Congress 2013 brings international speakers to campus

If you attended the special 50th anniversary lectures of astronaut Julie Payette or technology historian George Dyson, you know that UVic’s anniversary celebration has attracted speakers of the highest calibre.

Local audiences can look forward to the insights of ten more leading scholars and public figures as part of the Big Thinking speaker series at Congress 2013, Canada’s largest multidisciplinary academic conference, proudly hosted at UVic from June 1 to 8. These internationally renowned speakers will present forward-thinking research, ideas and solutions to the critical questions and issues of our time.

The 2013 Big Thinking line-up features: Louise Arbour, former Supreme Court justice and United Nations commissioner for human rights; author Dany Laferrière; Margaret McCain, chair of the Margaret & Wallace McCain Family Foundation; Ben Levin, Canada research chair in education leadership and policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; poet and novelist Joy Kogawa; Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC representative for children and youth; Doug Saunders, author and European bureau chief of The Globe and Mail; Daniel Weinstock, MacDonald professor of law at McGill University; Judith Heumann, special advisor for international disability rights at the US Department of State; and Richard Sennett, professor emeritus of sociology at the London School of Economics and university professor of the humanities at New York University.

For details visit uviccongress2013.ca/program/speakers/. Many other Congress social and cultural events plus Canada’s largest book fair will also be open to the public.

Online registration for Congress 2013 is open, and volunteers are encouraged. To register, visit congress2013.ca. To learn more about volunteering, visit uviccongress2013.ca/staff-volunteers/.