Education Professor hosts International Symposium
On June 6 – 8, international scholars will convene at a symposium in Ottawa to discuss the topic of children’s bodies and their well being. “An International Symposium Speaks the Unspoken: Masculinities, bodies and body image in health education” is hosted by Education’s Dr. Michael Kehler, along with Kevin Wamsley from Western’s Health Sciences and Michael Atkinson from the University of Toronto.
The forum will focus on the relationship between health, masculinities and education, which Dr. Kehler explains are key to understanding why, how and when adolescent boys engage and disengage from health life practices. While most of us recognise that sport and recreational exercise are central to a healthy lifestyle, Dr. Kehler reminds us that for many young people, it is not that simple: this forum, say, Kehler “pushes scholars, policy makers, and health agencies to acknowledge, address, and respond to the voices of adolescent men who want to participate in healthy, active lives in school but, who remain largely marginalized and overshadowed by more dominating, physically intimidating and bodily privileged boys.”
Keynote speakers will include Professors Michael Messner from UCLA, Genviève Rail from Corncordia University and Ian Wellar from Canterbury Christ Church University, UK.
