Kwantlen Voices Lecture Series | Past Events & Projects

 

 

Kwantlen_Voices_Lecture_Series 
Sponsored by:
The Sociology Department
Coca-Cola Project Founding
Kwantlen Voices Lecture Series, 2013-2014, Summer Semester

Lecture No. 1

Lord Curzon and the ‘Persian Question’ and the Rise of Confrontation between Iran and the West

Christopher N. B. Ross, PhD
Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria

When: Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Surrey Main, Room 3820

Abstract
Although the sabre-rattling between Washington and Tehran has intensified in recent years, the fraught relations between Iran and the West go back more than a century. Arguably the roots of mistrust can be traced back to the era of ‘high imperialism’ in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century. Indeed, this period was the crucible in which Western attitudes towards Iran— or Persia as it was then known— crystallized, thereby doing much to lay the groundwork for the current geopolitical standoff. This lecture explores the early stages of this confrontation through the prism of the British statesman and self-styled ‘Persian expert’, Lord Curzon (1859-1925), whose influence upon Anglo-Iranian relations helped shape the trajectory of the West’s encounter with the ‘land of the lion and the sun’.

Bio
Christopher N. B. Ross is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria and teaches international history at UVic and Kwantlen. Having obtained his PhD as a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Cambridge in 2010, he subsequently spent two years as a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the History Department at UVic.

To register for this lecture, click here: Registration.


Lecture No. 2

The Accidental Polytechnic University

Alan Davis, PhD
President and Vice Chancellor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

When: Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre

Abstract
Since 1981, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) evolution from a community college spin-off of Douglas College, has (like greatness) had mandates thrust upon it. As the only “polytechnic university” by name in Canada, KPU is now either poised to be on the vanguard of innovation as a new hybrid of pure, applied and open learning, or to struggle for identity and support in a system that is still dominated by what suits the three research universities, or be subsumed within some future rationalization of higher education in BC. As part of its current strategic planning, KPU has considered a number of scenarios for the next 30 years with respect to its own existence, and indeed for the future of higher education everywhere. Some of these prognostications will be offered for discussion.

To register for this lecture, click here:Registration.

 

 



Research & Scholarship @ Kwantlen Lecture Series Fall 2012

Lecture # 1

“Nonconscious Effects of Undetected Sexism in Print Ads”

Dr. Arleigh Reichl, Psychology Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When: Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Time: 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Room 3820 (Surrey Main Building)

Abstract
Media critics (e.g., Goffman, 1979; Kilbourne, 1999) deconstruct advertisements to reveal subtle sexist content, however that sexism may go largely unrecognized by the general public. Is it possible, as the critics claim, that such ads contribute to sexist attitudes, even though the content is not consciously recognized as sexist? How are responses to subtle, unrecognized sexism different from the responses to overt sexism in ads? Dr. Reichl will discuss his program of research designed to answer these questions.

Bio
Arleigh Reichl earned his PhD in social psychology from the University of Iowa in 1994, but was fortunate to move to Canada in 1991 when his wife, Kim, joined the Faculty of Education at UBC. After teaching as a sessional instructor and serving as a statistics/methods advisor at UBC, Arleigh was hired full time at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 1996 (Kwantlen College at the time) where he has remained. As part of his commitment to teaching, Arleigh has helped to develop and maintain the Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and has worked to promote research at Kwantlen. Arleigh has conducted research in the areas of intergroup discrimination and person perception. More recently, his research has focused on the effects of exposure to subtle, unrecognized sexism in print ads. In 2009 Arleigh founded the Issues in Media, Advertising and Gender (IMAGe) research lab to further this research while giving students the opportunity to gain valuable research experience.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.

 

 

Research & Scholarship @ Kwantlen Lecture Series 2011-2012-Summer

Lecture # 1

 

 

“Nonconscious Effects of Undetected Sexism in Print Ads”

Dr. Arleigh Reichl, Psychology Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When: Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Room 1840
8771 Lansdowne Road, Richmond, BC


Abstract
Media critics (e.g., Goffman, 1979; Kilbourne, 1999) deconstruct advertisements to reveal subtle sexist content, however that sexism may go largely unrecognized by the general public. Is it possible, as the critics claim, that such ads contribute to sexist attitudes, even though the content is not consciously recognized as sexist? How are responses to subtle, unrecognized sexism different from the responses to overt sexism in ads? Dr. Reichl will discuss his program of research designed to answer these questions.

Bio
Arleigh Reichl earned his PhD in social psychology from the University of Iowa in 1994, but was fortunate to move to Canada in 1991 when his wife, Kim, joined the Faculty of Education at UBC. After teaching as a sessional instructor and serving as a statistics/methods advisor at UBC, Arleigh was hired full time at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 1996 (Kwantlen College at the time) where he has remained. As part of his commitment to teaching, Arleigh has helped to develop and maintain the Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and has worked to promote research at Kwantlen. Arleigh has conducted research in the areas of intergroup discrimination and person perception. More recently, his research has focused on the effects of exposure to subtle, unrecognized sexism in print ads. In 2009 Arleigh founded the Issues in Media, Advertising and Gender (IMAGe) research lab to further this research while giving students the opportunity to gain valuable research experience.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.
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Lecture # 2

“The Body or the Soul? Religion and Culture in a Rural Québec Parish: St-Joseph-de-Beauce, 1736-1901

Frank Abbott, History Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When: Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Room 1840
8771 Lansdowne Road, Richmond, BC


Abstract
By the end of the nineteenth century, French-speaking Québécois are said to have become more submissive to the hegemony of the Catholic Church compared to their independence during the French regime and the first half of the nineteenth century. This volte-face has been attributed to the extension of the Church’s physical and administrative presence and control over the school system, increased religious vocations, and greater numbers of people attending mass and receiving communion at Easter.
My research fundamentally reinterprets prevailing arguments about the Church’s purported ‘clerical hegemony’ over French Canadians by a multi-layered examination of the rural parish of St-Joseph de Beauce during the period 1736-1901, with particular emphasis on the period after 1850. In challenging the view that the Church extended its tutelage over a passive people, I argue that ordinary Catholics exercised more agency inside and outside church than is usually assumed. By looking at the interrelationship between religion and popular customs, it is clear that the degree of change has been overstressed, and levels of continuity have been downplayed. In this parish, Catholicism occupied an important place in people’s lives before the 1850s, and still did by the twentieth century. But there also existed a strong spirit of independence and a vigorous popular culture that showed no signs of disappearing; the resulting tensions underlined the clergy’s sense of its powerlessness to control people’s behaviour.
In order to explore the interrelated factors characterizing the encounter between Catholicism and Québec popular culture, my research draws upon the curés’ detailed annual reports to the Archbishop of Québec, St-Joseph’s parish registers, the Québec archdiocesan archives, contemporary accounts, government censuses, and other statistical data. It also makes use of the rich but largely unexplored (by historians at least) oral testimony about rural life and culture in Beauce County from the Archives de folklore at Université Laval. Although St-Joseph is only one parish, this long-settled, religiously and culturally homogeneous community in the conservative rural Beauce region would suggest that this close examination of local religion and society provides new dimensions to our understanding of the place of Catholicism in Quebec culture.

Bio
Frank Abbott has been a member of the Kwantlen Department of History since 1988. He has taught Canadian History, Quebec History, Chinese History, and European History. The subject of his PhD dissertation is "The Body or the Soul? Religion and Culture in a Small Quebec Parish, St-Joseph-de-Beauce, 1736-1901." Frank also played an important role in the development and implementation of the BA in Asian Studies at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.
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Lecture # 3

"Bodies of Film: The History of Disability in Motion Pictures"

 

Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Sociology Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When: Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Room 1840
8771 Lansdowne Road, Richmond, BC


To register for this lecture click here:Registration .

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Research & Scholarship @ Kwantlen Lecture Series 2011-2012-Fall

Lecture # 1
Poster_Fiona

"Disability, Families, and the State"

Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Sociology Department, KPU
When: Monday, October 17, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus,
Conference Centre A Side, G1205A

Abstract
Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh explores how various disability models have been incorporated and ignored in developing and implementing multiculturalism as a state policy. She critically examines medical, social, and cultural models of disability.

Bio
Fiona Whittington-Walsh is a professor in the department of sociology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia. She works on community-academic research partnerships, the cultural industries, disability issues, and the everyday experiences of women and body image. She has published in the areas of disability and health, disability and cinematic representation, beauty and women with disabilities, and women and cosmetic surgery. Her current research is exploring the history of disability representations in mainstream film.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.

Poster_Fiona
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Lecture # 2
Poster Diane Naugler

"Wearing Pink as a Stand Against Bullying:Why We Need To Say More"

Diane Naugler, Sociology Department, KPU
When: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus,Conference A Side, G1205A


Abstract
"This article presents a contextual discourse analysis of the media response to a campaign against bullying that was developed in the spring of 2007 in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. As a feature of masculine socialization, male-on-male bullying secures the reproduction of an aggressive and heteronormative hegemonicmasculinity (Connell, 1987) for boys and young men in contemporary North American mainstream culture. I argue that the celebration of the 'Pink Campaign' is illustrative of the normalizing silences, or 'unremarkability,' about the related discourses of sexism and homophobia that motivate everyday practices of male on male bullying."

Bio
Diane Naugler (Ph. D., York University) is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Her research interests include the social construction of genders and sexualities, feminist theory and questions of embodiment and surgical intervention (such as cosmetic surgeries and procedures). Her work has appeared in The Journal of Homosexuality,Atlantis: a Women’s Studies JournalandResources for Feminist Research. She is the editor of the forthcoming anthology Canadian Perspectives in Sexualities Studies(2012, Oxford University Press). Diane will be offering a new course for the Sociology department in Spring 2012 “Gender, Bodies, and Sexualities” (SOCI 3245).

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.

Poster Diane Naugler
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Lecture # 3
Poster Gordon Lee

"Changing Academic Identities at Kwantlen"

Gordon Lee, Vice-President, Finance and Administration
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus,
Conference A Side, G1205A

Abstract
This study researched changing academic identities in one dual sector university in British Columbia, Canada. It provides a close look at a group of faculty individually and collectively experiencing organizational change as the institution evolves from a college to a dual sector university.

The research utilized a social constructionist epistemology consistent with some recent research on academic identities (Barnett and Di Napoli, 2008; Gordon and Whitchurch, 2010; Henkel, 2000). These researchers and others assert that academics construct their identities reflexively (Giddens, 1991, p. 5) within academic communities that shape individual identities (Henkel, 2000, p. 250). My methodology is grounded on these assumptions and can best be described as ethnographic interpretivism.

Research methods included a short questionnaire targeted at all faculty members across the institution and more detailed personal interviews with 8 individual faculty members.

The research incorporated a review of relevant institutional data and an analysis of the external context that may have influenced both academic identities within the institution and organizational changes.

This is ‘insider research’ and as such it presents both methodological and ethical challenges. My reflections on these, how I addressed them, how the institution reacted to my research, and how I responded forms a component of the study.

Bio
Gordon Lee has 25 years of experience in higher education teaching and administration including 9 years as a faculty member in the Melville School of Business and 6 years as the dean of that school.

His current research interests are organizational change in dual sector universities and widening participation in higher education. With Rob Fleming, he has co-authored a chapter in Challenging Boundaries, edited by Garrod and Macfarlane.

As well as being Vice President Finance and Administration at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Gordon is also a student in the Doctor in Education Programme at the Institute of Education, University of London.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration .

Poster Gordon Lee

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Lecture # 4 Poster John Marasigan
"College Academic Success Predictors: A Cross-cultural Study"

John Marasigan (Ph.D.), Psychology Department, KPU
When: Monday, November 21, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre A Side, G1205A


To register for this lecture click here:Registration .

Poster John Marasigan

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Lecture # 5 Poster_Christina_Pikios

"Multicentric Learning & Teaching: a critical review"

Christina Pikios (MA), English Language Studies, KPU
When: Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Where: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey Campus, Conference Centre, G1205A


Abstract
I would like to address 3 inter-related points in this presentation:
· how globalization and the internationalization of education are impacting knowledge, learning, and program development and delivery at Canadian Universities?
· how faculty, students –both local and international-impact and are impacted by these new paradigm shifts?
· Is there a new knowledge and learning that has become the new reality?

Christina Pikioshas taught English and Intercultural Communications Theory at universities in Canada, China, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Korea, and Greece. She has been at Kwantlen for 11 years. Her professional expertise is very interdisciplinary: program and curriculum development, teacher training, intercultural communications, globalization, e-learning, and the dynamics of power as related to English language training. Christina has developed over 18 curricula, published numerous articles on language training, co-published on the integration of intercultural communications and English language teaching and learning. She has won 2 awards in Canada and the United States for her contribution to Workplace Training and Program Development. She has a BA in Education and Sociology from UBC and an MA in Linguistics and International Education from McQuarie University, Australia.

To register for this lecture click here:Registration.

Poster_Christina_Pikios



Research & Scholarship @ Kwantlen Lecture Series 2009-2010

Lecture # 6:   Chiang_Poster  
“Managing Racism and Sexism: A Case Study of Chinese Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs in Richmond, BC.”

Dr. Frances Chiang, Sociology Department, KPU 
Thursday, November 25, 2010, 4:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. 
Conference Centre 2550 A Side, Surrey Campus 


Abstract  
Existing entrepreneurial discourses have been dominated by white middle-class androcentric approach, giving little space to the discussions of racism and sexism experienced by minority women entrepreneurs. This paper aims to fill this gap through an examination of the experiences of Chinese immigrant women entrepreneurs in Richmond, BC using an intersectional approach. The key research question addressed in the paper is to what extent, and in what ways, do racism and sexism impact on the entrepreneurial experiences of Chinese immigrant women entrepreneurs and what strategies do they use in managing discrimination to protect themselves and their businesses? Four main strategies were derived from the findings, namely, creating a comfortable niche, playing the mainstream card, swallowing the pain, and resisting. 
 

Lecture   # 5:   Royal_Whittington-Walsh_Poster  
“The Philosopher’s Teahouse: Rethinking the Past; Teaching for the Future”

Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh (Sociology Department) and Dr. Wendy Royal (ELS Department)
Participants: SOCIO 1125, ELST 0383; ELST 0283 (70 students)
International Education Week: November 15, 2010
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richmond Campus


Abstract
Instructors from both disciplines collaborated in preparing their classes for this activity, using relevant articles from a sociology textbook, StatsCan survey, and newspaper article. Students from both areas watched the CBC video, “How tolerant are Canadians”. The cafeteria was set up to simulate a “Philosopher’s Café” and students were grouped with students from the other discipline in order to discuss the following questions.


Lecture # 4 :  Multiculturalism_Poster
"Reflections on Multiculturalism and Education in Canada and Abroad"
International Education Week
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
Room 1840
8771 Lansdowne Road
Richmond, BC


Panel Members  (Chair: Dr. Wendy Royal, English Language Studies):
Christina Pikios, English Language Studies,
  Reflections on teaching in global and multicultural classrooms.
Dr. Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Sociology Department,Is disability reflected in multiculturalism? 
Karrie Beard, Kwantlen Student,
  South Africa through the lens of a Canadian foreign student. 
Dr. Amir Mirfakhraie, Sociology Department,
  Canadian Scholars and Iranian School Textbooks: Are multiculturalism and global education reflected in Iranian school textbooks? 
 

Lecture # 3:
  Moretti_Poster
"Of catwalks and plazas: fashion in contemporary Italy"

Dr. Cristina Moretti, Anthropology Department, KPU  

Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.
Conference Centre 2550 A Side, Richmond 

     

Lecture #2:   Royal_Poster  
"THE PHILOSOPHER’S TEAHOUSE: NEGOTIATION, AGENCY AND TRANSFORMATION IN A MULTICULTURAL ESL ACADEMIC PREPARATION CLASS"

Dr. Wendy Ann Royal, English Language Studies, KPU 
Friday, September 25, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Conference Room, G1205A


Lecture # 1:  
Teaching_Learning_Poster  
"   Practicing and Theorizing Teaching/Learning from Local & Global Perspectives"  

CGME Faculty, KPU
Annual Fall Meeting of the Faculty of Social Sciences
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Tues Sept. 1, 2009
9:20 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Room, C2820