Lectureship series launched with James Daschuk

SWIFT CURRENT, SK – Great Plains College is pleased to announce the launch of a new lectureship series that will bring authors to Swift Current for readings, discussions and classroom lectures. The first event will feature James Daschuk, award-winning author of “Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the loss of Aboriginal Life.”

Daschuk has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Manitoba. He is an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina and a researcher with the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit. His work on the book “Clearing the Plains: Disease and the Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life” received the 2014 Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research.

In his book, Daschuk examines the roles that Old World diseases, climate, and Canadian politics played in the deaths and subjugation of thousands of Aboriginal people in the realization of Sir John A. Macdonald’s “National Dream.”

“As we inaugurate the Great Plains College lectureship series, we are delighted to host a scholar of the stature of Dr. Daschuk,” stated Dr. Brian Gobbett, vice-president academic at Great Plains College. “Daschuk’s historical examination of government policies towards Indigenous peoples has currency for our own time as we consider policy decisions and efforts towards reconciliation.”

Daschuk’s presentation for the public will be held at the Swift Current Branch Library on March 15 at 7:00 p.m., followed by a book signing at 8:30 p.m. This is a free event open to anyone in the community. He will also presenting to college students March 16.

“We’re grateful to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild for their financial support that has made this event possible, and to the Swift Current Branch Library for partnering with us to host this public event,” Gobbett added.

For more information about this event, please visit greatplainscollege.ca/news-events.

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For more information contact:
Amy Masse, Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Phone: (306) 737-6107
Email: amym@greatplainscollege.ca