September 30, 2022
(Photo source: Geoff Robins)
As part of its commitment to Indigenization and decolonization across the university, Western has launched the Memegwaanh Indigenous Learning Honour. The honour recognizes students’ engagement efforts towards Truth and Reconciliation through academic coursework and extracurricular activities and will appear on official transcripts.
William (Bill) Hodgins (Photo source: David Phelps, Architectural Digest © Condé Nast)
A bequest from preeminent interior designer William (Bill) Hodgins, BA‘54, will generate $560,000 every year to help high-achieving, first-generation, Indigenous and international students with financial need through entrance, continuing and graduate awards.
Bob Gough (second from left), director, international internships and development and Western Heads East, and Ruta Lawrence (third from left) Western Heads East committee member and retired Housing staff member, pose with student intern Melissa Raffoul and the original Tukwamuane Women’s Group in Tanzania in 2008. (Submitted photo)
Inspired by a 2002 talk by Stephen Lewis (then UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa), Western Heads East is celebrating 20 years of global partnerships, experiential learning, research and driving change in Africa and Canada.
Canadian Medical Hall of Fame inducts Carol Herbert, the late Stephen Blizzard
Dr. Carol Herbert and the late Dr. Stephen Blizzard (Submitted photos)
Dr. Carol Herbert, former Schulich Medicine & Dentistry dean, and the late Dr. Stephen Blizzard, MD’63, have been inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Dr. Herbert is an innovative educator and early advocate for equitable and accessible healthcare and Dr. Blizzard was a pilot, physician and decorated peacekeeper.
An aerial photo taken during this year's Pakistan floods. (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)
As flooding in Pakistan continues to ravage the country, civil and environmental engineering professor emeritus Slobodan Simonovic shares his thoughts on the factors contributing to the disaster and what can be done to prevent further flooding.
Erica McKeen (Photo source: Macy Mirka, cover design by Megan Fildes)
Erica McKeen was on campus this week to read from her debut novel, Tear, as part of the creative writers speaker series, presented by the department of English and writing studies. McKeen, BA’17, BA’19, MA’20, sets her layered, lyrical tale in London, Ont., where her character attends Western.
Working at Western
(Image source: Western Communications)
Campus-wide test of AlertWesternU
On Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 12 p.m. a campus-wide test of the mass emergency notification tool, AlertWesternU, will be conducted. For more information, and to customize your notification, visit alert.westernu.ca.
Notice to join the academic procession
Autumn convocation takes place Oct.19-21 with ceremonies at
10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Members of faculty, senate, the board of governors, and emeriti professors/archivists/librarians are invited to take part in the academic procession. For more information contact the convocation coordinator at convosec@uwo.ca.
Featured job opportunities
Search by the job posting ID to learn more and apply or share with your network.
Unit Manager, Food Services (28242)
Provide on-site supervision and leadership of a hospitality services operation, located either in residence or on campus.
Program Assistant II, Music (28239)
Provide administrative assistance to department chairs, faculty members and instructors to support the administration of undergraduate programs within the Don Wright Faculty of Music.
Placement Coordinator, Nursing (28245)
Work in consultation with the course coordinator for knowledge synthesis and the associate director, graduate programs, to establish and maintain student placements.
Photo of the Week
Christy Bressette, vice-provost and associate vice-president, Indigenous initiatives and Misko Kicknosway, Indigenous Students' Association president, speak at the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation flag-raising ceremony on campus on Sept. 26. (Photo source: Terry Rice)
Coming Up
(Image source: Western Heads East)
October 4 (6-8 p.m.)
Community celebration: Western Heads East 20th anniversary
Join this free celebration at The Grand Theatre, where women’s advocate Maimuna Kanyamala will talk about the impact of the Western Heads East program in Tanzania; Kris Pettit will outline Mistyglen Creamery's vision to provide products for community health; and Youth Opportunities Unlimited will share their plans for youth social enterprise to lead distribution of products to vulnerable populations in London and area.
October 4 (5:15-6 p.m.)
Do you or someone you know have Type 2 diabetes?
The LIBERATE research team at Lawson Health Research Institute is offering a free one-hour interactive lifestyle medicine class at the Western Centre for Public Health and Family Medicine on how to best manage Type 2 Diabetes using lifestyle as medicine. Contact LIBERATE@lawsonresearch.com to learn more.
October 6 (4:30-6 p.m.)
Campus celebration: Western Heads East 20th anniversary
Meet Western Heads East founders and past interns, hear from people in Tanzania where it all began, and view a screening of Amber Silva's Kitchens of Freedom. This free event is being held at The Great Hall, Somerville House.
October 8 (11:45 a.m. - 1 p.m.)
Celebration of life for Rock Basacco
The Western community, family and friends will remember Rock Basacco, former head coach of the Mustangs men's soccer team. A celebration of life will begin at 12 p.m. followed by both the men's and women's soccer games versus Waterloo at Western Alumni Stadium. Register online by Oct. 3.
October 13 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Show your local love fest
Join your colleagues on Concrete Beach for the United Way kickoff event. The event will include food, music and vendors and, with a minimum $5 donation, you can enjoy a tasty freshly made crepe. All proceeds support Western’s United Way campaign.
Western in the News
Dr. Kevin Pottie (Photo source: Schulich Medicine & Dentistry)
University Affairs
Global health experts release new medical training framework to improve care for refugees and migrants
Dr. Kevin Pottie, the Ian McWhinney Chair of Family Medicine Studies at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, proposes an approach to refugee health care that prioritizes socioeconomics, cross-cultural communication and patient experience.
Global National
Space slam: How and why NASA crashed its DART spacecraft into asteroid
Physics and astronomy professor Paul Wiegert weighs in on the success of the first test of NASA's DART mission, which successfully crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid this week with the aim of changing the space rock's trajectory.
CBC The National
How Canadians can better prepare for extreme weather events
Paul Kovacs, executive director for the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, explains measures Canadians can take to protect themselves and their homes from extreme weather events, in light of the devastation from post-tropical storm Fiona in Atlantic Canada.
The Toronto Star
More of us are tenants, and fewer own homes. Is the Canadian dream dying, or about to change?
New statistics show home ownership has fallen to a 20-year low. Management and organizational studies professor Diana Mok says the public isn't yet used to the fact that houses are assets that can fall in value.
Commentary
(Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)
Huron history professor Thomas Peace and education professor Candace Brunette-Debassige call for universities to revisit their founding stories with a critical eye to how settler colonialism and Indigeneity have shaped them.
