Outstanding Service award for Shirley Goldberg

Local film expert Shirley Goldberg will be presented with an Outstanding Service Award from Vancouver Island University at a graduation ceremony in June.

Goldberg is widely respected and beloved as a teacher, journalist, arts promoter and community volunteer, but is best known for her exuberant love of film and the International Film Series that she has offered to students and the community for over 35 years. She also developed and taught VIU’s first film studies course.

“I feel very honoured to be recognized in this way by VIU,” said Goldberg. “It’s very exciting. I have so many great memories of my time on this campus. You could always try out new ideas here and anything was possible. I have always loved the atmosphere and continue to love the university as it goes through so many changes.”

 “Shirley Goldberg’s devotion to teaching, students and our film community has been excellent for many years,” said VIU President, Dr. Ralph Nilson. “Her contributions to our community are exemplary and we are proud to recognize her outstanding service.”

Goldberg has a long history of local volunteer involvement in our community with the Nanaimo Film Commission, The Global Village Society, Crimson Coast Dance Society, United for Peace and Justice and many other local organizations. She is one of organizers for the annual Global Film Festival (Nanaimo’s version of the World Community Film Festival) in which roughly 35 documentary films on peace, environment and justice are screened. For the past eight years, she has co-hosted the ‘Changes’ show on Radio CHLY.

“I believe recognition for Shirley is long overdue,” said Ron Bonham, a former English professor from VIU who still presents the weekly Film Series on campus with Goldberg. “She has quietly and cheerfully given of her time and breadth of knowledge, and has been the colleague who has had the most influence on my methods and approach to teaching. “

Goldberg’s career as a journalist and an arts and culture critic has been equally prolific. She is the film and media columnist for the internationally distributed Humanist Perspectives magazine that earned her a Western Magazine Award. For many years, she wrote film reviews for Canadian Dimension magazine, providing readers with a political context for contemporary films.

For Shirley, films aren’t entertainment – they are life. And her commitment to promoting film appreciation and film literacy has exposed thousands of students and community members to films from around the world.

“She is an ongoing inspiration to me and to many others,” said Bonham. “Her sharpness of mind, sense of humour, and her deep commitment to humanist causes remain unwavering.”