Around campus

High-flying Inertia

Courtesy of Inertia

Let springtime put a bounce in your step, a leap in your imagination. The oxymoronically named Inertia Modern Dance Collective will be at Players' Theatre for four days. The company considers the debut its humble contribution to the development of modern dance in Montreal. "We're hoping that the show's creativity and originality will inspire more people to learn about this art form through our performances and open classes," says artistic director Britni Troy. Go support McGill's newest dance company.

March 30, 31, April 1, 2, at 8 pm, 3rd floor Shatner Building, 3480 McTavish. Tix are $6 for students, $8 for adults.

Honouring Phyllis Shapiro

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The topic of education was dear to Phyllis Shapiro's heart and, in the memory of the former education professor and wife of former McGill Principal Bernard Shapiro, the Faculty of Education has established an annual lecture series in her name.

The first guest speaker will be Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada. The recipient of 23 honorary degrees, Justice Abella has been very active in Canadian judicial education. She has also made many contributions in the areas of labour relations, law reform, access to legal services by the disabled and human rights. She is the first Jewish woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Justice Abella's distinguished career alone makes her a good choice for the inaugural lecture, but her talk is especially fitting since she was a good friend of Phyllis Shapiro.

Inaugural Phyllis Shapiro Memorial Lecture, Monday, April 3, at 5:30 pm. Mont Royal Centre 2200 Mansfield St.

Don't let video kill the radio star

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They've generously opened your ears, now you can return the favour by opening your wallets. CKUT kicks off its annual funding drive March 30 until April 9.

For 18 years, the independent radio station has made us all feel a little closer in this crazy world. McGill students voted to keep funding the station with their student fees, now everyone can pitch in to help keep this broad band of audio junkies on air.

For more information, visit www.ckut.ca. To pledge, call 398-8991 .

Builders rebuild

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The recent onslaught of natural calamities such as tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes has underlined the urgent need for post-disaster expertise - especially when it comes to shelters. That's why BuildAid, a group of McGill architecture students, will be in full construction mode from April 1-3. The group will erect a shelter prototype on campus that will serve as a living lab to help improve the ways such structures are currently being built.

Unveiling of the shelter prototype on Monday, April 3, 5 pm Macdonald-Harrington Building (815 Sherbrooke Street West), room 101. For more info call 733-0473.

Science with a social conscience

To do science without a socially useful application is in effect a "make-work welfare program for the middle classes." So wrote feminist philosopher of science Sandra Harding in her early classic The Science Question in Feminism. Science, says Harding, is as value-laden and fraught with cultural interpretation as the rest of our earthly toil.

A professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education at University of California, Los Angeles, Harding is also director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women.

The thought-provoking philosopher has been invited to lecture by the McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women and the History and Philosophy of Science and Social Studies of Medicine, with support from the Beatty Memorial Lectures Fund.

"Women, Science and Modernity" Thursday April 4, 6 pm, Leacock, rm 232.

Montreal: centre of publishing universe

The cliché goes that we all have one good novel inside us, but will it ever see the light of day? Get a taste of the machinations of the publishing world by attending the colloquium "From Idea to Reader: Publishing in Montreal, World Book Capital."

UNESCO named our belle bilingual ville the World Book Capital for a year, ending April 22, 2006. McGill's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies and McGill Library have invited Roy MacSkimming, author of The Perilous Trade: Publishing Canada's Writers to speak. And, because reading can be such a chore sometimes, there will be movies! The premiere of "The First Novel" will show Mordecai Richler and William Weintraub parodying the act of being published.

Friday, March 31, 1 pm to 6 pm, McLennan Library, rm MS. 42. space limited, please RSVP at 398-4204 or gslis@mcgill.ca