We have formed a research group of Wilfred Laurier CIGI Chairs based at the Balsillie School. This is called 2030+. At the end of October, we held a public event aimed primarily at potential recruits for the Masters in Public Policy programme. This was somewhat undersubscribed in the 2015/16 academic year, despite there being funding for students, so we are making a concerted effort to improve the situation in time for the 2016 intake. The title of the event was ‘Innovation Challenges in Health and Food Systems’. It comprised five of the six chairs speaking followed by a moderated discussion. Two are recent appointments: Alison Blay-Palmer is the CIGI Chair in Sustainable Food Systems and researches sustainable food systems and economic development; Audra Mitchell is the CIGI Chair in Global Governance and Ethics. Audra added to our normally bleak views on food, health and climate change by talking on ethical issues related to mass extinction.
Tag Archives: Balsillie School
Closing Circles
July was full of travel: to Norwich for a few days, and a day in London; then to Swaziland and on to Durban; the return trip to Norwich late July. This was mostly done in economy – or on the KLM flights, in premium economy, which gives a bit more room. The exception in the class of travel was the trip to London. There seems little sense in how rail travel is priced. I needed to get an early train and the cost of a first class ticket was £46 while for an economy ticket it was £45, which really is a no brainer! On the train the toilet had a delightful sign under the lid, there is a photograph in the gallery, but it is a little out of focus. The sign said: ‘Please don’t flush Nappies; sanitary towels, paper towels, gum, old phones, unpaid bills, junk mail, your ex’s sweater, hopes dreams or goldfish down this toilet’. How nice to see a sense of humour on the train. Apparently the carriage had been borrowed, or hired from Virgin Trains.
Teaching and Socialising in Waterloo
The first term of teaching is over; the students are heading out for a short break: I have just one more assignment to grade and then I am done for 2015 in terms of formal course teaching. I asked the class to complete an evaluation form for me so that I would get a sense of what they thought of the course and how I pitched it. There is an evaluation done by the University, but it won’t suit my needs and provide the sort of feedback that I require. So far, and because it is voluntary, I have only had three responses. I hope I get some more.
Students
Students wanted:
Masters of International Public Policy
The program provides graduate training for individuals looking to pursue or enhance careers in international or global policy development, implementation and evaluation. A multidisciplinary and integrated curriculum is combined with a team-teaching approach to achieve the program’s objectives. Learn more…
The Ph.D. in Global Governance, offered jointly by Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, is a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary examination of power and authority in the global arena. Graduate students in the program examine the variety of actors, institutions, ideas, rules, and processes that contribute to the management of global society. Learn more…
Balsillie School of International Affairs Degree Programs
Balsillie School of International Affairs Degree Programs, which include:
- Ph.D. in Global Governance
- Master of International Public Policy (MIPP)
- Master of Arts in Global Governance (MAGG)
For more details, visit the website.
Six months in Canada and Interpol are looking for you
What do Waterloo, Ontario and Mbabane, Swaziland have in common? Apart from the fact that I have lived in both! A few nights ago, in Waterloo, there was a severe thunderstorm, the first I have experienced here. The flashing and crashing reminded me of the summer afternoon thunderstorms in Mbabane. The high veld of Swaziland has one of the highest rates of lightning strikes in the world. I gleaned this factoid when, as a freelance reporter, on the monthly newspaper ‘Business in Swaziland’, I interviewed the CEO of the Swaziland Electricity Board. This writing experience of nearly 40 years ago was great fun. We were paid 75 cents per column inch published, which meant that as soon as the paper appeared, we ‘journalists’ took out a ruler to work out what was due to us.
Settling in: flats, cars and furniture
On 30 May I took possession of my new digs. It is an apartment in Seagram Lofts, an old distillery building, literally just across the parking lot from the Balsillie School of International Affairs. This will be the shortest journey to work I will ever have had. Given that I have always tried to take jobs that allowed me to go home for lunch, it is extraordinarily close, even by my standards. I will be putting pictures up on my website. The estate agent who took care of me Dave MacIntyre also introduced me to the Kitchener Squash club. This has been a great help in making me feel I can live here! The lofts are really fantastic space and they have been extremely well converted. The squash club does what it says on the tin, and provides a good useful space to get together with a minority who share at least one of my interests.
All the N’s: Norwich, Nairobi, Norwich, New York
I wrote this post after travelling to Kenya and concluded it was a rather depressing trip in some ways. The reason for the travel was a board meeting for AIDSpan a small NGO whose mandate is to watch and support the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. I went over from the UK on Wednesday and returned to Norwich on a late flight on Saturday evening arriving back on Sunday. The flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam is longer than the one from Toronto to Amsterdam. I don’t think I appreciated that Canada was so close, or maybe that Nairobi was so far.
Alps
I got back to Canada on 18 February after a short visit to the UK. It was, in my view, just long enough to thaw out. Of course most of the west of the UK was experiencing some of the worst floods on record. It looked quite desperate for many homeowners and farmers. Fields in the Somerset levels are still under water.
There was more snow in Waterloo and it continued to be bitterly cold. The time there on this visit was a little curtailed. I am getting a sense of the place, and what I need and want to do. Buying a car and finding somewhere to live is the next order of business.
Alan Whiteside 