General Education

Ideas that Matter: Teaching and Learning About Residential Schools with Film

The MRU Community is invited to a special “Ideas that Matter” panel that explores the possibilities of teaching and learning about residential schools with film. Speakers include: Dr. Renae Watchman, Dr. Jennifer Pettit, and Dr. Sean Carleton.

Title: Ideas that Matter: Teaching and Learning About Residential Schools with Film

Date: Wednesday, March 14

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:20 PM

Location: T143

 
Dr. Renae Watchman will discuss the importance of why representation matters in film. She teaches a course on Indigenous film which takes aim at Hollywood’s depiction of indigeneity and more importantly, focuses on how Indigenous filmmakers and actors have responded. She will also interrogate the strengths and limitations of visual media, by engaging her ongoing research on erasure of Indigenous stories through film. 
 
Focusing specifically on teaching and learning about the history of residential schools, Dr. Jennifer Pettit will examine the potential of documentary films as pedagogical tools and Dr. Sean Carleton will talk about Rhymes with Young Ghouls and how uses fiction to confront the horrors of residential schooling in Canada.

Liberal Education Conference April 27-29, 2017

The Department of General Education, with the support of Medicine Hat College, MRU’s President and the Associate Vice President of Research, Scholarship and Community Engagement, will be hosting our first Liberal Education Conference. Our theme is, “The Idea of the University and the State of Liberal Education in the 21st Century.”

We are pleased to confirm that Minister of Advanced Education, Marlin Schmidt will be speaking on the first day of the conference. Dr. Katherine Aidala from Mount Holyoke College and Prof. Natasha Bakht from the University of Ottawa will both serve as our keynote presenters. Please see the program for details at http://libed.mtroyal.ca .

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write the Chair of General Education, Karim Dharamsi (kdharamsi@mtroyal.ca).

 


Climate Change and Carbon Tax in Alberta

Department of General Education

Climate Change and Carbon Tax in Alberta

“I want us to be leaders on climate change and energy”
-Brian Malkinson

Tuesday, March 28, 9:30 –11:50 am
Jenkins Theatre
Mount Royal University

Brian Malkinson, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary – Currie

How We Sound Concert Series

Kenna Burima – April 6, 2017  11:00-12:30 Jenkins Theatre

A classically trained pianist with a flair for jazz, pop, garage rock, and every genre in between, Calgary’s Kenna Burima’s current work Hymn features swirling synths and a meticulously crafted horn arrangement laying the foundation for songs mining the social, political, and emotional ground of an angry world.

 

Winter 2017 General Education Colloquium

Social Democracy and the Left in Canada: Past, Present, and Future – March 21, 12:30-1:30 EA2007

In 1932, at the Legion in downtown Calgary, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was formed.  Today, Alberta is the only province governed by the New Democratic Party. In the 85 years in between, the CCF/NDP has had its share of successes and disappointments in Canadian federal and provincial politics.  However, there has been relatively little academic work done on Canada’s party of the Left and its history. This is particularly noteworthy in comparison to the extensive body of work that exists about Canada’s other two national parties.

This colloquium will discuss a conference to be held at Mount Royal University May 12-14 that seeks to remedy this imbalance. We will examine the state of the NDP and the extra-parliamentary Left from the vantage point of the past and provide a critical historical and current-day basis from which the cause of social democracy in Canada can continue to advance.

Winter 2017 General Education Colloquium

Thursday, January 26, 12:30-1:30  Dr. Miriam Carey – “Creating Leaders in Our Community: an Ontological Approach to Leadership Development“.    EA2060

Tuesday, March 21, 12:30-1:30 Dr. Roberta Lexier – “Social Democracy and the Left in Canada: Past, Present and Future“.  EA2007

Wednesday, May 3, 12:30-1:30 Dr. Tashi Tsering “Title and location TBD