2015 FACULTY

 Prof. Marilou McPhedran – Course Founder and Director

Named a Member of the Order of Canada (in 1985) in recognition of her co-leadership in the successful campaign for stronger gender equality protections in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Marilou McPhedran is an international human rights lawyer and educator, who has specialized in starting, fundraising, designing, managing and sustaining mechanisms to promote equality and diversity for Canadian and international clients, having co-founded several widely recognized non-profit systemic change organizations (for example, LEAF – the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund).  Prof. McPhedran holds a Masters in Law in Comparative Constitutional Law (2004) from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and was awarded an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) by The University of Winnipeg in 1992. In addition to the Order of Canada, her honours include:  Queen’s Jubilee Medals (2012 and 2002); Rebelle with a Cause by the Elizabeth Fry Society (Saskatoon 2008 and Toronto 1992); Governor General’s Persons Case Medal – the highest civic award for women in Canada (2005);  named as one of Canada’s ten most influential women’s rights advocates in Homemakers Magazine (2001); named Woman of the Year by B’Nai Brith Women – Toronto (1993) and a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA of Metro- Toronto in 1981.

Marilou McPhedran resigned as Chief Commissioner for Human Rights in Saskatchewan to become  the Principal of the University of Winnipeg Global College, serving from 2008 – 2012, when she was seconded to the UN Population Fund Office in Geneva as a UN Human Rights Fellow and was a guest professor at the UN-mandated University for Peace (UPeace) in Costa Rica,  returning to Global College to teach human rights full-time in August 2013.

Darcy Ataman

Darcy Ataman is the founder of Make Music Matter, and continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer. He is a producer of both music and film and a guest lecturer at the University of Winnipeg’s Global College.

After graduating from the University of Manitoba with a BA in Psychology, Darcy embarked on a creative journey that led him to live and work in New York and Philadelphia. He was mentored by recording engineer Shelly Yakus (U2, John Lennon, Tom Petty) and since worked with countless artists from Levon Helm to DJ Jazzy Jeff receiving several Juno nominations. These successes propelled him to spearhead and produce the original Song for Africa CD single for the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006. As a filmmaker, Darcy produced documentaries in Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan.

Beyond the production of his documentaries and music projects, Darcy led efforts to build a primary school in the Masai Mara, supported two HIV clinics, and created a scholarship program in Kibera–Africa’s largest slum. All of this was accomplished through Make Music Matter. Make Music Matter now works in Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo employing its flagship Music Enrichment Program as a tool for education and rehabilitation.

2015 Guest Faculty

Lloyd Kornelsen – Faculty of Education

Lloyd Kornelsen is the former acting executive director of  Global College, a highly popular teacher at the U of Winnipeg Collegiate, who holds a PhD in Education with a specialization in Global Citizenship at the faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg. Lloyd is active at Global College as a professor and an exceptional role model. According to Lloyd:

“My research interest is exploring the intersections of peace education, global citizenship and experiential learning. This interest was first inspired when I facilitated global citizenship practica programs for UW Collegiate students in Costa Rica beginning in 2003. This experience has had a significant impact on the lives many of the participants, both in the long and short term. I’m questing to understand exactly what that impact is/was, and what it was about the experience that so had that affect.”

Left to right: Elsie-Bernadette Onubogu (2012 guest faculty), Marilou McPhedran, Lloyd Kornelsen, Mavis Matenge (2011-2014 guest faculty)

 

 

 

 

 

Prof. Ian Mauro – Department of Geography

Dr. Ian Mauro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Winnipeg. As both a community-based researcher and renowned filmmaker, Mauro is a pioneer of multi-media methodologies, scholarship and education. He uses participatory video to collect, communicate and conserve local and indigenous knowledge, an approach that allows people who live on the land to tell their own stories, in their own language, and within the landscapes where their knowledge has been generated. He was awarded an “Apple Distinguished Educator” award for his approach in 2011.

He holds a BSc in Environmental Science and PhD in Geography, from University of Manitoba, and was a SSHRC Postdoctoral fellow in Ethnoecology at the University of Victoria. He previously held a Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Environmental Change at Mount Allison University. His work addresses the significant alteration of global ecosystems due to growing worldwide demand for resources, exacerbated by population and trade, and global climate change, as well as the socio-political change required to achieve an ecologically sustainable human future.

His films – focused on genetically modified crops, food security, energy and climate change – have been translated into numerous languages and screened globally at academic conferences, film festivals and venues such as the United Nations, Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic and the Royal Ontario Museum. His films have received extensive national and international news coverage including CBC’s The National, Power and Politics and The Current and have been viewed online millions of times.

He co-directed Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change (www.isuma.tv/ikcc) – the world’s first Inuktitut language film on this topic – with acclaimed Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and they continue to collaborate on projects focused on industrial development in the Canadian Arctic. Mauro’s research documentary, Climate Change in Atlantic Canada (www.climatechangeatlantic.com), was recently toured across Canada with Dr. David Suzuki, screened for thousands of Canadians, with the events as fundraisers for local environmental groups. Mauro is developing his third climate change documentary, focused on British Columbia, and will be touring the film in that region with Suzuki in June 2015.

2015 GUEST LECTURERS

Albert McLeod

Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawaysihk Cree Nation and the community of Norway House in northern Manitoba. He was a founder of the Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force where he was employed as the Program Manager from 1991-2001. Albert has over twenty years of experience as a human-rights activist and is one of the directors of the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba in Winnipeg. He is currently a free-lance educator specializing in Aboriginal cultural reclamation, textile art, and community development. www.twospiritmanitoba.ca

Armando Perla

Armando Perla is a researcher-curator at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. He is also an adjunct professor and professional associate at the University of Winnipeg and the faculty of law of the University of Manitoba. Armando holds a Masters in International Human Rights Law (LLM) at Lund University and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden.  He also has a Bachelor of Laws from L’Université Laval in Quebec City (LLB).  Previously he attended law school in El Salvador where he co-founded a non-profit legal office. Armando has been with organizations such as the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, Covenant House Guatemala, the Centre for Justice and Internal Law in Washington DC, and Lund University in Sweden. Armando was also a board member of Jus Humanis International in Lund, Sweden and he is currently a board member of OutWords, an LGBTTQ publication in Manitoba and Northern Ontario. Throughout the years, he has researched human rights topics such as the exploitation of children in Central America, racial discrimination, human rights education, trafficking and sexual slavery, immigration and refugees, children’s rights, legal empowerment of the poor, Canadian legal history, etc. Armando conducted oral history interviews in Uganda, Thailand, Jordan and Sweden for his graduate research on children’s rights.

Louise Simbandumwe

Louise Simbandumwe came to Canada as a refugee with her family in 1979 due to widespread massacres in Burundi. Louise has Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan and a Masters in Comparative Social Research from Oxford University where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She currently works for SEED Winnipeg as the Director of Asset Building Programs. Louise’s extensive volunteer commitments include Amnesty International, the Immigration Matters in Canada Coalition, the All Aboard Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion Committee, the Families at Risk Refugee Sponsorship Committee and the Stop Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls Action Group. In 2012, she was presented with the Human Rights Commitment Award of Manitoba.

Art Miki

Art Miki has dedicated his life to promoting positive race relations, increasing awareness of human rights issues in Canada, and is an advisor to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. As president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, he led the negotiations to achieve a just redress settlement for Japanese Canadians interned during the Second World War. In 1991 Art received this country’s highest recognition, the Order of Canada and in 1999 he accepted an Honourary Doctorate degree from the University of Winnipeg. He was Citizenship Judge for Manitoba and Saskatchewan from 1998 until 2008 and he is a guest instructor for the Faculty of Education and Global College at the University of Winnipeg.

David Newman

David Newman is the senior counsel to Pitblado LLP, and former managing partner and Chair of the predecessor firm. David serves as an advocate, negotiator, and dispute resolver. David serves as a facilitator of restorative justice processes and as an educator in the fields of peace, conflict resolution, and human rights. David has experience representing clients at all court levels including the Supreme Court of Canada as well as before numerous labour and other administrative tribunals. David served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) (1995-1999) and as a Minister in the Manitoba Government (1997-1999) of Northern and Native Affairs, Energy and Mines, Community Economic Development Fund, and Manitoba Hydro. In 2012, David was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his significant contributions to Manitoba. David has a passion for the integration of peace, justice, and human rights practices within and amongst organizations.

Donald Benham

Donald Benham is the Director of Hunger and Poverty Awareness at Winnipeg Harvest. Donald has worked in journalism, public relations, post-secondary education and politics. As a journalist, he worked for the Winnipeg Tribune, the Winnipeg Sun, CBC Radio and CJOB. In public relations, he worked for the University of Winnipeg and as political staff for the Mayor of Winnipeg and the Prime Minister of Canada. Donald has taught courses in journalism and politics for the Red River College, the University of Winnipeg, and Canadian Mennonite University. He has been working for Winnipeg Harvest since 2007.

Eduardo Da Costa

Eduardo da Costa is an economist, scholar, and development practitioner in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. As the first Rotary Peace Fellow from the Brazilian Amazon region, and given his specific interest in the topics of sustainable development and peace, he was assigned by the Rotary Foundation to attend Duke University’s Master of International Development Policy Program at the Duke/UNC Rotary Peace Center, in North Carolina.

Upon completion of the Rotary Peace Program in 2012, Eduardo returned to the Brazilian Amazon where he worked as Special Advisor to the Governor of the State of Pará, the second largest state in Brazil. In 2014, Eduardo was admitted to the PhD Program in Peace and Conflict Studies in the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at the University of Manitoba, Canada, where his research focuses on innovative approaches and strategies to ensure that voices, visions, and interests of indigenous peoples and local communities are incorporated into the planning, design, and implementation of development policies and large-scale infrastructure development projects.

Eduardo’s academic interests focus on corporate social/environmental responsibility, conflict prevention, human rights, and the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in the Brazilian Amazon.

Emily Grafton

Emily Grafton is the Research-Curator of Indigenous Content at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Emily is also a PhD candidate in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. Her doctoral thesis is concerned with colonialism and Canadian federalism, specifically as it relates to federal and provincial jurisdictional responsibilities in the realm of First Nations’ reserve communities.

Emily has worked as a researcher and consultant for a variety of organizations, including the provincial government, non-governmental agencies, and in several academic capacities. Of note, she has worked with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, taught introductory Native Studies at the University of Manitoba, and held a research fellowship at the Newberry’s Consortium in American Indian Studies, Chicago, IL. She is Metis and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Jason Bone

Jason Bone is completing a Master of Arts (Native Studies) degree at the University of Manitoba under the advisement of Dr. Niigaanwewindam James Sinclair. He previously completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Indigenous Governance from the University of Winnipeg in 2013. In addition, as part of a joint program in Indigenous Governance between the University of Winnipeg and Red River College, Jason completed an Aboriginal Self-Government Administration diploma in 2011. His current research delves into Anishinaabe cosmology and in particular, traditional stories (aadizookaanan, singular aadizookaan) told by the Anishinaabeg. Jason is from Giizhigoowining (Keeseekoowenin) in Treaty Two territory. His late mother Florence Bone, attended Sandy Bay residential school and Jason himself, attended St. Michael’s College in Duck Lake Saskatchewan, and White Calf Collegiate in Lebret Saskatchewan. They were the last two residential schools to close in the 1990s.

Nicole Courrier

Nicole is a Métis student in her second year in the U of M’s Archival Studies program. She has studied Aboriginal rights, attended the TRC’s Alberta National Event in Edmonton, and is enrolled in the Critical Conversations: Truth and Reconciliation class offered by the Centre for Human Rights Research at the U of M. Nicole has recently completed an internship at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. She is struck with the “abundance” of documents that make up the NCTR collection. “It’s almost overwhelming.”

Philippe Jacques

Originally from Ottawa, Philippe Jacques has been dancing since the age of 8, training in multiple forms and styles such as ballet, tap, jazz and hiphop. Wanting to further his movement capacities, Philippe auditioned for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in 2009. He was accepted into the Professional Division, where he intensively studied Classical Vaganova-based ballet, modern, contemporary and folkloric Spanish dance. In addition, the Professional School provided him with numerous successful opportunities to experiment in choreography and to perform in pieces by Balanchine and Forsythe. After graduating from the Professional School in 2012, Philippe continued his studies in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Aspirant Program. During this time, he had the occasion to perform and tour internationally in company productions such as Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin, Moulin Rouge The Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet. Philippe also continued to explore the realm of choreography, creating for his fellow Aspirants and for more independent projects, such as a site-specific piece in the Milllenium Library. Philippe has additionally apprenticed stage-managed the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Nutcracker, learning about the technical side of artistic productions. His desire to expand his knowledge in contemporary movement led him to participate in the Nederlands Danz Theatre Summer Program in Holland, in 2013. Throughout his career, Philippe has also taught dance and movement to all ages and levels of ability, his latest work being with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, he has done outreach workshops with Art City in Winnipeg, which piqued his interest in social justice. Philippe is fluent in French and English.

Shahina Siddiqui

Shahina Siddiqui is a paraprofessional in the field of social work and counseling. She has B.A. from St Joseph’s College University of Karachi with major in English honours and philosophy. She immigrated to Canada in 1976 with her family.

She is the founding member and has served as the Executive Director for Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) USA and Canada from 1999 to 2003 and is currently serving as the president and volunteer executive director of Islamic Social Services Association Inc (ISSA) Canada.

Shahina’s expertise and her volunteer work is frequently profiled and recognized in many magazines, newspapers, books and awards. Shahina has received many awards among them – YMCA-YWCA (Winnipeg) ‘Peace Medal 2002’ for her work since September 11 in fostering understanding between Muslims and other religious and cultural groups in Winnipeg.   In 2010 she was recognized for her life’s struggle for justice and was awarded the Grass Roots Women of Manitoba Award in 2010 in recognition of her social justice activism.   In 2013 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to Canada.

She is one of the founding members of AlHijra Islamic School and has served on its board of director from 1996 to 2005. She has also served many years on different boards such as the Social Planning Council Winnipeg and the City of Winnipeg anti-racism committee.

Shahina has published multitude of articles on Islam and social issues which have been published locally, nationally and internationally. She has been helping Muslims in North America for over 20 years as a speaker, spiritual counselor, educator and social activist.