HIV AIDS speakers series enters its 12th year

 

Steven Dam says he has learned a lot in his year as co-ordinator of the Concordia University Community Lecture Series on HIV/AIDS.

“Before beginning this position, I knew very little about the Montreal HIV/AIDS community and the role of the lecture series,” he said in an e-mail interview.

“My role was to organize four lectures, including fundraising and soliciting sponsorships, creating a poster/publicity campaign and paying attention to all the details of the visiting lecturers.”

The speakers in this edition of the series included a Chinese civil rights activist in September, a front-line worker on the streets of Montreal in November, and Cindy Patton, a scholar on gay body image from Simon Fraser University, in March.

The highlight in terms of public interest, however, was John Corigliano, the composer of the Grammy-winning music for The Red Violin. His appearance here in February coincided with a concert by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra of one of his symphonies.

Concordia students were able to attend a dress rehearsal of the concert, and with the American consulate, a reception was organized on what happened to be Corigliano’s birthday.

“It was the most exciting lecture and the one that gained the most publicity and recognition,” Dam said. The Concordia University HIV/AIDS Project was developed in 1993 through the university’s HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee and a group of faculty and staff at Concordia.

The project began as a lecture series and was complemented the following year by a landmark undergraduate course, HIV/AIDS: Social, Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Pandemic.

The Project has continued to flourish. The courses are taught by full-time and part-time faculty with the help of teaching assistants who are themselves studying the pandemic or its issues in various disciplines.

Course offerings have expanded to include an online version of the course offered across Canada that is now in its second successful year.

Every week, invited speakers from community organizations, health care institutions or Concordia departments, both PWA (persons with AIDS) and non-PWA, visit the on-site course to address a specific issue pertaining to the pandemic.

As for the lecture series, Dam said, “We are always looking for new and interesting speakers, and trying to cover areas that have not been covered before.

“Our speakers have included the French discoverer of HIV, Dr. Luc Montagnier, dancer Margie Gillis, British writer and critic Simon Watney, Burkino Faso health care professional Martine Somda, American performance artist Ron Athey, French AIDS activist Daniel Defert (AIDES) and Bombay health/legal advocate Dr. Mandeep Dhaliwal, among others.

“Attendance in the past years has been declining, but as we saw with both Mr. Corigliano’s lecture as well as Dr. Patton’s lecture, there is still interest and support for the series.”

Professor Thomas Waugh, director of the Minor in Sexuality Committee, helps co-ordinate the speakers, Dam said.

“We keep our eye out for potential speakers, and we have a network of contacts who provide us with interesting candidates. We work on creating partnerships to help bring in speakers we could not normally afford, and we are always looking for sponsorships with organizations within the Montreal area.”

The project has adapted to changing needs and levels of awareness of the pandemic, Dam said. “Not only have I learned an overwhelmingly important number of transferable tasks, but it is gratifying knowing that I am helping address the crisis. It has been very rewarding to be part of the HIV/AIDS Project, which is unique to Concordia.”