Hello everyone!
The previous ICoP meeting was very productive and we are very glad you joined us!
Here is the a brief summary of what we achieved.
We will discuss these and other topics throughout the incoming months!
If you could not attend, but would also like to participate and give us suggestions, please feel welcomed to do so!
PDF FILE: ICOP minutes April 29, 2014
Hello ICoP members,
Before you take off for holidays, please check out the following interdisciplinary events and share with your colleagues, peers, and students who may be interested.
Date/Time: December 6, 2013, 7pm-
Place: Graduate Student Centre, UBC
Pushing Boundaries, Shifting Perspectives: Remapping Asia and the Pacific Through a Transnational Interdisciplinary Lens
Deadline: January 8, 2014
Changing Vistas: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Asia Pacific
Deadline: January 15, 2014
Date/Time: January 29, 2014, 4-6pm
Place: UBC (Room to be announced)
FIREtalks are a series of interdisciplinary research exchanges run by graduate students for graduate students. A programme of the Research Commons, FIREtalks provide an opportunity for graduate students to share and discuss their research or ideas in an interdisciplinary forum. They are a great opportunity for graduate students in the UBC academic community to collaborate, network and explore ideas without conventional disciplinary boundaries.
The next FIREtalk is on October 23rd, 2013 (4-6 PM): Indigenizing the Academy
How can the academy engage Aboriginal and Indigenous knowledge? What are some ways researchers at UBC – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – are using Indigenous methodologies and incorporating Indigenous knowledge? What challenges arise and how can we address them?
For more information, please visit: http://koerner.library.ubc.ca/services/research-commons/fire-talks/?login
The iGSN is a group of enthusiastic graduate students dedicated to improving the graduate student experience at UBC. The group’s mission is “to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge-sharing between graduate students from different disciplines. Only through an exchange of ideas can we push the boundaries of research, obtaining new and exciting results. By providing social, recreational, and professional development opportunities that are discipline-independent and highly inclusive, we hope to accomplish this task here at UBC.”
For more information and to join the group, please visit: http://igsnubc.wordpress.com/
Professor Smith (Duke University) is a leading literary theorist and critic, and also a major contributor to Science and Technology Studies, bringing together insights from literary and critical theory with those from history and philosophy of science. Among her honours are visiting appointments at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the US National Humanities Center, and the Rockefeller Foundation Center at Bellagio. She is also the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts.
For more information, please visit: http://www.history.ubc.ca/events/stephen-m-straker-memorial-lecture-barbara-herrnstein-smith-%E2%80%9Cdisintegration-new
Out of the Box: Celebrating Interdisciplinarity Conference
Conference: Friday, March 21st, 2014 at UBC
Call for abstract deadline (EXTENDED): November 30, 2013
Also visit the Facebook page.
International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Conference: June 11th-13th, 2014 at UBC
Current call for proposal deadline: December 10th, 2013 (Abstracts are accepted in
monthly rounds. Return here for subsequent review deadlines.
Proposals received at each deadline will be reviewed between two to four weeks
of the corresponding deadline.)
Join us for an Interdisciplinary Community of Practice meeting!
Date: Monday, March 4th
Time: 2:30-4:30pm
Location: Seminar Room 2.22 – Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Please register: http://events.ctlt.ubc.ca/events/view/2273
How can you promote interdisciplinary thinking in your classroom? At this ICoP meeting we will explore how to design effective interdisciplinary courses and learning activities. Building from our last session on assessing interdisciplinary learning, we will discuss how to adapt and alter existing approaches to lesson design to encourage students to think across disciplines.
Sauder instructor Paul Cubbon will join us to share his experiences designing COMM 486S/JRNL 520A, a new course on social media. The course is cross-listed in Commerce and Journalism and is co-taught by Cubbon and Alfred Hermida. Paul will discuss the development of the course and lessons he is learning in its first term. (Click here to see Dr. Cubbon’s UBC TedX Talk.)
For the remainder of the meeting, we will brainstorm how to adapt different teaching techniques to enhance interdisciplinary learning. Please bring a question or example of your interdisciplinary teaching efforts to share with the group.
About the Interdisciplinary Community of Practice (ICoP): The ICoP emerged out of enthusiasm for UBC Mix, a project that supports classroom-level collaborations between two or more courses for interdisciplinary lessons. Scholars of higher education are increasingly recognizing the value of interdisciplinary thinking. The ICoP provides a space to think collectively about the practice and pedagogy of interdisciplinary teaching and learning at UBC. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact facilitators Natalie Baloy (ubc-mix@interchange.ubc.ca) and Hanae Tsukada (ctlt.prodev@ubc.ca).
At the November 5th meeting of the Interdisciplinary Community of Practice, we addressed issues relating to assessing and evaluating interdisciplinary learning. Hanae Tsukada and Natalie Baloy co-facilitated the meeting.
The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, also known as the Berger Inquiry, involved over two years of community testimony and legal hearings that addressed the social, environmental, and economic impacts of a proposed gas pipeline in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Representatives from Aboriginal communities, lawyers, business people, workers, and other constituency groups voiced their various concerns, objections, and support for the project. The INQUIRY exhibit includes Inquiry transcripts, stories, and photographs.
Students, staff, and faculty can engage with the exhibit in a number of ways:
Check out the current listings of interdisciplinary series at Green College, consult the Calendar of Events for further details, or sign up for the event newsletter!
Each year, Green College hosts a number of lecture series that are open without charge to College members, the UBC community, and the general public. These series are presented by the College in collaboration with faculty members from UBC departments and programs who act as convenors and coordinate themes and speakers.
Interdisciplinary events typically take place at the College either before dinner or after dinner. These timings “outside typical classroom and business hours” are in keeping with the extracurricular nature of the College’s academic programming, and are intended to make it easy for those who attend the talks to join the speakers and College residents for dinner.
You’re invited to the first gathering of the Interdisciplinary Community of Practice!
When? Wednesday, September 12th
What time? 10-11:30am
Where? The Lillooet Room (301) in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Why should you attend?
This meeting will address the question “How can I make my existing course more interdisciplinary?” It will offer you an opportunity to connect with instructors in other disciplines to find ways of embedding interdisciplinarity in your teaching practice. It will also create a time and space to discuss future topics for this new community of practice.
What’s a Community of Practice?
Communities of practice are groups whose members “share a passion for something they know how to do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better” (Wenger 2006). The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology supports Communities of Practice on a range of topics. The Interdisciplinary Community of Practice is a new community supported by participants in the UBC Mix project and others committed to interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
What’s UBC Mix?
UBC Mix facilitates partnerships between instructors, students, and courses to create interdisciplinary learning opportunities. From shared guest speakers to student-led workshops, discussion sessions to data-mashups, Mix has supported dynamic interdisciplinary education, breaking down institutional barriers across campus. The Interdisciplinary Community of Practice offers opportunities for Mix partners and other teaching practitioners to address pedagogical benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
Please RSVP!
Please let us know if you will attend! Light refreshments will be served.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
If you have a question you would like to address in future Interdisciplinary Community of Practice meetings, please be in touch with Natalie Baloy, the UBC Mix Student Coordinator (ubc-mix@interchange.ubc.ca). If you have questions about other Communities of Practice, please contact Mali Bain, the Community of Practice developer (ctlt.copdeveloper@ubc.ca).
We’re very excited to be a partner with UBC Reads Sustainability. This is an exciting program that brings well-known authors on the topic of sustainability to our campus to engage in a campus-wide discussion.
Why the emphasis on reading? We want to have an informed discussion that starts before the guest speakers appear and lasts well after the microphone goes silent. Sustainability matters to all of us and we want people to read how it matters to others and to think critically about how it matters to themselves.
UBC Reads Sustainability is all about engaging students and faculty from all disciplines to ensure that we’re all thinking about a sustainable future.
Past Speakers
David Korten: Creating a Real Wealth Economy for a Just and Sustainable Future (followed by book signing)
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Wednesday, Sept 29th, 2011 – Victoria Learning Theatre, Irving K Barber Learning Centre, UBC
Stewart Brand: Rethinking Green
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Tuesday, Oct 5th, 2011 – Multi-purpose Room, Liu Institute of Global Issues, UBC
Michael M’Gonigle: Planet U
7:30pm-9:00pm, Friday, March 4th, 2011 – Room A101, Buchanan Hall, UBC
David Montgomery: You Don’t Know Dirt
12:15 pm – 2:00 pm, Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 – Victoria Learning Theatre, Irving K Barber Learning Centre, UBC
Click here for more about a UBC Reads Sustainability Mix story!
Photo Credit: bjornmeansbear
