What I have learned so far...

It has been a more productive week than I had expected or least as good as I hoped it would be. I am a broad thinker who sees connections and parallels that others may not. What was so productive was the number of similar thinkers I encountered here this week. And in addition there were others who were willing to be drawn into a broader perspective for their own work, even when my questions did not fit into their specific focus.

I was quite eclectic in my choice of sessions, sometimes choosing at the last minute, randomly wandering into the nearest room, drawn by the slightest interest. At other times I was more deliberately strategic. The two sessions on social economy came out of a conversation in a shared taxi from the airport. The development studies keynote was one I chose strategically. Ironically, the former gave me greater insights; the latter being a revisit of ideas I had already engaged with some time ago in my teaching. Affirmation is good but insight is better.

Other than the sessions sponsored by my organization the Canadian Communications Association (CCA), my most productive session was on Tuesday when I attended a roundtable on Decolonizing The Academy. The focus this year was on Indigenous scholarship and the panel had two Indigenous academics present. That did not necessarily mean that I was encouraged by their experiences but heartened because the discourse being held in public is important. In the end everything has to be spoken into being and when voices are silenced possible worlds disappear or never emerge.

How much all of this remains with me is of course uncertain. Over the coming months and years we all return to our own work, our own worlds and the temporary space we shared here at the Congress dissipates and fades even in our memories. Yet, we do leave slightly altered by our experiences and chance encounters. Some may even be profoundly transformed by connections they have made or friendships they have initiated. It really is all a part of living our lives purposefully, knowing that the ordinary can become extraordinary through our openesss to the moments of possibility.

Ottawa the hesitant...

Ottawa is a city of contradictions; it remains open to interpretation. People can imprint the city with their own desires and dreams but the city does not care. Approaching the downtown from the south on foot, I pass through a surreal landscape of what seems to be and abandoned construction area. It resembles what might be a green space in another city but a large sign declares it to be the Lebreton Redevelopment.

I am headed for Parliament Hill and my path gives me pause. I begin to doubt that I will find the grandeur that I expect from my national capital. As I cross through the city core I encounter Victorian mansions that sit awkwardly amid tentative high rises. The city feels cautiously reluctant to take a definitive stand about anything, especially its own identity. Perhaps that reflects its political heart, fed by endless debate, punctuated by occasional decisions. Or maybe I have come at the wrong time of year. This is a winter capital. It may be that once solidly fortified by snow and ice it achieves the grandeur I cannot feel today.

Having spotted the distant spires of Parliament Hill, I push on and after a few missed turns I arrive at the corner of O'Connor and Wellington. I wander about the grounds, where a smattering of high school students are leaving from a guided tour. I am struck by how the city crowds in on Parliament Hill. It is if it hungers to touch the power that emanates from here.














It is only when I circle around the the Library that I feel I have escaped that hungry gaze. There is still a certain irony I cannot escape to see this monument to ideas and knowledge abutted against the House Of Commons where the exchange of ideas is reduced to shrill political animosity that cannot be described as discourse.

In our nations's capital...

It is near the end of May once more and I am at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. This year we are in Ottawa and while the view from my room does not have that BC lushness, at least it is not raining - so far.

This is my first visit to Ottawa unless you count driving through on the way home to Newfoundland. While i am seldom one to play tourist I do think I will try to visit Parliament Hill and perhaps the Bytown Market.

As fro the Congress there are some interesting sessions. Could be a good week.