McKenna King

McKenna King started her bachelor of arts degree in 2020, and quickly decided to do a double major in French and English. “Since I graduated high school with a Double Dogwood diploma from French immersion, I wanted to keep up both languages at the same level,” she says.

In doing a double major, King says that she found it interesting to see how her French and English studies connected. “I love literary theory, especially feminist and gender theory, and I was able to apply those ideas to my French courses.”

She notes that it was really interesting to see how historical and cultural ideas influenced literature in both languages, and being able to analyze texts from multiple perspectives made her writing and critical thinking so much stronger.

“Sometimes I would even switch between languages without realizing it while writing!” she jokes.

Majoring in French meant jumping straight into third-year classes because of her proficiency. “While I still had to take some grammar courses, my favorite part was definitely the literature classes.”

King says that one of her favourite French courses was a 17th-century fairy tale course with Dr. Marianne Legault, where students read both familiar and lesser-known fairy tales in their original form.

“It was amazing to see how these stories evolved over time and to dive into discussions about how fairy tales, often dismissed because they were considered a ‘female space,’ actually hold huge literary value,” she adds.

In the second year of her studies, she was encouraged to apply for the English Honors program. King took an English class on critical theory with Dr. Melissa Jacques, and says she fell completely in love with critical theory.

“That class changed everything for me, and I asked Dr. Jacques to be my thesis supervisor, which ended up being a mix of memoir and critical analysis, which was a bit different from the usual English Honors format,” she explains.

For the thesis, she wrote about her great-grandfather’s World War II journal and her dad’s sketchbook, analyzing how they act as physical representations of relationships in her family, mapping how they connected different family members over time. The thesis included excerpts from the journal, photocopies of the original documents, and even letters from the war.

King says that one of the best things about UBCO is its small, tight-knit community. “For me, this meant I got to form great relationships with both my professors and classmates. Having that kind of support made a huge difference in my academic experience.”

Originally, King wanted to be a high school teacher like her mom, but her time at UBCO changed her mind. Now, she wants to go to grad school and eventually teach at the post-secondary level.

“I hope to get into an interdisciplinary English MA program that lets me think and write in the creative, analytical way I enjoy. I also want to continue researching literature and theory while keeping French as part of my academic work.”

When asked if she could give her first-year self any advice, she says it would be to trust herself more. “I was super shy coming out of high school and didn’t speak up in class much, even when I had something to say.”

She says that it wasn’t until her second year that she started putting her hand up in class and realizing that her ideas were actually worth sharing. Discussion is a huge part of learning, and even if you don’t have the perfect answer, what you say can spark new ideas and keep the conversation going.

“Nobody is expecting you to be an expert—everyone is here to learn. I wish I had been more comfortable with not knowing everything right away because that’s where real learning happens.”

University is about challenging yourself, growing, and stepping out of your comfort zone.

“Looking back, I’m really grateful for the experiences and relationships I built at UBCO, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Asha Young

Asha Young, originally from the lower mainland moved to the Okanagan in 2010 to start her Bachelor of Arts degree at UBCO. After taking a second year Cultural Studies focused on film, she met with the program coordinator and decided to major in Cultural Studies.

“At the time, I wasn’t sure what Cultural Studies even was—I assumed it was related to Indigenous Studies, but I soon discovered it offered something entirely different,” Young admits. “It combined history, media, and power dynamics, which resonated deeply with me. I loved it.”

Young noted that coming out of high school, she didn’t have a strong understanding of global perspectives or power structures, but the four years of education during her undergraduate degree opened her eyes. After graduating from UBCO, Young went on to pursue law school at UBC Vancouver.

Young always had her sights set on going to law school and says it was reassuring to realize that any Bachelor of Arts major could lead to law school.

“So why not choose something I genuinely enjoyed? I can say now that being in Cultural Studies helped shape the way I view the world and taught me to be a critical thinker—skills that have stayed with me through law school and into my career.”

For students considering law school, Young says that it’s worth knowing that a degree in Cultural Studies—or any humanities or social sciences program—can be just as valuable as more traditional paths. These programs teach critical thinking, creativity, and perspective—skills that transcend any single career.

Because of her undergraduate experience, she says that she is able to bring a perspective that many of her colleagues, who often come from business backgrounds, may not have. Her critical thinking skills and media literacy help her navigate corporate law while staying engaged with broader social issues.

She remembers that in one law school course on jurisprudence—the study of what law is—she wrote a paper analyzing the movie Black Panther. “I explored how the film perpetuates hegemonic ideas of Western law, even in fictional universes. It was a unique and rewarding experience, where I used my skills in media analysis with legal theory.”

Young also participates in pro bono initiatives, fundraising, and community campaigns, such as chairing a “Law Needs Feminism” photo campaign. “In this project, I photographed students and faculty, overlaying their handwritten thoughts on why law needs feminism onto their portraits. It was a meaningful blend of art, advocacy, and law.”

Young says that throughout her undergraduate degree, the program allowed her to explore her artistic interests while engaging in critical theories.

“I had always been interested in art, but I never imagined it as a career path. The program gave me opportunities to study television, movies, and video games while also tackling projects that blended creativity with academic inquiry.”

For one class, she created a zine about feminism in mainstream media, reimagining Disney movies by flipping traditional narratives on their heads. For example, she turned Belle into the Beast and swapped Ariel’s role with Prince Eric’s. The project involved photography, film development, and hand-designed layouts.

“It was a fun project that let me create something tangible while deeply engaging with class concepts, and I was very proud of the work,” she notes. “For me, projects like my Disney zine was not just an assignment—I created a tangible, lasting work that encapsulated who I was as a student and remains a highlight for me.”

Looking back, Young says her undergraduate experience in Cultural Studies helped to shape her worldview. “Whether it’s critically analyzing media, engaging with legal systems, or collaborating with diverse communities, the program taught me to think deeply and creatively.”

The Herbal Records of Agnes Hathaway, journal created by 4th year English Honour student, Emma Laing

Emma Laing is a fourth-year English honours student, under the supervision of Dr. Michael Treschow, she is researching the fourteenth-century poem Pearl. In this project, she will examine the relationship between human attachment to earthly experiences and the search for divine wisdom, particularly as reflected through the personified figures of Fortune and Wisdom, and will also be referencing Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Book of the Duchess, and Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love.

“Throughout my studies, I have developed a deep passion for particular areas of literature, and the English honours program has provided both an opportunity and a challenge to explore those areas further.”

In a class with Dr. Jennifer Gustar, students were assigned a research essay, but Emma put in a proposal to undergo a more creative approach. In Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, the character of Agnes fictitiously represents Anne Shakespeare (née Hathaway), Emma says she wanted to further uncover her expansive interiority. “Because of this, I felt the project form needed to be personal, which led me to create a journal as if it were written by Agnes.”

The journal displays her extensive knowledge of herbal medicine and her talent for writing. Each of the herbs or plants included focus on a particular aspect of Agnes’ life and emotions, including protection, love, motherhood, and grief. Alongside the plants, Emma included their scientific names as found in early modern herbals like those by John Gerard and Nicholas Culpeper, as well as journal entries and paintings as if created by Agnes herself, and literary insight into the novel. Everything in the journal was intended to be written by Agnes, and Emma framed her literary analysis into envelopes or kept it separate to make the journal feel more authentic.

Reflecting on this project, Emma says: Many people assume that studying English is solely about essay writing. However, critical research, analysis, and reflection can take many forms. While traditional essays are often the most effective way to express your thoughts and opinions, creative projects like this one can better support certain directions and ideas. Creative research projects are becoming more common in English courses, and for me, working on creative projects allows me to combine my interests – critical analysis, creative writing, art, and in this case, plant medicine – into something I am truly passionate about.

Below are photographs of some of the pages of the journal Emma created for this class.

Painting of a milk thistle plant, traditionally used to aid and heal mothers.

Painting of a marigold, traditionally healing and used to honour the dead.

Painting of meadowsweet blooms. Traditionally represents purity, love, and joy.

Agnes writing about the poppies, envelope with literary analysis.

Celebrating the Return: Gobo lights and sound installation celebrates the return of the salmon to the Okanagan, and was created by Tara Dunn under the supervision of Dr. Aleksandra Dulic

Light Up Kelowna is initiative that started in 2020 with Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) professors Dr. Miles Thorogood and Dr. Aleksandra Dulic, working in collaboration with Kirsteen McCulloch, Executive Director of the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO).

The initial Light up Kelowna project was an annual event of digital installations that were projected onto the outside of the Rotary Centre for the Arts that showcase images and sounds created by FCCS faculty and students. Projections were shown on the exterior of the Rotary Centre for the Arts from November to April, 2020 to 2023.

In May of 2023, Drs. Thorogood and Dulic attended ISEA 2023, the 28th International Symposium on Electronic Art in Paris, presenting the Light Up Kelowna project, gaining international recognition for the open-source network infrastructure for their public art project. The presentation, Light Up Kelowna: Coordination and Development of Networked Community-based Media Art Urban Screen Infrastructure, they outline the structure for coordinating engaged parties in developing scalable urban screen infrastructure and considerations necessary for installing rear projection urban screens in existing city spaces, and talked about their approach for developing an urban screen, showcasing multiple exhibitions.

In December 2024, two significant new exhibition venues were created —Light Up Kelowna ArtWalk and Urban Screen at the Kelowna Community Theatre (KCT).

The Artwalk runs along the pedestrian thoroughfare linking the Rotary Centre for the Arts (RCA) and the Kelowna Community Theatre (KCT), and the Urban Screens are on the outside of the KCT. Both create vibrant installations that illuminate the Cultural District, showcasing local artists and engaging the community in a celebration of creativity and connection.

The first exhibitions for the new Light Up Kelowna consist of three elements viewed together: the gobo lights, the audio installation, and the three-channel video, Celebrating the Return, Gobo lights and sound installation along the Artwalk, and Okanagan Waterways, projections at the KCT. The light, sound and video installations will change seasonally, the imagery created for December’s exhibitions, highlight the cultural and ecological significance of restoring Sockeye Salmon and the cultural imperative of restoring Okanagan habitats, riparian systems, and biodiversity. The imagery created for Gobo Lights and Sound Walk celebrates the return of the salmon to the Okanagan. In response to the success of the salmon return to the Okanagan, École Okanagan Mission Secondary student Tara Dunn, under the supervision of Aleksandra Dulic, created the salmon imagery and symmetrical arrangement to mark this incredible initiative. Miles Thorogood and his undergraduate research assistant, Yahvardhan Joshi, created a sound installation that immerses the salmon in a flowing river of sounds. These exhibitions were on display from December 2024 to the end of February, 2025.

Through the Centre for Culture and Technology (CCT), Dr. Aleksandra Dulic created the concept and feel for the digital projections and worked to determine the design for the three-channel projections on the KCT, providing guidance to the technical team that included Dr. Thorogood and Dr. Yujie Gao, creating an infrastructure that can be used for this space going forward.

Dr. Miles Thorogood and his team at the Sonic Production, Intelligence, Research, and Applications Lab (SPIRAL) along with Dr. Dulic, designed the cutting-edge wireless sound and light system that brings the Artwalk to life. Spanning the 120-meter walkway, this infrastructure includes five innovative sound and light nodes. Each node operates independently, offering customizable soundscapes and dynamic lighting effects. This versatility enables a range of creative applications, from multi-channel media installations to live performances with musicians and performers, positioning the Artwalk as a living, breathing work of art.

The installation is more than just a technical achievement, it’s a testament to SPIRAL’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of media art and community engagement. Over the next five years, this infrastructure will serve as a platform for local, national, and international sound and media artists, fostering a vibrant dialogue between art, technology, and community.

Light Up Kelowna is a partnership with the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO), the support of the City of Kelowna with financial support from the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, the United Way Recovery Fund, the BC Arts Council and Canada Healthy Communities.

This project is produced by ARTSCO Executive Director Kirsteen McCulloch, and is made possible with support from FCCS Technical Director Philip Wyness, FCCS Studio Technician Connor McKinnon, FCCS Media Technician Sam Neal, MFA alumnus Ryan Broadbent, MA student Christopher Anderson, PhD alumna Dr. Yujie Gao, along with guidance from Dr. Miles Thorogood, Dr. Aleks Dulic.

Thanks to the work of Dr. Dulic and Dr. Thorogood, the Artwalk is not just a walkway—it’s a stage for innovation, a canvas for creativity, and a space where art and technology unite to inspire.

The tech team, Philip Wyness (left), Rylan Broadbent (centre), and Sam Neal (right) setting up the Gobo lights along the Artwalk

Testing the Gobo lights before the installation

Artist Tara Dunn (right) with fellow students from the ARTSCO Youth Council interacting with the light projection of spawning salmon along the Artwalk, located along the pedestrian thoroughfare linking the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Kelowna Community Theatre.

Dr. Yujie Gao setting up the projection mapping for Light Up Kelowna @KCT

Dr. Yujie Gao setting up the projection mapping for Light Up Kelowna @KCT

This projection on the side of the KCT celebrates the diverse ecosystems of Okanagan Waterways. This immersive video installation, created by Drs. Aleksandra Dulic and Miles Thorogood

Kelly Shepherd, photo by Randall Edwards Photography

Kelly Shepherd has been a construction worker in northern Alberta and a kindergarten teacher in South Korea. Dog and Moon, forthcoming in spring 2025 from Oskana Poetry & Poetics (University of Regina Press) is Kelly’s third poetry collection. He is part of The Land and Labour Poetry Collective, an editorial group currently working on the book I’ll Get Right On It: Poems on Working Life in the Climate Crisis (forthcoming from Fernwood Publishing). Kelly’s second poetry collection, Insomnia Bird (Thistledown Press, 2018) won the 2019 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize. He has written eight chapbooks (most recently Sleep Is a Deep Pool with The Alfred Gustav Press, 2023), and he is a poetry editor for the environmental philosophy journal The Trumpeter. He has a Creative Writing MFA from UBC Okanagan (with a thesis on the intersections of ecopoetry and work poetry—supervised by Nancy Holmes), and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Alberta (with a thesis on sacred geography). Originally from Smithers, BC, Kelly lives on Treaty 6 territory, in Edmonton, where he teaches in the English and Communications Department at NAIT (the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology).

We met with Kelly to discuss his book and to get some insight on his writing process.

Tell us about your new book, Dog and Moon.

​Dog and Moon is not really “about” any one thing, because with this book I’m trying to resist closure, and I’m trying to contain multitudes. But some main themes, or threads, include an embodied relationship with the natural world, my fascination with wildlife, and an ongoing engagement with other poets and writers. As the University of Regina website describes it, these poems are “a series of juxtapositions: nature writing placed in conversation with the language of poetry workshops, mythology and childhood memories, and sensorial encounters with the natural world colliding with images of home and belonging.” I’m trying to dig into the mythical and symbolic nature of things. The title Dog and Moon comes from a line in one of the poems, and dogs and the moon also appear frequently throughout the book.

What was your process in researching and writing the book and working with an editor and publisher?

On the one hand, it’s fair to say that I worked on this book for over twenty years! Because many of the lines and images I use in these poems come from notebooks, which I’ve been writing in for a long time. But on the other hand, there was also a lot of spontaneity and even improvisation involved in the process.

My experience working with the editor (Randy Lundy) and the University of Regina Press has been fantastic. This is my third book (the first two were published by Thistledown Press) and I’ve enjoyed the entire process immensely each time, and with each different editor. Putting poems in order, and deciding which poems go and which should stay in a manuscript, all of this is a lot of work, but it’s also fun. It’s been a real honour to discuss my work with some truly talented editors, book designers, and publishers. Honestly, I feel very lucky.

Tell us about your time at UBCO as a student in the MFA program.

I enjoyed the cross-pollination that happened at UBCO. Both socially and creatively, it seemed like there was always this mix of undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors doing things together. I went there for the Creative Writing MFA, and Nancy Holmes was my supervisor. As Nancy’s research assistant, I had the opportunity to work on some really interesting things, including the Woodshed Readings poetry series at Woodhaven, and the “Dig Your Neighbourhood” community art project. It was also amazing to study poetry with the legendary Sharon Thesen!

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or how did you decide that doing an MFA was right for you?

I did always want to be a writer, but of course I had no idea what that would look like. And technically I’m still not a writer now, if by “writer” you mean someone who makes a living from their writing. And if that (money) was my goal, I certainly wouldn’t be writing poetry! I do teach writing these days, albeit the non-creative kind.

And I didn’t know much about MFAs, to be honest, before I started doing mine at UBC Okanagan. But I wanted to pursue writing in a more focused environment, and that degree was a great fit. Part of the decision-making process for me was seeking out a supervisor with similar interests and aesthetics.

If you could start university again, would you do anything differently?

I would wait longer before starting university! And I would try to travel first, try to see more of the world, so I could make better-informed decisions. As opposed to getting into debt with student loans before I even knew what I wanted to do, straight out of high school, which is unfortunately what I did. I’m happy with the degrees I did get, of course (including the MFA from UBCO!) but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the long and winding road that I took to get them.

Barbara Emefa Kpedekpo

Barbara Emefa Kpedekpo completed her masters degree in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program in the Digital Arts and Humanities theme in the fall of 2024, supervised by Dr. Suzanne Gott, along with committee members, Dr. Neha Gupta and Dr. Hussein Keshani. Her thesis titled, Heritage Through Pixels: Digitization of Ghana’s Cultural Heritage with the Aim of Increasing Engagement and Participation Amongst the Youth, combines her passion for cultural heritage transmission, preservation and engagement.

‘My thesis, is where Ghanaian culture meets the digital age. It’s all about using digital tools to preserve and share our cultural heritage among the younger generation. In simpler terms, it’s about making sure our traditions don’t get left behind in the rush to tap, swipe and scroll on our screens.’

We asked Barbara to discuss her experience at UBCO as a master’s student and to give us more information about her thesis project.

Why did you choose to apply to the IGS master’s program in the DAHU theme?

I chose the IGS master’s program in the DAHU theme to turn a personal challenge into a purposeful mission. Growing up, my limited fluency in Ewe left me feeling disconnected from my heritage. But being immersed in a multicultural or ethnic environment like Ghana taught me something powerful: culture is more than language —it’s identity, memory, skills, and legacy. This realization fueled my curiosity about how I could bridge some of the cultural gaps in Ghana. My thesis Heritage Through Pixels, focuses on engaging Ghanaian youth with their heritage through accessible and inclusive digital tools, especially in resource-constrained contexts such as Ghana. The DAHU theme offered the perfect blend of creativity, technology, and cultural exploration, giving me the tools to reimagine tradition in the digital age. For me this research was not only a way to craft sustainable solutions that preserve our past but also inspire a culturally rich future.

Tell us about the road to earning your UBC degree.

The road to earning my degree has been a mix of adventure, self-discovery, and, let’s be honest, a fair share of late night-calls – thanks to geographical divides – and moments of self-doubt. Coming from Ghana, I arrived with a suitcase full of dreams, a passion for cultural heritage, and just enough knowledge about Canadian winters to pack a warm jacket. The feeling of being an “outsider” among my Ewe ethnic community led me to question what it really means to belong. UBCO seemed like the perfect place to figure it out—an international hub where everyone’s a little lost but pretending not to be. It provided a welcoming space that embraced my cultural differences and allowed me to share my cultural insecurities openly. UBCO wasn’t just about academics to me—it was about figuring out life. I learned that “networking” sometimes just means finding someone who did not understand the article that was shared in class or sharing your experience as a teaching assistant. I discovered that being far from home teaches you not just independence but also how to survive and embrace opportunities and challenges that come your way. One of my greatest opportunities was having a supportive community that truly had my best interests at heart (my roommate—Donna, supervisor­—Dr. Suzanne Gott, and faith community—Trinity Church Kelowna). In all, it has been an interesting and transformative journey!

My sincerest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. Suzanne Gott, who was always ready to listen, share sharp insights, and nudge me when I needed it. Her genuine investment in helping me carve my career path was so evident in every meeting. She has been one of my greatest motivations for wanting to pursue a career in this field. My class with Dr. Neha Gupta, a small but mighty group of three students, remains unforgettable for its inspiration and teamwork. Professors I TAed for at FCCS championed my research like it was their own, especially Dr. Nathalie Hager who always shared invaluable insights, encouraged and cheered me on. Everywhere I turned on campus, I found a community of professors, from different faculties and departments (Dr. Christine Schreyer, Dr. Hussein Keshani, Dr. Catherine Higgs) who truly had my back. It wasn’t just support; it was a powerhouse of encouragement and belief in my potential.

Tell us about your thesis, why did you choose this subject?

I always felt like I was caught between two worlds in my youth—an Ewe who couldn’t speak Ewe fluently. Imagine trying to explain to your relatives why you sound more like Google Translate than a proud member of your community. My shaky Ewe language always made me feel like an outsider in my own community. I realized I wasn’t alone—many others felt the same disconnect. That’s when the idea hit me: What if technology could be used as a bridge? What if we could take our rich oral traditions—stories, skills, and wisdom—and reimagine them in a way that resonates with the tech-savvy generation? This thesis became my way of answering those questions and creating a path (a first step) where tradition and innovation can walk hand in hand. It’s not just research to me but I see this as a mission to celebrate where we come from while inspiring where we’re headed.

Now that I’ve completed my master’s degree, my plan is to continue on this mission to merge the gap between tradition and technology. I am determined to learn from experts and communities involved in heritage revitalisation projects, drawing inspiration from their success stories while exploring creative ways to reconnect with my roots and the broader dimensions of heritage.

What advice would you give to a student starting their masters degree?

Start your master’s degree with an open mind and a well-stocked grocery cabinet —you’ll need both. Embrace the chaos: some days, you’ll feel like a genius, and other days, you’ll Google, “How to finish a thesis in three months.” Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem “basic”—it’s how you learn, and your professors have seen worse, trust me. Lastly but most importantly, find your people. Graduate school is really a marathon, not a sprint, and having a support system of fellow stressed-out students and people who can encourage you (for me it was my roommate, faith community and family) makes the journey not only survivable but surprisingly fun and worth it. And remember, the finish line isn’t just about the degree; it’s about the growth, grit, and occasional insights you pick up along the way.

Dr. Alexopoulos receiving her award, pictured with Dr. Diana Carter, FCCS Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies

The 2023-24 recipient of the FCCS Teaching Excellence and Innovation Award is Maria Alexopoulos. Dr. Alexopoulos received this award on the basis of students support and teaching evaluations. She teaches in the English and Cultural Studies programs, offering courses ranging from 1^st year to masters level, such as “Cultural Studies 101,” “Adolescence in Media, Popular Culture, and Cultural Theory,” “Gender, Race and Medicine: The Construction of the Hysteric”, and “Methodologies: Critical Theory”.

This award is designed to recognize faculty members for teaching approaches that develop experiential learning, interdisciplinarity, internationalization, undergraduate research and scholarship.

Alexopoulos’ students note that she teaches in a way that they are motivated to learn and that she shows a genuine interest in supporting her students in her classes.

Alexopoulos says that in her courses students grapple with many complex and sensitive issues with topics that provoke complex emotions, resistances, and unpredictable classroom dynamics.

“Managing these dynamics within the classroom, being vigilant and attentive to individual student reactions, even when unvoiced, and meeting outside of class in order to unpack, process, clarify, and support students requires a great deal of time and sustained focus,” she says.

Her students have commented on the way her lesson plans and classroom design productively make space for important conversations in a way that is generative, respectful, and meaningful.

In 2022, Alexopoulos co-founded the UBCO Zine Fair, with Creative Writing and the support of the UBCO Library Special Collections. The UBCO Zine Fair has become a vibrant and popular annual event where students showcase and celebrate their final projects and chapbooks, offering an opportunity for students to engage with the work of their peers within their individual courses and across courses and disciplines. Example works from the zine projects are collected in the UBCO Special Collections, available to viewing for others on campus.

For the past two years, Alexopoulos has participated in the Feminist Horror Film Festival. The festival is designed to facilitate local public education and encourage efforts to combat gender-based discrimination and violence. In 2023, she was a co-organizer with the “Final Girls Berlin Film Festival” at Okanagan College and gave a public lecture accompanied by a film screening at UBC Okanagan. An in 2024, she offered a public lecture and facilitated a discussion at the Kelowna Public Library, entitled: Frontier Fear: Female Friendship as a Site of Horror in the Settler Colonial Imagination.

These events provided students with additional learning resources and demonstrated how instructors’ research and course concepts are applied in public contexts.

Dr. Alexopoulos in the classroom

UBCO Zine Fair 2023

Image of the banners installed along the Artwalk in downtown Kelowna, 2021

Each year, the Outdoor Banner Exhibition Program showcases 13 original works by UBCO students, staff, faculty and alumni. The banners are installed in the springtime on the light standards at the Rotary Commons—the greenspace between the Kelowna Art Gallery and the Rotary Centre for the Arts—and the Art Walk pathway between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Downtown Library. This project is made possible with the partnership and funding from the City of Kelowna.

Have your artwork printed on a banner to be installed in the Artwalk downtown Kelowna (between the RCA and KAG). Banners will be installed in April or May (weather dependent) and up for the full year until they are replaced.

Banners will be printed to 26”wide x 48” high, in colour. (note, your work does not have to be this size, we will size to fit).  The artist’s name and Creative Studies department logo will be added to the lower right corner, visible to viewers.

FCCS alumni, staff, faculty and students in the BFA, BMS, BA with a major in an FCCS program, MFA, MA, or IGS in an FCCS theme, are all eligible to apply.

Deadline for submissions: January 24, 2025

Banner Submission Form

Please note, you are not eligible to apply if you have had your artwork on a banner in a previous year.

Interview with Sophia (left), Nathan (centre), and Tyler (right)

Learning a new language is a powerful way to gain fresh perspectives and deepen your understanding of diverse cultures. In our Department of Languages and World Literatures, we offer a rich selection of programs that go beyond language skills.

Courses in Japanese studies are especially vibrant, combining language courses that build essential speaking, listening, writing, and reading abilities with English-taught courses that explore Japanese culture through pop culture, anime, manga, food culture, film, and more. These courses don’t just teach language—they develop critical thinking and writing skills that prepare you to engage thoughtfully with the world.

To give you a sense of what these courses offer, we spoke with three students currently studying Japanese at UBCO. Here’s what they shared about their experiences and why they believe studying Japanese has been transformative.

Sophia is a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in sociology. She was born and raised in Japan until she was six years old, and was very happy to see that they had Japanese courses offered at UBCO.

“I took both 100 level courses for my language requirement in my first year, and that was really fascinating to learn more about the Japanese language, some of which I had not used growing up in Canada.”

This past summer, Sophia took part in the Go Global seminar to Japan, and in those two weeks of the course, says she learned a lot more about the cultural and historical aspects of Japan.

“It was really interesting to learn specifically about the aspect of food and how that has developed over time and how important it is to people in their day-to-day lives. We actually had the opportunity to take a professional cooking class by chef and that was very interesting seeing first hand and seeing it right in front of you, how they make meals.”

Nathan, a fifth-year Bachelor of Science student majoring in Biochemistry, grew up with a passion for Japanese media like games and anime. In the summer of his third year, he took an introductory Japanese language course as an elective, excited to finally learn Japanese.

“I absolutely loved the course. I just found it so interesting to learn Japanese in a university environment. The classes are such a great environment – you’re in a room where everyone’s interested in learning a new language, and I think it’s great being in smaller classes where you have more connections with your professors and classmates.”

Tyler is a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student working on a major in computer science. He says that one of the main reasons he decided to take Japanese is that he has always had an interest in history and the culture of many different regions of the world.

“I had previously taken Spanish and French in high school, and when I saw that there was Japanese offered at UBCO, I found it super intriguing because I also had an interest in Japanese culture, such as anime. I personally think it’s very important to explore outside of the faculty that you’re getting your degree in. I think that learning another language or just seeing something where you can express yourself in a different way is really important and it shapes how you see the world.”

Tyler has found that really being interested in a subject helps you learn so much quicker, and that learning to study a language also helps you in other aspects.

“Going through the Japanese courses, learning which methods of study work best for me like listening to someone else speak, going through a textbook, or practicing speaking myself has helped me study in other aspects of my degree.”

Each of these students has discovered something unique and rewarding about taking Japanese courses at UBCO. Whether you’re interested in the language, culture, or both, the Japanese program here offers you the chance to explore, connect, and broaden your horizons in ways that can shape your academic journey—and your life—forever.

“I think that learning another language or just seeing something where you can express yourself in a different way is really important and it shapes how you see the world.”

‘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).