The Small Business Accelerator, a new initiative of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, is featured in the Vancouver Observer.
You can read the article here, and you can find out more about the Small Business Accelerator here.
1759 And the Future of the Memory in Quebec Webcast Online
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by the Faculty of Education. In the summer of 2009, the battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought one more time in Quebec. The debate that stormed over the commemoration of the event proved that it is not easy to negotiate the meaning of this founding moment of Quebec’s destiny. Yet, it has been 250 years since “the English burned our farms and bombed our city”. What is to be done today with the Conquest, its history and memory?
Mexico Fest 2010 – Exquisite Corpse
Image credit: Consulate General of Mexico
In collaboration with the Mexican Consulate as part of MexicoFest, the Learning Centre presented “Exquisite Corpse” (also known as “Exquisite Cadaver” or “Cadavre exquis”), which is also a technique consisting on collectively assembling words and images. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, by being allowed to see only a small section of what the previous person contributed. Artists that had been featured at this exhibition included: Richard A. Kent, Alfonso L. Tejada, Miriam Aroeste, Claudia Segovia, Sergio Toporek, Adriana Zuñiga and Davide Merino.
The technique was invented by Surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game called Consequences in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. Surrealism principal founder André Breton reported that it started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. Breton said the diversion started about 1925, but Pierre Reverdy wrote that it started much earlier, at least before 1918.
To see more photos of this exhibition, please find here.
The Nation and the City Webcast Online
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The Citizenship Without the Nation conference was a two day conference held at the Liu Institute for Global Issues from October 29 – 30, 2010. The conference explored how regional and local dialogues intersect with the national discourse on citizenship. There is significant work on citizenship at the national level, but the same issues take on very different meanings in the Vancouver context given the mix of residents in the city, the languages they speak, and the city’s geographic location. Sessions considered how people belong to neighbourhoods, cities, regions and nations. Participants were asked about the possibility of belonging to several communities at once and interrogated what happens when the promise of national citizenship fails to deliver locally. The counterpoint was also addressed: what happens when the local fails to live up to the national ideal?
Chair: Ellen Woodsworth, Vancouver City Councillor
Daniel Hiebert, Professor of Geography, University of British Columbia
Baldwin Wong, Social Planner, City of Vancouver
Andrew Pask, Director, Vancouver Public Space Network
Hayne Wai, Past President, Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia
Dana Claxton, Lori Blondeau and Shawn Hunt – Contemporary First Nations Art NOW
Critical Issues in Aboriginal Life and Thought is a collaboration of the UBC First Nations Studies Program, the First Nations House of Learning, the Irving. K. Barber Learning Centre and UBC Continuing Studies. This is the fifth in a series of five special dialogues: Critical Issues in Aboriginal Life and Thought. Contemporary First Nations Art NOW – An illustrated talk with Shawn Hunt, Lori Blondeau and Dana Claxton. Three First Nation artists will talk about their work in the context of form, the image and subtext. Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
Select Articles Available at UBC Library
Taunton, C. (2010). Indigenous (re)memory and resistance: Video works by Dana Claxton. Post Script, 29(3), 44-57. [Link]
Claxton, D. (2012). My best shot: “aim #1”. Blackflash, 29(2), 14-16. [Link]
Claxton, D. (2011). Going to the centre: Performance works and other thoughts. Canadian Theatre Review, 146(1), 28-31. doi:10.3138/ctr.146.28. [Link]
Tsang, H., Claxton, D., Salloum, J., Ali, K., & Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art. (2008). Edges of diversity. Kelowna, B.C: Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art.
UBC Library Research Guides
Beverley K. Jacobs – Restoring the Balance: Aboriginal Women's Issues in Canada
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by UBC Continuing Studies. Critical Issues in Aboriginal Life and Thought is a collaboration of the UBC First Nations Studies Program, the First Nations House of Learning, the Irving. K. Barber Learning Centre and UBC Continuing Studies. This is the fourth of a series of five special dialogues: Critical Issues in Aboriginal Life and Thought. Restoring the Balance: Aboriginal Women’s Issues in Canada – Beverley K. Jacobs, LLB, LLM, PhD Student. Beverley Jacobs is an Aboriginal Canadian leader and the immediate past president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC).
Select Articles Available at UBC Library
Canadian Race Relations Foundation. (2001). Critical readings: Aboriginal peoples and racism in Canada = lectures critiques : Les peuples autochtones et le racisme au canada. Toronto, Ont: Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Jacobs, B. (2008). Response to Canada’s apology to residential school survivors. Canadian Woman Studies, 26(3/4), 223. [Link]
Canada. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, & Canadian Government EBook Collection. (2012). Aboriginal women: Education and major fields of study. Ottawa: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Halseth, R., Canadian Public Policy Collection, & Canadian Health Research Collection. (2013). Aboriginal women in Canada: Gender, socio-economic determinants of health, and initiatives to close the wellness gap. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. [Link]
UBC Library Research Guides
Dora Nipp – From "Ni hao ma?" to "Hao ji le": a 2010 Asian Studies Odyssey
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Classical Chinese Garden and UBC Asian Studies Department. A descendant of a CPR labourer and head-tax payers, Dora Nipp has always had a penchant for Chinese Canadian history. UBC’s Asian Studies program was her point of departure opening up a world of Chinese language, politics and history. Dora followed her heart and was inspired to undertake graduate studies on the history of the Chinese in Canada. The voices of the Chinese pioneers she interviewed then guided her work on human rights. On November 25, 2010, the historian, lawyer and film-maker will speak on how UBC’s Asian Studies program provided the impetus for an exciting and satisfying lifelong journey.
Select Articles Available at UBC Library
Nipp, D. A. (1983). Canada bound: An exploratory study of pioneer Chinese women in western Canada.
Mouland, E. (1999). Under the willow tree. Resource Links, 4(5), 41. [Link]
Agnew, V. (1993). Canadian feminism and women of color. Women’s Studies International Forum, 16(3), 217-227. doi:10.1016/0277-5395(93)90052-B. [Link]
Hobnan, A. (1992). Cities and immigrants: A Canadian perspective. Journal of Urban History, 18(4), 489-497. doi:10.1177/009614429201800405. [Link]
UBC Library Research Guides
El Cadáver Exquisito: Reflejos del Alma Mexicana at IKBLC Gallery
El Cadáver Exquisito: Reflejos del Alma Mexicana
November 22nd – December 20th
Gallery located at Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia
The “Exquisite Corpse” (also known as “Exquisite Cadaver” or “Cadavre exquis”) is a technique consisting on collectively assembling words and images. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, by being allowed to see only a small section of what the previous person contributed.
The first artist paints a space divided in three parts (sky, horizon and surface), with his/her personal style and technique. After having covered this first part, only the last lineal centimeter of the painting is left uncovered on the right side. The next artist then paints his/her section starting from the visible space, following the same rules.
This technique was invented by surrealists Robert Desnos, Paul Eluard, André Bretón and Tristan Tzara in 1925. The first section represents life, the middle section represents love and the last section represents death (three aspects that are constantly present in the Mexican culture).
The collected works of the original canvas will be cut and returned to its creator, and thus to be unveiled by the same author at the opening reception. Each artist will then mount his/her work on wood frames separately. At the exhibition, the audience will appreciate the thematic of the collection; in addition, to the continuity of one painting to the next one.
To complement this exhibition, each artist will bring three to four paintings of their own collection.
For more information, please go to: http://mexicofest.ca/
Hans Schreier – Drivers of environmental change: the case of the mountains
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by St. John’s College’s Principal’s Lecture Series. Dr. Hans Schreier is Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Land & Food Systems, UBC. Dr. Schreier’s research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, non-point sources of pollution in urban and agricultural areas, stormwater management, water needs for food production, and climate change adaptation strategies. He has worked extensively in the Himalayas and Andes and in the mountains of British Columbia. In 2001, Dr. Schreier was awarded the King Albert International Mountain Award for scientific accomplishments of lasting value to the world’s mountains.There is much debate swirling around the topic of environmental change; the discourse has most recently focused on floods and earthquakes in Pakistan and China, on changing sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean and on threats to the world’s biodiversity. The blame is most commonly ascribed to the phenomenon of climate change. To what extent is climate the most important driver of environmental change? And to what extent is the news entirely negative? Scientists and scholars from France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada have been invited to share their expert perspectives on the topic. This talk will discuss climate change, land use change, and the combined impact of both on mountains — the water towers of the world. Suggestions, adaptation strategies, and options and opportunities to protect water supplies and reduce the risk of flooding will be discussed as well as learning from mistakes: i.e., channelization vs. natural channels.
Relevant Books and Articles at UBC Library
Schreier, H., & Canadian Public Policy Collection. (2014). Innovative storm water management: Translating science into actions. Canadian Water Network. [Link]
Schreier, H. (2001). Drug targeting technology: Physical, chemical, biological methods. New York: Marcel Dekker.
Schreier, H., Brown, S. J., MacDonald, J. R., & University of British Columbia. Institute for Resources and Environment. (2006). Too little and too much: Water and development in a Himalayan watershed. Vancouver, B.C: Institute for Resources and Environment, University of British Columbia.
Schreier, H., & Brown, S. (2002; 2001). Scaling issues in watersheds assessments. Water Policy, 3(6), 475-475.
UBC Library Research Guides
Stewart Brand's "Rethinking Green" Webcast Available online
Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Hosted by UBC Reads Sustainability Lecture Series, and held at the Liu Institute of Global Issues, Steward Brand has been an environmentalist for over 40 years, and shares his wisdom in his new book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. His book is a compilation of his reflections and lessons which suggest a shift in the environmentalists’ dogmatic approach, and describes a process of reasonable debate and experimentation. His iconoclastic proposals include transitioning to nuclear energy and ecosystem engineering, and are sure to provoke widespread debate. He has helped define the collaborative, data-sharing, forward-thinking world in which we live. Brand is the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, the Global Business Network, the Long Now Foundation and the Well.