What do horses, islands and storytelling have in common?

The answer is that Dr. J. Edward Chamberlain has written books about all three and how they have shaped our civilizations, our world and our culture.

Today, Brandon University is pleased to host Dr. Chamberlain in the Gathering Space of the library for a lecture that will kick off the 2016 Faculty of Arts Speaker Series. His lecture, “‘You Should Have Been There’: The Conversation Between Print and Performance,” will take place today during the free slot (12:30-1:30 p.m.)

Dr. Chamberlain, an Officer of the Order of Canada and University Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto, is a noted scholar who has contributed extensively to the research and understanding of Indigenous oral traditions, songs and storytelling, from North America to South Africa and the West Indies.

Born in Vancouver, and educated at the universities of British Columbia, Oxford and Toronto, he has since 1970 been on the faculty of the University of Toronto, but his interest in stories and songs has taken him around the world. He worked on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, was Senior Research Associate with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, has worked extensively on native land claims in Canada, the United States, South Africa and Australia, and has lectured widely on literary, historical and cultural issues.

His books include “The Harrowing of Eden: White Attitudes Towards Native Americans”; “Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour: The Age of Oscar Wilde”; “Come Back To Me My Language: Poetry and the West Indies”; “If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground”; “Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations”; and “Island: How Islands Transform the World”. His latest book, “The Banker and the Blackfoot: A Story of Friendship and the Forgotten Promise of Canada, 1885-1905,” will be published this coming August.

We are exceptionally proud to welcome him, and invite you to his lecture today at 12:30 p.m.

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