Trudeau Lecture: “History and Social Hope” by Jocelyn Létourneau
After 30 years as a professional historian, how did Prof. Jocelyn Létourneau arrive at a subject as perilous for science as the relationship between history and hope?
In this lecture, Prof. Létourneau explores the sensitive question of the social role of history and reflects on the task of writing a past that is both rooted in true knowledge and accomplishes a practical purpose. Finally, he even ventures to suggest a form that a future history of Quebec might take.
A 2006 Trudeau Fellow, Jocelyn Létourneau is a professor with the Department of History, a researcher at CELAT (Centre interuniversitaire d'études sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions) and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Contemporary Political History and Economy in Quebec at Université Laval.
The presentation will be in English and French, and simultaneous translation will be offered.
Free admission; reception to follow.
Trudeau Lectures
Each year, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation selects up to five fellows who have contributed to the enhancement of knowledge and the advancement of society through leading-edge research, creative work and commitment to societal debates on major issues of public policy. The Foundation's substantial financial support enables its fellows to devote themselves more freely to critical thinking and innovative approaches to their work. The Trudeau Foundation inaugurated the Trudeau Lectures in the fall of 2008 with a view to promoting the Trudeau Fellowship and disseminating Trudeau fellows' thinking and experience. Organized in collaboration with Canadian universities, the Trudeau Lectures are an annual series of public lectures at which Trudeau fellows highlight their ideas, their research and their role as public intellectuals. Each year, the Foundation publishes the text of the lectures in the Trudeau Foundation Papers. The papers are available in both official languages in print and online at the Foundation's website: www.trudeaufoundation.ca