October
01
Closing the ‘Walls Conference’ in Montreal
A few years back, I attended the “Borders, Walls and Security Conference,” an international gathering hosted by the Center for Geopolitical Studies of the Raoul Dandurand Chair at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Much of what I learned at that conference informed my book, and I enjoyed spending a couple days among wall-thinkers from around the world. It was at the conference, in fact, that I first met Christine Leuenberger and learned about the ‘Wall Disease’ – a concept that runs through Walls.
Yesterday, the organizers at UQAM invited me to give the closing remarks at this year’s conference. This is a honour and – seeing I am not an scholar myself – a wonderful surprise. I plan on spending my quarter-hour at the lectern telling a few stories of the people I met along the walls and giving names and faces to those who eke out a life in the shadows of barbed wire and bald concrete.
The conference takes place on October 17th and 18th. Details can be found here.
Elsewhere 