Media releases

• Red dress display, event to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

  Monday, February 12, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: February 12 2024 – R0018

  Empty red dresses hung throughout Brock University, paired with a day of learning on campus, will honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people this week.

  Organized by Brock’s Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, the Hadiya’dagénhahs First Nations, Métis and Inuit Student Centre and Niagara College, the initiative will see dresses hung at the University’s main campus and its Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, as well as at Niagara College, from Monday, Feb. 12 to Friday, Feb. 16.

  The display is part of the REDress Project, an initiative that began as an art installation by Métis artist Jaime Black at the University of Winnipeg in 2011 to signify the loss of thousands of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGTBQQIA) people to colonial violence.

  Hadiyaˀdagénhahs Director Cindy Biancaniello said seeing the display at Brock each year is a powerful experience.

  “We know that the spirits of these people fill the dresses, and our hearts go out to the families who have never found their relatives,” she said.

  A related in-person event will be held at Brock’s Pond Inlet on Wednesday, Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gathering will include songs, a panel discussion, a catered lunch, a jingle dress dance, participatory workshops and further exploration of the day’s significance throughout the afternoon.

  Robyn Bourgeois, Brock’s Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, will lead a workshop that will use faceless dolls to raise awareness of those who are missing or have been murdered.

  Bourgeois said the violence is not confined to the past.

  “It continues to be important to do this work because Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people continue to be murdered or disappear,” she said.

  Bourgeois said she hopes the proceedings will inspire people to take further action.

  “While awareness is an essential starting point, action is necessary to create change,” she said. “Coming out to REDress is a great way for folx to learn about what they can do to support this movement.”

  Additional information and registration details for the Wednesday, Feb. 14 event can be found on the REDress Day 2024 ExperienceBU page.

  Media are invited to attend all portions of the event on Wednesday, Feb. 14, however, the panel discussion may not be filmed.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Eyes to the sky: Safety key to viewing rare solar eclipse, says Brock expert

  Friday, February 09, 2024 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: February 9 2024 – R0017

  Although the total solar eclipse isn’t set to take place in Niagara for nearly two months, Brock University Assistant Professor of Physics Barak Shoshany is encouraging people to begin preparing now for the astronomical phenomenon.

  On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will take place over southern Ontario, with the moon passing between the Earth and the sun, obscuring the sun completely for a short period of time.

  Shoshany, a member of the Ontario Eclipse Task Force, says the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to witness the celestial spectacle is expected to bring an influx of visitors to the region.

  “It’s a very rare thing to see,” he says. “Usually, people have to travel to the other side of the planet if they want to see a total solar eclipse.”

  The theoretical physicist, who studies general relativity and teaches physics and astronomy at Brock, says that while a total solar eclipse takes place roughly every 18 months, it rarely happens close to Niagara. The last total solar eclipse occurred over Ontario in 1979, and the next one won’t happen again over the province until 2099.

  A total solar eclipse happens in areas of the planet within the “path of totality,” or the path of the moon’s umbra, which is the innermost and darkest part of the moon’s shadow. The Niagara region is within this path.

  St. Catharines will experience a total solar eclipse from 3:18 p.m. to 3:21 p.m. on April 8. The maximum eclipse, when the moon is closest to the centre of the sun, will take place at 3:19 p.m.

  Shoshany says people should prepare now to watch the eclipse safely by purchasing certified eclipse glasses through a verified distributor or plan to project the image of the eclipse on a white piece of paper using a pinhole projector.

  “Using these methods, it should be 100 per cent safe to watch the entire eclipse,” he says. “During the precious few minutes of totality itself, when the moon completely covers the sun, it is safe to watch the eclipse directly, but care must be taken to return to safe viewing methods as soon as totality ends.”

  Looking directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage. During the solar eclipse, the sun will be much less bright than usual, but still just as dangerous. Looking at the sun through sunglasses, binoculars, telescopes or optical camera viewfinders is also dangerous, unless they are covered with professional solar filters.

  The best way to view the eclipse is to attend an official eclipse event led by experts, such as the one that will take place at Brock University, Shoshany says.

  Visitors to Brock’s solar eclipse event — details of which will be announced soon — will receive free certified glasses to view the eclipse safely, with experienced faculty and staff also on site to discuss the phenomenon. Several educational sessions will also be held that day on related topics in biology, chemistry, computer science, physics and more.

  Brock University Assistant Professor of Physics Barak Shoshany is available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases