With the significant reduction in alumni funding, organizers of McMaster’s annual Light Up the Night event explore alternative funding options
The McMaster Students Union is working to secure additional funding for the end-of-year festival Light Up the Night after a significant reduction in financial contributions from McMaster's Alumni Association.
The event is the MSU's annual year-end celebration, featuring live music and entertainment. MSU president Jovan Popovic spoke to The Silhouette about the event and this year's reduction in funding, stating that the event has grown substantially over the last eight years, with over 11,000 attendees last year.
Traditionally a partnership between the MSU and the Alumni Association, the event has relied on external funding to accommodate its increasing scale. This year, Popovic says the MSU was informed that alumni contributions would be reduced by one-third from the usual.
According to Popovic, the Alumni Association had initially withdrawn nearly all funding early in the winter term. But, following discussions, they have since decided to continue funding the event—though not to the same extent as before. While the Alumni Association remains an important financial partner, the reduction in support has made it necessary for the MSU to seek additional revenue sources.
Hence, the MSU is pursuing alternative funding strategies, including increasing sponsorship revenue and securing support from sources such as the Office of the President and Facility Services.
Despite initial concerns about scaling back the event, Popovic expressed confidence that Light Up the Night will match last year's in terms of scale.
"At this point in time, I have full confidence that the event will be able to continue as it did before; we fully escaped crisis mode," said Popovic.
At this point in time, I have full confidence that the event will be able to continue as it did before; we fully escaped crisis mode.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
Popovic said the MSU has learned from this experience and will prioritize diversifying funding sources to avoid reliance on single donors. While optimistic about this year’s event, he admitted that funding uncertainties create risks that future MSU leaders will inherit.
Popovic also commented on the Homecoming and Large Events Referendum held earlier during this year's MSU presidential election, which proposed adding $20.00 to the MSU operating fee to secure long-term funding for major student events. The referendum ultimately did not pass, meaning events like Homecoming and Light Up the Night will have to rely more on alternative funding sources.
“Seeing 40 per cent having voted in favour, I think it was a fairly close referenda that told me the students largely support the mandate, but that the fee was maybe just a little bit high . . . Perhaps if we do end up creating a partnership with university partners where perhaps they increase the contribution and that fee comes down, maybe there's a path forward in which the concept can be reintroduced at a lower cost to students and I would hope that we could potentially garner support there," said Popovic.
Seeing 40 per cent having voted in favour, I think it was a fairly close referenda that told me the students largely support the mandate, but that the fee was maybe just a little bit high.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
Despite the challenges, the MSU remains committed to making this year’s Light Up the Night a success. Popovic emphasized his excitement for another year of the event, calling it a staple of campus life and a key part of the student experience. This year's Light Up the Night will be held on Apr. 8, 2025, starting at 6 p.m.
Red Packet Popups celebrated the richness of Lunar New Year traditions and local culture
Hamilton recently saw its first-ever Lunar New Year market, a public event that invited the entire community to celebrate the holiday. Organized by Red Packet Popups, a Hamilton-based pop-up event company, in partnership with the Hamilton Chinese Association, the event provided a space for cultural engagement and connection.
The event took place from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2025, at Hamilton Artists Inc., a central and accessible venue located in the heart of downtown Hamilton. The programming was designed to welcome both those who celebrate the Lunar New Year as well as those interested in the traditions surrounding it.
The market featured a variety of activities, including a lion dance performance, a calligraphy demonstration by Andrew Ha, and a dumpling-making session led by Joyce of Cooking, who hosts cooking classes for all ages all throughout Hamilton. Malaysian-Canadian musician Eunice Keitan also performed in both Cantonese and English, drawing a crowd to experience the fusion of neo-soul and world-folk genres.
Red Packet Popups is a relatively new initiative that was created in the fall of 2024. "My mission is to organize pop up events around Hamilton, focusing on community engagement and cultural celebrations," shared Jaycee Tu, the founder of Red Packet Popups.
Tu explained that the name "Red Packet" is inspired by the Lunar New Year tradition of giving red envelopes, which symbolize luck, prosperity and goodwill. She views each event as a symbolic red packet—a gift of shared joy and connection to the community.
Tu, who moved to Hamilton from Toronto several years ago, noted that she was surprised by the lack of Lunar New Year events in the city. “It’s my family’s biggest holiday of the year, so I was looking for places to celebrate. I was seeing celebrations in Oakville and Burlington but not in Hamilton,” said Tu.
It’s my family’s biggest holiday of the year, so I was looking for places to celebrate. I was seeing celebrations in Oakville and Burlington but not in Hamilton.
Jaycee Tu, Founder
Red Packet Popups
After waiting to see if an event would emerge, Tu decided to take initiative herself. Tu noted how having a child of her own instilled a sense of urgency and motivated her to start a new tradition. "Having a kid made me think about things in different way. I want to be able to raise my child in a city that celebrates her culture," said Tu.
The planning process was not without challenges. As a new organization, Red Packet Popups had to work hard to spread the word. “We had to do some very targeted, face-to-face outreach,” said Tu, explaining that their team compiled a list of Asian-run businesses and artists to invite to the event.
Additionally, the market was organized with no external funding. Despite these hurdles, Tu and her team were able to bring together a strong selection of vendors and performers.
More than 630 people attended the event throughout the day, a turnout that Tu described as both surprising and affirming. "We were expecting a much larger drop in numbers, but people showed up. The community showed up. Maybe we shouldn't have been shocked, but we were floored and so happy," said Tu.
We were expecting a much larger drop off, but people showed up. The community showed up. Maybe we shouldn't have been shocked, but we were floored and so happy.
Jaycee Tu, Founder
Red Packet Popups
While the event prioritized Asian-run businesses, Tu emphasized the importance of balancing cultural authenticity while making the celebration open to the wider Hamilton community. Ensuring accessibility and inclusivity was also a priority for the organizers. “We made it free because we didn’t want there to be any barriers,” said Tu.
We made it free because we didn’t want there to be any barriers,
Jaycee Tu, Founder
Red Packet Popups
Reflecting on the event’s success, Tu noted that it reinforced a sense of belonging in Hamilton. “After Sunday’s turnout, it’s clear to me that the city does embrace and celebrate our culture,” she said. “It just affirmed that Hamilton is home for me now.”
With such a strong response from the community, Red Packet Popups and the Hamilton Chinese Association plan to continue the Lunar New Year market as an annual tradition, growing it further in the years to come. The Hamilton Chinese Association regularly holds events, including an upcoming Chinese paper cutting workshop. Updates on future events from Red Packet Popups can be found on their social media.
The MSU makes Bounce Life its centralized management platform for campus events and club activities
The McMaster Students Union has teamed up with Bounce Life to streamline event management and boost student engagement on campus. Announced on Instagram on July 29, Bounce will be the official community and events platform for the MSU and its affiliated organizations and student clubs.
The platform will serve as centralized hub, simplifying event planning for campus services and student clubs.
In an interview with The Silhouette, MSU president Jovan Popovic detailed the platform's benefits and its prospective impact on students.
“It’s about transparency … showing people everything that’s going on, connecting people, showing you which of your friends are going to certain events. There’s a lot of nifty features where I think people can see the best of what’s happening on campus … and connect them better than any other platform that we currently have,” Popovic said.
It’s about transparency … showing people everything that’s going on, connecting people, showing you which of your friends are going to certain events. There’s a lot of nifty features where I think people can see the best of what’s happening on campus … and connect them better than any other platform that we currently have.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
Bounce, accessible via a mobile app, offers robust event management tools and features to make make event organizing streamlined and to increase engagement. Most important to the MSU, its services and student clubs is that users can host and manage event listings, track attendance, communicate with participants, and offer real-time updates during events.
One key feature is that it handles ticketing and paid events. Before, student clubs would have to choose their own service, such as Eventbrite, to sell tickets and collect fares.
Other notable features include an invite back option for re-inviting previous attendees and free SMS blasts for event-day communication.
Popovic explained that other universities, including the University of British Columbia and Western University, have already chosen Bounce as their event management system for student organizations.
"It’s a relatively newer product, but it’s being rapidly adopted. UBC and Western have integrated it, and many larger student unions across the country are taking a serious look at it. We all share the same vision of unity, connection, and belonging,” said Popovic.
It’s a relatively newer product, but it’s being rapidly adopted. UBC and Western have integrated it, and many larger student unions across the country are taking a serious look at it. We all share the same vision of unity, connection, and belonging.
Jovan Popovic, President
McMaster Students Union
The rollout of Bounce is ongoing and the first MSU events of the school year are now listed on the platform. Tickets for the upcoming homecoming concert with Loud Luxury and Lil Tecca became available on Bounce on August 30.
Popovic mentioned that him and his team promoted the app during welcome week, offering incentives such as free items to encourage sign-ups. “Now it’s about seeing how students experience it and letting them use it. We’re at the stage where we can start communicating with them through the app and posting our events,” said Popovic.
Popovic noted that with the usage of Bounce, he hopes to see more event attendance and engagement. "We've seen a significant boost in the number and quality of events on campus and I think a lot of that will be reflected on Bounce. Bounce will help us raise awareness. Once students attend our events, it's easier to keep them coming back," he said.
Students can access Bounce by downloading the app and signing up with their university email. For updates on campus events, follow the MSU and @bouncelifemac on Instagram.
Various Asian cultural clubs came together to bring the Collab Formal back for its eighth year anniversary
The McMaster Collab Formal took place at the Grand Olympia on Mar. 8 from 6:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. The formal was a collaboration between McMaster Asian Federation of Charitable University Students , McMaster Chinese Students Association, Filipino McMaster Student Association and McMaster Vietnamese Students’ Association.
Their giveaway was sponsored by Sushi on Fennel, Swing Zone Golf, Allure Fitness, Hawk & Sparrow, Diced Ice, Shijia Fitness, Chung Chun, WingsUp! and Westdale Cupcakes. Their food sponsors for their snack bar were Diced Ice, Westdale Cupcakes and Tea Hut. The McMaster Alumni Association and Matamak were also sponsors of the formal
They were previously known as the Asian Formal, but they rebranded themselves as the Collab Formal to be more inclusive. They wanted to use the formal as an opportunity to showcase all the different cultures that their clubs represent in addition to everyone else's cultures at McMaster. Not only was the formal open to current McMaster students, but alumni and other non-McMaster students were welcome as well.
The theme of the formal this year was Moonlight Soirée. During the interview, Visali Manimaran, the Committee Head of the Collab Formal stated that the moon is an important symbol in most of the cultures represented by the formal, and the formal planners wanted the theme to something that unites them all. This year, the formal featured seven performances from students to showcase their cultures.
The formal committee hopes that the Collab Formal brought people together again, especially after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We're hoping to further community engagement by fostering an environment where people can eat together. . .We strive to keep increasing the amount of cultures that we have at our events and the diversity overall, on campus,” said Jordan So, the Finance Head of the Collab formal and VP Finance at AF.
We're hoping to further community engagement by fostering an environment where people can eat together. . .We strive to keep increasing the amount of cultures that we have at our events and the diversity overall, on campus.
Jordan So, the Finance Head of the Collab formal and VP Finance at AF
This year, the formal planners particularly wanted to emphasize the importance of community, letting students know that they can always be there for each other.
“Just because we're [on] separate teams doesn't mean that we're separate. We can always come together, collaborate, grow together and emphasize the community aspect. I think that's the biggest thing that we want to do, because we're just doing this for the community,” Visali Manimaran, the Committee Head of the Collab Formal and the Co-President of MVSA.
Just because we're [on] separate teams doesn't mean that we're separate. We can always come together, collaborate, grow together and emphasize the community aspect. I think that's the biggest thing that we want to do, because we're just doing this for the community.
Visali Manimaran, the Committee Head of the Collab Formal and the Co-President of MVSA
Once again, the Collab Formal continues to showcase the Asian community at McMaster while emphasizing the importance of diverse student communities supporting each other and celebrating diversity.
Check out these events to take explore Hamilton before midterm season hits
Before the semester starts getting busy, take a break and stop by these events to explore and learn more about Hamilton!
The Mini Zine Making Workshop is a free event that will be taking place on Jan. 23, 2024 from 12-1 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art. The event is part of Thrive Week, a week when the McMaster community comes together as a community to talk about mental health. Mini zines are self-published mini magazines that tend to display images and/or texts that are collectible. The workshop will cover how to make these zines and have participants make it unique to their own art style and practices. The event will also include a tour of the exhibit Chasm at the museum. There is limited space and registration is required.
The Hamilton Winterfest will be held from Feb. 2-19 at the rooftop plaza of Jackson Square. It will host a variety of events such as concerts, crafts, drag, dancing, theatre, fashion and art installations. Performers such as Aoife-Louise Doyle, Wax Mannequin and LT the Monk will hold a live concert there. They will also be hosting their annual Winterfest POP in the heart of downtown, featuring interactive exhibitions that relive the nostalgia of our youth, scratch n’ sniff stickers and video games.
The Hamilton Fashion Week, one of the biggest fashion parties in Canada, will be holding its 10th anniversary at the Music Hall on Feb. 17, 2024. This year, it will present its first Hamilton Runway project: Ethos of Summer, a representation of what summer means to each competitor. It will feature 10 designers, each presenting 10 looks. Some of the local designers that will be featured include Aimee Woods, Kaylee Shallows, Leslie Smith and more. Tickets will need to be purchased in advance.
Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Festival
The Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Festival will be held from Feb. 21-24 at the FirstOntario Centre. It will be hosted by Patrick McKenna and Graham Greene and feature local Hamilton comedy talent. One of the special guests is Hamilton punk rock group Teenage Head, who will be performing their 50th anniversary show. Tickets will need to be purchased in advance.
Have fun checking these out!
As the Hamilton Film Festival returns for its eighteenth year, Executive Director Nathan Fleet reflects on its history
There’s a very fine line to walk when curating a film festival. You want to support local filmmakers and artists, but you also want to include big titles to appeal to the masses. For Hamilton Film Festival’s Executive Director, Nathan Fleet, the best festivals should have room for both.
Currently in its eighteenth year, the Hamilton Film Festival remains on par with some of the best. At HFF, local shorts made by students and stop-motion Lego home movies are given a seat at the same table as award-winning actors and critically acclaimed directors.
As the festival continues to receive rave reviews, Fleet reminisced on how much the festival has grown and the strength of community that made it all possible.
“In our first year, 2004, we didn’t have a way to have movies submitted to us, so I just started asking people and friends saying, “Hey, do you want to show a movie? We’re going to run a film festival in Hamilton,”” explained Fleet.
Through word of mouth, the festival’s reputation grew and began to attract more submissions. And according to Fleet, the festival had filmmakers from Toronto flocking to Hamilton to get their movies screened by 2008.
Fleet believed the festival’s accessibility also helped account for this increase in submissions as well. While bigger festivals at the time would only accept submissions made with actual film, a material that came at a heavy cost for filmmakers, Hamilton willingly accepted DVD and VHS formats.
“Suddenly, it became accessible to indie filmmakers. You didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to convert stuff. Just burn a DVD off your computer and bring it down to the theatre,” said Fleet.
“Suddenly, it became accessible to indie filmmakers. You didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to convert stuff. Just burn a DVD off your computer and bring it down to the theatre,”
Nathan Fleet, Hamilton Film Festival Executive Director
The festival continues to wear its heart for the Hamilton community on its sleeve today, especially for its youth. With the inclusion of emerging filmmaker showcases and local short film galas, the Hamilton Film Festival is dedicated to supporting the next generation of Canadian filmmakers.
Especially considering today’s highly curated digital world, Fleet encourages students to get into the practice of going to festivals to experience something unexpected for once, as the movies are not algorithmically selected for each audience member.
“The movies are not tailored to what you just looked at on YouTube. There is always something fresh and brand new and you have no idea what to expect. I always say, it cleanses the creative palette. You just sit down and trust what you’re going to see for the next 90 minutes,” explained Nathan.
“The movies are not tailored to what you just looked at on YouTube. There is always something fresh and brand new and you have no idea what to expect. I always say, it cleanses the creative palette. You just sit down and trust what you’re going to see for the next 90 minutes,”
Nathan Fleet, Hamilton Film Festival Executive Director
The eighteenth Hamilton Film Festival runs until Oct. 29 and is currently being held at four different venues across Hamilton, including the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, The Westdale, The Playhouse and The Staircase. To purchase tickets or view the full program, visit the Hamilton Film Festival’s official website.
Kick off back to school season with some fun adventures
September is the perfect time to explore Hamilton. The weather is pleasant, school isn’t too busy and there’s lots to do! Here are some events that are coming up in the next few weeks that are not to be missed.
Supercrawl
For art connoisseurs: Hamilton’s annual music and arts festival, Supercrawl, is back this year from Sep. 7 to 9 on James St N. The festival showcases and celebrates the community’s creative work, featuring local and emerging artists as well as established artists. It will also feature artisanal craft, fashion, art installations, literature, live music and theatrical performances.
Country Music Crawl
For country music lovers: the Country Music Crawl hosted by the Canadian Country Music Association is running from Aug. 24 to Sep. 16 at various locations throughout Hamilton, including Gore Park, Collective Arts Brewing, Mills Hardware, Art Gallery of Hamilton and Leander Boat Club. It features new and established artists, including Kyle McKearney, a Métis Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter nominated for four CCMA awards this year.
Hamilton Comic Con
For comic enthusiasts: Hamilton Comic Con will be returning to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Sep. 23-24. This event will feature exhibitors, comic books, movie cars, an arcade, cosplay contests, celebrity autographs, photo-ops and much more. Some of the special attractions that are worth checking out this weekend, include the Mystery Machine and the Supernatural Impala.
Witches Night In
For mystical witches: the Witches Night In hosted by the Creative Market will take place on Sep. 23 at The Scottish Rite. This mystic convention will feature over 40 vendors, swag bags, photo booth, tooth gems, spooky art and tarot readings. There will also be prizes, drinks—including mocktails and butterbeer—piercings and tattoos. This event could be a great way to end off the month, sure to get you in the mood for Halloween.
Enjoy yourself at these events and be sure to let us know your favourite part of them in the comments!
C/O Esra Rakab
The QTCC provides an online space for racialized 2SLGBTQ+ students to gather and build community
McMaster University’s Queer and Trans Colour Club is a place for racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ students to connect and thrive both academically and socially at McMaster. Even while clubs remained online for the fall semester of 2021, the QTCC found avenues for students to connect. Their online workshops and their educational Instagram posts shared tips for mindfulness and how to deal with living at home during online school and the holidays.
In the fall, the QTCC held a variety of online events to encourage students to connect with one another, including a midterm destress session and their most recent workshop, A Very Queer Study Session, in which students studied together over Zoom using the Pomodoro method. The workshop also provided space to discuss mindfulness techniques and how to manage stress at home during the holidays as a 2SLGBTQIA+ student.
The workshop also provided space to discuss mindfulness techniques and how to manage stress at home during the holidays as a 2SLGBTQIA+ student.
The President of QTCC, Emma Zhang, who helped run the workshop, shared her experience at the study session and some of the tips they gave for the holiday season.
“We leave a reminder: it’s important for us to support each other in finding ways to cope with this. [T]hen we open the floor to everyone to see what tips they could have in terms of what worked for them and then we will go with what tips we have. For example, if you can, connect to the people who could affirm your identity and community. It can be online through game nights or meeting up in person,” said Zhang.
For example, if you can, connect to the people who could affirm your identity and community. It can be online through game nights or meeting up in person.
Emma Zhang, QTCC President
The QTCC is continuing their events in the new year with educational information for aromantic spectrum awareness week, a coffee house they host annually at the end of February. Last year, the event was hosted online.
“Last year, we had, of course, spoken word. Also, we had people who shared their screen to show their paintings and I think some were more abstract and some were personal. Also, some people performed songs and dances that were important to them,” said Zhang.
In the month of February, the QTCC is also busy promoting educational information on their social media about Black History Month in collaboration with the Black Students’ Association.
Zhang spoke about how the QTCC hopes to provide tips on how to connect with others platonically on Valentine’s Day.
“Specifically for our Valentine's Day post, we're hoping to also provide some resources where people can connect platonically and we hope to address the topic of what it means to have a clear platonic relationship because as you know, queer relationships and timelines don't really look identical to a cishet timeline,” explained Zhang.
Through every online workshop and post, QTCC is fostering a community for racialized 2LGBTQIA+ students, allowing them to still feel connected to their peers even if most students are stuck at home.
“We leave the floor and the freedom to our attendees to choose what they want to do to build the community that they want to see and I think that that is pretty powerful. And generally having a sense of solidarity of seeing people like them on the screen with them doing similar things, that's pretty helpful. I think personally, I've benefited from that,” said Zhang.
This article has been edited as of Feb. 27, 2020
A previously published version of this article stated that Giroux phoned his daughter to ask about Casablancas. This has been corrected to state that he asked his son.
This article is part one of a two part series. Read part two here.
The latter half of the 2010 decade brought with it the rise of various right-winged movements throughout the world. Henry Giroux, a McMaster professor in the department of English and cultural studies, felt a sense of urgency; that the public needed to be educated in order to advance our democracy and combat the right side of politics. We recently had the chance to catch up with Giroux after he published his newest book, The Terror of the Unforeseen, which includes a forward by Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes.
INTRODUCTION TO CASABLANCAS:
In 2016, Giroux received a phone call from an agent asking if he knew who Julian Casablancas was, to which he responded, “No, I don’t”. He then phoned his son to ask who the mysterious rock star was.
Casablancas brought a film crew to Giroux’s Hamilton home and interviewed the professor about his work. This was the start of the duo’s friendship. Giroux then asked Casablancas if he wanted to write a forward in The Terror of the Unforeseen to open up his narrative to a much-wider audience.
After the forward was written, Casablancas interviewed Giroux in front of a live audience at a McMaster Library event at The Westdale Theatre (1014 King St. W.) on Oct. 24, 2019. The event was entitled “The Looming Threat of Fascist Politics”.
EARLY YEARS:
Giroux was born in Providence, Rhode Island, living in a working-class neighbourhood. He obtained a basketball scholarship from the University of Southern Maine and graduated from the university to become a high school teacher. He received a scholarship to complete his schooling at Carnegie-Mellon University, graduating with a PhD in 1977.
After becoming a professor at Boston University, Giroux began researching what education looks like at universities; what does it mean to get a university education?
In 1981, Giroux’s research inspired his second book, Theory and Resistance in Education: a Pedagogy for the Opposition. In Theory and Resistance, he defends that education has become a privatized endeavour that does not prioritizes the public’s best interests, including the interests of students. This privatization has become apparent through the promotion of maths and sciences, and the undermining of social and behavioural teachings. Giroux concludes that universities are no longer producing public intellectuals, people who think and reason critically, with the absence of humanities and social sciences.
When Giroux went up for tenure at Boston University, everyone but the president of the University wanted to give him the teaching position.
“[The president] was the east coast equivalent of Ronald Reagan, and a really ruthless guy.. he was denying tenure to everybody on the left [side of the political spectrum],” said Giroux.
Giroux moved to Miami University where he started the first cultural studies centre in the United States. He was then offered an endowed chair at Pennsylvania State University. When the opportunity came to apply to McMaster University, Giroux leapt at the offer and was hired in 2004.
THE TERROR OF THE UNFORESEEN:
Casablancas joined Giroux’s project because he saw the value in Giroux’s ideology.
“The idea for the book came out of a certain sense of incredible urgency . . . motivated by the election of Donald Trump and the rise of right-winged movements throughout the world,” said Giroux.
The author coined the term “neoliberal fascism”: a cross between racist ideology and a ruling financial elite class that disregards lower classes. This term is the basis of Giroux’s book, which describes how neoliberal fascism affects universities and media, along with how it has contributed to the creation of alt-right culture.
“I tried to take seriously the notion that politics follows culture, meaning that, you can’t really talk about politics unless you talk about the way in which people are experiencing their everyday lives and the problems that confront them,” said Giroux.
He believes that fascism never goes away, that it will always manifest itself in some context. Giroux used the U.S. as an example. The wealth and power held by the governing financial elite has created a state that does not care about the inequalities faced by most of its citizens.
Giroux links the above issues to the war on youth that much of his work has focused on, with the belief that youth are a long-term investment that are being written out of democracy.
CAMPUS POLITICS:
Giroux sees elements of youth being written out of democracy on our own campus. He also recognized that neoliberal ideology could have been a contributing cause to the province’s financial cuts to universities.
“The [ideal] model for education is now patterned after a business culture and with that, it seems to me, comes with an enormous set of dangers and anxieties,” stated Giroux.
According to Giroux, universities used to operate as public good; however, this is no longer their priority. Instead, universities are constantly worried about their bottom line, due in part to neoliberalism. This is especially evident in the elimination of or lack of funding for programs and courses that bring in less money for universities. Giroux cites the example of liberal arts education, which he believes is vital for every student to obtain. He believes this field teaches students a general understanding of our interactions with the world and how to become a socially responsible citizen; however, Giroux believes that liberal arts are being neglected in favour of teaching science and math.
While he understands that universities run deficits, this need to meet the bottom line can open the door for them to become influenced to opt-in to privatization and corporate influence. Giroux believes the only type of influence major corporations should have on campus are in the forms of sponsorships to allow the university to carry out its business as students are neither clients nor products.
“We have an obligation as educators, not to prepare students for just the work, but to prepare them for the world and what it means.”
When asked about the Ford government’s stance on OSAP cuts, Giroux believes that the government has a limited notion of investment, likely stemming from neoliberalist ideals.
“You don’t invest in students, for them to return profits . . . you invest in students and do everything you can to make sure that they can distinguish between meaningful work and meaningless work; that they can have some vision of the future that’s rooted in democratic values, that has some sense of compassion for what it means to live in a world in which we’re completely interdependent.
The Terror of the Unforeseen is the 71st book by Henry Giroux.
“I write because I believe that writing matters, I believe that elevating ideas into the public realm may help change the way people view the world,” said Giroux.
Stay tuned for part two of this series featuring our interview with Julian Casablancas.
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When partners and food and beverage producers Ryan Chelak and Jules Lieff went looking for a production space, they came across a building at 98 Vine Street. While the space was larger than they required for their businesses, they decided to take it. Now they are sharing the extra space with Hamilton makers with their first Vine Street Makers’ Market set to take place on March 30.
The two-storey red-brick building was once the home of Hamilton Pure Dairy, which opened in 1907 to provide healthy, safe and pure milk to the community. It has been home to other businesses over the year and now houses Vibe Kombucha and FitOrganiX.
Chelak is the founder of Vibe Kombucha, a craft brewer of raw, organic kombucha tea. Lieff founded FitOrganiX, a daily meal delivery system that uses local, organic ingredients. They will be using the second floor of the building for production.
The main floor will be open to the community as studio and event space. While Chelak and Lieff are still determining exactly how they will use the space, they know they want it to cater to creatives in Hamilton.
“In talking to a number of artists in the community, in Hamilton, there seems to be a need, particularly where we are downtown, for creative space. All of the workshop, event spaces, they're all pricing a lot of these people out of the market,” Chelak explained.
The desire for space can be seen in how the market sold out of vendor space within a day and a half. By providing space at an accessible price point, Vine Street Market is allowing emerging makers the chance to bring their product to the public.
The markets are currently slated to be monthly, but Chelak said that they may change depending on the demand. Starting in May, they will also host a bimonthly thrifted, vintage market.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu42tl9h5S4/
However, the main floor will be more than just market space. At the back of the main floor, there will be collaborative work space for artists to work out of. This would also allow artists to have wall space in order to display their work for clients.
Vibe Kombucha and FitOrganiX will also be selling their products at 98 Vine Street. Chelak and Lieff hope to have a cafe counter where people can buy their products, along with food and beverages from other local producers.
Another important use for the space will be the workshops that makers can host. Having gotten into kombucha by giving workshops, Chelak appreciates the opportunity to share skills with others.
“You know sharing that knowledge is really what community is all about, whether it's making something to eat or drink or making… music or arts. People need outlets like that, maybe now more than ever when everything is fast-paced and we're so immersed in technology and our work… [T]hat time to create it is important,” Chelak said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvB-lIDgl-h/
The market will provide an opportunity for Hamiltonians to interact with and buy from local makers. While there is no restriction on where the makers hail from, the market will primarily host local creatives.
Chelak believes that the local creatives are leaders in Hamilton’s resurgence. However, more than helping to grow the city, Hamilton artists are also providing a welcoming and collaborative space for emerging artists to develop.
“Hamilton seems to be, from my perspective…, a city that is collaboration over competition… And I think when you have that mindset where you're looking to promote each other and/or share information or opportunities… then people are more apt to do the same back in return and the adage that when you first give and then you'll receive, it's really what it's all about,” Chelak said.
By creating an environment where artists can work together, Vine Street Market is joining the tradition of collaboration within Hamilton’s artistic community. Having this new space for makers to make and sell their art will allow more individuals with small businesses to flourish in this rapidly changing city. In turn, Vine Street Market will grow as well.
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