Both in the classroom and in the community, Brielle Kaminsky (BA \u201921) and Carolyn Fast (BA \u201914, MA \u201921) are determined to have an impact.<\/p>\n
The Brock graduates were recently honoured for their work on and off campus, each receiving the Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock medal for the Faculty of Humanities during the University\u2019s Virtual Spring Convocation<\/a> on Friday, June 18.<\/p>\n For Fast, her work and research has always focused on people.<\/p>\n The Master of Arts (MA) in History graduate brought her passion working for people with disabilities to her graduate research, looking at humanness within the context of the deinstitutionalization movement in Ontario. Her research centres on the stories of people who experienced institutionalization and explores the continuing impact of this lesser-known aspect of Ontario history.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted to look at the deinstitutionalization process,\u201d says Fast. \u201cI wanted to focus on personhood and I wanted the autonomy of people to shine through every page.\u201d<\/p>\n Between 1876 and 2009, more than 50,000 people with intellectual disabilities were housed in institutions across Ontario. Fast saw the impact of institutionalization and the ideologies behind it in her work in the disability sector.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw good friends having to constantly push back and prove their capacity and thought, this is just wrong,\u201d she says. \u201cI really wanted to unpack the ideology behind why we segregate, isolate and institutionalize people who are different.\u201d<\/p>\n The MA topic was a natural fit for Fast, who has worked in the disability sector with organizations such as People First Ontario, Partners for Planning and Community Living. In March 2019, she launched her own business<\/a>, working directly with individuals to help set goals and make plans, while also consulting for various organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cHer dedication to her community, her vision of humanity, of what it means and what it obliges us to do for one another, has quite simply changed the way that I think about the world,\u201d says Associate Professor Renee Salhany, who supervised Fast\u2019s thesis, \u201cThe Un-making of Difference.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe is the embodiment of integrity, honour, grace \u2014 and good humour in the face of struggle and adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n While her thesis focused on interviews with survivors, Fast also examined changes in policy. She plans to continue her research through her work.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonhood and identity have always been important to me, so I will continue to explore it in other ways and continue to research and understand institutionalization and how it plays out in my work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Kaminsky, a Music graduate, also spent her time at Brock actively involved in making a difference in the University and wider community.<\/p>\n Kaminsky was a leader within the Brock University Students\u2019 Union as the Faculty of Humanities representative on the Brock University Students\u2019 Administrative Council for the past four years.<\/p>\n Last year, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee for the Dean of Humanities as the undergraduate student representative. She also supported Humanities students serving as the Music Department student representative at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.<\/p>\n Other leadership experiences included President of the Brock Golden Key Chapter<\/a>, serving on the International Council of Student Leaders with Golden Key International Honour Society. Over her four years with Brock Leaders Citizenship Society<\/a>, she held various executive roles, such as vice-president, public relations officer, peer mentor and the lead organizer for the \u2018Play for Memories\u2019 Ball Hockey Tournament, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer\u2019s Society.<\/p>\n \u201cGolden Key and BLCS have reminded me of the value of collaboration between leaders in making a positive change,\u201d Kaminsky said.<\/p>\n She is a founder and leader of the Days for Girls Brock Chapter, a social justice volunteer program where students help make feminine hygiene kits to donate to women and girls in developing countries. She has gone on to be involved in the organization at the national level and on global advocacy panels with Days for Girls International.<\/p>\n Kaminsky has served as the President of the Brock French Club and led the annual French Canada Trip that tours Quebec and Ottawa during Reading Week. She has been with the Brock Catholic Student Association as the music minister and served as president. She currently leads Catholic Christian Outreach faith studies on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cI have found that faith can be a strong force and has a huge impact on university life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Kaminsky will be returning to Brock in the fall to complete the Teacher Education program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both in the classroom and in the community, Brielle Kaminsky (BA \u201921) and Carolyn Fast (BA \u201914, MA \u201921) are determined to have an impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":72895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,3319,188,55,37,1,4],"tags":[10479,159,10478,156,75,30,4624,2518,4740,35,1759,10451],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72894"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72945,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72894\/revisions\/72945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}