This year’s convocation ceremony on June 2^nd was a special event, held in a virtual environment. The faculty and staff in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies are happy to congratulate all of the students who completed their degrees in 2021.

This year we have ten masters students, one doctoral student, fifty-four Bachelor of Arts students, twenty Bachelor of Fine Arts students, and six Bachelor of Media Studies students who are graduating and who participated in the UBC Okanagan Virtual Ceremony.

“It is a pleasure for me to be here with all of you virtually to congratulate you all on the occasion of your graduation. It has been an honour and privilege for us to have worked with you over the past four years, and I wish all of our graduates the best in their futures.” Says Bryce Traister, Dean of FCCS.

This is a huge accomplishment especially with the challenges over the last year. Our students have worked hard to complete their degrees in the context of a global pandemic.

“I have been impressed by all of our student’s perseverance to get through it all. We are especially excited to congratulate the students from our first graduating class of our Bachelor of Media Studies program. Well done everyone!” Says Jordan Stouck, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in FCCS.

We are happy to celebrate the achievements of all of our students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

“I want to commend the qualities our graduate students have shown in the past year with their patience, courage and generosity. I am proud of your achievements.” Says Greg Garrard, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in FCCS.

The 2021 Virtual Graduation celebration can be viewed here.

FCCS is also pleased to recognize the achievements of the following graduating or continuing students who received awards for their outstanding academic performance this year:

• Mackenzie Beeman, Asper Scholarship
• Sydney Bezner, BMS Head of Class
• Cole Blakely, English Scholarship
• Sage Cannon, Interdisciplinary Performance Scholarship
• Brianne Christensen, Dr. Shelley Martin Memorial Scholarship
• Ella Cottier, Jack and Lorna Hambleton Memorial Award
• Nils Donnelly, Creative Writing Transfer Prize
• Aster Mamo Dryden, Norma and Jack Aitken Prize in Visual Arts
• Makeena Hartmann, Frances HARRIS Prize in Fine Arts; Visual Arts Scholarship
• Saki Irie, Asper Scholarship
• Amanda Kelly, Creative Writing Prize; Creative Writing Scholarship
• Molly Korol, French and Spanish Scholarship
• Camila Labarta-Garcia International Student Faculty Award
• Carolina Leyton, International Student Faculty Award
• Jordan MacDonald, Murray Johnson Memorial Award in Visual Arts
• Ayisha Malik, French Scholarship
• Nikkala Ann Niro, Jill Douglas Entrance Award
• Gabrielle Oi Yiu, Art History and Visual Culture Scholarship
• Melissa Plisic, BA Head of Class
• Mikayla Podmorow, Kelly Curtis Memorial Scholarship in English
• Alexandra Przychodzki, French Essay Prize
• Ari Sparks, Elinor Yandel Memorial Award in Fine Arts
• Karen Takahashi, International Student Faculty Award
• Stephanie Tennert, Doug Biden Memorial Scholarship in Visual Arts
• Carrie Terbasket, Cultural Studies Scholarship
• Danielle Tompkins, Jessie Ravnsborg Memorial Award
• Arianne Tubman, Visual Arts Scholarship
• Angela Wood, Craig Hall Memorial Visual Arts Scholarship in Printmaking
• Jade Zitko, BFA Head of Class

The FCCS Dean’s Honour list recognizes students in all years of the BA, BMS, and BFA degrees, who are at the top of their class with a GPA of 85% or better.

BACHELOR OF ARTS STUDENTS

BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS STUDENTS

BACHELOR OF Media STudies STUDENTS

As part of the Asian Heritage Month events at UBC Okanagan, students and faculty from the Department of Creative Studies have created a video showcasing some of their work. Working in performance, creative writing, and media and visual arts, these talented artists negotiate the complexities of Asian experience, identity and heritage.

A virtual public event was held on May 26th that was organized by Art Historian, Hussein Keshani and hosted by visual arts professor Renay Egami. The video compellation was shown, and a Q & A was facilitated with the artist talking about their work.

Artists include:

• Chloe Chang, 4th year Bachelor of Media Studies student, FCCS
• Huiyu Chen, 2nd year Masters of Fine Arts student, FCCS
• Kevin Chong, Assistant Professor, Creative Studies, FCCS
• Renay Egami, Associate Professor, Visual Arts, Creative Studies, FCCS
• Aleks Dulic, Associate Professor, Creative Studies, FCCS
  • in collaboration with Lan Tung, Music Composer
• Miles Thorogood, Assistant Professor, Creative Studies, FCCS
• Jayko Buwell Duan, 3rd year Bachelor of Media Studies student, FCCS
• Gao Yujie, 3rd year Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Studies student, FCCS
• Xiao Xuan Huang, 1st year Masters of Fine Arts student, FCCS
• Manjinder Sidhu, 2nd year Masters of Fine Arts, student, FCCS
• Meg Yamamoto, 2nd year Doctoral Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies student, FCCS
• Tony Yu, 4th year Interdisciplinary Performing Arts student, FCCS

Sarah Connery, Critical Animal Studies Book Prize winner

Congratulations to Sarah Connery as the recipient of the first ever Critical Animal Studies Book Prize for her essay, “Modern Christianity and Human Exceptionalism: What Does it Mean to Be ‘Made in the Image of God’?”

Students in English 457 class were asked to submit their essay for consideration, and the top prize was chosen by the course instructor Jodey Castricano along with PhD student Eve Kasprzycka who is the GTA for the course. Dr. Castricano crated this prize as a way to encourage student engagement in the course and an interest in developing their writing.

Readers of the essay agree that the essay cogently takes on a complex topic and demonstrates a sincere attempt to engage in a discussion regarding the link between historical anthropocentrism and theological debates regarding Imago Dei.

Upon receiving the award, Sarah said: “I am very honored to have won. I really enjoyed researching and working on this essay. It’s been incredibly eye-opening to see the breadth of work currently being done in the field of Critical Animal studies in relation to Christianity I was honestly blown away by how much was already out there. I look forward to continuing my studies and passion in this field in the future.”

Dr. Castricano notes that Sarah’s essay takes up in a meaningful way one of the many premises of the course, which is “to think seriously about animals’ subjectivities and to ask what ethical responsibilities, if any, these subjectivities might inspire.”

About the course, Sarah adds: “This course proved to be invaluable in my learning journey, challenging even the most deep-seated beliefs about the rights and roles of humans and other animals. I appreciate the viewpoints brought forward by this course and will carry what I learned with me and continue to expand my knowledge.”

The book prize is a first edition of the international award-winning HIDDEN: Animals and The Anthropocene: (2020), which is described WeAnimals Media (and award-winning photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, the co-editor and contributor to the book) as being:

“An unflinching book of photography about our conflict with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of thirty award-winning photojournalists including Aitor Garmendia, Jo-Anne McArthur, and Andrew Skowron. Through the lenses of thirty photojournalists, this book shines a light on the invisible animals in our lives; those with whom we have a close relationship and yet fail to see. The stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal. They are proof of the emergency confronting animals globally, from industrial farming to climate change, and provide valuable insight into the relevance of animal suffering to human health. HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene is a historical document, a memorial, and an indictment of what is and should never again be.”

Maura Tamez with her artwork in Storytellers, at the Kelowna Art Gallery

Maura Tamez always knew she wanted to pursue a practice in the visual arts. She recently completed her third year of studies in the BFA program at UBC Okanagan. She is an enrolled member of the Lipan Apache Band, Texas (of the broader Dene peoples in Canada, U.S., Mexico), and is currently living along N’sis’oolwx (Dry Creek) on the Okanagan Indian Band #1 reserve near Vernon, BC in unceded Syilx territory.

“Visual Arts has always been an area that I saw myself thriving in.”

This year, Maura was awarded an inaugural Indigenous Arts Scholarship offered by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and made  possible with funding from the BC Arts Council. This scholarship supports the development of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists in BC with funding for education or mentorship.

“It is encouraging and affirming to have been awarded this scholarship based on the recognition of my strong work ethic, high academic achievements, and on the merit of my portfolio of artistic work” Maura says.

She learned about the scholarship opportunity through the network of her faculty mentors in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. She applied for the scholarship as she sought an opportunity to attend university full-time without the distractions of working two or more jobs required to support her studies. This scholarship has provided her with the ability to apply herself fully for the first time in her undergraduate education.

“It is an honor and deeply encouraging to know that the jury believes in me, the strength of my ideas, and the value of my artistic practice.” She adds, “I am thankful to the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and the BC Arts Council for their continued support to young Indigenous artists who are pursuing post-secondary education.”

Renay Egami, professor of Visual Arts, was one of the people who encouraged Maura to apply for this award.

“I believe that Maura is among a new generation of Indigenous artists who holds promise and has a bright future ahead of her” says Egami.

Maura says that professor Egami has been a vital mentor, teacher, and role model since her first year in university.

“Renay has always encouraged me to explore new methods in my sculpture practice and to refine my skills, critical thinking, and knowledge. As a racialized Indigenous woman, the significance of the professional mentorship and support received from a strong woman of colour cannot be understated. She has given me the confidence to apply decolonization in all my approaches and this makes a tremendous difference in the results I am able to achieve,” she says.

Currently in her art practice, Maura has been working with ‘hadntn’ (cattail), an important medicine to her family and Ndé peoples. She is learning more about hadntn and looking at the plant as something not only used for its medicinal qualities and ceremony, but as well as a material for artmaking and ultimately weaving this into her practice.

“My art is about place, Ndé history, and my own experiences as a Ndé woman. By working with hadntn in different ways is to honour all of its roles.”

Maura has been busy with her courses as well as working on art projects outside of her schoolwork. She recently had her work shown at the Kelowna Art Gallery as part of Storytellers, an exhibition organized by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan. Her work in the exhibition are self-portraits and sculptures using corn husks to re-create her traditional regalia.

She was also recently awarded one of the FCCS Undergraduate Reseach Awards to work on a project over the summer months. With this award, Maura will create an experimental film based on her own perspectives of Indigenous life, experiences, and creation stories.

When asked what she would say to her first-year self, Maura says that she would tell herself to rest. A critical understanding of holistic well-being, balance, and pacing is a necessary formula for success in strenuous environments, such as the university. “I try to take time for reflection and self-care, especially as I approach the final year of my degree.”

“It is easy to get caught up in perfectionism. I am just now learning that ‘excellence’ is a form of colonial oppression imposed upon Indigenous peoples as a part of ongoing colonization.”

After she graduates in 2022, she says she is planning to take a year off from school before looking at opportunities to pursue her Master of Fine Arts degree.

“During this time, I will be applying to artist residencies. The Banff Centre for the Arts is on my mind!”

About the Indigenous Art Scholarship

The Indigenous Art Scholarship supports the development of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists and arts practitioners residing in B.C. with funding for education or mentorship.

The Indigenous Arts Scholarship provides up to $20,000 in funding to students in full-time mentorship training and up to $10,000 for students enrolled in post-secondary education. The scholarship is made possible with funding from the BC Arts Council.

Find out more: fpcc.ca/program/indigenous-arts-scholarship

Neil Cadger at the Black Box Theatre

Neil Cadger is a performer, director and Associate Professor, who teaches performance creation in the Department of Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan. This spring, he was recognized for his contributions to the performing arts as a recipient of the Dorothy Somerset Award for Performance Development in the Visual and Performing Arts.

Cadger’s current research focuses on two aspects of live performances: curatorial practices interrogating audience/performer interactivity, and non-verbal storytelling employing the human body, masks, puppets, and other objects, including musical instruments.

“In my art practice as a creator and performer, I frequently source mythic narratives and seek a language which resonates at a non-verbal level.”

As the curator and Artistic Director of the Living Things International Arts Festival, he explores the diverse genres of live performance: the theatre world and its use of theatrical objects, the languages inherent to the dance world, the conceptual potential of performance art, music or sound as an active agent, and of course digital technology and how we live with it.

Of the nomination, Guy Cools from the University of Ghent says: “I fully support the nomination of Neil Cadger for this award for his outstanding career as a performer and creator, and for his excellence as an educator and more specifically for his successful curating of the Living Things international Arts Festival, which is an exemplary role model for how artistic practice, vision and community building can support each other.”

Neil graduated from l’école Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France in 1984. He founded Wissel Theatre in Gent, Belgium in 1984 and created theatre performances which toured extensively in Europe; he then worked as an independent artist with various dance and theatre companies until beginning his university career at the University of Saskatchewan in 2000. In 2010, he co-founded Inner Fish Performance Company with Denise Kenney to provide an infrastructure for producing and touring devised performances.  In 2017 he founded the Living Things International Arts Festival which presents local, regional, national and international performances.

“In our current climate of social unrest, mired with uncertain economic forecasts, it is more important than ever that art and creative living be accessible to all – Neil’s contributions are forwarding that possibility.” Says Peter Balkwill, a theatre artist ( Old Trout Puppet Workshop) and Assistant Professor of Acting and Drama in the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary.

“ I am most excited about the uplifting moments of public art that remind us of our common humanity with all its beauty and tragedy.”

Cadger notes that his teaching changed ‘dramatically’ with online course delivery. “In these pandemic days I have been teaching classical dramaturgy for proscenium theatres through the use of toy theatres.”

He explains that the rules remain functionally the same; stage left/right, up/down, stage areas, timing, the use of illusion. Each student built their own cardboard theatre and used a laptop, and the results were interesting, including a charming, naïve use of scale. This shift in course delivery offered the opportunity to examine how stories are composed and importantly, which story to choose.

“Given that live theatre online cannot physically unite the audience, one of the primary components of the theatre transformation – the ‘us’ or ‘we’ who respond as a physical group in different ways – is impossible.” He says. “This introduces the potential for failure as a unifying condition.  We cannot be a real audience but we can laugh at attempts to convince us that we are.”

In this context he explored European theatre clown which is grounded in human frailty and ultimately in failure – despite our attempts to the contrary, we die. He says the results were interesting, and will contribute to his teaching when we are back in the studio.

Frances Greenslade, acclaimed Canadian author and English professor at Okanagan College, had the task of selecting the top stories for the 2021 Okanagan Short Story Contest. The 4 finalists were announced at a virtual event on Friday. April 16, with each of the writers reading a part of their story.

The annual contest, organized by the Creative Writing program in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS), is a writing competition open to fiction writers in British Columbia’s Southern Interior. Writers submit their stories, which are then read, anonymously, by faculty, and the shortlisted stories are sent to a guest judge to choose the winners in the adult and high school categories.

Jorie Soames, who placed second in last year’s contest, took home the first-place prize this year with her story Storm Warning.

“The setting and character carry the reader along in this story,” says Greenslade. “The dialogue is realistic and revealing, and when I finished, the sense of place stayed with me.”

The runner-up this year, with her story Shelter These Hungry Animals, was UBCO MFA alumna, Kristin Burns.

“The sense of mystery, the dialogue, and her use of imagery immersed me in the story,” explains Greenslade.

Third place went to Kamloops writer, Cliff Hatcher, with his story Patty Cake.

“I had the desire to know more about what was going to happen; he hooked me right from the start,” says Greenslade.

This is the fourth year that the contest has had a high school category, with Courtney Westfall winning first-place with her story Demons.

“With skillful dialogue, Courtney has created a character that the reader cares about from the start,” comments Greenslade.

The first-place writer received $1,000 plus a one-week retreat at The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre in Kelowna; second-place winner received $400 and third-place received $200. The top high school student received a $200 prize. Co-sponsors of the contest are FCCS, TD and the Central Okanagan Foundation.

View the full list of the shortlisted authors.

Jorie Soames

Kristin Burns

Cliff Hatcher

Courtney Westfall

On April 9, 2021, Professor Juliet Winters Carpenter discussed the challenges and rewards of translating between languages and cultures, including commonalities and differences in assumptions, approaches and expressions, and how works in translation open readers up to new perspectives and world-views.

Juliet Winters Carpenter has a long and distinguished career translating best-selling Japanese contemporary literature by such important authors as Abe Kobo, Enchi Fumiko, Miyabe Miyuki, Tawara Machi and Mizumura Minae. She has lived and taught in Japan for almost 50 years and has a deep understanding of Japanese culture and the place of literature within it.

View the recording of the talk in the link below.

Literary Translation form Abe to Zen Public Talk

This talk was organized by the Department of Languages and World literatures and sponsored by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. 

The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies along with alumni UBC are seeking art submissions for the UBC Okanagan Coloring Book. Art therapy is used for meditation and as a relaxation technique, and coloring books are a fun way to help adults destress and relax, and improve mental health and wellbeing.

UBC Okanagan student and alumni artists of all levels are invited to submit an original work for a colouring book page in any style within the UBCO Homecoming 2021 theme Spirit of Okanagan. Submissions may be a re-creation of an existing work, or a new piece for this book. From personal sketchbook drawings, pop art designs, portraits, landscapes, we want to see your creativity and what the Okanagan means to you.

Submission Details

• Must be created by a UBC Okanagan student or alumni from any program or degree
• Submissions from current staff or faculty members at UBC Okanagan will also be considered
• Size: 8.5”x11”
• File type: ai, eps, psd, tiff or jpg
• Resolution: vector or 300 DPI

If you do not have access to a high-resolution scanner, you can deliver or mail your artwork with a postage-paid return envelope to:

alumni UBC
Development and Alumni Engagement
1138 Alumni Avenue
Kelowna, BC  V1V 1V7

The coloring books will be launching as part of UBC Okanagan Homecoming (September 24-25, 2021) celebrations and will be available for sale with all proceeds benefiting the UBCO Alumni Bursary Fund supporting students. Final pieces will be selected by a Selection Committee. Featured artists will receive a complimentary copy of the colouring book.

Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2021

Submit Now

By submitting artwork, the submitter agrees they own the right to recreate or reproduce the piece.

Image: Melissa Dinwoodie, BFA ’01

Incoming Masters of Arts in English student, Jessica Beaudin. Photo credit: Angeline Simon Photography

Jessica Beaudin is an incoming student to the MA in English program for 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Lethbridge with a focus on Modernist and Contemporary literature. Upon returning from an exchange semester abroad in Magdeburg, Germany she adopted a Great Pyrenees Golden Retriever cross. Her relationship with her dog made her think more deeply about their connection and how they responded to one another when things got tough. This sparked an interest into discussions around posthumanism, critical animal studies, Holocaust theory, and fictional cloning ethics.

We asked Jessica about what led her to UBC Okanagan’s MA in English program.

What drew you to UBC Okanagan?

Kelowna was always a sun-bathed summer treat for us; my family trekked out every year for a full week of sandy showers and pool handstands. I kept returning as I got older for getaways with friends, bachelorettes, the like. I didn’t even think about UBCO as an option really, until I did, and it properly clicked. I researched the faculty and found that there was a great community of thinkers with massive experience in the area I want to pursue. It’s the city, the scholarly community, and Sprout Bread on Cannery Lane that really do it for me.

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

 I want to write something that matters to me. I see literary criticism as a magical hybrid form of academic and creative writing styles, and while I’ve flirted with the idea of other humanities, I think that by being deliberately unreal, literature is so much closer to an experience and to a truth that I understand. Dr. Jodey Castricano was gracious enough to agree to supervise me, I am so grateful and excited to work with them.

Tell us about your thesis topic and your plans for that research.

My thesis will examine the discontinuities of ethics and responsibility in regard to euthanasia practices for human and nonhuman animals. In particular, I ask how posthuman literature understands death of the nonhuman animal with the knowledge that for reasons economic, consumptive, and environmental, human animals are necessarily tied to the decision. While posthumanism is distinguished from the transcendent intentions of biomedical transhumanism beyond death as limit, its troubling of ontological boundaries and “will-they, won’t-they” departures from humanism leaves discussions of individual death vacant. How euthanasia practices bleed into notions of the mercy kill or ‘coup de grâce’ as well as non-interference methods of letting die highlight the disproportionate responsibilities human animals self-assign at the point of death as opposed to in life.

I want to research responsibility, and think about different ‘kinds’ of animals and the responsibilities we take on with regard to them. I have a lot of catching up to do in the critical animal studies area, as well as digging in deeper with the posthuman conversation. I also want to read and watch a lot of dystopian and science fiction! I hope to work significantly with Dr. Castricano and Dr. Garrard for starters, but have my eye on a few others as well.

Where do you hope this degree will lead you? 

This is always a complicated question for students of literature! To my parents’ dismay, I hold tight to a mantra of ‘I’ll figure it out’. Which is to say that I trust entirely that at the end of this program, I’ll know if I want to continue in academia and pursue my PhD. However, I’m also very comfortable with being much more than any one thing–I could be a nurse with a Masters in English, or perhaps co-run that pipe-dream coffee shop with a gallery space for my best friend. Most of all, I hope that this degree will lead me, perhaps feet dragging, into a healthier relationship with my writing.

On April 1, Dr. Kerrie Charnley gave a talk, Why we capitalize the ‘I’ in Indigenous: Guidance on writing with and about Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Charnley discussed writing with Indigenous Style, from land acknowledgement to land back and why we use the capital “I” in Indigenous.

What is the most respectful way to communicate with—and about—Indigenous Peoples and individuals? In this webinar, participants will be introduced to guiding insights from Gregory Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style (2018).  These insights will help us to understand the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action, and particularly, in educational contexts.

In the presentation link below, Dr. Charnley shares “cutting edge,” recently published resources on writing, curriculum and pedagogy, for indigenizing the academy, classroom and beyond.

WHY WE CAPITALIZE THE I IN INDIGENOUS SLIDE PRESENTATION