This summer (before I worked at FarmWonders), I took a course at Simon Fraser called the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue. The Dialogue program is meant to engage students in an alternative form of education that’s based on learning through discussions and thinking about important public issues in a critical way. The class is partially about content and partially about process, which is a very holistic way to approach education.
The topic of the course I took was Sustainable Food Systems (of course). We got to meet and discuss food systems issues with many important people working with food in the Metro Van Region, such as Peter Ladner, James O’Neil, Brent Mansfield, Art Bomke, Sean Dorry, Helen Spiegelman, Arzeena Hamir, the list goes on and on. We even got to stay on Michael Ableman’s farm on Salt Spring Island (he is one of the guys heading SOLEfood Farm). We would host “dialogues” with these people or go visit their places and have in depth talks with them about the food system and their role in it. It was such a great opportunity to actually be able to speak with these people instead of just listening to them lecture, which is what it would be like in a normal class.
The content of the course was amazing, I learned so much about food systems and what’s happening in Vancouver around food. But learning about the process of dialogue was amazing as well. We learned about what it is like to work in a group, how leadership can be manifested in many different ways, how to host a balanced discussion, a bit about being in the professional world, and so much more. Being in that class changed the way I interact with people and how I see my education. It taught me that the work we do is important, but they way we do that work can be just as important as what we do.
Here are some pictures from our course. I will write another post that is more about the coursework we did soon.
Me, working with Michael Abelman at his farm (Foxglove Farm) stand on Salt Spring
We made amazing potlucks and ate together almost everyday during class
The poster for the event we held at the end of our class
Michael Abelman and Sean Dorry at SOLEfood
Everyone after the event
Foxglove Farm
We always sat in circles for our discussions. Always.