Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre
FCCS is offering two intensive courses this summer – Writing in Place, a 12-day program of writing, master classes, workshops, and exploration, and A Pedagogy of Place, a 10-day course that will engage the interconnectedness of Indigenous art to land/place. The host site of both programs is the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre, located in Kelowna, British Columbia, in a 3.5 hectare nature conservancy.
Writing in Place will be held from July 5 to 17, at the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre, and is to be a dynamic site for idea exchange about habitation, place, and landscape. Participants will experiment with writing practice as inquiry into the ideas of place and the geographic self. In this immersive learning environment, they will meet with professional writers with national reputations, who will read and comment on students work in one-on-one consultations. Participants will become part of the Okanagan community of writers for two weeks as you meet and learn from well-known local writers.
Visiting writers include: Joan Crate (poetry, fiction); David Chariany (fiction); Warren Cariou 9creative non-fiction, fiction, film); and Alison Calder (poetry). The program will be run by FCCS faculty members Ashok Mathur (poetry, fiction, activism), and Mark Giles (fiction, poetry).
Writing in Place is appropriate for writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and new media. The program is open to writers at any stage of their career.
A Pedagogy of Place will be held from July 20 to 31, at the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre as well as UBC Okanagan Campus. Over the duration of this ten day intensive, students will explore this concept through their engagement in an Indigenous pedagogical practice that utilizes the traditional teaching modalities of visual arts, performance, and oral storytelling.
Class discussions will be structured around a variety of formats including visiting artist/scholar presentations, as well as the teachings/oral histories shared by Okanagan Elders and other local cultural educators. Class activities will take place both inside and outside of the classroom, as there is a need to engage with the land in learning. Precedence of Place has been given towards the recognition of our current location upon syilx territory by ensuring that number of our invited speakers and artists are members of the Okanagan Nation.
Visiting artists include: Amanda Strong, Dion Kaszas, Jason Lewis, Skawanatti, and James Luna. The program will be run by FCCS faculty members Tannis Nielson and Stephen Foster.
Participants will include undergraduate and graduate students, visiting students and community members. Non-credit participants are welcome to enroll in this master class. Registration for Writing in Place includes one-on-one manuscript consultations and all other programming, registration for A Pedagogy of Place includes consultations with the artist and all other programming.
For more information on the programs, writers, artists and registration, visit: fccs.ok.ubc.ca/programs/graduate/summer.html