Health, education and anarchy
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Simon Fraser University
Public Affairs & Media Relations
604.291.3210 www.sfu.ca/mediapr
Re-thinking mental health services
Gay couple’s human rights victory sparks debate
Building educational bridges in South East Asia
Making sense of anarchy
Re-thinking mental health services
Despite provincial government efforts to better support people with mental illness, the negative effects of cuts and policy changes outweigh the benefits, according to a new report. Just published by Marina Morrow, an assistant professor of health sciences at SFU, Community-Based Mental Health Services in BC: Changes to Income, Employment and Housing Supports notes several reasons for the mentally ill’s worsening circumstances. Morrow can talk about how cutbacks and wholesale changes to the welfare system have hit the mentally ill hard because the changes fail to address their needs. Among the many recommendations in Morrow’s report are calls for the province to increase disability benefit rates, expand supportive housing programs and reinstitute a mental health advocate.
Marina Morrow, 604-268-6906, mmorrow@sfu.ca
Gay couple’s human rights victory sparks debate
Could a gay-friendly curriculum result in more school children “choosing” to be gay? And, if that were the case, to what extent should that be a concern? These are some of the questions arising out of a seven-year human rights battle that has motivated the provincial government to introduce a new high school elective course dealing with same-sex issues. Gerald Walton, an SFU lecturer who has just successfully defended a doctoral thesis on homophobia in the school system, can address issues arising from a gay couple’s recent human rights victory. This fall, Walton is teaching a third-year course at SFU called Diversity in Education.
Gerald Walton, 604.268.6923, gwalton@sfu.ca
Building educational bridges in South East Asia
There'll be a lot of new faces at SFU's Burnaby campus from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia next summer. The faculty of education and continuing studies are teaming up with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to offer a new master's program at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, Laos' National University of Laos, and Cambodia's Royal University of Phnom Penh. The new international master of education degree in curriculum and instruction will enable South East Asian university students to study both in Canada and their home country. Ian Andrews is SFU's director of external programs and international initiatives. He can discuss how this unique international collaboration will enrich SFU's cultural understanding of international students and further South East Asians’ efforts to enhance their universities' leadership capacity in adult education and higher education.
Ian Andrews, 604.291.3953, ian_andrews@sfu.ca
Making sense of anarchy
These days, say that you’re an anarchist at heart and you’ll raise more than a few eyebrows, given the fear that terrorism is breeding in the hearts of people. But SFU historian Mark Leier argues that, if anything, we should welcome anarchism with open arms in our present world. In a departure from his focus on Canadian labour history in previous books, Leier traces the life and ideas of anarchism’s first major thinker, Mikhail Bakunin, in his new book A Biography of Bakunin. Leier can elaborate on how present-day world politics inspired him to defend anarchism and debunk popular perceptions of it. “After 9/11, Bakunin was explicitly singled out as the original theorist of terrorist violence by all kinds of pundits and analysts,” says Leier. “It was pretty clear that they didn’t understand anarchism or Bakunin, and so the book became a project to set the record straight.” The Vancouver Public Library will host an event to launch Leier’s new book Wednesday, September 20, 7:30 p.m.
Mark Leier, 604.291.5827, 604.988.4257 mark_leier@sfu.ca (limited availability until Sept. 7)