Acts of Kindness and Complicity

In this talk, distinguished oral historian Dr. Pamela Sugiman confronts the complexity and messiness of human relationships. She reveals a troubling silence: not the silence of Japanese Canadians, but rather of their friends, neighbours, classmates, teachers, co-workers, employers and religious leaders. Based on her interviews with these bystanders and witnesses, she explains who they are and how they remember the ugliness of Canada's past, how they shared their memories with their children and grandchildren, and how their stories have changed her own understanding of Canadian history, memory and racism. 

About the speaker: 

Dr. Pamela Sugiman is a professor and Dean of Arts in the Department of Sociology at Ryerson University. She joined Ryerson in 2006 after holding a tenure-stream position for 15 years at McMaster University. In the course of her career, Dean Sugiman has built a reputation for creativity, collegiality, transparency and vision. She has had a long-standing commitment to issues of social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. These values are rooted in her personal history and have profoundly shaped her scholarly pursuits.