Hello and welcome!
Picture credit: Maureen Bracewell, October 2013
My name is Kaylie. I am a lifelong learner, an avid knitter, a nature lover — and a first time blogger.
Recently, I transferred from Capilano University, where I was working on my Associate of Arts degree in Global Stewardship, to the Global Resource Systems (GRS) program at UBC. Through this program, I intend to focus my learning on sense of connection (to place, environment, culture, community), and how this sense affects our interactions with each other and our environment.
Throughout this blog, I hope to explore some of these themes of connection within the context of literature and stories; I welcome you to join me!
However, this blog is not simply an open exploration, but it’s also part of an online course through UBC: Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres (ENGL 470A). This course will be focusing on Canadian literature, with an emphasis on the power of stories and the intersections, and departures, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous narratives, especially those narratives originating in the place now commonly known as North America (ENGL 407A).
By taking this course, I’m expecting to have the opportunity to critically reflect on the stories that create our perception of Canada, while improving my computer literacy skills and experiencing how the internet can be used as a tool for learning, discussing, and sharing different perspectives.
Beyond this, I’m hoping this course will also offer the opportunity to discuss and consider topics and questions such as how stories shape culture, nations, and a sense of connection, or “home;” what forms stories can come in (e.g. songs, art, writing) and how our society’s perspective on the validity of these stories may change depending on the form used to share it; and what it means to be a person living in a place where many of the stories, and even place names, that I learned throughout my childhood were largely disconnected from this place and its people.
I have always loved stories and I am looking forward to exploring both the stories, and their underlying connections, throughout this course. Please leave a comment if you feel inspired to do so; I look forward to connecting with you!
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