The University of New
Brunswick’s Faculty of Education will hold its first Dr. Ottilia Chareka
Memorial Lecture in Education and Social Justice on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.

This inaugural lecture will
be given by Carla L. Peck from the University of Alberta who will present a
talk titled “I’m Stuck! “Social Justice” and other Labels that Shape our
World”.

This event takes place in Marshall d’Avray Hall, 10
MacKay Dr., UNB Fredericton, in room 261.

Dr. Peck’s presentation will
address questions like, What labels do you use to organize the world, and the
people in it? What labels do you carry with you when you walk into a classroom?
What labels do you wear proudly, and which do you hide behind, or use to harm?

Ottilia Chareka, mother, activist, scholar, mentor, and friend was a three time graduate of the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick (DAUS 1993; M.Ed 1994; PhD 2005). 

Ottilia was the first woman from her rural village in Zimbabwe to complete high school and went on from there to enjoy a stellar career as a teacher and academic.

Throughout her life Ottilia
was a considerable advocate for others including the many Zimbabwean girls she
supported in educational endeavours, fellow immigrants to Canada, and the First
Nations students she worked with at St. Francis Xavier University. 

When Ottilia died tragically
in the spring of 2011, the Faculty of Education at UNB thought one fitting way
to remember her would be an annual lecture in her name focusing on education as
a vehicle for social justice, something that was a life long passion for
Ottilia.

This inaugural Dr. Ottilia Chareka Memorial Lecture on
Education and Social Justice will explore the concept of labels and argue
that we need to move from labelling to acting if “social justice” is going to
have any meaning and relevance at all.

Dr. Carla Peck lives many
labels: Auntie, sister and friend, among others. In addition to being Ottilia’s
sister-friend, Carla is Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education in the
Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. Carla’s
research interests include students’ understandings of democratic concepts,
diversity, identity, citizenship and the relationship between students’ ethnic
identities and their understandings of history.

Contact

Dr. Emery J. Hyslop-Margison,
Professor, Faculty of Education ehyslopm@unb.ca
 (506) 458-7457