Hi everyone and welcome to my blog!
My name is Simon, I’m a third year student at UBC currently pursuing a double major in English Honours and Creative Writing. ENGL 470A is a course I initially opted to take in order to fulfill my Canadian Literature requirement but after reviewing the reading list and the objectives of this course, I am glad to say I am very enthusiastic about this upcoming semester.
I was born and raised in Vancouver so I am more than happy to use this opportunity to learn about the peoples, cultures, histories, and stories that have shaped this country and region. As much as I want to say that I’ve learned about the Indigenous peoples of Canada, theirs is a tradition so rich and complex I know that there is so much I haven’t even gone near exploring.
Aside from that, as a student receiving a BA in English Literature I believe I owe it to myself to gain a fuller appreciation and knowledge of the Canadian literary canon. The only other text from this reading list I’ve encountered in a previous course was Thomas King’s The Truth About Stories and I remember fondly how entertaining that book was and the variety of themes it touched upon that are really fundamental to identity and place for any Canadian, be they an immigrant or a native.
I’m looking forward to using this blog as a space for me to further engage with this course and discuss things with everyone. Beyond the local and literary pull ENGL 470A has for me, I’m also interested in how artistic depictions of and by Indigenous peoples influence our understanding of their history. I feel like this blog provides me an unique opportunity to share links concerning this interest, whether that be in the form of an intimate portrait or an iconic sculpture (located at UBC).
I am looking forward to the rest of the term!
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erikapaterson
January 15, 2016 — 12:54 pm
Hello Simon,
Welcome to our course of studies, I am looking forward to working together. I think you are really going to enjoy this course! Your blog looks great.
Danielle Dube
January 18, 2016 — 2:37 pm
Hi Simon,
I really enjoyed your intro blog. I was initially taking this course to fulfill my Lit requirement but am very excited about the content as well. Actually I was very concerned about the social media aspect but am beginning to enjoy it more than I thought I would.
I was drawn to your blog because of the stunning art work and I agree that so much of Indigenous peoples stories are told through art as well as song and dance. I’m looking forward to following your blog through the course.
All the best,
Danielle
MaryamBaksh
January 20, 2016 — 3:15 am
Hi Simon. Nice blog by the way. I also joined this class initially for the lit requirement, but really got into it after watching the course vlog.
The indigenous peoples aspect of the course is definitely the one thing that stood out to me too. Recognizing the oratory cultures and that style of artistic story depiction through song, dance, or spoken word is one that I really look forward to exploring as part of the Canadian stories scene.
The blogging and Facebook world is brand-new to me, but if your blog’s any indication, looks to bean interesting road!
Best regards, Maryam