Dr. Agnes Calliste African Heritage Lecture

The Dr. Agnes Calliste African Heritage Lecture is organized by the StFX Department of Sociology in honour of the late Dr. Agnes Calliste, who passed away in 2018.

Teaching at StFX for nearly 30 years, Dr. Calliste’s scholarship focused on the complex interaction of work, race, ethnicity, and gender in Canada. Her ground-breaking research with African-Canadian railway porters and Caribbean-Canadian nurses explored previously unexamined dimensions of our social history. Dr. Calliste studied not only the institutionalized oppression of such communities, but also their organized resistance. 

2024 Lecture

"Social Justice, Injustice and STEM: Connecting these ideas for better health outcomes and increased participation" by Dr. Kevin Hewitt

Numerous studies have found that those underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are motivated by service to community, that they are pushed out when there is not a strong connection between STEM and society and are disenchanted by the lack of opportunities to pursue work related to social justice and activism in their STEM environments. Until we make the connection between STEM and the goals that drive their interests, we will continue to see few underrepresented students enter and remain in the field. 

In this talk Kevin will describe how he has tackled topics that impact underrepresented communities, co-created organizations to diversify the next generation of scientists, brought science to public venues to raise awareness and describe how a physicist can contribute to this interdisciplinary project in aid of improved health outcomes for African Canadian women.

Dr. Kevin Hewitt is an NSERC Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering (Atlantic), Professor in the Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, and Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion in the Faculty of Science at Dalhousie University.

Lecture Recording