Robson Hall Associate Professor wins inaugural Aaron Berg Award
Dr. Donn Short, Associate Professor at Robson Hall, Faculty of Law
Dr. Donn Short received the inaugural Aaron Berg Award at the annual Manitoba Human Rights Commission Awards held December 7, 2017. The award was created to recognize the contributions of Mr. Aaron Berg, former counsel to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and General Counsel with Manitoba Justice. Mr. Berg, who died in June, 2017, was a human rights and administrative law expert. He represented the Commission in several high profile human rights cases, and was involved in drafting The Human Rights Code to replace the former Human Rights Act.
Dr. Short is an Associate Professor at Robson Hall, Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba, who teaches in several areas including Education Law, Human Rights Law, and Scholarly Publications. He has several published works in the area of advancing human rights including his most recent book, Am I Safe Here? LGBTQ Teens and Bullying in Schools in addition to Don’t Be So Gay: Queers, Bullying and Making Schools Safe, both books published by UBC Press. Dr. Short has also written a number of dramatic works dealing with themes of youth and youth violence and is committed to the rights of artists and is a member of PEN Canada, the Writers Union of Canada, the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the Manitoba Association of Playwrights and the Manitoba Writers Guild.
He is the recipient of a research Fellowship from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, a Social Sciences Humanities Research Council Standard Research Grant, as well as other academic honours, awards and prizes. At Robson Hall, he founded the group Outlaws and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Human Rights. Dr. Short is a member of the SSHRC-funded Every Teacher project conducted in partnership with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society. Dr. Short is a member of the education committee of Egale Canada Human Rights Trust. In 2016, Dr. Short was the winner of the Rh Institute Foundation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Social Sciences at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Short, who knew Mr. Berg professionally, said that knowing Mr. Berg, “makes receiving this award much more meaningful. It was very humbling and really overwhelming to have my research and service recognized in this way with such an important award,” said Dr. Short.
Dr. Short said his next project means getting back to creative work. “It’s important to me to reach non-academic audiences and writing fiction and plays is a very necessary outlet for me. I also have an idea for a fifth book I want to propose for UBC Press, something very different from what I’ve done before.”
“Truthfully, I have a ten-year plan,” he said, “but talking about your plans dissipates the energy. Better to write it than talk it.”