Youth violence is the topic of a seminar scheduled for March 23 hosted by students in the Concurrent Education Program, Faculty of Education, and members of Upfront Theatre Foundation. The seminar is part of the Faculty’s Community Experiential Education Program.
The day-long program, titled Cycle of Violence, being held in room 140 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies building, features a film screening, audio-visual presentations by teacher candidates from York’s Faculty of Education, and talks and workshops by community and academic professionals. Livy Visano, professor of sociology with the School of Social Science, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, will be the keynote speaker for the session that starts at 10am.
Other presenters include Jamal Clarke of Friends in Trouble, Arnold Minor from the Community Safety Secretariat, David Mitchell of the Association of Black Law Enforcers and Dudley Laws from the Black Action Defence Committee. Also speaking are Kemba Byam from the York Women’s Centre, Sgt. Bill Russell from the Toronto Police CPS Youth Services, Rino Iannone from Parents Against Violence Everywhere and Pastor Don Meredith of the Black Community Policing Consultative Committee.
At noon, there will be a Lunch & Learn session featuring video presentations and a screening of Youth Against Violence, speaker Bob Hill of Toronto Artists for a Better World and a performance of “Defending the Turf”, a skit on gangs.
There will be two workshops, one on Youth Violence and the other on Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault, from 1 to 3pm. The day concludes with a summary and meeting of the presenters at 3pm followed by the presentation of recommendations at 4pm. Those who attend will be invited to evaluate the day’s proceedings using questionnaires developed by the teacher candidates.
The Cycle of Violence seminar is sponsored by Canadian Heritage in association with the York March 8-21 Coalition, York University Faculty Association, School of Women’s Studies at York, Pepsi Fund, and York’s Centre for Student Community and Leadership Development and will be promoted by York’s Media Relations.
The film documentary by Youth Against Violence was produced through the Cycle of Violence project and funded by the National Crime Prevention Centre, the Elementary Teachers Association, the Canadian Auto Workers union, Western Union and the Grace Kennedy importers.
This focus group event is free, however, due to limited space and catering needs, please register in advance. For more information and to register, visit the Masani Productions Web site. You can also contact Masani Montague at 416-636-0348 or by e-mail at upfront@eglintonavenuewest.com.