Dr. Carol Herbert (photo from Western University)
Vancouver’s Dr. Carol Herbert, professor emerita of family medicine and adjunct research professor of pathology at Western University, was awarded an honorary doctor of science, honoris causa (DSc), at the Oct. 24 afternoon session of Western University’s 312th convocation. Herbert served as dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry from 1999 to 2010. A pioneer in developing services for sexually assaulted adults and children in British Columbia, she was co-founder and co-director of the Sexual Assault Service for Vancouver from 1982 to 1988.
She spoke to graduates at the convocation, asking them to keep in mind one acronym: PROP (privilege, responsibility, opportunity and passion).
“Acknowledge your privilege. While you have been diligent in your studies, the fact that you and I are here today is evidence of our privilege,” she said.
With privilege, there is a responsibility to give back, she added. Graduates must reflect on what they have been given and remember to pay it forward and embrace opportunities to help others. “Be as passionate about ensuring the success of others as you are about yourself. Start small, but start contributing to your community.”
Herbert reminded graduates of the difficulties women in science continue to face today. “I want to encourage women scientists to hang in there,” she said, to juggle a career and family, to look for workplaces that support them and their complex lives, and to seek mentors. She encouraged all to work towards a level playing field in which women have equal opportunities.
For the full address, visit news.westernu.ca/2018/10/herbert-offers-props-graduates.
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Vancouverite Deborah Katz has won the 2018 Vine Award in the category of children’s literature. Of Rare is Everywhere (Miss Bird Books), which Katz wrote and illustrated, the award jury said, “Fun, exciting and such a different take on difference and diversity for our small children.”
The Vine Awards honour the best Canadian Jewish writers and Canadian authors who deal with Jewish subjects in four categories – fiction, non-fiction, history and children’s/young adult literature – each with a prize of $10,000. The 2018 jurors – Beverley Chalmers, Joseph Kertes and Lee Maracle – reviewed 59 entries this year.
The Koffler Centre of the Arts announced the 2018 winners at an awards lunch at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto. The other winners were Laurie Gelman for Class Mom (Henry Holt and Co.) in the fiction category, Julija Šukys for Siberian Exile: Blood, War and a Granddaughter’s Reckoning (University of Nebraska Press) in the non-fiction category and Hugues Théorêt for The Blue Shirts: Adrien Arcand and Fascist Anti-Semitism in Canada (University of Ottawa Press) in the history category.
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The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia awarded the inaugural B.C. Jewish History Research Prize to Nathan Lucky, for his article “British Columbia newspaper responses to Jewish persecution in Europe, 1938-1939: A call for refugees and a cause for civilization.”
This undergraduate essay explores relations between the Jewish community press and the mainstream press in British Columbia. It demonstrates the ways in which Jews in the province were alert to world affairs and worked to impact Canadian policies of immigration in response to unfolding tragedy abroad. Juxtaposing reporting and editorials published by the Jewish Western Bulletin (the predecessor of the Jewish Independent) with those of contemporary non-Jewish publications, the author documents the shifting waves of public discourse as new information arrived from Germany and Austria. The article makes substantial use of the B.C. Jewish Community Archives, particularly the Jewish Western Bulletin Collection, and it demonstrates how future scholars might also incorporate the collection, and the archives more broadly, into their research.
The prize was awarded on Nov. 21 at the annual general meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia. Following the AGM, guests gathered to hear a lecture by Lucky, summarizing his research. This award and lecture will be an annual tradition of the JMABC in the coming years.
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Breanne Harmon (née Jackson) has been appointed general manager of Green Thumb Theatre, which has been bringing live theatre to young audiences for 40 years. Before taking on the role of general manager at Green Thumb, Harmon worked as the tour and education manager for two years.
Born and raised in Richmond, Harmon has trained and worked in theatre for most of her life. She graduated with honours from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of fine arts in theatre production/design, where she was the recipient of the Norman Young Scholarship for Theatre and the Dean of Arts Scholarship, while also completing the fine arts program in visual arts at Langara College. At UBC, she was a member of the Jewish Students Association at Vancouver Hillel and sat on the Hillel board as alumni representative after graduation.
Harmon has worked as a stage manager, production manager and arts administrator for various companies across Canada, including the Shaw Festival, Arts Club Theatre Company, National Arts Centre, and Chemainus Theatre Festival, among many others. She has sat on the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Society board, the GVPTA’s Theatre Engagement Project Steering Committee, the Jessie Richardson Theatre for Young Audiences and Large Theatre juries and was a stage management mentor with the Cultch’s Ignite program.
She is also the very proud mother to her 1-year-old son.