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Semester in Dialogue / Students, Projects, Awards / Student Led Public Dialogues

Student Led Public Dialogues

Summer 2022: Access Philanthropy - Understanding and Rethinking the System

This dialogue was organized with the objective of bringing together people with varying levels of lived experience, and from all walks of life, in order to generate ideas about how the philanthropic sector could be improved for the future. The students also wished that every attendee would walk away with a deeper understanding of philanthropy and the charitable sector in Canada. It was their aim to couple lived experience, professional knowledge, and the examples of our cohort's microgrants to generate solutions for the future of philanthropy in Canada.

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Fall 2019: Can't Face it Alone - Climate Action Beyond the Individual

The enormity of climate change can be daunting and dispiriting. What can one person, or even one nation, do on their own to slow and reverse climate change? Hosted by the SFU Semester in Dialogue: Climate Futures, this public dialogue explored the questions of how the climate crisis impacts our communities, how climate action takes shape on a local scale, and how leveraging connections can drive climate solutions.

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Summer 2019: Youthless City - Global to Local Housing Solutions

As the unaffordability of living in Vancouver pushes youth and lower income folks out of Vancouver, it becomes important to ask: Will Vancouver become a city without youth? Hosted by the SFU Semester in Dialogue: Housing Futures, this public dialogue explored solutions to the housing crisis through a youth perspective. Undergraduate students spent seven weeks exploring the complexities of the housing crisis and shared the opportunities for change that they have identified through their research and dialogue with various thought leaders.

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Spring 2019: What Aren't We Hearing? The Ambiguity of Ability

A public dialogue to encourage conversations between students, professors, administrators, and community members around campus accessibility. This event aimed to provide the opportunity for those whose needs are not being met by the current system to share their lived experience, identify barriers and make suggestions for improvement.

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Summer 2018: Sparking a Change

A student led showcase exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with the expansion of electric vehicle use. This event gathered SFU students, faculty, community members and city employees from across Metro Vancouver.

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Spring 2018: Crisis on Campus?

A public dialogue which gathered students, health and wellness leaders, faculty, staff, community members and other stakeholders to discuss mental health at post-secondary institutions in the Lower Mainland.

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Summer 2015: Nature Show Nature Tell

An interactive showcase on outdoor learning. Join CityStudio & Semester in Dialogue in Everett Crowley Park to embark on a journey that captivates the senses in the natural world.

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Spring 2015: (Em)Powered by Energy

We invite the youth of Vancouver to join SFU’s Semester in Dialogue students as we explore the challenges and options of our generation’s energy future. We will aim to (em)power individuals and challenge them to deepen their understanding of the conversations surrounding climate change. The evening will evoke meaningful dialogue and art-based practice to capture the significance of youth voices through experiential mutual learning.

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Fall 2013: Am I Canadian?

This event combines dialogue and workshops to explore the complex dynamics of what it means to be Canadian. Does being diverse necessarily mean that we are also multicultural? What does the “mosaic” of multiculturalism look like? Are you Canadian? What does Canada mean to you?

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Summer 2013: Let's Talk about Change BC!

The Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue is a single semester, full- time program designed to inspire students with a sense of civic responsibility and encourage their passion for improving Canadian society. Each semester is an original interdisciplinary experience through the mediums of dialogue, experiential learning, and community engagement centered on a specific topic or theme; the summer 2013 program is “Leading Social Change in BC: Innovative and Transformational Leadership”.

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Fall 2012: Building Community Building Health

Our Public Dialogue centred on shifting the focus in health care from treating illness to prevention through building healthy communities. We explored the organic relationship between community and health, taking the conversation on healthcare to the grassroots of community connectedness.

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Summer 2012: FEDAP with Food Systems

This Summer Institute in Dialogue explored the concepts of leadership, action and sustainable development within an urban context. Students engaged in a collaborative project with a local partner organization to create a more sustainable region, with the theme of "sustainable food systems" as a starting point. What is food? What is hunger? What is nourishment? How do we create more sustainable food systems? What is the role of urban agriculture? How is food connected to unsustainable consumption patterns?

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Spring 2012: Under One Roof

City staff and community thought leaders were invited to CityStudio each week to engage in dialogue with students and help inform and frame student projects. We also hosted Open Dialogues every ursday during the Spring 2012 semester CityStudio with students and faculty from the core and partner courses along with City staff and community leaders where we talked about issues and topics related to the Greenest City.

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Fall 2011: Faith in the System?

Simon Fraser University’s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue welcomed a diverse group of participants to the public dialogue “Faith in the System?” at Vancouver’s Heritage Hall on November 23rd 2011. We used stories, discussion and artwork to explore ideas of community resilience in a time of economic crisis through the lens of spirituality, religion and contemplation.

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Spring 2011: Tales from Terminal City

On Saturday, April 2nd, 2011, twenty students from the SFU Semester in Dialogue held Tales from Terminal City: 125 Years of Vancouver, at Performance Works, Granville Island. They invited the public to share in the stories of Vancouver through creative dialogue that inspires community engagement, personal reflection, and collective curiosity.

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Fall 2010: ConservACTION

ConservACTION: Designing North Burnaby’s Energy Future was a public dialogue event organized and facilitated by the students of Simon Fraser University‟s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue. The community of North Burnaby was invited to explore the topic of energy by envisioning a different future for the community and planning how to make that vision a reality.

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Summer 2010: What Matters Most

Simon Fraser University’s Summer 2010 Dialogue class invites you to engage in an evening centered around the question: “What matters most?”. Students will share stories from their experiments in lifestyle activism. In addition, guests will be asked to explore the question of what matters most to them, as well as identify potential avenues for action in their own areas of interest.

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Spring 2010: The Drive to Resilience

On March 26th, the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue held an event for the residents of the Commercial Drive area. “The Drive to Resilience: Envisioning the Future of Commercial Drive” was the culmination of both our course topic, as well as our interests and energy around making Commercial Drive a more resilient community. The ideas and actions that came forth from this event were successful because of community members and residents eager to be involved and to make positive changes.

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Fall 2009: SFU & Woodwards' Thought-Luck

SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts is moving into Woodwards. How can we come together to form a unique artistic community? Join SFU’s Semester in Dialogue students as we explore creative programming, possibilities for this space with SFU students and faculty, residents, local artists and organizers.

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Summer 2009: A Fork in the Road

Vancouver is surrounded by some of the world’s most productive farmland, yet 76% of our food comes from outside British Columbia. This reliance on imported food increases our ecological footprint and inhibits our ability to respond to disaster. The participants of Simon Fraser University’s Dialogue Program, in association with Local Food First, have investigated the possibility of creating a central distribution, research, and educational centre for local food in Vancouver.

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Spring 2009: Audacious Visions for Vancouver

The visions in this report are representations of the public voice. We, the students, have acted as mediators and facilitators so that the public voice can echo through us and into GCAT’s plans. We organized and facilitated seven dialogue on some of the issues that the GCAT has identified as priorities for making Vancouver the greenest city in the world.

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Fall 2008: Share the Health

This innovation encourages the connection of individuals with their community through local food gardens. In our urban settings, the link between environment and health has temporarily been lost. We have become disconnected from the origins of our food. Let’s indulge in the mental and physical health benefits of gardening, it’s about time we got back to our roots!

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Summer 2008: Housing 2050, A Sustainable Vision

Housing consists of more than physical structures and encompasses broader issues. Housing impacts and shapes our social networks, access to employment opportunities, participation in public social spaces, the nature and availability of social services as well as our sense of safety and security. What is housing? How is housing connected to well-being for individuals and communities? What is housing deprivation? How will we provide housing for a growing and aging population? What are the broad impacts of housing policy—past, present and future?

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Spring 2008: imagiNATION

Join us in a day of dialogue to discuss, share, and learn about different Canadian experiences and explore how these experiences shape our identities. We will have roundtable dialogue, keynote speakers, entertainment, space for artistic expression, and a reaffirmation citizenship ceremony. These sessions will serve as a means to engage Canadians in unique ways to explore Canadian citizenship.

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Fall 2007: Taking a Bite Out of Climate Change

Getting food to the dinner table not only affects your wallet, but our warming climate too. Come explore with a group of SFU Dialogue students the complexities of food and climate through innovative, participatory activities. Our generation's fresh perspectives will provide an experiental framework, enabling energized dialogue that will encourage civic engagement. Our session will help you find a way to eat without getting burned.  

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Spring 2007: 2010-Piece Puzzle

The following is an account of A 2010-Piece Puzzle from the perspective of the students who made it happen. It takes into account the planning process, what transpired on the day and what came out of it. We feel the lessons that emerged from the dialogue are important, inspiring and need to be shared.

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Summer 2006: Green is the New Black

On June 15th, 2006, the students in the 2006 Summer Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue, in collaboration with Imagine BC and the Roundhouse Community Centre, held a one day dialogue exploring our shared responsibility for creating a sustainable future for the province of British Columbia.

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