'Them' vs. 'Us' in Québec

Is a new policy by the Québec government racist? Today in The Conversation Canada, Yasmin Jiwani of Concordia University gives her take on the recent decision by Québec Premier François Legault to ban civil servants from wearing religious symbols. While the government claims the policy is done in the name of secularism, Prof. Jiwani suggests the more appropriate term is “sexularism.”

It’s election day in the United States and as our American neighbours get ready to choose a new Congress, Lisa Carver of Queen’s University looks at Donald Trump’s pre-election pronouncements on the issues of gender and sex.

Trump has fanned the flames on another election issue – the caravan of Central American migrants. Sarah Bassnett of Western University analyses visual “tropes” of the caravan and how those images can influence our political views.

Maud Menten was a pioneering Canadian scientist who started making her mark in the early part of the 20th century. John Bergeron of McGill University looks at Menten’s remarkable career and how her work can be traced to this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry.

And finally…were you a “bandie” in high school? (I was not. I tried the trumpet for about three classes and switched electives.) Edward Howe of Thompson Rivers University – a self-admitted proud “bandie” – laments the decision by educators to cut music programs from the regular curriculum. Research shows a musical education can build confidence and skills that help students later in life.

Regards,

Scott White

Editor

Today's Featured Stories

Coalition Avenir du Québec leader François Legault on the campaign trail last September before the election that saw his party form a majority government. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Québec’s push to ban the hijab is ‘sexularism’

Yasmin Jiwani, Concordia University

The Québec government's push to ban the hijab is 'sexularism' and also basic nationalism – one that pits an ‘us’ against ‘them,’ where the ‘them’ represent multiple threats to the nation.

A sign denouncing transphobia is held up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court at a protest in June 2016. (Shutterstock)

Trump’s efforts to redefine gender and sex

Lisa F. Carver, Queen's University, Ontario

Donald Trump is seeking to amend laws that prevent discrimination against Americans based on their sex. It's all just another attempt to fire up the Republican base for the mid-term elections.

A photograph by Oliver de Ros presents a different impression of the migrants at the Guatemala than the standard tropes published. Migrants bound for the U.S.-Mexico border wait on a bridge that stretches over the Suchiate River, connecting Guatemala and Mexico, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros)

Visual tropes of migration tell predictable but misleading stories

Sarah Bassnett, Western University

Photographs can influence us -- they can inspire us to act and they can also impact the way we think about issues. The recent published photos about the migrant 'caravan' convey several stereotypes.

A woman measures a substance into a set of small scales in a laboratory, Toronto, Ontario (1892) Library and Archives Canada, e002342759 /

A Canadian science heroine’s role in this year’s Nobel chemistry prize

John Bergeron, McGill University

Canadian physician and scientist Maud Menten's discovery about enzymes was foundational in the work of this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry recipient.

Montreal-born pianist Oscar Peterson waves after playing at the Montreal Forum in July 1984. The Coalition for Music Education is inviting schools and communities across Canada to sing “Hymn To Freedom,” written by Peterson and Harriette Hamilton, on Music Monday 2019, a day to celebrate music. (CP/Jean F. Leblanc)

Music also matters in the real world

Edward R. Howe, Thompson Rivers University

What kind of students are we raising when music is seen as a "frill?" The decision to drastically cut music education is a misguided policy.

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