Redefining success and failure in academia
July 22nd, 2020This article was originally published by University Affairs I’ve failed more often than I’ve succeeded, but you wouldn’t know that from reading my CV. Last year, I failed to get a postdoctoral grant from the Social Science Humanities and Research Council. Two years in a row, I failed to get a postdoctoral fellowship from the […]
My first op ed… on the Miss Canada beauty pageant
July 7th, 2020Don’t stop me, even if you have heard this one before: It’s 1992. I’ve just joined the board of MediaWatch, Informed Opinions’ predecessor. A TV reporter calls to say the Miss Canada pageant has just been cancelled and he needs someone who is not a beauty contestant to come on TV to talk about it. […]
Justice for _ _ _ _ _
June 10th, 2020When these deaths are followed by hashtags instead of convictions, I often wonder when the murderers will tire of being fuelled by hate. When our peers and our friends and our families and their cops and their government will shout loud enough to be heard over 400 years of white noise. I should not know […]
You Don’t Have to be Quoted to Wield Influence
June 2nd, 2020Let’s say you’re a beleaguered advocate who is part of a national network of women’s shelters that constitute the thin and vulnerable line between daily brutality often leading to death, and escape to safety. No day, or week, or month are ever going to give you enough hours to do the job necessary. Now let’s […]
Tell your mentors how much you appreciate their impact while you can
May 21st, 2020Meg moved quickly behind me to close the door to her office not wanting her staff to overhear. I had showed up in advance of the MediaWatch board meeting in 1990 to let her know that even though I’d only joined the board six months previously, I would be resigning at this, my second meeting. […]
How to Cope with the Coronavirus Shutdown
May 12th, 2020Is it possible to eat your weight in popcorn? I appear to be trying. The pandemic lock-down has also given me permission to double my chocolate intake, consume cookies at breakfast and microwave chunks of cheese on a plate so I can scrape the stuff into my mouth with a fork. The grapes have become […]
“Poet, can you write this?” We need to write the post-coronavirus reality we want now
April 6th, 2020In Stalinist Russia, poet Anna Akhmatova’s husband was shot and her son imprisoned. Every day for months she stood outside the prison walls begging for word about her son’s fate. Recognizing her, one of the other women in similar circumstances called out to ask, “Poet, can you write this?” She responded, “I can.” And then […]
More women’s voices shaping Canada’s public conversations
February 25th, 2020In the 10 years since Informed Opinions began training women across sectors and fields to share their insights and analysis with the media, we’ve delivered almost 250 workshops to more than 3500 participants. More than half of those sessions have focused on a five-step process designed to support subject matter experts in translating their knowledge […]
The upside of getting outside (of your comfort zone)
February 14th, 2020I’m embarrassed to confess how long it’s taken me to wake up to this revelation. I ask women every day to step out of their comfort zones and speak up about things they know to be important — to share their insights, challenge ignorance, and make change. But recently it occurred to me that I […]
Running to catch the light — and creating the “Transformational 20s”
January 9th, 2020Is patience still a virtue? When teaching kids, or walking behind those forced by age or disability to slow down, absolutely. But as Australia burns, and bellicose men on either side of the world threaten war, I feel with greater urgency than ever that change can’t happen quickly enough. My partner would tell you that […]