University of the Streets Café

The University of the Streets Café is a series of public conversations for citizens of all walks of life to come together and discuss pertinent contemporary issues. The format creates gathering places for people to pursue lifelong learning and engagement through mutual learning and experience-sharing. These collective discussions are an opportunity for people of diverse backgrounds and realities to meet in a respectful environment where all perspectives are welcome, and where publicly exchanging ideas together is seen as integral to social change and the building of healthy and sustainable communities.

For Congress 2010, the University of the Streets Café will be organizing a series of public conversations around the theme of Connected Understanding. Held in different Montreal neighbourhoods, these events will offer Congress participants an opportunity to explore Montreal, have a conversation with local citizens, and experience one of Concordia’s innovative programs first hand.

Conversation #1: Is successful school reform an impossible dream?

Monday, May 31, 6 to 8 p.m.
Burritoville: 2055 Bishop (@ de Maisonneuve)

The history of school reform in North America is, in a significant sense, a history of failure. In the last 100 years, many different large-scale reforms have been proposed, but few have achieved what has been promised, and many have failed utterly. Here in Quebec, the newest round of school reform, the Quebec Education Program, has suffered from significant growing pains and is currently facing retrenchment. The chequered history of school reform raises a number of questions: What, if anything, can be done to increase the prospects of success for school reform? What impacts are these policies having on students, teachers, and parents? Are there certain kinds of reforms that have better prospects for success than others? This wide-ranging conversation will explore these questions in the context of both Quebec and the rest of Canada.

Guest: David Waddington is an Assistant Professor in the Concordia Department of Education. He studies the history of progressive educational thought as well as science education in Quebec. In his spare time, he bikes around Montreal, plays Neil Young songs on the piano, and pursues the glamorous hobby of keeping tropical fish.

Moderator: Lise Palmer is passionate about supporting sustainable and healthy change in organizations and communities. She enjoys being actively involved in initiatives related to the concept of sustainability – from environmental issues to the long-term health of organizations. She is a consultant in Quebec's not-for-profit sector, focusing on training, capacity building, and organizational development. Her background in social work and anthropology informs her current studies, an MA in Human Systems Intervention.

Conversation #2: How do we redefine the social contract between universities and Society?

Tuesday June 1, 6 to 8 p.m.
Le Dépanneur: 206, Bernard Ouest (@ De l’Esplanade)

Is it possible for our universities to be both crucial to a vital economy and a healthy democracy? What does that mean in the 21st century? Universities are vibrant places addressing societal challenges that are complex, difficult and yet urgent. How does the university’s goal of fostering critical spirit get translated into more engaged, informed citizens, preparing them for a more activist citizenship and civic engagement — assuring the student is better able to take part in shaping her/his own future and that of society?

How do our universities imagine being better able to accompany leaders across our communities in addressing some of the most intractable issues facing society, while imagining new responses that create hope through individual and collective action?

Guest: Lance Evoy is Director of the Institute for Community Development at Concordia’s School of Extended Learning. Having the privilege of working in the community sector as an organizer, peace activist and adult educator for most of his life has provided Evoy with opportunities to work along-side truly outstanding social justice activists across Canada, Quebec, and from other parts of the world.

Moderator: Lise Palmer

Conversation #3: What is the role of the university scholar in community-based research?

Wednesday, June 2, 6 to 8 p.m.
Burritoville: 2055 Bishop (@ de Maisonneuve)

Community-based research is fast becoming a lucrative area of interest to universities and scholars. This research was once considered as non-academic or soft research usually done by women who are more ‘emotionally connected’ to the participants of their studies. Today, a number of globalizing forces have changed the composition of our urban-rural communities and their varied populations making our cities and regions fascinating social “laboratories” for university researchers. The potential for community members to bring a lifetime of unique experiences to the research is rewarding for both the researcher and contributors alike.

In this conversation, we will discuss the current trends in community-based research, and the role of the researcher in relation to community members: What are the best methods for getting people to tell their stories and generate empirical information? How can the researcher develop a more equitable relationship with participants who agree to be part of an academic study? Should she/he be an interpreter or a transmitter of information? What are the implications when the researcher is a member of the community he/she is studying and what are the risks to the researcher and the study when participants feel they are being personally harmed by the topic or they refuse further involvement?

Guest: Cheryl Gosselin has been teaching in Sociology and Women's Studies at Bishop's University since 1991. Her teaching includes Canadian and Quebec Societies, several courses in the area of social justice and is a member of the Research and Liaison Group of the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN) at Concordia University. QUESCREN develops research capacity on English-speaking Quebec through events, projects, networking and research tools. Its members are in the university, community and government sectors.

Moderator: Lise Palmer