Dear Colleagues,

The leaves of autumn are falling all around us now, and the end of October draws ever nearer. Many of us are eagerly looking forward to Halloween celebrations, to some fun tricks and treats and silly shenanigans at the end of the month; to getting into the festive and sartorial swing of things with a creepy costume, or to designing a daring disguise for one of our pets or children. And, of course, against all this front stage busyness and bluster there is always ever-looming the possibility that the auspicious Great Pumpkin will pay a visit.

Meanwhile, though, on the far side of the pumpkin patch, where pedagogy and praxis prevail: it’s batten down the hatches, and damn the torpedoes: the Faculty of Arts is moving full-steam ahead with a plethora of important events, exciting initiatives, and interesting opportunities.

Here are this week’s updates!

UPCOMING EVENTS & INITIATIVES

Tapestries of Light: A Celebration of Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Across the Arts: The Arts Research and Scholarship Committee will host a special marquee level event on November 5th from 10 AM to 1 PM. The event will feature two showcase panels that will highlight the many innovations and achievements of students and faculty around research, scholarship, and creative activity in the Faculty of Arts. We will also use the gathering as an opportunity to launch a new faculty-wide networking initiative that will create opportunities for collaboration and mentorship between faculty, students, and staff. Finally, a new Arts-wide Award for excellence in student mentorship around research will be announced. A full program with some advance materials will be sent out next week. In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, please accept the calendar invitation or add this MS Teams link to your calendar. Please note – we will be soliciting applications for the new network at the event and sending out additional information about how to join afterward.

The Climate Emergency, The World, and Me: Dr. Leonora King (KPU Geog + Env) and Dr. David Sadoway are teaming up to bring an exciting and important rendition of the Arts 1100 course this spring. This co-taught course will introduce students to diverse interdisciplinary perspectives from across the Arts, focusing on the challenges of the present climate crisis. Students will examine questions like: Why is climate change happening, and why it is considered an ’emergency’? What does it mean to you, our society, and our world? In Arts 1100 we explore where we fit into this climate crisis, how we might adapt; and, critically, what we can do to effect change at the local, regional and global levels. This course is part of KPU’s Climate+ Challenge, which aims to engage more students in learning about climate change.” Please share this information with your students.

KPU’s Climate+ Challenge is launching this month!  This project is a KPU-wide initiative that engages students and instructors in learning about climate change, through empathetic and solution-oriented lenses. The goal is to get more people at KPU talking, learning, thinking about, and finding solutions to the climate emergency, and various climate-related challenges. This project is coordinated by Ellen Pond (Policy Studies and Urban Ecosystems) and Tracy Sherlock (Journalism and Communications). Faculty members who want to add climate-change content to their courses can sign up for something as small as having students complete a relevant assignment (resources are available) – or as big as running a whole course dedicated to “Climate+.” If you’re interested in taking part, visit the Climate+ website, fill out the contact form or email Ellen Pond (ellen.pond@kpu.ca) or Tracy Sherlock (tracy.sherlock@kpu.ca). 

Intercultural Teaching Practices Workshop Series. Developing and modelling intercultural capacity has become an important objective for university staff and faculty. This program will provide a foundation for KPU professionals to plan the creation of a classroom culture of inclusion by reflecting on our intercultural capacities, reconsidering inclusive pedagogies for the changing student demographics, and revising learning outcomes to support intercultural capacity development for all students. This online workshop series is taking place during these dates and times: November 8, 15, 22, 29, December 6, and 13 at 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM. You can Register here!

Flying High: In case you missed it last week, Taking Flight -an exhibition featuring KPU Fine Arts grads – opened last week at the Deer Lake Gallery. Tying together nature, materials, urban landscapes, and even our interpersonal relationships and their impact on our everyday life, the exhibition highlights the peculiar human condition of reacting, creating, and retelling our experiences. Not to be missed: the exhibition runs until  November 13th, 2021.

Memory Serves: Please join the Indigenous Book Club on November 19 at 3:00 PM to meet INDG faculty member Lee Maracle whose work Memory Serves is being featured. Follow this link to learn more about the Indigenous Book Club | KPU.ca.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Reminder: KPU-Approved Platforms for Booking Student Meetings: Faculty can post their office hours on Tutor Ocean if they wish and invite students to join them on that platform. Faculty and students just need to sign up using their KPU id and password as this is a secure system only for KPU users.  You can see how to do this on our website https://www.kpu.ca/learningcentres/tutoring

Scholarship in the Sunshine: Have you considered applying for the $7000 Faculty Mobility for Partnership Building Program? It provides grants to faculty in support of 3-8-week-long opportunities to teach or conduct research in Latin America or the Caribbean. Please see the link here for more information.

Update Pauses: In so far as we are taking measures to reduce the overall workload during this transitional period in the Dean’s Office, please note, we are planning some “pauses” in the Arts Updates for the following weeks: October 29 and November 26.  While there will be no updates emailed on Oct. 29 and Nov. 26, please keep sending your information and we will continue to share the news of the Faculty of Arts.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, filled with rest, relaxation, and recreation; as well as much mirth and merriment!

Greg, Billeh, Shelley, and Wade