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June 20, 2011

Summer: Communications at Mount Allison, Amnesty International, Argosy, ATLIS, and NPR

I realize it has been a while since I wrote a large update. I've been very busy working at Mount Allison University's Communication Office. It has so far been a great experience and I'm just now getting into the main project of the internship this summer which is creating video content for the school. I'll be sure to write what I can about that but probably not before it appears on the Mount Allison Homepage.

I've also been busy working to prepare Amnesty International Mount Allison for this year's activities. As President, I represented the group at this Amnesty International Canada's Human Rights College and Annual General Meeting.

For more information visit our website, Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter for information on human rights campaigns and group activities.

I've also been working on helping update the Argosy website. Updates should go live over the summer.

I uploaded the Spring 2011 ATLIS Journal: Alternative Solutions For A Sustainable Future online. I've been updating the website including the introduction of this year's theme for the Conference and Journal:
Revolution: Reforming Structures and Rethinking Perspectives. We have not yet made a call for abstract submissions but you can see last year's as a guide if you want to prepare early.

I also uploaded video from last year's conference, including this controversial presentation about the 2007 International Economic Crisis and Keynote Speaker Ian Smillie's address: "Blood Diamonds: Cutting Edge Lessons in Sustainable Development" and his lecture on becoming a career global activist.

I'm going to be volunteering for Amnesty's Demand Dignity Campaign at the U2 Concert on Magnetic Hill in Moncton. Concert organizers are hoping for 100,000 people to attend, which would make it the biggest music event in the Maritimes ever. We should be able to get a lot of signatures to petition the government of Nicaragua to help prevent the sexual violence against women and girls which is widespread in the country.

This weekend I'm going to Charlotte Country, New Brunswick. I may or may not have photos to share when I return.

As I said back in May, I'm very busy this summer so I will not be writing as prolifically as in summers past. However hopefully by the end of the month I will have a new video up about how the reaction to the video explaining how I made NPR's Facebook page has helped change my life.

That may seem a bit exaggerated, but the response encouraged me to create more videos about the school and explore social media further. Doing that undoubtedly helped me land the job I have now where I help educate staff about effective social media use, which in turn has had a big impact on what I see myself doing after graduation. I suppose it will be part video resume, part biography, but mostly a video to thank NPR for helping add a fire to my interest in social media and rethinking what I really want to do with my life after I walk across the stage at Convocation Hall and receive my Honours B.A. in International Relations from Peter Mansbridge in 329 days.

Geoff Campbell represents Mount Allison at Amnesty International Human Rights College

As I mentioned on the blog I write for Amnesty International Mount Allison I represented Mount Allison's  group at AI Canada's Human Rights College and Annual General Meeting. It was a great experience and it would not have been possible without the support of the head Amnesty International Canada's youth wing, Shauna Maclean.

Here's a photo from a workshop about the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples led (in English) by Craig Benjamin.

Amnesty International Canada AGM

Below is a mention from from mta.ca. If you want to know more read the Amnesty International Mount Allison blog or contact me via the comments below or the contact form link on the right.

Mount Allison represented at Amnesty International Human Rights College
2011-06-16 09:22:55

Geoff Campbell, President of Mount Allison’s Amnesty International group, recently attended Amnesty International’s national youth leadership training and General Meeting in Montreal. The annual training brought together 30 human rights activists from across the country. This year’s topics included: The Role of Youth in Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa; the Death Penalty and the Wrongly Convicted; Aboriginal Land Rights and the Lubicon Cree; Why Maternal Health is a Human Rights Issue; Citizen Journalism; and Public Speaking for Human Rights.

“Going to the training and conference really refreshed how I think about social activism and has really informed me on how Amnesty will operate this year. After a presentation on Aboriginal rights, I was able to speak to the presenter about the Mount Allison group and he agreed to speak here later this year.”

When Campbell was contacted by the national office about the possibility of attending the Human Rights College, which featured founder of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) Jenni Williams, he was thrilled.

“I have been involved in Amnesty since high school, but being at Mount Allison has allowed me to study what I’m really interested in, and going to this conference was really an extension of what I learned in the classroom.”

At the conference he talked one-on-one with Williams about the recent uprisings in the Middle East and her insistence on non-violent protest as opposed to the active conflicts.

This year Amnesty will be holding awareness-raising events throughout the year and bringing in a speaker with support from the Centre for International Studies. In addition to preparing for next year’s activities on campus, Campbell will be volunteering for Amnesty’s Demand Dignity Campaign, specifically in its effort to end sexual violence against girls in Nicaragua.

If you are interested in volunteering with Amnesty this summer, or the upcoming year, you can contact the group at amnestyintl@mta.ca. Find more related clubs at International Relations or the SAC list of clubs and societies.

PHOTO CAPTION: Geoff Campbell (R) with Amnesty International Canada President Sarah Beamish.