Concordia Journal Home > Archives > September 27, 2007 issue >

Homecoming’s open invite 

By Barbara Black

Montrealers have been extended a warm welcome to Homecoming festivities over the next 10 days.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, the Loyola Campus will be filled with fun, as clowns and “mad scientists” entertain the folks. Organizers promise magic tricks, break-dancing, hula-hooping, ice-cream-making, marionettes and giant worms!

Somewhere in there, we understand there will also be a football showdown with the Université de Montréal Carabins. Sylvain Girard, a Stinger who went on to play with the Montreal Alouettes, will be on hand to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

On the following Saturday, Oct. 6, the action will shift to the EV building, as several professors take time out of their weekend to talk to visitors about their work. Arts & Science and ENCS will run the first session of the Back-to-School Faculty Showcase, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and the JMSB and Fine Arts will run the second, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

To give just some examples that are likely to interest alumni and the general public, Simon Bacon will discuss asthma and cardiovascular heart disease, Robert Boushel will talk about prevention of Type II diabetes, Joanna Komorowski will discuss childhood obesity, and Robert Kilgour will discuss cancer rehabilitation.

The Abitibi Consolidated Lecture, always a high-profile event, takes place tonight at 7 p.m. in H-110 of the Hall Building.

Kim Klein has visited Concordia before, as a popular speaker at the Institute for Management and Community Development’s summer program for community activists. She specializes in adapting traditional fundraising techniques for the benefit of grassroots organizations, and has won many awards for her skill. She’ll be beginning a term as guest lecturer at the Institute in January 2008.

On Monday, one of the open discussions organized by the University of the Streets Café is taking place under the Homecoming banner, and it deals with nothing less than the pursuit of happiness. Sheila Mason, a philosophy professor who specializes in ethics, and Jim Pfaus, who studies the physiological and psychological factors that influence sexual behaviour, will be on hand.

Many other events are connected to Homecoming, such as reunions and dinners. For more information, please go to homecoming.concordia.ca.