This column welcomes the submissions of all Concordia faculty and staff to promote and encourage individual and group activities in teaching and research, and to encourage work-related achievements.

Maïr Verthuy (Études françaises/Simone de Beauvoir) now has the title Chevalière, Ordre des Palmes Académiques, by decree from the prime minister of France, on the recommendation of France’s Minister of Education. The honour was given in recognition of her long commitment to teaching and research in the field of French language and culture. A number of her colleagues, including Dean of Arts and Science Martin Singer, attended the award ceremony, organized by the French consulate in Montreal in December. Maïr added in a note, “Since such honours were originally intended for men only, the award came with three purple ribbons to affix to the lapels of various suits, and a large purple medal on a ribbon, also to be attached to a suit lapel.”

Lorna Roth (Communication Studies) recently returned from a European public lecture tour sponsored by the Canadian Studies Association of Flanders, for which she is Canadian Studies Chair for 2002. During her time in Europe, she lectured at the University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) where she gave the following two papers: “More Than Skin Deep — Beyond Ethnic Marketing,” and “Ethical Journalism in a Time of Convergence.” At the University of Ghent (Belgium), her talk was on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and at the University of Leuven (Belgium), she spoke on the history of First Peoples’ television in Canada. Roth will be returning to Middelburg in the Netherlands at the end of May to be keynote speaker at a conference on First Nations in North America: Politics and Representation.

Ron Mackay (TESL) participated February 19-22 in a workshop at the Caribbean Development Bank headquarters in Barbados whose purpose was to help train bank project officers and others to better diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of Caribbean firms and organizations seeking loans from the Bank. The workshop is one step in helping build the capabilities of firms in the region to become more effective, efficient and relevant to those they serve, and thereby increase their long-term viability. Mackay helped pioneer the use of institutional and organizational assessment instruments, originally developed in 1996 for use by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, during a sabbatical in 1997.

Ira Robinson (Religion) was a member of a team from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that visited Yeshiva University in New York on March 17-20, to evaluate it for the renewal of its accreditation.

Karin Doerr (CMLL/Simone de Beauvoir) presented “In the Voice of the Perpetrators: Nazi Deutsch/Nazi German: An English Lexicon Of The Third Reich Language” at the 32 Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches. This year’s theme is The Genocidal Mind. It was held at Kean University, Union, NJ, March 2-5.

Michel Laroche (Marketing) has been elected vice-president for publications of the Academy of Marketing Science for the term 2002-2004. He will be presented with the Living Legend of Marketing Award 2002 on April 17 in a ceremony at École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), and will make a speech on the effects of culture on marketing.

Ted Stathopoulos (Building/Civil/Environmental Engineering) has been awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), “in recognition of distinguished service to the Society as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Aerospace Division in 2000-2001.” The award ceremony took place at the University of Connecticut during the executive committee meeting of the Aerospace Division. He was presented the award by Dr. Ramesh Malla, who is the new chair of the Aerospace Division of ASCE.

David Ketterer (Emeritus, English) will be an honorary research fellow in the Department of English at the University of Liverpool . He recently published The 1816-17 Frankensteins: An Alternative Reconstruction of Their Composition in the Scholarly Editing in Canada double issue of English Studies in Canada.

Congratulations to Dennis Day, coordinator of video services in the Faculty of Fine Arts, who recently won the Prix à la Création Artistique du Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. It was presented at the annual Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québécois with a cash award of $5,000 for his video, This Narrative is Killing Me, for being the best work of art and/or experimentation.

Sandra Paikowsky (Art History) will present a lecture titled “Modern Quebec Painting: Splendid Isolation” on May 22 at the Universita da Pesaro, in Venice. Her appearance is sponsored by the post-colonial studies department as part of their month-long program of activities on Canada.