NEWS RELEASE
LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY
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Do you love to learn? Lakehead University Orillia has just the ticket for you. Open U is a day of dynamic and inspiring lectures for those who love to learn minus the homework or tests. It’s an opportunity to relive your university or college experience – no matter your interest!
“We’re very excited to bring these scholars together for our first Open U,” said Lakehead University Orillia Principal Dr. Dean Jobin-Bevans. “It’s an attempt to peel back the layers of diverse and rich topics that not only impact our daily lives but offer a level understanding that will challenge and invigorate your mind.”
Participants will enjoy lectures on the challenges of health services delivery in rural and northern communities, a biographical look at an iconic First Nations artist and learn how to begin the conversation about death and dying with family members and loved ones. Retired Lakehead University professor Dr. Pam Wakewich is the recipient of the University’s prestigious Distinguished Researcher Award in 2017. In association with the Centre of Rural and Northern Health her current work focuses on the challenges of equity and access to maternity care in the north as seen through the eyes of birthing moms as well as care providers and stakeholders.
Her work also addresses regional engagement on addictions and mental health service, training and educational needs. Queen’s University associate professor Armand Garnet Ruffo will provide an illustrated lecture based on his biography Norval Morrisseau: From Man to Thunderbird, of the iconic and troubled First Nations artist Norval Morrisseau published earlier this year by Douglas & McIntyre. Ruffo goes beyond the known historical benchmarks of the artist’s troubled and tangled life as he explores the mysticism of his friend and mentor. Ruffo is a member of the Ojibwe nation with familial roots to the Sagamok Ojibwe First Nation and the Fox Lake Chapleau Cree First Nation. He is a scholar, filmmaker, writer and poet.
Lakehead University professor Dr. Katherine Kortes-Miller will present based on her new book Talking About Death Won't Kill You: The Essential Guide to End of Life Conversations published in early 2018 by ECW Press. She is the Palliative Care Division Lead at the University’s Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health. Dr. Kortes-Miller is widely known as an unconventional death educator and researcher with a passion for palliative care and improving end of life care for all.
Open U runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12 and is open to everyone. There is a registration fee of $59 per person which also includes a coffee and refreshment break.
Each lecture is scheduled for one hour including a question and answer period. Copies of Kortes-Miller and Ruffo’s books will be available for purchase at Lakehead Orillia Book Store. The authors will also be available for signing. Lakehead University’s Open U is generously sponsored by Mayo & Associates - BMO Nesbitt-Burns. Register today at https://ec.lakeheadu.ca/events/open-u. Registration closes Sunday, May 6 at 11:59 p.m.
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