To prepare for the academic year and the needs of our students, the faculty and staff gathered to engage in crucial conversations around resilience and revitalization at the annual Fall Faculty Seminar on Monday, August 28. Acting Dean Andrea Sterzuk gave the Dean’s address, welcoming new faculty and staff and highlighting recent achievements. Associate Dean, Faculty Development and Human Resources, Paul Clarke also greeted faculty and staff and introduced Dr. Kathryn Ricketts, who gave an overview of the day and explained the concept of Pecha Kucha, a “presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total).” Pecha Kucha keeps presentations concise and fast-paced, and allows for multiple speakers to present at an event. Faculty and staff participated in crucial conversations around the following crowdsourced topics:
- values and ideals in undergraduate and graduate programs;
- communication, collaboration, and collegiality among faculty and staff;
- wellness and sustainability through diagramming and mapping to organize meetings and endless lists;
- joint mobilization and muscles elongation exercises at your desk and learning to map tension in the body;
- austerity and the audit culture–how to organize, collaborate and politicize with students, staff, and community to ensure delivery of our programs; and
- indigenization of our spaces, practices, and curricula.
Pecha Kucha presentations were demonstrated by Dr. Alec Couros and Wanneta Martin and faculty and staff had the opportunity to walk and talk with Elder-in-Residence Alma Poitras.
After each crucial conversations, participants used post-it notes to write down ideas, concerns, and questions. In the final session, the group reflected on the generated ideas and thoughts.
