Theology grads launch journal

Graduate students in the Department of Theological Studies launched a journal called Word in the World with a celebratory reception on June 2.

There are nine articles in in this first issue, which uses as its artistic motif the huge outdoor sculpture familiar to anyone who knows the Loyola Campus, Transcendence (seen article in this issue).

The journal is the work of four graduate students, Russell C. Baker, Alzira Cooper, Sara Terreault and David Maurice. It includes a little academic humour and paid advertising from friends and well-wishers. Copies may be bought from the Department for $20.

The reception on Monday evening also launched the Lonergan Centre for Ethical Reflection, which will provide a focus for studies and projects on contemporary ethical issues.

As Dr. Christine Jamieson explained, a number of scholars in the department are well grounded in the thought of Bernard Lonergan, S.J., which provides a methodological framework for such studies.

“We have the support of Concordia University through physical space to house the centre and we have acquired the Lonergan University College library and archives,” she said.

“Before hearing the news about the [probable] closing of Lonergan University College, we thought we might somehow network with the College,” she said.

Now, “there is an underlying imperative to keep Lonergan’s presence alive at Loyola.”

What blooms at Concordia?

IITS staff members Ravdeep Sawhney and Andrea Cestaro sit amid the posies in the J.W. McConnell atrium. The unusual installation was being readied for unveiling at a Garden Tea Party yesterday to wind up the Staff Appeal, which has raised more money this year from the internal community than at this time last year. The indoor garden is dedicated to community donors as thanks for helping the university grow. You can still make a donation. Visit the Staff Appeal Web site through the Concordia home page, at www.concordia.ca.

Convocation awards

Governor-General’s Silver: Medal Nathalie Lachance
Birks Medal, for BA: Nathalie Lachance
Anne Stokes Medal, for BEd: Julie O’Reilly
Mappin Medal, for BSc: Cheyen Quach
Administration Medal: Valerie Millette
Charles E. Frosst Medal for BCom: Panagiotis Giakoumatos
Chait Medal, for BEng: Victor Stefan Aldea
Computer Science Medal: Mamta Patel
Alfred Pinsky Medal, for BFA: Dawit Petros

Special prizes:
Lieutenant-Governor’s Award: Onyenyechukwu Nnorom
Malone Medal: Riccardo Filippone
O’Brien Medal: Anna Sheftel
Stanley G. French Medal: Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier

Dean of Graduate Studies Elizabeth Saccá announced at senate that 39 students have received Quebec graduate fellowships.

“The success rate at the SSHRC Fellowship competition continues at 50 per cent,” she reported. “The NSERC success rate has increased significantly, with 17 out of the 19 student dossiers submitted being awarded fellowships.

“An additional benefit of this increase is Concordia’s allotment of the number of dossiers that we can submit next year will increase, giving Concordia students a probability of even greater success.”