Photo of Scott House by Holly Norris.
Every year, Catherine Parr Traill College hosts a series of lectures and engagements with the Traill College Visiting Fellows program in which visiting fellows not only come to Traill to deliver one lecture but to come and live on campus for two weeks to get the full college experience.
With Trent celebrating its 50th Anniversary, organizers decided to do something special, bringing not one, but two fellows: Bill and Mary Waiser, a couple who are both Trent Alums.
Bill Waiser, an historian and member of the Royal Society of Canada, started at Trent in 1971 and was affiliated with Champlain College.
Mary Waiser, who also started in 1971 and was affiliated with Traill College, pursued a career in the sciences and had a long and very successful career, most of which entailed doing water quality research for the federal government.
Explains Traill College Principal Michael Eamon: “I think it’s uniquely Trent to not just have a Trent alum couple, but to have a couple that bridges the Arts and Sciences.”
Also unique to this year, many of the engagements will be specifically tailored to the themes of post-graduation careers in the arts and sciences, with the fellows drawing upon their own life experiences from both within and outside of academia.
The series begins with a lecture from Bill Waiser on explorer and fur trader Henry Kelsey on Tuesday Nov. 4 at 7pm at Bagnani Hall.
On Wednesday Nov.5, they will also be giving a special lecture to Prof. Eamon’s 1st year Arts and Science class at 1pm located in the Lady Eaton Lecture Hall, room 201. The lecture open to everyone, but it is a class so space is limited.
On Thursday Nov. 6 The Waisers will be giving a talk centred on careers in the arts and sciences at Scott House.
In the second week, the format will shift to more informal, conversational events with a College Tea that will allow students to glean more information from about post-graduate life in the arts and sciences on Wednesday Nov. 12 at 2:00pm in the Senior College Room.
The final event will be a formal college dinner with both the Waisers and the founding President Tom Symons.
Although the other events are free admission, the dinner does require a $25 dollar ticket.
Says Eamon, “It’s really a great way to have Fellowship at Bagnani Hall and a great way for students to interact with Fellows and a great opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to interact as well.”
It is also important to note that these events are not just open to students affiliated with Traill, but for all students, Eamon says, “English, Cultural Studies and many other Arts and Humanities students often feel closer to Traill than their own colleges, so of course they’re very welcome.”