Archive: Grace MacInnis Visiting Scholar
In honour of Grace MacInnis and her history of social and political service as a member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party, a Grace MacInnis Visiting Scholar Program was initiated through the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University in 1993. The visiting scholar is invited to Simon Fraser University to meet with faculty and students.
1993: Shirley Williams
Shirley Williams, former British Labour MP, and president and co-founder of the Social Democratic Party in Britain (1981), was the first visiting scholar in this program in January of 1993. Shirley Williams gave a series of public talks related to Social Democracy and the future, at Burnaby Mountain campus and at SFU Harbour Centre. All talks were free and open to the public.
1995: Joy Kogawa
In recognition of her literary achievements and the intensity with which she has spoken out against injustice and her contribution toward the Canadian Governments' steps to provide redress to Japanese Canadians in 1988, Joy Kogawa was the Grace MacInnis visiting Speaker at Simon Fraser University in 1995. Joy Kogawa responded to a panel discussion on her novel Obasan, and also gave a public reading of her work.
1997: Lynn McDonald
In February of 1997 Lynn McDonald visited Simon Fraser University. Dr. McDonald is a distinguished academic, former member of Parliament and past president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. She is currently chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Guelph. Dr. McDonald gave an open lecture on Florence Nightingale and the Origins of Public Health Care to a History department class and also met with students in the Women's Studies department at SFU.
2002: Myrna Kostash
Myrna Kostash spoke at both Simon Fraser University and at the Vancouver Public Library as the Visiting Scholar in March 2002. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Myrna Kostash is a full time writer, author of the classic All of Baba's Children, Long Way from Home: the Story of the Sixties Generation in Canada, and of the award-winner No Kidding: Inside the World of Teenage Girls and Bloodlines: A Journey into Eastern Europe. Her most recent books are The Doomed Bridegroom: A Memoir (1998) and the national best-seller The Next Canada: Looking for a Future Nation (2000).
2003: Elaine Bernard
In the fall of 2003, the Institute was proud to present Dr. Elaine Bernard as the Grace MacInnis Visiting Scholar. As the Executive Director of the Labour and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, Dr. Bernard's work centres around research and teaching in the world of work and workers. She discussed issues surrounding labour rights as human rights at the Seeking Justice: Human Rights in Our Communities symposium at SFU, Harbour Centre.
