Social Sciences Media and Announcements
CURA Project Researches Prevention of Teen Violence
SURREY, B.C. – (Dec 9, 2011) A study of hundreds of local high school youth has linked gratitude, self-esteem, humility, authenticity, and parental monitoring to a lower level of violence.
The preliminary findings are from the Powerful Teen Study, one of several studies undertaken by the Surrey-based Acting Together SSHRC-CURA project involving Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey School district, and Simon Fraser University. Preliminary findings suggest that character strengths and connections with adults are related to lower risks for violence.
Dr. Roger Tweed said, "Schools and some youth programs already seek to build character strengths. These findings confirm the relevance of character strengths and suggest there may be value in additional efforts to build gratitude, humility, self-esteem, and authenticity."
In youth ages 12 to 14, findings so far reveal that:
* Gratitude and authenticity (i.e., belief in being true to oneself) are associated among boys with lower rates of fighting and fewer beliefs justifying violence.
* Self-esteem and humility are both associated with fewer beliefs justifying violence.
* Youth can have both self-esteem (belief that oneself has value) and humility (belief that others are as important as oneself).
* Involvement in adult-directed leisure activities (arts, community groups organized by adults, religious activities, school clubs, and volunteer work) is associated with self-reported authenticity.
* Students who reported that their parents generally know where they are and who they are with, have both fewer delinquent beliefs and higher life satisfaction.
* Most students agreed that a teacher or other adult at school shows concern for them.
* Most students do not see many benefits to gang membership, but some are aware of only one or two of the many costs of gang membership.
With an extensive support from teachers and school administrators, over 400 eighth graders participated in the study by filling out confidential 22-page surveys that asked questions about their character strengths, social connections, and beliefs about crimes and gangs. The students were surveyed twice in the 2010-2011 school year, with a follow-up survey tentatively scheduled to take place in 2012-2013. Some parents and teachers were also surveyed.
These findings are preliminary and are based on data collected in the initial youth survey. As such, results are subject to change with further analysis including the later surveys. Results are also based on a selected subsample of students because some students chose not to participate. The study does not provide conclusive evidence of cause-and-effect factors for violence, but, rather, identifies associations that deserve further consideration within youth violence prevention efforts.
The Acting Together project is federally funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), through a $1 million federal Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) grant. As a CURA project, it is comprised of four post-secondary institutions, 12 community partners, and numerous prominent individuals.
To learn more about Acting Together, visit www.actingtogether.ca
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Students Speak Out About Truth-telling, Reconciliation and the Path Forward
METRO VANCOUVER, BC – (December 1, 2011) –Kwantlen Polytechnic University sociology students will once again invite Native Elders, leaders, and Indian residential school survivors to educate community members about the ongoing consequences of colonial oppression for Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation process that has begun in Canada. "Reconcile This: Telling Truths About Colonization, Indian Residential Schools and Violence Against Native Women in Canada" is the fourth of a series of public education symposiums that invite the public to contribute to local and national dialogue about colonization, social justice, and reconciliation.
The event takes place on December 6, which is Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Speakers include Survivors and Community Organizers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Women's Centre; Dr. Paulette Regan, author of Unsettling the Settler Within (UBC Press); and Chief Robert Joseph of the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society. This event is part of a project initiated by Seema Ahluwalia, chair of Kwantlen's Department of Sociology, called "Teaching and Learning for Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation".
"My intention is to provide opportunities for Canadians to reflect upon the ongoing injustices faced by Aboriginal Peoples in Canada by considering how the exclusion of Indigenous voices in mainstream Canadian institutions impoverishes our national memory and how our historical amnesia and collective denial inhibits the process of truth-telling, reconciliation and the path to peaceful co-existence" says Ahluwalia.
"Through this project, students engage in meaningful social action by helping to organize an event that brings diverse members of the community together and makes Indigenous knowledge and experience central to our understanding of who we are as Canadians. Students organize poster presentations and co-host the symposium, while also fund-raising and supporting community-led initiatives. They develop important research, teamwork, and global citizenship skills in the process of empowering themselves by acting on issues of social justice with compassion, commitment, and leadership," Ahluwalia says. "Public education is a reciprocal gift – students share what they learn while also accepting, with gratitude, the gifts of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, stories, and scholarship."
Public Education Symposium Details:
What: A public education symposium exploring the effects of colonization on Aboriginal Peoples and move us all beyond collective denial and historical amnesia to peaceful coexistence
Who: Presented by the Kwanten Polytechnic University Department of Sociology
When: December 6, 2011 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Where: Richmond Campus Conference Centre, 8771 Landsdowne Road, Room 2550 Sides A&B
Kwantlen student was among 30 Canadians to attend summit in France
By Amy Reid, Surrey NOW
SURREY - A Surrey student entrepreneur represented Canada at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit, held in Nice, France from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
Kassandra Linklater, a Kwantlen Polytechnic University political science major, was one of 30 young Canadian entrepreneurs - and one of six from B.C. - who formed the official Canadian delegation at the annual international summit. About 400 entrepreneurs from G20 countries took part.
Linklater, who is a member of Kwantlen's Presidential Ambassadorial Team as well as the board of governors, said she applied for the G20 YES summit "without a hope" but was ecstatic to be selected, "not only to put Surrey entrepreneurship on the map but to represent myself as a student entrepreneur, Kwantlen and my company as well."Linklater is a co-founder of D.L. Strategic Online Media Corporation.
At the summit, delegates worked together to identify the ways that governments and business communities can best harness the potential of young entrepreneurs, while also driving public policy, raising awareness and providing a voice for young entrepreneurs around the globe. The resulting recommendations were handed over to the G20 leaders on Nov. 3.
"The over-arching component of the program was to put together a communique," Linklater said, adding the goal is to get G20 leaders to issue an entrepreneurial declaration: "A recognition by the leaders on how important entrepreneurship is for fostering growth in the economy, creating jobs and creating innovation."Linklater said most of the delegates had multi-million dollar companies with several hundred employees and, while she was overwhelmed to be the "kid at the party," she felt affirmed about her mindset and what she is trying to accomplish.
Linklater's company started University Confidential, an online publication (myuniversityconfidential.com) designed to help students acquire the skills needed to make the most out of their university experience. The publication draws on the expertise from a panel of "trailblazers" from coast to coast who have successfully maximized their university experience.The company has four full-time employees and more than 40 writers. "Our little company is growing so quickly," she said. "I think that people realize that young people do have solutions to things."
Kwantlen wins at the Jack Webster Awards
Congratulations to Chad Skelton, Joel McKay and Kimiya Shokoohi for their recongized achievements at the Jack Webster Awards.
Journalism instructor, Chad Skelton and collegue from the Vancouver Sun-Gillian Burnett won in the category of Excellence in Multimedia Journalism. Joel McKay, a Kwantlen Alumni, now working at Business in Vancouver won in the Business, Industry and Economics category and Kimiya Shokoohi, a current 4th year Journalism student won a $2000 student award that will do directly towards tuition.
Click for the full list of winners and more information on the Jack Webster awards
Kwantlen students recognized for making a difference
In October, two students from the university were presented with SASSY — Service Above Self Surrey Youth— awards at a Rotary Club of Semiahmooceremony attended by Free The Children co-founder and top Canadian youth philanthropist Craig Kielburger.
Criminology student John Davidson won the "against the odds" award for turning his life and grades around after the death of his mother pushed him into despair in grade nine and put him on a path of skipping school. He later graduated with honors.
Business student Joseph Given won a "performing and visual arts" award in recognition of his performance at more than 400 concerts and events over the past few years.
And Kwantlen political science student Kassandra Linklater, who recently founded a new online university and career student guide called University Confidential, was selected as one of 30 Canadian youth delegates to theG20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit in France, which gets under way at the end of the month.The Surrey entrepreneur, who is also a member of her school's board of governors and president's ambassadorial team, will be the only student-delegate from B.C.
Read the full article at Valley university students get top marks for making a difference
University students get credits for working on Surrey sustainability projects
By Elaine O'Connor, The ProvinceSeptember 12, 2011
The city of Surrey and Kwantlen University are launching a unique program that will see students work on sustainable city projects for credit.
The school and government have joined forces to launch a new degree in Policy Studies at the university, where the coursework will involve research at the city.
A key focus of the new degree, which is being launched this month and is the first of its kind in B.C., is sustainability policy.
Students in the new Bachelor of Arts program who take two courses: Economics and Sustainability and a Policy Applied Seminar, will have the opportunity to work with city staff on sustainability projects, participate in policy analysis and research sustainability issues that interest the city.
It's the only degree in B.C. where students can earn credits working on sustanability projects with local government.
Topics that the students may work on for the city include community food policies, energy security, reducing poverty and how to procure goods and services sustainably. Common urban sustainability goals are promoting community gardens, encouraging green building practices and recycling or improving energy efficiency.
Staff and students are expected to share ideas across departments though joint seminars and presentations and students will be mentored by staff working in the field.
Students graduating with the four-year degree will be qualified to work as policy researchers or sustainability officers in the public or private sectors.
Kwantlen describes the program as providing "a deep understanding of how societal goals can be achieved through policy" where students will tackle social justice issues and learn to evaluate and craft policy in a way that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable so that it meets "present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."
"The City and KPU are working together to engage the community and co-create policy responses to pressing Surrey sustainability issues," city sustainability manager
Peter Russell wrote in a report to council. The program, he said, "will prepare students to address the opportunities and challenges in this important area."
The effort dovetails with the city's committments to foster education in its Sustainability Charter.
The new program arose from an agreement the city and the university signed in spring 2010 to work more closely together on sustainability issues.
Jocelyn Lymburner
For the past two years, the BCPA Public Education Committee has generously agreed to offer awards to the top projects emerging from the class. The talented 2011 student recipients of this award are Rahul Abedin, Website on Depression & AIDS, and Robin Elson, Mental Health Education for Youth: Playing Cards. Read about both projects featured in the BC PsychologistSummer 2011.
87% of Kwantlen grads find work 4 months after graduating, survey finds:
According to a recent survey of Kwantlen Polytechnic University graduates, 87% of respondents found work within 4 months following graduation. Of those graduates, 44% found employment within a month of graduating, including some who were recruited before they graduated. Kwantlen attributes part of the continued success to the real-world applicability of its courses and its commitment to teaching analytical and strategic thinking along with the practical day-to-day skills required to execute projects.
Opinion: Taming the animal within
By Dr. Gira Bhatt, Vancouver Sun, July 2011
The image of the people being swept up in the destructive madness during the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver makes one wonder if the sane side of our humanity can be overcome by being in a situation that presents multiple cues for violence and destruction. Are we rendered so helpless by the forces of a situation that we find our rationality suspended by a tsunami of insanity?
Research has indicated that situational cues can make sane people behave insanely. The infamous simulated prison experiment at Stanford University in 1971 clearly demonstrated that when otherwise bright and responsible university students were given prison guard uniforms and asked to maintain order, they turned into monsters. The abuse was so shocking the two-week experiment had to be terminated after just six days.
The research and the real-life observations of senseless violence and misbehaviour of otherwise good people suggests we all may harbour an animal within which is unleashed under certain circumstances. Sigmund Freud, the 20th-century pioneer of psychoanalysis, said civilization is built on the repression of primal urges; violence, death, destruction and, of course, sex.
Deep down, we are all animals, Freud concluded. A rather pessimistic view, perhaps, but when one reflects on the insanity on the night of the riot, the pessimism seems warranted.
Otherwise, how can we explain promising young men setting cars on fire, trashing store windows, looting stores, punching and kicking others in the crowd and, even worse, laughing at the destruction? How could they pose proudly for photographs against the backdrop of burning police cars?
Not all joined the mad forces. Many believe they would never have participated in the lootings and burnings regardless of what others were doing.
The fact is that we are all capable of the most gruesome violent and anti-social acts. The ways and means of burning a car, or a dead body for that matter, are in our heads — acquired over time as we watch prime-time crime shows, play violent video games or sit in a movie theatre with surround sound to experience mass destruction.
Playing a violent video game or watching a violent TV show doesn’t make one want to act out the violence. However, the images and the procedural information from the portrayal of violence stay in our mind. If we then encounter a situation that resembles the images in our heads, it becomes easier to start acting out the script.
I asked my undergraduate students what — if given a guarantee that their act would never be found out, or if it was, that there would be no legal consequence — they might do. The results are revealing. About 80 per cent said they’d want to rob a bank and the remainder provided details of how they would rape/assault/kill somebody.
Before we lose hope in our humanness, however, we must appreciate its angelic side displayed during the riot. Although in the minority, some stood guard against the looters at store entrances. Others risked their own lives trying to rescue strangers.
So, what separated those who rioted from those who resisted?
Was it alcohol? We know that alcohol numbs the higher level brain functions such as logic and rational decision-making.
Alcohol, however, is too simple an explanation. While drunken behaviour is not under the individual’s control, the decision to get drunk is.
Upon learning that riots had broken out after the defeat of the Canucks, youths who were not at the fan zone at the time made a conscious decision to board a SkyTrain and join the mob.
Maybe we have retained the animal parts of our brains in the evolutionary ascent of the human species. Maybe we are hardwired for the capacity for violent and destructive acts. Maybe the mindless act of following others blindly is part of our social self.
Yet, none of these bio-social imperatives prevents us from making the right choice and acting in a benevolent manner, regardless of the context. That’s what separates us as humans from other animals.
Dr. Gira Bhatt is project director of Acting Together: Prevention of Youth Violence & Gang Involvement in the department of psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
I, like so many others, was horrified by the Vancouver riot. I applaud the heroes who bravely stood up against those who were looting and assaulting that night and the volunteers who cleaned up our city the next morning. The central question now is: how do we respond to those who participated in rioting? What is the healthiest way for us as a community to move forward?
I am noticing two forms of justice happening: vigilante and criminal justice. It’s time Vancouver used restorative justice to meet the needs of victims, hold offenders accountable, support healing, and build community.
The community is rightfully outraged and people are speaking up, as they should. Social media has become a powerful tool to express our emotions and to identify the rioters. We should be uncomfortable though with reactions which come perilously close to the behaviour of the rioters they condemn. An online mob mentality seems to have developed. There have been threats and the family of one offender left their home out of fear. We cannot stoop to violence ourselves, in any form. As Martin Luther King said, “Let no man pull you low enough to hate him” and “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”
The other option we’re turning to is the criminal justice system. Clearly there were many criminal acts that night. People have put a lot of energy into identifying those who participated in the riot and the police are busy sorting through evidence and making some arrests. I think the rioters should be identified. We should question though what happens after the police make arrests?
Best case scenario in criminal justice is that there is sufficient, legally usable evidence and those who rioted are charged. Their crimes then become against the state and professionals like lawyers and judges take over. The rioters and their families who can afford it hire lawyers. An already overburdened court gets more cases to hear; there will be delays. There will be an adversarial battle between the lawyer representing the accused and the Crown prosecuting. Plea bargaining will take place.
There are not many sentencing options available to courts: fines, probation, community service, or prison. I’ve heard calls for “throwing the book at them” and “punished to the greatest extent possible”. This would mean imprisonment. So “success” in this case would result in taxpayer’s dollars spent locking people up.
Will this result in justice, healing, and resolution? I don’t think it does. Some would be temporarily satisfied, perhaps feeling a sense of revenge. But have we and the offenders really learned anything? Have we evolved somehow as individuals and as a community? And what of the victims? They are basically excluded in this legal process, except as witnesses if it actually goes to a trial. The community? We don’t have a place within the criminal justice process.
Declaring war on rioters is not effective or healthy.
There is another option, one that is more powerful: restorative justice. This is a different framework than criminal justice or vigilante justice. It starts from a different place and asks different questions. Instead of crime being a violation of the law and state, crime is a violation of people and relationships. Instead of requiring authorities to determine legal guilt and impose punishment, justice is a process whereby all parties involved (victims, offenders, community, professionals) come together to understand what truly happened and to collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath, how to make things right to the greatest extent possible. The focus is on victim needs, offender responsibility, and community building.
I am haunted by the images of victims, like the man who tried to stop rioters only to be beaten unconscious. There are so many ripples of harm caused to innocent people, like those who were locked inside a downtown building while fires burned outside and those hiding in terror while looters ran rampant in the store. I cannot stand the thought of victims just going home, left to pick up the pieces with little or no support and no opportunity to tell their offenders directly what they need to say. I think they have a right to use their own voice in a justice process and to receive support for their healing.
I also cannot stand the thought of all those who rioted having no consequences, ineffective sentences, or filling up our prisons where they will learn more about crime and violence. I want offenders to directly face their victims and their community, understand the full extent of their actions, make amends, and learn some things of value. And we need to find out what is going on in their world and what they need to be non-violent, healthy, contributing citizens. Like it or not, they are a part of our community too. Even if they go to prison, they will return. There is no enemy. It’s only us.
Let me set the record straight: restorative justice is not soft on crime. Think about if you hurt someone: what would be the hardest thing to do? I’m sure it would be to directly face those you harmed and sit alongside your family/peers/community in determining the consequences.
We have far greater creativity in restorative justice in determining what needs to happen for amends and making things right. Restorative justice has successfully been used with all kinds of conflict, including serious crimes like assault and murder.
We as a community have a lot to learn as well. It is good that we are questioning why the riot happened at all. It is easy to punish some people and think this solves things. It doesn’t. There are deeper questions.
Vancouver has the opportunity to step up and move forward in a world-class way.
Evelyn Zellerer, who holds a PhD in criminology, is a restorative facilitator, consultant, and speaker, as well as a part-time instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Katzie First Nation: St. Mary's pupil speaks up
By Amy Judd, The Times, June 9, 2011
Katzie First Nation member: Cyril Pierre speak out about his 11 years at St.Mary's residential school, and all the abuse he recieved. Photograph by: submitted, for the TIMES
Katzie First Nation member Cyril Pierre does not want young people today to go through what he went through as a student at St. Mary’s residential school in Mission many decades ago.
St. Mary’s was a residential school for the First Nations, which took children away from their parents in an attempt to assimilate them into a White society.
Pierre arrived there in 1955, when he was seven, and left 11 years later. He said he suffered sexual and physical abuse during his time there, and he believes the truth must be told.“Nobody knows what residential schools were about and what happened inside the boundaries,” he said. “I’m only one however. I don’t want to have any young people be victims of pedophilia or discipline inside their schools that I went through.”
St. Mary’s school closed in the 1970s and is now nothing more than ruins in Mission Heritage Park, but Pierre will be giving a presentation and showing a film called Cyril’s Story, made this year by Three Crow Productions and filmmaker, Dallas Yellowfly, will also attend.
“One of our educational goals for the nation this year is to reach out and educate people about Katzie,” said Len Pierre, Cyril’s great-nephew and educational director and band counsellor for the Katzie First Nation. “We’re really trying to reach out to the education community and up-and-coming educators.”
Kwantlen Polytechnic University students are joining residential school survivors, First Nations members, drummers and singers at a public education symposium this Saturday, June 11, to learn about some of the consequences of Canada’s infamous residential school system.
The symposium is the second event in a multi-year project, initiated by Seema Ahluwalia, chair of Kwantlen’s Department of Sociology, called Teaching and Learning for Truth and Reconciliation.
Joe Ginger (Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation), another survivor of St. Mary’s, will also attend and discuss his experience and the “common settlement agreement.” At the event, the film will be shown, and there will be time for the audience to ask questions and interact with the speakers and guests.
Kwantlen students are using the book, film, commentary from the symposium, and other research to develop case studies.
“This symposium will disrupt the silence and denial about the devastating effects of the residential school system on Aboriginal nations and individuals,” said Ahluwalia, “and provide an opportunity to hear directly from those who lived through the experience. Thousands children who attended these schools are still missing to this day and the Canadian government has convened a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to gather testimony, yet most Canadians claim ignorance about this.”
“Our goal with this symposium is to contribute to building bridges of understanding in our communities,” she added. “Being heard is good medicine for those who need to heal. Active listening is good medicine for those who need to learn.”
The event will take place between 12 and 4 p.m. at Kwantlen’s Surrey Campus Conference Centre, room G1205. The event is free and all people of all ages are welcome. Refreshments will be provided.
Ghanaian and Canadian students learn from Classroom Without Walls
By Gibril Koroma - Saturday 14 May 2011
The popular Ghanaian greeting “Akwaaba (Welcome) to the Global Classroom” welcomed Kwantlen Polytechnic University students in Surrey, British Columbia campus when they signed into Dr. Charles Quist-Adade’s Sociology of Global Inequalities and Globalization. It turned out that the Ghanaian greeting will not be the only cross-cultural lesson these Canadian students would learn in the highly interactive and innovative web conferencing course, which they took together with their peers from Ghana. Indeed, the course offered them multiple lessons and opportunities for cross-cultural friendships, shared experiences, exchange of new ideas and information about the nuances, as well as similarities of the cultures of Ghana and Canada.
The course, which was built on the principles of the “global village” and “classroom without walls,” employed simple “integrative information and educational technologies (Wiziq and Moodle) to break the boundaries of time, space and distance thereby facilitating the sharing of knowledge between the students at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Kwantlen Polytechnic University,” explained Dr. Quist-Adade.
The partially on-line course used a mixed mode delivery, combining synchronous video-audio streaming, real chat, online materials, pre-packaged online materials, as well as asynchronous chat sessions. It is the second phase in a pilot project initiated in 2008 by Dr. Quist-Adade and his Ghanaian collaborators, Dr. Akosua Darkwah of the University of Ghana, Dr. Vincent Dodoo of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi and Mr. Kodwo Ansong Boateng of Ghana Institute of Journalism, Accra.
I recently attended one of Dr. Quist-Adade’s classes at the Surrey campus during which I closely observed the students at work. At the end of the class I asked some of them, together with their counterparts in Ghana, to first introduce themselves, tell readers why they decided to do this course, what they had learnt from it, what project they had been working on and what they would do if they were High Commissioner of Canada in Ghana and vice versa. I also asked them to let us know what they plan to do with the knowledge they had gained. For their responses and the full articles please visit:http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article5895
Kwantlen South Asian Instructor awarded Chancellor's Chair Award
METRO VANCOUVER, BC – (May 10, 2011) – Kamala Nayar became Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s second ever recipient of the Chancellor’s Chair, an award that recognizes a highly industrious faculty member whose research and peer network have significantly heightened the university’s profile and reputation. The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Chancellor’s Chair is designed to provide multi-year support to help scholars develop research projects that will, in turn, help them to apply for major external funding grants.
“Kamala Nayar’s academic contributions are reflective of the high caliber of scholarship at Kwantlen,” says Chancellor Arvinder Bubber. “Her work exploring the culture and religion of South Asians in India as well as right here in Vancouver is world class. We’re proud to have such an impressive scholar working closely with our students.”
“In addition to her extensive work exploring South Asian religion, Kamala’s work has also made her an expert in Canadian Ethnic Studies and South Asian Diaspora studies,” says Robert Adamoski, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. “The breadth and quality of her work exemplifies the high level of scholarship in our Faculty.”
Nayar has had a varied and successful career. Born in Montreal, she earned a Ph.D. in South Asian religions from McGill University in 1999. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria and has taught South Asian related courses at McGill University and Simon Fraser University. In 2006, she became a faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. The University will launch a BA Major in Asian Studies in September, 2011.
Over her career she has published three books and several scholarly articles and book chapters. She is currently conducting a major research project funded by Social Science and Humanities Research Council on the Punjabis of British Columbia.
Kwantlen Political Science Student Nominated for Prestigious YWCA Women’s Award
METRO VANCOUVER, BC - (May 9, 2011) – Kwantlen political science student, Kassandra Linklater, has been nominated for a YWCA Vancouver Women of Distinction Award. The Women of Distinction Awards began in 1984 as a way to honour and recognize women making a difference in their communities. Since then YWCA Vancouver has honoured more than 200 women and workplaces.
Linklater was nominated for her commitment to international volunteering and in particular for her involvement in international trade missions in Malaysia, Singapore, Ecuador and Panama. She is also extremely involved with the City of Surrey.
“Kassandra was a natural choice to be nominated for the Women of Distinction Award,” says Mary Jane Stenberg, executive director of external relations at Kwantlen. “She has proven herself to be a leader and her passion for improving the lives of young women is truly inspiring.”
“I am in awe of the other nominees, I am in amazing company,” says Linklater. “I am just happy to be nominated.”
In addition to being nominated in the Young Women of Distinction category, Linklater is also vying for the Connecting the Community Award. The Award winner will be announced at a Tuesday, May 31 at the Westin Bayshore. Linklater’s supporters can cast their vote for her at: www.ywcavan.org/vote
Kassandra's goal is to reach 10,000 votes and by achieving her goal, Scotia Bank will donate $10,000 dollars to the YWCA Charity of her choice which is YWCA's youth programs - Welcome to my life and Boys 4 real, which helps youth transition into high school.
Parents Asked to Help Shape Gang Prevention Programs
(Surrey) Change the future. Stop crime and violence. Inspire positive values. Nurture community spirit. It’s just another day’s work for local parents – but now their efforts have caught the attention of researchers from Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s gang-prevention project.
Researchers from the Acting Together SSHRC-CURA project want to talk to Surrey parents about their perceptions of violence, gangs and safety and listen to their thoughts related to solutions for these issues. The feedback will be incorporated into the development of a working approach for stopping youth violence and could be influential in other current or future youth programs.
“We want the voices that often go unheard,” said Steve Dooley, the lead researcher for the Community Voices study and co-investigator for Acting Together. “We’re walking the talk of community engagement.”
Parents who choose to participate can expect a confidential 40-minute discussion of their perspectives on certain topics and a follow-up at a later date. If interested, they will also be contacted with the opportunity to attend future community planning days and events.
The collaborative method of the research project is what caught the attention of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, who awarded Acting Together a $1 million grant through its Community-University Research Alliance program in 2009 for its innovative approach to developing solutions to B.C.’s gang problem.
To participate in the "Community Voices" study, please contact Deborah Nowak at 604-599-2961 or Deborah.Nowak@kwantlen.ca. To read the full article go to http://www.actingtogether.ca/parents-asked-to-help-shape-gang-prevention-programs/1280#more-1280.
Kwantlen Criminology Students "Dig the Dirt" on South Fraser Perimeter Road
Surrey resident and Kwantlen Criminology instructor, Jeff Shantz, often stands on the banks of the Fraser River inside the South Fraser Protection Camp, to stand in solidarity with those trying to stop the construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road.
Today (April 28), Shantz moved the attention from himself to the students in his criminology class at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. “I do a class on white-collar crime, which is a fairly intense research class; it’s the investigative journalism thing,” the professor said. “One of the groups, what they do is focus on specific corporations or institutions or projects and then dig the dirt on it. One of the groups in that did the Gateway project.” What they were doing was “digging dirt” on those digging dirt to build the $1.26-billion perimeter road, purportedly to ease traffic congestion. Those opposed claim this will never happen and more greenhouse gases will instead be added to the air as more and more traffic is induced to use the new Gateway roads. Kwantlen students had the opportunity to begin seeing "what was behind it and the harm and the impacts it was going to have, and how it was not going to help them, even with the things they thought it would help them with around congestion.”
To read the full article go to http://www.straight.com/article-390153/vancouver/criminology-professors-students-dig-dirt-south-fraser-perimeter-road.
Kwantlen Symposium examines Residential Schools' Legacy
The idea for the symposium held on March 21st, titled Social Justice and Reconciliation: Truth-telling About Canada and the Residential School System, was the brainchild of Seema Ahluwalia, chair of Kwantlen's Department of Sociology. Ahluwalia wanted a tangible way for her first-year sociology students to take a closer look at the "horrible racism and colonization that our country was built on."
Residential schools took aboriginal children away from their families for 10 months of the year and taught them reading, writing, arithmetic and Christianity from the late 19th century until the 1960s and '70s. The idea was to assimilate these Aboriginal children to modern day Canadians.
During the symposium, there were presentations by Chief Joseph, Xa-li-ya, Katzie First Nation Elder, Samaya Jardey from the B.C. Liaison, Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Oyate Anawizipi, member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. The symposium also featured a poster presentation titled The Burden is Properly Ours by 20 teams of Kwantlen students. Finally, there will be a screening of the documentary, Fallen Feather: Indian Residential Industrial Schools, by Randy Bezeau (2007).
Jennifer Jobes, 29, one of Ahluwalia' students, was blown away about what she has learned. "This issue had no light shed on it ... I don't ever remember studying about this in high school," said the first year sociology student. "I feel guilt and shame of not knowing what went on and of believing the stereotypes I'd hear about first nation people." Jobes will be in attendance during the symposium to answer questions from the public about her team's poster and about the injustices brought upon our province's Aboriginal people. Her team's poster is titled, Historical Amnesia, and deals specifically with what she calls "ignorance is not bliss; it perpetuates pain."
For information about the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, visit www.irsss.ca/history.html.
Hello Africa! Students, plan to attend field schools in Kenya and Ghana!
Hello, Africa, held at the Surrey campus November 15, was about African music and food — and announcement by Criminology instructors Joan Nesbitt and Jessie Horner of plans that could see Kwantlen students studying at field schools in Ghana and Kenya. “The field schools are an attempt to learn from one another in approach to become world citizens,” Nesbitt said. The current plans include an eight- to 10-week course for Kwantlen students in May 2012, worth between six and nine credits.
Kwantlen students, being led by Sociology instructor, Dr. Charles Quist-Adade, are already making preparations for their Ghana field school experience in July 2011. The Ghana field school course is transferable for six credits at Kwantlen, and lasts for three weeks. Look for more opportunities to participate in field schools offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences!
Kwantlen Instructor receives Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Online Journalism
Reporters Chad Skelton and Lori Culbert won the Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Online Journalism for their exclusive database and stories tracking B.C. municipal election donations. Their database allowed voters to see, with the click of a mouse, exactly who donated — and how much they gave — to mayoral and council candidates in the last municipal election. Chad Skelton is also a Journalism instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University - congratulations Chad!
Is the War on Drugs a Lost Cause?
See what former former Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg told Surrey Kwantlen students. http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/106796428.html
Kwame Nkrumah International Conference
Photo caption: Dr. Molefi Kete Asante delivers a keynote speech at the Kwame Nkrumah International Conference hosted by Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
(METRO VANCOUVER, B.C.) Kwantlen Polytechnic University hosted the Kwame Nkrumah International Conference from August 19-21 and attracted 150 participants and over 30 scholars from Africa, Australia, the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada. Presenters and attendees were deeply engaged as they exchanged stimulating ideas and shared lively discussions about the philosophies and ideals of Kwame Nkrumah and the state of Africa.
Kwantlen students Nasim Mosallaei and Sheila Wong who helped with the coordination of the conference felt inspired and enlightened after participating in the event. Mosallaei commented, “I felt privileged to be able to listen to some of the many discussions regarding the legacy of Dr. Nkrumah and the current state of the continent of Africa. In the end I met a lot of influential people with a lot of ideas on Africa and I walked away from the conference having learned a great deal more about Kwame Nkrumah.” Wong added, “I was touched by everyone’s genuine concern for Africa’s conditions and their interest in the continuation of Nkrumah’s philosophies and ideals. No doubt, the Kwame Nkrumah International Conference has inspired many new ideas, thoughts, and renewed hope for everyone involved.”
The conference celebrated the centennial of Nkrumah’s birthday as international panelists gathered to discuss his impact on African and world politics, pan-Africanism, colonialism and post-colonialism, globalization, and the African Diaspora. Keynote addresses were given by Dr. Molefi K. Asante, one of the world’s most published contemporary experts on African-American history and culture, Dr. Gillian Creese, professor of sociology at University of British Columbia and researcher of immigration and settlement in Canada, and a number of other respected scholars who revisited and discussed Nkrumah’s outstanding accomplishments.
Reflecting on the success of the conference, event organizer and Kwantlen sociology faculty member Dr. Charles Quist-Adade remarked, “For three days, Kwantlen was treated to an intellectually stimulating exchange of ideas by scholars from diverse disciplines and from different parts of the world. Many of the delegates paid glowing tribute to Kwantlen for hosting the conference and are eagerly awaiting the second Kwame Nkrumah International Conference.”
Nkrumah led Ghana to independence on March 6, 1957 after more than a century of British colonial rule, the first in independence in sub-Saharan Africa. He is regarded as one of Africa’s greatest statesmen. BBC listeners in Africa voted him Africa’s Man of the Millennium in1999, and in 1978 the United Nations awarded Nkrumah a posthumous gold medal during a session of the UN committee against the racist regime in South Africa.
Kwantlen was proud to host the conference, as part of its commitment to bring a global perspective to issues of relevance to our diverse local communities.
As a leader in innovative and interdisciplinary education, Kwantlen Polytechnic University offers all learners, regardless of background and preparation, opportunities to achieve the highest standards of academic performance. For more information, visit: kwantlen.ca or contact:
Joanne Saunders
Director, Marketing and Communications
Tel: 604.599.2243
joanne.saunders@kwantlen.ca
