THURSDAY, October 20

8:00 – 10:00: Elana Cooperberg – Unleashing Your Creativity (Amphitheatre)

This is a workshop. Registration is required.What is creativity and how can we be more creative in our daily lives? This workshop will develop your creative potential through exercises, team activities, and problem solving. There will be group discussion on the creative process along with looking at how we can be more creative in our everyday activities: at school, home, and work. Many of us think that creativity is reserved for those who pursue an artistic lifestyle. It’s often considered an innate talent. But the reality is quite different. Creativity, like all processes, is learned behaviour. Thinking outside the box when you have to prepare a presentation, coming up with solutions to working in a group, becoming ‘unstuck’ when you need an original topic for a project…these are just some of the creative elements we’ll touch on in the workshop.

9:30 – 10:45: Isabelle Corriveau - Is heritage old school? (Auditorium) What is heritage? Ever wonder who and what defines it? In our fast-paced, ever-evolving city, is heritage just a nostalgic, old school notion? What makes a building, a space, or even an environment special? How do we de-fine a city’s identity and what is our role in shaping the built environment? Our heritage is much more than just objects from the past. It is a very present part of our everyday lives, whether we are aware of it or not. Ex-ploring the different definitions and shapes of heritage through the architectural, historic, natural and cultural heritage of Greater Montreal - whether a house, fac-tory, green space or even an avenue - this talk aims to show why heritage is everyone’s concern.

12:30 – 1:45: Mark Reynolds and Janella Snagg-Romeo – Urban Gardening at Vanier and Beyond (Auditorium)Urban gardener, Mark Reynolds, and Vanier Garden Coodinator, Janella Snagg-Romeo, will discuss the ben-efits of nurturing our ‘inner farmer’ while living in an urban setting. They will look at the development of the urban farming movement in Montreal, with a focus on Vanier’s own urban gardening initiative and students’ experiences of successfully growing their own food.

2:00 – 3:15: Avi Golberg – Frenemies: Sociological reflections on the complicated relationships between P.K. Subban, the Montreal Canadiens, and the City of Montreal (Auditorium)In his relatively short time playing for the Montreal Canadiens, P.K. Subban, made quite an impression on hockey fans and on citizens of Montreal, from his elec-trifying play to his civic generosity, Subban was widely revered. Yet, as his dramatic trade to the Nashville Predators shows, local opinions on Subban were clearly mixed. Looking beyond the player’s on-ice performance and accomplishments, Avi Goldberg will offer a socio-logical take on the some of the different factors that may have led to the intense but short-lived love affair between P.K. Subban, the Montreal Canadiens, and the city of Montreal.

FRIDAY, October 21

8:30 – 9:45: Claire Holden Rothman – Montreal, My Muse: Using the city for literary inspiration(Auditorium) Claire Holden Rothman is a Montreal writer and transla-tor, whose novels include My October (2014), a finalist for the Governor Generals Award for Fiction and long-listed for the Scotia-Bank Giller Prize, and The Heart Specialist (2009), also long-listed for the Scotia-Bank Giller. She will discuss her experience as a Montreal writer, and how she uses the city as inspiration and an historical backdrop for her work.

10:00 – 11:15: Jonathan Glencross – Measures of Success in Business and Life (Auditorium)Jonathan Glencross, Manager of Strategic Growth at Purpose Capital, will be discussing the various ways that one can define and refine success - individually and in business – that goes beyond the traditional notions of a linear career path with the express purpose of making money.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThere are many people who have provided an incredible amount of work to put this event together. As coordinator of this year’s

festival I would like to thank the following people for their patience, time, support and help with organizing this event:

Alan Wong, Alena Perout, Andrew Gates, Avi Goldberg, Colleen Leonard, Christine Boulais, Darren Becker, David Scott, David Spadotto, Deborah Larin, Elana

Cooperberg, Heather Eason, Ivanka Hillel, Jennifer Green, Joseph O’Shea, Kelly Purdey, Marguerite Corriveau, Marc Prentice, Martin Siberok, Mattieu Sossoyan, Meghna Banergee, Miles DeNora, Myriam Mansour, Nora Soukiassian, Pamela Espinosa, Peter Gantous, Sevak Manjikian, Silke Lach, Steven Spadatto, Jake’s

Café and the VCTA.

Also, a special thanks to Jacky Vallée, for his sage advice and guidance.

Vanier Social Science Festival October 17-21, 2016“Vanier and the City”The Social Sciences study how humans interact with each other and their world. For members of the Vanier community these interactions include a day-to-day engagement with urban spaces in the city of Montreal.

This year’s Social Science Festival will explore issues pertaining to Montreal and people living in urban environments in general.

We hope that this speakers’ series will expose par-ticipants to the various topics concerning the diverse groups of people living in the city. It is our goal to provide participants with the opportunity to see their city through “new eyes,” and to connect their aca-demic studies to real-life situations going on in their own backyard.

All events are free of charge and open to the Vanier community and to the public. No registration is required for talks in the auditorium; however, registra-tion is required for the workshops. Teachers wishing to bring their classes to any event should contact Kelly MacDonald, event organizer, at macdonak@vaniercollege.qc.ca or at 514-744-7500 x 7789.

The Social Science Festival was started in 2000 by anthropology teacher, Mark Prentice. Every year, we

showcase the work of researchers, activists, community workers and others from Vanier, from the local Montreal

community and from elsewhere.

We acknowledge that this event takes place on Tio’tia:ke (where the currants meet / Montreal), which is situated on the traditional unceded territories of the Kanien’kehá:ka people, more commonly known as Mohawk. Tio’tia:ke was also a gathering place for many First Nations.

MONDAY, October 17

8:30 – 9:45: Carolyn Walker and Kerry Hall – West Montreal Re-adaptation Center (Auditorium)Specialized educators, Carolyn Walker and Kerry Hall, will discuss their experiences working with people who have special needs. They focus on the value of com-munity integration, and highlight the various ways that their organization promotes education and indepen-dence for people with mental disabilities. They will also outline the history of Vanier’s role in this initiative.

10:00 -11:15: Michelle Ladonne – Dans La Rue and Youth Homelessness in Montreal (Auditorium)In 1988, Father Emmet Johns (“Pops”) founded Dans la Rue, an organization committed to helping homeless and at-risk youth. With dedication, empathy, respect, and the support of the Montreal community, Dans La Rue is able to help youth to acquire the skills and resources needed to lead more autonomous and rewarding lives. Dans La Rue Development Officer, Michelle Ladonne, will speak about the organization’s target population, various programs and its intervention methods, along with its long-term goals as a mobilizer for social change.

2:00 - 4:00: Aimee Louw – Accessibility Rights Workshop: Mobilities (Quiet Study Room)This is a workshop. Registration is required.Is neutrality in research a thing? Do we have to be distant from our research subjects in the social sciences? In this workshop, mobility activist, Aimee Louw, will explore questions of proximity when it comes to her personal research regarding accessibility in urban spaces. She will discuss personal motivations in political and social agendas, and introduce critical disability studies and the role creative work can play in social research. This will be an open discussion, with lots of space for questions.

4:00 - 5:15: Alan Wong and Leslie Cheung - Being and Belonging at the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Montreal (Auditorium)Alan Wong will provide an overview of his research on the life stories of racialized LGBTQ activists in Montreal, fo-cusing primarily on how these individuals have construct-ed their identities in ways that have enabled them to find a sense of belonging in the institutional domains of the family, citizenship, and activism itself. Dr. Cheung will share the results of her interviews with second generation immigrant youth in Montreal, whose parents immigrated from Haiti, Vietnam, the English Caribbean, and the Phil-ippines. Her research investigates how second genera-tion immigrants negotiate the potentially competing host national identities within the Quebec context.

TUESDAY, October 18

9:30-10:45: Rachel Zellars – Epistemology & Intervention: Studying race, gender and ethnicity through new eyes (Auditorium) Rachel Zellars is an attorney and PhD student in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. Her research focuses on slavery in Canada,

the history of public schooling, and critical race theory. Her lecture will discuss how diversity among teachers and academics creates new understandings and interpre-tations of the past, especially in relation to constructions of womanhood, feminism, black history, and Indigenous issues.

11:00 - 12:15: Paloma Holmes – Discipline & Play: Exploring sociology of emotions and the roles of risk to social bonding. (Auditorium)Traditional sociological schools of thought have examined risk through the lens of deviance, which can problemati-cally frame risk as negative and/or opposite to pleasure. As such there is need to explore the ways in which plea-sure, intimacy and desires work within physical cultures and sports that celebrate and glorify emotional struggle, and physical endurance. This presentation will consider the ways risk, pain and discipline become deeply signifi-cant to developing trust, intimacy, pleasure and social connectedness. It will look at how cultural practices and performances shape our understandings of embodiment, risk and social bonding.

12:30 - 1:45: Ask a Psychologist (Auditorium)Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a psychologist or to work in the field of psychology? Come and hear a panel of teachers from the Psychology Department talk about their experiences, what fields of education they pursued while studying psychology, and what their jobs are like now. It’s also your chance to ask a psychologist anything you want to know!

4:00 – 5:15: David Goodin - Water-stressed Cities and the Challenge of Social Adaptation in the 21st Century (Auditorium)Dr. Goodin will examine the role of social sciences and the humanities in finding solutions to water resource challenges in the developed and developing world. Global water security is becoming increasingly reliant on social-adaptation strategies needed for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). This presentation exam-ines the importance of social adaptation strategies, and how the roles of culture, religion, and community can lead to true sustainability. These “soft water” approaches are aimed at shaping societal demands by looking at how and where water is used, and by seeking to change so-cietal behaviors towards greater efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability. The growing consen-sus in the scholarship is that true water security and sustainability can only be found through these demand-side social adaptation strategies. Water simply can’t be

considered merely an economic good. It is often the very cultural lifeblood of a society.

WEDNESDAY, October 19

9:30 - 10:45: Mathieu Sossoyan – Montreal’s Forgotten Burial Grounds (Auditorium)The Anthropological discipline of Archeology is often associated with images of mummies, pyramids or Indiana Jones. However, archeology happens to be conducted in Montreal as well, and the province of Quebec has over 10 000 identified archeological sites. This presentation will explore some of the most notable sites found within the city of Montreal, with a strong focus on burial grounds dating back to prehistoric times.

11:00 - 12:15: Sterling Downey, Melissa Prioetti & Jimmy Baptiste – Using Street Art to Build Community (Auditorium)Graffiti and street art in general can take on many forms. This presentation will look at the history of street art in Montreal, and its transition to a celebrated form of expression within the city. Representatives from Mon-treal’s Fresh Paint Gallery will discuss their intervention programs, which use art workshops to help youth at risk, and outline the various projects that their organization has created to build unity and community within the city.

12:30 - 2:00: GRAFFITI ART WORKSHOP (Theatre Room, First-Come-First-Serve)Artist and graphic designer, Jimmy Baptiste, will be conducting an open-house workshop on graffiti art and illustration.

4:00 - 5:15: Kimberley Ens Manning – Parent Activists and their Transgender Kids: A story of social action research (Auditorium)Kimberley Ens Manning is Principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and Associate Professor of Political Science at Concordia University. She will be discuss-ing the grassroots initiatives of Montreal parents who are fighting for the rights of their transgender children. She will outline the various issues concerning transgender children and youth, while also highlighting the advocacy work that began in Montreal, and spread nationwide. In addition to this overview, she will discuss her role and methods of research as an academic studying this topic.