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 March dates to observe, reflect, celebrate or promote throughout the university community. The complete calendar is available on the website, http://hrehp.dal.ca/Calendar/

Reminder: The Jewish/Muslim calendar date begins at sundown of the night beforehand. Thus all holiday observances begin at sundown on the secular dates listed, with the following day being the first full day of the holiday
 
March 2-20

Ala, Fast of Nineteen Days (BA)

'Ala (Loftiness) is the 19th and final month. It marks the beginning of a 19-day fast which lasts until March 20th and which prepares worshippers for the New Year (Nowrouz)

March 2               

Maha Shivratri (Great Shiva Night) (HI)

Maha Shivratri (Great Shiva Night) (HI) - According to Hindu mythology, Shivaratri or 'Shiva's Great Night' symbolizes the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Many however, believe, Shivaratri is the night when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava Nritya - the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction

World day of Prayer

Held the first Friday in March, this is an international movement of women who came together in 1927 to observe a common day of prayer each year. It is carried out by women in over 170 countries annually.

March 4

Distinguished Lecture Series
James Robinson Johnston
Chair in Black Canadian Studies
Dr. Afua Cooper
Presents - The Honourable Senator Donald H. Oliver, Q.C.

Blacks in Canadian
Society, Discrimination, Racism, and the Quest for Equality.
Please join us as Senator Oliver discusses his current paper on African Canadians and their quest for equality in Canadian Society today. Senator Oliver will discuss the necessity and urgency of taking action to bring about changes for the better.

7:00 PM Lecture 8:30 PM Reception
MacMechan Auditorium, 6225 University Avenue, Killam Memorial Library, Dalhousie University
 
 
March 6-10

East Coast Music Week

East Coast Music Week is a five-day, non-stop musical celebration showcasing and recognizing the best of East Coast artists and music. East Coast Music Week 2013 will be a celebration of 25 incredible years of East Coast music.

The city where it all began, Halifax, NS, hosts the event March 6-10, 2013. The East Coast Music Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 10 at the Cunard Centre.

March 7

Mahler and Mozart with Nikki Chooi

After making a splash across the province with his hugely successful 2008 Debut Atlantic tour, young Canadian violinist and rising star Nikki Chooi returns to Nova Scotia. He joins the orchestra for its first performance in nearly two decades of Mozart’s graceful and serene Violin Concerto no. 4, on a program that also includes a brand-new arrangement of Mahler’s sparkling, optimistic Fourth.

Admission   Price: $29.00
Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Ave, Halifax, NS
Contact Tel: 902.494.3820 Tel: 1.800.874.1669
 
5th Annual Women & Wellness Nova Scotia
Westin Nova Scotian Halifax Hotel (6:00-9:30)
Women and Wellness brings women together to share stories of hope, recovery and resiliency.
International Guest Speaker Terry Wise, Award winning author and speaker who inspires diverse audiences with her story about hope and personal triumph
Performer Laura Burke, Spoken Word Poet, enlightening audiences with her journey through schizophrenia and recovery
Master of Ceremonies Olga Milosevich, Producer and Host of the weekly arts show, Connections on CBC Radio
There is no cost to attend, although donations are welcome and encouraged through our silent auction or by personal donation. Revenue raised will support CMHA NS Division education and stigma reduction.

RSVP: CMHA NS Division Office at T: 1.902.466.6600 email: suecmhans@eastlink.ca
 
March 8

International Women’s Day

Based on a UN resolution of 1977, the International Women’s Day is annually observed on March 8th as an official UN event, to commemorate the historic struggle to improve women’s lives. It is celebrated around the world at the local and national level

DAL: Transition Year Program approved 1970

Holi

In India the Spring Festival is called Holi the festival of colors. It is a festival of fun and frolic and has been associated with the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. Celebrated in March or April according to the Hindu calendar, the festival mainly started to welcome the spring season and win the blessings of Gods for good harvests and fertility of the land. It is the second most important festival of India after Diwali.

In most areas, Holi lasts about two days. One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally include age, sex, status, and caste. Holi closes the wide gaps between social classes and brings Hindus together. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day. Although it is the least religious holiday, it is probably one of the most exhilarating ones in existence.

March 10

Aboriginal people gain the right to vote in national elections 1960

March 14

Sikh New Year’s Day (SI)

Beginning of the year 543 of the Nanakshahi Era

Commonwealth Day

In 1973 the National Council in Canada of the Royal Commonwealth Society in a letter to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau suggested that the idea of Commonwealth Day to be observed simultaneously throughout the Commonwealth be included on the agenda for the Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Ottawa that year.  At the meeting of senior officials in Canberra in May 1976, the Canadian proposal that the second Monday in March be set as Commonwealth Day was adopted. It is not a statutory holiday; rather it is a day of observance by close to one billion persons of their common bonds and the contribution of the Commonwealth of Nations to the creation of a harmonious global environment

March 15-20

Ghambar Hamaspathmaedem (ZO)

Celebrates the creation of human beings.

March 17

St. Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick's Day is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick one of the patron saints of Ireland.

Sunday, March 17, 2013, 2:00 pm

Bach’s Brandenburg

St. Andrew's United Church, Halifax
Featuring: Symphony Nova Scotia musicians
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2
Bach: Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor
Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto in C Major
Bach: Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor

Enjoy one musical highlight after another in this season’s homegrown baroque celebration! Symphony Nova Scotia’s own virtuoso musicians take on the highlighted solo roles in baroque showpieces like Bach’s elegant Orchestral Suite and Vivaldi’s uplifting Piccolo Concerto. Completing the program is Bach’s perennially popular Brandenburg Concerto no. 2, performed by Symphony Nova Scotia for the first time in ten years.

Tickets: $46 floor/$54 balcony (HST included). Or, buy a ticket package to save up to 30% and receive special benefits and rewards.

Under age 30? Attend for only $15 with the TD Under-30 Access Pass.

http://www.symphonynovascotia.ca/default.asp?mn=1.242.701.709&sfield=content.id&search=1650

March 20

Spring Ohigon (BU)

Spring Ohigon is a special time for Jodo Shinshu Buddhists. They listen to the teaching of the Buddha and meditate on the perfection of enlightenment. (Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Mahayana/North America)

Ostara (PS)

Ostara is one of the eight major Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the Vernal Equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane. "The Festival of Ostara at the spring equinox marks the end of winter and the beginning of the season of rebirth (spring), and is celebrated by a blot in honour of Frigg and Freya and/or the disir, the collective of female fertility deities. “The "blot" is a celebratory meal (also known as "cakes and ale") that is believed to be shared with the goddess.

Shunki-sorei-sai (SH)

The March memorial service is held at home altars to revere ancestors as kami. Grave-sites are cleaned and purified.

March 21

Naw Ruz (New Year) (BA, ZO)

Naw Ruz or Nowruz is the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian solar year. It is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian, Turkish and many other peoples in West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Caucasus, the Crimea, and the Balkans. Naw Ruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (start of spring in northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. (Non-work day Baha’i) As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents the Baha’i Faith. In Iran it is also referred to as an Eid festival, although it is not an Islamic feast. Alawites and Nizari Ismaili Muslims also celebrate Nowruz.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN)

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March with activities led by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, New York and at field-presences. This year's theme is: "Racism and Discrimination: Obstacles to Development."  On 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". In 1966, the General Assembly proclaimed 21 March as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to commemorate the Sharpeville tragedy (resolution 2142 (XXI) of 26 October 1966). 21 March has since then served not only to remind the international community of the dire consequences of racism, but also to recall our obligation and determination to combat racial discrimination.

March 24

Passion/Palm Sunday (CH)

On Palm Sunday Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. For many Christian churches, Palm Sunday, often referred to as "Passion Sunday," marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday. The Bible reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him with waving palm branches, and by covering his path with palm branches. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross

March 25

International day of remembrance of the victims of slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (UN)

On 17 December 2007, the UN General Assembly designated March 25th as an annual International Day for the Commemoration of the Two-Hundredth Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, beginning in 2008. The purpose of this day is to honour the memory of those who died as a result of slavery as well as those who have been exposed to the horrors of the middle passage and have fought for freedom from enslavement. In addition, it is a day to discuss the causes, consequences, and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade in order to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice.

March 25-April 2
Passover (Pesach) (JU)

Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.  Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and is celebrated for seven or eight days. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays. This time commemorates Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.  No leavened bread is consumed and special prayers are made. No work permitted (March 26-27 or April 1-2).

March 26

2ND ANNUAL DALHOUSIE IMPACT AWARDS GALA EVENING -
 
               
Dalhousie Student Union and Dalhousie University will collaborate to host the Second Annual Dalhousie Impact Awards Gala evening  in the McInnes Room, Student Union Building.  This celebration of leadership gives recognition to the many students who have made great contributions to campus or community life in the past year and provides an opportunity for the Dalhousie administrative and academic community to show our support and appreciation to these students for their contributions.  The evening will feature a dinner and award presentations.  The event will culminate with Dalhousie’s most prestigious student leadership award, the annual Board of Governors’ Awards.
 
               
March 27

Magha Puja Day (BU)

Magha Puja day is an important Buddhist festival celebrated in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually falls in February). The third lunar month is known in the Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha); Bucha is also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning "to venerate" or "to honor". As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month. The spiritual aims of the day are: not to commit any kind of sins; do only good; purify one's mind. Māgha Pūjā is a public holiday in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - and is an occasion when Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

March 28

Hola Mohalla (SI)

Hola Mohalla or simply Hola is a Sikh festival that takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chet which usually falls in March. This follows the Hindu festival of Holi; and the Guru made Hola Mohalla an occasion for the Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles. Together the words "Hola Mohalla" stands for "mock fight". During these festivals, processions are organized in the form of army type columns accompanied by war-drums and standard-bearers and proceeding to a given spot or moving in state from one gurdwara to another. The custom originated in the time of Guru Gobind Singh who held first such mock fight event at Anandpur in February 1701

Birth Anniversary of Zarathustra (ZO)

Zoroastrian remembrance of the birth of Prophet Zarathustra

March 29
Good Friday
Good Friday occurs two days before Easter Sunday. It is the day when Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, which plays an important part in the Christian faith. It is also a statutory holiday in all Canadian provinces and territories except Quebec, where it is partially observed. This is an important event in Christianity, as it represents the sacrifices and suffering in Jesus' life. The crucifixion was the culmination of a number of events in Holy Week, including: the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus; and the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday.

March 31

Easter Sunday
Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches. Christians believe according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter. Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in him, eternal life in Christ Jesus.