by Dave Tough, in Arthur - 9 September 2008

The first sentence of Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners – “The river flowed both ways” – establishes a heavy handed metaphor that runs like a river through the book. This river, the river of history, doubles and folds back on itself in what she calls an “apparently impossible contradiction, made apparent and possible,” as an illusion, an imaginary effect caused by the wind brushing the surface of the water against the current.

This doubled, imaginary river is only one of many devices Laurence uses to set out her philosophy of haunted history: she also has Morag, the narrator, obsessively stare into old photographs, remember school songs, and talk to ghosts, one of whom happens to be Catherine Parr Traill.

What is DisO?

Dis-orientation is a week of workshops, discussions, tours and events brought to you by several Trent and Peterborough non-profit organizations. Trent, a school founded on the idea of a community-integrated college-system, once prided itself on being 'Canada's great small university'. However, in 1999, the university's administration revealed plans to close and sell the downtown colleges, centralize the campus, and change the face of Trent as we knew it. It was then that students spoke up and fought for the school they loved. And from this fire, Dis-O was born.
Originally designed to generate awareness and provide an 'alternative' lens, this tradition has existed to engage YOU, the new student, with not only the political struggles on campus, but also within the community, and the world at large.