Today@Dal

Each year the Dalhousie Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention (HREHP) develops a mosaic calendar of religious holidays and cultural dates for faculty, staff and students.

See below for a sample of December dates to observe, reflect, celebrate or promote throughout the university community. The Academic Year Calendar is available at http://hrehp.dal.ca/Calendar/.

All Jewish and Islamic Holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the first date shown.

November 28 – Dec 6

Hanukkah (JU)
Hanukkah also known as the Festival of Lights is celebrated for eight days commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar. The Maccabees, a small group of Jews fighting for religious freedom won victory over the Syrians. The legend goes that to rededicate the Temple, they found only one jar of holy oil and miraculously the candelabra remained lit for 8 days. The eighth candle menorah is lit. Special readings and songs of praise focus on liberty and freedom.

December 1

World Aids Day (UN)
This is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS. On December 1 every year, the world comes together to commemorate World AIDS Day. The theme for World AIDS Day has been determined by the World AIDS Campaign since 1997

Rosa Parks Day
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks - Was an African American civil rights activist whom the U.S. Congress later called ’Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement’. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James Blake’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Her action was not the first of its kind: Irene Morgan, in 1946, and Sarah Louise Keys, in 1955, had won rulings before the Supreme Court and the Interstate Commerce Commission respectively in the area of interstate bus travel. But unlike these previous individual actions of civil disobedience, Parks’ action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This movement turned Parks into an international icon of resistance to racial segregation and launched boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr., to national prominence in the civil rights movement. Parks eventually received honours ranging from the 1979 Spingarn Medal to a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.

December 1-24

First Day of Advent (CH-W)
Advent is the period of preparation for Christmas

December 3

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (UN)
The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, December 3rd, aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The theme of the Day is based on the goal of full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities, established by the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by the General Assembly in 1982

December 6

Maunajiyaras (JA)
Maunajiyaras is a day of fasting, silence and meditation on the five holy beings; monks, teachers, religious leaders, Arihants (Jinas, enlightened masters) and Siddhas (liberated souls). This day is also regarded as the anniversary of the birth of many of the Tirthankaras or Pathfinders.

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women
Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women. As well as commemorating the 14 young women whose lives ended in an act of gender-based violence that shocked the nation, December 6 represents an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls

Halifax Explosion Memorial Day
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives that had accidentally collided with a ship set for Belgium in ‘The Narrows’ section of the Halifax Harbour. Approximately 2,000 people (mostly Canadians) were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. This is still one of the world’s largest man-made, conventional explosions to date.

December 8

Rohatsu – Bodhi Day (BU)

December 10

International Human Rights Day (UN)
On December 10, 1948, members of the United Nations gathered in Paris to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each year since then December 10th marks International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the day that the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This unprecedented act was to ensure that the inherent dignity of every person is valued and protected.

December 14

Symphony Nova Scotia – The Nutcracker
Symphony Nova Scotia’s The Nutcracker has been Halifax’s favourite holiday tradition for more than 20 years. When a little girl’s toy comes to life, she’s whisked away to an enchanted world where she must overcome the ferocious Mouse Queen! Featuring innovative giant puppets, spirited dancing, and Tchaikovsky’s hauntingly beautiful music, this tale of magic and wonder is a seasonal treat for all ages.
info@symphonyns.ca

December 15

A King’s Christmas
A feast of seasonal song and story! Described by the Chronicle Herald as “annual magic”, A King’s Christmas is back for its sixth year. Directed by Grammy award-winning musician Paul Halley, the University of King’s College Chapel Choir will perform a beautiful blend of carols from the medieval to the modern. Ken Schwartz, Artistic Director of the award-winning Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company, joins the group as guest narrator and will intersperse the music with readings for the season. Two shows in Halifax on December 15, 2013: 4:00 PM matinee and 7:30 pm evening.
vanessa.halley@ukings.ca

December 19-20

Symphony Nova Scotia’s Handel’s Messiah
Handel’s Messiah is a moving, electrifying masterpiece, and a highlight of the Christmas season for hundreds of Nova Scotians each year. Now, Symphony Nova Scotia performs this great work with our very own chorus master and conductor, Jeff Joudrey. Along with four guest soloists and the 80-member Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus, he unfolds the drama of this performance, from recitative, to aria, to chorus, in a passionate retelling of one of the most well-known stories of our time.
info@symphonyns.ca

December 21

Yule (WICCA)
Yule, which marks the New Year in the Anglo-Saxon and northern traditions of Wicca, is the celebration of the birth of the God of the Winter-born King, symbolized by the rebirth of the life-generating and life-sustaining sun. It is a time for ritually shedding the impurities of the past year, and for contemplating avenues of spiritual development in the year ahead.

Tohji-taisai (SH)
The Grand Ceremony of the December Solstice, celebrates the joy of the ending of the yin period of the sun, when it declines in strength, and the beginning of its growing power of yang period. The sun is of central importance in Japan, expressing the presence of Amaterasu Omikami, the Kami of the Sun.

December 25

Christmas (CH)
Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. It refers to both the day commemorating the birth, and also the Christmastide season which that day inaugurates, concluding with the Feast of the Epiphany. The date of the celebration is traditional, and is not considered to be Jesus’ actual date of birth. Christmas festivities often combine the observation of the Nativity with various cultural customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals. Although nominally a Christian holiday, it is also observed as a cultural holiday by many non-Christians.