Jun
17
Stan Douglas: Impossible Pictures
Mandy Len Catron, Congress 2019 guest blogger
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Congress 2019
Jun
7
Storytelling and Strength: Voices from Indigenous theatre in Canada
Mandy Len Catron, Congress 2019 guest blogger
All of this year’s Big Thinking events consider how the arts function as a platform to engage with scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Organizers were inspired by three big questions: Who speaks for whom? Whose stories get told? And who gets left out?
This event, moderated by Dr. Lindsay Lachance, brought together a group of award-winning Indigenous performers, writers and directors to share songs and stories.
Margot Kane, Cree-Saulteaux Founder and Artistic Managing Director of Full Circle: First Nations Performance, opened the event with a Cree mourning song. Kane spoke about how, as a young Indigenous actor working in mostly-white productions, she was inspired to create the Indigenous theatre community she longed for. Full...
Jun
7
David Suzuki and Ian Mauro: Beyond Climate: Science, Storytelling and Solutions
Mandy Len Catron, Congress 2019 guest blogger
All of this year’s Big Thinking events consider how the arts function as a platform to engage with scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Organizers were inspired by three big questions: Who speaks for whom? Whose stories get told? And who gets left out?
Activist David Suzuki and filmmaker Ian Mauro came to Congress to screen their latest film, Beyond Climate. The film, which was made over the course of several years, focuses on the increasing impacts of climate change across British Columbia, what Suzuki and Mauro refer to as “a sentinel province” for the crisis. The filmmakers toured the province to find those on the front lines of climate change—cherry farmers, firefighters, local...
Jun
5
Simon Brault: The role of arts in protecting democracy
Mandy Len Catron, Congress 2019 guest blogger
At Congress 2019, the Big Thinking lecture series considers how the arts function as a platform to engage with scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Organizers were inspired by three big questions: Who speaks for whom? Whose stories get told? And who gets left out?
Monday’s Big Thinking event featured a talk from Simon Brault, the Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts. Brault spoke about the Council’s efforts to protect artistic freedoms while maintaining an ethic of civic responsibility. “Citizens,” he argued, “must be able to relate to and see themselves in the actions of organizations.” After his talk, Brault was interviewed by by Mirelle Langlois,...
Jun
4
Esi Edugyan: Making space for convergences of disparate ideas or unlikely connections
Mandy Len Catron, Congress 2019 guest blogger
At Congress 2019, the Big Thinking lecture series considers how the arts function as a platform to engage with scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Organizers were inspired by three big questions: Who speaks for whom? Whose stories get told? And who gets left out?
In the first of what will be five events at UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre, writer Esi Edugyan sat down with Minelle Mahtani, Associate Professor in UBC’s Institute for Social Justice. After reading an excerpt from her Giller Prize winning third novel, Washington Black, Edugyan spoke about her process as a writer, but also about the many ways the act of crafting a novel can speak to larger personal and political questions....
May
1
Drug education takes a philosophical route: UBC postdoctoral fellow aims to open dialogue with youth about drug use
Congress 2019 guest blog from Mitacs
How can today’s young people be educated about the perils of drug use beyond scaring the heck out of them? How can we help them explore their questions about drugs and develop their capacity to survive in a society where people use drugs?
Mahboubeh Asgari, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, hopes to address these questions during her two-year Mitacs Elevate fellowship with ARC Programs, a community agency based in Kelowna, BC, and the Centre for Addictions Research of BC (CARBC).
Mahboubeh believes traditional education...
Apr
11
Being a Graduate Student at Congress 2019
Guest blog by Sharon Engbrecht, Program Assistant for Congress 2019
As a graduate student and the UBC Programming Assistant for Congress 2019, I’m excited to share my experiences of Congress. Congress can be an overwhelming experience: many new faces and events can be disorientating and might leave you feeling a bit isolated. Maybe you are presenting your first paper, or are interested in networking but don’t know where to start, or haven’t quite figured out that elevator pitch. It’s not uncommon, especially as a graduate student, to have a sense of imposter syndrome when listening to papers presented by early-career researchers, faculty, or keynotes. But, in the words of Adam Douglas, Don’t Panic. Although Congress might seem insanely complicated and...
Apr
8
Making social media part of the conservation conversation: Biologist spreads awareness of endangered Garry Oak habitats
Congress 2019 guest blog from Mitacs
As a child bringing home wounded birds and other critters, Alina Fisher developed a passion for helping wildlife – a love that eventually drove her to become a biologist. But during her studies, Alina realized there was a pressing need for researchers to engage the public.
So she began a Master of Professional Communications at Royal Roads University. Now, thanks to a Mitacs internship, Alina is helping the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) enlist the public’s support to save endangered woodland areas.
“I […] knew lots of scientists and organizations saying things need to be done, but no one seemed to be listening,” she says. She wondered why some social media messages get picked up while others languished. “I was also concerned about...
Apr
2
#BlackProfessorsMatter: Intellectual survival and public love
Guest blog by Wesley Crichlow, Associate Dean of Equity and Diversity, Ontario Tech University, and the Federation’s Board Director of Equity and Diversity
There is a distinct paucity of material, scholarly or otherwise, on the experiences of African Black Canadian scholars within the Canadian academy. This #BlackProfessorsMatter blog post — and others in the Equity Matters series — aims to help fill and contribute to a Black intellectual space to create an international conversation that includes Black professors across the country. It builds on the tradition of past Equity Matters blogs, through which, since 2010, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences has been fostering scholarly debate on diversity...
Mar
11
Talking Teaching at the Pedagogy Hub
Guest blog by Tiffany Potter, Congress 2019 Pedagogy Hub Convenor, Associate Head, Department of English Language and Literatures
Congress brings together scholars from dozens of universities, myriad disciplines, and uncountable research niches. Within this diversity, there is one thing almost all of us have in common: in our profession, we teach. Congress 2019 at UBC will recognize this shared ground with a new feature: the Pedagogy Hub. Located in the heart of Congress, next to the book Expo and registration zone on the second floor of the Nest, the Pedagogy Hub will create a physical and intellectual space for a Circle of Conversation around teaching and learning. The Hub invites crossover discussions among associations and disciplines over the course of...