At the CAP conference, I was really interested to see the work Jessie and Evan have done to create finding aids for collections from Rare Books and Special Collections that didn’t have them before. After doing so much work with the archives during our papers and in preparation for my panel, I was excited to see that our study of them has actually produced something that will be useful for people outside our CAP stream and possibly outside UBC’s student body. We talked a lot in class about issues in archives in the context of Carter, and I’m sure many of you engaged with that in your papers as well. Beyond academic study, which is of course important as well, this finding aid plays a role in creating solutions to the issues we explored.

I think that this mirrors the process that CAP seems to set us up for. Over the course of the year, we’ve studied many social issues and social movements from a variety of perspectives, and along the way we have been given the chance to gain new academic skills as writers, researchers, and critical thinkers. As we complete CAP and move toward finishing our degrees and starting careers, it’s important to think about how we will use the knowledge and skills we acquire in University. Academic work is important, and the production of knowledge has an important place in society. But I believe that it can be all the more powerful when guided by causes that are important to us.

In wrapping up CAP (and my final blog post, yay), I know I will be taking this time to reflect on not just what I want to learn, but what I want to do and where I want to go with this information. I hope that I don’t get lost in the minutiae of university life and lose sight of the big picture.

Peace, ASTU. It’s been real.