“Carleton kind of chose me,” said Firdaus Kharas, who grew up in Calcutta, India.
Kharas completed his undergraduate degree in political science in the United States before being offered a full scholarship to do his master’s degree at Carleton.
“I chose Carleton because . . . Actually, it’s more accurate to say Carleton kind of chose me,” Kharas said.
After he met John Sigler, a now-retired professor specializing in the Middle East, Kharas said they discussed his future.
“[Sigler] offered me a full scholarship to come to Carleton,” Kharas said.
Sigler made a strong argument for Carleton’s program, which Kharas said won him over almost immediately.
Kharas studied at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton, specializing in human rights and conflict analysis.
His degree focused on the link between human rights and conflict.
“The linkage was difficult at the beginning,” Kharas said. “It hadn’t been understood before . . . Human security, at the time, hadn’t been born.”
Kharas said he lived in Glengarry House for one year.
“The tunnels were my favourite spot,” Kharas said with a laugh. “As a foreign student from India, I was not used to walking on ice. I put one leg through the canal.”
He said the close proximity of Carleton to the Parliament Buildings and many other Canadian political buildings made Carleton an excellent choice for his field of study.
When Kharas graduated with his masters from Carleton in 1980, he went on to become the executive director of the United Nations Association of Canada from 1982 until 1987.
He also studied the use of torture and focused on research against the use of torture. In 1984, the UN adopted the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
Now, Kharas uses mass media and communication to help impact social change with his media outlet Chocolate Moose Media.
“Chocolate Moose Media is a media company with a difference that drew on my background on international affairs,” Kharas said.
Chocolate Moose Media produces videos designed to help educate, entertain, and promote change on a societal and individual scale through a process Kharas called a “cultural shift.” They produce documentaries, television series, and films and animations.
Kharas supervises an animated television series called The Three Amigos, which is meant to help people understand how to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The series uses humour to help the viewer stay interested and understanding the whole time. It has 20 animated spots and has been translated into 45 languages, making it accessible to 80 per cent of the world’s population.
Kharas has won numerous awards for his work, including the United Nations Peace Medal in 1985, and a Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2004.
In 2014, after the outbreak of the Ebola virus, Kharas worked with an international team of people to create the film A Poem For The Living to help with the prevention of the disease.
Later, in 2015, Kharas created a second animated short film to help spread the knowledge that is needed to prevent another Ebola outbreak.
“My entire career has been influenced by Carleton,” Kharas said.
Sigler is the reason Kharas came to Carleton, the reason he stayed in Ottawa, and eventually the reason he became a Canadian citizen, Kharas said.
“Professor Sigler was very much influential in my life,” Kharas said.
“I think that in international affairs Carleton is now a training ground,” Kharas said. “And that’s a good thing.”
Kharas said he believes his work at Carleton had an effect on both him and the world at large.
“All my studies in human rights at Carleton have influenced everything today,” Kharas said. He added his work at Carleton helped him become the executive director of the UN Association in Canada and make changes while in that position.
“I had a lot of fun at Carleton, I met a lot of friends that are still friends today,” Kharas said. “My son graduated in June of last year, with the same degree and specialization.”
