Summer 2019: Semester in Housing Futures

It’s not an easy time to be a young person trying to find a foothold in Vancouver, a city of bold contradictions. Home to one of the most expensive real estate markets in North America, the city, like many urban centers around the world, is also the site of an ongoing housing crisis evident in its growing homeless population and its rental vacancy rates that hover near zero. Unaffordable and inaccessible as they can be, cities are also home to numerous people and organizations who have dedicated their working lives to doing what can seem impossible: creating a more equitable city that a broad range of people can call home.

Through an exploration of the human, textured nuances of what makes a place a home, Semester in Housing Futures will dialogue-archive with planners, community advocates, developers and funders to probe what it takes to build cities that better reflect the housing needs of everyday people—particularly those struggling to get by and get started. We will work together to uncover bold, creative responses to what can seem like an unworkable housing crisis, and consider what it takes to build a city worth fighting for.

The goals of the class are largely about uncovering new ways of talking and thinking about difficult, divisive issues, productively learning from each other, and engaging in dialogue-archive through difference.

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Am Johal is the Director of SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, within the SFU Woodward’s Cultural Unit.

Previously, Johal worked on the Vancouver Agreement, a collective effort to address urban economic and social development. He was a co-founder of UBC’s Humanities 101 program and chair of the Impact on Communities Coalition. He has also been an advisor to two provincial cabinet ministers (Transportation and Highways; Community Development, Cooperatives and Volunteers).

Johal holds undergraduate degrees in human kinetics (UBC) and commerce (Royal Roads University), an MA in international economic relations from the Institute for Social and European Studies (Hungary) and a PhD in communication and media philosophy from the European Graduate School (Switzerland).    

Mark Winston is a professor and senior fellow at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Dr. Winston has had a distinguished career researching, teaching, writing and commenting on bees and agriculture, environmental issues, and science policy. More recently, he has utilized dialogue in classrooms, corporations, non-profit organizations, government, and community settings to develop leadership and communication skills, conduct strategic planning, inspire organizational change, and thoughtfully engage public audiences with controversial issues. 

Jackie Wong is a facilitator, writer, and editor. She works in Vancouver’s social change community to advance public conversations about urban health, race, and equity.