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Hello! And welcome to the first edition of our quarterly newsletter, filled with important updates and opportunities to get involved in community engagement initiatives at Concordia.
If you’re receiving this email, you likely attended one of our Living Knowledge events last spring and signed up to receive our news. A lot has happened since then and we can’t wait to tell you all about it! In this issue you will find:
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New Name, Same Great Community Focus!
When you last heard from us, we were calling ourselves the Sustainable Communities Partnership, which some people found confusing. With this in mind, over the summer we officially changed our name to the Office of Community Engagement.
As our new name suggests, our office links together Concordia’s diverse community-based activities. We strive to connect, promote and support community-university partnerships, large and small. Whether you are a student, staff, faculty or community member, we are here to serve you and answer questions like these:
What are Concordians doing to engage their communities?
Check out the updated list of exciting initiatives on our webage.
What kinds of community-engagement events are happening this week?
Like us on Facebook to keep up to date.
How can I promote my event, activity or program?
Contact Program and Communications Coordinator, Susan Edey.
How can I create a new partnership with Concordia or link to an existing one?
Contact Community Relations Coordinator, Eryn Fitzgerald.
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Living Knowledge Revisited
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Last year, for our inaugural Living Knowledge event series, we held three dinner and discussions with approximately 100 people in attendance at each. Whether we were talking about Building Research Partnerships, Cultivating Experiential Learning, or Creating Inclusive Spaces the conversations sparked many new connections among those interested in community-engaged scholarship.
We are now planning the second incarnation of Living Knowledge, to be launched in Spring 2014. This more intimate series will keep the community-engaged scholarship theme and delve deeper into some of the discussion questions that emerged the first time around. If you have ideas for issues you would like to explore or if you are interested in being involved in planning the next series, please get in touch!
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University of the Streets Café - In Your Neighbourhood
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We are pleased to announce that in June of this year, University of the Streets Café joined our office along with program coordinator, Susan Edey. Formerly an initiative of the Institute for Community Development, the University of the Streets Café organizes free, bilingual public conversations in cafés and community spaces across Montreal. The Office of Community Engagement is thrilled to play a part in offering such valuable community events and we look forward to talking about important issues with all of you in the weeks and months ahead! Please join us for our next conversation, “Struggling to Talk about Class: Does the concept of social class still resonate?” on Wednesday, October 9 - 7 p.m. at Café Ubuntu.
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Strengthening Black Families
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On July 18, the Office of Community Engagement and the African Canadian Development and Prevention Network (ACDPN), hosted a breakfast to welcome the board members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college women. The breakfast served to launch the Strengthening Black Families Forum, a roundtable that brought together a wide array of stakeholders to examine issues facing Montreal’s Black community. During the event, we heard from Concordia’s Don de Guerre, Director of the Centre for Human Relations and Community Studies. Dr. de Guerre's team is working with the ACDPN on a series of community consultations, culminating in a search conference on November 8, 9, and 10. For more information on this process, please contact Tania Callender.
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We are pleased to report the recent success of the event we co-hosted with Seniors Action Quebec to celebrate National Seniors Day. On October 1, over 100 people gathered in the Loyola chapel to honour nine outstanding seniors. Thanks to the hard work of faculty member, Dr. Kim Sawchuk, and her Mobile Media Lab, the lives and contributions of these individuals were showcased through interactive multimedia presentations. For us, this partnership represents the best that Concordia and its community partners have to offer each other and we are thrilled to have played a small part in bringing this partnership together.
To continue Concordia’s collaboration with Seniors Action Quebec, faculty member, Israël Dupuis, and students from his design outreach course, DART 481, will soon be working some design magic with the rich data collected so far. Read more and stay tuned!
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Autumn Harvest at the Grey Nuns
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On October 19, we are teaming up with the first year students who live in the Grey Nuns Student Residence to host an "Autumn Harvest" event. Please join us from 1 to 3 p.m. to enjoy a warm beverage, some scrumptious snacks and the company of your neighbours, new and old. Students will be organizing a variety of family-friendly activities, such as a talent showcase where students and neighbours alike are invited to participate. We look forward to welcoming you at the entrance of the garden, on 1185 St. Mathieu Street.
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