The Principal’s Prize recognizes outstanding achievement among those who share their expertise and research with the public in the media.
Here are this year’s winners from the Faculty of Arts:
Medical Herstory -Category of Prize for Groups
Professor Daniel Beland (Political Science and Director of McGill Institute for the Study of Canada) -Category of Established Academic
Professor Cindy Blackstock (School of Social Work) - 2022 Changemaker Prize
Prize for Groups:
This year’s Prize for Groups goes to Medical Herstory, a youth-led international not-for-profit organization advancing gender health equity through storytelling, patient advocacy and medical education. Through their online publication that empowers women, trans and non-binary people, Medical Herstory uses storytelling and authorship as a healing process for individuals who experience medical issues that are often labelled as being “taboo”, such as chronic pain, sexual violence and reproductive health.
Prize for Established Academic:
This year’s Prize for Established Academics was awarded to Daniel Beland, James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and the Quebec Studies Program. The prize is awarded to an academic who has demonstrated and established an aspiration to better connect the work and research of McGill University with society at large, by engaging with the public and/or media.
An avid photographer of Montreal and its historic architecture, Professor Beland was recognized for his “extensive presence in local, national and international media”, notably his “well-informed views about a wide range of political topics- from the federal budget to the trucker convoy in Ottawa- in a thorough and accessible way.
2022 Changemaker Prize:
This year’s Changemaker Prize was awarded to Professor Cindy Blackstock, from the School of Social Work. Professor Blackstock is the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. The Changemaker Prize is given on an occasional basis and by nomination to individuals whose dedication to sharing their knowledge with the media and the public has had a major impact on society.
Professor Blackstock was recognized for her “dedication and outstanding work with media over the past years” which has brought significant attention to the systemic inequities faced by Indigenous children in Canada and beyond.
“What a privilege it’s been to work in the company of the collective of the ancestors and in light of the spirits of the children in the unmarked graves, who left us a legacy to do the work to ensure this is a generation of First Nations children who don’t have to recover from their childhoods,” said Blackstock. “That is not the work of one person; it is indeed the work of a country.”*
*quotes and excerpts from Claire Loewen’s article published in the McGill Reporter on May 3rd “ McGill researchers share their knowledge as a service to society.”