J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities
The purpose of the J.S. Woodsworth Endowment is to provide for a full-time teaching position in the department of Humanities and when feasible, fund other positions and community activities in order to recognize the contribution of J.S. Woodsworth to Canada.
As a member of parliament, a clergyman and social reformer, Woodworth's activist approach to issues of social justice has left a legacy that strongly influenced Canadian political traditions based on equity, social obligation, and civic responsibility. The holder of the Woodsworth Chair will combine teaching and research with active engagement in issues concerning the wider community, local and national as well as international.
The holder of the Woodsworth Chair will work with the Director of the Institute for the Humanities and other faculty to further public understanding of the mandate.
J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities 2005
Eleanor Stebner, PhD
Beginning in September 2005, Eleanor Stebner was appointed the J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities. From the Faculty of Theology at the University of Winnipeg, Associate Professor Eleanor Stebner's areas of teaching include theology and church history, specializing in Christianity in 19th and 20th century North America, women's history, settlement house and social gospel movements, and religious and social institutions.
Dr. Stebner's Update as Woodsworth Chair
The legacy of J. S. Woodsworth is alive at SFU thanks to the generous support of many people who believe in his vision of social justice and inclusion. The issues facing individuals, institutions, and nations in the early 21st century are immense, yet we hold it essential to evoke - and thereby extend - Woodsworth's broad humanitarian goals through intentional programming.
A Woodsworth Seminar is offered every academic year at SFU. Seminars have been offered on Activism and Hope, Jane Addams, the Nobel Peace Laureates, and Christian Thinkers of the 19th & 20th centuries. Such seminars allow participants to study and discuss topics central to Woodsworth's life and work, and his unyielding commitment to peace, civility, compassion, and political action.
An Interfaith Summer Institute for Peace, Justice, and Social Movements has been organized out of the Woodsworth Chair. Relying on a community consultative group and on the leadership of an acting director, Dr. Denise Nadeau, this program brings together faith-based national and international leaders, activists, and academics in addressing issues as diverse as the sex trade industry and the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The program is unique in recognizing the immense contributions of religious people in local, national, and international movements of change. Please refer to www.interfaithjustpeace.org for full details of past and present programs.
J. S. Woodsworth used the phrase “following the gleam” to articulate his dedication to social betterment. To follow the gleam is to uphold hope and the human necessity of seeking a better world. It is a vision that perhaps can only be glimpsed in fleeting moments, but it nevertheless inspires and empowers all people of goodwill.
J.S. Woodsworth Resident Scholar
Sponsored by the Department of Humanities and the Institute for the Humanities and funded by the J.S. Woodsworth Endowment, the Resident Scholar is selected for a two-year term or residence.
Woodsworth Resident Scholar 2005–2007
Robert Menzies, PhD
Professor Robert J. Menzies was appointed the Woodsworth Resident Scholar beginning in September 2005. From the Department of Criminology at SFU, Robert Menzies' areas of specialty include: the sociology of law and control; critical and feminist criminology; mental disorder, criminality and law; history of mental disorder in Canada; dangerousness and violence; clinical and judicial decision-making; and crime in media. Robert Menzies taught in the Humanities department and also organized community outreach activities in co-ordination with the Institute. For full details on the 2008 conference "Madness, Citizenship and Social Justice" organized by Robert Menzies go to http:www.sfu.ca/madcitizenship-conference/
Woodsworth Resident Scholar 2003–2005
Sandra Djwa, PhD
Professor Sandra Djwa was the Woodsworth Resident Scholar at Simon Fraser University in 2003–2005. A specialist in biography, autobiography and Canadian literary history, she was a member of the Department of English at SFU since 1968. She published critical editions of E.J. Pratt's poetry and biographies of F.R. Scott and, Roy Daniells—the latter, Professing English: A Life of Roy Daniells, winning the gold medal in literature from the Royal Society of Canada. She is currently working on a major biography of the poet, novelist and visual artist P.K. Page.
In addition to her teaching and ongoing research, Professor Djwa also organized a major conference on the legacy of Woodsworth in the Fall of 2005.
See also: Archive of past Woodsworth Chairs and Resident Scholars
