Dear Faculty of Arts,
Over the past several weeks, many of us have been tapping our toes or bobbing our heads to our own imagined rhythms. It’s the “I’ve just been vaccinated” feeling that puts an extra bounce in one’s step, and it is worth celebrating! Just over 10 days ago on a rainy evening after work, I headed to my Covid-19 vaccination appointment and streamed in with all the other happy people. After receiving my shot, I said to the nurse, “Wow, that was quick!” But then realized it had been over a year of waiting for that moment! We are so fortunate the vaccine roll-out is progressing at a steady pace, and we are beginning — with guarded hope — to see restrictions easing and our lives gradually opening to the larger world beyond our individual bubbles. Let this ever-so-cautious, quiet, celebratory dance become a long and joyful one that quickens with exuberance in the coming months!
While there are real grounds for optimism about the situation in B.C., it is important that we remain mindful of the impact of the horrific situation abroad upon many of our students and colleagues. The Covid disaster in India, for example, may pose severe challenges for students who are either living there or who have family and friends affected by the crisis. Colleagues and staff with connections to India, or to other parts of the world where Covid is raging, may also be suffering, no matter how stoically they might appear to be carrying on. Let’s redouble our commitment to compassion, care, and support as we remember that this pandemic is truly global in scope.
COVID NEWS
Restart Your Engines: Earlier this week, the provincial government released B.C.’s Restart: A plan to bring us back together. This four-step plan maps out the gradual restart for the province with a carefully staged approach to the loosening of public restrictions that were put in place to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While each step has an anticipated start date, each also has a set of criteria that must be met for the provisions of that step to take effect. These criteria ensure that safety needs guide the restart process.
After receiving his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon uploaded this YouTube video with the message that he is dancing Bhangra “for joy, hope and positivity, which I’m dispatching to Canada and beyond for everyone’s good health.”
TIME-SENSITIVE ITEMS
Choreographing Fall Semester Schedules: Please note that today – May 28th—is the deadline to submit the details for your fall courses to your department’s assistant (DA). The Fall term will be a balance of online, in-person, and blended course offerings as we provide KPU students with choice and ease the transition back to campus as the province resumes normal operations post-pandemic. If you haven’t yet submitted your information to your department’s DA, please do so by the end of today after consulting the attached flow chart.
Call for Submissions: The 2021/2022 Arts Speaker Series celebrates research and scholarship in the Faculty of Arts. The Arts Research and Scholarship Committee invites proposals that will appeal to a broad range of interests and audiences, including faculty, students, staff, and members of the public. We are particularly interested in submissions that showcase collaborative undertakings with students and the transformative impact that involvement in research and scholarship can have on the overall quality of our student’s educational experience. The deadline for submissions has been extended to June 15, 2021, by 5:00 p.m. Send proposals to Nancy.Norman@kpu.ca
BOUQUETS AND KUDOS
Dancing Up a Storm! Today, we would like to acknowledge the stellar work of a couple of Arts staff who have been integral members of our team – both long-term and recent — during Covid.
- Heather Lippold in Fine Arts – Heather is currently working tirelessly to help students in the Ceramics studio, keeping students safe, and adapting to challenges as they come up. Thank you, Heather, for all you do to make on-campus studio courses possible!
- Damaris Gugliotti in the Dean’s Office – Damaris recently joined the Faculty of Arts as an Administrative Coordinator and has learned and taken on a great deal since she started earlier this month. Damaris has a super positive attitude, is open to learning, and loves to collaborate! Damaris, we are so lucky to have you as the newest member of our team!
For more information on the recent updates to the organizational chart in the Dean’s Office, please visit this link.
TEACHING RESOURCES
Get Down, Get Unstuck, and Dance to the Rhythm of Learning Outcomes! Educational Consultant Christina Page led a workshop for Arts faculty on Thursday afternoon tackling the issue of “Learning Bottlenecks” for students across the disciplines. Many thanks to the Teaching and Learning Commons and especially to Christina for providing the Faculty of Arts with this professional development opportunity. For those who were unable to attend the live session, Christina has kindly sent a link of the recording.
UPCOMING EVENTS & INFORMATION
Prison Response to Covid-19: KPU’s Criminology Department is co-sponsoring an event with the Departments of Women’s & Gender Studies and Sociology and Criminology at Capilano University featuring guest speaker Howard Saper who will address Canada’s federal prison population within the context of the pandemic and the response of corrections services to this public health emergency. Saper’s presentation takes place on June 9th at 8:30 AM via the Zoom link. Further details are also included in the attached PDF.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://capu.zoom.us/j/63881636315?pwd=MkdKRDNQSGFQdXMyS2ZpRncwd1JUZz09
Anti-Racism Workshop for Students: KPU’s Task Force on Anti-Racism will be hosting a free workshop for KPU students called “Introduction to Anti-racism,” presented by Litzy Baeza on June 18th, 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. PST (registration required). Workshop participants will examine the roots of racism, recognize the impacts of racism on an individual, institutional, and societal level. Students will explore strategies to build anti-racist support within communities that are characterized by respectful, and equitable regard for all people. To have your students register, please ask them to email tfa@kpu.ca with subject line: “Please register me for June 18th workshop for students.” Please email as early as possible, but no later than June 15th. A Teams link will be forwarded to all registered participants 24 hours prior to the workshop.
Inclusive Language: The Task Force on Anti-Racism is also hosting a workshop on “Inclusive Language and Anti-Oppressive Communication” for KPU faculty, staff, and administration on June 16, 2021, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. PST. Inclusive Language zooms in on language and communication practises that bring teams together for more respectful workplaces. This workshop combines media literacy, cultural safety and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Participants can expect to practice with real world scenarios, mind map best practices for communication both in person and online, and discover meaningful ways to foster inclusion with dialogue. The session will be presented by Shanique Kelly from Bakau Consulting. To register, please email tfa@kpu.ca with subject line: “Please register me for June 16th workshop with Shanique Kelly.”
A Talk on the Farmer’s Movement in India: The First Voices Lecture Series invites you to join us for an exciting talk as part of the Family, Diaspora, and Resistance: The Indian Farmers Movement Lecture Series. Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains (University of Fraser Valley) will explore The Collision of Power and Protest in the Farmer’s Movement in India, on Thursday, June 17, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. Contact Amir Mirfakhraie at amir@kpu.ca or email fseries@kpu.ca for more information.
Zoom Link: https://kpu-ca.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50kc–opzktGtC8J9WcX0P5RVVnaiKLFwUz.
Arts Update Breaks – Pausing Between Dances: Looking ahead to the coming months, we would like to let everyone know that the “Arts Updates” will continue to be sent on Friday afternoons, but we will be taking a few pauses (or “Arts Update Breaks”) during a handful of weeks between June and August. There will be no Arts Updates on the following Fridays: June 4, July 2, and August 6. Please continue to send your information, events, and achievements to us, and we will work to keep all of Arts informed and connected with one another. As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback for future Arts Updates.
We are dreaming of a day, months from now, when many of us will return to campus, smiles beaming at seeing friends, colleagues, and students again, toes tapping across the courtyard or in the stairwells with an energy and music that will carry us all forward!
Wishing you a joyful dance into the weekend,
Diane, Greg, Wade, and Shelley
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