The 2019 Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture will be presented by best-selling author and scholar Jesse Thistle, author of the memoir From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way (2019). Thistle’s talk will be followed by a discussion with panellists Shane Belcourt, ShoShona Kish and Jesse Wente.
Jesse Thistle
All are welcome to this signature event presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies’ on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at York University’s Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, Keele Campus.
The event kicks off with an opening reception at 6 p.m. in the CIBC Lobby, where light refreshments will be served. Thistle’s book will be available for purchase, and the author will be in attendance to sign copies. The lecture begins at 7 p.m., space is limited and those interested in attending should RSVP here.
Thistle, who identifies as Métis-Cree-Scot, is PhD candidate in history and an assistant professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University. His work focuses on theories of intergenerational and historic trauma of the Métis people.
Thistle’s talk will explore the themes of his debut memoir, From the Ashes. Chronicling his experiences with trauma, addiction, and homelessness, From the Ashes is an eloquent exploration of what it means to live in a world surrounded by prejudice and racism. In this honest memoir, Thistle writes about his painful experiences with abuse, uncovering the truth about his parents, and how he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family through education.
This year, the Kitty Lundy Lecture will feature three panellists who will engage with Thistle’s memoir and share their own politically engaged creative practices: Shane Belcourt, an award-winning Métis filmmaker, writer and musician; ShoShona Kish an Anishinabekwe community organizer, producer, activist, songwriter and JUNO award-winning touring artist; and Jesse Wente, a long-time film and pop culture critic, and self-described "Ojibwe dude" with a commitment to organizational diversity and inclusion.
More about the Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture
The annual Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture honours the late Kitty Lundy, an admired educator of sociology who was associated with York University’s former Atkinson Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies from 1986-89. Lundy was concerned with the fields of education, occupation and women’s studies, and cared deeply about students pursuing their studies. To honour her, the memorial lecture seeks out an individual whose scholarship and creativity address principles to which Kitty Lundy exhibited commitment: engaged learning, equity and social justice, interdisciplinary exchange, and the dissemination and exchange of ideas and knowledge with communities residing within and outside of York University.
For more information and to register, visit http://laps.yorku.ca/kitty-lundy-memorial-lecture/.