Robert Darnton | REZA | Céline Galipeau | Nancy Huston | Lawrence Hill | Gerri Sinclair | Mark Kingwell | Donna Brazile | The Image Mill | Kathleen Mahoney

• Interview with Robert Darnton (May 28)
• Webcast: Technology and the Book – Robert Darton (May 28)
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• Reveal: A witness to pain (April 11)
• Webcast: REZA, Friday May 28, 14:00 to 15:30 (May 27)
• Un entretien avec REZA (May 29)
• Brides de réflexions: REZA un humanitaire engagé (May 29)
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• Tonight at 7pm: Céline Galipeau shares her views on equal rights for women (May 28)

• Live Webcast: Pride and Loyalty – Nancy Huston (May 29)
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• Merging History and Fiction (May 20)
• Live Webcast: Lawrence Hill, Monday May 31, 07:45 to 08:55 (May 30)
• Canadian author Lawrence Hill talks about his latest work The Book of Negroes (June 1)
• Photos – Lawrence Hill, Big Thinking (June 2)
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• Live Webcast: Gerri Sinclair, Monday May 31, 12:15 to 13:20 (May 31)
• Digital Media Expert Speaks at Congress Tomorrow (May 30)
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• Democracy’s Gift (April 1)
• Live Webcast: Mark Kingwell, Tuesday June 1, 12:15 to 13:20 (June 1)
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• Live Webcast: Donna Brazile, Wednesday June 2, 12:15 to 13:20 (June 1)
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• History on the Big Screen (May 20)
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• Interview with the Trudeau Foundation (May 20)
• Live Webcast: Kathleen Mahoney, Thursday June 3, 12:15 to 13:20 (June 2)
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By Congress Correspondent Nick Taylor-Vaisey, freelance writer

So this is what lies ahead.

I haven’t spoken with Linda Kealey, but I imagine she’s just taken a big breath. That’s because it’s her turn next. After all, Linda is the academic convenor for Congress 2011 in Fredericton.

Just as Concordia University takes its final bows, and the people at the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences vacate campus and return to Ottawa, all eyes will slowly turn to the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University.

If you walked by the booth advertising the next Congress, you’ll already know that 2011’s theme is Coasts and Continents: Exploring People and Places. Like most themes, the booth’s faithful guard told me, it is sufficiently vague to accommodate dozens of academic associations.

The official line, according to Linda, is that the name “highlights our maritime position in Atlantic Canada and stresses our many links — historical, artistic, socio-economic and political — across the globe. “

It’s not entirely clear that Fredericton knows what’s coming to town. A recent report in the Daily Gleaner, for example, focused mostly on the non-academic benefits of the massive conference: the expected $6-million impact on the local economy; the “benefit to the business community”; and the “major impact in terms of commercial trade”.

Fair enough. The story’s angle was all about the economics. But it mentions only fleetingly what every delegate at any Congress already knows. Fredericton will benefit most from having been the epicentre of the richest academic debate in Canada.

Montreal has had its turn. Now the spotlight shifts to the Maritimes.

Robert Smith is a Master’s student at Concordia. His June 1st presentation shared the ongoing research of his work-in-progress: an investigation into the qualitative nature of eco-theological awareness in Quebec, to result in a full-length documentary film on the state of the movement in the region.

This last lecture from the Congress was delivered on June 2nd by Chief Billy Diamond, who became chief of the Waskaganish First Nation in 1970. Diamond signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement with the Canadian Government in 1975 and oversaw the creation of Air Creebec, Cree Construction Company Ltd, and Cree Yamaha Motors. Sharing memories of his own family life, Diamond gave a keynote address on family issues and experience in the North.

June 2nd marked the launch of a new book by Peter Stevens – a teacher of media studies at Sheridan who has written for the Globe and Mail, The Beaver, and The New Internationalist, to name a few publications. His book, “The News,” is part of the “About Canada” series put out by Fernwood Books.

Florian Olsen is a PhD candidate with the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. The lecture he gave on June 2nd was entitled, “Those About to Die Salute You: Sacrifice, The War in Iraq, and the Crisis of American Imperial Society.” He argued that the Iraq War has caused division and resentment in American society between lower-middle class citizens more likely to experience the conflict through military service, and the more privileged, whose lives are not as directly impacted by it.

“The Neo-Liberal Superhero Soldier” was the title of a lecture by Lori Crowe, of York University, on June 2nd at the Congress. Crowe argued that Hollywood superhero movies reproduce and promote militarism through their weaponry, fashion and narratives that emphasize neo-liberal values.

Digital creatures projected onto veils of fabric respond to human interaction. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

Written by Congress Correspondent, Sarah Deshaies

Amid the flurry of ideas, lectures and papers that is Congress, delighted passersby having been stepping into a small wonder of a world in a darkened room on the second floor of the Molson building.

The presentation is Project Gaia, and it’s an ecosystem writ large. Different microscopic creatures are projected onto veils of gauzy fabric that envelope the viewer as they step in. The soundscape is made of layers of organic sounds that are ‘emitted’ by the organisms – crunching, buzzing and growling.

A viewer looks on and interacts with earlier incarnation of Project Gaia. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

Like in a real ecosystem, the living organisms interact with each other: there are roving snake-like purple and blue predators that eat the little green and blue herbivore blobs. When the predators eat too many herbivores and don’t have enough food, they die off, turning still and yellow. Orange scavengers dart in to consume the corpses.

Their waste produces more herbivores, who multiply by cell division. Nutrients, tiny orange circles, complete the picture. The atmosphere of the room evolves as each creature becomes dominant; once the herbivores are populous, the room glows green, and their buzzing fill the air.

The project is also interactive. Sensors note when people step into the room, and the presence of more people can change the balance of the ecosystem, like in real life. The end result is sensory rich experience a dark room lit up by colourful creatures.

The four authors of the project met up in digital computation class at Concordia called “Ecosophy,” which linked philosophy and ecology. Their creation was inspired by James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis that the earth is a living organism. The Ecosophy class linked philosophy and science, and soon spawned Project Gaia. Henk Boom was the chief programmer, with Karen Lee working on graphics, Nicolas Munoz developing sound, and Peter Rockwell working on programming the organisms’ behaviour. The team worked together for hours to bring Gaia to life.

The minds behind Project Gaia. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

The students had previously presented their microcosm at Concordia’s Art Matters festival, and at a year-end computing arts presentation, but this was a chance to present it to a larger audience – who might like to bring Project Gaia back home.
Rockwell was on hand Friday morning to usher newcomers into the wunderkammer and explain the world his team had created.
“For us, the computer is just a tool – it’s a paintbrush,” says Rockwell of the philosophy in the computation arts program. The team behind Project Gaia believes that digital art is supposed to be interactive and immersive. “I think that’s something Gaia does very well. [...] Basically, everyone can enjoy it.”

Michelle Coulombe, a volunteer student in the business faculty at Concordia, assigned herself the task of bringing people into the room for the few days that it was up. She found the space intimate, and promised people it would change them.
“Most people feel comfortable [in the room]” Michelle said. “They come out calm, they come out happier.”

Click here to see the Project Gaia website for more photos, video, and to learn more about the process behind the project.

Peter Levesque and I found some time to sit down at the Tim Hortons closest to campus and have a good chat. In between bites of my ham and cheese sandwich, I asked him about what he’s doing at a place like the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

What’s that? You don’t know about Peter?

He’s the director of Knowledge Mobilization Works, an Ottawa-based firm that, according to its website, helps its clients “use knowledge for decisions and change.” It’s no huge surprise that Peter came to Congress. He’s hoping to find people who are excited about getting their ideas out of the ivory tower and into the real world.

And he’s wandered around campus for the last few days looking for people who want to hear his message and do something about it – or already have done something.

Peter’s message was a breath of fresh air. Congress is full of research that would, without doubt, be very useful to policy makers at every level of government and throughout civil society. Name the pressing public policy issue and you will likely find a corresponding session (or five or ten).

Peter says that currently, links between researchers and the outside world often just aren’t there. When scholars publish in their journals of choice, for example, their articles might be cholk-full of jargon virtually unreadable to the layperson. There’s no translator there.

As a result, Peter says, partnering researchers with practitioners is a very important part of his job. When the two groups successfully transfer knowledge from researcher to practitioner, the possibilities are nearly limitless.

Knowledge mobilization is a movement on the rise. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council has developed a strategy. And six Canadian universities have partnered to establish ResearchImpact, a project that “connects research and researchers with people and organizations seeking to develop sustainable solutions to social, environmental, economic and cultural challenges.”

Peter hopes it’s just the beginning. And one conversation at a time, he’s ensuring that knowledge mobilization doesn’t hit a dead end.

Podcast on Rabble.ca

Jared Wesley is a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Manitoba. His lecture was an analysis of the recent Manitoba NDP leadership selection process, with critiques of the procedure of delegate voting as well as strategies used by individual candidates.