The Reichwald Germanic Studies Visiting Teaching Fellowship enhances instruction and learning in German language and promotion of intercultural exchanges with German colleagues by supporting the appointment of a pedagogue who works within the German language program at UBC’s Okanagan Campus.

2015 Reichwald Germanic Studies Visiting Teaching Fellow

Johannes Engelhardt, the 2015 Reichwald Germanic Studies Visiting Teaching Fellow, graduated from the University of Marburg with a degree in Education. His specialization is in DaF (teaching German as a foreign language). He hails from the state of Hessia (Hessen in German), and his hometown of Erbach lies half-way between Frankfurt a.Main (the book and bank capital of Germany) and Heidelberg (famed for its castle, its university, and the vineyards that surround it).

“Having spent the last few months in Kelowna, I really appreciate my time here at UBCO and being part of the FCCS family. Everyone has been very helpful and supportive. Right from the first day I felt that people wanted me to get the most out of my experience.” Says Johannes Englehardt. “I am so grateful to be here at UBCO for the entire academic year, and I hope everyone can profit from my presence here. I know I am as the many discussions about pedagogy with colleagues help prepare me for my career as a teacher in Germany.”

Johannes has been assisting in German classes, mainly by being a further initiator of student “output,” that is, getting students to produce language, a key part of language learning. He has been fostering conversations with students, thus helping them put into practice what they have learned in the classroom.

“Johannes brings a great and friendly disposition, and great insight into German culture to the classes he is part of.” Says Claude Desmarais, Assistant Professor, German. “Students and professors alike are happy to have someone as interested in teaching as Johannes to be part of the team thanks to the Reichwald Fund.”

Johannes will also act as the “real Germany now” part of the German courses in FCCS, and his interests in sports, music, and culture will allow him to assist in such things as the German Culture projects students will be undertaking, and presenting to the larger community. Outside of classes, Johannes will be tutoring students, helping them to find information for their culture projects, and establishing one or the other of the following: German Stammtisch (a pre-set meeting to talk about German, and life (in Germany)), and/or a film/cultural programming showing.

“As the first German Visiting Teacher Fellow via the Reichwald Fund, I love working with the students in the German classes and am honored to work alongside my two supervisors Prof. Dr. Martin Blum and Prof. Dr. Claude Desmarais. I enjoy preparing classes, helping to mark papers, and most of all being there to talk with and advice students in and outside of class, in order to give them yet another German speaker from whom to learn the language and about German culture.” Says Johannes.

It is well known that when students are learning a foreign-language, the number of native/near-native speakers they hear impacts their learning. Increasing students’ contact with such speakers will have an immediate positive impact on their learning, while the presence of a young person from Germany, whose specialization is in teaching German and who has travelled all the way to Canada as his first choice, promotes intercultural exchange and makes Germany a real, living place. Finally, meeting a German language assistant will help students to realize that studying and working abroad is not just a dream, but a very real possibility. It is a great achievement of the Reichwald Germanic Studies Endowment Fund that it is able to foster interest in German language and culture in this way.

For All Is For Yourself is an art installation of 10,000 paper bumblebees and the public is invited to help to make the seed-embedded paper to create this beautiful project.

On Thursday, February 4th, between 6 and 9 PM at the Kelowna Art Gallery, community members can help make sheets of handmade paper embedded with Gaillardia seed. Once made, the seed paper will be laser-cut into thousands of stylized western bumblebees to be installed on the walls of the Kelowna Art Gallery in June 2016. While people of all ages can just drop in, we do encourage advance registration for this event: public-papermaking-workshop.eventbrite.ca

Paper-making workshops are the first phase of For All is For Yourself, a community art project and gallery exhibition being held at the Kelowna Art Gallery from June 24 to October 14th 2016. Part of the exhibition is a wall of laser-cut bumblebees made of paper that has been created by members of the community. In October, members of the community and those who helped to make the paper will be encouraged to take some of the paper bees home to plant in their garden for local pollinators. Gaillardia is a drought-resistant flower that bees visit in the Okanagan’s hot summer months.

For All Is For Yourself: A Poetic Expression of the Labour of Bees is a work created by Cameron Cartiere and the chART collective of Richmond BC with the support of Kelowna’s Public Art Pollinator Pasture Project. The installation is composed of 10,000 bumblebees made from the seed paper, half of these coming from Richmond and half being made here in Kelowna. The installation at the gallery will then be the focus of several community engagement projects from June till October. In the final stage of the exhibition, participants and visitors will be encouraged to take the bees away to plant in their own gardens – creating new bee friendly habitats and allowing the hive to literally “swarm” out of the gallery.

For more information about the project, see borderfreebees.com or contact Nancy Holmes of the Public Art Pollinator Project nancy.holmes@ubc.ca or 250-764-9666.

What: Vu presented by FCCS Performance Series (Theatre26)
Who: Created and performed by Étienne Manceau of Compagnie Sacékripa, France
When: Friday, January 29 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., and Saturday, January 30 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Where: Black Box Theatre, 1375 Water Street, Kelowna

The world of circus artist Etienne Manceau is a strange, funny, scary place. It’s a place where newspapers can become claws; where small obsessions can make you crazy; where everyday objects appear in a new light as they’re touched, moved, transformed. Manceau’s performance is wordless, a blend of Object Theatre, clowning and what the artist calls “miniature circus.” It’s a mix that could only come from the mind of an eccentric. One thing this show is not is conventional.

Manceau worked for years as a juggler, and has had deep involvement in circus culture. This show, in which he performs alone, applies the comical ethos of the circus milieu to a work comprised of one man and his collection of everyday objects. It’s about a sensitive, meticulous man and his relationship with those objects—how he transforms them, and how in turn they affect him. The creator shows wit, wonderful dexterity and small-scale ingenuity in creating art out of the quotidian. In his comic mugging, his precise physical feats and sheer wackiness he calls upon the tradition of old-fashioned physical comedy. You’ll be amused, impressed and maybe a little spooked; the show is a lot of fun but, like all the most creative art, it reaches well beyond entertainment.

Ingenious…The effect of this minimalist show, a jewel polished to the highest detail, is for the audience to realise how maniacally they act each day of their life.
—Scena.ro Magazine

Created in Toulouse, France, Vu is an internationally celebrated, non-verbal performance to be featured at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival as part of Vancouver’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, presents Vu for audiences ages seven and up at the Black Box Theatre (1375 Water Street, Kelowna) on Friday, January 29 (7 p.m. and 9 p.m.) and Saturday, January 30 (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.).

All shows are $25; $15 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door and online at theatre26.ok.ubc.ca.

Also coming up in the 2015-16 FCCS Performance Series are The Unfortunate Ruth, February 19 and 20 at UBC’s University Theatre (tickets online or at the door), and huff on March 11 and 12 at the Mary Irwin Theatre (tickets online and at the RCA box office).

Manceau is part of the company Sacékripa, which was founded in 2003 by five circus artists from different backgrounds. Together they create performances on the border of several disciplines, exploring circus, juggling, dance, and object manipulation with poetry and humour. The company performs at street festivals and in theaters across Europe.

The FCCS Performance Series is made possible through the generous support of the Central Okanagan Foundation and UBC Okanagan’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal’s Office.

Please join us for a film screening of Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered. The screening will be followed by a question and answer period with director, Gary Charbonneau.

This event is free of charge and open to everyone.
Thursday, 28 January, at 4pm in the University Theatre (ADM 026).

This documentary film offers an in-depth exploration of cetacean captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium. Looking behind the misinformation of the Vancouver Aquarium’s publicity campaigns, the film reveals how the dolphin rescue and beluga breeding programs are run for profit. An educational and thought provoking experience, it asks viewers to reconsider the reasons for animal captivity and the hidden costs to the animals.

Trailer: www.vancouveraquariumuncovered.com

Okanagan Relations: Culture, Heritage and the Relationship Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Peoples

What: Alternowledge discussion series – Panel Discussion
When: Wednesday 27 January at 7:00pm
Where: Laurel Packinghouse, 1304 Ellis Street, Kelowna
Cost: Free

Join us for a lively panel discussion about the role of historians and heritage museums in representing the Okanagan’s colonial history and the relation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

This event is the first of two major public events this term as part of UBC Centennial “celebrations” organized by the AlterKnowledge project.

In its recommendations for reconciling relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report identifies the need for education to “remedy the gaps in historical knowledge that perpetuate ignorance and racism.” This includes the role of “dialogue forums and public history institutions such as museums and archives” to build understanding and forge new relationships.

Panelists:

Jordan Coble, Sncəwips Heritage Museum
Roxanne Lindley, cultural ambassador for Syilx (Okanagan) knowledge
Culyer Page and Amanda Snyder, Kelowna Museums
Sharron J. Simpson, author of The Kelowna Story

The AlterKnowledge Discussion Series is organized by FCCS faculty members, Allison Hargreaves and David Jefferess.

Information about future discussions can be found on our web page, www.ubc.ca/okanagan/fccs/news-events/ongoing/alterknowledge.html

What: Beecology: Organic / Biodynamic Food Gardens for People and Pollinators
When: Thursday, January 21, 7 – 8:30 PM
Where: Downtown Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis Street
Cost: Free admission, registration encouraged

On Thursday, January 21, 2016, the Public Art Pollinator Pasture Project and the Okanagan Regional Library will host the third talk of “The Pollinizing Sessions: A Series of Talks and Workshops to Learn About Pollinators in Our Community.” Gabe Cipes of Summerhill Winery will talk about “Beecology: Organic / Biodynamic Food Gardens for People and Pollinators.”

The talk will be held at the downtown Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St. Kelowna from 7 pm – 8:30 pm. Admission is free but people are encouraged to pre-register at pollinizingsessions-cipes.eventbrite.ca

Gabe Cipes

Gabe Cipes is a Certified Permaculture designer, Beekeeper, Viticulturist and Biodynamicist at Summerhill Pyramid Winery. He works closely with the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Representatives (TEK) on the Syilx Ethical Agriculture project. He is an International representative for Demeter Canada and sits on Boards of Directors for a number of organizations that include Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia (COABC), Biodynamic Agriculture Society of British Columbia (BDASBC), Demeter Canada, and the Food Policy Council. Summerhill Vineyard is the largest Organic vineyard in Canada and has been certified for over 20 years.

In 2012, Summerhill became one of the first vineyards in Canada to receive its Demeter Biodynamic certification due to the dedication of Gabe Cipes. Through the implementation of alternative pest management together with a balanced ecology, Summerhill Winery is a driving force in the movement towards natural agricultural practices in the Okanagan.

Gabe attending to his bees

“We’re looking forward to hearing about Cipes’ hands-on research around how permaculture and biodynamic practices can help support healthy pollinators, both honey bees and native bees,” says organizer UBC Associate Professor Nancy Holmes. “As we learned from our previous talks, agriculture is one of the serious contributors to issues around loss of native bees and other pollinators. We hope to hear about how gardeners and farmers can reverse these trends.”

The Pollinizing Sessions is a partnership with Okanagan Regional Library and UBC Okanagan’s research project, the Public Art Pollinator Pasture. UBC Okanagan and Emily Carr University have teamed up for a three-year partnership project with the City of Kelowna and the City Richmond to create community and public art projects around bees. The Pollinizing Sessions will host a series of eight talks and three workshops in 2016. For a complete list of these sessions visit the Eco Art Incubator blog.

The series is sponsored by the Okanagan Regional Library, The Public Art Pollinator Pasture Project, and Border Free Bees. Find out more information by contacting Nancy Holmes at 250-764-9666.