Teach-In 2010

The ‘Fifties’
November 11, 13, 14
Langara College

The decade and a half between the end of World War II and the 1960’s is full of lessons that resonate strongly in the world we live in today. While it is regarded by some as a period of grey and repressive reaction, where any nails that stood out were hammered down, it was far from that. Revolutions rocked the colonial world and shook the old order from China to Algeria, Egypt to Cuba. Cultural rebellions- rock and roll, folk music and the beat generation; feminism and the beginning of the ecology movement- changed what we read thought and heard. The ‘Quiet Revolution’ transformed Quebec and Canada. From the first cracks in the ‘socialist’ world to the unprecedented boom in the capitalist, the fifties was a time rich in struggles that shape the world we live in. Both the victories and defeats of movements against war and oppression and for a socially just and sustainable world have much to teach us. That is exactly what the World Peace Forum is planning. The third Teach-In will be held on Nov. 11 and 13 and 14 at Langara College. Details will be available in September. Keep your eye on www.peaceforumteachin.org or get on our mailing list by contacting us at

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November 11^th

There will be a cultural afternoon on Remembrance Day featuring Manuel Yepe on the Cuban Revolution, music by Geoff Berner and a showing of the 1951 classic ‘peacenik’ science fiction film The Day The Earth Stood Still at the Wise Hall staring at 1:00pm

 

Schedule

Download Full Schedule HERE
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Speakers` Bios

 

Manuel E Yepe has been a lawyer, economist, journalist and professor at the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, Cuba. He was the secretary of the Cuban Movement for the Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples, and took part in the Cuban Revolution.

Paul Buhle is a historian and graphic novelist. Author or editor of 35 volumes including labour histories, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes including Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of American Empire. Paul was active in the civil rights movement and in the antiwar activities of the SDS during the 60s & 70s.

Amir Khadir is the first elected representative for Québec Solidaire, a political party formed in 2006 as a result of a merger of Democratic socialist, alter-globalization, feminist, and environmentalist groups.

Marion Pollack works for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, her portfolio includes the CUPW Solidarity and International Solidarity campaigns. She is actively engaged in promoting women’s, labour and international issues.

Regina Brennan works for the Public Service Alliance of Canada and is a labour activist/singer. She is a labour educator, and has a keen interest in women’s labour history.

Henry Heller is a professor of history at the University of Manitoba. He wrote The Cold War and the New Imperialism: A Global History, 1945–2005, an account of global history since 1945, which ties together the narrative of the Cold War to that of neo-liberalism and the new imperialism in ways that illuminate and clarify the dilemmas of the present moment.

Wendy Holm is a resource economist and UBC Agriculture professor who looks at what we need to do to deliver a more sustainable future, and to reclaim economic and social sustainability.

Arthur Manuel is a member of the Neskonlith Indian Band of the Secwepemc Nation, Kamloops. He is the spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, a network of indigenous organizations who are achieving recognition for Aboriginal and Treaty Rights at the international level.

Alfred Marder is a long time peace activist, and President of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, the U.S. Peace Council and the City of New Haven Peace Commission.

Ingo Schmidt is originally from Germany. He is a political economist, writer, labour educator, and Academic Coordinator of Labour Studies at Athabasca University

Elsie Dean is a retired teacher and lifelong activist. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the World Peace Forum Society.

Gary Cristall works in the arts as a teacher and artists’ manager. In a previous life he lived in Chile and studied Latin American history.

Chris Shelton is a local activist and member of the Board of Directors of the World Peace Forum Society.

Millie Creighton is a specialist on Japan and an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UBC.

Masoud Arjang (Amin) is originally from Iran and is a local union member and activist.

Riadh Muslih is originally from Iraq. He has been active in Arab political and human right issues, with the Peace Movement, and is engaged with CESAPI, the Campaign to End Sanctions Against the People of Iraq.

Gabe Au is a local activist involved in the Fraser Valley Peace Council.

Charles Quist-Adade is originally from Ghana, studied in Russia, and is now a Sociology professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Lawrence Boxall is an anti-war activist, a member of Jews for a Just Peace and Stopwar.ca, as well as being a veteran of the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa.

Roger Keeran is a labour and policy studies coordinator at The Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies in New York.

Henry Hightower was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the US in the 50s and now lives on the Sunshine Coast.

Jeff Schutts is a History professor at Douglas College. He served in the US Army and is now active in the war resistor and international peace movements. He is particularly interested in the role of popular historical films in shaping contemporary understanding of the past.

Kevin Neish is Victoria-based human rights activist who was aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was stormed by Israeli troops.

Elaine Briere is a filmmaker who produced Betrayed: The Story of the Canadian Merchant Seamen. The destruction of the CSU in the late 40’s was a pivotal moment in the evolution of Canadian-American relations, McCarthyism, the Cold War, and the Canadian trade union movement.

George Fraser is an Abbotsford resident, former seaman and member of the Canadian Seamen’s Union.

Phil Rankin is a local immigration lawyer. He is the son of the late Harry Rankin.