[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":110},["ShallowReactive",2],{"activist-section-phyllis-artiss-forming-her-activism":3,"activist-phyllis-artiss":45},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":12,"extension":37,"meta":38,"navigation":39,"oldPath":40,"path":41,"seo":42,"stem":43,"__hash__":44},"activistSections\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002F01.forming-her-activism.md","Forming Her Activism",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":32},"minimark",[9,13,18,29],[10,11,12],"p",{},"\"Am I an activist?\" Phyllis repeats Liz's question. She tells Liz that her parents would not have called themselves activists, but she considers their influence fundamental in shaping her commitment to social justice as she grew up in rural Nova Scotia. \"They talked to us about the Golden Rule rather than social justice, and they expected us to treat others as we wanted to be treated ourselves. Most important, they set an example of sharing whatever we had with friends, neighbours and the needy near and far. We (six) children were expected to pull our weight at home and in the community. We helped neighbours with chores. We went door-to-door collecting for church, school, community, the Red Cross, overseas missions and other worthy causes.\" It was important to treat everyone with respect. \"You were polite and offered hospitality to anyone who came to the door, whether you knew them or not, including itinerants who needed a bed or food or a drive to the doctor or the county home for the homeless.\"",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"defining-social-activism","Defining social activism",[10,19,20,21,28],{},"For Phyllis, social activism is whatever she does to help make the world a fairer place. \"Generally I use the term to refer to activities that go beyond individual, isolated acts of kindness or courage, to acts that are part of a larger movement, ones that involve people working together for change,\" she says. However, \"Some individual acts lead to social changes that may not have been imagined at the outset. Think of ",[22,23,27],"a",{"href":24,"rel":25},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.rosaparks.org\u002F",[26],"nofollow","Rosa Parks"," taking a bus seat intended for Whites Only. I believe it was a political act for her, but I don't think she would have anticipated its social and political impact on the Civil Liberties movement of her time.\"",[10,30,31],{},"\"When I look back on my teaching,\" says Phyllis, \"much of it was a form of social activism. And vice versa. For me, good teaching means trying to make the world a better place. And to my way of thinking, activism usually involves some form of teaching, directly or indirectly, through what I do as well as what I say. Not everyone would consider that an appropriate role for teacher or professor, but I saw it as my central role.\"",{"title":33,"searchDepth":34,"depth":34,"links":35},"",2,[36],{"id":16,"depth":34,"text":17},"md",{},true,"\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Fforming-her-activism","\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Fforming-her-activism",{"title":5,"description":12},"activists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002F01.forming-her-activism","ysPD4XYVO0oFeQ7uhffvRvL6rTFSh-Nwlhf66z88mEQ",{"id":46,"title":47,"body":48,"description":52,"extension":37,"links":76,"meta":80,"navigation":39,"oldPath":81,"path":82,"pictures":83,"portrait":87,"portraitAlt":88,"province":89,"quote":90,"sections":91,"seo":106,"stem":107,"summary":108,"__hash__":109},"activists\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Findex.md","Phyllis Artiss",{"type":7,"value":49,"toc":74},[50,53,56,65,71],[10,51,52],{},"Liz Burge talked with Phyllis in her book–lined house with its views to its colourful gardens that decorate her city property. Phyllis welcomed this interview, as it prompted her to think about choices she is facing now in her retirement, as a widow with family, friends and interests in different parts of the world. \"This is an opportunity to pause and consider who I've been, who I am now, and who I want to be. I don't find the answers much easier today than they were decades ago.\"",[10,54,55],{},"Phyllis Artiss was a faculty member in English and Women's Studies at Memorial University for over forty years. She holds a teaching diploma from Acadia (1959) and degrees from the University of Edinburgh (MA 1965) and University of Texas at Austin (PhD 1989). She has a daughter and three granddaughters in Australia, and a son in Labrador.",[10,57,58,59,64],{},"Her ",[22,60,63],{"href":61,"rel":62},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fgroup.php?gid=85201785211",[26],"NDP Election webpage"," summarizes some of her activities:",[66,67,68],"blockquote",{},[10,69,70],{},"She received the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Graduate Students' Award for Contributions to Student Life. In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Artiss has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and commitment to social justice in the university, the province and beyond. She was a founding member of the St. John's Native Friendship Centre, the St. John's Oxfam Centre, and the Brighter Futures Literacy\u002FComputer Program, and a long-time member of the St. John's Status of Women Council and its projects.",[10,72,73],{},"Her profile here highlights her work as an activist at Memorial and in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hear her voice through direct quotations and other approved transcript texts.",{"title":33,"searchDepth":34,"depth":34,"links":75},[],[77],{"url":78,"title":79},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.mun.ca\u002Fpresident\u002F99-00report\u002Fteaching\u002Findex.html","Memorial University of Newfoundland: President's Report 1999-2000: Teaching",{},"\u002Fcontent\u002Fphyllis-artiss","\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss",[84],{"image":85,"caption":86},"\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Fpicture-1.jpg","Phyllis Artiss (right) picking redberries with Fran Williams and Elizabeth Penashue in Nain, Labrador.","\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Fportrait.jpg","Portrait of Phyllis Artiss.","Newfoundland and Labrador","I feel most comfortable with myself when I find opportunities to act with like-minded people working together for a more just, honest and peaceful world.",[92,94,97,100,103],{"slug":93,"label":5},"forming-her-activism",{"slug":95,"label":96},"practising-academic-activism","Practising Academic Activism",{"slug":98,"label":99},"practising-community-activism","Practising Community Activism",{"slug":101,"label":102},"linking-university-and-community-needs","Linking University and Community Needs",{"slug":104,"label":105},"last-words","Last Words",{"title":47,"description":52},"activists\u002Fphyllis-artiss\u002Findex","Phyllis Artiss took every opportunity she could to help university students, especially Aboriginals and internationals, toward better academic success but she also tackled equity issues affecting women academics, linked women's studies with community-based living conditions, and gave significant service to municipal and provincial feminist organizations.","JashqWaw0kSkVJ2Akho22fMNauVMju3wZ0mz60mwZhU",1789062652051]