On behalf of the entire Bishop's community, I would like to express our profound condolences to this student's family and friends.

We are devastated by this tragic loss of a promising young life. I would like to assure the members of our University community that Counseling Services, as well as the Campus Ministry, are available to assist them in this difficult time and can be reached at 819-822-9600 ext. 2695 or ext. 2718 respectively.

Sincerely,
Michael Goldbloom
Principal

The main event of this conference is the opening symposium on “the state of mental health in Quebec”, scheduled to begin at 17:45 on March 23rd. This intersectorial symposium moderated by Quebec Chief Scientist, Rémi Quirion, will include panelists representing various stakeholder perspectives and drawn from the governmental, academic, public, and community sectors.

“We aimed at bringing together panelists that don’t often have the chance to discuss this topic face to face while giving voice to those with lived experience of mental illness and recovery”, says Claude Charpentier, Bishop’s psychology professor and president of the conference’s organizing committee. “Is Quebec a ‘distinct society’ when it comes to the state of mental health of its population? Are we proactive about mental health and well-being in Quebec? Does mental health research have pragmatic value by truly addressing Quebecers’ needs? Where are we headed and what is at stake? We are hoping to answer some of these questions and to identify promising research leads.”

Psychological Health and Well-being is one of the four research priorities recently established by Bishop’s University. The research cluster’s director, Canada Research Chair Fuschia Sirois adds: “when most people think of mental health, they are in fact thinking of disease. We need to take a larger view of what mental health is and to stop defining it as the absence of psychosis or depression. In the same vein, we need to develop a much more preventive approach that starts by looking at the life choices we make.”

The symposium will be followed by a welcome cocktail for all delegates.

The President of the organizing committee, Claude Charpentier says: “Over 300 researchers will present their findings on topics as varied and exciting as the impact of sports concussions on the brain, autism, school success and perseverance, culture and well-being, interpersonal traumas within couple relationships, and many more. The vitality of psychological research in Quebec is truly impressive. This gathering represents a wonderful opportunity to build new research connections within a collegial atmosphere while encouraging the research efforts of young talent.” 

Fuschia Sirois, psychology professor at Bishop’s, holds a Canada Research Chair in Psychological Health and Well-being, one of Bishop’s four research priorities. As part of the conference, she has organized a special symposium that aims at “understanding and evaluating well-being”. She reminds us that “well-being cannot simply be defined and understood as the absence of disease or stress. It is much more than that.”

Bishop’s Dean of Arts and Science, Benoit-Antoine Bacon, adds: “It’s a great honor for Bishop’s University to be hosting this conference for the very first time, and I want to emphasize that the Université de Sherbrooke has been an invaluable ally in this process. In particular, we were very proud to have three young Université de Sherbrooke psychology professors, François Courcy, Jean Descôteaux and Patrick Gosselin join Bishop’s professors on the organizing and scientific committees.”

The conference will open on Friday with a special symposium on the state of mental health in Quebec. Saturday night, Timothy Pychyl from Carleton University will present the keynote address on the topic of procrastination. Finally, Isabelle Peretz from the Université de Montréal will be honored with the Prix Adrien-Pinard for her outstanding contributions to the Neuropsychology of Music.

“As an intellectual and a researcher, Steven Pinker has contributed to our understanding of the mind, its ability to process language and of human nature itself,” said Bishop’s Principal Michael Goldbloom. “Dr. Pinker’s latest work presents a provocative and fascinating view of the evolution of social conflicts throughout history.”

Born in Montreal, Pinker earned a Bachelor's Degree in Experimental Psychology at McGill University and then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1976. He earned his doctorate at Harvard in 1979, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. He is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and has also taught at Stanford and MIT. 

Pinker’s research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the American Psychological Association. He has received six honorary doctorates, several teaching awards, and numerous prizes for his books The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate. He is the Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and writes frequently for The New Republic, The New York Times, and other publications. He has been named Humanist of the Year, and is listed in Foreign Policy and Prospect magazine's "The World's Top 100 Public Intellectuals" and in Time magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People in the World Today."