UWindsor’s Office of Student Experience plans to flip the script this fall on how sexual assault is traditionally viewed, while proving women with multi-level training to reduce risk.

The office has dedicated $135,000 in funding to the Sexual Assault Resistance Education Program, or “Flip the Script,” which consists of four three-hour sessions providing information, skills, and practice in assessing risk from acquaintances; overcoming emotional barriers in acknowledging danger; and engaging in effective verbal and physical self-defence. As well, participants explore their own sexual values, desires, boundaries, and rights.

The program is based on 10 years of research by Charlene Senn, a psychology and women’s and gender studies professor and her team. The researchers used empirical evidence and best practices to develop the program, which helps women interrupt men’s behaviour at an early stage and defend themselves effectively, if necessary.

“Growing up, girls are often taught to believe that they are responsible for preventing an assault and to fear stranger assault. They learn to monitor where they go and what they wear and that if they are assaulted their behaviour has played a contributing factor. They have been taught to believe that they aren’t strong enough to fight back,” says Dusty Johnstone, UWindsor’s sexual misconduct response and prevention officer.

“Research has shown that these are beliefs are myths. We know that women are most commonly assaulted by men they know rather than strangers, and that women who fight back and use resistance strategies have a greater chance of escape. We believe that the traditional stereotypes that girls and women are socialized to believe are harmful, so we want to flip the script.”

Dr. Johnstone says the program is available free of charge to all women registered at the University of Windsor and will be offered in small groups beginning in October. For more information visit: http://www.uwindsor.ca/sexual-assault/FlipTheScript.

English professor Tom Dilworth will discuss the life of David Jones — the subject of his new biography — in a free public lecture Wednesday, September 20.

The event, hosted by the English department and the Humanities Research Group, will serve as the Canadian book launch of David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet. The 432-page volume is the definitive biography of a man Dr. Dilworth describes as “the least-known great modernist, an important British visual artist and great poet.” Dilworth spent 31 years research and writing this work.

“It deals with all aspects of his life, which is important because of his engravings, particularly his book illustrations, and also his watercolour landscapes and portraits of 1926-32, his still-life flowers in glass chalices of the 1950s, and his painted inscriptions of the 1950s and ’60s,” he says. “Even more important is his poetry, especially his epic-length poems: In Parenthesis (1937), generally acknowledged as the greatest literary work to emerge from World War I, and The Anathemata (1952), an anatomy of Western culture, which is Jones’s greatest achievement.”

Jones produced this remarkable volume of work while in emotional distress resulting from his experience in the trenches of World War I, says Dilworth.

“He suffered two crushing nervous breakdowns and decades of depression,” he says. “His making so much intelligent beauty in such circumstances is the single greatest existential achievement of international modernism.”

The book’s 162 illustrations, including lavish colour reproductions of Jones’s art make it a visual treasure, but they are not the sole draw.

“This life story also benefits from its subject being so appealing, an exceptionally loveable person,” Dilworth says.

The launch will begin at 4 p.m. in the Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall.

The School of Creative Arts opens its 50th season of concerts with a special recital by two soloists in town this week to perform with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra — soprano Margie Bernal and tenor Ryan Paul Downey.

The pair have crafted a program of solo arias, opera duets, art songs and even contemporary Newfoundland sea songs Thursday, September 21, 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Auditorium, Assumption Hall.

Bernal is a doctoral candidate and voice instructor at Western University. A versatile performer, she enjoys performing on both operatic and recital stages.

Downey, a Newfoundland native, has sung with opera companies and symphonies across Canada and in Europe and is currently a member of the young artists program at Vancouver Opera.

Find concert details on the event website. Tickets are $20, $5 for students, available for purchase in advance online or at the door.

See the complete SoCA Presents schedule of events on the school’s website.

Staples of Indigenous cuisine will be featured during the campus community barbecue, Thursday, September 21, on Turtle Island Walk.

Diners will enjoy three sisters soup and fried bread along with halal beef or chicken sausages, vegetarian patties, apples, and potato chips. Three sisters soup combines corn, beans and squash in a vegetarian broth.

“We’re very excited to be able to serve these traditional foods for this year’s barbecue,” says organizer Mary-Ann Rennie, special events manager in the Office of the President. “It will really complement the First Nations themes for our dedication of Turtle Island Walk.”

The free luncheon begins at 12:30 p.m. and continues while supplies last. It is part of a day’s worth of activities to celebrate the dedication of the Turtle Island Walk campus corridor; find details on the UWindsor Facebook page.

A unique collaboration between the Odette School of Business and Oxford Brookes University of Oxford, U.K., combines bioscience and business skills to bring innovations to market.

A group of science students and faculty from Oxford Brookes University arrived in Windsor on Monday and met their local counterparts Tuesday. They will spend the semester developing plans to commercialize four scientific advances ranging from bio-fuel to vaccines.

While most of the work will be done via electronic communications, a site visit like the current one, with tours of Windsor-Essex agricultural and industrial facilities, helps to enhance the experience.

“During the face-to-face meetings, students will get to know each other, and the Odette students will more easily understand the biosciences they are to commercialize,” says Francine Schlosser, executive director of the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre). “It is a great challenge to have them collaborate across two different disciplines, two different universities, two different countries.”

Visiting student Rachel Vowden says the course will give her a chance to show what she can do.

“Majoring in human biology, I would never be exposed to the business side,” she says. “This experience will be valuable if I want to open my own business or work in management.”

Additionally, she notes, a trip to Canada has long been on her “bucket list.” Only one day in the country, and she has already noticed one big difference.

“Everything is huge,” says Vowden.” There is so much space compared to home.”

The group will tour the Windsor Chrysler assembly plant, Pelee Island Winery, Aphria greenhouses, the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, and engineering professor Ming Zheng’s biodiesel laboratory.

Learn more about the program on the EPICentre website.

A team of more than 100 students, faculty, and staff will represent Windsor at the Ontario Universities’ Fair, September 22 to 24 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

“Our people tell our story,” says Zora Savic, who co-ordinates the UWindsor displays at the event, which showcases all 21 Ontario universities for some 120,000 visitors. “Prospective students will be able to meet with members of our team and learn about our programs and services — everything that makes Windsor a terrific place to study.”

In addition to personal interaction, visitors will also be able to experience a virtual tour of the UWindsor campus.

“People who stop by our booth at the fair will receive virtual reality viewers, getting an immersive tour of our facilities,” Savic says. “It is a fun introduction to Windsor.”

The fair provides contacts to invite to the next major event in the recruitment cycle, the November 4 fall open house.

Campus clubs will have a chance to win funds towards their activities during the trivia challenge Wednesday, September 20, in the CAW Student Centre.

In addition to the competition, styled after the television game show Family Feud, organizer Sandra Riccio-Muglia promises free snack foods.

“The survey says … we’re going to have fun!” says Riccio-Muglia, director of student centre programming.

The event will take place in two segments: the club challenge from noon to 1:30 p.m. for prizes of up to $200 and a battle of dorm teams over an ice cream sundae party at 7 p.m.

A new book club dedicated to reading and discussing LGBTQ+ literature has selected its first work — Carry On: the Rise and Fall of Simon Snow by Rainbow Rowell.

Pride Pages plans to tackle a book each month and will meet bi-weekly Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. on the following dates: September 25, October 16 and 30, November 13 and 27.

A print copy of Carry On is available in the Campus Pride Centre, 252 Dillon Hall. Find more information on the club’s Facebook page.