Trent University Luminary: Lucie Edwards
4 minutes, 49 seconds in length
Description: Lucie Edwards is seated near a window.
Lucie Edwards:
I'm Lucie Edwards, Trent graduate, 1976, and I am currently back at school, I'm doing a Ph.D. at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. I have spent 34 years working largely overseas on issues of international peace, security, diplomacy and development. And you know, got to the point where I figured it was time to go back and think about how we could make the world work better, because the toolkit available to us these days is not sufficient for what we need for the 21st century problems.
I find the whole process of working with people in their 20's fantastic, I love teaching and its been a chance to reflect on what was an amazing career.
I was Canadian High Commissioner in Kenya in the 90's and then later on High Commissioner to South Africa at the turn of the millennium and went on to India where I had the opportunity of the High Commissioner and the first Canadian Ambassador to Bhutan which is something very special...
Well, the great interests in my career were first human rights and security, how could we work better and build the fragile states, and second and fundamentally, how could we work on the whole issue of global poverty, because of course the roots of all conflict can be found in terms of inequality and the lack of essential resources for the poor.
Obviously Canada is not a world power like the United States, but our whole tradition in terms of peacekeeping, our work in terms of human rights, the very imaginative work towards peace-building and nation-building that we've been able to do in places like South Africa after apartheid, has demonstrated that we can really make a huge difference, and on the side of development - the work we've done for example in bringing up programs to help victims of AIDS in Africa, or to work on food security - have made a huge difference in people's lives. I think that Canadians can be enormously proud of what their money has been able to do as investment in making the world a much better place.
Well, I came to Trent largely because I was very interested in the Native Studies program - that was kind of my background, I wanted to find my roots - but I had an equal interest in how poverty manifested itself around the world. And what I admired about Trent was that they really were able to understand the issues of development, and issues of conflict around the world were the same whether they took place in the Canadian High Arctic or whether they took place in Latin America. So for me, it was a really strong integrated understanding.
So that was enormously powerful for my thinking about the world. But equally important is the way that working in small groups at Trent, getting to know the faculty very well meant you really never disappeared into the woodwork, you are constantly challenged you are able to work under enormously interesting projects, and with enormously interesting people. And I think that made a huge difference.
All over the world I've met incredibly fascinating people but you know, it started with meeting some really amazing people at Trent.
Well you know last year I was lucky enough to be named as the Ashley scholar, which meant I got to work with the undergraduates in the environment program and also in the international development program, and that was fantastic.
I'm glad to say that at Trent nobody disappears into the woodwork nowadays either, and there is this amazing kind of critical engagement in the issues that I think are the most important ones, the issues of environment and the issues of global poverty.
So I feel very comfortable, that tradition of 30 years ago is still very much in place.
For my own purpose, both as a researcher, in continuing to work in international organizations that are working and consumed with problems of the poor and also in terms of research and teaching, I hope to continue to make a useful role, to make a difference in the world through the kind of work that I've been doing.
I see a complete thread from those early days at Trent to what I'm doing now, and even if there were points when it was perhaps more glamorous in India, or in Bhutan or in South Africa, what we're doing now rooted in Canada is intended to make the world a better place.
Well, again, luckily enough I was able to come and teach at Trent a year ago and stay in residence, so to meet the young people on a different basis as part of their community and it was enormously rewarding.
I don't have any hesitation of recommending the University to all of my friends' children and I think it is still such a gift to be able to be on the banks of the Trent as a place to grow up.
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