THE CONCORDIA HIV/AIDS PROJECT
Summary
The Concordia HIV/AIDS Project was founded in 1993 and has now grown into the following interrelated programs and initiatives:
HIV/AIDS Community Lecture Series:
Features invited social, scientific, medical, arts and community leaders who provide public lectures in their respective areas of expertise;
Approximately 1000 diverse audience members attended 4 lectures in 2009 - 2010;
Concordia Community HIV/AIDS Courses
Two flagship courses: Onsite “Aspects of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic” & Online “Interdisciplinary Introduction to HIV/AIDS”;
Features Art Exhibition/Symposium showcasing student works in Montreal art gallery, for which sponsorship is available
HIV/AIDS Community Internships
Over 20 local HIV/AIDS community organizations place student interns enrolled in HIV/AIDS courses within their organizations for various skills-building opportunities
Mandate of the Concordia HIV/AIDS Project
To maintain a permanent space for interdisciplinary dialogue and research on HIV/AIDS for the region;
To address the diverse Concordia University community and the general Montreal public through our university forum;
To challenge the academy to confront the societal crisis engendered by HIV/AIDS and to expand its educational mission;
To develop awareness of social, scientific and cultural aspects of the Pandemic, through community education, internal dialogue in the academy, social criticism and the encouragement of volunteering and activism;
To nurture the next generation of HIV/AIDS researchers, activists, and teachers within today’s student population.
Overview
The Concordia University Community HIV/AIDS Project as a whole is supervised and supported by two university committees, which are made up of faculty members and staff from various departments at Concordia. Members are committed to raising awareness of the Pandemic or in many cases have either taught or are teaching the HIV/AIDS courses, or are interested in incorporating the study of various aspects of the Pandemic into their curriculum. The broad scope of the HIV/AIDS project depends on the involvement of many volunteers, student interns and paid employees.
The HIV/AIDS courses themselves are taught by full-time and part-time faculty with the help of teaching assistants recruited from graduate students who are studying the Pandemic or its cognate issues within various disciplines. Every week, invited speakers from various Montreal community organizations, health care institutions or internal Concordia departments, both PWA and non-PWA, visit the on-site course to address a specific issue pertaining to the Pandemic. The new online course is a virtual version of this structure in condensed form, reaching more then 200 students each year.
To fulfill the requirements for the on-site HIV/AIDS course, students must also participate in an internship in a community service, research or activist organization. This ambitious internship scheme is coordinated by a graduate student in a relevant discipline who is remunerated by a stipend in addition to the obvious benefits of practical educational experience.
The community lecture series provides opportunities for members of the academic community, as well as local medical constituencies and networks, community and care activist groups. All lectures are free, widely publicized and have, in the last seventeen years, become a valued source of information and solidarity for members of the local seropositive population, their friends and families.
The HIV/AIDS Project is supervised by Professor Thomas Waugh as part of his community service responsibilities, with the help of Aaron Capar, student coordinator. To contact anybody involved in the project, click here.
The HIV/AIDS Courses
HIV/AIDS: Social, Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Pandemic
The HIV/AIDS course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic, emphasizing academic knowledge, research and volunteer work, as well as an opportunity for creative work. This year the on-site course will be taught by the exceptional team of instructors lead by: Thomas Haig and Jason Crawford. Every week, invited speakers from various Montreal academic or health care institutions and community organizations address specific issues pertaining to the Pandemic. Each class is followed by a tutorial, during which students develop their individual learning interests within a more interactive, personal context.
To fulfill the requirements for this 6-credit full-year course, students must complete readings, directed journals, and examinations, as well as a major research paper or creative project. A year-end exhibition showcases for the community the art and other creative work produced by the students as course projects.
HIV/AIDS: An Interdisciplinary Introduction – Distance Online Course
Started in 2001-2002 as a pilot project, the long-distance online version of this course has been a huge success. It is now the most heavily enrolled course in the program, reaching more then 200 students each year. More flexible, this course allows students who are unable to take the six-credit version due to time or geographical constraints to receive an introduction to the social and cultural aspects of this medical crisis, and an exposure to the struggle against HIV/AIDS.
This pioneering course, unique in North America, is available online to students and community volunteers and activists throughout Canada. We experience a continuation of high rates of participation in remote communities as well as other urban centres, due to the unique and experimental appeal of the course.
The HIV/AIDS Community Internships
In addition to the academic requirements, students of the 6-credit “HIV/AIDS: Social, Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Pandemic” course must also participate in a community internship, chosen at the beginning of the year. Ranging from frontline assistance, to event organization, data entry and research, these internships give up to fifty students each year invaluable practical experience, as well as the chance to explore the interface between academic knowledge and personal awareness in a community-based venue. The internships also strengthen networks between the University and the community associations and organizations.
Past years’ internship placements have included (to mention only a few):
AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM)
La Maison d’Hérelle
La Fondation pour l’Amour de Sarah
Native Friendship Centre of Montreal
Les Enfants de Béthanie
Centre de ressources et d’intervention en santé et sexualité
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Archives gaies du Québec
Centre for AIDS Services Montreal (Women) – (CASM)
Oméga Cohort
Concordia University Health Services
Stella
Action Séro Zéro
The HIV/AIDS Lecture Series
The Concordia University Community Lecture Series on HIV/AIDS
Now embarking on our eighteenth consecutive season, the Concordia University Community Lecture Series on HIV/AIDS will be presenting another round of university and public lectures in our ongoing effort to educate about issues, perspectives and realities of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic. For nearly two decades, the series has proven to be a powerful tool in aiding in the sensitization of our local communities. Speakers are invited address academic, artistic, activist and health care issues. Professional qualifications, interdisciplinary academic relevance and background, personal experience and understanding of the issues and realities of the Pandemic are all considered factors that help us choose our speakers each year.
If you would like more information or are interested in sponsoring this unique Concordia University initiative, please contact Elvira Parent.
