In the wake of the heartbreaking revelations that came out of Kamloops on May 27, our thoughts continue to dwell with Indigenous peoples and communities across the country, and with the families and loved ones of residential school survivors. As a community, many of us gathered on May 31st to honor the 215 children, to share our deep sense of outrage, grief and mourning, and to once again renew our commitment to the causes of truth, decolonization, reconciliation, and indigenization. The work of memorialization is not enough. As educators we are called upon to do much more. We must play a leadership role in recognizing the history and continuing reality of cultural genocide and white supremacy in Canada. As Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani, our AVP Teaching and Learning, and the organizer of last Monday’s gathering, reflected: “Systemic violence against Indigenous peoples in Canada isn’t simply just a ‘dark chapter’ in our history, but is in fact an ongoing and enduring characteristic of Canadian society. This isn’t something that will change unless we are willing—individually and collectively—to confront it honestly and fully”. We are striving, as a Faculty, to do more, and to do better. And in that spirit, we are sharing here some relevant resources and information which may be of some help. 

Indigenous Perspectives: At the request of the Academic Planning and Priorities sub-committee of Arts Faculty Council, please see the attached document. Assembled with Kristie Dukewich, it outlines a range of resources and suggestions to assist departments in fulfilling the “Indigenous Perspectives” Ambition contained in the new B.A. Framework. Our thanks go out to Kristie and to APP as a whole for this important work. Please contact Jennifer Hardwick for more information or with questions.

Indigenous Resources for Virtual Classrooms – Part One: Join KPU’s Indigenous Engagement and Subject Liaison, Rachel Chong, on 3:00-4:00 as she shares how to respectfully and meaningfully integrate Indigenous resources into your courses. Click here to register.

Octopus Spirit: Melinda Bige and Brandon Gabriel have recently started Octopus Spirit Enterprises and the non-profit Octopus Spirit Arts & Cultural Society. In particular, they have launched an online peer-reviewed journal, the Octopus Spirit Journal. Melinda writes that “the idea for this journal comes from students in the classroom. They are required in their course work to research who they are, where their ancestors come from, and whose land they live on. Within this they not only learn about themselves and learn about whose land they occupy (and benefit from). Many of these students reflect on their familial responsibility to the people whose land they live on and accept personal responsibility. As you know, there are many student leaders and some of these students have done extraordinary things within the classroom that I wanted to share with our KPU family. Some of the most touching papers and thoughtful works were submitted in the first issue of this journal.” The journal will release two issues a year. If you know someone interested in submitting, please see the link provided. The closing date is June 30th at midnight. Thank you, Melinda and Brandon, and kudos for these fantastic initiatives! 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

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. The Zoom link is here.

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 from 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. An MS Teams link will be forwarded to all registered participants 24 hours prior to the workshop. 

TIME-SENSITIVE ITEMS & IMPORTANT INFORMATION 

Last Call!  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 which showcase collaborative undertakings with students and the transformative impact that involvement in research and scholarship can have on 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 .

Planning Committee Work/Timelines for the Upcoming Academic Year:  As thoughts turn to summer, many of you will also be making plans for curriculum and program revisions.  Faculty members and departments involved in this work will want to review the finalized schedule (see the file attached to this email) for the Faculty of Arts and Senate-level committees, so you are aware of the submission deadlines, the committees’ meeting dates, and the larger university-wide deadlines for the coming academic year, particularly for items you would like to be approved in time for the official 2022/23 university calendar. 

TEACHING RESOURCE 

An Update to the FISH: Acknowledging matters requiring immediate attention may arise during the academic year, the Faculty and Instructional Staff Handbook Committee has added a new “Urgent Issues” section to their namesake Handbook (FISH). This new section is organized into three sub-sections:  1) My student needs urgent help 2) My colleague needs urgent help 3) I need urgent help.  Topics addressed range from helping someone in crisis, to support available for students experiencing financial hardship, to what to do if you are unable to teach your class because of illness or emergency. You can easily access the Faculty and Instructional Staff Handbook through One.KPU using the search term “Faculty Handbook.” You can also access it directly through SharePoint, KPU’s employee intranet, through this link. Many thanks to the Committee – Teresa Smith, Joel Murray, Lana Mihell, Josephine Chan, Curtis Flaterud, and Desiree McLeod – for updating this resource and keeping it current.

Reminder: Arts Update Breaks: Just a quick reminder that there will be no Arts Updates on the following Fridays: July 2 and August 6.  Much of the information we receive is crowd sourced. Please continue to email 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.

It is Pride Month, and so we will be devoting the update next week to celebrating our shared sense of diversity and the inclusion we have cultivated in our communities, as well as highlighting upcoming events and focusing on the challenges that remain.

Wishing you a peaceful and restorative weekend.

Diane, Shelley, Greg and Wade

Coming soon to a campus near you…

►* Heading Artwork by Brandon Gabriel