Summer at Concordia offers a plethora of programs

“The variety of opportunities at Concordia during the summer is astounding,” says Céline Fortin, senior lead of planning and summer programming.

“There are activities for everyone’s taste! For kids and youth, for undergraduate and graduate students, mature students, professionals, organizations and the general public — there are great opportunities for everyone.”

A taste of what’s on offer

The Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science is offering a RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) certificate program. Presenters include experts from Airbus Canada, Bombardier, and the Hydro-Québec Research Institute, as well as Concordia’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Instructors will show students how to improve product reliability and minimize waste. These methods have “substantial financial and economic benefits,” says Sorin Voiculescu, lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering.

“But they also help respond to ecological concerns. Design Reliability, for example, will help reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The methods taught in the program will also help contribute to many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.”

Those in management, engineering, and project development can meet the sensei of the business world in the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification program. Taught by experienced “Master Black Belt instructors,” the program teaches students to streamline organizational efforts, increase efficiency, and better manage product development. Various data analysis methods will enable students to diagnosis and address problems impeding a project.

Bonnie Harnden, associate professor in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies, is teaching courses as part of a Graduate Certificate in Play Therapy. This therapeutic approach allows children to work through feelings and problems through play. Students will not only study theories of play therapy. They will also practice role-play and other play therapy techniques.

Award-winning journalist Patti Sonntag will lead a summer course in problem-solving across disciplines about access to potable water in Canada. Sonntag recently served as producer on the largest collaborative investigation in Canadian history.

Along with others, she helped reveal alarming facts about the lead content in many of Canada’s water systems. “This program will give students a chance to see behind the scenes of a major investigation,” she says, adding that they will also think through some of the hurdles that lie ahead.

“There exists a lot of knowledge and data about water quality. The problem is that clean water is still not available in many rural areas across Canada. Students will collaborate on practical solutions to addressing these issues. I’m excited to see what kinds of creative ideas a diverse group of participants will come up with!”

Travel and International Experiences

“Students locally and abroad want to spend the summer studying in Montreal and at Concordia,” says Fortin. “There are many public cultural opportunities here in the summer to complement one’s experience at Concordia.”

Concordia is collaborating with Montréal Complètement Cirque and the National Circus School of Montreal to offer a “Circus and Inventions” graduate program.

“Last year, we had students from 12 different countries,” says Louis Patrick Leroux, professor and associate dean of research in the Faculty of Arts and Science.

The program is especially geared toward what he calls “thinker-doers, those who tend to contemplate or examine through creative processes. This includes artists, pedagogues, engineers, designers, space-making specialists, and magie-nouvelle specialists.”

Although Leroux will share his own expertise, part of his job is to “get out of the way and let everyone’s intense creativity unfold. Everyone will have an active role to play. We are all responsible for this being a success.”

Because the program is “hyper-niche” it attracts many international participants. “And many of them,” says Leroux, “still keep in touch and continue the dialogues that we began in past sessions.”

Summer @Concordia

While providing formal education and career opportunities is an essential function of the university, Fortin points out that Concordia also sees itself as serving a broader role.

“All of us continue to develop personally throughout our lives. One need not be working on a degree or moving to a new profession to benefit from a summer program. Concordia strives to be a place that can help foster any kind of personal development.”

Find out more about Summer at Concordia.