Canada Seminar

Date: 

Monday, September 23, 2019, 12:00pm to 2:00pm

Location: 

Bowie Vernon Room, Room K262, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge

Beyond Multiculturalism and Secularism: A Relational Approach to Diversity and Inclusion

Dr. Pascale Fournier, President and CEO of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

Dr. Pascale Fournier holds a Doctor in Law from Harvard University, she is a prolific and bilingual author. Dr. Fournier’s academic contributions reflect key themes promoted by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, including Human Rights and Dignity, Canada and the World, and Responsible Citizenship. Prior to her appointment as head of the Foundation, Dr. Fournier was Research Chair in Legal Pluralism and Comparative Law at the University of Ottawa where she taught Human Rights, Critical Approaches to Law and Family Law as a Full professor.

She has led international research teams to better understand and document the struggles of religious women in Canada, England, France, Germany, Israel, and Lebanon, while her teaching career has taken Dr. Fournier around the globe to places ranging from Haiti to Costa Rica to Iran. She has received numerous prizes and distinctions including the Québec Bar Association’s Advocatus Emeritus Distinction (2009), being named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by the Canadian Lawyer Magazine (2015), and the Capital Educator’s Award for Teaching Excellence from the Ottawa Network for Education (2016).  Passionate about the democratization of knowledge and public teaching, Dr. Fournier spearheaded the Foundation’s Future Forums listening and learning tour which visited every Canadian province and territory in 2018 and 2019. The Future Forums heard from Foundation members and the general public from all sectors on the ideas of Inclusive Excellence and Engaged Leadership. As President of the Foundation, Dr. Fournier is striving to enshrine those ideals within the organization and disseminate the critical importance of leadership to foster the meaningful diversity of people and ideas across the social and academic landscape.

See also: Canada Seminar