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News and Events

Interdisciplinary Field School opportunity this summer in Ghana

The 4 week Field School is operated as Sociology 4330: Global Community Service and is worth 6 credits. Students will take part in 2 week internships with a non-government organization (NGO), gain hands-on experience, attend cross-cultural classes, travel and sightsee throughout southern Ghana and participate in dance and music lessions.The Field School is open to all Kwantlen students but those in the Humanities and Social Sciences are particularly encouraged to apply. Here is a
slide show from last year’s successful field school. Application deadline is Jan. 31.

You are invited to attend an information session to learn more! (nature of program, costs, dates, insurance, immunizations, credits, etc)

RICHMOND CAMPUS
Mon Jan. 16; 1 – 2 pm
Richmond Rm. 1820

SURREY CAMPUS
Tues Jan. 17; 1 – 2 pm
Surrey, Cedar Rm. 3065



2nd Annual Sociology Conference

To See the Poster Click Here: 
The 2nd Annual Sociology Undergraduate Student Conference

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Past Events



Kwantlen Polytechnic University Students Speak Out About Truth-telling, Reconciliation and the Path Forward
METRO VANCOUVER, BC – (December 1, 2011) – Kwantlen Polytechnic University sociology students will once again invite Native Elders, leaders, and Indian residential school survivors to educate community members about the ongoing consequences of colonial oppression for Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation process that has begun in Canada. "Reconcile This: Telling Truths About Colonization, Indian Residential Schools and Violence Against Native Women in Canada" is the fourth of a series of public education symposiums that invite the public to contribute to local and national dialogue about colonization, social justice, and reconciliation.

The event takes place on December 6, which is Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Speakers include Survivors and Community Organizers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Women's Centre; Dr. Paulette Regan, author of Unsettling the Settler Within (UBC Press); and Chief Robert Joseph of the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society. This event is part of a project initiated by Seema Ahluwalia, chair of Kwantlen's Department of Sociology, called "Teaching and Learning for Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation".

"My intention is to provide opportunities for Canadians to reflect upon the ongoing injustices faced by Aboriginal Peoples in Canada by considering how the exclusion of Indigenous voices in mainstream Canadian institutions impoverishes our national memory and how our historical amnesia and collective denial inhibits the process of truth-telling, reconciliation and the path to peaceful co-existence" says Ahluwalia.

"Through this project, students engage in meaningful social action by helping to organize an event that brings diverse members of the community together and makes Indigenous knowledge and experience central to our understanding of who we are as Canadians. Students organize poster presentations and co-host the symposium, while also fund-raising and supporting community-led initiatives. They develop important research, teamwork, and global citizenship skills in the process of empowering themselves by acting on issues of social justice with compassion, commitment, and leadership," Ahluwalia says. "Public education is a reciprocal gift – students share what they learn while also accepting, with gratitude, the gifts of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, stories, and scholarship."

Research & Scholarship @ Kwantlen Lecture Series 2011-2012

Lecture # 1:
"Disability, Families, and the State"

Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Sociology Department, KPU
When: Monday, October 17, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre A side, G1205A

Abstract
Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh explores how various disability models have been incorporated and ignored in developing and implementing multiculturalism as a state policy. She critically examines medical, social, and cultural models of disability.


Bio
Fiona Whittington-Walsh is a professor in the department of sociology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia. She works on community-academic research partnerships, the cultural industries, disability issues, and the everyday experiences of women and body image. She has published in the areas of disability and health, disability and cinematic representation, beauty and women with disabilities, and women and cosmetic surgery. Her current research is exploring the history of disability representations in mainstream film. 


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Lecture # 2:
"Wearing Pink as a Stand Against Bullying: Why We Need To Say More"

Diane Naugler, Sociology Department, KPU
When: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference A Side, G1205A


Abstract
"This article presents a contextual discourse analysis of the media response to a campaign against bullying that was developed in the spring of 2007 in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. As a feature of masculine socialization, male-on-male bullying secures the reproduction of an aggressive and heteronormative hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1987) for boys and young men in contemporary North American mainstream culture. I argue that the celebration of the 'Pink Campaign' is illustrative of the normalizing silences, or 'unremarkability,' about the related discourses of sexism and homophobia that motivate everyday practices of male on male bullying."

Bio
Diane Naugler (Ph. D., York University) is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Her research interests include the social construction of genders and sexualities, feminist theory and questions of embodiment and surgical intervention (such as cosmetic surgeries and procedures). Her work has appeared in The Journal of Homosexuality, Atlantis: a Women’s Studies Journal and Resources for Feminist Research. She is the editor of the forthcoming anthology Canadian Perspectives in Sexualities Studies (2012, Oxford University Press). Diane will be offering a new course for the Sociology department in Spring 2012 “Gender, Bodies, and Sexualities” (SOCI 3245).


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Lecture # 3:
"Changing Academic identities at Kwantlen"

Gordon Lee, Vice-President, Finance and Administration
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus,
Conference A Side, G1205A

Abstract
This study researched changing academic identities in one dual sector university in British Columbia, Canada. It provides a close look at a group of faculty individually and collectively experiencing organizational change as the institution evolves from a college to a dual sector university.

The research utilized a social constructionist epistemology consistent with some recent research on academic identities (Barnett and Di Napoli, 2008; Gordon and Whitchurch, 2010; Henkel, 2000). These researchers and others assert that academics construct their identities reflexively (Giddens, 1991, p. 5) within academic communities that shape individual identities (Henkel, 2000, p. 250). My methodology is grounded on these assumptions and can best be described as ethnographic interpretivism.

Research methods included a short questionnaire targeted at all faculty members across the institution and more detailed personal interviews with 8 individual faculty members.

The research incorporated a review of relevant institutional data and an analysis of the external context that may have influenced both academic identities within the institution and organizational changes.

This is ‘insider research’ and as such it presents both methodological and ethical challenges. My reflections on these, how I addressed them, how the institution reacted to my research, and how I responded forms a component of the study.

Bio
Gordon Lee has 25 years of experience in higher education teaching and administration including 9 years as a faculty member in the School of Business and 6 years as the dean of that school.

His current research interests are organizational change in dual sector universities and widening participation in higher education. With Rob Fleming, he has co-authored a chapter in Challenging Boundaries, edited by Garrod and Macfarlane.

As well as being Vice President Finance and Administration at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Gordon is also a student in the Doctor in Education Programme at the Institute of Education, University of London.

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Lecture # 4:
"College Academic Success Predictors: A Cross-cultural Study"

John Marasigan (Ph.D.), Psychology Department, KPU
When: Monday, November 21, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre A Side, G1205A

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Lecture # 5:
"Multicentric Learning & Teaching: a critical review"

Christina Pikios (MA), English Language Studies, KPU
When: Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre, G1205A

Abstract
I would like to address 3 inter-related points in this presentation:
· how globalization and the internationalization of education are impacting knowledge, learning, and program development and delivery at Canadian Universities?
· how faculty, students –both local and international-impact and are impacted by these new paradigm shifts?
· Is there a new knowledge and learning that has become the new reality?

Christina Pikios has taught English and Intercultural Communications Theory at universities in Canada, China, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Korea, and Greece. She has been at Kwantlen for 11 years. Her professional expertise is very interdisciplinary: program and curriculum development, teacher training, intercultural communications, globalization, e-learning, and the dynamics of power as related to English language training. Christina has developed over 18 curricula, published numerous articles on language training, co-published on the integration of intercultural communications and English language teaching and learning. She has won 2 awards in Canada and the United States for her contribution to Workplace Training and Program Development. She has a BA in Education and Sociology from UBC and an MA in Linguistics and International Education from McQuarie University, Australia.


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First Voices Lecture Series 2011-2012


Lecture No. 1:
“Disability and the State”

Paul Caune, Founder, Civil Rights Now!
When: Tuesday, July 7, 2011
Time: 10 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Room 1840
8771 Lansdowne Road, Richmond, BC

Abstract
British Columbian voters with disabilities do not get equal benefit and protection from the law as is guaranteed every individual by section 15 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Civil Rights Now! is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, not for profit society with a single goal:
“To get laws passed that gives Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms real force in the daily lives of British Columbian voters with disabilities”.

Paul Caune will be addressing these issues as well as speaking about his own experiences with being forcefully institutionalization by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Bio
In addition to Civil Rights Now! Paul is on the Boards of BC Association of Individualized Technology and Supports for People with Disabilities (
BCITS), and Medicare For Autism Now!.

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Lecture No. 2: 
"Adjusting the Lens: Anthropology and the Use of Audio-Visual Techniques"

Professor Sam Migliore and Dr. Margaret Dorazio-Migliore, Anthropology Department, KPU
When: Monday, October 24, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre Side A, G1205A

Abstract
Professor Sam Migliore and Dr. Margaret Dorazio-Migliore will explore and illustrate how they draw upon audio-visual techniques in their research through photos and short film clips.

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Lecture No. 3:
"Confronting the Witness: Evaluating a Dialogical Archive of the Holocaust"

Dr. Fred Ribkoff, English Department, KPU & Dr. Mark Olyan, Living Testimonies Archive at McGill University
When: Monday, October 31, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Room C3820

Abstract
Until the 1970’s, historians of the Holocaust paid little attention to the testimony of individual survivors. In the 1980s, this slowly began to change. Our research focuses on the testimony of survivors who eventually settled in Montreal and gave their testimony to the McGill Living Testimonies archive. Unlike other collections, Living Testimonies is often dialogical and at times even dialectical: our lecture examines the pros and cons of interactive, and at times aggressive, interviewing techniques.

Bios
Fred Ribkoff has a doctorate from Simon Fraser University and teaches a course on Holocaust Testimony at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Mark Olyan has a doctorate from Concordia University and is affiliated with the Living Testimonies archive at McGill University.

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Lecture No. 4
:
"A Critique of Iranian Education System"
&
"Deconstructing Nationalism and Patriarchy in Iranian School Textbooks"

Dr. Amir Mirfakhraie, Sociology Department, KPU
Nasser Jahani Asl, Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology Department, University of Victoria
When: Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Time: 10:00 p.m.– 11:30 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre Side A, G1205A

A Critique of Iranian Education System
Nasser Jahani Asl, Ph.D. Candidate

Abstract
This paper critically analyses the effects of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic on the education system as an “ideological-state-apparatus”. I argue that the education system and schooling are organized based on anti-democratic and dictatorial principles that aim at socializing obedient subjects in the service of the ruling theocratic capitalist regime. This paper also examines the effects of the anti-democratic and oppressive characteristics of the education system in terms of curriculum content and methods of teaching and factors such as ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, and class. I argue for the establishment of democratic schools based on the principles of critical pedagogy and liberation theories. By drawing upon revolutionary critical pedagogy, I offer a framework for a democratic socialist education system by reconceptualizing the roles of both educators and students as active cultural workers involved in the continuous struggle to achieve revolutionary, anti-imperialist and transformative goals as an alternative to the current oppressive, patriarchal, anti-democratic, and dictatorial education system.

Bio
Nasser Jahani Asl is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria. His PhD research examines the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) as the oldest and most influential social movement organization (SMO) whose politics affects the Iranian Kurdish society as well as the rest of the country. In 2007, Nasser received his MA in Education at Simon Fraser University (SFU), entitled, “A Democratic Alternative Education System For Iran: An Historical and Critical Study”. He also completed his BA in Anthropology and Sociology at SFU in 2003. Nasser was born in Mahabad, Kurdistan, Iran. He immigrated to Canada in 1996 and currently resides in Vancouver. His research interest includes social movements, ethnic relations, and education.

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Lecture No. 5
:
“WHAT HAVE MY COCOA BEANS GOT TO DO WITH CANADA?
MY JOURNEY AS A SCHOLAR-ACTIVIST ON THE GLOBAL SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION LANE"

Charles Quist-Adade, Ph.D.
Sociology Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When: Monday, November 14, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre A Side, G1205A

Abstract
Canadian mass communication scholar and social philosopher Marshal McLuhan put us all in the "Global Village," where willy-nilly, for better or worse, we inhabitants are increasingly becoming integrated, intermixed, and interconnected. What happens at one corner of the village has almost instantaneously repercussion on other parts of the village. Our actions, and indeed our inactions, affect and are affected by the actions and inactions of legions of people, most of who live in far flung corners of our global landscape, and whose paths may never cross ours in our lifetime. In my presentation, I will take my audience with me on a personal memory lane, sketching my life as scholar-activist using what I call the “global sociological imagination.”

I will begin with a discussion of the concept of Global Sociological Imagination (GSI) and follow up with a “slice of my life-story” beginning with my life back in rural Ghana through Europe and North America. I intend to demonstrate how a “conspiracy of factors”—historical, structural, and personal—have influenced my teaching philosophy and my drive for social justice and social change.

Research and Teaching Interest: Ethnic/Race Relations, Social Justice, Social Theory, Globalization/International Development and Change, Media and Society, African Diaspora, Families, Other interest are centered on ‘Third World”/Global South Issues.

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Lecture No. 6:
"Empowering: A woman-centred approach to managing the spectrum of needs from settlement to empowerment"

Battered Women's Support Services (
www.bwss.org)
When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. & 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre A Side, G1205A




Philosopher's Teahouse_July_19
Click below to go to the webpage of:
Philosopher's Teahouse


ociology Undergraduate Student Conference Poster 



Kwantlen Polytechnic University Student Speaks out about Canada's Residential School System


Kwantlen Polytechnic University students will join aboriginal leaders at a public education symposium on March 21, 2011 to explore the history and repercussions of Canada’s infamous residential school system.

The symposium titled, “Social Justice and Reconciliation: Truth-telling About Canada and the Residential School System,” will include presentations by Chief Robert Joseph (executive director of Residential School Survivors' Society), Xa-li-ya (a Katzie First Nation Elder), Samaya Jardey (BC Liaison, Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and Oyate Anawizipi (a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation). The symposium will also feature a poster presentation “The Burden is Properly Ours” by 20 groups of Kwantlen students and a screening of the documentary "Fallen Feather: Indian Residential Industrial Schools" by Randy Bezeau (2007).

“This conference will offer an opportunity for the public to take a closer look at the assimilation and cultural destruction residential schools have brought upon Aboriginal peoples,” says Seema Ahluwalia, chair of Kwantlen’s Department of Sociology. “The symposium will also offer the public and students a chance to listen to residential school survivors and appreciate how their descendants continue to suffer as a result of the system even today.”

“Our goal with this symposium is to educate and contribute to building bridges of understanding in our communities,” says Ahluwalia.

The event is open to the public. All people of all ages are welcome and refreshments will be provided.

Public Education Symposium Details:

What: A public education symposium exploring the truths about Canada’s Residential School System
Who: Presented by the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Department of Sociology and The Committee for Diversity, Inclusion and Action (CDIA)
When: March 21, 2011 between 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Where: Richmond Campus Conference Centre, 8771 Lansdowne Road, Room 2550

See also the Richmond News:
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/Conference+examines+residential+schools+legacy/4463250/story.html


Kwantlen Plans First-Ever Student Trip to Ghana, 2011

For the first time in its history, Kwantlen has organizied a three-week field school in Ghana for any students who are interested and meet course requirements. Dr. Charles Quist-Adade, sociology professor, is responsible for organizing this exciting trip.
For more information, view the news release on Kwantlen Chronical:
http://www.kwantlenchronicle.ca/2011/01/kwantlen-plans-first-ever-student-trip-to-ghana/




Community Volunteer Experience Sharing: Quilt Unveiling and Discussion, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Main Foyer, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

How many sociology students does it take to quilt a difference?

Sociology 4325 students are connecting with our local community: Using quilt making as a medium of collective expression, the class of 2010 share their community volunteer experiences.

Come and join Sociology instructor, Stephen Dooley, and his class. Refresement is provided.


National Day of Rememberance and Action on Violence Against Women
Monday, Dec. 6, 2010, Richmond Conference Centre, Room 2500

The Department of Sociology and CIR:CLE invite you to join us for a day of activities and fundraising for the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and the Women's Memorial March.


Events:
10:00 - 12:00
"Women, Beauty, and Violence: Building Community through the Art of Montage"
- an interactive workshop exploring attitudinal violence presented by Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Dept of Sociology
2:00 - 4:00 pm
"Their Spirits Live Within Us": Native Women, Colonial Violence and Community Action in Downtown Eastside Vancouver
- a public forum featuring Grand Chief Stewart Phillip (BC Union of Indian Chiefs); Carol Martin (Women's Memorial March, Downtown Eastside Women's Center); Evelyne Youngchief (Community activist and survivor); Gladys Radek (Walk 4 Justice); Harsha Walia and The DEWC Women's Power Group; Seema Ahluwalia (Dept of Sociology)
5:30 - 7:00 pm
"Valuing and Protecting Our Lives: A Feminist Self-Defense Workshop"
- an interactive and proactive workshop presented by Dr. Farah Shroff (UBC School of Medicine)
All Day: Student Posters
"Organizing and Educating to End Violence: Community Services
All Day
- collection of Blankets/Coats, personal toiletries and monetary Donations (watch for donation tables and student volunteers)

Co-sponsored by The department of Sociology and CIR:CLE (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research: Community Learning and Engagement)


News on Assisted Suicide, Nov., 2010 

A debate is going on between Russeld Ogden, our Criminology and Sociology instructor, and Margaret Somerville at McGill University on the issue of legalization of assisted death: http://www.themarknews.com/debates/7-debate-should-assisted-suicide-be-legalized-in-canada

On related topic: 
1. Russel Ogden, “Suicide, Canadian Law, and Exit International’s Peaceful Pill,”Health Law in Canada 31(2), 2010.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/euthanewsia/nFjBtqsSfEh0CuPQyygM5SB3JotJqDuEIyKoQOHVuWEDb0w8MqR2nndGA35g/canada_suicide_canadian_law_an.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=1C9REJR1EMRZ83Q7QRG2&Expires=1290992720&Signature=FetUNCJ/3GcmbTQNntlGNzymteY=
2. Georgia Straight http://www.straight.com/article-359128/vancouver/whose-death-it-anyway?page=0,0


Kwame Nkrumah International Conference, August 19-21, 2010, Richmond Campus, Kwantlen Polytechnic University


The conference, organized by Dr. Charles Quist-Adade and Dr. Frances Chiang of the Sociology Department, celebrated the centennial of Nkrumah’s birthday as international panelists gathered to discuss his impact on African and world politics, pan-Africanism, colonialism and post-colonialism, globalization, and the African Diaspora. It attracted 150 participants and over 30 scholars from Africa, Australia, the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada. Keynote addresses were given by Dr. Molefi K. Asante, one of the world’s most published contemporary experts on African-American history and culture, Dr. Gillian Creese, professor of sociology at University of British Columbia and researcher of immigration and settlement in Canada, and a number of other respected scholars who revisited and discussed Nkrumah’s outstanding accomplishments. Presenters and attendees were deeply engaged as they exchanged stimulating ideas and shared lively discussions about the philosophies and ideals of Kwame Nkrumah and the state of Africa.

The conference was sponsored by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); Oxford University Press; Ghanaian-Canadian Association of BC; Afro New; and the Centre for Academic Growth, Institute of Transborder Studies, and the Faculty of Social Sciences of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

For more information about the event and keynote speakers, visit http://www.kwantlen.ca/knic.html.


First Voices Lecture Series: "Genocide in Canada: Why Healing and Reconciliation are Not Possible"
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010, 12:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m., Conference Centre 2550 “A” Side, Richmond Campus, Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Kevin Annette will discuss the historical roots and evidence of church-sponsored genocide of native people in Canada, the residential school system, and the present efforts by survivors to win justice in a system determined to deny ultimate responsibility or liability.

Kevin Annett is a community minister who lives and works in the downtown eastside of Vancouver with aboriginal and low income people. He is the author of three books on genocide in Canada and producer of the award-winning documentary film Unrepentant. He has masters degrees in Political Science and Theology, and is the founder of the non-governmental Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada and The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared. See his website for more information at: www.hiddenfromhistory.org.

This lecture series was organized by Dr. Amir Mirfakhraie, faculty member of the Department of Sociology.


Conference on "Teaching, Learning and Scholarship in the Age of the Plastic Body - Dialogues with Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer," March 12-13, 2010, Surrey Campus Conference Centre, kwantlen Polytechnic University.

This conference, organized by Dr. Diane Naugler of the Sociology Department, brings together researchers from three countries (Canada, the United States and Australia) for wide ranging discussions on the politics and epistemologies of cosmetic surgeries and their reception on institutional, community and individual levels.

The purpose of this event is to provide Kwantlen instructors with an opportunity to engage and encourage student learning outside the classroom. Several Kwantlen instructors from a variety of disciplines have already built the conference into the design of their Spring courses. 
A full conference program, selected papers by conference presenters (for student and instruction use) and a link to PDreg are all available at http://kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/2010_Plastic_Body_conf.htm. Hard copies of the anthology Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer (Heyes and Jones, Ashgate, 2009), chapters from which are the foundation of five conference presentations, are available through reserves at the Surrey and Richmond campus libraries. 


African Heritage/Black history Month Confab, Feb 8, 2010


Theme: The danger of One Story and The Power of Multiple Stories
This event was organized by Charles Quist-Adade of the Sociology Department and sponsored by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwantlen Student Association, and Ghana-Canada Association of BC. Donations were accepted to help the victims and survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.


"Extend a Helping Hand to Haiti," Jan., 2010

Dr. Charles Quist-Adade and his Sociology 1125 class (Introduction to Society) hosted the fund-raising event, "Extend a Helping Hand to Haiti." In partnership with the Ghanaian-Canadian Association of BC, the event raised over $2400, an amount that will be divided between the Canadian Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières.

The evening included Charles recounting fantastical stories from his Ghanian childhood, earnest appeals from Charles' 3 children, Maayaa, Kwaku, and Malika, and poetry by the slam poet Scruffmouth. Importantly, the event reminds us that we can all do something meaningful--whether small or large, alone or together, quiet or raucous--in the face of human tragedy and suffering. 

For a report of this event, read the article "Kwantlen students pull together for Haiti" at
http://www.kwantlenchronicle.ca/2010/02/kwantlen-students-pull-together-for-haiti/

 

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