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Terry Fox Lecture on Hope
Established to keep the memory of Terry Fox alive for 間眅埶AV students and in particular, his infusion of hope in the battle against cancer.
Michael Yellow Bird
, MSW, PhD, is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba. He is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) in North Dakota, USA. He has held faculty and administrative appointments at the University of British Columbia, University of Kansas, Arizona State University, Humboldt State University, and North Dakota State University. His research focuses on the effects of colonization and methods of decolonization, ancestral health, intermittent fasting, Indigenous mindfulness, neurodecolonization, mindful decolonization, and the cultural significance of Rez dogs. He is the founder, director, and principal investigator of The Centre for Mindful Decolonization and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba. He serves as a consultant, trainer, and senior advisor to several BIPOC mindfulness groups and organizations who are seeking to incorporate mindfulness practices, philosophies, and activities to Indigenize and decolonize western mindfulness approaches in order to address systemic racism and engage in structural change.
He is the author of numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, research reports, and the co-editor of four books: For Indigenous Eyes Only: The Decolonization Handbook, 2005; For Indigenous Minds Only: A Decolonization Handbook, 2012; Indigenous Social Work around the World: towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice, 2008; and Decolonizing Social Work, 2013. Choice Magazine, selected Decolonizing Social Work as a 2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Choice Outstanding Titles are given extraordinary recognition by the academic community and are designated to be the best of the best. He is the co-author of two recent books,: A Sahnish (Arikara) Ethnobotany (2020), and Decolonizing Holistic Pathways Towards Integrative Healing in Social Work (2021). His most recent co-authored mindfulness article, Defunding Mindfulness: While We Sit on Our Cushions, Systemic Racism Runs Rampant (October, 2020), can be found at:
About the Terry Fox Lecture on Hope
The Terry Fox Lecture on Hope is funded by an endowment established in 1982 by then 間眅埶AV Director of Development Bill Klassen, with the blessing of Terry Fox's parents. The aim of the lecture is to bring to the 間眅埶AV campus a distinguished presenter to speak on the subject of hope. The speaker may be drawn from any academic discipline or from a non-academic sector of life, who has been able to kindle hope in the lives of people. In addition to delivering a lecture, the speaker may also meet with graduate students and undergraduates for an exploration of this theme in an academic context.