This post has been contributed by Dr. Sid Katz. Sid  is the Executive Director of Community Affairs, Managing Director of the The Chan Centre, Chair of UBC Centenary Committee, Professor of Pharmacology and Bon Vivant at large.

Hello,

Now that we are at the halfway point in the UBC Centenary celebrations, I think it is a good time to look back and reflect on what has been accomplished and what we have to look forward to in the next 6 months.

The year started off with a tremendous lecture by Zarqa Nawaz in the series on Islam organized by St. John’s College. Nawaz is the creator and writer of the ‘CBC Little Mosque on the Prairie Series’. This series is now syndicated in many countries around the world and has been renewed for a third season. Nawaz spoke about the reality of growing up as a Muslim woman in Canada and her thoughts on the double standards which exist in our communities-very sober thoughts for those of us who pride ourselves on how far Canada has come as a Canadian cultural mosaic and a model to the world. In April, this theme was continued with an excellent lecture by Will Kymlicka on the three ‘periods’ of multiculturalism in Canada as the UBC/Laurier Institution Multicultural Lecturer for 2008. Dr. Kymlicka is ‘Mr. Multiculturalism’ in Canada and in a one hour presentation, traced the history of the cultural mosaic in Canada, where we are and where we are going-the CBC’s ‘Ideas’ Executive Producer, Bernie Lucht, told me that it was one of THE best presentations on this subject he had ever heard. The national broadcast has stimulated a lot of discussion and we hope to follow this up with a major symposia in November featuring UBC faculty and students and a very special guest-STAY TUNED !… (more…)