UBC This Week | May 22, 2008

UBC Feature Web Site

Insitute of Asian Research:

www.iar.ubc.ca

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.

Recent UBC Media Releases

Upcoming Event Highlights

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

UBC People


UBC People

Pan-Canadian knowledge cluster funded by SSHRC

Prof. Kurt Hübner, Director of the Institute for European Studies (IES), will be the lead researcher from UBC on a pan-Canadian knowledge cluster entitled Canada-Europe transatlantic dialogue: seeking trans-national solutions to 21st problems. The project’s research focus looks at the impact of increasing economic and political ties between Canada and Europe, and includes Carleton as the lead with UBC, University of Toronto, McGill, University of Montreal and University of Victoria as research partners.

IES’s focus in the project is three-fold: trans-Atlantic trade between Europe and Canada, living with strong currencies (in relation to the depreciating US dollar), and post-Kyoto strategies for managing the impact of climate change through economic and social prisms.

Strategic knowledge clusters are national and international research networks with partners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to research issues that affect Canadians’ quality of life, including globalization, homelessness, business sustainability, education and heritage. Each of the eleven clusters funded will receive up to $2.1 million over the next seven years.

SSHRC is an independent federal government agency that funds university-based research and graduate training through national peer-review competitions.

For more information, visit www.sshrc.ca/web/whatsnew/press_releases/2008/clusters_e.asp.

to top

Health conference addresses millennium goals

Simon Fraser University’s Global Health Program and UBC’s Centre for International Health will host the 6th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference. This year’s theme is Meeting the Challenge: the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Beyond, framed to examine development and its effect on the health of diverse populations.

Date: May 23-25
Place: SFU Burnaby campus
Info: www.sfu.ca/wrihc2008
Cost: $49.95 – registered full-time students; $88.80 – non-student participants

to top

Vancouver Student Film Festival back on the big screen

The Vancouver Student Film Festival (VSFF) will showcase 29 short films, videos and animation by BC post-secondary students and alumni. A panel of eight industry professionals will judge the films to determine festival awards, worth over $10,000 in cash and prizes.

The VSFF was created in 2005 by UBC students and graduates who felt a need for a local film festival which focused solely on this population of artists.

Date: May 24
Time: Set A 5:30 p.m.; Set B 8 p.m.; doors open 30 min. prior
Place: Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St.
Tickets: $8 single, $14 double bill (includes after party in the Vancity Theatre Atrium)
Info: www.vsff.com

to top

Campus and Community Planning hosts open house for Marine Drive development

UBC’s Campus and Community Planning is holding a Public Open House to view and comment on an application to amend Development Permit 05024-2: Marine Drive Residence Phase II. The proposal includes changes to the 2-storey Amenity Building (Commons Block) and changes to the landscape plan.

Date: May 27
Time: 4 – 6 p.m.
Place: Games Room, Bldg 1, Marine Drive Residence, 2205 Lower Mall
Info: www.planning.ubc.ca/corebus/dp05024-2.html

to top

Participate in Bike to Work Week May 26 – June 1

The TREK Program Centre invites the UBC community to participate in Bike to Work Week 2008. A UBC commuter station will offer free food, prizes and bike checks by the UBC Bike Co-op.

Date: May 26 – June 1
UBC Commuter Station: May 28, 7:30 – 10 a.m.
Place: corner of University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mal, north side of GSAB building
Info: www.trek.ubc.ca/

to top

Courses at the Botanical Garden

UBC’s Botanical Garden will host the following two courses:

Gardening with Arthritis is a workshop put on by the Arthritis Society to educate participants about ways to enjoy gardening without putting additional stress on the joints. The course will be taught by occupational therapist Gillian Palejko.

Date: May 27
Time: 6 – 8 p.m.
Place: UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre. 6804 South West Marine Drive
Cost: Free
Note: Pre-registration is required at 604-714-5550
Info: www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/community/002524.php

Botanical Drawing is a one-day course designed as an introduction to drawing plants. The class will cover the basics of pencil and paper choices, plus art techniques that focus on line and continuous tone to create the illusion of 3D flower structures on paper. Fresh specimens from UBC Botanical Garden will be provided to draw from, or bring your own subject of interest.

The course will be taught by Vicky Earle of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and the American Society of Botanical Illustrators (www.floralwatercolors.com).

Date: May 31
Time: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Place: UBC Botanical Garden Pavilion, near the Food Garden, 6804 South West Marine Drive
Cost: (General) $60 or (Garden Members) $55
Notes: Pre-registration is required at botg@interchange.ubc.ca or 604-822-3928. Participants will need to bring art supplies (a variety of pencils, sketch book, erasers, etc.) and a desk lamp is highly recommended. An additional materials list will be provided upon registration.
Info: www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/community/002524.php

to top

Memorial lecture given by General Guy Tousignant on peace-keeping

General Guy Tousignant, the man who replaced Romeo Dallaire as Commander of U.N. forces
sent to quell the Rwanda genocide, will be giving the inaugural Paz and Knute Buttedahl Memorial Lecture at UBC. His talk is entitled From Rwanda to Now: Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in a Changing World.

General Tousignant is an expert on human security, peacebuilding and the U.N. doctrine “responsibility to protect.”

This annual lecture series celebrates the lives of Paz and Knute Buttedahl, who were both UBC faculty during their careers. The lecture is sponsored by the Paz and Knute Buttedahl Memorial Fund, UBC’s Department of Educational Studies, the Canadian Society for the Study of Adult Education, and the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education.

Date: May 31
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 1855 West Mall
Note: Reception to follow the lecture
Info: www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/Conferences/2008/Tousignant%20Lec%20Invitn1.pdf

to top

Forum on the Sichuan earthquake and Burmese cyclone

UBC’s Centres for Chinese Research and Southeast Asia Research will host a forum on the Sichuan Earthquake and Burmese Cyclone Observations, Reflections and Actions in light of the recent tragic events in Burma and Sichuan, China. Speakers include faculty members who work on regional issues and policy, a representative from the Red Cross and community leaders.

Date: May 22
Time: 5:30 – 8 p.m.
Place: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 1855 West Mall
Info: contact Alison Bailey (abailey@interchange.ubc.ca) or Abidin Kusno (akusno@interchange.ubc.ca)

to top

Conference on colonial commons

UBC’s Centre for Japanese Research and the Faculties of Law and Arts will host a conference together with the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia on Colonial Commons: land/law/living/labour. The conference will examine shared property rights in colonial regimes and will present original research on the history of formal and informal common land and resources in colonial societies.

Date: May 29-30
Place: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 1855 West Mall
Info: www.iar.ubc.ca/home/tabid/36/ctl/detail/mid/575/xmid/45/xmfid/2/default.aspx

to top

Invitation to a hard hat party

In anticipation of UBC’s Department of Physical Therapy move into the newly renovated Friedman Building in August, the Department is hosting an evening reception to share their upcoming program opportunities. The evening will include a silent auction, reception with cash bar and a choral performance by Chor Leoni Men’s Choir. Presentations will be video-connected to UNBC and UVic Medical Education facilities.

Date: May 28
Time: 5 – 9 p.m.
Place: Life Sciences Building, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
Info: www.liveat.ubc.ca/liveatubc/events/eventDetails.eventos?eventId=25185

to top

Moms and sons needed for UBC research

Prof. Charlotte Johnston, Department of Psychology, invites mothers with sons between the ages of 5-12 to participate in a study on how mothers perceive different types of child behaviours and whether certain instructions influence ratings of child behaviours. Mothers can participate at the UBC psychology lab or from home, and will be asked to watch child behaviour videos and fill out questionnaires. The visit takes about 1.5 hours, and mothers will receive $35 for their participation.

For more information, visit www.psych.ubc.ca/~cjlab or call 604-822-9037.