Dear colleagues,
April was a dry one by West Coast standards, but still brought the flowers of May.
Such beauty seems a fitting backdrop to the memory of Katie Warfield.
Katie’s tragic passing was marked this week by moving messages from Journalism and Communications Department Chair, Chad Skelton, and Dean Diane Purvey; and KPU flew its flag at half-mast in honour of this extraordinary teacher, researcher, colleague, mother, and friend.
Katie’s family is collecting memories of Katie at www.katiewarfield.com and hi@katiewarfield.com. Please share, if you are so moved; and those who are seeking support in this time of grief may wish to reach out to Homewood Health for resources and support (1.800.663.1142).
RESOURCES
A Great Meeting on Great Meetings: Are you a Committee Chair or active member of a working group? A new department member learning the ropes, or someone wanting to navigate meetings of all types more effectively? The “What Makes Great Meetings?” session – held this past Wednesday – may be of interest to you! The event featured KPU luminaries David Burns, Dana Cserepes,Farhad Dastur, Tracey Kinney, Parthi Krishnan, Mike Larsen, and Alex Oliphant. Many insights into the dynamics of good meetings were gleaned, and many laughs shared. Here is a link to the video for those who were unable to attend.
TIME-SENSITIVE ITEMS
Legends of the Fall: As last week’s Update noted, the key for Fall scheduling will be to strike a balance between flexibility/experimentation while minimizing confusion and cognitive overload for students. We accordingly recirculate the attached flow chart. It simplifies the range of possibilities down to four basic delivery modes and clarifies what needs to be communicated for each mode. Please refer to this chart when working out your scheduling for Fall 2021. And again: the schedule goes live in June, so your details (as per the chart) need to be submitted by May 28th to your Department Assistant.
Become a Research Advisor: The deadline to apply to become a Research Advisor is today, May 21st! Interested faculty members can apply by emailing a cover letter and CV to ors@kpu.ca. Please identify the position in the subject line of the email (e.g. ‘Advisor on Curricular Research’ in the subject line). Four positions have been established: (1) Advisor on Responsible Conduct of Research; (2) Advisor on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research and Scholarship; (3) Advisor on Knowledge Mobilization; and (4) Advisor on Curricular Research and Innovation. You can learn more about this recent initiative and time release opportunity via the ORS’s SharePoint site via this link.
BOUQUETS AND KUDOS
Patricia Coburn for the Win! Trishia Coburn (PSYC) will receive the Governor General’s Gold Medal at Simon Fraser University’s June Convocation. The Governor General’s Gold Medal is one of the most prestigious awards given to graduate students in Canada. Trishia’s dissertation studied the cross-examination of children who experienced a repeated event — research with important implications for theory and legal practice, revealing the adverse effects of cross-examination on children’s accuracy and consistency and highlighting the adverse effect on children who testify about an instance of a repeated event. Congratulations, Trishia, on this outstanding accomplishment!
Billeh Nickerson’s Next Chapter! Billeh Nickerson (CRWR) is being interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter about hisrecently published book of poetry, Duct-Taped Roses (Book*hug Press). Billeh’s interview is currently scheduled to air on Saturday, June 19th between 4:00-5:00 pm. It will be rebroadcast on Monday, June 21st between 1:00-2:00 pm, and it will be available online here. Congratulations, Billeh!
Data Being Leaked! The esteemed Dr. Ross Pink, Chair of the Political Science department and roving aficionado of all things public interest and public policy, was on CITY TV Vancouver recently talking to a reporter who is a former KPU journalism student. You can catch the lively little segment here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Getting Students Unstuck: Christina Page from the Teaching and Learning Commons will lead a workshop for the Faculty of Arts on Thursday May 27, 1:00 – 2:30 PM on the topic “Getting Unstuck: Helping Students Move Beyond Learning Bottlenecks.” Please note: this event will now be taking place via Zoom. The Zoom meeting link and passcode are below. Christina’s characterizes the workshop this way: “Do you find that there’s a learning task or assignment in your course where many of your students seem to continually struggle? Wondering if there’s a solution to this challenge? This workshop will explore a method called Decoding the Disciplines that systematically breaks down the process of helping students move through these learning bottlenecks. You will leave the workshop with a series of next steps to move forward with your students and strategy for building up a collegial network of support through the process.” Here is the link. Meeting ID: 657 4911 8927
Passcode: 740503
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). In this workshop, student-participants will expand their awareness of anti-racism work. They will explore the roots of racism and recognize the impacts of racism on an individual, institutional, and societal level. Students will learn about ways to build awareness and encourage action to make communities more anti-racist, respectful, and equitable 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 Workshop: The Task Force on Anti-Racism is also holding a workshop on “Inclusive Language and Anti-Oppressive Communication” for KPU faculty, staff, and admin on June 16, 2021, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. PST. The session will be presented by equity and inclusion consultant and educator, event producer, community organizer, and DJ Shanique Kelly from Bakau Consulting. 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 to dive deep into conversations about inclusive language. 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. 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 present her paper entitled, 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 on Zoom via this link. For more information, please contact Amir Mirfakhraie at amir@kpu.ca or email us at fseries@kpu.ca.
We wish everyone a flower-filled, restorative long weekend.
Diane, Shelley, Wade, and Greg
Comments by Greg Millard