Author Archives: Michael K. Barbour

About Michael K. Barbour

Michael K. Barbour is the Director of Faculty Development and a Professor of Instructional Design for the College of Education and Health Sciences at Touro University California. He has been involved with K-12 online learning in a variety of countries for well over a decade as a researcher, teacher, course designer and administrator. Michael's research focuses on the effective design, delivery and support of K-12 online learning, particularly for students located in rural jurisdictions.

We’re welcoming a new researcher; celebrating Black History Month

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An item from one of our fellow Canadian organizations in the Bay Area.

Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Event tomorrow: Social Diversity, Partisan Identity & the 2019 Canadian Election
Welcome new Sproul Fellow, Rebecca Wallace
Canada and the US celebrate Black History Month
Important travel update: Canada implements further air travel restrictions
Upcoming event: Film talk on The Blinding Sea
Affiliate event in French: “Le système d’immigration canadien”
Affiliate event: “The Black Experience in Canada & the US”

Event Tomorrow

Social Diversity, Partisan Identities and the 2019 Canadian Election

February 2 | 12:30 p.m. | RSVP here

Join Professor Allison Harell as she explores the ways in which intergroup dynamics structure vote choice in Canada. Drawing on the 2019 Canadian Election Study, she focuses in particular on how partisan identities and political preferences are anchored in key social cleavages in Canada that structured the way in which the 2019 election campaign played out.

Allison Harell is a professor of political science at the Université du Québec à Montréal and holds the UQAM Research Chair in the Political Psychology of Social Solidarity. She is interested in how social diversity affects the political world, especially the ways in which prejudice influences public opinion formation. Her current research focuses on how intergroup relations influence support for both economic and political solidarity, as well as how intergroup perceptions spill over into electoral politics.

Welcome New Sproul Fellow, Rebecca Wallace

Canadian Studies is pleased to announce that Dr. Rebecca Wallace will be joining our team as a John A. Sproul Research Fellow for the spring semester. Dr. Wallace will assist program director Irene Bloemraad in conducting research and analysis measuring Canadians’ attitudes towards immigration. Friends of the program may remember her from a lecture she gave in March 2020, in which she probed how Canadian media frames the “deservingness” of Indigenous and immigrant welfare recipients.

Dr. Wallace received her Ph.D. in political studies at Queen’s University, and holds a B.A.H. with distinction and an M.A. in political studies from the same institution. Her research focuses on Canadian politics, with a focus on visible minorities and immigrants. She was previously a doctoral fellow at the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations and a research assistant for the Canadian Opinion Research Archive, and held a Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council from 2016-2019. Following the conclusion of her term at Berkeley, she will start a faculty appointment as am assistant professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia on July 1.

We are thrilled to have Dr. Wallace join the program, and look forward to a productive partnership.

Canada and the US Celebrate Black History Month

Prime Minister Trudeau issued a special statement today recognizing the beginning of Black History Month in Canada. The Prime Minister’s statement encourages citizens “honour the legacy of Black Canadians… and reflect on the many contributions they have made to our country.” At the same time, he emphasizes “the importance of learning about Black experiences in Canada, recognizing and addressing injustices, and building back better together”.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the commemoration in Canada, which was introduced by Canada’s first black female MP, Jean Augustine, in 1995. February was first officially recognized as Black History Month in the United States in 1970; the timing was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln.

For a topical read, Canadian Studies recommends faculty affiliate Cecil S. Giscombe’s writing on the Black communities of British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Giscombe’s 2000 memoir Into and Out of Dislocation follows the writer’s family through a winter in British Columbia, as he retraces the footsteps of the Jamaican pioneer (and possible relative) John Robert Giscome. The book mixes insights into the province’s history and evocative geographical writing with deep meditations on the meaning of “otherness” and outsider status.

Canada Imposes Further Air Travel Restrictions

On January 29, the Canadian Government announced significantly tighter restrictions on entering the country by air. Most notably, all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean have been cancelled until April 30. Furthermore, all flights from the United States will be funnelled into one of four specially-designated airports beginning February 3. Lastly, all travellers arriving in Canada by air must spend a three-night quarantine in a government-approved hotel at their own cost. Please read the government brief for the full list of regulations.

Upcoming Event

Film Talk: The BIinding Sea

March 9 | 12:30 p.m. | RSVP here

Join filmmaker George Tombs for a discussion of his 2020 documentary The Blinding Sea. The film chronicles the life of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928), the first person to lead a successful expedition through the Northwest Passage. It evokes the joys, sorrows, relationships, and missed opportunities in the life of Amundsen, who disappeared mysteriously during a polar flight in 1928. The film places a special focus on Amundsen’s relations with the Indigenous people he encountered on his voyages, particularly the Inuit.

A free link to the documentary will be sent in advance of the event. We request all participants watch the documentary before joining the discussion.

George Tombs is an award-winning author and filmmaker based in Montreal, who works in both English and French. He is currently writing a biography of Roald Amundsen. His past works include Robber Baron, a biography of controversial media tycoon Conrad Black, and his recent humorous novel Mind the Gap.

Affiliate/External Events

Conférence: “Le système d’immigration canadien”

February 3 | 4:30 p.m. | RSVP here

Note: This event will be conducted in French.

L’immigration a joué un rôle très important dans l’histoire et le développement du Canada en tant que pays. Dans ce programme virtuel, l’Alliance française de Berkeley accueillera deux experts pour mener une discussion sur le système d’immigration du Canada. Ils présenteront comment le système canadien se compare à celui des États-Unis, les avantages et les possibilités associés à l’immigration, ainsi que les défis potentiels.

Les panelistes seront Irene Bloemraad, une sociologue politique et directrice du Programme d’études canadiennes à l’Université de Californie à Berkeley, et Yves Beaulieu, le consul pour la politique étrangère et la diplomatie au consulat général du Canada à San Francisco.

The Black Experience in Canada & the U.S.: A Discussion with Debra Thompson

February 24 | 12:00 p.m. | RSVP here

The Black Lives Matter movement has given rise to global conversations on how systems with built in racial inequality continue to affect the lives of people of African descent worldwide. While there is growing awareness of the ongoing legacy of racial inequality in the U.S., the Canadian experience is less well known.

Rana Sarkar, Canadian Consul General in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, will lead a discussion on the Black experience in Canada and the U.S. with Dr. Debra Thompson, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies at McGill University and a leading scholar of the comparative politics of race. Dr. Thompson previously spoke at a Canadian Studies colloquium in September 2020.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Moses Hall #2308

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Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley, 213 Moses Hall #2308, Berkeley, CA 94720

Your Marine Club News for February 2021

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An item from one of our fellow veterans in the Bay Area.

FEBRUARY 2021 MMA EVENT CALENDAR

This MonthOur mission to COMMEMORATE, EDUCATE and SERVE has not gone on lockdown this past year! On the education front, our video series Leading From the Front, hosted and produced by Mike Cerre, brings an illustrious lineup of leaders directly to you through our YouTube channel.

Thank you for “pivoting” with us and supporting our efforts to keep you informed and to keep our Marines’ Memorial family connected.

We are only able to continue providing these opportunities because of your generosity! To support Leading From the Front and other educational initiatives of the Marines’ Memorial, click here.

Also of note for February:
> MMA offices will be closed on Presidents’ Day, February 15th.

Our Living Memorial

Care Packages Hit Their Target

Last month, we delivered 496 care packages to units of 3d Marine Aircraft Wing, currently deployed in support of the USMC’s Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command. The packages contained assorted snacks including jerky and trail mix, reading material, games, and cards to write home with, along with Christmas cards from our members and guests. It was our largest shipment EVER, thanks to your donations!
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT OUR NEXT SHIPMENT OF CARE PACKAGES

Gold Star Honor and Remembrance

For 15 years, we have honored Gold Star parents and their fallen heroes at our annual Honor Remembrance event. Though we must postpone this year’s gathering, our support of these brave families does not waver. We will miss everyone greatly this month and look forward to when we can all come together safely again.

Our First 75 Years, in Stories and Pictures

It’s 2021 and we are celebrating the Marines’ Memorial’s 75th Anniversary Year with an engaging look back! Watch your email inbox each month for Marines’ Memorial: 75 Years in the Making, an all new series celebrating the moments that have made Marines’ Memorial what it is since 1946: the only Living Memorial of its kind.

Video Series: Leading from the Front

New Installment Available!

You won’t want to miss this month’s edition of Leading from the Front! It features Dr. Dean Winslow discussing “The Response to COVID”. Dr. Winslow is Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also a Marines’ Memorial member and USAF veteran!
COMING SOON: VADM Ann Rondeau, USN (Ret), President of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA; LTG H.R. McMaster, USA (Ret), former National Security Adviser.

Take a virtual step inside the Marines’ Memorial Club to watch Emmy Award-winning correspondent and MMA Board Member Mike Cerre speak with leaders on diverse and timely topics. Everyone is invited to view these conversations, so please share them with others!

Leading from the Front is made possible through the generosity of our donors, who support this and other educational programs of the Marines’ Memorial.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Your Membership Matters

Renew Your Membership or Upgrade to a Lifetime Benefactor Membership

If you are not yet a Benefactor member, make 2021 the year you upgrade and enjoy these privileges: Lifetime Membership, a special Benefactor Holiday (2 nights plus $50 for dinner in the Leatherneck Steakhouse), Suite Upgrades at no charge (based on availability), 15% Discount on Food and Beverage, 15% at Marine Club Store, and Advance Reservations for select MMC events.

CLICK HERE TO UPGRADE | CLICK HERE TO RENEW | OR CALL MEMBERSHIP AT (415) 673-6672

February Still Counts as the New Year! Your Resolution: Refer a Friend for Membership and Earn a Night’s Stay at Your Club

For each new member who joins on your referral, you will receive a free night’s accommodations at the Marines’ Memorial Club! We’ve created a simple process for you to send membership invitations online. Get started by clicking below.

CLICK HERE TO INVITE YOUR FRIENDS

Your Home Away From Home

TripAdvisor Rates MMC Among the World’s Top Hotels

Thanks to our high ratings and great reviews from guests, the Marines’ Memorial Club is now listed among the top 10% of hotels worldwide! Congratulations to our members whose support helps sustain the Marines’ Memorial and to our staff who create the Club experience that we all know and love.

STAY TUNED for special Spring Fever packages, as we prepare to welcome you back to the Club!

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR STAY

CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Win-Win Ways to Support MMA

Just because the holidays are behind us doesn’t mean we’ve stopped shopping. Did you know that Amazon.com will donate on your behalf with every purchase? There’s just one thing you need to do first: sign up!

On your computer, go to Smile.Amazon.com and follow the instructions.

In your iPhone’s Amazon App, open the main menu, tap Settings, tap AmazoneSmile, and follow the activation instructions.

Gift Cards Are a Great Way to Support Marines’ Memorial

What better way to celebrate your favorite veteran than with a gift card to use at his or her favorite Hotel and Living Memorial? And did you know that you can give yourself that gift, too? Buy a Marines’ Memorial Gift Card for a future stay at your Club and book your stay now. We will be flexible with any needed reservation changes.

Gift Cards can be used for guestroom accommodations, restaurant, and Marine Club Store items.

Gift Card purchases are non-refundable, become valid 7 days after purchase, and do not expire.

PURCHASE GIFT CARDS BY PHONE: (415) 673-6672 ext. 0

Let’s Stay Connected

Take a Virtual Tour of the Living Memorial

If you have not yet seen this excellent video tour, hosted by Col Brendan Kearney, USMC (Ret.), why not take a moment now? It’s a great reminder of the power of honoring our legacy, and of what makes the Marines’ Memorial Club so unique.
CLICK HERE TO BEGIN

Explore Our YouTube Channel

Are there events you’ve attended, enjoyed and would like to revisit? Or a few you couldn’t make it to? Well, settle in: there are dozens of videos here, including Meet the Author, Commemorations, George P. Shultz Lecture Series, other special Speaker Events, and more.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PAST EVENTS

Follow Marines’ Memorial on Social Media

Like our Facebook page or follow us on Instagram for updates on upcoming events and updates. Click on the links below or search marinesmemorial.

CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK | CLICK HERE FOR INSTAGRAM

More for Members

Your Wedding, Reimagined

Micro Wedding Flowers.jpg

With the Marines’ Memorial “Micro Wedding,” love wins! We have created two packages for small, intimate weddings for you plus up to 10 guests. Both options are elegant, memorable, and hassle free. Because your wedding story is important to us, we want you to relax, get married, and have fun!

CLICK HERE AND A MEMBER OF OUR TEAM WILL CONTACT YOU WITH THE DETAILS

Reciprocal Clubs: Your Letter of Introduction

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Planning a trip to one of our Reciprocal Clubs? Did you know that you can quickly and easily create your own Letter of Introduction on our website? FIRST, contact the Reciprocal Club to confirm they are open and can accommodate you. Then, click the link below. Click Member Login at the top of the page. Once you’ve logged in, click “Request Letter of Introduction,” enter a date, and submit. Your destination club will receive your letter automatically by email.

CLICK HERE AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE TO GENERATE A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIST OF WORLDWIDE RECIPROCAL CLUBS

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE LIST IN PDF FORMAT

609 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94102 | Tel: (415) 673-6672
Marine’s Memorial Association © 2021 All rights reserved.

Donate | Visit our website

Will you join the epic trip to the Menin Gate?

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An item from the organization formerly known as There But Not There.

Ride to Ypres for RBLI in 2021!

Are you looking to challenge yourself and raise money to support veterans in 2021? Then why not take part in RBLI’s Annual Cycle Ride from the RBLI Village in Aylesford, Kent to the Menin Gate Memorial for the Missing in Ypres, Belgium.

This annual event will see you cycle 150 miles across to Calais and through historic battlefields before finishing in the incredible town of Ypres at the Menin Gate in time for the Last Post.

The ride is taking place on 16th–18th July, the whole ride is fully supported event with luggage transport, support vehicles, refreshments and celebration dinner.

What are you waiting for? Find out more and reserve your space using the button below:

FIND OUT MORE & RESERVE YOUR PLACE

Just 2 Days left of the January Sale!

There’s still time to take advantage of our January sale, with 10% selected products using the following code:

JANUARY10

Code expires 31 Jan 2021.

If you haven’t already, click the button below to take a look at what’s on sale.

Tommy Window Sticker

Price with code: £13.05

SHOP NOW

Limited Edition Tommy Patches

Price with code: £17.99

SHOP NOW

Sterling Silver Tommy Cufflinks

Price with code: £138.60

SHOP NOW

SHOP THE ENTIRE SALE

We have plenty of new and exciting products coming very soon to the RBLI shop, keep you eyes peeled!

Have You Sent Tommy Trotter a Card?

Last week, we sent out a request to send D-Day Veteran and soon-to-be centenarian Tommy a birthday card, in anticipation of his 100th birthday on February 10th.

Tommy, who has Dementia, has sadly lost a lot of his memories of the War as he has not been able to recount his stories to friends or family due to Lockdown. He was set to celebrate his 100th birthday alone, so Julia Cooper, the owner of Tommy’s favorite pub, the Last Post Remembrance Bar and Don War Memorial Museum, took to social media to call for members of the public to send birthday cards to the Veteran.

There’s still time to send Tommy a card for his birthday. RBLI has created a free, printable birthday card, which can be downloaded using the button below:

DOWNLOAD TOMMY’S FREE BIRTHDAY CARD

Send to:
Tommy Trotter
The Last Post
Cranworth Street
Thornaby
TS17 7DR

BBMC Sees Record Month in House Site Signs

The team at Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company are celebrating a successful month this January having completed signs for a housing development, generating record-breaking revenue for the social enterprise.

The housebuilding signs team have completed 6 sites this month in collaboration with close RBLI partner Barratt Developments.

BBMC’s customer Barratt have been quick to show their appreciation for the hard work shown by our team.

Barratt Developments’ Jo Towns said: “Working with RBLI has been a pleasure. Nothing is too much trouble, especially when you run into issues with installing signage ahead of a launch when everyone is feeling the pressure to get everything ready in a short amount of time. “Along with standard signage we have worked on some bespoke artwork projects which have all been very well managed.”

RBLI’s Tommy 10,000 Step Challenge Makes the News!

Our amazing supporters have got behind our most recent Tommy 10,000 Step Challenge, raising an incredible amount of money. The progress of Peter Ketley and Neil Young has been documented by Forces TV; Click the video below and skip to the 20 minute mark to check it out!

From all of us at RBLI, we thank you for your support and hope you have a lovely weekend!

Our mailing address is:
Royal British Legion Industries Ltd, Hall Road, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7NL

Mission First, People Always

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An item from a fellow veterans organization in the Bay Area.

Dear Michael Barbour,

Taking on a new role in the middle of a national crisis is a daunting task — but when did a challenge ever stop a Marine? When I took over as President and CEO of the Marines’ Memorial back in November, I knew I had big shoes to fill. I was excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work, building on the legacy of the Marines’ Memorial. I knew I was joining a high-impact, close-knit team — a family — and I have not been disappointed. The team continues to perform the herculean task of keeping the doors open, and you — the members — have heard the call and responded in kind. Thank you!

You have all made me feel so welcome during these first few months.

Mission First, People Always. It’s a mantra I lived by during my time in the Marines, but it’s no less true here at the Marines’ Memorial. You have shown me the importance of people to the success of a mission — especially when it’s a mission as important as Commemorating, Educating and Serving our military community.

Thanks to you, this mission was a success, even as the Club faced its most challenging year in its 75-year history! I asked for your support via letters and emails so many times, and you always came through. That commitment and loyalty gave me pride in knowing we would get through this crisis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We are recovering slowly but surely — due entirely to the support of members, donors, guests, and friends like you — and the Club is ready to bring back the amenities the members enjoy so much. In keeping with the city of San Francisco rules, it will be a gradual return, and begin as soon as we are allowed.

We have a long road to recovery. We face 2021 together, and know that everyone at the Marines’ Memorial is ready to welcome you back.

I’m humbled to be a part of this team. You make the Marines’ Memorial such a special place — thank you.

Semper fi!