April_4_2013_Bulletin

Meet the Dean, Faculty of Music Page 5

Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music, special feature Pages 6 - 7

Love of rocks, trees and beads: Coffee with a Co-Worker Page 8

WORLD WAR ONE: 100 YEARS AFTER A weekend with military historian Andrew RobertshawApril 5 to 7EvERYDAY DipLOmAcY by Roger Mac Ginty, professor of peace and conflict studies,

University of Manchester. Tuesday, April 9 | 7 p.m.

pRESiDENT’S REcEpTiON FOR RETiREES Saturday, April 13 | 2 p.m.

See page 10 for more events

EvEnts

The BulletinUniversity of Manitoba

April 4, 2013 Vol. 47 No. 1 umanitoba.ca/bulletin

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2012 Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award Winner

Visionary Conversations

on the arts draws lively

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Kent Hayglass, Canada Research Chair in Immune Regulation, professor and head, immunology, Faculty of Medicine.

David Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor, introduces the discussion at the March 20 Visionary Conversation. Featured panelists were: (l-r) U of M alumnus Jeff Melanson, president, The Banff Centre; Edmund Dawe, dean, Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music; Paul Hess, director, School of Art; George Toles, distinguished professor, English, film and theatre, Faculty of Arts and Francine Morin, head and professor, curriculum, teaching and learning, Faculty of Education.

JANINE HARASYMCHUKFor The Bulletin

For Kent HayGlass, Canada Research Chair in Immune Regulation, training and mentoring is a passion. The recipient of the 2012 Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award was honoured on March 27 at an awards ceremony along with seven Rh Award recipients, followed by a dinner and public lecture. The professor of immunology has led the department of immunology at the U of M for a decade, served as a director of Research at the Manitoba Institute for Child Health, directs the MD/PhD program and directed a CIHR-funded multidisciplinary research training program addressing the underlying causes, mechanisms and treatments for allergic disease, the most common human immune disorder in the world. Kent HayGlass has made vital contributions to our understanding of immune regulation and is a leading researcher in the field. His work has a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of millions of people

who suffer from allergies. HayGlass has devoted his career to studying cytokines, a family of about 100 small molecules that control the development, activation, direction and nature of immunity. Discoveries made by Hayglass, his trainees and colleagues have shed light on what controls how our immune system reacts, why some people develop asthma or food allergies and others do not, how an ancient arm of the immune system inherited from fruit flies affects our response, and what biomarkers could provide doctors with valuable information about their patients. HayGlass’ lecture titled “How Your Immune System Helps — and Harms — You” gave the packed house at Schultz lecture theatre a taste of the young science of immunology and his own career path to his current research. In his opening remarks he paid homage to John Bowman, after whom the award he received is named.

See more Rh information on page 12

Page 2 The Bulletin | April 4, 2013 | umanitoba.ca/bulletin

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The U of M in the NewsBu

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MESSAgE FRoM JoANNE KESElMAN, VICE-PRESIdENT (ACAdEMIC) ANd PRoVoST

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No CHANgE SINCE PAPIlloN wAS IN PRISoNMarch 21Globe and MailCanada is “way out of step with most developed countries, including the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe,” when it comes to using solitary confinement, Debra Parkes, a U of M law professor recently told the Globe and Mail. Parkes helped organize a conference at the U of M that brought experts from around the world to Robson Hall for a discussion on this disciplinary practice. Prolonged segregation crosses the line and becomes torture, the conference argued. Yet around the world, more and more prisoners are kept in isolation, with devastating psychological effects. “I got back recently from a research trip to the U.K. where I was looking into their legal mechanisms for oversight and accountability of prisons,” Parkes said, “and I was surprised at the extent to which they use segregation much less than we do. Folks over there were surprised at the prevalence of the practice here, particularly prolonged use.” The use of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons is growing even as other developed nations are scaling back on the use of the controversial punishment. Admissions to segregation cells in federal penitentiaries grew to 8,600 prisoners per year from 8,000 since 2010 — and correctional experts anticipate another substantial jump as tough sentencing policies expand prison populations in the years ahead.

THE SCIENCE THAT CAME IN FRoM THE ColdMarch 18Globe and Mail, CTV, CBC (regional and Iqaluit), Global, Academica, CJOB, CKLB (Yellowknife), Nunatsiaq News, ChrisDOn March 18 the U of M opened the Nellie Cournoyea Arctic Research Facility, a transformational institute in the U of M’s Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. The media noted that the U of M is home to one of the largest sea ice research teams in the world, and its new laboratory will transform and lead global efforts to understand climate change. But even as the centre was celebrating the opening of $15-million, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities a sense of urgency about the Arctic pervades the effort, the Globe and Mail reported. “It’s the part of the planet which is realizing the first and the fastest response to climate change,” says Tim Papakyriakou, one of the centre’s scientists who specializes in carbon transfer between ocean and atmosphere. “This system that we had a poor understanding of before is now changing very, very fast.” While ice over the Arctic Ocean always grows in winter and retreats during the summer, its minimum extent, typically measured in September, is on a downward trend. Last year, it hit a record low, dipping to 3.41 million square kilometers. It now looks like the Arctic will become ice-free during the summer sometime between 2015 and 2030.

gRAPPlINg wITH UlTIMATE ‘SPoRT’March 27Winnipeg Free PressSociologist Dale Spencer shared his view on Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fighting Championships in an editorial he penned for the newspaper; for the past seven years he has studied the sport — interviewing the fighters, training alongside them and watching and judging events. He has written several articles and a book about the sport, which comes to Winnipeg on June 15. “One thing I have noticed with the various events that have taken place across Canada,” he writes, “is the almost constant depiction by citizens and athletic commissions of MMA as singularly violent and more injurious to participants than other sports. Even ‘mainstream’ boxers speak out against mixed arts, and Winnipeg media have engaged with a familiar refrain: it is ‘pay for pain.’ The reality of MMA is it is a sport, and like a lot of sports, it can be violent and lead to injuries among its participants. However, the overarching fact is it’s a sport. Eminent sociologist Norbert Elias has shown in his study of the historical development of sports that in the conversion of folk games into sports, there is an institution of common rules to make them safer for participants. MMA is no exception, as the UFC, in conjunction with American athletic commissions during the last two decades, has established more than 30 internationally recognized rules pertaining to allowable actions to promote fairness and ensure the safety of participants. With regard to injuries, Shelby Karpman, sports-medicine specialist and ringside physician with 20 years’ experience, notes that injury rates in mixed arts are comparable to hockey and football….”

Headline:“Bisons are CIS curling champions”, Winnipeg Free Press, Mar. 26, story about the University of Manitoba’s women’s curling team, which won gold at the Canadian Intrauniversity Sport national curling championships recently held in Kamloops, B.C. The U of M’s skipper is Breanne Meakin’s the third is Ashley Howard, second Selena Kaatz and lead Krysten Karwacki. They are coached by Tom Clasper. They bested the Alberta Pandas by a score of 9-7.

–Compiled by Sean Moore

Academic Structure Initiative: Interim Report #4 on the Health Sciences ClusterIn December, I provided an update on the Town Hall on the Academic Structure Initiative (ASI) that was held on November 15, 2012. At this Town Hall, which was attended by over 350 individuals from our two campuses, I presented for consideration and initial feedback two options for a more integrated structure in the health sciences. I also outlined next steps and associated timelines, both in terms of opportunities for feedback as well the process for the formal consideration of a proposal for structural changes by our governing bodies. Since the Town Hall, faculty, staff and students have been engaged in a period of extensive discussion about the benefits and risks of a more integrated structure in general and the initial options presented, in particular. These discussions and consultations have taken place in various forms, including formal and informal departmental and faculty meetings, conversations with students and support staff, and town halls. To date, close to 40 such consultations have taken place, and close to 750 individuals have participated in these important dialogues. Faculty, staff and students have also provided feedback, asked questions and provided suggestions through the ASI website. Much of the feedback received to date corroborates that a more integrated structure would accelerate developments in teaching, research and community outreach in the health sciences. Beyond the potential benefits already articulated (e.g., a more productive learning and work environment for faculty, staff and students, the ability to make better and more strategic use of resources, the potential for an improved health care system and patient outcomes), individuals identified other benefits of a more integrated structure: increased critical mass; greater profile and visibility; enhanced potential for partnerships and fund raising; and a greater sense of community and camaraderie. In terms of the options themselves, some individuals expressed concern about any new structure that would separate health treatment from health promotion/prevention; these individuals favored a single structure that would integrate all units in the health science cluster. Still others suggested an even broader integration of the University’s health sciences efforts to include units beyond those currently in the health sciences cluster, e.g., Social Work and Psychology. Finally, several suggestions were offered regarding possible new alignments within a more integrated structure in the health sciences, specifically, in the biomedical sciences as well as in public health. A number of questions were raised about the ‘college’ concept, pointing to the need to clarify the use of this term; particularly in relation to the University’s other organizational units (i.e., departments, faculties, schools) as well as its affiliated colleges. Related to this point, individuals sought more information on how authorities and responsibilities would be ‘divided’ between the proposed colleges and the faculty. Others underscored the need to ensure that any new structure preserved the identity and autonomy of each health profession in terms of the development and delivery of its degree and diploma programs. Finally, some individuals expressed concern or sought a better understanding of the rationale for the proposed ‘dual role’ of the dean of medicine. Several suggestions were also made regarding the implementation of a new structure, assuming that such a structure is approved by the University’s governing bodies. Individuals requested that the implementation process be sufficiently flexible to facilitate adjustments, where required, and responsive to input on issues that may arise in the short or longer term. Others urged that the expertise of support staff be fully utilized in the implementation process, particularly as it relates to the development of new processes, and stressed the need to acknowledge the staff time that would be required to address transition issues. Finally, in order to gauge the success of the overall initiative, a set of outcomes against which to measure progress should be established as part of any implementation process.I want to thank all those who have participated in these conversations for their thoughtful contributions. Your ideas and suggestions, questions and feedback have and continue to be very helpful as we work to develop a formal proposal for a more integrated structure in the health sciences. As I indicated at the November Town Hall, prior to any consideration by our governing bodies, the views of affected faculty and school councils will be sought; these views will be important in informing both Senate’s and the Board’s consideration of this matter.As always, I welcome the opportunity to speak with members of our University community about this important initiative.

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MedTalks demystifies health and healing issuesMElNI gHATToRAFor The Bulletin

Nancy Lockhart stood up in room full of strangers and told the story of how she watched her friend die. “We were like sisters and we did everything together. This was the first time I had to say to her ‘this is one journey I can’t accompany you on, you have to go without me,’” the 73-year-old shared.The retired operating room nurse wanted to know why her friend (who was in the final stages of her life) had a strong will to live some days but most of the time was in denial that her life was nearing its end. On March 20, MedTalks, a medical lectures series hosted by the U of M’s Faculty of Medicine, helped answer Lockhart’s questions through back-to-back sessions on palliative care.The discussion was led by Harvey Chochinov, distinguished professor, Faculty of Medicine (with appointments in the departments of community health sciences psychiatry and family medicine), Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care, and Mike Harlos, professor and section head of palliative medicine in the Faculty of Medicine. The discussion addressed some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding palliative care.The series format is relaxed, as is the atmosphere, and the informal “talks” are each followed by a Q&A session.Something Lockhart is grateful for. “The issues presented have been very topical to things I face in these years of life.” The panel included Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Palliative Care Program experts Lori Embleton (program director), Brenda Hearson (clinical nurse specialist) and Fred Nelson (psychosocial specialist).

Embleton talked about the availability of end-of-life care in rural areas; explaining that while every region in Manitoba has a responsibility to provide palliative care and a designated palliative care coordinator, it is up to each health authority to determine how they deliver those services. “It’s not a hard and fast rule [and] as a result of that they’re often delivered differently between each region,” said Embleton.According the Harlos, medical director of Adult and Pediatric Palliative Care (WRHA), a provincial working group he chairs is looking at these inequities of palliative care throughout the province because “it shouldn’t be the way it is.” With a new look and name for 2013 MedTalks, formerly called Mini Med School, continues to meet its promise of offering stimulating and interactive lectures given by Faculty of Medicine professors and health-care professionals.“The information is presented in ways that I understand,” said 15-year-old Oreofe Okunnu, “I really like the talks.”The Grade 10 student knows she wants to pursue a career in medicine. She started attending the series in 2009 and was joined by her sister, Anu Okunnu, the following year. “The series is important because it shows how the physicians in our society today are getting trained and it sort of enlightens the

public to what the physicians undergo in their years in medical school,” she added.MedTalks launched its sixth year with talks on neuro-ophthalmology and multiple sclerosis. The series has covered a variety of topics related to health and wellness that include tips on how to avoid becoming a germ-a-phobe and addressing the misconceptions surrounding eating disorders. The final talk of the season is on April 10; the topic for the evening: managing foot and ankle problems with surgery and/or physiotherapy.>>For more information, visit: umanitoba.ca/medicine/medtalks.

Leading the way to healthier babies in Winnipeg’s inner-city

lAI CHUN YEEFor The Bulletin

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and the University of Manitoba have teamed up with Healthy Child Manitoba and Maternal Child Health of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to develop the “This Way to a Healthy Baby” campaign which guides families in the Downtown, Point Douglas and Inkster communities to services that support healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.This social marketing campaign focuses on making sure that women in the inner-city are aware of the wide range of services and supports available to them right from the start of their pregnancy through to baby’s arrival and beyond. It is one of three inter-related initiatives that aim to reduce inequities in use of prenatal

care in the Winnipeg Health Region. The three initiatives: 1) Community Based Prenatal Care Initiative, 2) Street Outreach Initiative, and 3) Social Marketing Initiative, make up the Partners in Inner-City Integrated Prenatal Care (PIIPC) project. The project builds on knowledge gained from two previous studies led by Dr. Maureen Heaman, University of Manitoba professor with the Faculty of Nursing and Principal Investigator for the PIIPC project. The first study found that women living in the Downtown, Point Douglas and Inkster areas had the higher rates of inadequate prenatal care study that women living in other areas of the city, while the second study explored barriers, facilitators and motivators that women in these inner-city neighborhoods perceived as influencing their utilization of PNC.

This Way to a Healthy Baby provides Winnipeg women and families in these communities with information about their options for prenatal care – and shows them just how accessible and important this care is. “Families have more options for care during their pregnancies now than they have had in the past,” said Lynda Tjaden, Director of Population and Public Health for the WRHA and Principal Knowledge User for the PIIPC project . “Care can be provided by a doctor, nurse, midwife or nurse practitioner and can be obtained at a clinic, hospital, Street Connections, or in one of the community organizations that host Healthy Baby and Healthy Start programs.”Dr. Maureen Heaman, along with a team of researchers and knowlege users, will be evaluating the effectiveness of the three initiatives. The proposal to evaluate the PIIPC project, Reducing inequities in access to and use of prenatal care in the Winnipeg Health Region through health system improvement, has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) with partnership funding from the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC), Healthy Child Manitoba, and the WRHA.

>>For more information on This Way to a Healthy Baby visit: thiswaytoahealthybaby.com>>For more information on Partners in Inner-City Integrated Prenatal Care (PIIPC) project, visit: wrha.mb.ca/community/publichealth/piipc/index.php

“Early and regular prenatal care during a woman’s pregnancy can have real benefits to the health of the mother and baby,” said Dr. Maureen Heaman.

(l-r) Drs. Mike Harlos and Harvey Chochinov (Faculty of Medicine) debunk the many myths and misunderstandings surrounding palliative care.

camPus news & Kudos Third-year environmental science student at the U of M, Ameena Bajer-Koulack, is one of only ten students in Canada to be named a 3M National Student Fellow.The 3M National Student Fellowship Award was introduced in 2012 to honour undergraduate students in Canada who have demonstrated qualities of outstanding leadership and who embrace a vision where the quality of their educational experience can be enhanced in academia and beyond.

Warehouse volume 21, designed by U of M architecture students and featuring the year’s student work, has received an honourable mention in book design from the Alcuin Societym which runs a nation-wide book design award. Warehouse has also shortlisted in the Manitoba Book Awards, with the final award ceremony in April.

Anne-marie macintosh, a 22-year-old a coloratura soprano from Langley, B.C. who moved to Winnipeg in September to take a masters degree in opera performance at the U of M, has won the Rose Bowl trophy for the best vocal performance at the Winnipeg Music Festival. The chance to study under Tracy Dahl, the coloratura soprano great and instructor at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music, was too valuable an opportunity to pass up, MacIntosh said. It seems her wager paid off.

The u of m women’s curling team won gold at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national curling championships recently held in Kamloops, B.C.

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Lively discussion on the arts draws crowdMARIIANNE MAYS wIEBEThe Bulletin

“Everyone is an artist,” said Jeff Melanson, U of M alumnus and president of The Banff Centre, one of several panelists who spoke at the recent session of the award-winning Visionary Conversations series, held on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. “Freedom 55 is a strange way to look at society.” Instead, he said, an active population is prefer-able and “the art and culture sector needs to step up and drive purpose and change in society.“What artists do is imagine some-thing that doesn’t exist and create it; this is what we need in society.” He also suggested that these “dis-ruptive voices” are ones that need to be heard.The Visionary Conversations event, which took place on Fort Garry

campus, was part of the engaging, interac-tive speaker series that brings together world-class minds to present and discuss issues with the audience that are critical to the future of our community, our country and the world.Panelists discussed how music, creative artwork, film, theatre and dance create the foundation of a vibrant community. Other panelists were: Edmund Dawe, dean, Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music; Paul Hess, director, School of Art; George Toles, distinguished professor, English, film and theatre, Faculty of Arts and Francine Morin, head and professor, cur-riculum, teaching and learning, Faculty of Education.Edmund Dawe attested to the power of music, beginning with a quote from Plato’s Republic: “Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” Paul Hess spoke about “reception” of the arts and the many ways we imagine “making” and

“looking,” while George Toles brought three quotes to the discussion, the first from Michael Kimmelman: “A life lived with art in mind might itself be a kind of art,” and the third from Simone Weil: “Contradiction is a test of reality.” Toles spoke about “imagined communities”—communities of feeling with relation to empathy and art. Francis Morin fin-ished the panel by speaking about arts education in public schools, advocat-ing that we need the arts because “they foster broad dispositions and skills [… including] the ability to see multiple viewpoints, to reflect, inquire, self-as-sess, develop agency, to work as a team, to tolerate ambiguity, the ability to think creatively and the ability to make con-nections. The arts take up all life, and should be at the heart of all educative experience.” She called the arts “the steel pillars” of education.”

The panel was followed by a lively Q+A with the audience and a summation of the arguments by Patricia Bovey, chairperson of the U of M’s Board of Governors. >>To view the conversation online in its entirety, go to U of M’s “Visionary Con-versations” channel on YouTube at: youtube.com/course?list=EC424F83483723E9E9Past conversations can also be viewed there online. >>The schedule for upcoming panels can be found at: umanitoba.ca/admin/vp_external/government_community/visionaryconversations/aboutvc.html

Survivor of solitary confinement feels lucky to be aliveBY HElEN FAlldINg

What would teenage inmate Ashley Smith have said about solitary confinement if she had survived her final desperate act and grown up?Just ask Tona Mills, now 40, who spent six years in segregation before a judge recognized prison was making her sicker.“I went a whole month one time with nothing but a security gown and blanket – no mattress or pillows, sleeping on a steel bed,” Mills told about 80 prison experts gathered at Robson Hall March 22-23 for the Ending the Isolation conference. “It just affects your mind.”Mills eventually suffered from paranoia and hallucinations – typical symptoms of what conference speaker Dr. Stuart Grassian describes as a unique syndrome caused by solitary confinement. She had never assaulted anyone before being locked up.Mills knows she could easily have faced the same fate as Smith, whose death in an Ontario solitary cell in 2007 is the subject of an inquest.“If I can help one person to see what segregation is doing to other women,

then it’s worth me talking about it,” Mills said by video link from the hospital in Nova Scotia where she is now an outpatient.Prisoner advocate Kim Pate had originally lined up four survivors of segregation to speak at the law school event, but the other three backed out because they were afraid of the repercussions or revisiting the memories had triggered nightmares.Conference organizer Prof. Debra Parkes

found in a study of the Portage women’s jail that overcrowding was a common reason for placing inmates in solitary cells, but that’s not legal.The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture told conference participants that solitary confinement of more than 15 days should be banned. In Canada, more than half of federal prisoners in solitary stay more than 30 days. Many Canadians imagine segregation cells are filled with murderers and sex offenders, but they’re actually underrepresented compared to their proportion of the general prison population. Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon for the stark rooms to house troubled youth who have mouthed off to guards or injured themselves.Mills hated the restraints, yet craved human contact so much that she would sometimes ask to be strapped to a board so staff would have to sit with her. Pate says Mills was a brilliant young woman, which her guards found threatening, but the experience of segregation has permanently damaged her.“You guys in Canada are supposed to be so much sweeter and more civilized,”

American psychiatrist Grassian said. “I have been involved in a couple of situations … in Canada and it’s pretty dirty.”“If you really have to isolate a person, … instead of depriving him of perceptual and occupational stimulation, you ought to try as much as you can to enhance it.”After decades of resistance by correctional services to independent oversight and with politicians committed to getting even tougher on inmates, conference speaker Lisa Kerr said there’s no option left but the courts. A lawyer representing a 26-year-old B.C. woman challenging her segregation said they will argue it violated Charter of Rights provisions against cruel and unusual punishment.The conference was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and co-sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights Research. Presenters plan to draft a statement for use in future advocacy.>>Videos of conference sessions will be posted on the Robson Hall YouTube site: www.youtube.com/user/robsonhallvideo

Left: Everyone is an artist”: Jeff Melanson, president, The Banff Centre. Right: Paul Hess, director, School of Art, presents on “looking” and “making.”

Left: Audience member asks a question during the Q+A after the presentations.

Photos by Mike Latchislaw

Illustration by Kaitlin O'Toole

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The Marcel a. desautels Faculty of MusicThe Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music is a bustling faculty with many programs. It offers degree and diploma programs, including: Bachelor of Music (General, Performance, Composition or History); Bachelor of Jazz Studies; Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Performance; a Master of Music; and an integrated program with the Faculty of Education, the Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Education degree. The faculty prepares students for a wide range music and music-related careers through an outstanding academic/performance curriculum, a collaborative and stimulating learning environment, broad exposure to a wide range of classical and jazz styles taught be leading experts, and instruction in all orchestral, band, jazz, instrumental and vocal areas.

Composed of internationally acclaimed artist-teachers and scholars who share a passion for teaching and are committed to excellence and student success, the Desautels Faculty of Music is located at the Fort Garry campus in Winnipeg—one of Canada’s most culturally vibrant and artistically diverse cities. The faculty also boasts high academic standards, numerous, rich opportunities for performance, a small conservatory atmosphere offering individualized attention within a large and dynamic research university and a growing endowment providing substantial scholarships and bursary assistance.Edmund Dawe, dean of the faculty, adds, “The Desautels Faculty of Music is located on a lively campus in a cultural capital, and offers exceptional opportunities for

the study and performance of music.“Our faculty is comprised of an outstanding group of performers, conductors, composers, and scholars who have a passion for teaching. Similarly, the level of talent among our students is an inspiration!”Several courses are open to students outside the faculty, such as The Well Tempered Concert-Goer and The Rudiments of Music. University students and community members are also encouraged to audition for many ensemble groups: Bison Men’s Chorus, Cantata Singers, Collegium, Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Lab Band, Jazz Orchestra, Opera Theatre, Musical Theatre, Symphony Orchestra, University Singers, Wind Ensemble, Women’s Chorus and the

eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE). In addition to the courses that run during the term, the faculty offers a number of summer programs each year, such as Aboriginal music in the K - 8 classroom, Orff certification program, contemporary opera lab, choral conducting intensive and a summer jazz camp. Music instruction and other programs (such as RCM theory classes, chamber music program, adult beginner guitar, musical theatre camp, summer singing for adults and introduction to keyboard) are offered through year-round through its division of preparatory studies. See more at: issuu.com/uofmanitoba_bulletin/docs/november_10_2011_bulletin_web_musicTurn the page for a special feature on this vibrant faculty.

MEET THE dEAN:

edMund daweMarcel a. desautels Faculty of MusicMARIIANNE MAYS wIEBEThe Bulletin

For Edmund Dawe, pianist, professor and dean of the Desautels Faculty of Music, his love of music comes down to this: “I love all of the research and practicing required to create an interpretation of a great piece of music, and collaborating with other performers whenever possible. ““There was always music in the house,” he said of his childhood in Newfoundland. Mostly it was traditional folk music. “My grandfather played the accordion and I would accompany him on a keyboard; I played by ear.”While his grade one classmates were jotting down dreamy answers such as “astronaut” or “explorer” in their grade one printing journal to the question of what they wanted to be when they grew up, Dawe was focused on a decided goal: he wrote “music teacher.” He loved music, and started playing the piano when very young, he says, and was enrolled in formal lessons by the age of seven. He gained exposure to classical

music at 14, and later, upon attending Memorial University with the intent of becoming a high school music teacher, Dawe became increasingly interested in performance. “Because I was exposed to classical music later than most people who choose that route,” he says, “and Memorial University opened that world to me.”

While an undergraduate student, an opportunity to go to London on an external semester program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama was “life-changing”. At the conclusion of the first concert he attended in London, featuring mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker with the London Symphony Orchestra, he sat in a daze of wonder in his seat in Royal Festival Hall until the ushers finally prodded him to leave. The high calibre of live music — he attended three or four concerts per

week — shaped his ear and inspired him. “It set the bar for what I wanted to strive to achieve,” he says. Though he continued and completed a conjoint degree program in Music and Music Education, he subsequently pursued graduate degrees in performance at the University of Western Ontario and the University of British Columbia.

As for the interplay between scholarship, teaching and artistry or performance, “the teaching and performance aspects inform each other,” he says.

What makes for exceptional music training? First and foremost, “students must have the opportunity to study with outstanding practitioners in the field - performers, composers, conductors, and scholars. Furthermore, the professors must also have a gift and passion for teaching.

“Secondly, the curriculum must meet the demands of the times and the profession. Courses and programs require depth and breadth that provide training in the essential core aspects of music while offering content and choices that enable students to explore specific areas of interest and prepare them for a wide range of music

and music-related careers. This is a tall order and we must therefore have the courage to place all aspects of our curriculum under the microscope regularly to see if we are meeting these goals and build consensus to make changes where necessary,” he adds.

What drew him to Winnipeg was the reputation of the music program at the U of M. “It’s an ideal place; a vibrant university located in a cultural capital with many opportunities for partnering with other outstanding arts and music organizations.” A

recent statistic he cites lists Winnipeg as having a little over 2 per cent of Canada’s population but 12 per cent of the nation’s professional musicians. “We have a very significant concentration of outstanding musicians in our community,” he notes.

I see the Desautels Faculty as playing a key role in spreading the reputation for

excellence at the University of Manitoba. With the completion of new facilities for Music, Art, and Theatre in the Taché Complex, there are exciting opportunities on the horizon for collaborations and synergies that will enable the institution to position itself as a major cultural force in the city, province and country. “There’s a lot going on and a huge opportunity for more,” he says.

“It’s a good place to work and to build a faculty of music,” he says. He names a mentorship program with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as an example of the types of partnering that are possible. “It is an honour to work at the University of Manitoba and to be in my second term as dean of the Desautels Faculty of Music.”

Q&awHAT IS YoUR MoTTo oR gUIdINg PRINCIPlE?Work hard. As one of my teachers used to say, “The only place you find success before work is in a dictionary!”

wHAT INSPIRES YoU? Talent in any discipline inspires me. Talent = potential, and we have the privilege of being in the profession of nurturing and developing potential. Our students and faculty inspire me with their talent, dedication and work as performers, conductors, composers and scholars. This past week, we began our annual performance reviews in the Desautels Faculty of Music. As I meet with each colleague to discuss the past year, I am constantly impressed by the diversity and calibre of work being carried out in all areas of the faculty.

wHAT do YoU AdMIRE IN SoMEoNE ElSE? Kindness.

wHAT do YoU VAlUE IN A FRIENd oR CollEAgUE: Honesty.

AN EYE-oPENINg ExPERIENCE: One of the most eye-opening happened very recently. My 81-year-old mother is battling dementia. I witnessed her recall and sing a song from the 1950s while watching a group perform it on a PBS special. She did this on a very slow day when she didn’t seem to recognize close family members. I have never heard her sing this before, and she was 19 years old when it was a hit single.

BEST dAY oF YoUR lIFE ANd wHAT MAdE IT So?In September 1982, I met my wife Karla in the cafeteria at the University of Western Ontario’s Talbot College.

FAVoURITE PIECE oF MUSIC:That’s a tough question because there are many pieces I love. However, Liszt’s B Minor Sonata is a work that I learned in graduate school. It’s one of the most demanding pieces in the repertoire and took a huge amount of practice and research. I programmed it on my M.Mus recital and it was very successful - in hindsight it was an important turning point in my development as a pianist and it remains one of my favourite pieces.

Edmund Dawe with his piano in his office at the Desautels Faculty of Music.

wHIlE gRAdE oNE ClASSMATES JoTTEd dowN dREAMY ANSwERS SUCH AS “ASTRoNAUT” To THE qUESTIoN oF wHAT THEY wANTEd To BE wHEN THEY gREw UP, dAwE HAd A dECIdEd goAl: “MUSIC TEACHER.”

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Composition: Gordon FitzellGordon Fitzell heads the composition program at the U of M’s Faculty of Music. Fitzell is a Canadian composer, performer and media artist, and his music has been performed by numerous ensembles including Norwegian group BIT20, Canada’s Ensemble contemporain de Montréal and American sextet eighth blackbird, whose Grammy-winning album strange imaginary animals features two of his works. An Associate Professor of Music at the University of Manitoba, Fitzell also leads the eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE) and serves as an Artistic Director of GroundSwell, Winnipeg’s premiere new music series. The Bulletin inquired with Fitzell about the composition program.

CAN YoU TEll US A lITTlE ABoUT THE PRogRAM? gordon Fitzell: The Bachelor of Music program offers a rich and demanding challenge, with rigorous academic and performance requirements. The Composition stream, in particular, requires a special brand of creativity. Composers must be audacious enough to envision new directions for music, music that does not yet exist. Composition is a unique calling, and students emerge from a wide array of circumstances and experiences. Some are dedicated classical musicians, some have roots in the music of other cultures. Others find inspiration in popular music, including film music, video game music, and so on. Many wish to expand their technical abilities, and study computer music with my colleague Örjan Sandred. The majority of our students pursue careers as composers of concert music, often continuing their education at the graduate level, either here or elsewhere. Others branch out to areas such as performance, arts administration, teaching, and a host of other creative career paths.

Jazz studiesThe U of M’s bachelor of jazz studies is a relatively new addition to the faculty’s offerings, and provides students with a broad and comprehensive study of jazz performance, jazz composition and arranging, as well as strong pedagogical training in the field.The program focuses on four essential areas: composing, arranging, performing, and educating.Students have the chance to interact with renowned jazz musicians, whom jazz studies director Steve Kirby brings in from across North America to perform and guest teach. Another important component of the jazz studies program is its emphasis on teacher-

student mentorship. Each student has a major practical teacher they meet with weekly, in addition to their core classes and the ensembles they play in.Kirby says one-on-one learning is essential in a discipline that tends to be largely self-directed and personal in nature.“It’s more suitable to have a mentor that helps you because you wind up having to discover yourself and who you are, discover your truth,” says Kirby. “There is no one way to skin this cat. There’s so many ways to do it that it can be overwhelming.”The jazz studies program is also very involved in the local community, facilitating a variety of jazz series, a summer jazz camp for middle and high school students, as well as community outreach programs like Kirby’s Bridge program, which provides musical education—delivered by his third and fourth year students— to core area youth who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it.

Solo and Collaborative Performance Collaborative PianolAURA loEwEN (VoCAl ACCoMPANYINg FoR PIANo AREA) ANd JUdY KEHlER SIEBERT (INSTRUMENTAl/PIANo AREA)This program combines an equal emphasis of instrumental and vocal accompanying for piano students who wish to take a collaborative approach to their studies. Students learn how to work with other musicians in what’s often a stressful, fast-paced environment that closely mimics the professional world, says Laura Loewen, a vocal coach and diction specialist who heads up the vocal/piano area of the program.

“To do that, [students] need to strive for musical excellence with curiosity, determination, a healthy dose of risk-taking, and physical and mental health and stamina,” she says. “We have designed the program so that they learn those skills in university, which provides a safe and supportive environment. It is hard work—they are often pushed beyond what they think they can do, but they always do everything with joy and accept the work with an enormous amount of grace.”Plenty of performing opportunities are provided within the university and in the community, and the program is committed to a multi-faceted learning approach. In addition to participating in vocal and instrumental studios and master classes, students receive two weekly lessons with collaborative piano professors who are active performers in their fields.

Loewen says the students that are drawn to this program are often adventurous and extroverted people who thrive

off working with other artists. She says the program produces strong musicians who are able to assess their own abilities and understand what’s needed of them in a variety of situations.“It’s not about the pianist being a virtuoso, but about respecting what the music demands and rising to the challenge,” she says.The program is offered for post-baccalaureate and graduate study.

VoiceVoICE: MEl BRAUN Singers at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music are nurtured in a holistic environment that allows them to fully explore and develop their gifts as performers and educators. Areas of instruction are: Classical voice, advanced opera studies and jazz voice.The Bulletin asked the director, baritone Mel Braun, himself a versatile performer, about the vocal program. It is renowned for its collaborative and wholistic approach to training singers.

wHAT doES IT TAKE FoR A STUdENT To BE SUCCESSFUl IN THIS PRogRAM? mel Braun: For a student to be successful in our vocal program, they need a combination of curiosity, self-discipline, talent, academic skills, and openness to learning. Singers in our program are given a tremendous amount of input and a great deal is expected of them. We want them them to develop the best of themselves, and to do this, they really have to dig in from the first year of their studies. We work collaboratively as a faculty team, with many faculty members contributing to each student’s learning journey. In the same way, students need to be good team members, working co-operatively with both their colleagues and teachers.

IS THERE AN INTERESTINg FACT ABoUT THE PRogRAM YoU’d lIKE To SHARE? mB: The collaborative nature of our program makes us quite unique in Canada. The team approach to our teaching is symbolized by the weekly Vocal Masterclass, in which singers sing for a voice teacher other than their own. As a Faculty team, we are united in our approach to combining good vocal technique with meaningful presentation of text and committed acting, and this is the kind of well-rounded singer we have become well-known across Canada for turning out. Our incredible voice teachers, along with the rest of our full-time gifted faculty in the voice area, make us one of the strongest Vocal training programs in Canada. It’s no mistake that singers like Gregory Dahl, Andriana Chuchman, Ileana Montalbetti, Kirsten Schellenberg, and many others have significant performing careers in the opera and oratorio world, while others like Banff CEO Jeff Melanson, also got their start here as singers.

Spotlight Marcel a. desautels Faculty of Music

FEATURE BY SANdY KlowAK ANd MARIIANNE MAYS wIEBE The Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music prepares students for a wide range music and music-related careers. It offers outstanding academic/performance curriculum, a collaborative and stimulating learning environment, broad exposure to a wide range of classical and jazz styles taught be leading experts, and instruction in all orchestral, band, jazz, instrumental and vocal areas. The bustling faculty has both degree and diploma programs, including: Bachelor of Music (General, Performance, Composition or History); Bachelor of Jazz Studies; Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Performance; and Master of Music. Here’s a bit about some of the programs offered in the Faculty, and some insights from students in the faculty.Hear music samples at: umanitoba.ca/faculties/music/GalleryMusic.html

Laura Loewen and Mel Braun.

Judy Kehler Siebert with student.

Opera Theatre students perform an excerpt from Susannah, January 2011

Jazz on Wheels.

Steve Kirby.

Gordon Fitzell.

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Student perspectivesFACUlTY oF MUSIC STUdENTS SHARE THEIR THoUgHTS oN THEIR PRogRAMS oF STUdY.

JOanna MaJOKOTHIRd YEAR VoICE MAJoR, JAzz STUdIESWhy did you choose your program and what do you like about it? I chose jazz studies, because I fell in love with the music and its history through an elective I had taken in my prior studies. Secondly, I picked this specific jazz studies program because of the high calibre of musicianship within the faculty.How is your program preparing you for your career? The program preparing me to be a working musician, not just someone who knows how to compose, arrange, but actually be a performer.

aleX MaSSaFIRST YEAR JAzz TRUMPET MASTER’S STUdENT FRoM RAPId CITY, U.S.Why did you choose your program of study and what do you like about it? 1) Derrick Gardner 2) When I graduated from university, I won my first professional playing gig. It was then that I realized I had too many gaps in my playing to continue with my career at that point. U of M, with Derrick, seemed like a perfect choice. I enjoy being able to interact personally and musically with my professors each day. They are all ready and willing to lend their ears when a student needs it. How is your program preparing you for your career? Derrick Gardner’s close mentorship is large in the role of getting me to the point where I can do all of these things. Also, classes with Quincy Davis and Larry Roy this year have opened my ears up to many new harmonies and concepts to playing music. All the faculty members expect a lot out of the students, and they expect a high level of concentration and focus on this music every day, which I believe is crucial to living a life for anyone involved in the arts.

liSa naZaRenKOTHIRd YEAR, CEllo PERFoRMANCE, U oF M SYMPHoNY oRCHESTRA MEMBERWhy did you choose your program of study and what do you like about it? I have played the cello since I was seven, but quit playing once I graduated high school. My cello teacher at the time told me, “if you can be happy doing anything other than being a musician, do it” and it took me five years to figure out I couldn’t be happy doing anything else.How is your program and your experience in the orchestra preparing you for the future? Our orchestra’s conductor, Richard Lee, is constantly talking about what we need to do in order to succeed in the industry, and he is also the resident conductor for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

JeReMY BuZaSHSECoNd YEAR VIolIN MASTER’S STUdENT, U oF M SYMPHoNY oRCHESTRA MEMBERWhy did you choose your program of study and what do you like about it? I chose the program because of a chance meeting with Oleg Pokhanovski in 2010 and he invited me to come and study with him. Although I enjoy my life at U of M, I have particularly enjoyed my studies with Oleg. He is an inspiring figure, a kind person, and a good friend.How is your program and your experience in the orchestra preparing you for the next step in your education? My experience in the orchestra has been greatly beneficial for honing my skills as a leader. As the concertmaster, my job is to tune the orchestra and to relay the ideas of the conductor throughout the string sections as we play. I have been a concertmaster for many years in different ensembles and Maestro Richard Lee is a fantastic and intense conductor. Even though rehearsals can sometimes be strenuous, his ideas about music are excellent.

ZaCH BaleSTHIRd YEAR, CoMPoSITIoNWhy did you choose your program of study? I’ve been interested in pursuing music since I was 14 or so, but I never really considered composition because I didn’t really know composers still existed. By chance when I was looking at University music programs my bass teacher at the time suggested I look into the composition program at the U of M. Obviously I’m happy that he did and happy I listened.What do you like about it? I find composition to be incredibly fun and I love being able to study and practice it all day.How is your program preparing you to do that? I’m receiving the training necessary to pursue graduate studies. I’m also able to gain valuable experience that is preparing me for life as a composer (opportunities to write a broad range of music, work with and rehearse both student and professional musicians and get my music performed).

Concert Band (wind): Fraser linklaterFraser Linklater, an associate professor in the Faculty of Music, directs the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Chamber Winds and teaches courses in music education and conducting. A trumpet player, Linklater has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Genève (Switzerland), and the Ron Paley Big Band, as well as being a founding member of the Winnipeg Brass Quintet.In October 2002, he received the MBA Award of Distinction for his services to music education in Manitoba. We spoke with Linklater about the concert band (wind) program.

wHAT qUAlITIES ARE YoU looKINg FoR IN STUdENTS THAT AUdITIoN FoR THE BANd? Fraser Linklater: Students who are committed to attending rehearsals and performances and who play their instruments well. The band is auditioned — players must be able to play major scales, a chromatic, an etude and sight read accurately. We have students from across the campus, including music, arts, educations, engineering, sciences, and so forth. For several years, one of our strongest clarinet players was completing a PhD in Electrical Engineering!

How doES PARTICIPATIoN IN THE BANd INFoRM THE REST oF THEIR EdUCATIoN? wHAT BENEFITS do THEY RECEIVE? FL: Students enjoy participation in a communal effort towards a common goal. They are able to maintain and develop their music making skills — most players in the Concert Band played in their school bands throughout junior high and high school, and enjoyed making music. They wish to continue this experience on into university.

wHAT KINdS oF SHowS do YoU PERFoRM? wHAT wAS THE HIgHlIgHT THIS PAST YEAR? FL: The U of M Concert Band performs four times each year, usually sharing a concert with the U of M Wind Ensemble. I seek to program a wide variety of music, including marches, lyric pieces, dramatic and fun pieces. There will also be some pieces that many students have played previously in high school — but that were favorites they enjoy playing again. We just gave a very fine performance of “Suite of Old American Dances” —

a classic wind band piece that challenges many university ensembles. Another highlight is coming up — the U of M Concert Band will be a guest band playing at the official opening of the new Blue Bomber football stadium. That should be quite an event!

Symphony Orchestra: Minna Rose ChungMinna Rose Chung has been described as “a bright light on the Winnipeg cello scene. [H]er intelligent musicality and rich resonance [are] valuable additions to any ensemble... devoted and playing with admirable gusto!”The Korean American cellist is assistant professor of cello at the U of M, and heads the symphony orchestra program in the Faculty of Music. She also founder and director of Project Rio, a multi-collaborative effort that brings Winnipeg musicians to Rio de Janeiro to perform at the prestigious Rio International Cello Encounter. In 2010, she joined the newly formed Azure String Quartet, a Winnipeg based ensemble commissioned to perform new works for chamber music. The Bulletin asked Chung about the program.

wHAT qUAlITIES ARE YoU looKINg FoR IN STUdENTS THAT AUdITIoN FoR THE oRCHESTRA? minna rose chung: The symphony orchestra is considered one of our largest ensembles at the Desautels Faculty of Music. We have a high level of performance ability with most of our students in a performance major practicum. We invite community musicians to our screened auditions and we currently have a small number of advanced amateur musicians who are valued members of the orchestra. A high level of reliability and responsibility is paramount to the success of the concerts as well as individual practice.

wHAT wAS THE HIgHlIgHT oF THIS PAST YEAR? mrc: Being a symphonic orchestra, there exists a wide variety of music chosen for its pedagogical value as well as its inherent musical qualities. For the purpose of educational reasons, we like to incorporate the standard great symphonies such as works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart; however, these past two years we have ventured towards exquisite and dramatic programming: Mahler 4th, Bruckner 4th, Schoenberg Five Pieces for Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, Hindemith, and Copland to name a few. This shift towards adventurous programming, especially for a university-level orchestra, is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the members of the UMSO and the vision of Director Richard Lee. We have recently initiated intense collborations with the opera theatre, choral and composition programs. Each year we commission and perform a world premiere composition from our Faculty. In 2011, we performed a full opera, Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” which was an astounding collaborative debut for the Opera Theatre Studies and UMSO. We are excited to present Handel’s opera “Rinaldo” in November 2013.

Minna Rose Chung.

Fraser Linklater.

The U of M Symphony Orchestra performs.

University Singers perform on tour in Alno, Sweden

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UMANITOBA.CA/VISIONARYCONVERSATIONSJOIN THE CONVERSATION #UMVISIONARYRSVP at [email protected]

GLOBAL PANDEMIC: ANOTHER Y2K OR FUTURE APOCALYPSE?

Talk of the inevitability of a global pandemic abounds in popular media. Is it necessary? Are we prepared? Learn about the science

behind the hype from our experts and join the discussion.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013

FEATURED SPEAKERS:Frank Plummer – Canada Research Chair in Resistance

and Susceptibility to Infections, Faculty of MedicineMichelle Driedger – Canada Research Chair in Environment

and Health Risk Communication, Faculty of MedicineAnand Kumar – Associate Professor, Medical Microbiology/Pharmacology/

Internal Medicine, Faculty of MedicineJoanne Embree – Head and Professor, Medical Microbiology

and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine

PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

A SPEAKER SERIES HOSTED BY

DR. DAVID T. BARNARD

CONVERSATIONS

Frederic Gaspard Theatre, 727 McDermot Ave.Basic Medical Sciences Building, Bannatyne CampusReception in Buhler Atrium – 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion – 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

CoFFEE wITH A Co-woRKER:

Sherry Farrell Racettenative studies and women’s and gender studiesBY SANdY KlowAK

RESEARCH ENdEAVoURS ARE TIgHTlY INTERwoVEN wITH PERSoNAl INTERESTS FoR U oF M PRoFESSoR SHERRY FARREll RACETTE — ANd THAT’S THE wAY SHE lIKES IT.

Farrell Racette research interests lie in Metis and First Nations women’s histories and indigenous art histories that reclaim women’s voices through re-contextualized museum collections; she teaches in the Native studies and women’s and gender studies departments. As a young person of mixed ancestry, including Algonquin, Cree, Mohawk and Irish heritage, Farrell Racette says she formed a strong identity with the Metis community, something that has shaped her career.She holds an undergraduate degree in fine arts from the U of M, as well as a teaching certificate, a master’s of education from the University of Regina, and a PhD from the U of M. She has several publications to her name.According to Farrell Racette, the interdisciplinary nature of the work is essential because her research interests surrender scant historical records. “Most of what I do is related to women’s history or other areas — mostly of history — that are absent or marginalized, and I really have to turn every stone. If you stick exclusively in one discipline, then you’re limited to the resources of that discipline. I find that I just look everywhere.”Also a visual artist, Farrell Racette works in a variety of mediums, including

painting, multi-media work and illustrating children’s books. Her current project is an historical analysis of Metis clothing and beadwork, a craft that is a big part of her own life. She learned to bead as a teen and she now teaches beading to her students in preparation for studying historic beadwork. “You can’t really see it until you have experienced [creating] it,” she says of studying the clothing pieces. “When I’m looking at beadwork I’m really looking at it as a maker, because I can think ‘Okay, where did she start?’ You can really appreciate what you’re seeing.”In addition to appreciating the technical accomplishment of the beadwork, which took hours and hours of intricate work, Farrell Racette also grasps the personal connection to history in studying the artefacts close-up. “You’re really touching what someone else has touched. You can almost see a person’s fingerprints, and you can see sometimes where they made a little mistake— you can see the human being within that piece.”

CoFFEE oR TEA? Coffee, from morning to night — black, dark roast. The occasional cappuccino, for a treat.

wHERE dId YoU gRow UP?I grew up in Manitoba, in Pine Falls. My parents were from Quebec.

wHAT dId YoU lIKE ABoUT YoUR CHIldHood?I really liked the environment. Lake Winnipeg — it’s very sad that it’s so polluted now, but to me that’s my lake and I share it with people. And I just liked the rock and the trees and growing up there being so free. I spent a lot of time at the lake with my dad, just running around, barefoot for months.

CHIldHood HERo oR RolE ModEl?My dad. He’s this kind of larger-than-life person, very artistic — taught me to draw before I could walk, mind you I was a slow walker.

gUIdINg PRINCIPlE oR MoTTo?A long, long time ago, someone told me you don’t need to be too afraid of making mistakes as long as you do it in a good way.

wHAT ARE YoU CURRENTlY woRKINg oN?I’m working on changing my doctoral dissertation into a book. It’s a pretty broad historical look at Metis clothing and beadwork. One of the things that I’m looking at is how the way people presented themselves visually mapped out a terrain, claimed a territory because [the fashion] was distinct, it was recognizable.

A RECENT BooK YoU’VE ENJoYEd?Gregory Scofield’s Louis: The Heretic Poems. It’s a series of poems, most of

them through [Louis] Riel’s voice, and one of them I just can’t get out of my head, and I’m actually thinking of making it –with his permission — the focus of a very significant artwork project.

wHAT’S THE UPCoMINg PRoJECT?I’m thinking of making a short film with puppets, with Scofield’s poem — literally performing the poem using puppets.

wHAT qUAlITIES do YoU APPRECIATE oR AdMIRE IN oTHERS?Honesty and a sense of humour — not necessarily in that order!

wHAT do YoU lIKE To do IN YoUR FREE TIME?Free time — that is a bit of an issue. Does it exist? Not much. But when I actually have real free time, I like to go to casinos. I love casinos, I’ll pick up my mom and we’ll go hit the slots. Another thing is I just like to get out of the city and go to my lake, go see some trees and some rock. I love the ballet, the symphony, the theatre.

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Sherry Farrell Racette.

The Bulletin | April 4, 2013 | umanitoba.ca/bulletin Page 9

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umanitoba.ca

ST. PAUL’S COLLEGE UNIVERSITY AFFILIATION LECTURE

EVERYDAY DIPLOMACY

Tuesday, April 9, 7:00 p.m.Fr. Jensen Theatre, Room 100 St. Paul’s CollegeFor more information, please call 204-474-6052. Free admission and parkingFinancial Support provided by Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP

Roger Mac GintyDr. Mac Ginty is the editor of the forthcoming Handbook on Peacebuilding and the author of the International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid Forms of Peace. His work examines the interface between top-down and bottom-up interactions in peacebuilding.

Presented by

TRAILBLAZER PIONEER EXPLORER INNOVATOR VISIONARY

world Storytelling day celebratedAniigo Diibajiimo: Passing On Our Stories was held on March 19, 2013 at Migizii Agamik (Bald Eagle Lodge) to celebrate World Storytelling Day. The traditional storytelling event held under the guidance of Elders, Florence Paynter and Garry Robson while there was snow on the ground. Clare Muireann Murphy, a multi-talented storyteller from Ireland and Storyteller-in-Residence at Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture and Camille Callison, Indigenous Libraries Services, co-hosted the event and lunch was provided by Indigenous Achievement and the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture. Carl Stone was amazing as the Master of Ceremonies to an enthusiastic crowd. Many storytellers participated in the sharing of stories including the Elder Florence Paynter, Elder Garry Robson, Carl Stone, Clare Muireann Murphy, Nigaanwewidam Sinclair, Warren Cariou, Glen Robson, Horace Massan and Michael Dorie. We hope this is the first of many more storytelling events held at UM.

EMAIL CHANGES YOU NEED TO KNOWBeginning September 2013, official university communications must be sent to a student’s U of M email account.

As this policy affects all instructional and support staff who communicate with students via email, it’s important to know what the policy means for you!

For more information, see article in this issue of The Bulletin. The full policy will soon be available at umanitoba.ca/governance

TRAILBLAZER PIONEER EXPLORER INNOVATOR VISIONARY

The university’s waste prevention re-shop is turning FIVE!The Re-shop is a Waste Prevention program designed to keep usable university office supplies and furniture out of the landfill and in circulation. Priority is given to faculties and departments but staff and students will also find items that are available to take home. The Re-shop first opened on March 3rd, 2008 and accepted only office supplies. After such an overwhelming response the Re-shop expanded to receive surplus furniture in May 2008. Since then the Re-shop has donated over 10,000 pieces of furniture to U of M faculties, departments and schools, students and Manitoba charities. With over 10,000 items donated we have kept many tonnes of useable

items out of the landfill and have saved U of M faculties, departments and schools considerable amounts of money. If you are wondering where all the items come, many furniture items come in as a result of a renovation. In total this fiscal year, 1,421 people have visited the Re-shop, with an average of 40 people dropping by every Tuesday. As a result, the items in stock find new homes quickly but with new items arriving weekly there is always something in store. If you have never been to the Re-shop, drop by sometime and see what’s in stock! We are open every Tuesday 9 am-12 pm and 1 pm-3 pm at 149 Helen Glass, no appointment necessary.

email Changes You need To KnowEvery year at the University of Manitoba, students miss emails with crucial information from the university, their instructors, faculties, and other service offices. A related concern is that we ensure student privacy isn’t breached. In an effort to improve in both of these areas, the university is implementing a new policy in September 2013, the Electronic Communications with Students Policy.This policy is consistent with FIPPA and PHIA regulations, so the full support of the entire university community is expected. As it affects all instructional and support staff who communicate with students via email, it’s important to know what the policy means for you!The result of the Electronic Communications with Students Policy is that official university communications must be sent to a student’s university email account – no other email address can be used to communicate with a student about official university business. Supporting this change is a move to a new email service for students – you will begin to see the new student email address extension “@myumanitoba.ca” in class lists throughout the 2013-2014 Academic Year.If you have questions, including how to change your own processes to accommodate the new policy, more information will soon be made available to instructional and support staff, students, as well as to directors responsible for the compliance of their units. >>The full policy will soon be available at umanitoba.ca/governance.

Page 10 The Bulletin | April 4, 2013 | umanitoba.ca/bulletin

eventsUniversity of ManitobaFORT GARRY + BANNATYNE CAMPUSES

uPCOMinG MuSiC eVenTSAll music events at Eva Clare Hall (Desautels Faculty of Music, 65 Dafoe Road) unless otherwise noted. For more music events: >>umanitoba.ca/music (click on “events”)

Friday, march 22 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Thomas roberts recital. saturday, April 6 | 8 to 9:15 p.m. | Jeremy Buzash recital. Jeremy Buzash presents his graduate violin recital. Free.saturday, April 6 | 9 to 10 p.m. | Xie performance. Multimedia performance at Graffiti Gallery, 109 Higgins Ave. By donation.sunday, April 7 | 2 to 3:30 p.m. | Winnipeg Brass collective. At Grace Christian Church, 50 Barnes St. Silver collection, proceeds go to Hands of Hope Charity.sunday, April 7 | 7:30 to 9 p.m. | university concert choir. At Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Ave. Tickets $12/$5.sunday, April 7 | 7:30 to 9 p.m. | oleg and Friends concert series. Works by Bach-Busoni, Franck, Schumann, Balakirev. Tickets $20/$15/$7. At Broadway Disciples United Church, 396 Broadway.monday, April 8 | 7:30 to 9 p.m. | university symphony orchestra. At Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Ave. Tickets $12/$5.monday, April 8 | 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. | Timothy seier recital. Timthy Seier presents his third year jazz guitar recital. At Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 340 Provencher Blvd. Free. monday, April 8 | 9 to 10:15 p.m. | humberto piccoli recital. Humberto Piccoli pres-ents his graduate jazz guitar recital. At Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 340 Provench-er Blvd. Free. Wednesday, April 10 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | peter Jo recital. Peter Jo presents his third year violin recital. Thursday, April 11 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Alexandria gray recital. Alexandria Gray pres-ents her third year voice recital. Free.Thursday, April 11 | 8 to 9:15 p.m. | ronald suban recital. Ronald Suban presents his fourth year jazz drum recital. Free.Friday, April 12 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | m. duckett recital. Megan Sian Duckett presents her third year voice recital. Free.Friday, April 12 | 8 to 11 p.m. | 2nd Annual umJo & Friends concert. Tickets in ad-vance $15/$10, at door $20/15. At the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Muriel Richardson Audito-rium. saturday, April 13 | 8 to 9:30 p.m. | david Betz recital. David Betz presents his compo-sition recital. Free.sunday April 14 | 2 p.m. | Benefit concert for ukrainian canadian student Fund. Featuring Faculty of Music student Viktoria Grynenko. Proceeds to support entrance bursaries for first year U of M students of Ukrainian descent. Tickets $15 by calling 204-474-8905. At St. Andrew’s College, Great Hall, 29 Dysart Rd. monday, April 15 | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | T. Klose recital. Terrelle Klose presents her third year voice recital. Free.Tuesday, April 16 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | victoria marshall recital. Victoria Marshall pres-ents her third year voice recital. Free.Tuesday, April 16 | 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. | concert: Jazz ensembles. At Mardi Jazz, Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 340 Provencher Blvd.Wednesday, April 17 | 8 to 9:15 p.m. | Alex Tyborowski. Alex Tyborowski presents his fourth year classical guitar recital. Free.Thursday, April 18 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Andrea lett recital. Andrea Lett presents her third year voice recital. Thursday, April 18 | 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Aaron sabasch recital. Aaron Sabasch presents his third year jazz drum recital. Thursday, April 18 | 8 to 9:15 p.m. | Bronwen garand sheridan recital. Bronwen Ga-rand Sheridan presents her fourth year oboe recital. Free.Thursday, April 18 | 9 to 10 p.m. | Alison clark recital. Alison Clark presents her third year jazz voice recital. At Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 340 Provencher Blvd. Free.Friday, April 19 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | i. Bartel recital. E. Ivan Bartel presents his third year piano recital. Free.Friday, April 19 | 8 to 9:15 p.m. | Anne-marie macintosh. Anne-Marie MacIntosh pres-ents her graduate voice recital. Free.Friday, April 19 | 8 to 9:30 p.m. | lucas sader. Lucas Sader presents his fourth year jazz drum recital. At Le Garage Café, 166 Provencher Blvd. Free.

events • The Bulletin publishes events involving the university community at no cost.• Deadline for the April 4 issue is March 27 at 4:30 p.m.• Email events to [email protected].

Black

CenTRe On aGinG ReSeaRCH FORuMFriday, April 5 | 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.A celebration of the centre’s 30th anniversary. Research affiliates will reflect on their work with the centre, with reception to follow. RSVP by March 28 to [email protected] or 474-8754. In 108 Cross Commons Room, St. John’s College.

PHYSiCS leCTuReFriday, April 5 | 3:30 p.m.Talk on recent developments in understanding quantum transport in nanoscale systems by Hong Guo, department of physics, McGill University. In 330 Allen Bldg.

MaTHeMaTiCS COllOQuiuMFriday, April 5 | 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.“Rigidity and Randomness in Numbers” by Oleksiy Klurman (mathematics). In 111 Armes Bldg

BROwn BaG leCTuReS SeMinaR SeRieSFriday, April 5 | 12:15 to 1 p.m.“How Do Families of Children with Complex Care Needs Participate in Everyday Life?” By Roberta L. Woodgate (nursing). In 252 St. Paul’s College, Mauro Centre Boardroom

wORld waR 1: 100 YeaRS aFTeR A weekend with military historian Andrew RobertshawFriday, April 5 | 7 p.m.Digging the Trenches. At McNally Robinson- Grant Park.

Saturday, April 6 | 2 p.m.War Horse: Making the Movie. Camp Hughes Tour Orientation following presentation. In 290 Education Building. Free parking.Sunday, April 7 | 11 a.m.Camp Hughes Tour. Near Carberry, MBAll events free and open to the public.

ST. Paul’S COlleGe uniVeRSiTY aFFiliaTiOn leCTuReTuesday, April 9 | 7 p.m.“Everyday Diplomacy” by Roger Mac Ginty, professor of peace and conflict studies, University of Manchester. In Fr. Jensen Theatre, Room 100, St. Paul’s College.

YeaR-end aRCHiTeCTuRe eXHiBiTiOnApril 19 In John A. Russell Building. All welcome.

STaTiSTiCS SeMinaR SeRieSThursday, April 18 | 2:45 to 4 p.m."Analysing Right Censored Length-Biased Survival Data” by Masoud Asgharian, department of mathematics & statistics, McGill University. In 316 Machray Hall.

PReSidenT’S ReCePTiOn FOR ReTiReeS SATURdAY, APRIl 13 | 2 P.M.Meet with Dr. David Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba, with other retirees and speaker Eleni Giannouli, medical director of the Sleep Disorder Centre. In 204 Marshall McLuhan Hall, University Centre. RSVP by Friday, April 5 to Linda Lassman at [email protected] or by telephone at 204-474-9124.

aRT eXHiBiT until Friday April 19 “Hymenal Views” by Bev Pike. At the School of Art Gallery, 255 ARTlab, 180 Dafoe Road.

ClaSSiFed ad Condo for SaleOpen House Apr 6 &7, 2-4pm, Fort Richmond, 86-1 Snow: Town house condo 1386’ sq ft conveniently located close to U of M & hospital. Walk out to your patio and court yard from your bright living room w/new patio doors. 2 bdrm, 2.5 baths loads of cabinet space in kit., dining area overlooking sunken living rm. Finished lower level space perfect for home office. Underground parking & seasonal pool. $228,900. Steve Mackenzie, Royal LePage Dynamic Real Estate, 204-989-5000, www.RelocationWinnipeg.com

Warehouse Journal 21 exhibitedWarehouse Journal 21, the latest edition of a journal produced by University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture undergraduates, has been selected to travel to exhibits around the world showcasing its fine book design.The journal received an honorary mention in Prose Non-Fiction Illustrated category of 31st annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The Alcuin Society is a Vancouver-based non-profit society for the support and appreciation of fine books.Warehouse Journal 21 will be exhibited at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs in Germany, at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo and at the Tokyo International

Book Fair in Japan, and in nine provinces.The journal, edited by Brandon Bergem and Nicole Hunt, is a curatorial record of

select architecture and design works. The journal series is devoted to the enhancing design discourse. It attempts to reflect, engage and extend the ideas found in the various departments within the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. The journal has also shortlisted in a Manitoba Book Award - the Manuela Dias Book Design of the Year award, which is put out by the Manitoba Writer’s Guild and the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers.Faculty advisors for the project were Thom Jeffrey Garcia and Jae-Sung Chon.

The Bulletin | April 4, 2013 | umanitoba.ca/bulletin Page 11

ColourPage 1 The Bulletin

Published by the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International)Comments, submissions and event listingsto: [email protected]: (204) 474-7300 Fax (204) 261-0325

umanitoba.ca/research

have seen some improvement, which is very encouraging,” Moussavi says.

In another pilot study, just over a dozen people age 70 and up benefitted from doing simple brain exercises over two months. “Their memory improvement was quite remarkable,” Moussavi says. “We didn’t know it at the beginning but two of those individuals were at the earliest stages of dementia. Even those two, as long as they were doing the exercises, showed improvement.”

When they stopped, the two individuals with dementia declined significantly. “Although it’s not a scientific conclusion yet, what (these findings) imply is that there was hope as long as these people were doing the exercises.”

Moussavi will present these results at an upcoming psychiatry conference in France.

She too exercises her brain, knowing she may have a genetic predisposition for developing Alzheimer’s. “It’s my worst fear,” the scientist says.

She regrets that it’s too late for her research to help her mom. But she’s reassured that the woman who taught her so much in life knew the significance of her final lesson. Before presenting at a university in her home country in December, Moussavi shared a poignant moment with her mom.

“I told her ‘Mom, I’m going to talk about you and how much you have helped me in this research,” she recalls. “My mom’s eyes became conscious and quite alert. She had a faded smile and nodded and then kissed me. I think she understood.”

Bringing Research to LIFEBy Katie Chalmers-BrooKs

for the BulletinCall it a daughter’s intuition.

Zahra Moussavi first suspected there was something different about her mom, Soroor, when she was in Winnipeg visiting from Iran 13 years ago. But the biomedical engineer couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

She took her to a geriatrician and—during another visit a year later—to a neurologist. Both specialists insisted Soroor, who was in her late 60s, was okay. In fact, Soroor passed the conventional screening questionnaire for dementia with a perfect score.

“The doctor therefore told me that I was imagining any problem and that Mom was perfectly fine. But I was not convinced,” Moussavi says.

She noticed her mother’s vocabulary was narrowing. She also seemed depressed.

But it wasn’t until three years later that Soroor got lost within two blocks of her own home, the first major indicator that she had Alzheimer’s disease.

It was the beginning of a devastating decline. Soroor was an intelligent woman with gumption, a mother of four who married in Iran at only 15 years old but went back to school to not only get her high school diploma but—at 46—earn a university degree and do so with a 3.8 grade point average.

In the years leading up to her death three months ago, she could communicate only through gestures and had become less like an adult and more like a child, tenderly caring for a baby doll she had named Zahra.

For Moussavi, Soroor’s youngest, this personal journey has morphed into a research mission. “The only way I could cope with the pain was to put my researcher cap on and look at my mom as a patient,” she says.

A Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering best known for her research into sleep apnea, Moussavi is going after Alzheimer’s disease with equal vigour. There is no cure for this disorder but, as her investigations so far suggest, there are brain exercises and electromagnetic treatments that can reduce and delay symptoms.

In Canada, someone is diagnosed with dementia every five minutes. If doctors could detect the condition earlier, these treatments could begin sooner and potentially slow its progression. By the time a person gets to the point where they can no longer find their way home, the deterioration is too far gone for treatments to have maximum impact. “By then, it is already too late. That person is already a few years passed the onset. My goal is to detect the onset,” says Moussavi.

To do so, she had to go back in time, zeroing in on those first signs she saw in her mom and making links with her growing understanding of the intricacies of the brain. Soroor would become anxious when Moussavi took a less direct route when driving home. And even though she wasn’t yet getting lost, she grew increasingly concerned her family members would. Moussavi suspected egocentric orientation was involved, which is how our brains

navigate a space when we don’t have familiar landmarks to rely on.

So she designed an interactive computer game to measure this ability, which she likens to having an internal compass. “What I’m claiming is that it is the egocentric orientation that is being deteriorated first by aging and much more significantly by Alzheimer’s, before any other symptoms appear.”

The way she tests this theory has evolved over time. Now, study participants either sit in a wheelchair or push a wheelchair as they navigate their way through a virtual building that appears on a computer screen in front of them. Her findings so far—involving 50 people across different age groups, from young adults to seniors—confirms that our egocentric orientation capability grows during our youth and deteriorates later in life. Participants who were eventually diagnosed with dementia did in fact have particularly low scores, well below the average for healthy individuals. “I believe with this simple technology, we can predict Alzheimer’s at the very early onset,” Moussavi says.

She is also confident we can lessen its impact once it takes hold. Moussavi is one of only a few researchers in the world using repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulus (rTMS), a new technology used to activate neurons by holding a magnetic coil over the head that sends electromagnetic pulses to the brain. She is using this technique on an 85-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s who, after 10 days of rTMS treatment sessions, now remembers her children, her grandchildren and even their names. “We

Upcomingevents Before it’s too late

Inspired by her mother, researcher takes aim at early detection of dementiaVisionary Conversations

Global Pandemic: another y2K or

future apocalypse?

Talk of the inevitability of a global pandemic abounds in popular media. Is it necessary? Are we prepared? Learn about

the science behind the hype from our experts and join the discussion.

april 17

Frederic Gaspard Theatre Basic Medical Sciences Building

Bannatyne Campus reception in Buhler atrium 6:30 – 7 pm

Panel discussion 7 – 8:30 pm

featured speakers:

Frank Plummer – Canada Research Chair in Resistance and Susceptibility to

Infections, Faculty of Medicine

Michelle Driedger – Canada Research Chair in Environment and Health Risk Communication, Faculty of Medicine

Anand Kumar – Associate Professor, Medical Microbiology/Pharmacology/ Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

Joanne Embree – Head and Professor, Medical Microbiology and Infectious

Diseases, Faculty of Medicine

RSVP to: [email protected]

Visionary Conversations

our education system: the Good, the

Bad and the solutions

Engage with our experts as they share their perspectives on our education system and

the research that shows why things must change.

may 22

Robert B. Schultz Theatre St. John’s College, Fort Garry Campus

reception in Galleria 6:30 – 7 pm Panel discussion 7 – 8:30 pm

featured speakers:

Jocelyn Fournier-Gawryluk (Alumna) – President, Canadian Association

of Principals

Marni Brownell – Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences/ Manitoba

Centre for Health Policy, Faculty of Medicine

Marlene Atleo – Associate Professor, Educational Administration, Foundations

and Psychology, Faculty of Education

Rodney Clifton - Senior Scholar and Retired Fellow, St John’s College; Senior Fellow, Frontier Centre for Public Policy

RSVP to:

[email protected]

Photo By Katie Chalmers-BrooksProf. Zahra moussavi, director of the U of m’s Biomedical engineering program

Page 12 The Bulletin | April 4, 2013 | umanitoba.ca/bulletin

Colour

How Your Immune System Helps–and Harms–You

dr. Kent hayglass Canada Research Chair in Immune Regulation Professor, Immunology, University of Manitoba

Every culture from the dawn of human history has sought to create and maintain good health. The science of immunology, little more than a century old, focuses on understanding how we defend ourselves from infectious diseases without causing harm to ourselves in the process. Infectious disease was and remains important worldwide. Today however, human societies suffer greater health problems from chronic non-communicable diseases, which are responsible for almost two thirds of deaths according

to the World Health Organization. A large proportion of these are linked to inappropriate immune responses.Dr. Kent HayGlass has made vital contributions to our understanding of immune regulation and is a leading researcher in the field. His work has a direct impact on the health and well-being of millions of people who suffer from allergies. Dr. HayGlass has devoted his career to studying cytokines, a family of about 100 small molecules that control the development, activation, direction and nature of immunity. Discoveries made by HayGlass, his trainees and colleagues have shed light on what controls how our immune system reacts, why some people develop asthma or food allergies and others do not, how an ancient arm

of the immune system inherited from fruit flies affects our response, and what biomarkers could provide doctors with valuable information about their patients. Training and mentoring is also a passion for the recipient of the 2012 Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award. HayGlass led the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba for a decade, served as a Director of Research at the Manitoba Institute for Child Health, directs the MD/PhD program at the University of Manitoba and directed a CIHR-funded multidisciplinary research training program addressing the underlying causes, mechanisms and treatments for allergic disease, the most common human immune disorder in the world.

HayGlass trained at Queen’s, Western and Harvard Universities before being recruited to the University of Manitoba, home of the first Department of Immunology established in North America. He is a member of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum, the American Association of Immunologists and the Canadian Society of Immunology, who recently honoured him with the Cinader Award for Lifetime Achievement. A Professor of Immunology and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Immune Regulation, HayGlass has held continuous funding from national and international organizations who support discovery research. He and his colleagues collaborate with numerous corporations across the province, the country and the world to translate new immunological discoveries for the benefit of all Canadians.

Rh awaRdSThe Rh Awards were established in 1973 by the Winnipeg Rh Institute, now the Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation, from funds set aside from the sale and production of medical formulae. These honours are given to academic staff members who are in the early stages of their careers and who display exceptional innovation, leadership and promise in their respective fields. Past winners have become internationally-known researchers, so this recognition of early success bodes well for our latest recipients. Each winner receives $12,000 toward their research program. Typically, one award is given in each of the following areas: applied sciences, creative works, health sciences, humanities, interdisciplinary studies, natural sciences and social sciences.

social sciences Sandy Hershcovis (business administration) is becoming a leading researcher in workplace aggression. Her research aims to understand why people mistreat others at work and how this affects the victim’s well-being, job attitudes and performance. She also looks at how witnesses react to workplace aggression and how organizations can encourage them to intervene when they observe bullying at work.

creative Works Elroy Friesen (choral studies) has conducted over 100 performances throughout North America, South America and Europe since joining the University of Manitoba. He is a frequent collaborator with many outstanding local and national arts organizations, from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra to Europe’s Latvian Radio Choir. His is known for his interpretation of baroque choral masterpieces and has established himself as an expert in Nordic contemporary choral repertoire.

humanities Erik Thomson (history) is a historian of Early Modern Europe, specializing in the seventeenth century histories of France and Sweden. He studies interactions between the construction of the early modern state and the expansion of European commerce. Thomson is at the forefront of important trends in his field, opening up entirely new areas of study of great interest to historians.

interdisciplinary Stephane Durocher (computer science) tackles difficult algorithmic problems using innovative techniques to yield high-impact results. His research involves computational geometry, data structures and discrete algorithms. He founded the Computational Geometry Laboratory at the University of Manitoba, where he and his team provide solutions to real-world problems: from reducing radiation exposure during cancer treatment, to analyzing models for wireless communication, to updating models of the ocean floor with new sonar data.

Applied sciences Olanrewaju Ojo (mechanical and manufacturing engineering) does cutting-edge research involving advanced engineering materials, particularly those used in aircraft engines. He is a recognized leader in the processing of precipitation-strengthened, nickel-based superalloys that are difficult to process and join. Ojo developed a new way of processing these superalloys that avoids the plaguing problem of cracking and is considerably faster. As a result, his expertise is sought by aerospace companies in Canada and around the world.

natural sciences Mohammad Jafari Jozani (statistics) has made significant contributions to the theory and application of statistics. He has become a key player in two research areas: statistical decision theory and ranked-set type sampling designs. He introduced a general class of balanced loss functions and solved several problems in restricted parameter spaces that led to significant advances in his field. He designed a nomination sampling technique which will benefit those responding to environmental and ecological problems.

health sciences Malcolm Doupe (community health sciences/Manitoba Centre for Health Policy) is a go-to expert when it comes to personal care homes and emergency medicine. His research findings are of particular interest to policymakers in Manitoba, Canada and beyond. Using innovative linkages, Doupe has measured the quality of nursing home care in the province, projected future demands, developed new admission criteria and discussed alternates to institutional care. He has also brought to light the significant mental health, poverty and substance abuse challenges faced by frequent emergency room users.