Dear Faculty of Arts, 

When the summer solstice arrives and Convocation ceremonies unfold, we think to ourselves: “Now it’s summer!”  The weather gods delivered summer with a heat wave, and many of us are trying to stay cool while working from home. But oh, what we wouldn’t give to be standing in the sun in the courtyard on the Surrey campus, soaking in the rays under our ceremonial caps and polyester gowns cheering on KPU grads as they prepare to walk across the brightly lit stage and receive their degrees!  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that one year from now we will all be celebrating the spring 2022  Convocation in person. And in the meantime, we hope all of you – just like all the wonderful KPU-related dogs featured below — are enjoying these balmy summer evenings and extended day-light hours.   

Associate Dean Greg Millard’s basset and officemate Cooper feeling either chill or semi-comatose in the heat.  

ACTION ITEMS & FALL SEMESTER RESOURCES 

Chasing the Ball… or Fall: Looking ahead to the 2021/2022 academic year, you may want to bookmark the fall academic schedule to have the key semester dates at your fingertips and the recently published university calendar.  

Preparing Students for the New KPU: Please check out KPU’s website for recent updates and information to help students navigate the fall return to campus and the mixture of online and in-person courses via this link. 

Paul Tyndall’s (ENGL) joyful dog Finn out for a romp in Redwood Park. As Paul states, “He’s been a welcome addition to the family since October of 2019, and I cannot imagine going through the pandemic without him.” 

CONVOCATION, AWARDS AND HONOURS 

Best in Show! This week’s Spring 2021 Convocation ceremonies took place virtually.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to watch the celebrations, you can do so via this link. Congratulations are due to all our graduating students and the distinguished award recipients, including Dr. Cory Pedersen (PSYCH), who received the Distinguished Scholarship Award, and Dr. Farhad Dastur (PSYCH), who received the Distinguished Service Award. We are sending a heartfelt round of applause to both Cory and Farhad! Thank you for the tremendous contributions you have made to the Faculty of Arts and to KPU. 

Doggone Great!  The English Department made KPU English grads feel celebrated this week! Through the efforts of the Events Committee, Kegan Doyle’s organization skills, and Robert Pasquini’s editing prowess, the Department put together this heartfelt YouTube montage of congratulatory wishes!  After facing the pandemic and the unexpected shift to online learning, this graduating class should feel exceptionally proud of all their accomplishments and perseverance. Way to go English Grads!

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Give a Dog a Bone Book! If you’re looking for an activity this weekend, Creative Writing’s Massy book sale takes place this Sunday, June 27th from 10 – 5PM.  Funds raised from this sale will go toward the JoAnne Ward Creating Writing Award for Indigenous Students and the Writers’ Exchange. Here is a link with all the details.

Pawsitively Amazing! Celebrate the end of Indigenous History Month and Pride Month with All-Indigenous Burlesque Collective Virago Nation. On Wednesday, June 30th, enjoy a live stream of The Voices of Virago Nation: A Docu-Strip and then attend a talk-back session with the performers! Details and registration can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Jen Hardwick at jennifer.hardwick@kpu.ca 

Chad Skelton (JRNL) and his dog, Skeena — soaked and smiling after some surf-time at East Beach in White Rock.  

KUDOS 

Top Dogs: At last Friday’s Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) Conference, ARTS 4800 alumni Emily Beattie (PHIL/ENGL), Parm Guron (HIST), Aleisha Hall (HIST), and Roraigh Falkner (GEOG) presented a poster on service-learning, social justice, and community-building. They did a stellar job of representing the Faculty of Arts as they showcased their digital projects: a virtual walking tour through False Creek’s Indigenous history (Vancouver Maritime Museum practicum); a series of web pages on the Japanese Canadian internment (Joy Kogawa House practicum); a multimodal outreach campaign on sustainable housing (Tiny Homes Committee practicum); and an anti-oppression course for young activists (Amnesty International Canada practicum). Greg Chan (ENGL) notes: “I am proud to say that they were the only undergraduate presenters holding their own amongst graduate students and faculty.” Excelsior!  

Gordon Cobb’s (MUSI) stellar senior pooch, Summer, basking in the summer rays at the beach. 

REMINDERS 

Getting Chipped:  You’ll need a KPU ID Card to access campus Mail Rooms and Copy Centres. A KPU ID Card can be obtained at any campus library. If you need your card registered for these rooms, please contact mark.bayrock@kpu.ca and copy your Associate Dean. And if you urgently need access and have no card, or for some reason the card isn’t working, please contact Campus Security. And remember, we still need to submit a Campus Visit Request Form before coming to campus. 

Arts Update Break: This is a friendly reminder that there will be no Arts Update next Friday. Please send us any items of information for distribution on the following Friday, July 9th, when the Arts Update resumes after a mini break or short paws!  

Julia Nobauer’s (Admin. Assistant, Dean’s office) Duck Tolling Retriever Ruby reveling in the sunshine with the best stick ever! 

We may be melting in this heat, but the future looks cool with catitude!  If you are the owner of a fabulous feline, please send us a photo for use in a future Update!

Wishing you all a woof-tastic weekend, 

Diane, Greg, Wade, and Shelley