McMaster’s Rina Fraticelli is being honoured with a Governor General’s award.

The director of McMaster’s Socrates Project is one of this year’s recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Person’s Case.

Maryam Monself, the Minister of the Status of Women, announced the awards this week in Ottawa.

Fraticelli has devoted her career to addressing gender inequity issues, particularly in Canada’s arts and cultural industries.

The Persons Case is a pivotal moment in Canadian history. On October 18 , 1929 Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Nellie McClung won the right to be legally recognized as “persons” under the law and thereby be appointed to the Senate.

The Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case were created in 1979 to mark the 50th anniversary of the ground-breaking case.

Since the 70s, Fraticelli has worked to strengthen opportunities for women in the fields of theatre, literature, media and public life. She authored a highly influential report on the status of women in Canadian theatre.

She has a diverse background in artistic creation, research and policy-making, and community development. She is currently the founder and executive director of the not-for-profit research and advocacy group, Women in View where she has been leading an unprecedented national strategy to encourage greater gender and racial inclusion in Canadian media. She is also a filmmaker and received a Genie Award for best documentary for Fiction and Other Truths: A Film about Jane Rule.

The Socrates Project is a two-year campus-wide pilot project that strengthens McMaster’s longstanding commitment to the liberal arts. It is made possible by a $2 million investment from Chancellor Emeritus Lynton “Red” Wilson.

Upcoming Socrates events include:

• Biidaaban: First Light VR
  • Award-winning media creator, Lisa Jackson’s immersive virtual reality installation presents a future Toronto reclaimed by nature
• Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
  • Film screening of documentary ANTHROPOCENE, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholar de Pencier, moderated by Aisha Jamal, Canadian Film Programmer
• Trump Talks II: The Collapse of the American Empire
  • Exploring political climate in the U.S. and its impact for Canada
• The Mush Hole
  • Conceived and directed by award-winning Siz Nations artist, Santee Smith, this Indigenous-led production explores and honours the lives and resilience of Mohawk Residential School survivors
• In Conversation with: Cindy Blackstock
  • Dr. Cindy Blackstock will share her experiences and reflections as Canada’s foremost advocate for First Nations children