Contact:
Sandra Zink, SFU’s Institute for the Humanities, 778.782.5855, sgz@sfu.ca
Scott McLean, SFU Vancouver, 778.782.5151, srmclean@sfu.ca


An art historian who wrote about imagery related to the atomic bomb and how it acclimated society to the bomb is the recipient of the 2011 annual Thakore Visiting Scholar Award.

Simon Fraser University’s Institute for the Humanities and its JS Woodsworth Chair, the India Club of Vancouver and the Thakore Charitable Foundation bestow the Thakore Award on people who emulate qualities valued by Mahatma Gandhi.


Since the unveiling of Ghandi’s memorial bust at SFU’s Peace Square, Burnaby campus in 1970, the university and the award’s other founders have honoured Ghandi’s life and legacy at an annual Gandhi Jayanti celebration. The presentation of the Thakore award will highlight the celebration October 1 to 2.

University of British Columbia professor John O’Brian, this year’s award recipient, will present his lecture, Through a Radioactive Lens: The Nuclear Era, Photography and Canada. The talk will display the flash points and intersections between nuclear events and Canada’s ambivalence about its role in those events. O’Brian will discuss the existence of non-violent protest and the uses of photography as a cultural image bank for our nuclear times.

O’Brian’s presentation is scheduled for October 1, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Fletcher Challenge Theatre in SFU’s Harbour Centre.

The Gandhi Jayanti celebration also features the presentation of the Gandhi Student Peace Award, scheduled to coincide with the Thakore presentation, and the Garlanding Ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, October 2, from 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at SFU’s Peace Square.

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Thakore Award Backgrounder

What:             Gandhi Commemorative Lecture

When:            October 1, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where:           Fletcher Challenge Theatre, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings, Vancouver
Cost:              Free with registration

What:             The Garlanding Ceremony

When:            October 2, 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where:           Bust of Mahatma Gandhi, Peace Square (South Side of Level 3 AQ), Burnaby Campus

Cost:               Free and open to the public

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