Today’s edition of The Conversation Canada features an incredible personal story about disability prejudice from two lifelong friends who are now both academics.

Michelle Stack of the University of British Columbia co-wrote the piece with her close friend since high school, Heidi Janz, a disability ethics professor at the University of Alberta who has cerebral palsy. The two recount how they often dealt with questions about whether Michelle befriended Heidi simply because she “felt sorry” for her — but their personal experiences speak to a larger societal problem about how we too often regard disabled people with fear or pity. As Profs. Stack and Janz write: “We must see disability for what it is — a natural part of human experience, rather than something to be feared.”

Danita Burke is an Arctic expert born in Newfoundland and now at the University of Southern Denmark. Her piece today explores Canada’s unique relationship with the Arctic, and the role the region has played in nation-building. But she cautions that as Canada moves forward in an era of melting sea ice, the rights of the Arctic’s Indigenous peoples must be paramount.

The deadly terrorist attacks earlier this month in Spain killed 16 people and injured scores more, and was sadly just the latest terror-related carnage to play out in European streets in recent years. Nonetheless, writes Pierre Berthelet of Laval University, the European Union has been making major strides in counterterrorism efforts in the last few years thanks to cooperation among member states and law enforcement agencies.

Three informative and very different analyses for you as you kick off the final week of August. We’ll have more back-to-school stories for you coming up this week, so stay tuned.

Regards,