Aditri Chatterjee

Aditri Chatterjee completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree with an Honours in English in the spring of 2024, and joined the MA in English program the following fall. After completing her honours thesis, Chatterjee wanted to continue her work looking into morality and science fiction and her views towards AI and its rapid developments that seem like a threat to human survival for many. Aditri is supervised by Dr. Marie Loughlin with committee members Dr. Jon Vickery, Dr. Bryce Traister and Dr. Margaret Reeves.

We asked Aditri to discuss her experience at UBC Okanagan both as an undergraduate and as a master’s student.

Tell us about your time here at UBC Okanagan.

Pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, complete with an Honours distinction, my love for stories has transcended from mere fiction to communities at large. From exploring the origins of English in my Old English classes to learning about various literary periods and genres – all here at UBC itself – has already put me on a rewarding road to earning another UBC degree.

Working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) has been very rewarding in the first year of my Master’s degree. As a Hobbit fan from a young age and now getting to experience it in a classroom context as a GTA with Dr. Marie Loughlin, I learnt firsthand the demands of a teaching role and how exciting it can be to discuss cool stuff in an academic manner. As a GTA for Dr. Jon Vickery and explore dystopian literature, which ties in close to my thesis. Apart from talking about cool stuff again – like The Matrix and Terminator – I also had the opportunity to take a lecture on ‘robots and AI’, a topic that was not only significant to the course but also one that directly links to my MA thesis. This experience allowed me to greatly realise my thesis’ significance to the general public and rediscover the joy of literature.

As a UBCO student, the motto ‘tuum est’ is an integral part of my education and I hope to uphold that for the rest of my graduate education as well.

Tell us about your thesis.

My English Honours thesis explored Star Wars’ dealings with the Grey Jedi, Force-users who walk between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. At the time, I was thinking about the ways in which the Grey Jedi as a character type represented a figure of the outsider, a figure that disrupts the conservative. Their challenge to a misplaced philosophy about balance with a narrative invested in the Manichaean concept of good vs. evil made me question the perfunctory heroic narratives that are governed by this binary, particularly in societal dogmas, politics, traditional education, communities, and gender norms.

My Master’s thesis focuses on American science fiction author Isaac Asimov’s ‘Robot Novels,’ examining how Asimov deals with sentience and consciousness in Artificial Intelligence (humanoid robots) that allows his robots to develop volition, judgment, and empathy. Since the four ‘Robot Novels’ (The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, and Robots and Empire) are interconnected through the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, I will focus on the character development of this particular robot, examining how this development informs the current discourse on AI sentience. Ultimately, the significance of this study lies in addressing the current fear and anxiety around the rapidly developing world of AI. By not deferring to the clichéd robot-apocalypse narrative that pertained both in the 1950s and 1960s and dominates much discussion of AI in today’s world, Asimov’s alternate perspectives on robots provide a less polarised way of harnessing technology to help humanity and can assist us in moving towards a future that caters not just to humans but to every being on this planet, organic or otherwise.

You recently published an article in The Republic. Tell us about this publication and what your article is about.

My publication in The Republic started as an assignment for UBCO professor Dr. Sakiru Adebayo’s class, Black Intellectual Traditions. On his initiative and encouragement, I submitted a book review, titled Black Scholarship in Africanfuturism, to The Republic, hoping it would get published and three months later, it is out in the world for everyone to read.

My article is a book review of Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Death of the Author, a novel that crosses genres—metafiction, literary fiction and science fiction (africanfuturism) all wrapped up in one piece of work. It is about a disabled Nigerian-American woman named Zelu who makes a breakthrough in her writing career, through her novel Rusted Robots, while dealing with several problems in her life that do not make her stardom easy to live up to. The novel is significant in imparting agency to its Black readers who want to explore africanfuturism, redefining Black scholarship through science fiction and proving that scientific development does not exclusively lie outside literature or within Western countries. It attempts at resolving the issues between science and race by incorporating the past (colonialism, slavery, migration) as well as the future (technology, post-racism, post-humanism). To that end, Okorafor’s inspirational form is not limited to Black people and its diaspora. I myself am inspired by her works in imagining a science future for my own home country via Indofuturism or indianfuturism, another one of my research interests from a list that seems never ending.

Joanna Cockerline (left) with UBCO Nursing students at the Heart and Sole event on July 15, 2025

JustUs Street Outreach, co-founded and led by Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and Faculty of Management Lecturer Joanna Cockerline and Tasha S., has partnered with the UBCO School of Nursing on a Partnership Recognition and Exploration Grant. The registered non-profit organization and students from the Nursing Capstone course, alongside School of Nursing Associate Professor Sheila Epp, worked together to create a community night for women on the streets, featuring foot care, pizza, and community building.

The Hearts and Soles event, held July 15 at a local community centre, was a huge success and welcomed over 20 participants living on the street. The team of nursing students collected donations and provided hands-on, compassionate, and interactive foot care and foot care instruction for those who attended—while giving pedicures.

Cockerline and Tasha founded JustUs Street Outreach in 2024 in response to the situations faced by those living on the street in Kelowna, especially after the dissolution of two other community outreach programs that left many people living unhoused feeling disconnected and hopeless. JustUs Street Outreach is starting small and independent, ready to step up immediately to fill that gap. Cockerline and Tasha, who provided street outreach together for five years prior, are excited about this grassroots initiative, which provides direct, non-judgemental, practical, and compassionate outreach to those on the street who need it most.

“JustUs Street Outreach changes lives,” says Tasha, who brings lived experience and firsthand knowledge of many of the struggles faced by those she cares so deeply about, and is now a Business Administration graduate with a background as an outreach volunteer, Narcan Team Lead, Volunteer Coordinator, and advocate. “We can’t do the work for them, but we can walk alongside them and support them in the change they’re making in their lives.”

“Everyone deserves to live with compassion and connection, and we want to be there for those who need it most,” adds Joanna, who teaches English, Communications, and Creative Writing at UBCO, and whose novel, Still (published by the Porcupine’s Quill, September 2025) provides a compassionate lens into the unhoused and street-level sex work communities of Kelowna, BC—and is ultimately a story of friendship, community, resiliency, healing, and hope.

“We are dedicated to being there for some of the most vulnerable in our community,” Tasha says. “We are very glad to be back out there and do all we can.”

JustUs Street Outreach and the UBCO School of Nursing are continuing to partner together in the future, and look forward to applying for a UBC Community University Engagement (CUES) Grant autumn of 2025 so that they can continue to make a difference to students’ learning, future nurses, and the community.

Sheila Epp (centre) with UBCO Nursing students at the Heart and Sole event on July 15, 2025

Heart and Sole event, July 15, 2025

Heart and Sole event, July 15, 2025

For undergraduate student Katherine Trussler, the decision to study languages at UBC Okanagan was rooted in the desire to gain a strong foundation in both French and Spanish, with the broader goal of pursuing a career in interpretation or translation.

“As a Languages major, I learned the basics in French and Spanish and German, with a little bit of Korean just for fun,” Trussler says. “I wanted to get as wide a range as possible because I’m interested in translation and wanted to serve as many people as possible when I move on to the next step of my studies and career.”

In an international job market, being able to communication in multiple languages makes a person more competitive. French is Canada’s second language, which made it an obvious choice, Trussler explains.

“Before I joined the program, I was already interested in learning languages and about the cultures they come from. Getting a formal education allows you to interact more with those cultures and develop deeper connections.”

Learning languages offers advantages on both a personal and career level. Studying languages in an academic setting, offers a deeper connection to the cultures involved.

“It allows you to interact more with that culture… and have more of a depth with that interaction, and I think that it gives you the opportunity to understand people in a more empathetic way.”

In addition to her studies, Trussler has also had other learning opportunities while at UBC Okanagan, taking advantage of the J’Explore program offered through the Government of Canada through the Ministry of Education.

“I took French immersion courses almost every summer and so I’ve gotten the opportunity to go to different places in Quebec with different dialects, different communities interact with my friends in that way.”

She also participated in a Go Global seminar, travelling to Spain in the summer of 2024. “ I spent six weeks in Santiago and so I had the opportunity to also use Spanish every day, which was such a fun and exciting experience.”

Trussler completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in languages in the spring of 2025, and to anyone starting out in school learning a new language, she says: “You’re going to deal with imposter syndrome, and that’s normal. Don’t discredit the effort you’re putting in. It’s a process. You’re not aiming for perfection because language is always evolving. You have to be humble when learning a language. You make mistakes, you take critique, and you keep working. That mindset—accepting errors and pushing forward—is what makes the biggest difference.”

For Trussler, her journey is a reminder that language is more than a skill—it’s a lifelong process, a cultural bridge, and a deeply human endeavor.

2025 Banner install

Through a partnership with the City of Kelowna and UBCO’s Faculty of Creative & Critical Studies, a series of 13 new original street banners now adorn the lamp posts along the Rotary Centre for the Arts Commons and along the Art Walk in Kelowna’s Cultural District. These original works by UBCO students and alumni will be up for the public to view throughout the rest of the year.

The Outdoor Banner Exhibition program provides a unique and engaging way to showcase emerging artists work in the community. Since launching in 2020, the banner project has showcased the work of 65 students, faculty and alumni.

“These banners add such vibrancy and interest to our community, and we are proud that this partnership continues to provide quality art to our public spaces, while also celebrating local talent,” said Christine McWillis, Cultural Services Manager for the City of Kelowna. “We invite our community to take a stroll down the ArtWalk and discover these incredible pieces for themselves next time they’re in the Cultural District.”

Projects like this help to revitalize the urban landscape while supporting emerging and professional artists, explains Shawn Serfas, Head of the Department of Creative Studies at UBCO.

“We’re excited to share the amazing work of our students and alumni with the community. Showcasing their art in public spaces is one of the ways we support what they do and help them grow as artists,” said Serfas.

Additionally, two larger banners have also been installed along the ArtWalk and use augmented reality (AR) to display three-dimensional animations on top of the printed image. Visual arts professor Myron Campbell worked with two students from the media studies program, Owen Clark and Jessica Williams, to create these works.

“These works bring together sound, drawing, painting, and collage with digital tools to create visually interesting animated pieces, I’m excited for these students to be able to share their work with the public,” says Campbell.

Graduation 2025 procession

June 5^th marked a special milestone for students who completed their degrees at UBC Okanagan.  A number of faculty and staff in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies attended the ceremony, proud to congratulate all of the students who completed their degrees in 2025.

This year five doctoral students, seven Interdisciplinary Studies Masters students, five Masters of Arts in English students, fourteen Masters of Fine Arts students, forty-nine Bachelor of Arts students, twenty-two Bachelor of Fine Arts students, and twenty-one Bachelor of Media Studies students are graduating with their degrees.

Dean Bryce Traister congratulated all of our graduates: “As new graduates, your voices matter. Take what you learned to question the given and create the new. It’s now time for you, our 2025 UBC Okanagan grads, to show us the way to a better world.”

Our FCCS graduates, their guests, our faculty and staff continued the celebrations of the day at a reception held in the Creative and Critical Studies building after the ceremony. Diana Carter, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in FCCS raised a glass to toast this year’s graduating class and their families.

“Today is a very special day when we get to gather together to celebrate our students’ achievements and congratulate them on their graduation. You have worked extremely hard, overcome challenges, and persevered to reach this moment and finally graduate with your undergraduate, masters or doctoral degree. Congratulations to you and to all the important people in your life who have supported you over the years. We are proud of you all and are excited to see what you go on to accomplish in your lives after university. As you move forward, we wish you success and happiness.”

Kailee Fawcett, a member of the graduating class of 2025, was the student reader at our ceremony, and shared these words with the graduating class:

“As graduates of the arts, social sciences and creative disciplines we are especially attuned to the state of the world. We’ve spent years learning how to notice, how to question, how to care deeply. During our time here, the world has witnessed war, genocide, wildfires, systemic violence, economic uncertainty, and mass disconnection. So when people ask us, what are you going to do next, the question can feel a little hollow. How do you answer that when the present can feel so uncertain making a future impossible to predict.”

Fawcett offered an alternative question for these graduates to consider.

“What you have gained during your time here – skills, values, friendships, resilience, insights – these will carry you into this world. What will you bring forward not only into your careers but into your communities and the small moments where care and courage matter most? And maybe that is the more important question. What we carry with us will shape how we move through an uncertain world. And to celebrate today is not to ignore the grief of the world, it is to remember that joy too is a form of resistance.”

Student reader, Kailee Fawcett completed her degree in the Bachelor of Media Studies.

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:

• Juan Ablan, Medal in Media Studies
• Mikah Assaly, Faculty Choice Award in Design
• Soha Aftab, Cultural Studies Scholarship; International Student Award
• Slava Bart, Campbell Family Graduate Award in Fine Arts
• Lindsay Baerg, Jessie Ravnsborg Memorial Award
• Sonja Berg, Media Studies Scholarship
• Gemma Cairney, Murray Johnson Memorial Award in Visual Arts
• Finley Cole, Doug Biden Memorial Scholarship in Visual Arts
• Ella Cottier, HSBC Bank of Canada Prize
• Mihai Covaser, French Scholarship; Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation
• Sarah de Hoog, Kelly Curtis Memorial Scholarship in English
• Rhys DeFehr, Asper Scholarship
• Carson Deis, Okanagan Visual Arts Scholarship
• Charlotte Dowell, English Scholarship
• Kailee Fawcett, Dean’s Award for Artistic Excellence in the Bachelor of Media Studies program, Frances Harris Prize in Fine Arts
• Cady Gau, Medal in Fine Arts
• Hailey Gleboff, Dean’s Award for Artistic Excellence in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program
• Tatum Grundy, Creative Studies Award in Media Studies
• Ivo Guidi, Visual Arts Scholarship
• Elly Hajdu, Faculty Choice Award in Visual Arts
• Stephen Ikesaka, Norma and Jack Aitken Prize in Visual Arts
• Layla Kutschker, Creative Studies Transfer Prize in Creative Writing
• Sierra Loewen, Asper Scholarship
• Nigel Martens, Faculty Choice Award in Sound Art
• Connor McCleary, Creative Studies Award in Fine Arts
• Maren McIntosh, Dr. Shelley Martin Memorial Scholarship
• Alec Merkt-Capriles Languages Scholarship
• Pablo Montero Cabrera, Creative Writing Scholarship
• Lauren Naidoo, Faculty Choice Award in Moving Images
• Stevie Poling, Elinor Yandel Memorial Award in Fine Arts
• John (Jack) Prendas, Craig Hall Memorial Visual Arts Scholarship in Printmaking; International Student Award
• Anna Semenoff, Faculty Choice Award in Visual Arts
• Rebecca Smith, Jack and Lorna Hambleton Memorial Award
• Fredrik Thacker, SOPA Fine Arts Emerging Artist Award
• Katherine Trussler, FCCS French Essay Prize
• Mathew Wanbon, Creative Writing Prize
• Evelyn Wu, Faculty Choice Award in Installation Art
• Kelly Yuste, Art History & Visual Culture Scholarship

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

Digital Arts and Humanities masters graduate Barbara Emefa Kpedekpo

FCCS faculty members waiting for the procession of students

Bachelor of Arts waiting for the procession to start

Bachelor of Fine Arts waiting for the procession to start

Mckenna King (right) with fellow student from the Bachelor of Arts

Student procession

Doctoral student Jon Corbett in the procession

DAHU doctoral student Sephideh Saffari (left), with her partner (centre), and supervisor Hussein Keshani (right) at the FCCS celebration after convocation

Toasting our graduates at the FCCS reception after convocation

Left to right: FCCS faculty members Francis Langevin and Denise Kenney with MFA graduate Miriam Cummings and her partner

Graduating student Lindsay Baerg (left) with Dr. Robert Eggleston at the FCCS reception

Myron Campbell (left) with BFA graduating students Elly and Laura McCarthy

Media studies graduating students Brenna Lam Kennedy (left) and Kailee Fawcett

Bachelor of Arts graduating student Emma Unruh

Brendan Shykora

Brendan Shykora is an alumnus from our Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in English. He grew up in the North Okanagan and says that UBCO was a great place to start his post-secondary studies as it was close to home. “It turned out that the smaller campus was also a great place to learn. It was easier to get to know professors and get bonus insight from them, either by attending their office hours or by politely cornering them at the end of classes. I have no regrets about studying at UBCO — it was one of the happiest times of my life.”

Brendan completed his degree at UBCO in 2017, and went on to complete a Masters in journalism at Carleton University and is now a journalist working at the Vernon Morning Star.

We met with Brendan to discuss his experience at UBCO as an undergraduate student, as a master’s student and what he is doing now.

Why did you choose to come to UBCO and choose English as your major?

I decided to study English fairly early in the game, perhaps in Grade 9 or 10 of high school. English class was always my strong suit, and reading was always a pleasurable escape. Of course, when you commit to an English major, reading is no longer merely fun and games; it becomes a daily grind. But insofar as nothing of value comes without hard work, I think the extensive reading lists were well worth it.

I chose to study English at UBCO in part because I was not yet ready to commit to journalism. I also knew that there was so much within the novels I was reading that I couldn’t understand, and I thought, how nice would it be to learn how to extract more meaning out of whatever books I was reading, both during and after my studies?

I got around to journalism afterwards, but I wouldn’t do anything differently. Studying English helped me learn how to think critically and with creativity, which are skills that have helped me in my career.

Is there a professor that stands out to you while you were at UBCO?

My professors at UBCO were outstanding, and too many of them made an indelible impact on me to name only one. For my English studies, prof. Lisa Grekul helped me believe in myself as a writer and a thinker, while offering guidance on how to critically examine a wide range of texts. Prof. Margaret Reeves exposed me to the works of John Milton and I had a wonderful time studying Paradise Lost in her class. She also taught a phenomenal class on children’s literature that I still think about from time to time. For my minor in political science, Dr. James Rochlin helped me understand postmodernism and how it has permeated though everyday life. It’s been amazing to see how relevant the topics in his courses from a decade ago have become in Canadian and American politics.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

This actually escaped my memory, so I had to ask my mom. She told me as a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist, which tracks because like many young boys I had an obsession with dinosaurs. Beneath that, I like to imagine I was yearning for some process of discovery. It’s unclear when I abandoned that dream, but I can say with certainty that by the time I was in high school my paleontology plans had long been supplanted and I knew I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know what kind of writer I wanted to be exactly, but I had fallen in love with the process of constructing sentences, of fitting words together with a purpose. In high school I heard my own voice come out in my writing for the first time, better articulated than anything I could ever say orally. Like a paleontologist discovering ancient fossils, I decided I wanted to discover modes of thought, meaning and beauty through the simple yet powerful process of putting words together.

You completed a masters in Journalism at Carleton University after your degree here, tell us about that – why did you choose that field, and what are you doing now?

I knew coming out of high school that I wanted to write for a living. What I needed then was a field in which my writing skills could be applied to something interesting and of real-world consequence. Journalism fit the bill. It combined the writing skills I’d learned in my English major with the understandings about how the world works that I’d picked up while completing my political science minor. I’ve always been interested in the inner workings of society, and a journalist’s job is essentially to investigate the mechanics of modern life, while being able to convey one’s findings in easily digestible language. For those reasons, journalism was an ideal fit for me.

And I’m happy to report that I’ve been working as a journalist for almost six years now. After finishing my studies I went back home to visit my parents in Enderby, and was preparing to look for jobs in far flung places. But as fortune would have it, a job opening popped up at The Vernon Morning Star in the summer of 2019, just a 30-minute drive from my hometown. I’ve been at the Morning Star ever since and have completely fallen in love with local news. Whereas other journalists have a beat they report on and specialize in, working for the local paper means writing about anything and everything, and I’ve been thrilled with the vast range of topics I’ve been able to report on in the first five-plus years of my career.

How do you think your undergraduate degree helped you with your graduate degree?

My experiences as an undergraduate at UBCO helped me tremendously during my graduate studies. My fourth undergraduate year in particular prepared me for the very heavy workload I encountered in the Master of Journalism program at Carleton University. The five courses I had in each semester that year were each pulling my attention in different directions, and I had to learn how prioritize tasks, a skill that’s come in handy as a working journalist.

I think the biggest thing came out of my undergraduate studies which helped me in my graduate pursuits was the simple realization that hard work pays off in the end. My grades steadily improved over the four years of my Bachelor of Arts degree. When I first entered my graduate program, I again found myself at the bottom of a ladder; my classmates were all so smart! They seemed to already know what it meant to be a journalist before ever having worked as one, whereas I felt as though I didn’t have what it takes to ever become a journalist. I felt inadequate, and in truth I was near the bottom of my cohort academically at the start of the program. But my undergraduate studies had taught me to persevere, and I again improved relative to my cohort over the course of those two years. By the end of the program, I felt as though I could succeed in the field I had committed to, which was a feeling beyond words.

In short, I am grateful for the challenges that were put in front of me during my UBCO days. Each of those challenges was a stepping stone on the way to where I am now. You can’t ask for more out of your education than for the chance to grow, and I was offered that in spades at UBCO.

With an interest in a career in a creative industry, Brenna Lam Kennedy enrolled in the BMS program at UBC Okanagan

Video interview with Brenna Lam Kennedy talking about her time in the BMS program. 

Brenna Lam Kennedy worked hard throughout her undergraduate degree to build industry-ready skills in design, media and visual arts at UBC Okanagan. Lam Kennedy says that she came to UBC Okanagan specifically for the Bachelor of Media Studies (BMS) program because it stood out as something unique when she was looking at universities. She completed her BMS degree with a minor in visual arts in the spring of 2025.

“I had initially applied to business and management elsewhere, but once I realized I wanted to pursue a creative field, this program struck me for its variety, it is a diverse program,” Lam Kennedy says. “If you’re not exactly sure which creative direction to take, BMS is a great stepping stone to help you figure that out.”

The BMS is a first-year direct entry cohort program, so students stay with the same group of students throughout the course of the degree.

“During the time that I was here, I was able to become really close with my other peers in this degree, which was really valuable actually, especially when you’re with people who have known your since first year—they know your exploration as an artist and they really get to understand your style.”

Lam Kennedy says that getting critique and feedback from those individuals is really beneficial.

“Because of the nature of this cohort system, I know that I’m going to have connections with these people for years to come, which will be really valuable because I know I’m still going to go to them for critique, and I’m really excited to see where they go with their life and who they become as artists. I was really lucky to find such amazing people through this degree, and that’s really where I made most of my connections at UBCO because we were in a lot of the same classes.”

The media studies program includes a diverse range of required courses—animation, videography, film, photography, graphic design—all of which help students explore different mediums and discover their strengths.

Photography has always been her main focus she says, noting that is what she wanted to concentrate on at school. “Since I started, I’ve branched into videography and graphic design, thanks to the encouragement of some great professors.”

A highlight of the program is the capstone project in the final year of the program—a year-long course where students focus on one major piece of work that reflects their growth. Lam Kennedy’s capstone focused on large-scale digitally manipulated photography prints.

“It gave me the space to explore color theory and really develop my artistic practice, and of understand where my interests lie as an artist. For me, having this time for exploration over the course of the term was really valuable and is something I know I will use in future projects.”

Throughout her time at UBCO, Lam Kennedy says that she also had incredible work opportunities. She joined the webcast crew for UBCO Heat Athletics and eventually became the webcast student lead, and worked as a media production assistant with the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, producing content for social media, print materials, and digital displays.

“Having those opportunities really helps to work as a stepping stone when stepping out into the big wide world, having those experiences on your resume. I think it really helps to show employers that you have experience and that you are keen and that you really focused your time into exploring your skills and finding valuable experiences within your community.”

When asked what advice she would give to new students, she said: “First, seek out critique—it’s scary at first, but it’s what makes your work stronger. Second, put your all into every project. Some of the best opportunities to explore your skills come early on, and that work can really elevate your final portfolio.”

“This program helped me see how creative skills like photography, videography, and branding translate into real job markets. Before I started, I wasn’t sure how these skills would be applicable, but now I know exactly where I want to be.”

Lam Kennedy is now working as a Graphic Designer and Content Creator for the Nixon Hospitality Group in Kelowna.

Lam Kennedy’s capstone photo project, ‘Proximity’ captures moments of closeness segregated in time. This photo series illuminates the personal relationship of the subjects and their ability to lose track of time in each other’s presence.

Winners of the film festival (left to right): Jess Williams, Grace McCulloch and Nicholas Volk

The Student Okanagan Film Festival, hosted and organized by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS), showcases emerging student filmmakers from high schools and post-secondary institutions around the Okanagan Valley.

A public screening was held on Monday, April 28^th at UBC Okanagan to a full audience to celebrate the talent in the valley.

“With over 80 submissions this year, the jury had a tough time narrowing it down to the twenty-three films that were chosen for the screening,” says Denise Kenney, one of the festival judges. ”We were all impressed by the quality of the films by these young local filmmakers, and were excited to be able to host this screening to show this selection.”

The 2025 festival Jury members were FCCS faculty members Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes, Michael V Smith, Myron Campbell, and Jacen Dennis, and the student reps were Lauren Naidoo and Anneka Rode.

Awards were given to the top films in three categories:

• 2025 SOFF Live Action Short Film Award: Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk
• 2025 SOFF Short Animated Film Award: July by Jess Williams
• 2025 SOFF High School Short Film Award: Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch

Films selected for the festival were:

• Due Last Week by Gavin Visscher
• Spidderball vs Masterhand by Brandon Mar
• Lost by Gudmund Rothing
• The Underbelly by Kailee Fawcett
• Chicken Skin by Erika Rios Prado
• Skin Shed by Hailey Johnson
• Meep Transformations by Ivy Ye
• Invisible String by Quinn Mortensen
• Cranial by Lauren Naidoo
• The Pea and the Princess by Sophie Murphy
• Heartwired by Liliana Chen
• Tar Wolf by Joshua Huddlestone
• Full Throttle by Giuliano Cardarelli
• Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch
• First Contact by Charlie Carr
• Three Greedy Pigs by Noémie Schirrer
• July by Jess Williams
• UNLIKE YOU by Connor Robertson
• Abattoir by Alyssa Norlin
• Unsunny by Sara Vallejo and Ana Vallejo
• freezer burn by Mae Glerum
• Thought Bobbles by Julian Lamprecht
• Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk

Media Studies student Lauren Naidoo was also selected to create the branding and graphics and poster design for this year’s festival.

For this year’s festival, students in Myron Campbell’s Advanced Practices in Media Arts class were tasked with designing the festival’s identity, including a poster, title graphics, and social media assets. After the projects were completed, a jury consisting of Myron Campbell, Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes and Shauna Oddleifson  selected the top 7 designs, with Lauren’s work earning the top prize. Moving forward, the works of the remaining 6 students will be incorporated in future festival materials.

Graphic design by BMS student Lauren Naidoo

View the full 2025 Student Okanagan Film Festival reel

Mikah Assaly has always been a creative person, and she says that the media studies program was really appealing to her in that there were many of different avenues of creativity you could explore.

She completed the Bachelor of Media Studies (BMS) program in the spring of 2025. She chose the BMS program for the many avenues of creativity a student can explore, noting that the classes are so diverse, a student has so many opportunities to learn a variety of media.

Two of her favorite classes have been second-year Visual Arts courses, a communications branding design course taught by Myron Campbell, and a darkroom film photography class with Andreas Rutkauskas.

“It was exciting to see the level of passion in the course. We dove into graphic design work for the first time in the program. It was really neat to get hands-on film development experience in the darkroom and explore a more technical side of photography, especially since it’s something I’ve been working with for quite a few years now.”

In the second semester of her third year, Assaly participated in a semester abroad through the Go Global program, studying at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand.

“Go Global is something I could talk about endlessly because it was such an amazing experience. I can’t encourage people enough to seek out those opportunities. The media studies degree is perfect for a semester abroad because of the many electives, which give you the freedom to explore unique courses without falling behind.”

To someone entering the Media Studies program, a piece of advice Assaly gives is to really use the classroom as a learning opportunity, be open to feedback, criticism, and ideas contributed during critiques.

“It’s a really special time, and you’re not going to get that kind of feedback for the rest of your life, especially when you’re working independently as a freelancer. So, soak it all up and take it seriously.”

Assaly says that she has been really fortunate throughout her degree to have a lot of opportunities to explore different career paths and work, having a few job opportunities that were referred to her through her professors, and consequently, has been doing freelance photography and design work in the last year of her studies.

She was selected to create a branding package and some marketing pieces for SpokenWeb, which is a constellation of universities across Canada putting together a poetry and spoken word conference at UBC in May.

“I really enjoyed being able to work on this project, and see the things I created being produced in real life like the t-shirts, beach towels, stickers and digital design assets,” she says.

Assaly is also working on a project with local interior design firm Be Grand Fast, which is a collaboration between them, the City of Kelowna, and Westbank First Nation, redesigning eight community rooms in Kelowna City Hall.

“My job was to digitize some work that was on display at the Vernon Art Gallery, which served as inspiration for the space they’re trying to create. I did some photography as well as digital asset generation—creating tangible design pieces pulling from those works to incorporate into the design of the space.” She adds that this is an ongoing project that she will continue to work on it after graduation. “It’s been really cool to get feedback from people in the design and photography industries in Kelowna, who are impressed by my work and portfolio. That kind of response has been really validating.”

Assaly goes on to say that the professional opportunities she had in her fourth year have helped her to see how employable a Media Studies degree really is.

“In the first couple of years, the program felt really innovative and out there, and I often wondered how all the different pieces would come together to create a career. But in my fourth year, with all these experiences and my semester abroad, I’ve gained a global perspective on what I’ve learned. It’s been incredibly rewarding.”

Samantha Wigglesworth in the FINA Gallery, March 2025

Throughout their academic and artistic career, Samantha Wigglesworth has been deeply invested in queer activism.

“In 2016, alongside several high-school classmates, I co-founded the Pride Walk in my hometown, Fort St. John. This event, which continues to grow, has provided a visible platform for LGBTQ+ advocacy in a community where such representation is often scarce,” they explain.

This intersection of activism and art has remained a consistent theme in their work.

After graduating from high school, Wigglesworth attended the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), and due to the pandemic, completed three years of the undergraduate degree online from their hometown before finishing the final year in person.

“After earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I felt I had more to learn.”

This desire for continued education led them to pursue a Master of Fine Arts here at UBC Okanagan.

In July 2021, Wigglesworth held their first solo exhibition, “Spectrum,” a portrait series exploring diverse genders and sexualities. The exhibition aimed to normalize queer identities in a community where many had never encountered such representations.

Between their BFA and MFA, Wigglesworth received a grant from the BC Arts Council to create portraits of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals as a form of visual activism. This work was shown on campus in the FINA Gallery in March 2025.

“By presenting these portraits, I hoped to prompt viewers to confront and ultimately reduce their biases. My artistic practice has consistently centered on queer identity, and this project laid the foundation for my graduate thesis, which continues to explore these themes,” they note.

Encouraged by their professors and supervisors at UBCO, Wigglesworth has started to experiment with new artistic forms.

“While my earlier work focused on realistic portraiture, I have recently embraced an abstract representational style, allowing me to convey deeper emotional experiences then what I think traditional portraiture might capture.”

Wigglesworth says that their creative process has evolved significantly since beginning the MFA program.

“In previous work, I started with a more analytical approach. Conceptualizing an idea, photographing my models – who are always people I know – and ensuring they understood how I intended to portray them. Now, my work is more intuitive and emotionally driven.”

This shift has led to a combination of realism and abstraction in their latest pieces, capturing a broader emotional spectrum and convey the complexities of queer experiences. Ultimately, their work seeks to challenge and expand perceptions of gender and sexuality, particularly in communities where such conversations remain limited.

“Through a combination of realism, abstraction, and emotional expression, I strive to create art that not only represents marginalized identities but also fosters empathy and understanding.”

Wigglesworth says that one of their most significant recent works, ‘Governed Flesh’ reflects their anxieties about the increasing threats to transgender rights both in the United States and Canada.

“During the creation of this series, I often listened to Trump’s speeches or heavy rock music to channel my emotional responses into the artwork,” they explain. “This raw, expressive approach has not only strengthened my thesis but has also allowed me to engage more intentionally and powerfully with themes of pain, resilience, and identity.”

Looking ahead, Wigglesworth aspires to continue practicing as a full-time artist while also pursuing a career as a professor, and says “As I continue my journey, I remain committed to using my art as a powerful tool for visibility, activism, and change.”

Beyond their thesis work, Wigglesworth engages in a variety of creative pursuits to maintain a balanced and sustainable artistic practice. These include lino cuts, collage-making, and clothing alterations—activities that provide both personal fulfillment and potential passive income.

“By diversifying my artistic output, I aim to prevent burnout and ensure a holistic engagement with my craft.”