As we “Round the Horn” this Friday, there are only six days of classes remaining in the fall 2020 term. Final exams and grading are visible on the horizon, and a safe harbor is in reach. This point in the semester puts us in mind of our update from seven months ago when we reflected on “A Great, Wobbly, Beautiful Ship” heading to port in style for the final teaching week after making the rapid pivot to online teaching during the spring semester. Back then, the library was quickly compiling a “Going Online” guide, Big Blue Button was being upgraded, and faculty were requesting tips on pre-recording short videos and lectures to generate re-usable content for future courses.  Now, at the end of November, KPU has adopted and implemented Zoom for instructional purposes (in addition to BBB), MS Teams has become second nature for committee meetings, and the Faculty of Arts has journeyed through almost two full semesters of online delivery. We have found our “sea legs” and our “Great, Wobbly, Beautiful Ship” has transformed through everyone’s hard work and dedication into an innovative and sturdy virtual vessel, with faculty and staff navigating these difficult waters with acumen, collective fortitude, and skill.

Port of Call: Join us on December 2nd from 1:00 – 2:00 PM for the final speaker in the Arts Speaker Series fall line-up. The event features Indigenous Studies faculty member Jennifer Anaquod. Jennifer’s talk is entitled “Co-writing with Coyote”: “Coyote is a trickster in many Indigenous cultures. For me, he has become my confidant, relative, friend, mentor and co-writer through my academic and research journey. Coyote has guided me through many difficult conversations in my writing and I am always honoured that he takes the time to share his knowledge with me. Join me in discussion about making space for Indigenous ways of knowing, learning, voices and writing in academia.” You can Join Here. 

Anchors Aweigh!  Congratulations to Creative Writing faculty member Ross Laird whose chapter “Experiential and Object-Based Learning in Nature” was published today in the Routledge volume Object-Based Learning and Well-Being: Exploring Material Connections. Follow this link to learn more about this edited collection and its focus on the role of material culture with respect to education and well-being.

Land Ho! The Arts Holiday Social!  Everyone in the Faculty of Arts is warmly invited to celebrate the end of classes at the Arts Holiday Social on Friday, December 11th between 11:30 and 12:30.  The event will feature a special ‘Festive Jeopardy’ trivia that will test your wits  (Rumour has it that Santa, himself, will be hosting!) Our resident impresario Gordon Cobb will delight your ears with a musical performance. And everyone is invited to prepare a festive beverage at home (recipe included below if you’re in need of ideas) to toast the occasion of coming together to connect and enjoy the moment. A Teams link will be sent out in the coming days. 

Shiver me Timbers: Arts Holiday Social Drink Recipe: Pomegranate Ginger Smash (adapted from Lively Table): 

  1. Fill your glass with ice 
  2. Add 1.5 oz of pomegranate juice  
  3. Add 1 oz of non-alcoholic Ginger Beer 
  4. Add 1 or 2 oz of sparkling water (to taste) 
  5. Add a splash of lime juice or a lime wedge 
  6. Stir and garnish with pomegranate seeds if desired  
  7. Raise your glass and toast your colleagues on MS Teams. Cheers! 

Life Preservers: You may be receiving a greater-than-usual number of requests for extensions and other accommodations around assignments as the semester heaves to its conclusion. This probably isn’t surprising given the upsurge in Covid cases and the general strain around the pandemic and its “Second Wave.” Decisions around extensions are, of course, matters for faculty discretion (consistent with principles of fairness and transparency), but we do want to gently encourage erring on the side of flexibility and compassion. Bonnie Henry’s “Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe” mantra remains as imperative as ever – even during the stormy seas of late-semester-assignments and exams! 

Throwing a Bowline: As we near the end of term, please note that grading deadlines have been extended for the fall semester.  If you’re caught between the pressures of Covid and the pressures of online grading and exams, you will be relieved to know that there are new deadlines in place to help pull you ashore. For classes that do not have a final exam or assessment scheduled during the exam period, all grades are due on or before December 17. For classes that do have a final exam or assessment scheduled during the exam period all grades are due on or before December 21 (the final grade submission deadline for the term). All students in a section must be graded; please do not leave a student’s grade blank. In those instances where it is not possible to submit a final grade, an incomplete grade contract should be submitted by the above noted grade submission deadlines.  

Wishing you all a wonderful Friday evening and weekend with a bit of shore leave to recuperate before we embark on the final six days of classes. 

Ahoy,  

Diane, Wade, Greg, and Shelley