Writers Lawrence Hill and Doug Saunders Discuss Migration at Humanities for Young People Symposium

HUMANITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (HYP) focused on migration this year and featured acclaimed Book of Negroes author Lawrence Hill and Globe and Mail columnist and author Doug Sanders as its guest speakers.

HYP is a week-long live-in summer program at King’s for students 15- to 17-yearsold that gives them a taste of university life.

“It encourages their interests in literature, philosophy, history, politics and art,” explains Dr. Laura Penny, HYP co-director. “This year, students grappled with: What does it mean to leave home—and to belong? How can we help newcomers preserve aspects of their cultures of origin? What do we do when these cultural claims clash? How does one become ‘Canadian’?”

Participants read texts ranging from ancient tragedy to contemporary Canadian philosophy, and literature about migration and multiculturalism. They also participated in workshops with local experts on topics ranging from Canada’s immigration and refugee laws, to the challenges of resettlement, to immigrant food cultures.

“The young people who come to King’s for HYP never fail to impress us with their curiosity, imagination and desire for social change,” says King’s President William Lahey. “HYP encourages them to think creatively and collaboratively, to engage with perspectives other than their own and to apply these perspectives to a pressing political problem.”

A HYP student asks Lawrence Hill and Doug Saunders a question at the public symposium that concluded the 2018 Summer program.

HYP 2018 culminated in a public symposium on migration at Halifax’s Central Library on July 14, where Hill discussed his latest novel, The Illegal, which won Canada Reads in 2016.Saunders discussed his latest book, Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians are Not Enough.

HYP gratefully acknowledges the financial support of alumni, friends, Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Province of Nova Scotia’s Office of Immigration.

HYP 2019

The theme for HYP 2019 will be Thinking through Fear.

“Taking our cue from such luminaries as Bob Woodward and Martha Nussbaum, both of whom have written books this year on fear, we will examine fear from many angles: fear-mongering and/or ‘othering,’ the aesthetics of fear, the effects of over-vigilance and PTSD, the political use and abuse of fear, and the responsibilities of the journalist,” explains HYP co-director Dr. Sarah Clift.

If you know of a young person for whom HYP would be a good fit, please direct them to http://hyp.ukings.ca for more details.