For Diverse Communities to Thrive, We Need Intersectional Policies and Practices

Walking the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) path can be challenging, but Dr. Inna Stepaniuk's video presentation explores how to accomplish this. She discusses the interplay among educational policies, practices, inclusivity, and equity and the importance of acknowledging and utilizing privileges to support marginalized communities. How often, she asks, do we encounter a student, faculty, or staff member who identifies as disabled and is also Black, Indigenous, or a person of colour (BIPOC)? They are not absent, but institutions weren't designed for their diverse needs. By creating space for these individuals and critiquing hidden racism and ableism of ingrained policies, universities can foster a diverse and understanding campus environment.

Read the original article in The Times Higher Education Campus, July 2023.

In Conversation with Magnolias

“In Conversation with Magnolias” is a site-specific performance that took place in the David C. Lam Asian Garden at the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver, B.C on April 2, 2022. This short video excerpt was taken from a full-length walking performance which integrated a poetic and performative lens to invite the audience into the beauty and inspiration of the magnolias in their stages of blooming. The UBC Botanical Garden’s extensive collection of flowering magnolias and Celeste’s interpretation of these majestic botanical beauties offer the opportunity for delight and encourage resilience. Dr. Snowber’s forthcoming book, Dance, place and poetics: Site-specific performance as a portal to knowing will be out in the fall of 2022 with Palgrave Pivot.

Vygotsky Expert Discusses Current Issues in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

In a wide-ranging interview conducted by Australian researcher Andy Blunden, founder of the ethicalpolitics.org website, Prof. Natalia Gajdamaschko discusses current issues in the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) of Lev Vygotsky and Aleksei Leontiev and the theory’s practical applications. Also, she talks about her friendship with Vygotsky’s daughter and granddaughter and how practical application of Vygotskian theory has helped her with her work. Vygotsky was a psychologist born in Belarus who developed his theory while living in the Soviet Union. He died in 1934. His writings were suppressed for two decades after his death but were revived in the 1950s. Since then, his work has been widely influential and has made transformative contributions to current educational practice. Professor Gajdamaschko studied at Moscow State University's Faculty of Psychology, founded by Alexander Luria, who had been Vygotsky’s colleague. She regularly teaches a course on Vygotskian theory at Simon Fraser University.

This Documentary Actually Makes Welland Look Good: Exploring posthumanism in a high school documentary film project

In conversation with Dr. Kelleen Toohey and Magali Forte, Dr. Amélie Lemieux and Dr. Jennifer Rowsell discuss some of the ideas tackled in the chapter they wrote about a collaborative research project between a group of students, their teacher, the researchers and a documentary film artist. While students made documentary films in response to a novel they read, the affective intensities and emotions this project brought forth were clearly evident. Amélie and Jennifer share some of the moments that happened while they participated in the film making process and interviewed students, all the while thinking with posthumanist, new materialist and deleuzoguattarian concepts.

Becoming Posthuman: Bodies, Affect, and Earth in the School Garden

In conversation with Dr. Kelleen Toohey and Magali Forte, Dr. Saskia Van Viegen looks back on a collaborative action-research project involving newcomer and Canadian-born multilingual students, their teacher, and their parents. Together, they discuss the possibility of doing research/inquiry in a way that troubles preconceived notions and categories about data and research protocols. Taking the example of the school garden that is central to this research project as well as examples from other projects, Saskia shares how new materialism, posthumanism, and relational ontologies have transformed the ways in which she views and engages in inquiry with others in order to make a difference. 

Artfor? Framing the Conversation with Steven Hill

This video arts-based research essay is part of Artists Speak, and was created by co-directors, Dr. Lynn Fels, community-engaged artist, Dr. Judith Marcuse, and Dr. Celeste Snowber, of the International Centre of Art for Social Change (ICASC).

The video is based on a recorded interview with director, actor, and creator Steven Hill, Associate Professor in Theatre Performance in the School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. By interjecting the original interview with visual images, interviewer commentary, and philosophical response interwoven into the visual frame, we disrupt the conventional research interview.  This video research essay playfully unpacks the objectivity of the researcher and offers a field of visual play and insight that interrogates Steven Hill’s theorizing on the idea of frames and what predetermines the frames that artists and researchers bring to the project of arts for social change.

This video was created by Patti Fraser, a community-engaged artist and an SFU postgraduate research fellow, and Flick Harrison, an independent filmmaker.

Advancing Internationalisation at Home from Different Roles: An Interview with Dr. Jos Beelen

Dr. Beelen is Professor of Global Learning at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. He leads a research group that explores internationalisation at home, and the skills of lecturers to develop and teach internationalised curricula. In addition to this, another theme of interest is the continuum of internationalisation, from primary to tertiary education. Action research is a key method used in this research. Dr. Beelen has published a range of articles on the implementation of internationalisation at home, both from educational and organisational, systemic, perspectives.

The SFU Ed Review Journal interviewed Dr. Jos Beelen for a Special Issue on Internationalization of Higher Education. The interview was conducted via video by Dr. Laura Baumvol.

Mathematising Social Issues to Imagine a Different World

Can mathematics be used to imagine alternative approaches to problematic social issues? Dr. Sean Chorney proposes that mathematising aspects of our social world can help us to not only identify hidden problems, but also to formulate alternative conceptions of their causes and identify possible solutions. This talk reports on Dr. Chorney’s study of teaching high school mathematics classes on the topic of gerrymandering, as a demonstration of how mathematics can raise both awareness and imagination.

Walking Alongside my Relations: A Transdisciplinary Exploration of Interconnectedness

At this critical juncture in time, difficult conversations are inevitable. How may educators and students courageously participate in dialogues with authenticity and vulnerability? Drawing from contemplative inquiry and traditional wisdom, Sandeep Kaur Glover's five-minute art film offers wholistic pathways for personal and collective engagement through the examination of society’s most pervasive question, “How are you?”

Community in the Making: Weaving Places of Learning, Cultural Production, and Community Building within a Community Festival Space in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

In this video, Dr. Jing Li talks about her doctoral research: an ethnographic study on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival and how community residents and artists mobilized cultural/art resources and multimodal communications to construct a sense of place and create transforming pedagogies in a community festival space.

Bringing Biology Back to Life

How can science education be transformative? Connect us with the land? Address the climate crisis? Through original footage, from paddling the Ama­zon River to exploring melting glaciers in Norway, Lee Beavington's video tells a concise and compelling story of the importance of experiential, nature-based learning that builds empathy and ecoliteracy.

BC School Trustees' & Information Seeking

This episode spotlights Dr. Dan Laitsch and his publication (with Dr. Christine Younghusband) "British Columbia School Trustees' Use of Research and Information Seeking in Decision Making," which examines the information seeking activities of British Columbia (BC) school trustees in an effort to understand the transmission of research.

What is Social Justice?

This episode spotlights Drs. Erin Thrift and Jeff Sugarman and their publication "What Is Social Justice? Implications for Psychology". Given widespread interest and commitment among psychologists to promote social justice, their article takes up the question “What is social justice?” and critically examines the efforts of psychologists in its pursuit.

Cyberbullying in University Communities

This episode spotlights Dr. Wanda Cassidy and her publication Cyberbullying at University in International Contexts, which investigates cyberbullying at the post-secondary level and explores the role that educators can play in fostering more caring and respectful online communities.

Embodied Inquiry: Writing, Living and Being Through the Body

The third episode focuses on Dr. Celeste Snowber and her book Embodied Inquiry: Writing, Living and Being Through the Body, inspired by two decades of teaching and writing on embodied ways of inquiry in the academy.

Disrupting Boundaries in Education and Research

The second episode spotlights Disrupting Boundaries in Education and Research and the unique collaboration between six members of the Faculty, including: Drs. Suzanne Smythe, Cher Hill, Margaret MacDonald, Diane Dagenais, Nathalie Sinclair and Kelleen Toohey. 

Not in My Family: German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust

The first episode spotlights Dr. Roger Frie and his publication, Not in My Family: German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust, which has received the 2017 Canadian Jewish Literary Award, 2018 Western Canada Jewish Book Award, and shortlisted for the 2018 Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature in the History Category.