TORONTO – Bell and Queen’s University announced the launch Monday of the Annual Bell Lecture on Mental Health and Anti-Stigma, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of mental health and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.
The inaugural lecture, entitled “Breaking the Silence,” will be held on June 25 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto and will feature leading mental health researcher Dr. Heather Stuart and award-winning author James FitzGerald. Michael Landsberg, TSN’s Off the Record, will be the master of ceremonies. “The Annual Bell Lecture aims at sparking a dialogue between scholars, people affected by mental illness and the wider community,” said Daniel Woolf, principal and vice-chancellor of Queen’s University, in a release. “Queen’s is proud to partner with Bell to launch this lecture series and work towards reducing the stigma often associated with mental illness.”
“Bell is very pleased to work closely with Queen’s University to support anti-stigma research and mental health awareness, including funding the world’s first chair in anti-stigma research,” said Mary Deacon, chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “The Annual Bell Lecture on Mental Health and Anti-Stigma will broaden the discussion to help fight the stigma, which remains the single biggest barrier to people seeking help.”
The Bell Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair was established at Queen’s in 2012 with a donation of $1 million from Bell Let’s Talk to the Queen’s Initiative Campaign.
