesses already established in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, and New York. Previously he served as senior vice-president and chief financial officer of Hydro One Inc., the largest electricity delivery company in Ontario and one of the largest in North America. He also previously was a partner of Ernst & Young and a vice-president of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Mr. Hartwick serves on the Board of the Ontario Energy Association and on the Board of the Atlantic Power Corporation. He graduated from Trent University in 1985 with an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration and maintains a strong commitment to Trent.

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For more information, please contact:
Deb deBruijn, university secretary, Trent University
705-748-1011 ext. 1223 or debdebruijn@trentu.ca

Former Canadian Ambassador Shares Experiences of Cuba with Students at Trent University Oshawa

Trent University Oshawa students had a rare and valuable experience when Mark Entwistle, former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, participated in a summer seminar class at Trent University Oshawa on Monday, June 23, 2014. A group of third- and fourth-year students had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Entwistle during an informal reception, followed by the seminar dialogue on Cuba and North America.

The seminar course is taught by history professor Dr. Robert Wright, who provides students with the opportunity to explore Cuban-North American relations in depth, both through discussion of scholarship in the field and through advanced independent research. The course examines the evolution of Canadian and American relations with Cuba since the nineteenth century, with a particular emphasis on the Castro era.

"Few Canadians know Cuba as well as Mark Entwistle," says Prof. Wright. "Students had the opportunity to discuss what they have read about Fidel Castro, for example, with somebody who spent over a hundred hours in his presence. But more than this, Mark has literally lived Canadian history, whether serving at the Canadian Embassy in the 'perestroika' era Moscow of Mikhael Gorbachev, or advising Canadian prime ministers and ministers. It is this extraordinary wealth of experience that Mark brought to the students of Trent Oshawa."

Mr. Entwistle was a Canadian diplomat for sixteen years and served as Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Cuba from 1993 to 1997. Among other achievements, he drafted the 14-point joint Canadian-Cuban declaration that ultimately led to the Chrétien-Castro state visit of 1998, the only one of its kind other than Pierre Trudeau's visit in 1976. Mr. Entwistle is widely regarded as the most activist ambassador Canada ever posted to Cuba. His Foreign Service career included assignments at the Canadian Embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel (1982-1985) and Moscow, in the former USSR (1986-1989), where he was responsible for political analysis and bilateral relations.

Prof. Wright interviewed Mr. Entwistle in 2004 while researching his book on Pierre Trudeau and Fidel Castro, Three Nights in Havana. Since that time, Prof. Wright and Mr. Entwistle have collaborated on several projects, including a highly successful round table on Cuba held at Trent Oshawa in November 2007, and the 2009 book Our Place in the Sun.