Taken at the Flood

 It is always a pleasure to listen to someone who understands the power of the spoken word, both to entrance and to entertain, and last Wednesday a large FASS audience enjoyed the opportunity to engage with Wajdi Mouawad.  A playwright, actor, and director, Mouawad has served as the artistic director of the National Arts Centre’s French-language theatre program since 2007.  And he also brings those drama skills to the task of story-telling, which is the vehicle that he used to craft answers to questions that had been provided to him in advance by host Anne Trépanier.  Thus his response to the question “What is the purpose of theatre?” began with a memorable discussion of dung beetles!  Such masters of the metaphor, and more generally of the art of oratory, are truly few and far between.

A second spellbinding master of his craft, in this case the craft of music, and more specifically percussion, Music faculty member Jesse Stewart, was in the national news the previous day.  His “Stretch Orchestra” was announced as one of the five finalists for a JUNO award in the “Instrumental Album of the Year” category.  No one who has had the pleasure of hearing Jesse perform will ever forget the experience, and I am sure his many fans will be rooting hard for him at the awards ceremony on April 1^st.  Music is one of a number of FASS programs that have enjoyed a particular flowering in recent years, thanks largely to Professor Stewart and his indomitable colleagues.  They have succeeded in carving out an important niche for this program on the national and international map, and it is truly a joy to see them receive broader recognition, individually and collectively.

And another FASS faculty member was also honoured recently at a special event.  Herb Stovel, mainstay of the program in heritage conservation, housed in the School of Canadian Studies, has devoted his career to the cause of protecting the built environment, first in Canada and then around the world.  When UNESCO requires a consultant to develop recommendations or an action plan, whether it be for Vilnius or Kathmandu, Herb is often the one to whom they turn.  Every two years, ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, situated in Rome) bestows an award for special merit in the field of conservation, protection and the restoration of cultural heritage, and in 2011 it chose Herb Stovel as the most recent worthy recipient.  Sadly, Herb was not well enough to travel to Rome last November in order to receive the honour in person, but last Friday his family, friends, and many academic and professional colleagues gathered at the headquarters of Heritage Canada to help him celebrate.

All told, a most memorable week, and a timely remainder of the place of universities at the heart of intellectual and cultural life.