‘Multibeing Rockpool’, Fieldwork series: Multibeing Ocean Relations. Yaegl Country NSW

Susan Reid is a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s Faculty of Critical and Creative Studies working with Dr. Astrida Neimanis. She researches multibeing ontologies with a focus on human-ocean relationships, extractivism, and justice. Susan holds a PhD from the University of Sydney, an LlM in International Law from the Australian National University and a Master of Design from the University of Technology Sydney.

Susan shared with us some information about her research and affiliation with UBC Okanagan.

How is your postdoc connected to UBCO?

My postdoc research is transdisciplinary and fits well within the interdisciplinary environment of UBCO’s Faculty of Critical and Creative Studies. This is particularly so given FCCS’s program focus on the critical role of humanities in analysing environmental sustainability issues and their intersections across climate change, and environmental and social justice. I am also excited to be working with the feminist environmental humanities research hub, the FEEeLed Lab–an important hub for interdisciplinary knowledge exchange, including ethical frameworks and approaches for decolonizing environmental humanities research. Given the still emerging nature of critical ocean humanities scholarship, I look forward to exchanging strategies for building scholarly and activist communities of interest and workshopping elements of my research with FEELed colleagues.

Explain your research and how will you be able to conduct this research at UBCO?

I research ‘multibeing’ ontologies, drawing on feminist, queer and decolonising theory. ‘Multibeing’ is a term I created to describe the relational conditions of materiality, phenomenology, sociality, and temporality which constitute embodied being. To date, I’ve concentrated on how this plays out across human-ocean relationships, extractivism, and justice.

The broad framework of multibeing agency encompasses marine phenomena, other-than human marine constituencies, and human agents such as advocates, Indigenous custodians, rescuers, and artists. Specifically though, I am interested in how ocean agency functions in the context of extractive sites and events, and its potential (or not) for extending relational concepts of justice. How might the ocean’s responses to extractive violences be re-imagined as creative acts of resistance, refusal, and re-generation? How too might the work of ocean advocates, defenders, community responders, Indigenous stewards, and artists be understood as modes of ocean agency.

Place-based ocean research is difficult beyond shorelines and near waters. Exploring modes of ocean agency relies on scientific mediations. For this project, I am also working with contemporary art foundation TBA21 to investigate how artists conceptualise ocean agency. Relatedly, I am collaborating with an international coalition of scholars, artists and community activists to re-imagine ocean relations and agency in the context of deep seabed mining. We’ve recently co-founded the Deep Current Collective and will present panel discussions and curated events at the International Seabed Authority’s 2025 session. This exciting international collaboration connects UBCO’s environmental humanities research with University of Southampton, University of Vienna, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Harvard.

Why did you choose that topic, and what difference do you hope your research will make?

Like so many others, I’m concerned about state and corporate investments in the extractive activities harming our biospheric relations. Through previous research I became aware of just how much governments and corporations depend on the ocean’s agentic, relational qualities to somehow rebound, repopulate, recover and repair from the extractive harms that they cause. Yet, as a tactic, extractive regimes deploy legal and policy frameworks which represent the ocean through passive, reductive terms that deny this very agency.  I have been struck too by how much governments and corporations responsible for ecological devastations, rely on the labors and commitments of human volunteers, Indigenous rangers, conservation and research organisations to perform clean up or rescue work–whether cleaning up after oil spills, retrieving ghost nets from the ocean, or rescuing entangled or injured marine animals. My research reveals these paradoxes and denials in ways that can unsettle dominating extractive representations. It will extend multibeing ontological insights and offer new approaches for imagining concepts of, or adjacent to, ocean agency.

What are your plans after you complete the postdoc?

To secure ongoing research opportunities and funding so that I can continue building and contributing to environmental philosophy, ocean humanities, ocean (legal) humanities and ecological justice fields. To continue working with others in building scholarly and creative communities working to imagine less violent relations with multibeing worlds.

Susan Reid

About Susan Reid

Susan Reid’s transdisciplinary practice draws on expertise across cultural studies, environmental humanities, environmental activism, international ocean law, writing, and contemporary arts. Prior to joining UBCO, Susan was a key researcher within the ARC funded ‘Extracting the Ocean’ project, at the University of Sydney. Their professional experiences also encompass senior roles across arts management, curation, cultural development, and intellectual property law.

Susan’s ancestry includes Anglo-Celtic and mixed European settler heritage. She was born between the Solomon Sea and Pacific Ocean, on the main island of what is now known as the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. In Canada, she lives and works nomadically on unceded territories of the Syilx/Okanagan nation (Kelowna), and the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations (Vancouver).

A new exhibition in the FINA Gallery, organized as part of the Art History and Visual Culture program’s fourth-year experiential learning Curating Contemporary Art course, opens on Friday October 25 at 6pm with a reception welcoming the friends and family of the twelve student curators responsible for organizing the show, and printmaking lovers from across the UBC Okanagan campus and beyond.

Drawn from the UBCO Printmaking Teaching Collection, PR/₁₂NT features the work of twenty-two former—and one current—printmaking students, many of whom are graduates of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies’ Bachelor of Fine Arts program. But also included are screen prints, lithographs, and works in intaglio and relief techniques produced by students from across the campus’ many degree programs, and also visiting printmakers.

Artists as recent as UBCO MFA graduate Natasha Harvey (2023), and also BFA graduates Lacia Vogel (2012) and Laura Widmer (2011), lead the creative and accomplished fine arts alumni whose works were selected by the curators for their unique mark-making and layering. These skills are owed to the deft instruction of veteran printmaker and UBCO professor, Briar Craig, and his decades-long commitment to collecting and safeguarding student print works:

“The UBCO Printmaking Teaching Collection now holds in the vicinity of 800 prints and we are able to host exhibitions from that collection, but primarily those prints are taken into classes so that students new to the various print media can learn from and see the possibilities inherent in these unique forms of art making.”

As Craig notes, one of the benefits of making prints is that they tend to be created in multiples—multiple originals—rather than copies of an already-existing art work: “within the context of a university art program, the creation of works as multiple originals allows the program to collect examples of print-based work to use as teaching aids for future classes.”

 But PR/₁₂NT is not only about students learning printmaking. It is also about a new cohort of students learning the art of curation.

Over the past eight weeks, the twelve nascent curators enrolled in the learning-by-doing course have been navigating both the theory and practice of contemporary art curating, asking themselves what it means to curate hands-on and from the ground up beginning with an original collection of works conveniently located just down the hall.

Left to right: ARTH 420 student curators Sam Rennie (back), Paul Bryden (front), Megan Pahl, Kelly Yuste, Hannah Head-Rapson, Kiera Dorner, Ains Reid, Mariia Kondaurova, Maritza Botha, Amy Lucich, Hannah Palomera, and India Barnett.

From learning how to handle paper—you need to two-hand ‘float’ each sheet, lest you crease the paper and permanently damage the work—to learning how to spot the various printmaking techniques, students began by organizing themselves into four groups divided by media, and narrowing an initial selection. Next, the full class came back together to ‘negotiate’ a final body of work. And then came the task of learning how to take high-quality photographs of each print for the accompanying exhibition catalogue, and the arduous mission of registering each work with full and complete artwork identifications—not an easy ask for a collection that dates back to the eighties, and when not all artists sign their work. The result of this collaborative creative and critical process will be on view beginning Friday: twenty-six works by twenty-two printmakers ranging from UV screen printing, to lithography, to etching and aquatint, and also linocut. This is printmaking at its very best, and it is all UBCO’s own.

Final artwork selection process.

Among the longest-standing works from the UBCO Printmaking Teaching Collection on display is the work of Tim Nash, a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA program—his For Victory Over the Sun was collected by Craig when he was a graduate student in the 1980s. Nash’s textured grid was selected as the lead image for the show: the striking black-and-white etching/aquatint that Craig uses to demonstrate the possibilities of the medium to incoming students immediately caught the eye—and imagination—of the twelve budding curators. “It was always Tim Nash that students wanted to preface the show, even before they knew the artist’s name,” says Nathalie Hager, and Art History and Visual Culture lecturer who has been guiding these curators-in-training through the course.

With the selection and cataloguing of works complete, next came the process of making meaning of the selection by planning the physical hanging and display. To the rescue came a 3D mock-up model of the FINA Gallery space by fellow student curator Paul Bryden, himself a UBC Vancouver MFA graduate. Rejecting technology in favour of an old-school tactile approach, Bryden painstakingly miniaturized the gallery’s four walls into a curatorial planning ‘white cube’. Come see how Bryden and his fellow curators planned and plotted the show’s hanging within the scale model of the FINA Gallery, complete with miniature versions of each artwork.

For Ains Reid, a visual arts minor—and both a curator and one of the printmakers featured in the exhibition—PR/₁₂NT marks his first experience balancing the dual roles of curator and creator. Reflecting on the unique opportunity of curating a show for a university gallery:

“As an artist, I had been unacquainted with the process of putting together an exhibition—my focus has been on producing artwork rather than collating it to display in a gallery setting. Co-curating PR/₁₂NT has given me a new lens through which I have been considering the roles of artists, curators, and visitors within the gallery and in the art world. My experience as an artist has been integral to my curatorial decision-making and going forward my new experience as a curator will inform my art making because I now have a more interdisciplinary and holistic approach to both.”

Supporting students throughout the curatorial process is a talented team of gallery exhibition and installation experts: Technical Director Philip Wyness trained students on the art of the gallery hang, using a level and a measuring tape as well as good measure of common sense; Media Technician Sam Neal worked with Maritza Botha, who designed so much of the exhibition’s marketing, offering tips and tricks on designing, scaling, and adhering vinyl lettering for title wall; and Marketing and Communications Strategist Shauna Oddleifson, a UBC Okanagan BFA graduate, coached the events team on the finer nuances of planning and executing a flawless opening night reception.

And then there is Briar Craig, drawing on his long and colourful institutional memory to bring to bear the weight of a collection gathered from teaching, for teaching:

“Within the digital age we have become accustomed to looking at art on the screens of our computers or phones but there is no real substitute for viewing art in the flesh. Students can dive into a close study of the textures, layers, and subtleties on a real piece of art rather than seeing that work in a less than ideal resolution on a screen.”

Under development is an in-gallery brochure, and also a full-colour catalogue of works that will be gifted to all artists featured in PR/₁₂NT.

PR/₁₂NT: One Exhibition/Twelve Curators is on view in FINA Gallery until November 8, 2024.

Art History curatorial class at the opening reception Oct. 25, 2024

Photo of Josh Fender taken at the Palace of Versailles in France

Josh Fender started his academic journey with a year at the University of Alberta (U of A), initially pursuing a degree in engineering. However, he soon realized that the rigid curriculum didn’t allow for self-discovery and creative expression, something he knew he needed in his life. He switched to arts, and considered industrial design, but ultimately decided to return home and explore the diverse and open-ended opportunities at UBC Okanagan.

The flexibility of UBC Okanagan’s fine arts degree allowed Fender to explore various interests, including sculpture and digital media.

“I was able to take classes where I could combine technology and creativity, and by my fourth year, I gravitated towards installation art, blending digital media and traditional sculpture techniques,” he says.

One of things he notes as being exciting and memorable for him as a fine arts student is all the collaborative work with fellow students with committees and setting up exhibitions. Fender was the vice-president of the Visual Arts Course union while an undergraduate student, helping to keep the students working together, and sharing information.

He admits that he doesn’t see himself as a boisterous or talkative leader, he prefers to be behind the scenes. “I just have an urge to get involved, and support people and feel supported.”

Working together to set up an exhibition offers a unique opportunity for students to decide on placement of artwork – making sure the pieces communicate and resonate with one another within the space.

“It was a great experience to work collectively in painting the walls, hanging the artwork, and supporting each other through every step. For me, this really fostered a sense of camaraderie and mutual support, something that I look for and work towards in many things that I do,” he says.

In his third year of the visual arts program, Fender applied to the landscape architecture program at UBC Vancouver.

“The rigorous portfolio submission process required me to compile my undergraduate art projects, and I feel that my background in art provided a strong foundation in creative and critical thinking, setting me apart from peers with more rigid academic backgrounds.”

After completing his BFA in 2018, Fender moved to the lower-mainland to start his master’s degree. He says that the skills he developed in art school, such as using Adobe Creative Suite and embracing the critique process from the visual arts classes, proved invaluable in the architecture program.

“My first-year projects, reminiscent of my sculpture classes, reinforced the importance of creative problem-solving.”

As the pandemic began, he moved back to Kelowna, continuing his studies online and securing an internship in the area. Fender’s passion for collaboration extended into his professional career as a landscape designer, working on projects such as the park along Mill Creek in Kelowna, engaging with various stakeholders, including the Okanagan Nation Alliance and local government departments.

“This collaborative approach was a natural extension of my experiences in art and architecture school, where teamwork and public engagement were integral.”

Returning to the Okanagan and making a difference in the local community has been incredibly rewarding. Working for a landscape architecture firm, he is proud of his contributions to significant projects like the rail trail, focusing on creating meaningful public spaces. He has also been able to utilize some of his skills in digital media that he learned during his undergrad to create videos for the firm to show clients what spaces could look like – a great way to be able to share designs.

Through these experiences in his undergraduate and graduate degrees, Fender says he has learned that art is not just about individual expression but also about collaboration, public engagement, and the thoughtful integration of our work into the world around us.

“My path from engineering to art, and ultimately to landscape architecture, has been shaped by a desire for creative freedom and meaningful collaboration. Each step of the way, I’ve sought to blend technical skills with artistic expression, always aiming to create spaces that resonate with and inspire those who experience them.”

This international conference held at SFU on Oct. 4th and 5th, and at UBCO on Oct. 7th will explore how digital platformization has been shifting the ways in which media and popular culture evolve in the East Asian and Asia-Pacific contexts. The empirical and theoretical studies presented by leading scholars across media/communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, and Asian studies, will address various aspects of digital platform-driven media industries, texts, and audiences while questioning the Western-centric discourse of digital platforms.

The conference is organized by Kyong Yoon (Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, UBC Okanagan) and Dal Yong Jin (School of Communication, Simon Fraser University), and is sponsored by the Public Humanities Hub Okanagan, UBCO Principal’s Research Chair Program, the Academy of Korean Studies, and the SFU’s David Lam Centre.

The conference is open to the public and takes place at the UBCO campus and at the Kelowna Innovation Centre in downtown Kelowna. See below for session details and location information.

Vancouver Conference Program (printable)

Kelowna CONFERENCE PROGRAM (printable)

Conference Poster (printable)

UBCO Sessions | Location: UBCO Ballroom, UNC 200

For the UBCO sessions, NO registration is required. Please feel free to come for any session.
A limited number of sandwich lunches are available for general attendees. Please RSVP to kyong.yoon@ubc.ca if you would like to join the lunch at 12:15 at UNC 200.

9:00-9:20 Welcome Reception

9:20-9:30 Welcome Remarks

9:30-10:45 Session 1 Digital Platformization of Korean Media Practices

Chair: John Cho
Assistant Professor
Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies, UBC Okanagan

• Dal Yong Jin
  SFU Distinguished Professor
  School of Communication, Simon Fraser University

“The Platformization of Distribution Channels: Korean Perspectives”

• Hyung-Gu Lynn
  AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research
  Department of Asian Studies, UBC Vancouver

“Platformization’s Impacts on TV/Web Serial Storytelling”

• Benjamin M. Han
  Associate Professor
  Department of Entertainment and Media Studies, University of Georgia

“The ‘Global’ in Original Korean Series on Netflix and Disney+”

10:45-11:00 Coffee/Tea break

11:00-12:15 Session 2: Sinoscapes of Digital Platforms

Chair: Ying Zhu
Associate Professor
Faculty of Management, UBC Okanagan

• Guobin Yang
  Grace Lee Boggs Professor of Communication and Sociology
  Annenberg School for Communication and Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

“Chinese Social Media in Times of Crises”

• Micky Lee
  Professor of Media Studies
  Communication, Journalism & Media Program, Suffolk University

“Experiencing Hong Kong Urban Culture through Platforms and Cinema Screens”

• Kyong Yoon
  Professor of Cultural Studies
  Department of English and Cultural Studies, UBC Okanagan

“Transnational Audiences in the Age of Platforms: Detouring the Order of Restriction on Hallyu in China”

12:15 – 13:00 Lunch

13:00 – 14:15 Session 3: Playful yet Contentious Asia-Pacific Digital Mediascapes

Chair: Annie Wan
Associate Professor
Department of Creative Studies, UBC Okanagan

• David Humphrey
  Associate Professor of Japanese and Global Studies
  Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, Michigan State University

“AVOD in Japan: Streaming and the Afterlife of Televisual Attention”

• Sarah Ganzon
  Assistant Professor
  School of Communication, Simon Fraser University

“The Buggy, Less Sexy Version of the Game: Censorship, Nintendo’s e-shop and Yuri Games in the Nintendo Switch”

• Taeyoung Kim
  Lecturer in Communication and Media
  School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University

“Streaming Platforms as a Playground for New Genres: An Ambivalent Nature”

14:15– 14:20 Closing Remarks

Public Roundtable | Location: Kelowna Innovation Centre (460 Doyle Ave)

16:00 – 16:30 Reception: The Kelowna Innovation Centre Rooftop (Perch Sky Lounge)

16:30 – 17:45 Public Roundtable: The Kelowna Innovation Centre Theatre (1^st floor)
Digital Media Culture in East Asia during/after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the media landscape in East Asia. Digital media became essential to cope with life during COVID-19 and is now widely integrated into people’s daily lives.

Join us as three leading experts on East Asian digital media and culture share their thoughts on how digital platforms generate (or restrict) new experiences through various services and technological infrastructure (e.g., subscription-based streaming services, social media, and user-generated content).

Through vivid case studies of China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, the three scholars will highlight the potential power, creativity, and risks found in the rapidly changing digital media experiences in East Asia.

This engaging roundtable promises a timely and cross-cultural dialogue. This event is open to the public. No registration is required for the roundtable. RSVP is recommended for the reception (16:00 – 16:30) (to Kyong Yoon kyong.yoon@ubc.ca).

• Presenters:
  • Guobin Yang
    Grace Lee Boggs Professor of Communication and Sociology
    University of Pennsylvania
  • Micky Lee
    Professor of Media Studies
    Suffolk University
  • Dal Yong Jin
    SFU Distinguished Professor
    Simon Fraser University
• Moderator: Kyong Yoon (UBC Okanagan)

Klara du Plessis

Dr. Klara du Plessis is the postdoctoral fellow on the SpokenWeb SSHRC Partnership Grant at UBC Okanagan, supervised by Dr. Karis Shearer. Klara’s current research project is titled “Curatorial Listening: Politics of Relational Attention in Sounded Poetry.”

Klara’s doctoral research took literary studies off of the page to incorporate insights from a sound and curatorial studies perspective too. It focused on curatorial structures in the context of twentieth century and contemporary Canadian poetry in performance. Thinking critically about the poets’ and curator’s often neglected labour, it considered how that labour shapes poetry reading events, whether live or in the audio archive. Her postdoctoral project marks a significant new phase, departing from the doctoral work by connecting the practical and conceptual labour of organizing literary events to the subjective act of listening relationally to that curation. This listening includes that of performing poets and of event curators, but now significantly ropes in the audience’s attention too.

“Even in its most basic formulation as attention through the ears, listening is itself a radical act that works to unbalance and rebalance dominant strands of agency and subjecthood. As coupled with the curatorial’s dynamic potential and sound’s open network, listening meditates on and mediates the political conditions of poetry in performance,” Klara suggests.

While at UBC Okanagan, Klara will be engaging this practice of critical listening in relation to the SoundBox Collection of poetry audio recordings housed at Dr. Shearer’s Audio Media Poetry (AMP) Lab. Working with a team of SpokenWeb graduate and undergraduate research assistants, she will offer curated close listening sessions of archival materials, collaborate on exhibitions, script curatorial performances, and compile creative publications—aiming to showcase and activate the audio archive as relevant and embodied knowledge in the present.

All of these projects fold back into Klara’s ongoing research creation expertise. Since 2018, she has developed a practice of literary event organization called Deep Curation. This approach places poets’ work in deliberate dialogue with each other and heightens the curator’s agency toward the poetic event. In this capacity, she has worked with an amazing array of contemporary poets, including Liz Howard, Kaie Kellough, and Kama La Mackerel, among many others.

Karis Shearer says “We’re so lucky to have Dr. Du Plessis joining the AMP Lab and SpokenWeb research team as a postdoctoral fellow. Klara will be a member of a dynamic and interdisciplinary research team that includes Marjorie Mitchell, Myron Campbell, and Paige Hohmann. As a poet and literary scholar, Klara embodies the creative-critical ethos of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and her work across media is a wonderful match for the SpokenWeb project here at UBC Okanagan.”

Beyond the monograph manuscript that Klara is working on, much of her postdoctoral work will be public-facing. In collaboration with Dr. Shearer, she will, for example, be co-organizing the SpokenWeb summer Sound Institute taking place at UBC Okanagan from 14-17 May 2025. Certain of these plenaries and performances will be open to the wider public. Please feel welcome to attend these events that will be advertised over the span of the coming year.

About Klara du Plessis

Klara du Plessis holds a PhD in English Literature from Concordia University. She is also a critically acclaimed writer known for her contributions to long-form and translingual poetics (mainly between English and Afrikaans). Her debut poetry collection, Ekke, won the 2019 Pat Lowther Memorial Award. The book-length narrative poem, Hell Light Flesh, was adapted and produced as a mono-opera film, composed by Jimmie LeBlanc, and premiered at the International Festival of Films on Art in 2023. She is the author of three more books of poetry and literary criticism, most recently Post-Mortem of the Event (2024). This collection encompasses creative work mobilizing audiovisual media, transcription, waveform visualization, and digital humanities and interdisciplinary methods. Klara develops her writing practice to include visual, sound, and moving installations, and has exhibited work at Artexte, Centre Clark, and the Johannes Stegmann Gallery, among other venues.

Dr. Emily Murphy (photo credit: Marion Voysey)

Dr. Emily Murphy is one of the recent recipients awarded funding through the SSHRC 2024-2025 Partnership Engage Grants. Dr. Murphy has partnered with Dance Collection Danse (DCD), the largest dance heritage organization in the country – a national arts organization that preserves Canada’s “living history” in dance performance.

The origins of their partnership start with a Rubbermaid tub full of photos. While collaborating with flamenco artists on a Canada Council for the Arts-funded digital film project, an artist requested that Murphy and DCD find a permanent archival home for historical materials. These materials are the records of an Argentinian-Canadian flamenco dancer, Angel Cansino Monson (1916-2004), which have been passed between artists and cultural organizations since his death.

“I wasn’t sure if DCD would be interested or able to take the collection,” explains Murphy. “But I had met [Executive and Curatorial Director] Amy Bowring before while doing archival research, and Monson appears all over the footnotes of other prominent artists, so I thought I would see.” When Murphy contacted Bowring, she wrote, “Short and enthusiastic answer is ‘Oh my god, yes!’”

The result is their project, ‘Preserving Canada’s Multimedia Dance Histories: A Case Study in Partnership with Dance Collection Danse.’ The project will respond to two problems faced by the DCD. First, arts organizations are experiencing a sharp increase in the needs for preservation as the artists of the “70s dance boom” age and consider their legacies. Second, while performance records have always been multimedia, the current digital age intensifies this quality, and artists and arts organizations need new, practical approaches to preservation that respond to these new technological circumstances.

At UBC Okanagan, Dr. Murphy is the director of the ReMedia Infrastructure for Research and Creation, supported by Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). In ReMedia, Murphy studies cultural history using a combination of humanities, embodied, and computational methods.

Together, DCD and the ReMedia team will pilot a new approach to research and archival management of dance archives, including the cataloguing, multimedia preservation, community knowledge, and research data management (RDM) needs for dance history today.

“Through this project, the DCD will benefit with updated grassroots preserving practices for multimedia dance history, an expanded network in Vancouver, and a broadened impact on the multimedia history of performance in Canada,” explains Dr. Murphy.

Producing the RDM Guidelines will build a foundation to support future public campaigns, and contribute to future multimedia arts and heritage policy at a national scale.

Murphy adds: “Our goal is to enrich public discourse on the history of the flamenco community in Canada and bridge this case study to multiple other dance communities.”

Dravida Huda at graduation, June 2024

Dravida Huda completed her MA in English in June 2024, and was supervised by Dr. Jennifer Gustar. Her thesis, titled, “Intergenerational Conflict and Diasporic Identity: A Study of Memory and Affect in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and The Lowland,” contributes not only to the ongoing critical discussion on Lahiri’s work but also to more general studies of diaspora, memory and affect.

“In the thesis I argue that in Lahiri’s work and the diasporic context she represents in her fiction, the affects that accompany migration and which are attached to certain withheld memories of the first generation move intergenerationally and impact the second generation’s process of identity-formation.”

We asked Dravida to discuss her experience at UBCO as a master’s student.

Why did you choose to apply to the MA in English program here at UBCO?

I have always nurtured a dream of studying at UBC. The inspiration initially came from one of my most favourite professors back in Bangladesh, who also went to the same school. When I applied to the MA in English program at UBCO, I was looking for a program that would fit my interest in South Asian anglophone literature with a focus on migration, diaspora, and place studies. The MA in English program at UBCO was a perfect fit in that case, as the program focuses on the theme of literature and place. As well, I looked up the faculty profiles, and found out about Dr. Jennifer Gustar’s extensive work on South Asian literature, which greatly interested me to work under her supervision.

Tell us about the road to earning your UBC degree.

The road to earning my MA in English degree at UBCO has been one of its kind. As an international student, I found myself not only challenged by certain academic practices that were new to me, but also excited about crossing the hurdles one by one. The diverse list of courses available in my program helped me to learn a great deal about extensive research and critical thinking, which eventually enabled me to power through the initial stage of my studies and eventually prepare for writing my thesis. Besides completing the coursework and writing the thesis, I presented parts of my working thesis project in the FCCS Research Series in 2023, which boosted my confidence and conviction about my work. I am incredibly grateful to my supervisor Dr. Jennifer Gustar for her constant support and guidance throughout the journey, from completing the coursework to writing and defending my thesis. I am also grateful to the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBCO for awarding me with the Graduate Dean’s Thesis Fellowship, which really smoothened the journey up.

How did your professors support you throughout your degree?

I have been immensely fortunate to find a support system in my professors at UBCO. The profs who taught the courses I took and TAed for, and the profs who worked with me on my thesis project—all of them have been thoroughly supportive.

Working with Dr. Jennifer Gustar has been the most rewarding learning experience of my life. Dr. Gustar’s way of supervising her students’ work is effectively a two-way street, which enabled every possibility of mutual dialogue, discussion, and debate for us, and made the whole experience of learning sustainable. I would also like to emphasize her ability to accommodate international students in the most welcoming manner possible, which made me feel at home in Canada since the very beginning of my journey.

I am incredibly thankful to my thesis committee members, Dr. Sakiru Adebayo Dr. Lisa Grekul, for their detailed and feedback on my thesis. It is with the help of their constant inspiration and prompt response on my work that I could fine tune the project and finish without requiring any further revision.

What are your plans now that you have completed your master’s degree?

I have always wanted to find a career path in any capacity that offers opportunities for quality research and effective academic practice. With that in mind, I am currently focused on taking my expertise in my area of interest to the next level. Moving forward, I am determined to embark on a PhD journey, so that I can emerge as a strong critical voice in South Asian diaspora matters as well as the studies of intergenerational memory and affect.

Theater students at Exposed, end of year performance, spring 2024.

Theatre courses at UBCO attract students from all faculties, many of whom have commented that these classes were the only places where they made friends, established a sense of community, and felt a sense of belonging.

To address these needs, Tracy Ross, a lecturer teaching performance and theatre courses in the Department of Creative Studies, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) has created the Public Theatre Project (PTP). This project aims to foster cross-faculty collaboration and build a sense of community, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and provide creative tools and outlets that contribute to student well-being.

“I started the project because of the feedback that I was receiving from students. They were expressing the value of learning to speak, and listening to one another, about being in dialogue and having a safe space to consider alternative perspectives,” says Ross. “Students want to engage with each other and the world and this project aims to provide students opportunities to work together across faculties so that they can do just that.”

Ross herself is a multi-disciplinary interdisciplinary artist and educator who ran her own theatre company for 10 years working with people of all ages.

“Working in the performance area for FCCS provides me with a unique opportunity to work with students from all across campus and to work in spaces where they can interact and create connection.”

Performance and communication skills such as body awareness, vocal expression, and creative problem solving are powerful tools for students of any discipline. The PTP initiatives are designed to engage students within various time frames that range from a 10- minute drop-in commitment, to one evening, to recurring drop-in sessions over one week.

This is a great opportunity for people to meet one another, engage in conversation, practice speaking on things that are important to them, to take positive risks in a supported environment, and to provide space for students to co-create, express and make connections, explains Ross.

“These are small interruptions in our daily busy lives that seek to improve well-being, connection, community and develop a sense of belonging,” she adds.

The PPT activities will include:

Voices Unleashed- Public Speaking Series

Voices Unleashed is an uncurated, monthly public speaking series open to all UBCO students, fostering a community of expression and connection. Each one- hour session, followed by coffee and treats for networking and discussion, provides a platform for students to share their stories, insights and what matters most to them. Students will have the opportunity to enhance their public speaking skills and listen to their peers. The event’s uncurated format was inspired by Ross’s classroom experiences, where students valued having a space for respectfully sharing and discussing opposing views.

This series will happen monthly, dates TBC. Students will have the opportunity to sign up on a first- come, first -served basis through email in advance to tracy.ross@ubc.ca.

Love Letters- Interactive Installation and Public Performance

Love Letters is an interactive art installation featuring a love letter booth. Participants begin by selecting a letter left for them from one of the mailboxes. They then enter the booth, read the letter, and choose their stationery to write a love letter in response, leaving it in the mailbox for the next person. Everything needed is either at the desk or found in your heart. I collect all the correspondence and turn it into a live reading—a conversation between “X” and “O.” This reading, open to all writers and invited audience members, takes place on a separate evening, bringing people together to engage in an event of their co-creation.

This event will happen on campus in February 2025.

One Day Choir

The One Day Choir initiative aims to bring people together through the power of song. Led by a skilled choral leader, participants will gather in a public space on campus, such as the stairwells in the Commons building, to learn and sing a pre-selected song. The music and song choice will be provided in advance, with the event’s date, time, and location announced to encourage participation. This inclusive event welcomes everyone, fostering a sense of community and harmony among participants.

This event will happen in December 2024 and April 2025.

If you have any questions about these events or want to get involved, please contact Tracy Ross, tracy.ross@ubc.ca

Theatre student, public speaking on stage

Love Letters booth, 2023

Sophia Caron (right), Aradhita Arora (centre), Chantal Gosselin (left)

It takes a dedicated team to run a project like Espaces francophones (EF) – a joint initiative between the Okanagan School of Education (OSE) and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) that aims to create a sense of community amongst UBCO’s French speakers.

EF was co-founded by Francis Langevin (FCCS) and Carl Ruest (OSE) with funding from Heritage Canada, and was launched in the fall of 2022. With that funding, EF was able to hire a contract communications coordinator, and two student-staff positions. The initiative is currently co-run by Francis Langevin (FCCS) and Jody Dlouhy-Nelson (OSE) and continues to have the two student-staff positions, with support from the communications offices in both FCCS and OSE.

Over the last two years, there have been more than 40 events and supported projects, both on and off campus, including French films, crêpe breakfasts, hikes in the area, creative writing workshops and musical entertainment. Our student-staff, Aradhita and Sophia, have been dedicated to helping to ensure the events run smoothly – and are fun for those that attend!

Read their stories to learn how they’re involved with EF, and advice they have for first-year students.

Student Profile: Sophia Cajon

Student Profile: Aradhita Arora

Kelly Yuste in 2023 at the Roman Colosseum, Italy

The stories behind why people create art have always fascinated undergraduate student Kelly Yuste. This curiosity led her to choose art history as her field of study. Yuste is of Chinese, Filipino and Canadian descent, spending the first 21 years of her life in the Philippines before moving to the lower-mainland with her family.

“Before my acceptance, I knew very little about the Okanagan Valley and the UBC Okanagan campus. Adjusting to this new environment took some time, but I have grown to love it here. Now, I am pursuing my studies in art history and embracing the opportunities and experiences here at UBCO.”

In the first art history classes Yuste took, she notes that ARTH 101 with Dr. Nathalie Hager introduced her to cultural hybridity and the interconnectedness of world civilizations through art. Upper-level courses with Dr. Antonella de Michelis, focusing on the Europe’s Renaissance and Baroque periods and its global art connections, challenged her to view art from a global perspective. Dr. Keshani’s ARTH 301 and ARTH 375 emphasized critical viewing and theoretical analysis, the latter deepening her understanding of South Asia’s Mughal Empire a its impact. These experiences highlighted the intricate cultural exchanges driving artistic innovation.

“The art history courses and instructors have profoundly shaped my understanding of this area, emphasizing the interconnectedness of global cultures and the ways in which art reflects these interactions.”

In addition to her studies, Yuste has taken part in other campus activities such as being part of the Asian Student Association (ASA), and completing a year of co-op education.

In her first year at UBC Okanagan, she joined the ASA initially working on the marketing for the club, and later becoming the club President. The club hosts numerous Asian-inspired events, such as the Lunar New Year Gala and House of Horrors, where they transform a campus building into a haunted house with themes rooted in Asian culture.

“Through the ASA, I found a sense of community and belonging, which was particularly important to me and other Asian students in the Okanagan. It allowed me to make friends and feel at home.”

For her year of co-op education, Yuste first worked as a Communications Assistant at the UBC Okanagan Student Union. Her responsibilities included creating engaging and informative content to promote the Student Union on social media, focusing primarily on producing short-form videos designed to inform students about the Student Union’s activities and important updates. For the summer of 2024, Yuste was able to find a role within the field of art history at the Fintry Estate as a Student Cataloguer, working to digitize and catalogue artifacts at the estate.

Yuste says that even at a young age, she always knew that art was something she was into, drawing, painting and taking pictures – a hobby that began for her when she was in the sixth grade, and she has worked over the years to developed her skills.

“I particularly enjoyed taking photos while traveling across Asia with my family and capturing school events. I became known among my friends and community as the person who always takes photos. These skills have greatly influenced how I curate my Instagram, which, although informal, is a platform where I express my art, thoughts, and feelings,” she says.

This experience in photography and social media curation has also enhanced her ability to frame and compose videos for her role at the Student Union and other personal projects.

Looking ahead, Yuste says she is open to any opportunities that align with her interests, noting that her ultimate goal would be to become a curator.

“Through one of Natalie Hager’s classes, ARTH 320, Art in Canada, I learned the significant role curators play in setting standards for what is represented in art and society,“ Yuste remembers. “In one assignment, I wrote a hypothetical acquisition report, which demonstrated how curatorial decisions can influence what is deemed important in the art world.”

She adds that this experience has inspired her to pursue a career where she can contribute to shaping cultural and artistic narratives.

“Overall, my involvement in the Asian Student Association and my passion for art history and photography have significantly shaped my university experience and aspirations. They have helped me develop a strong sense of community, enhance my artistic skills, and clarify my future career goals.”