French Studies
Queen's UniversityThe Gazette, Vol. XXXVI No. 2, page 4
IN THE NEWS
Historian is this year’s Michener Visitor
Renowned Quebec historian Gérard Bouchard will visit Queen’s Feb. 7 and 8 as this year’s Michener Visitor.
He will deliver a public lecture, entitled, Is the Western World in the Middle of a Cultural Crisis? on Monday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm in room 202 Policy Studies. Admission is free. A professor in the Department of Human Sciences at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, he was chosen as this year’s visitor not only because of his importance as a prominent intellectual and scholar, but also because of the interdisciplinary character of his research, says Annette Hayward, chair of the Michener Visitor Committee.
“It is our impression that he is not particularly well known in English Canada,” she says. “The topic chosen for his public lecture, Is the Western World in the Middle of a Cultural Crisis? reflects well the breadth of his interests, and will hopefully stimulate interest and debate across the university community.”
The brother of former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, he is an exceptional scholar, who has authored 29 books and 243 learned articles. His high-quality work has earned him more than 25 awards, prizes and honours.
In 2000, he won the Governor General’s Award for his book on Genese des nations et cultures du Nouveau Monde.
He was selected as Canada Research Chair in Comparative Dynamics of Collective Imaginary in 2002, the same year in which he became Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (France). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a member of the Academie des Lettres du Quebec. He has played an important role within the community by his participation in intellectual debate and dialogue, and is a frequent contributor to the media.
“He has been influential, among other things, in the redefining of Quebecois culture in recent years,” says Dr. Hayward.
Dr. Bouchard founded the Interuniversity Institute of Research on Populations, in Chicoutimi. Former Governor-General and Queen’s Chancellor Roland Michener set up the Michener Visitors Fund to finance an annual visit of a prominent French-Canadian to Queen’s University. Previous visitors include publisher Lise Bissonnette, astronaut Julie Payette, author and film director Jacques Godbout, former Quebec premier Pierre Marc Johnson and composer Clermont Pepin.
For more information on Dr. Bouchard’s visit, contact Dr. Hayward at hawarda@post.queensu.ca, 533-2085.