Group shot of graduate student organizers and attendees
The FCCS Graduate Conference The Road Taken: Along The Way was held this past weekend on April 24th and April 25th, 2026. Organized by a team of graduate and undergraduate student representatives, this conference provided an opportunity for students to share their research with peers, faculty, and the community at large.
Please find a recap of the events below, from the Lead Organizer of the event, Sharmila Ghanekar:
The Road Taken: Along The Way began with opening remarks from the MA English Program Coordinator Michael Treschow. Our first panel began shortly after, titled “Alternative Paths to Survival, ” with presentations from Lianna Raisanen (MA English UBC Van) and Nida Firdaus (MA English UBC Ok). Their presentations touched on the different paths that diasporic communities take in search of survival – with Liana discussing the temporal and spatial multiplicities in diasporic life, and Nida examining counter publics in sex work communities through the film Gangubai Kathiawadi. We moved swiftly into our second panel, “Identity and Transformation,” with Ophelia Fraser analyzing Virgina Woolf’s Orlando as a modernist bildungsroman.
All presenters and attendees then convened in the Graduate Collegium for a lunch, catered by Naked Café, before returning (much less hungry) for an Indigenous Storytelling collective discussion with Anona Kampe. Anona Kampe is a knowledge keeper from the Penticton Indian Band. She shared with us an engaging, enlightening, and deeply moving telling of captikʷł, or traditional Indigenous Storytelling. She told us the story of “How Names Were Given,” after which we were each individually encouraged to share our personal responses to the story. Having this session as part of the conference called for our attention to our individual positionality while on the unceded, traditional, ancestral land of the Syilx peoples. This session was a fantastic way to frame our conference theme of The Road Taken: Along The Way as we question the paths, journeys and roads we find ourselves upon.
We then returned to our panel presentations, this time with an Honours Undergraduate Roundtable, “Contemporary Resistance and Revolution.” Presentations were given by English Honours students Nimrat Kaur Dhaliwal, and Charlotte Lucina Mejias Dowell. Examining both the revolutionary power of cringe, and the possibilities of turning the fascist gaze, these presentations inspired a thoughtful and interesting conversation.
Our final panel for our first day, “Nonhuman Animals and Political Ecology” had three fascinating presentations. Caio Shindo Souto, an MA IGS: Digital Arts and Humanities student, presented his 3D rendering of Kelowna in 2100 – as a visual reflection of the climate crisis. He offered a few key solutions to the receding lake, as well as some thoughts on the species that will be impacted by this local climate breakdown. Felisha Anderson, an MA IGS: Power Conflict and Ideas student, discussed the power of grieving the deemed ‘ungrievable’ in regards to road-killed animals. She examined the beauty that can be found in both life and death, while calling for multi-species justice. Oluwatoyin Fagbamila, an MA English student, examined D.H Lawrence’s poem “Snake,” to demonstrate the care within paying attention, and the power of disruptive encounters in shaping multi-species justice.
We returned on Day 2, well-rested and rejuvenated, for our Keynote presenter Joanna Cockerline. Joanna teaches English, Communications, and Creative Writing at UBCO. A CBC Literary Awards prizewinner and Pushcart Prize nominee, her novel Still, set in the unhoused and sex work communities of Kelowna, was longlisted for the 2025 Giller Prize and named to CBC’s Fall Reading List. She is currently at work on a new climate novel, and sequel to Still, entitled We Are All Here. Her Keynote presentation titled, “Envisioning New Roads (That Might Not be Roads At All)” was an inspiring mixture of passages from her upcoming novel, as well as critical theoretical interventions regarding multi-species justice, climate breakdown, and the value of multiple voices in constructing a story.
Our final panel for the conference, “Community, Life Paths, and Roads to Peace,” had four impassioned presentations. Chinedum Onyinyechi Agwu (MA English) examined the reverberating impacts on the Igbo community following the Nigeria-Igbo war. She argues that the classroom can be a powerful site for acknowledging unacknowledged stories, as well as inspiring historical education. Brenda Hebert (MA IGS: Indigenous Knowledges) began her presentation with a traditional welcome song, and then went on to discuss the power of knowledge and knowledge keeping in cultivating your own journey. Nils Donnelly (MFA Creative Writing) presented his creative piece “Flyboys: Tethered and Torn on a Wayward Road,” where he explores themes of addiction, survival and friendship. Sharmila Ghanekar (MA English) examined the figural Child in Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel The Road, as a disruptive figure to heteropatriarchal narratives.
Following some closing remarks from Dr. Jodey Castricano, we split apart for the afternoon – going home to rest, eat and congratulate ourselves for making it down this road! We met again later that evening at Buffalo Rouge Brewing Co. for some celebratory drinks, appetizers and dinner to close off the event.
We are so unbelievable thankful for all those who presented or attended. Special thanks to Anona Kampe for inviting us into that collective space, and Joanna Cockerline for a thoughtful and remarkable Keynote. Thank you to those that provided funding, the English Department, FCCS, the Library and CoGS – your support was invaluable in making this event come to life. Thank you for all of the inspiring presentations, and fruitful conversations. We look forward to future Graduate conferences that can bring our academic community together! Below are a few photos taken during the presentations.
