A lot has changed across this country since John Meisel first took up residence here at Queen’s in 1949 as a lecturer in Political Studies. But one thing that remains a constant is the existence of political controversy and the need for scholars, policy makers, and the public to explore and address it.

This is where a new annual lecture series at Queen’s will come in. The John Meisel Scholar Series in Contemporary Political Controversies is set for Thursday, Nov. 23 from 4 to 5:30 pm in the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. The inaugural visiting scholar will be Debra Thompson from the University of Oregon and the title of her lecture is “Trump, Race, and Time”.

“This scholar series is an ideal way for the university to celebrate John’s incredible career and the contributions he has made to Queen’s and Canada in his roles as a professor, public servant, and public intellectual,” says Zsuzsa Csergő, Political Studies Department Head. “He was an important voice in many of this country’s most important debates over many decades, including discussions over the future of Canadian culture and arts, and battles over the constitution, to name a few.”

Professor Meisel was also a pioneer in research into political behavior and he wrote widely on Canadian elections, political parties, Quebec politics, science policy, and cultural policy. He was the founding editor of two prestigious academic journals, the Canadian Journal of Political Science and the International Political Science Review. From 1980 to 1983 he was Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and later served as president of the Royal Society of Canada.

Recently he celebrated his 94th birthday at the Queen’s University Club where members of the Political Studies department unveiled the scholar series founded in his honour. The event will also highlight the important contributions of Queen’s Political Studies to scholarship and public engagement both nationally and internationally.

The lecture is open to the public and is being sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Science with support from alumni.

For more information visit the Queen’s Political Studies website.