Good luck to the Vanier Team participating in the
Transcription
Good luck to the Vanier Team participating in the
Volume M14, Issue No. 3, February 2, 2015 Intercom is published regularly and serves to inform Vanier staff and teachers of notices and special events. It is posted on the Vanier College Website and distributed electronically. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions should be in WORD, and sent as an attachment. No formatting or bullets. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding publication. Good luck to the Vanier Team participating in the 10th Vanier College BDC Case Challenge Peer Tutoring in English for students Dear Colleagues, Next weekend, thirty three topnotch teams of Marketing students from across Canada will face-off against one another in the hopes of winning a medal at the Annual Vanier College BDC Case Challenge, February 6-8, 2015. th Now in its 10 year, the Vanier event has become Canada’s biggest and most prestigious, bilingual collegiate marketing competition with contestants hailing from British Columbia to Newfoundland. “Reaching our 10th year anniversary is something we are truly proud of,” says David Moscovitz, Case Challenge organizer. “We started this event with three local colleges in our student cafeteria. Today with the tremendous support from so many different people we have, in only 10 years, made this 2-day event one of the most elite competitions at the college level in Canada.” This year’s Vanier Marketing team competing next weekend consists of students Salvatore Sgro, Sofia Testolina, Michael Rattanavong and Sophie Alame, and Coaches David Moscovitz and Jessica Andrews. They have all been practicing and preparing for this big event for the past four months. Good luck to all of them. Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications I am currently looking for students who want to and/or need to improve their English language and writing skills. Please encourage the students in your classes who are experiencing difficulties with English to apply for free peer tutoring by THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12. Application forms are available in an envelope posted outside my office door (N-554) and at my Faculty Dean’s office (B-208). Applicants will be selected according to their availability and will be paired with a peer tutor, a student taking my Peer Teaching course, who will help them throughout the winter semester. They will receive free peer tutoring (two hours per week) starting on the fifth week of classes (the week of February 23). If you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at ext.7271 or to email me at [email protected] Thank you. Spiridoula Photopoulos, English Department CRC Robotics Competition seeking volunteer kiosk judges For the third time in four years, Vanier College will be hosting the CRC Robotics Competition. The event will take place from Thursday Feb. 12 to Saturday Feb. 14. This is an annual event in which teams from high schools and CEGEPs across the Montreal region build a robot designed to perform some task in competition with other robots. Vanier has participated in this competition for over 10 years, and we are lucky to be hosting the event again this year. For three days, the Sports Complex will be invaded by hundreds of eager and ambitious high school and CEGEP students. This will be an excellent opportunity to show high school students what a great place Vanier would be for their college education. of a college student. The atmosphere is fun and casual, and lunch is provided! The videoconferences take place at Vanier on Tuesdays starting th January 20 . Some of our sessions are from 11:30 to 12:30 and others are from 12:30 to 1:30. Students can come to as many or as few as they want. Participation in 3 or more sessions gets them a letter of recognition that they can list on their CVs. They can also use this project to accumulate volunteer hours for the STAR program. We are particularly interested in finding Vanier students who are from rural communities and who can share their own experiences adapting to college life in the city. However, all interested students are welcome! In addition to designing, building and operating a robot, each robotics team must also build a display space (a kiosk). The main goal of this message is to recruit a team of Vanier Community members to judge the kiosks. Each kiosk covers a floor area 12 feet square and must include a space for maintenance and repairs to the robot as well as provide information for guests and judges. We are expecting over 30 such kiosks being set up in Gyms B and C of the Sports Complex. Ideally, we will need about 35 to 40 judges to keep the judging load to a reasonable level. The kiosk judging will take place on the Friday morning and afternoon and will require about an hour of your time. We would like to have a team of judges with a broad range of backgrounds from technical to artistic or just people who like to interact with students. No experience is required. Being bilingual is an asset (but not a requirement) as many of the teams will be from French schools. To get a better sense of the scope of the competition, visit the CRC website, www.robo-crc.ca. If you are interested in acting as a judge and/or if you have any questions, please contact Mauro Di Renzo at [email protected] by Friday, February 6. Hope to see you at the Robotics Competition. Mauro Di Renzo, Chemistry Department, on behalf of the Robotics Competition Organizing Committee High School Outreach Project We are currently recruiting students for our winter edition of the High School Outreach Project. This project consists of a series of videoconference sessions where Vanier students meet up online with students from high schools throughout Quebec! This means that all of us Vanier people are in one room and we are connected by video to 2-4 different high schools. There is a different topic every week and Vanier student mentors get the opportunity to share their thoughts on a range of topics ranging from academic skills to urban survival skills and the day in the life We are asking faculty and staff who work with students to circulate this information. Please send names of interested students to Jacky Vallée on MIO, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 514-744-7500, x8323. 5 minute class visits can also be arranged! Jacky Vallée, Anthropology Department Teaching Tip : Let’s Talk! When helping students to develop effective literacy skills, it is important to make sure that listening and talking don’t get short shrift. In the November 2014 issue of Educational Leadership, Erik Palmer argues that “Everything you do in your classroom would improve if students spoke better.” We certainly know that our Image courtesy of students can talk, however assigning oral the PDO presentations isn’t always enough. This Teaching Tip will present interesting ways to help your students improve their verbal dexterity. By adding more speaking tools to their literacy toolkit, we can help them succeed academically, professionally, and personally. Creating a Rich Verbal Environment It’s tempting sometimes to avoid certain terms or eliminate figurative language and colloquial expressions from our own talking, because of the fear that students won’t understand us. In the long term, this approach robs our students of the opportunity to enrich their own repertoire of words and phrases. Instead, teachers might consider using (or even creating) a glossary and making students aware that specific vocabulary is part of the course content that they are expected to master. Sprinkling your own talk with interesting phrases and expressions is also a good strategy for enriching the overall language experience for everyone in the classroom. Pronunciation A good way to start helping students acquire more competence and confidence in their talking is to support proper pronunciation of discipline-specific terms, both in English and in other languages, and of the names of important theorists etc. Who hasn’t wondered how to properly pronounce Nietzsche (the spelling is challenging enough!), lese majeste or eukaryotes. Luckily, tools like Pronunciation Book or sites like howjsay.com can help students (and teachers) master the tongue-twisters associated with different fields of study. By insisting on proper pronunciation, we can teach our students that attention to detail is an important aspect of their overall language and literacy skill set. Precision Being able to present one’s ideas concisely and accurately is a good skill to help students hone. One way to do so is to add a mandatory “Word List” to group discussion activities; when each small group reports back to the larger class, they are required to include 5 or 6 specific terms in their response. This technique works well with role play activities – as students act out the different roles, they have to use a vocabulary that matches that role. Past Teaching Tips like Making Group Work Work and Think Pair Share can also benefit from the addition of a word list. Referral Form: Early Alert Support There is a new system in place for teachers to refer students to support services. The Early Alert Support referral form is meant to be used as soon as it becomes noticeable that a student is likely to fail your course and requires support beyond help understanding course content. In speaking to your student about his/her difficulties, you must first obtain your student’s consent to refer him/her. Once you have done so, you can fill out and submit the online form. You will receive confirmation that the referral has been received and the student has been contacted. The student will then meet with a member of the Student Success Advisory Committee, who will refer the student to relevant resources and follow-up to ensure the student is making use of them. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you want further information about this new initiative: extension 7568 or [email protected] Referral form: Early Alert Support: http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/student-success/referral-form/. Explanation Being able to explain an idea in simple, audience-friendly language is another important skill. Students often understand what they’re being taught, but struggle to express that information in their own words. Teachers can ask students to explain a specific process or concept, and, for an added challenge, match the task with a specific audience. This can also help students learn to speak in field-specific ways (see the Teaching Tip: Communication Skills in Your Discipline). For inspiration, check out The Flame Challenge - sparked by a childhood experience of Alan Alda’s, contestants were challenged to explain what a flame is in ways that an 11 year-old could understand. The results are eye-opening! Persuasion Cari Clough, The Learning Centre Indigenous Initiatives at Vanier College We are proud to announce that Indigenous initiatives are growing in quantity and frequency at Vanier! There are several ways that people can be involved in these initiatives. One is to be a part of the Vanier Indigenous Circle. We have regular meetings to address how we can both improve support for our Indigenous students and increase the visibility of Indigenous cultures, languages and history on campus. Our meetings will deal with very specific topics and you can attend the ones that are of interest to you. Just get in touch with Jacky at [email protected] or Marya at [email protected] to be on the list. Finally, being able to use words to persuade others is definitely a good thing. Salespeople have long known this! One in-class activity that can help students practice this type of talking is to host a debate, on a topic related to your course. Having students follow a guideline of rules for a formal debate is a fun way to structure the experience for students and teachers. Other ideas include challenging students to create 30-second commercials for a specific item, concept or person; create and perform a rap to “sell” a preferred artist, author, philosopher or scientist; write and deliver a 1- minute political speech arguing for a specific policy. Keep an eye out! We have many things lined up such as Indigenous speakers, information tables on Indigenous cultures th and history in Canada, events commemorating the 25 anniversary of the Oka crisis and a possibly some fun surprises! For more information regarding LCAD, reading, writing, listening, and talking, please contact us at the PDO! Marya Grant, David Piercey, Lisa Sparkes, & Jacky Vallée Vanier Indigenous Circle Steering Committee For this and more Teaching Tips, please visit the PDO web page Jennifer Mitchell, Pedagogical Development Office Teachers who simply wish to be informed of events on campus or in the Montreal area can subscribe to the Vanier Native Friendship Circle portal on Omnivox or write to [email protected] to be put on our mailing list. Cafeteria Menu for this week and Winter Info lettre Check out the Cafeteria menu for this week at the end of Intercom. Mireille Béland, Student Services Mathematics & Science Centre New Insurance and Financial Advisory Services program Director General Normand W. Bernier is pleased to announce the introduction of a new and unique Vanier program entitled Insurance and Financial Advisory Services 410.C0. With the introduction of this new program Vanier becomes the only English-language Cégep to offer three options within Business Administration covering a range of business specializations. The other two offerings are: Accounting and Management Technology 410.B0 and Business Management (Marketing) 410.D0. Science Week 2015: Save the date! rd th This year, Science Week will take place from March 23 to 27 . The schedule will be available in within the next two weeks, until then, keep the dates in mind. Biology 1 Tutorials As per last semester, Professor Karl Laroche will be offering several tutorials throughout the semester for students who are looking for extra help in Biology 1. These tutorials will take place in the Math & Science Centre (F-540) from 2pm to 4pm on the following dates: Biological Chemistry: February 6th Cells and Cell Division: February 20th Genetics: March 13th Evolution: April 10th Diversity of Life: April 24th th Ecology: May 8 No registration is required and all students are welcomed! Pre-Med/Pre-Med Applications Information Session with Focus on Vanier alumni and current pre-med and pre-dent students will be present this Friday at 3:30pm (D-506) to share their experiences and help review application documents of students interested in applying for pre-med/pre-dent this semester. Interested students must sign up at: http://bit.ly/hVuZ4y “The addition of the new Insurance and Financial Advisory Services program is yet another offering that makes Vanier College unique in terms of preparing our students for the labour force of tomorrow,” said Mr. Bernier. Graduates of the new Insurance and Financial Advisory Services program will be ready for interesting careers in insurance, finance and banking, as supervisors, finance, insurance and banking clerks, loan officers, insurance adjusters and claims examiners, insurance underwriters, insurance agents and brokers. Students in the new program will learn to perform various activities related to insurance and financial services. During their first three semesters they will share a common curriculum with the other Business Administration programs, which emphasizes basic business and computer skills and introduces them to major areas of concern in the business world. Business Administration courses offer a combination of practical and theoretical training in order to provide the skills needed to secure entry-level management positions in the business world. There is a mandatory internship placement with the opportunity of international (France) fieldwork. For more information about the Insurance and Financial Advisory Services program or any of the Business Administration programs see: [email protected] or 514.744.7100 or 514.744.7881; consult the website at: www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/business-administration or contact the Coordinator: [email protected] or 514.744.7500 local 6004 or local 7011. Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Information Kiosk In addition to the information session, on Friday, pre-med and pre-dent students will be on site in the Math & Science Centre (F540) throughout the day to answer student questions and to sell McGill application guides to students who are looking to find out more about the process. Do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any inquiries. Furthermore, please encourage your students to visit us. Haritos Kavallos, Math & Science Centre Water week! Much has happened to our water landscape in the past few years and once again Vanier will be celebrating this fact with an innovative set-up in the student Mall. Every day this week from 10 am to 2 pm, student volunteers will be ready to lead you through the watershed, a conversation with water. If you would like to bring a class to the exhibit or host a brief presentation in your class about global water issues, then please contact Richard Dugas, Vanier’s sustainability Officer, (extension 7888) to make arrangements. Richard Dugas, Student Services Vanier Launches “Leave Your Mark” Contest to Choose a New Slogan for the College Vanier College is launching a competition to choose a new slogan. All members of the Vanier community, including full-time and part-time students, staff and faculty, are invited to participate by sending in their suggestions. Ideally the slogan should be between four to 8 words maximum. The deadline for submissions th is February 13 2015 at midnight. “The “Leave Your Mark” contest is a fun way to get students, staff and faculty involved in an initiative that is designed to help build a sense of community on campus. Contest entries should try to reflect the Vanier experience and the many characteristics that make our college unique,” said Darren Becker, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs. The submissions will subsequently be judged by a selection committee that will choose the top five entries. These entries will then be subjected to a vote via an on-line poll on Omnivox. The choice that receives the most votes will subsequently become the new slogan for Vanier College and will appear on select official college documents. The winner of the competition will be announced in March 2015. A total of $250 in gift certificates will be awarded to the top three entries. Please send in your entries to: http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/slogan The Learning Centre Services The Learning Centre (TLC) offers an array of resources and services for both students and faculty in order to promote student academic success. We are located on the second floor of the B-building (B205). Drop-in Assistance: Students may receive professional assistance regarding reading, writing, speaking & study skills during our drop-in hours MONDAYS 9:00AM – 6:00 PM TUESDAYS 9:00AM –6:00 PM WEDNESDAYS 9:00AM – 12:00PM and 1:30PM – 6:00 PM THURSDAYS 9:00AM – 1:00PM and 4:00-6:00 PM FRIDAYS 9:00AM – 4:00PM Please note that drop-in appointments will be limited to 20 minutes. Students who need additional support will be given an appointment with a TLC staff member. English Peer Tutoring Trained English peer tutors are available for students whose English is not their first language. Encourage students who would like to improve their English skills to apply online at: www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/tlc/tutoring. Rules: -All members of the Vanier community including parttime, fulltime students, part-time and full-time faculty and staff are eligible to participate and can submit as many proposals as they wish. -All students entering the contest must include a valid Vanier College Student ID Number. All entries remain the property of Vanier College. Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications Poster competition for the Vanier College Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide Once again, we will be holding a poster and art competition as part of the Symposium, which will be held April 13-17, 2015. The winner of the poster contest will receive a great prize and will be featured in all advertisement regarding the Symposium. The deadline is March 6, 2015. Please see our flyer at the end of Intercom for more information. Marlene Grossman, Psychology Department In Class Workshops: The following workshops can be as brief as 15 minutes or take as long as an hour. It is possible to customize workshops to meet specific requests. Teachers can book their workshop at: http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/tlc/book-a-workshop Avoiding Plagiarism / Referencing: This focuses on the definition and consequences of plagiarism. Students are taught the skills needed to avoid plagiarism, such as how to paraphrase, quote and properly reference their sources. It is available for APA and for MLA documentation. Time Management and Avoiding Procrastination: This workshops looks at what procrastination is and some methods of addressing the problem. It also looks at time management and some tools that can be used for managing one’s time and to help with procrastination. Study Skills: This workshop discusses some of the ways that the brain learns and stores information. The workshop demonstrates how short term and long term memory works and presents students with different studying techniques using interactive activities. Oral Presentations: This workshop discusses how to prepare and give an oral presentation. It can also include information on creating a PowerPoint presentation. Note-Taking: This workshop discusses different methods for taking notes in class and while reading, including concept maps and the Cornell Method. Active Reading: This workshop introduces students to the concept of active reading, which includes reading with purpose and how to use the SQ3R method. Essay Writing: This shows students a step-by-step approach to writing a college-level essay. It can include discussion and exercises on creating topics, writing effective thesis statements, proper paragraph structure, essay-outlining and essay structure. It can focus on different essay types or different elements in the academic essay. Essay Analysis: This workshop focuses on what it means to analyze evidence for the academic essay and how to incorporate analysis into the essay properly. Literary Analysis: These workshops help introduce students to the concept of literary analysis. Students learn about several literary techniques and how to analyze them to understand a piece of literature. Writing Better Sentences: This workshop offers students straightforward and easy-to-apply strategies for correcting common sentence problems such as fragments, run-ons, and comma splices. Students will learn key punctuation and grammar usage rules by revisiting the basics of sentence structure. Academic Skills Development Workshops The Learning Centre offers a series of workshops over the course of a semester to help your students further develop their academic skills. Each workshop is thirty minutes and is offered twice during the semester, either on Wednesdays at 12:00 noon or Monday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Students who attend at least three of the workshops will receive a certificate of merit. Topics include time management & procrastination, thesis statements, writing better sentences, MLA & APA – referencing and plagiarism, oral presentations and study skills and preparing for exams. Information on specific dates and topics can be found on the Events page and at: www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/tlc/category/workshops Tipsheets and Interactive Resources Online: The many tipsheets (paper copies in B205), videos on study skills, and interactive programs are available online to assist your students. View our many resources at: www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/tlc/guides-and-tips Please pass on this information to your students. Feel free to visit Joanne Ellis (Coordinator), Kim Muncey, Josh Berman, Marya Grant, Emma Gaudet-Reichelson, and Pam Espinosa in B205. Joanne Ellis, The Learning Centre Vanier Indigenous Circle Part of the Vanier Indigenous Circle’s mission is to increase cultural and linguistic awareness on campus. We will be presenting relevant facts and, since we are on unceded Mohawk territory, Mohawk words. Did you know that there are 11 Indigenous Nations within Quebec? The traditional name for the Indigenous nation native to the Montreal region (Mohawk) is Kanien’kehá:ka, pronounced: ga nyen geh ha gah. The word means People of the Flint. The Kanien’kehá:ka are the keepers of the Eastern Door in the Iroquois Confederacy. Follow the link to find out more: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/Mobile/Nations/docs/11181_AADNC_CarteNationsQc_8.5x11-r6b_webB.pdf Marya Grant, The Learning Centre Black History Month We invite our community to join us and check out the wonderful events we have planned for Black History Month at Vanier. We have a variety of entertainment, films, music, contests and so much more! See the list of events at the end of Intercom. For more information, please come to Student Services - C 203. Dany Brown, Student Services 2015 Humanities Symposium See the program at the end of Intercom for the complete list of guest speakers lined up this week for the Humanities Symposium: Imaginaries. Speakers include CBC Radio Host Jonathan Goldstein (in conversation with Vanier’s own Burt Covit), award-winning author Heather O'Neill, and special guest Michael O'Brien. Events begin this morning in the Auditorium. Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications 10:00 – 11:30 DAVID KOLOSZYC (Vanier College) Imaginary Lives: On the Passion for Ignorance and the Benefits of Self-Misunderstanding In the Manifesto of Surrealism of 1924, author André Breton issues a warning about the imminent death of the imagination and calls for an artistic revolt against modern culture’s growing obsession with logical thinking and practical concerns. Four decades later, Guy Debord, social critic and leader of another revolutionary group, The Situationist International, declares the arrival of a new age dominated by mass media and leading to the replacement of real human relations with imaginary ones. The aim of this presentation is to consider these two seemingly disparate perspectives with the help of Jacques Lacan, an influential psychoanalyst whose concept of ‘the imaginary’ figures at the very heart of all human projects – and projections. 12:30 – 2:00 SPECIAL HUMANITIES LECTURE: MICHAEL O’BRIEN Imaginary Gardens and Real Toads “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere” (Albert Einstein). The imagination is most often viewed positively, whereas the imaginary is frequently associated with the unreal and the fictitious, even with madness. Both the imaginative and the imaginary seem to be connected, in turn, with painting, literature, and religion. Using literature and psychoanalysis, this talk will examine some of the implications, both positive and negative, of these terms and their relevance to our lives. FRIDAY, February 6th 8:30 – 10:00 AVERY PLAW (UMass Dartmouth, Political Science) Drone Strikes as Self-Defense? Preemptive use of force by the United States over the last decade, most notably the ongoing use of armed drones operating far from conventional battlefields, is having a significant impact on the international legal regime and particularly the Jus ad Bellum. Yet this impact need not, as many commentators and scholars have worried, be all bad. Indeed, Plaw argues that it may have some unintended positive effects on the law of self-defense and particularly on the interpretation of Article 51 of the UN Charter. This paper begins by briefly reviewing the famously contentious debates over the meaning of self-defense under Article 51 in the era before 2001, and then sketches an interpretation of how US uses of force, and increasingly those of other states like Israel, Turkey, Russia and Colombia, are re-shaping those debates and creating a new practice permitting limited, episodic exercises of force in response to cross-border attacks by non-state actors. This practice has the potential to resolve some inconclusive and sterile debates over the meaning of Article 51 and might permit states the necessary flexibility to confront immediate terrorist threats while avoiding the slippery slope to full-scale preventive war. 10:00 – 11:30 JULIE NAGAM (OCAD University, Indigenous Visual Culture) A Snapshot of Canadian Indigenous Artists Creating Alternative Cartographies within the Urban Landscape This talk focuses on the concealed geographies of Indigenous histories in the city of Toronto through selected artworks that, in visually demonstrating an alternative cartography, challenge myths of settlement situated in the colonial narratives of archaeology and geography. Nagam demonstrates that the artworks of Indigenous artists such as Rebecca Belmore, Robert Houle and Jeff Thomas narrate Indigenous stories of place by using the memories and wisdom of Indigenous people in the areas of art, archaeology and geography. Using her own scholarly interventions and artistic work, this talk expands on Nagam’s past and current research into concepts of Native space, the significance of the embodied knowledge of Indigenous people, and the importance of reading the land as a valuable archive of memory and history. With thanks to the Faculty of Science and General Studies for its generous support. The 2015 VANIER COLLEGE HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM February 2nd – February 6th have “cinematic experiences” in new and unexpected ways. COTB is a completely bicycle powered cinema that relies on audience participation to run, and which can be set up in almost any environment. What remains of cinema when we take it on the road, and what happens to our experiences when we have new contexts, environments, and publics for cinema events? This year’s Humanities Symposium will offer a space to reflect on the theme of Imaginaries. The ‘imaginary’ addresses the ways in which individuals come to imagine themselves, their relations with other people, and their communities. Similar to a worldview, an imaginary develops out of the interaction between an individual and a society’s particular way of seeing. In recent years, many have argued that imaginaries have important implications for how each of us self-identifies, acts toward others and navigates our social space. 10:00 – 11:30 HEATHER O’NEILL (Author of The Girl Who Was Saturday Night) IMAGINARIES What is the nature of these imaginaries? From what sources do they take shape? How active or passive are we in their making? To reflect on this theme is also to reflect on whether and how we may re-imagine our world, ourselves, as well as our place within it. Open to the public, with a special invitation to the Vanier community of students, teachers and staff. All events will take place in the auditorium (A-103). MONDAY, February 2 nd 10:00 – 11:30 VERONIQUE FRASER (University of Toronto, Bioethics) The Case of Michael S: Medical Decision-Making and the Ethical Imagination Making medical decisions on behalf of patients who do not have the ability to provide consent to treatment is one of the most common ethical issues encountered in health care today. When a patient’s prior wishes for treatment are unknown, a decision maker must make a decision based on medical “best interest” and what they think the patient would have wanted if he or she were still able to make a choice. This process raises several notable questions: Can we predict with any accuracy which medical interventions a loved one would want? How should we deal with our own biases, values and preferences when making a decision on behalf of someone else? This talk will address some of the key questions and tensions that arise in substitute decision-making and explore how the concept of the ethical imagination might help inform this discussion. 2:30 – 4:00 KEYNOTE EVENT: JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN (CBC Host of WireTap) An Evening in the Afternoon with Jonathan Goldstein (in conversation w/ Vanier College’s Burt Covit) CBC Radio host, National Post columnist, author, This American Life frequent contributor, gadfly and Vanier College alumnus Jonathan Goldstein will be on stage in conversation with his early mentor, photographer, boulevardier, gadfly and Vanier College employee Burt Covit. Clips from Goldstein and Covit’s radio collaborations will be played and the creative process will be discussed. Discussed, too, will be Vanier College of the eighties, a time when students and teachers alike smoked in the building and wrote in paper notebooks. As well, there will be a slideshow. It will involve drawings on Post-it notes. There will also be sponge cake. If you bring sponge cake. TUESDAY, February 3rd 8:30 – 10:00 ALANNA THAIN (McGill University, English & Program for World Cinema) Cinema out of the Box: Collective Experiments with Mobile Movies in Montreal Cinema Out of the Box is a research-creation project founded by Alanna Thain, in collaboration with her students at McGill, to develop practical tools for a mobile cinema. Today, our media is defined by mobility—devices that can go anywhere for bodies that are always on the move. For some, this means that a “cinematic specificity,” associated with the experience of going to a movie theatre (sometimes called the “cathedral of cinema”) has been lost. But on the contrary, the new mobility of cinema means that we can The Artist Before Twelve Author Heather O’Neill will examine the way in which the influences of an artist’s childhood affect their work for the rest of their lives. She will show how an artist’s inspirations may range from a toy in a cereal box to a paperback book of philosophy, and how these inspirations are then synthesized into a coherent and idiosyncratic portrait of their life. She will reflect on her own personal influences and inspirations from childhood, as well as the way they have shaped her literary work, in order to illustrate this phenomenon. WEDNESDAY, February 4th 10:30 – 12:00 DAVID MEREN (Université de Montréal, History) Yaks to Ungava: Canadian Imaginings of ‘Development’ from the Global South to the Arctic, 1945-1960 This talk engages with the entangled histories of Canadian foreign aid and relations between Aboriginal peoples and Canada. Specifically, it traces a proposal in the early 1950s to use the Colombo Plan – the Commonwealth technical assistance program in which Canada was a participant – to transfer yaks from India for use in the “development” of the Inuit population in northern Quebec. While the transfer was ultimately never realized, the episode reveals how questions of race and empire, along with preoccupations to facilitate “modernization” according to a liberal capitalist worldview, informed the imaginary underpinning the Canadian state’s engagement with Aboriginal populations and the Global South. As such, this talk seeks to understand how the history of encounters between natives and newcomers informed Canadian attitudes regarding foreign aid, and vice versa. 3:30 – 5:00 MAGGIE KATHWAROON (Vanier College) The Expendable Male: Masculinity for the 99% Despite the progress made in redefining what it is to “be a man” in the 21st century, certain traditional gender notions linger that may contribute to some men accepting that their lives are secondary to other interests. An example of this is the professional athlete. There is mounting evidence that accepted styles of play in both American football and hockey, for example, contribute to brain damage, early death, depression, mood swings, and suicide. However, leagues, fans and the players themselves fail to consider that what is asked of professional athletes is to slowly sacrifice their lives for the sake of spectacle and profit. Given that professional male athletes serve as a powerful model for contemporary masculinity and are often lauded as examples for young boys and adult men, to what extent is their expendability a part of the contemporary masculine imaginary? th THURSDAY, February 5 8:30 – 10:00 BRIAN ABOUD (Vanier College) Risk Imaginaries and Imaginary Risks: Danger and Uncertainty in the Tempo of our Time We, individuals of the contemporary West, are conscious of, focused on and concerned with threats, dangers and mishaps in ways and in degrees that are unprecedented. This attention, in thought and action, to potential future harms and losses flows from, while also giving form to, a particular way of imagining the world, the specific social setting of which we are part and our condition in it. At the heart of this particular imaginary is the notion of risk. This presentation will argue that, in the current time, risk has become a central and pivotal component of collective, personal and organizational imaginaries. Vanier College MENU WINTER 2015 Week 3 SOUPEMPORIUM CULINARY TABLE (VEGETARIAN) CULINARY TABLE (CHEF’S CHOICE) STIR FRY STATION Friday Tuesday Wednesday Creamy Mushroom Soup Basil Vegetable Soup Parmentier Soup Lens Soup Cream of Carrot and Turnip Soup Stir-Fry Plantain Bananas with tofu, African Style Vegetarian Beef Pie Stir-Fry Cheddar Vegetable Perogies Vegetarian Beef Wrap Western Frittata Veal Hamburger Steak Pork Escalopes with mushrooms Beef Burritos Salmon Pie Turkey meatloaf, orange-ginger Sauce Monday Thursday BUILD YOUR PLATE! Your choice of sauteed fresh vegetables, choice of one protein (chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu, pollock …), choice of sauce (thaï, teriyaki, orange ginger, sweet and sour …), served on rice noodles or steamed rice As a variation, you can ask that this offer be served as a warm salad. BAJA FLATS Pizzan General Tao Chicken Special Setting the table Menus are subject to modifications due to availability and seasonal products. Smoked meat Sandwich Mega Burger with your choice of toppings VANIER CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 2 – 27, 2015 Feb. 2 – 27 Vanier celebrates Black History Month – “Defining Your Character for Success” Feb. 1-28 Display Cases in Carrefour Feb. 4 Black History Month Kickoff*UB*Student *Mall Feb. 13 Valentine’s Day Cupcake Sale for Malawi *10-2*Student Mall Pick up your beautiful & tasty Valentine’s Day muffins. All proceeds will go to the Malawi Nursing program. Feb. 16 - 20 Black History Quiz – C-203 Pick up the Vanier Black History quiz and test your knowledge of Black History. Prizes!! BHM Essay contest Write an essay of between 250-500 words on an important event or movement in Black History and explain how this event or movement is significant or inspiring to you personally. Submissions are due in C 203 before noon Feb. 20th. Prizes will be awarded. For more info, come to C-203. Feb. 16 Film – “Akeelah and the Bee” – 2:00pm * Auditorium (112 minutes) Akeelah is a student who gets picked on for being smart. Wanting to fit in, she dumbs herself down so the mean girls will befriend her. This attempt fails when she aces a school-wide spelling challenge. Sitting in the audience is a college professor who sees her potential and challenges her to spell 30-dollar words on the spot. The entire school is impressed until she spells a word wrong, then the teasing begins again. Tired of being trapped in a system for people going nowhere, Akeelah must risk her safety, defy her mom and step into an unknown world to compete in a spelling bee that she sees as her game changer. Feb. 17 Film – “Black Nativity” – 2:00pm * Auditorium (93 minutes) Feb. 18 Film – “The Butler” – 1:45pm * Auditorium (132 minutes) LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man's life and family. Feb. 19 Black History Month Virtual Classroom - Mentorship, Dream Jobs, and Giving Back to the Community– 1:00pm-2:30pm * Auditorium In our newest Virtual Classroom, highly accomplished Black professionals and community leaders—including Olympian and broadcast journalist Rosey Edeh and Toronto's Poet Laureate and Governor General's Award-winner Dr. George Elliott Clarke—will prepare participants to reach for their career goals with confidence, ambition and the support of outstanding mentors. They'll also advise students on giving back to their own communities, sharing inspiring stories from their own experiences with an exciting variety of not-for-profit groups. Feb. 19 Film – “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” – 2:00pm * Auditorium (86 minutes) Feb. 20 Film – “Malcolm X” – 1:00pm * Auditorium (202 minutes) Feb. 21 Black History Month Poster Contest Help keep memories alive by submitting a poster for the Black History month Poster Contest. Poster must illustrate the beauty and culture of Black History. Must be submitted to C 203 by Feb. 21st noon. Prizes will be awarded. Winners will be announced on Feb. 25th during U.B. in the Mall. Feb. 26 Soul Call * UB * Mall Join us for a celebration. This year we have TR3s, a truly amazing band & rap singer, composed of mostly Vanier Music Students and Music teacher and alumnae, Nasyr Abdul alKhabyyr. We will have great food, amazing entertainment, and culture. This event is not to be missed! A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. The Watsons set out on a family road trip where their experiences give them a newfound courage to stand up for what is right and helps them grow stronger as a family in the process. Born Malcolm Little, his father (a Garveyite Baptist minister) was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm became a gangster, and while in jail discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Muhammad. He preaches the teachings when let out of jail, but later on goes on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, there he converts to the original Islamic religion and becomes a Sunni Muslim and changes his name to El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965 and dies a Muslim martyr. (For more information, please contact Student Services C 203 or the Language School B 228) Vanier College/ Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention Foundation 23rd Annual Symposium Our World, Our Responsibility: Your Action! April 13-17, 2015 Poster Competition For those of you not familiar with the Symposium, its goal is to educate students about the Holocaust and genocide as well as to sensitize young people to the dangers of racism, bigotry, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Our theme this year is Our world, Our Responsibility: Your Action. The winner’s artwork will be included in this year’s poster and used to inform Vanier students as well as the public-at-large. Winners of this year’s poster contest will win $100.00 and the poster will be featured in all of the symposium’s advertisement. It must include the title of the symposium: Vanier College/Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention Foundation 23rd Annual Symposium: Our World, Our Responsibility: Your Action! April 13-17, 2015. Submission deadline is March 6, 2015 at 12:00 pm to Nora Soukiassian in room A286. Use the link below if you would like to see information from past years. http://www.preventinggenocide.org/joomla/symposia.html The winner will receive $100.00 and will have their artwork displayed throughout the College!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!