Mir Lecture Series to host acclaimed educator in Nelson – Nelson News

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Renowned educator Sharon Stein will speak on November 8 in Nelson at the United Church in the next edition of the Mir Lecture Series.

The world is full of challenges that, for most people, are hard to fathom, but supporting young people as we find a way forward is fundamental to the brighter days ahead, according to acclaimed educator Sharon Stein.

Featured speaker in the next Mir Lecture – November 8 at Nelson’s United Church – Stein asks how education can prepare people to move through “wicked” challenges in socially relevant, relationally rigorous and intergenerationally responsible ways. Her current research focuses on the challenges of confronting hard truths about colonialism and climate change.

“I think many of us who are in midlife or older feel called to use our power and privilege to change what we can while we can, especially for the benefit of our youth,” said Jennie Barron , president of the Mir Center for Peace Council.

“We know that the burden of adapting, managing and transforming these issues is a very heavy one for young people. But there is no road map. So we need new ways of thinking, doing and being that will help us navigate the great uncertainties that lie ahead.”

Stein is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of British Columbia and Visiting Professor with the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. In 2002, Stein published the book Unsettling the university: Confronting the colonial foundations of US higher education. She has contributed to her field with dozens of articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces over the past decade.

Drawing on her work with the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective, Stein will share insights and ideas for interrupting our persistent patterns to cultivate deeper emotional stability, relational maturity, intellectual discernment, and intergenerational and interspecies responsibility.

Her work with the Critically Engaged Climate Change Education group seeks to look beyond the possibilities offered by either climate solutionism or climate doom-ism. Confronting and learning about complex issues is key for young people who may feel overwhelmed or immobilized by the situation.

“This talk is for anyone who cares about youth and sees an opportunity to shift our culture from self-destructive norms and patterns to new ways of being that may prove to be not only necessary, but healing and enriching for us everyone,” Barron said.

“I hope people will leave feeling that we can face this very uncertain future together, and that even if we can’t predict or determine that future yet, we can take part in shaping it.”

Tickets for the November 8th Mir Lecture at Nelson’s United Church are now on sale ($22 for adults and free for students and youth) with the live stream ticket option available. The event takes place between 19:00 and 21:00. To buy tickets and find out more visit the Selkirk College website: