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On Monday 26 September at 7:30 pm, Luther College welcomed Senator Lillian Dyck, who  presented a talk entitled “Following the footprints of my Cree mother: Dreaming of gender and racial equality,” as it 36^th Luther Lecturer. Senator Dyck shared her personal story as a means of not only addressing critical issues of gender and race, but also as an invitation for all of us to find our voices and tell our own stories as a way to make this a better world for everyone.

Lillian Dyck is a member of the Canadian Senate, Professor Emirata of the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan, and a member of Gordon First Nation, Saskatchewan. Her mother, Eva McNab, was a member of Gordon First Nation and the sister of the late FSIN Senator Hilliard McNab. Her father, Yok Lee Quan, emigrated to Canada in 1912 from Hoi Ping, Canton, China. Senator Dyck refers with pride to her parents and their courage, which helped to instill in her a fierce determination to overcome barriers.

Senator Dyck was summoned to the Senate by former Prime Minister Paul Martin and sworn in on 12 April 2005. As a Senator, she has participated in a wide range of Senate Debates and Motions on a variety of issues critical to Canadians, including missing and murdered Aboriginal women and the need to support the work of Sisters in Spirit to research and record both statistics and personal stories; the under-representation of Aboriginal students specialising in science at university; the under-representation of women in university faculty positions in science and engineering; the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act and many, many others. A pervasive thread of seeking justice runs throughout Senator Dyck’s personal and political life, as illustrated in the selected quotes from her work included in this program.

The Luther Lecture was established by Luther College at the University of Regina in 1977 with the purpose of making a distinctive and stimulating contribution to the life of the University and the general community. Annually, a distinguished scholar or leader of note is invited to present an address on a subject of significance. In this way, Luther College aims to express more fully its objective to encourage wise thinking and constructive action in the service of humanity. The 2011 Luther Lecture is provided in part through a generous grant from the members of FaithLife Financial and the James Kurtz Memorial Trust Fund.

The next Luther Lecture will be held on Monday 24 September at 7:30 pm in the Rex Schneider Auditorium, Luther College at the University of Regina. The Lecture will feature Bishop Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada. Complimentary parking will be available in lot 3 (“M” areas only), and a public reception will follow the Lecture. For further information, call 585.5444 or read more about the event in Luther's online calendar.

The Luther Lecture was established with the purpose of making a distinctive and stimulating contribution to the life of the University and the general community. Annually a distinguished scholar or leader of note is invited to present an address on a subject of significance. In this way, Luther College desires to express more fully its objective to encourage wise thinking and constructive action in the service of humanity.

The Luther Lecture is provided in part through a generous grant from the members of Faith Life Financial and the James Kurtz Memorial Trust Fund.

Past lecturers

2010—Dr Roland Miller - "Daring to be Global Citizens: De-radicalising Christian-Muslim Relations"
2009—Larry Rasmussen - "Earth Healing for Justice-Minded Christians"
2008—Don Franklin - "Bach to the Future: What we can learn from the past when performing Bach's music today"
2007—Margaret Somerville - "Challenging 'The God Delusion': The Search for a Shared Ethics"
2006—George Elliott Clarke - "The Problem of Pluralism: Anti-Social Attitudes in African-Canadian Literature" 
2005—Stanley Hauerwas
2004—Margaret Miles
2003—Margaret Wertheim
2002—Rudy Wiebe
2001—Carol Meyers
2000—Ronald Cole-Turner - "Playing God Or Serving God? Cloning, Designer Children And Gene Therapy In Religious Perspective"
1999—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen - "Faith, Feminism And Family In An Age Of Globalization"
1998—John Ralston Saul - "The Layering of Canada: Founding Myths in the Construction of a Complex Civilization"
1997—Jean Bethke Elshtain
1996—Nicholas Wolterstorff
1995—Rosemary Radford Ruether
1994—Langdon Gilkey
1993—James Cone
1992—Ursula Franklin
1991—Reginald Bibby
1990—Lois Wilson
1989—John Polanyi
1989—Edna and Howard Hong
1988—Henry Taube
1987—Wilfred Cantwell Smith
1986—Hans Küng
1985—Paul Wee
1984—Helen Caldicott
1983—George Forell
1982—Northrop Frye
1981—William Foege
1980—Roland Bainton
1979—Krister Stendahl
1978—Martin Marty
1977—Jaroslav Pelikan