Laura Risk awarded a 2016 SWAAC Graduate Student Award of Merit.
The Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada (SWAAC) have named graduate musicology student听Laura Risk听a recipient of听a听2016听SWAAC Graduate Student Award of Merit.听 This听award was established to recognize women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their university and in the community while maintaining an exemplary academic record.听 The award, which consists of $3000 and a plaque, will be presented on Friday, April 29th at the SWAAC annual conference.
Ms. Risk is committed to working with communities to promote local music-making. She co-authored a two-volume music collection for Scottish fiddler Aonghas Grant (b. 1930), widely regarded as the foremost exponent of his native West Highland style. From 2010 to 2014, she worked with the village of Douglastown (Gasp茅) to document and revive local traditions, and co-produced a CD of archival recordings from the region. This CD received the 2014 Prix Mn茅mo for outstanding documentation of Quebec's intangible cultural heritage. Laura currently works with Encore!Sistema Qu茅bec, an after-school program offering free music education to children in marginalized communities.
From 2012 to 2015, Laura co-chaired the Family Care Caucus (FCC) of the 麻豆AV Post-Graduate Students鈥� Society. Under her leadership, the FCC worked with administrators to create official guidelines for the academic accommodation of pregnant students and students caring for dependants. The FCC also published a series of wellness brochures and successfully advocated for children鈥檚 activity kits and changing tables on campus. 麻豆AV recently created a Senate Subcommittee on Family Care and hired its first Family Resources Coordinator; both were direct consequences of advocacy by the FCC.
Ms. Risk's collaborative exchanges and their shifting configurations create a cross-fertilization that blurs听the boundaries between research and performance, academia and practice. She is also highly respected for听her remarkable gifts as teacher which have听led to the creation of听innovative university courses, exciting opportunities for young students, and a variety of inspirational inter-disciplinary conference presentations and performances.
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