Alchemy Winter 2016
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Alchemy winter 2016 From the Dean’s Office Alchemy Sheridan’s Faculty of Humanities and Winter was full of Social Sciences Newsletter creativity and winter 2016 productivity in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Welcome to the Winter 2016 issue of Alchemy. As Our faculty always, it’s a wonderfully busy, exciting, and continue to engage sometimes chaotic semester in and around FHASS. students in We hope you take a minute to catch up with all the innovative learning goings on of your colleagues in these pages, and Photo: Yael Katz and to participate in that our collective engagement and achievement scholarly, research and creative activities. In recharges your batteries as we barrel towards addition to continuing our tradition of celebrating spring. Black History Month and hosting cultural community events such as the Film for Thought Please consult the ‘Submissions’ tab on our initiative, we have established a new relationship webpage for specific details and dates around with the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in submitting to all of our sections. Keep your news, Brampton and, with much anticipation, look ideas, and articles coming, and check out the online forward to participating in the inaugural version of Alchemy at http://fhass.wordpress.com/. installment of the festival this spring. — Owen Percy, Jennifer Phenix, and In the area of curriculum development and Glenn Clifton quality assurance, we have been busy completing thorough program reviews of the ESL Program and the General Arts and Science Program, and our Table of Contents: winter 2016 faculty continue to refresh and develop curriculum for cross-college electives. From the Dean’s Office ….1 Features ….2 Planning ahead, preparations are under (articles by Alchemy, Sarah Cumming and Terry way to expand our presence at the Hazel Kostiw; research by Nathaniel Barr) McCallion Campus; the launch of a new building Intersections ….5 (articles by Mike Baker and Myles Bartlett and later this year promises to deliver a series of Robyn Read) creative spaces, a unique creativity classroom, and Milestones .…8 new office space for a number of Faculties Student Spotlight …10 including the Faculty of Humanities and Social (featuring mythical illustrations) Sciences. Faculty & Staff Spotlight …11 (featuring Danielle Freitas, Heather Asling, As Alchemy continues to attest, there is Monique Patrick, Matthew Sheridan, and Kathleen Oakey) much to celebrate, be proud of, and accomplish in Cool Stuff …16 FHASS! The Hub …18 (featuring poetry by Akil McKenzie) Yael Katz, Acting Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences * * * 1 Alchemy winter 2016 Features Kamau, Noreen Ahmed-Ullah, and chaired by John Lorinc, this panel brings together “[f]our FHASS and FOLD: compelling city builders [to] propose solutions for fully inclusive communities that respond to the Global Perspectives on Diversity, complexities of a truly global city. Presenting from Literature, and City Building their writing in the anthology Subdivided, [panelists will] discuss how regions would function if decision-makers genuinely accounted for race, ethnicity, and class when confronting issues such as transit, arts funding, and public space.” This event is scheduled for Friday, May 6, 2016, from 8:00- 9:30pm at Brampton City Hall. Image: The FOLD FHASS is pleased to announce an exciting new community partnership that promises to bring more of Sheridan into the Brampton community, and more of the Brampton community to the institution. Sheridan has become a sponsor of The FOLD (Festival of Literary Diversity), which will run from May 6-8, 2016, in and around Brampton. Image: The FOLD The FOLD is the brainchild of Brampton You can read more about this exciting new writer Jael Richardson, and it aims to “create a festival — whose motto is “Engaging Readers. vibrant community of readers and writers by Inspiring Writers. Empowering Educators.” — celebrating diverse authors and literature in here, or by following the Festival on Twitter Brampton…one of Canada’s most culturally (@TheFOLD_ ) and entering the conversation with diverse cities.” In this, its inaugural year, the the hashtag #DiverseCanLit. Festival will bring an impressive list of literary stars to the Flower City, including FHASS’s own * Jennifer Chambers, 2015 Sheridan Reads author Lawrence Hill, CanLit stalwarts Helen Humphreys, Reflections and Thanks: Leon Rooke, Heather O’Neill, and Karen FHASS, Home Suite Hope, Connelly, as well as exciting new talents and and the Holidays industry notables like Zarqa Nawaz, Zoe Whittall, By Sara Cumming Brian Francis, Farzana Doctor, and Samuel Now that we are well into the Winter semester, I Archibald. You can peruse the full schedule of wanted to take a moment to thank FHASS for your events here, and can register for the festival by generous gifts/time/cash donations to Home Suite visiting www.thefoldcanada.org. Hope over the holidays in December. (See my initial call for donations here.) For those of you Sheridan’s role in this year’s festival is as who don't really know me that well, this particular the exclusive sponsor of the opening night’s Feature endeavour is one that is very close to my heart. Event, a panel entitled Subdivided: City Building Like the children we were able to help this year, I with a Global Perspective (read more about also grew up in extreme poverty in a lone-parent it here). Featuring Jay Pitter, Eric Mann, Ian household. And like the parents of those children, 2 Alchemy winter 2016 I myself was also a lone-parent student through all and children's gifts three of my degrees. All of these years later, the throughout the holidays still induce anxiety and panic despite year instead of just extreme differences in my socioeconomic status. before the What we in FHASS were able to do for Home holidays. So, if Suite Hope around the holidays didn't just help anyone picks up the families on the receiving end of our generosity, any great it also helped me. I find that nothing makes me feel bargains/bonuses better than being able to help those less fortunate on this kind of than my family. This, for me, is what Christmas is stuff while now all about. I look forward to it all year. shopping over the course of the I am especially grateful this year, as I know schoolyear, or if that all of these struggling families were joyously My cubicle, overflowing with their children get surprised on the day they opened the gifts we donations! Photo: Sara Cumming duplicate birthday collected. Every time that I have been able to be a gifts, etc., they can be left on my desk at Trafalgar part of an event like this I have had the opportunity (C204) and I will be happy to store them until the to see first-hand the response of some of the parents next holiday season. — I am always overwhelmed and there are always tons of tears! This year was no different. * Originally I had 'adopted' eight families A Question about SWFs through Home Suite Hope. Three local businesses from Terry Kostiw: stepped in and sponsored one family each, leaving Electronic or Paper Copies? us five lone mothers and 12 children between the ages of 3-13. Together, we were able to provide My Dear Colleagues, each mom with a laundry basket full of all kinds of household and personal supplies, and every child We need your input on this one. I admit, was provided with a full stocking (overflowing I’m a traditionalist — I still distribute paper copies actually!). On top of that, each child received a of assignments and class material, use the minimum of three gifts (approximately $150-200 telephone book and, at times, struggle to operate was spent per child) and we were able to provide our TV remote. But I understand most are each mom with the items on their wish lists less reluctant to embrace modernity, and many (approximately $200 per mom). Each child also faculty and your managers have expressed an received movie passes. interest in an electronic version of the SWF as opposed to a paper copy. While our CBA is not In fact, FHASS, as a group we donated so particularly helpful vis-à-vis the digital age, I would much that I was able to take on one more family very much appreciate your input on this topic. Do — another student at Sheridan and the head of a you prefer electronic or paper SWFs? Or both? lone-parent family (12 year old girl, 8 year old There are some procedural issues that would need boy). This family also received a laundry basket, to be worked out (i.e. WMG sign-off), but the first two stockings and three small gifts each. On behalf step is to assess whether there’s an appetite for of me, and those whose holidays we were able to change. As such, I’d love to hear your thoughts. brighten a bit this year, THANK YOU! You can e-mail any of my accounts (Sheridan, G- mail, Local244 address), or send a message P.S. Our efforts were so successful that I've had through SLATE, on paper or via carrier pigeon several inquiries about collecting toiletries, supplies, (just don’t bill the Union!). Better still, let’s go for 3 Alchemy winter 2016 coffee and embrace the dying art of in-person understanding creative analogies when able to communication — even if it’s to discuss its think analytically than when they were only able to depreciation. answer via intuition. Importantly, their ability to comprehend equally complex but non-creative Kindest regards, and best wishes for the analogies was preserved, suggesting that analytic remainder of the semester! thinking was uniquely associated with creativity.