McMaster students meet to design Canada’s future

What does Canada need to get right in the next 10 years? Close to 100 McMaster students braved last Saturday’s snowstorm to spend a day focusing on that question.

“Designing Canada,” a master class held at Wilson Hall on McMaster’s main campus, brought students from across all six Faculties and the Arts & Science Program for a day of discussion, debate and dialogue.

Nine speakers — Canadian leaders from government, education, technology, business, health care and journalism — led seven sessions on topics that ranged from Canada’s role on the global stage to technology’s impact on democracy to the longstanding water issues in our Indigenous communities.

The event was a collaboration between the Socrates Project and the Wilson Leadership Scholar Award. Both programs were created through generous support from Lynton (“Red”) Wilson, chancellor emeritus of McMaster University.

David Farrar, McMaster’s president and vice-chancellor, provided opening remarks: “Through events like this, Dr. Wilson is creating opportunities for McMaster students and our broader community to think about what our world needs — now and in the future — and how to approach our common challenges with context and complexity in mind.”

“I’ve seen a real hunger for substance in my time with the Socrates Project,” says Rina Fraticelli, who joined McMaster in April 2018 as the project’s director. She has since overseen dozens of lectures, events and programs that celebrate interdisciplinary exploration, creative expression, and public engagement with the pressing issues of our time.

“There’s a real sense of possibility with students today,” adds Fraticelli, who compares them to those who came of age in the 60s and 70s. “I believe this generation will rise to the occasion.”

“Designing Canada” was open to all McMaster students by application. One hundred applicants, from undergraduate to PhD students, were accepted.

“We looked for students who are eager to learn from those who have gone before them and interested in sharing ideas with colleagues across different disciplines,” says Liz Koblyk, associate director of the Wilson Leadership Scholar Award.

Carol Markos is one of this year’s six Wilson Leaders “Days like today make me think that the problems we face require experts from all fields,” says Markos, now in her fourth year of Indigenous studies and political science. “And the approach to these problems requires people who are willing to look at every perspective.”

Yajur Iyengar, a fourth-year Integrated Science (iSci) student, also emphasizes the importance of multiple perspectives. “This event is something I’ve been wanting to participate in, where you can have discussions in a very open environment and ask the hard questions.”

His take-away from the day? “To have a productive discussion, you have to be open to diametrically opposed opinions.”

“Designing Canada” speakers: Janet L. Ecker, Vinyas Harish, Aaron Hobbs, Zayna Khayat, Dave Levac, Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, Barrie McKenna, Hugh Segal, and Clifton van der Linden.

“Designing Canada” partners: The School of Interdisciplinary Science, the Arts & Science Program, the Faculty of Engineering, Living Learning Communities, and the Department of Political Science.

The Socrates Project is two-year pilot program offering public lectures, workshops and cultural events that cross academic disciplines and connect McMaster with the wider community.

The Wilson Leadership Scholar Award is an intensive experiential program that prepares both undergraduate and graduate students to serve as Canada’s next generation of leaders.