A one-day glimpse into the reality of running Canada’s private and public institutions

The Socrates Project and the Wilson Leadership Scholar Award are hosting a one-day event for students seeking insights into how Canadian leaders in their field solve complex problems. “Designing Canada” will take place on Saturday, January 18, 2020, and applications to attend are due by October 31, 2019.

President David Farrar points out that this event fits with McMaster’s guiding principles, particularly the event’s multi-disciplinary approach. 

“McMaster students are often eager to contextualize their discipline-specific knowledge, and to understand different ways of approaching an issue. Designing Canada will give students the opportunity to explore the ways in which some exceptional people tackle challenges and the tools they use to do so.”

The event is participatory. Most of the day will involve “light” case studies, which assume no prior knowledge of the issues being discussed, and which will give students the chance to start working through the problem-solving process. 

“Participants will be exposed to issues they might not have been aware of before, see different models of leadership, get new career ideas, and meet with like-minded students,” says Rina Fraticelli, director of the Socrates Project. 

Liz Koblyk, associate director of the Wilson Leadership Scholar Award adds, “We hope to give students a sense of how they might best apply their learning for the benefit of society. We’re not looking for applicants who are already experts, or who have any one particular view of what it means to serve their community. We’re looking for students who want to learn from those who’ve gone before them, and who are willing to share ideas in conversation with their colleagues.”

The event’s pilot partners include the Living Learning Communities, Arts and Science, Political Science, the School of Interdisciplinary Science, and Engineering. Additional seats are open to McMaster students from all programs, and a limited number of seats are available to students from outside McMaster.

More information is available at https://wilsonleader.ca/events/, including information on how to apply for open seats.