Dear Faculty of Arts,

Today marks the Lunar New Year.  As springtime beckons, this special event sparks celebrations among family and friends for those who observe the holiday.  Although Covid is preventing  large gatherings and public festivities from taking place, 2021 ushers in the Year of the Ox, a symbol of perseverance and hard work.  At this midpoint in the spring semester, we are grateful for the Faculty of Arts and would like to declare our appreciation for everyone’s diligence and commitment to KPU students and to caring for each other as friends and colleagues. Let’s hope the coming months bring renewal (and a bit of luck) by moving the pandemic into its final phases.  

TIME-SENSITIVE ITEMS: 

I Do Declare, Arts! We sense that everyone is positively preoccupied with Declaration Month. Arts has been busy promoting majors and minors through its social media campaign, and this week, Arts Advisors sent an email to 383 KPU students who are eligible to declare and inviting them to do so. Please continue to share with students the many benefits of declaring into their B.A. Major and the advantages of pursuing your disciplines and future course offerings.  Last year, we witnessed an increase in students declaring their programs of study.  Let’s work to meet this goal for a second time even when teaching remotely. 

Declaring Our Views: A Month for Data Collection – Employee Insights Survey: As of Monday, February 8th, the Faculty of Arts had a response rate of 24% to the Employee Insights Survey being administered through The Office of Planning and Accountability (OPA).  Let’s all complete the survey, make it to the goal of an 80% response rate, and blow OPA away by the excellent tidal wave of data from Arts!  The purpose of the survey is to obtain feedback on your experience of working during the pandemic and to plan for our future.  Please search your inbox for the original email sent February 1 with the subject line “The Employee Insights Survey Has Launched” for your link to the survey, as well as subsequent reminder emails. The survey closes on February 21 and takes about 15 minutes to complete.  

LOOKING AHEAD: 

Declarations of Affection: I Love Online Teaching! As you know, this Spring’s Arts Faculty Meeting will take place on Teams on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, from 10:00am – 12:00pm. We are looking to form a panel on Innovative Teaching in the Time of Covid. If you’ve developed some exciting, innovative activities, assignments, strategies, or other pedagogies for your courses, and would like to share these with your colleagues, please contact greg.millard@kpu.ca. 

Love and Justice: Fundamentals of Anti-Oppression: This upcoming workshop with Udokam Iroegbu will explore issues of systemic oppression, social justice, privilege, identity and allyship through a variety of engaging activities. Through self-reflection, community- based inquiry, lessons from history and collaborative problem solving, participants will gain knowledge and skills to view the world through an anti- oppressive lens. The event will be held on February 18th at 10:00 am.  Register Here 

Research Fireworks: Arts Undergraduate Research Courses: If you have an idea for research or have a scholarly endeavor underway, we invite you to engage students in your work! Involving students in these projects is a great way to deepen the quality of the educational experience of our students! Contact Wade.Deisman@kpu.ca or Anne Lin@kpu.ca for more information. The deadline is March 29, 2021.  

STUDENT SUCCESSES: 

I Declare, History!  The History department shared the photo featured above of Krystal Charlston with her work, Women of Confederation. Krystal writes that two classes in Canadian history with Dr. Chris Hyland “inspired me to create an artwork… It is a mostly a graphite drawing with charcoal used in the windows for the night sky. Also, I used photographs to add the collage around the actual drawing. The women who I added into the drawing was from a book called 100 Canadian Heroines. I picked women that stood out to me, even though all 100 of them did amazing things. Some of the women I included are Maude Abbot, James Miranda Barry, Rose Fortune, Maud Menten, Mary Ann Shadd, and many more.” The piece is currently on display in the Spruce Gallery. Congratulations to Krystal, and kudos to Chris and the History program for inspiring this fabulous work. 

And with the conclusion of today’s Arts Update, we happily declare it the long weekend! Wishing you all a luminescent Lunar New Year, a Happy Valentine’s Day, and a restful and relaxing Family Day! 

Diane, Wade, Greg, and Shelley