Political Science teachers Vanessa Gordon and Dónal Gill, both currently teaching at Dawson College, have co-authored the newly released 7th edition of Politics, Power, and the Common Good: An Introduction to Political Science, published by Pearson Canada. This comprehensive textbook is being used at universities across Canada, and may be available in French in the future.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Dawson’s 4th annual Interprofessional Education (IPE) Symposium on Communication, conflict resolution, and collective care took place Friday, Oct. 17. This activity brought together all 216 students and 32 instructors/facilitators from the seven medical technology and social service disciplines. The day’s activities took place in a variety of venues in the Montreal Forum building, including a large cinema theatre.
Visit the link for a homepage report by Krista Bulow (Faculty, Physiotherapy Technology).
Two accomplished graduates of Dawson College’s Professional Theatre program are inviting you to see the downtown Montreal CEGEP in a self-guided tour. Catherine Bérubé and Lucy Segal are the narrators. In interviews with the Communications Office, they shared how Dawson shaped their own journeys. The tour departs from the metro level in the Lower Atrium, look for a framed sign with the QR code on the right wall as you enter the college.
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The Food Justice program at Dawson has been significantly expanded this year. Free food is being offered five days a week to the Dawson community, a vital part of the College’s commitment to well-being for all. Coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and funded by the Dawson Foundation and the Dawson Student Union, the program addresses food insecurity while advancing social justice and sustainability on campus.
Diana Rice of the Office of Sustainability explains that there is a broader understanding of sustainability that includes peace and social justice. “Food Justice programming is a critical piece,” she says, due to its role in tackling the harmful impacts of industrial agriculture on the environment and marginalized communities. The program prioritizes ethical purchasing by sourcing organic and local food to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity, and support economic stability for vulnerable groups.
There is a major impact on students and the entire Dawson community. “A student once confided that being able to eat lunch or breakfast four days a week meant that they could give their mom a break in terms of groceries, which were becoming more and more unaffordable,” Diana shared. “They said it was a relief because they already felt guilty about going to school and not working full time to help support the family. Knowing that they could help save money and keep food in the pantry at home longer made going to school more worthwhile and kept it accessible.”
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Visiting a museum, going for an urban hike and playing games are some of the activities that Dawson employees have enjoyed during their workdays over the past year. The College’s Human Resources team launched weekly Well-Being Hours in the fall of 2024. Every employee may spend one hour of worktime each week focusing on their personal well-being.
“It has made me really appreciate our Dawson community and all the new initiatives the College has offered in the last couple of years to work on well-being and community building,” said Sophie La Font, Project Coordinator in the Office of Sustainability. “I have met a lot of lovely new people that work outside my typical work sphere. These activities have helped me to feel more engaged and refreshed.”
For some resources and ideas, check out the HR well-being Sharepoint page.
Visit the link to read about other colleagues' experiences using the well-being hours in the homepage news story.
Dawson's own Elizabeth (Liz) Charles, a trailblazing educator and researcher whose innovative work has reshaped active learning in Quebec’s CEGEP system, has been awarded the 2025 Prix Gérald-Sigouin by the Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale (AQPC).
“Elizabeth Charles has fundamentally changed pedagogical approaches at Dawson College and beyond,” said Academic Dean Leanne Bennett, one of her nominators. Colleagues describe her as “the heart and soul of SALTISE,” and praise her vision and unrelenting dedication: “Liz includes willingly all those who wish to contribute to her quest to improve pedagogy, making the classroom a place for reflective, inventive, and expressive individuals.”
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More than five years after the Mexico–Canada Sustainable Campuses Initiative wrapped up in 2019, its impact and friendships continue to thrive. In June, Dawson College faculty member Gisela Frias (Geography) and Chris Adam (retired Head of Sustainability) traveled to Mexico to represent Dawson at the 5th Binational Forum on Institutional Memory and Sustainability: Seeds of Yesterday, Fruits of Tomorrow. Both played central roles in the original initiative, which fostered international collaboration on sustainability in higher education.
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Alessia Panait (Class of 2025, Enriched Health Science) and Aya Tir (Class of 2025, Law, Society and Justice profile of Social Science) were the valedictorians for the two graduation ceremonies for Dawson's Class of 2025, which took place at Place des Arts on June 18.
You can read more about Alessia, who is starting dentistry at McGill University this fall, and see her speech here: https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/news/alessia-panait-2025-valedictorian-inspires-with-passion-perseverance-and-patience/
You can read more about Aya, who is beginning a dual law degree – a Bachelor of Civil Law and Juris Doctor – at McGill University this fall, and see her speech here: https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/news/aya-tir-2025-valedictorian-leads-by-taking-things-to-heart/
Photo: Aya delivering her valedictorian speech. Credit: Jacee Juhasz.
The Fall 2025 semester is officially underway , as 2,936 new students joined the Dawson community last week, bringing total day enrollment to 8,030. Welcome Days were held Aug. 18 and 19, and classes began Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Visit the link for the homepage news story, which contains some of the remarks shared at Welcome Back by Director General Diane Gauvin and Academic Dean Leanne Bennett.
Nine Dawson College students are heading to Hamburg this September after winning a major international science competition. The “Dawson Technicolor” team will spend two weeks at DESY, Germany’s renowned particle physics laboratory, to test their own detector using a particle accelerator.
The student-initiated project began nearly a year ago in the context of the Dawson High Energy Physics group, led by Physics faculty members Manuel Toharia and Joel Trudeau. With funding from the Dawson Foundation, the team designed and built a muon detector called The Scintillating Chamber during the winter 2025 semester. Teacher Manuel believes this prototype was key to the team’s winning proposal in CERN’s prestigious Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Last Modified: October 23, 2025
