Jack Matthews Fellowship Lecture – 2019

Lands of Lost Borders: The Meaning of Exploration in a Modern, Mapped World

October 29th, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Doors open at 7:30pm. Admission is free or by donation.
Light refreshments will be served.
910 Monaghan Road

Our 2019 Jack Matthews Fellow is the author and adventurer Kate Harris, whose first book, Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road, is a national bestseller and multiple award-winner (including the prestigious 2019 RBC Taylor Prize). 

Named by Canadian Geographic one of the country’s top modern-day explorers for journeys edging the limits of nations and prudence, Harris will share the story of her first book Lands of Lost Borders. Weaving adventure and deep reflection with the history of science and exploration, this national best-seller explores the nature of limits and the wildness of a world that, like the self and like the stars, can never be fully mapped.

Our Curator, Executive Director, and Director of External Relations had the opportunity to meet and hear Kate Harris speak at the Wilderness Canoe Symposium last fall, and they knew immediately that they wanted to welcome her to the museum to share her riveting story with our community! For more on Kate Harris, her book and her journeys, visit kateharris.ca

About:

The Jack Matthews Fellowship is named in honour of the founding Director of the Trent International Program, who also founded Pearson United World College in British Columbia, the Canadian Canoe Museum, and was a Headmaster of Lakefield College School. Each year, a fellow is chosen who embodies the value of those institutions, and the legendary spirit of Canadian global citizenship that was Jack Matthews’ vision.

Lakefield College School      Trent University

Past Fellows

2018 – Bill Buxton

Bill Buxton, Microsoft Principal Researcher, avid canoeist and internationally-renowned innovator, shares how he has come via the high-tech industry to be telling tales at the Canoe Museum. From his early days as a musician, through a ground-breaking career that includes 29 patents and countless accolades, canoes have been a core passion and a source of design inspiration. This year’s Matthews Fellow talk titled ‘Watap Holds More Than Canoes Together: An Ongoing Journey of Connection, Conversation and Creative Design’ explored the riveting story of Buxton’s 2010 canoe trip to Northern Saskatchewan and the surprising conversations, connections and discoveries of travel by birch bark canoe.  

2017 – Aaju Peter

Aaju Peter is an Inuit lawyer, sealskin clothes designer, and the subject of the documentary film Angry Inuk. She is an ardent defender of the rights of Canada’s northern Indigenous people and committed to preserving Inuit culture and language. Aaju has raised global awareness of the challenges confronting Canada’s most northern inhabitants, speaking about issues related to sustainability and resources, and their impact on the traditional way of life. In 2012, she received the Order of Canada.  To read more click here.

2016 – Dalal Al Waheidi

Dallas Al Waheidi discussed “What it means to be a global citizen?” in the context of Jack Matthews’ leadership. Including the “why” behind global citizenship and its significance especially in the current political climate. To read more click here.

2015 – Wab Kinew

Wab Kinew is a one-of-a-kind talent, named by PostMedia News as one of “9 Aboriginal movers and shakers you should know”. Wab is currently hosting the 2015 CBC Canada Reads literary competition and in the 2014 Canada Reads, Wab successfully defended Joseph Boyden’s “The Orenda”. He is Associate Vice-President for Indigenous Relations at The University of Winnipeg and a correspondent for Aljazeera America. His hip-hop music and journalism projects have won numerous awards. Wab is also an Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.  To Read More Click Here

2014 – Shelagh Rogers

The talk featured three of Shelagh’s favourite things: writers, writing and the North. The conversation led in to a screening of her recent documentary Northwords, which features her experience of travelling to Torngat Mountain National Park in northern Labrador with five Canadian writers (one of them being Canoe Museum Ambassador, Joseph Boyden!).  To Read More Click Here

2012 – Joseph Boyden 

The fellowship week will focus on Mr. Boyden’s thoughts in a talk he’ll present entitled, “A Walk to Morning”. In this deeply personal talk on an at times difficult subject, Boyden will address the issues faced by aboriginal youth in rural and urban environments, and our societal implications in those challenges. While best known for his fictional writings, his essays have also won acclaim.  For More Information Click Here

2011 – Nicholas Dickner 

Canadian author Nicholas Dickner was chosen as the Jack Matthews Fellow because his writing represents some of the values Jack Matthews held dear, according to Dr. Michael Allcott of Trent University. “Jack had a vision of Canada as a land of global citizens who are deeply connected to the land. His spirit of adventure and belief in the value of learning continues to inform the institutions he helped to establish in our region”.

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