Accolades
“Jewish studies take off north of the border” was the headline on a story in the U.S.-based online magazine Forward.com. The biggest of these programs is Concordia’s Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies, headed by Norman Ravvin. Steven Lapidus, a graduate student, told the Forward.com writer, “We have long underplayed our appeal.” The article noted that Religion professor Ira Robinson and Richard Menkis, of the University of British Columbia, are editing a special issue of the international journal Jewish History on Canadian Jewry.
The Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery won the Grand Prize, Exhibition Catalogue, in the Grafika competition. It was the tenth edition of the competition in graphic arts in Quebec, and 1,000 people reportedly attended the final presentation at Metropolis on Feb. 8.
The winning publication, L’Écho des limbes, was published in November 2005 in conjunction with an exhibit by the same name, a project by curator Nathalie de Blois. Congratulations to Eric Dubois and Patrick Pellerin of Uniform for their concept, which was developed in the spirit of the exhibition. The Gallery’s innovative exhibition catalogues, books, brochures and electronic documents are distributed by ABC Artbooks Canada.
Gabrielle Maes, who earned a BFA in Advanced Vocal Training and won the Mills Purchase Prize for Best Performing Artist, is presenting Bedraggled at the Monument National Feb. 22 and 24. The cabaret-style show begins with Maes’s character, a “pretty raunchy” homeless woman, sitting in the audience. She was interviewed on CBC radio last weekend about her musical career.
Steven H. Appelbaum (Management) and Miguel Valero (EMBA) received a Best Paper Award from the Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, for their article “The Crucial First Three Months: An Analysis of Leadership Transition Traps and Successes”(March 2007).
Look for former Accounting student Anne Nahabedian in the March 7 episode of the popular ABC series Lost, playing the role of Amira. The actress, now living in Los Angeles, has also been on CSI as Officer Linda Mendosa and in a two-part season finale of The Closer for director Kevin Bacon. Nahabedian joined the Canadian Forces at age 17 and served three years in the Navy. As well as studying at Concordia, she has mastered five languages, and studied acting at the NYC Neighborhood Playhouse.
In the Canadian version of the Oscars, the Genies, Cinema alumni took four awards: Kevin Tierney, the producer of Bon Cop, Bad Cop (directed by former Film Production student Erik Canuel); Pierre Gill (Film Production) for cinematography in The Rocket; Maxime Giroux (Film Production) for best live action short for the drama Le Rouge au sol/Red, and Torill Kove for best animated short for The Danish Poet.
Guy Lachapelle (Political Science) has thrown his hat in the ring. He will be a Parti Québécois candidate in the riding of Fabre, in Laval, in the next Quebec election. He told the Journal that he has entered politics to put more emphasis on the needs of the educational sector.