Art project draws inspiration from campus conversations

If you spot Christopher Webb BA’97 on campus over the next month, make sure you have a chat with him—about anything. Experimenting with a new creative process, the artist and entrepreneur is collecting conversations at Saint Mary’s as inspiration for his next solo exhibition.    

He has spoken with 40+ people so far, from student athletes to President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray, and researchers in academic disciplines across the university. His project is supported by a Creation Grant from Arts Nova Scotia. He began in June with weekly visits and is here almost daily through August, working in a makeshift studio space beside the Arts Commons. 

“It’s really been enjoyable to have conversations with people who are so passionate about what they’re doing across many different disciplines,” says Webb. “It’s meant to be a break in the day, a chance to discuss non-linear concepts but one of the real connectors has been that everyone in their work is trying to discover a truth of some kind. That’s something that I’m also trying to discover as a human being. I’m here to voice my truth and investigate my purpose.”  

Webb, who has long been an acclaimed landscape painter, is also co-owner/creator of PAVIA Gallery - Espresso Bar & Café. His art practice took a multidisciplinary turn last summer when he was the Artist-in-Residence with the Annapolis Royal Community Arts Council, perhaps also inspired by a nearly two-year stint as host of The Visual Arts Abstract features for Global Halifax. Visual art is still a huge part of his work but writing and sound are now core elements as well.  

“The work is really coming together,” says Webb. Ideas and concepts from the dialogues funnel into his own prose, which then informs his sketches and paintings. He’s also planning collaborative sound and performance aspects as he did with his spring exhibition “And You” at Gallery 78 Fine Art in Fredericton, which had contributions from musicians and spoken word artist Clyde A. Wray.  

Thematically, his work deals with spirituality, morality and mortality. While “And You” explored topics of life and love, here at Saint Mary’s he seems to be zeroing in on topics relating to values and truth. All conversations are confidential, so he’s not quoting people directly in his work; he wants everyone to feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions.  

He’s aiming to wrap up the writing portion of his project later this month, with 14 to 16 paintings and other elements coming together by mid-autumn for a fall exhibition at a downtown gallery.  

Webb invites faculty, staff and students to connect with him at info@cwebb.ca to set up a time and place to talk. He also encourages faculty members to consider bringing him into their classrooms this fall for discussions on the impact of creativity in all disciplines.    

Follow his art project updates on Instagram at @thechristopherwebb.  

— Marla Cranston, Faculty of Arts

Equity, diversity and inclusion resources for SMU faculty and staff

The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a Canadian organization that focuses on diversity and inclusion, and human rights and equity, specifically in Canada's workplaces and schools. Saint Mary's University is an employer partner with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) which provides us with several benefits that will support us on our diversity and inclusion journey.

The following benefits are available to all faculty and staff:

• Monthly newsletter, Diversity Ink.
  CCDI’s monthly newsletter provides information about CCDI events and research, and other pertinent news from the Canadian diversity and inclusion realm. Subscribe here. You can view past editions of their Diversity Ink newsletter here.

• CCDI Knowledge Repository
  As part of the “Members Only” portal on their website, CCDI has an e-library with over 1,000 documents containing Canadian-specific and international diversity and inclusion research, reports, toolkits and news, which are indexed and searchable by multiple parameters (e.g. by keyword, by topic, etc.). This e-library is an evergreen resource and new content is continually being added. If you would like access to the Knowledge Repository, you can self-register here.

• Monthly webinars
  CCDI offers educational webinars which are free for all of our employees. Registration is currently open for the 2021 calendar year. Click here to see a list of topics and dates. Previously recorded webinars can be accessed via the Knowledge Repository.

• In-person events
  CCDI hosts best-practice forums and Community of Practice events in 18 cities across Canada twice per year. Check this page regularly to see when new dates have been added.

  Questions? Please contact Dr. Rohini Bannerjee, AVP Diversity Excellence or Deborah Brothers-Scott, Director Diversity Inclusion and Wellness, People and Culture.

Upcoming webinars

Register now for the third and fourth webinars in our LGBTQ2+ Inclusion in the Workplace series.
These events are open to all and offered at no charge. Pre-registration is required.

Reconciling Identity: A discussion about Two-Spirit people within the LGBTQ2+ communities
Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 1 p.m. Eastern

All the T: A discussion on gender within the LGBTQ2+ communities
Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern

Summer fun: Annual Food Drive competition and Faculty and Staff BBQ

Both the sun and the barbeques were sizzling at the annual Faculty and Staff BBQ, held on the Oaks lawn last week.

Organized by the Alumni team as a thank you to faculty and staff for their ongoing support, the event also serves to announce and celebrate the winners of the 8th Annual Food Drive competition.

This year, 9 teams participated, raising over 1,488 pounds of food an $175 in monetary donations for the SMU Community Food Room. Located on the 5th floor of the Student Centre, the Community Food Room offers access to safe, nutritious, and personally acceptable foods in a welcome environment, as well as working to improve food security, equity and literacy.

This year’s bragging rights went to Accounting Matters, the winning team from Accounting department at the Sobey School of Business that donated 482 pounds of food! A special shout-out went to the EIT team for their donation of $95 to the SMU Community Food Room allowing some flexibility in making purchases of much-needed items.

A summer of starlings: students benefit from summer research opportunity

Summer student researcher Gabi Armstrong says her starling research focuses on the nests they use to raise their young. She is examining the materials they incorporate into their nests, including natural (e.g., feathers, greenery, sticks, etc.) and anthropogenic materials (e.g., human-made materials) like garbage. 

Alyssa Wells (shown here steadying the ladder for Armstrong) credits a fourth-year biology course with Dr. Barber as the reason she fell in love with the field of behavioural ecology. She was fascinated with how researchers create observational studies to find out information based on the choices that organisms make to survive and find mating success.

Over the years the research has progressed really well according to Armstrong. It has answered many questions involving paternal investment and mate choice among the starlings along with other research questions involving ectoparasites, urbanization and much more.

Wells (left) is focusing her research on how brood condition and parental investment influence mate fidelity within the starling population.

Both students credited the opportunity to do hands-on fieldwork as an important part of why they were excited to participate in this research project.

The beautiful birdcalls of starlings are a fixture of the Saint Mary’s University campus. The more than 40 starling nest boxes across campus are part of a research project led by Dr. Colleen Barber. The boxes were erected almost two decades ago and have provided research opportunities for numerous students and field assistants. This photo gallery shows Saint Mary’s students Gabi Armstrong and Alyssa Wells checking on the starling boxes and shares some insight into their roles as student researchers.

Additional reading

• The sounds of starlings: SMU team gets to the heart of how they mate

Making it Mya event photo gallery

June is Pride Month. Wednesday, June 15, the SMU community gathered for Making it Mya: A Drag Dialogue with Dillon Ross at the Patrick Power Library.

DILLON ROSS BComm’17 completed a double major in Human Resource Management and Marketing from the Sobey School of Business and a minor in French from the Faculty of Arts.

In addition to working as an HR professional, Dillon also performs as Mya Foxx, a Halifax-based drag performer known for her high-energy performances and choreography. From live performances to dance workshops to inspirational talks, Mya strives to ensure opportunities and accessibility for the 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

SMU brand wins international awards

Team work makes the dream work! The External Affairs team partnered with groups across campus to bring the refreshed brand to life: L-R: Nadine LaRoche, Director, Integrated Communications; Lisa Neily, Creative Services Specialist; Kate Elliot, Social Media Strategist; Richard Lafortune, Web Developer; Ameeta Vohra, Web Content Editor; Rachelle Boudreau, Manager, Internal and Strategic Communications; Margaret Murphy, Associate Vice-President, External Affairs; Micheala Avery, Communications Specialist; Alex Beckett, Manager, Digital Experience; Shannon Doane, Web Developer; Mary Ellen Beazley, Creative Services Officer; Shannon Morrison, Administrative Assistant; Erin Sargeant Greenwood, Vice-President, Advancement and External Affairs. Missing from photo: Cale Loney, Communications Manager, Media Relations and Issue, External Affairs

One year ago, following extensive consultation and months of collaboration (during a pandemic!), the university officially launched the refreshed brand for Saint Mary’s.

Now the project is being recognized for excellence in the field.

Thousands of colleges, universities and secondary schools from across the United States, Canada and beyond submit work for consideration to the U.S.-based Education Digital Marketing Awards and the Education Advertising Awards, which recognize exceptional work educational marketing communications, branding and advertising.

Saint Mary’s took home awards for the following categories:

• Gold:       Digital Video Ad (Less than 2 minutes)               

• Gold:       Logo/Letterhead Design 

• Gold:       Outdoor             

• Gold:       Website

• Silver:      Institutional Website Category

• Bronze:   Digital Video Category 

• Merit:       Integrated Campaign

Congratulations to the many people who contributed to this project!

Learn more about the Saint Mary’s University brand.

SMU creative writing contest winners announced

The English Language and Literature department is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s creative writing contests. The Writing Contest Committee shares a few thoughts on each of the winning entries.

The Joyce Marshall Hsia Memorial Poetry Prize:

First prize
Julien Sheppard BA’21, current MA History student, Patrick Power Fellow in Applied History 

We were moved by the narrative energy and particularity in these poems, and by the exactness of the perceptions of natural detail (the shimmer of gaspereau). One believes in the human voices, the characters one encounters: “When did you stop asking / about Margaret?” Some of the poems drew us in with their chilling images, their calculated ambiguities; others by immersing us in a conjured matrix of human and creaturely relationship. 

Second prize
Patrick Inkpen, BA student, English major

We liked the range of themes, forms and tones in this submission, and the way this poet marries poetic convention to original perception. There’s a compelling oddness about many of these poems, despite their traditional formal structures. 

Third prize

Melisa Kaya, BA student, English major, Creative Writing minor

We admire this poet’s attention to detail, to the metapoeic resonances that are possible on the page. The locutions are unexpected and vivid: "I crawled from my mother’s hollow like a squirrel of a willow ...." The concrete poem which begins the submission felt fresh and true: a new perception wrested from language, given linguistic form. 

The Margó Takacs Marshall Memorial Prize For Excellence In Short Story Writing

First prize – “Gone for Good”
By Melisa Kaya, English major 

A metanarrative characterized by an uncompromising wildness, an unwillingness to resolve; it seemed to us the most interesting of the submissions, though we sometimes struggled to follow the narrative thread. Still, we have decided to honour it with the first prize, to recognize its ambition and its distinctness, vis-à-vis the other submissions.

Second prize – "Where Do We Go?"
By Alex Baker, MA Philosophy student

A grisly existential tale, which surprised us with a new take on a familiar genre-fiction scenario. The sentences are compellingly constructed and the characters and settings are deftly evoked.

Third prize – "Soliloquy of Something"
By Theodore Moss III, BSc student 

A story that gradually brings us into sympathy with what initially seems a one-note narrator: the story moves from simplicity to complexity in a way that is compelling. What begins as a simple story about teenaged love and rejection becomes a complex story about friendship and meaning.

The annual poetry and short fiction contests are open to any student currently enrolled at Saint Mary’s University. Next year’s deadline for submissions will be in March 2023. Some of the previous winners have gone on to become nationally celebrated writers, such as Sue Goyette, Jenny Haysom, Jill MacLean and Danny Jacobs.

Young researchers to benefit from new partnership with German accelerator facility

Saint Mary’s University and GSI recently signed a new mobility program agreement to promote research collaborations.

Promoting exchanges and training opportunities for students and early-stage researchers is at the heart of a new mobility program agreement recently signed by the university. The agreement promotes academic and research collaborations between the two signees, Saint Mary's University (SMU) and GSI/FAIR, an accelerator facility in Darmstadt, Germany.

Researchers working at FAIR/GSI use radioactive ion beams for exploring fundamentals of nuclei to understand nature's strong force, creation of elements and conditions in exotic cosmic environments such as neutron stars and supernovae. Some of the methods also give information for nuclear medicine applications.

Their work is on experiments using the accelerator facility, which involves working on a variety of state-of-the-art radiation detectors and electronics. They also will be developing and working on software for data analysis and simulations. The GET_INvolved Programme at GSI provides international students and early stage researchers with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience in order to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training.

This agreement between the Canadian university and the German accelerator facility is exciting news to researchers and undergraduate and graduate students who will have the opportunity to further their education and research by collaborating at this world-class facility.

“This new partnership between Saint Mary’s University and our colleagues at GSI/FAIR represents our shared commitment to international research and collaboration,” says Saint Mary’s University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. “As scholars, we are linked by our desire to create knowledge, to explore frontiers and to demonstrate the significance of discovery and innovation to civil society.”

“Our partnership is built around these shared values and our acknowledgement of the importance of providing opportunities for early-career researchers,” adds President Summerby-Murray. “Together, we are investing not only in advancing scientific inquiry but in the success of future scholars. I offer my congratulations to everyone involved in the launch of this important collaboration.”

About GSI/FAIR

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The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) project is under development. (Image copyright ion42/FAIR)

The GSI Helmholtz Centre in Darmstadt, Germany is a research centre operating a world-leading accelerator facility for research purposes. About 1,600 employees work at GSI and in addition approximately 1,000 researchers from universities and other research institutes around the world come to GSI every year to use the facility for experiments. The centre provides unique opportunities in the fields of hadronic and nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, atomic, laser and plasma physics, as well as material science, biophysics and nuclear medicine.

At GSI, FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe) is currently being built. An international accelerator research facility with antiprotons and ions, it is being developed and constructed in cooperation with international partners. It is one of the world’s largest construction projects for international cutting-edge research. The FAIR project was initiated by the scientific community and researchers of GSI. The GSI accelerators will become part of the future FAIR facility and serve as the first acceleration stage.

For more information on the the GET_INvolved-Programme, contact:

Professor Rituparna Kanungo, Saint Mary’s Astronomy and Physics Department:
Rituparna.Kanungo@smu.ca

Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, GSI/FAIR:
Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu

Sowing the Seeds of Peace: Northern Ireland Peace Education Program

President Summerby-Murray wished the students and program coordinators well before leaving for Northern Ireland.

President Summerby-Murray and Dr. Malcolm Butler, VPAR, wished the students and program coordinators well before leaving for Northern Ireland.

Liam Mason, Bachelor of Commerce student, connects with students at Bunscoil An tSleibhe Dhuibh primary school. "As an Irish Studies student at Saint Mary’s, I was privileged to experience first-hand an Irish language primary school and utilize my Irish language skills with the students during our peace education workshops."

A group of 16 Saint Mary's students are building on a longstanding legacy of peace education in Northern Ireland this week.

The students—representing diverse areas of studies in Arts, Science and Commerce—are taking part in the Northern Ireland / North of Ireland Peace Education Program, facilitated by Peaceful Schools International and the Faculty of Education at Saint Mary's.

Now in its 18th year, the unique experiential program prepares the participants to conduct peace education workshops for elementary school children in Belfast. The students have a full itinerary including workshops, outreach and meetings with community partners involved in peacebuilding, as well understanding the history and cultural perspectives of Northern Ireland.

The group returns to Halifax on May 9. Check @smuhalifax for updates on their experiences, and stay tuned for a future story upon their return!

Faculty of Arts Update: Department and program name changes

With registration starting this week for the Fall and Winter terms, the Faculty of Arts would like to update students and staff on several program and department name changes.

Two programs have new names that will officially take effect on September 1, 2022. These new names are reflected in the 2022-2023 Academic Calendar and on Banner for Fall and Winter course selection. Both programs have new course acronyms as well:

• Ancient Studies (ANCS), formerly known as Classics (CLAS); and

• Global Development Studies (GDST), formerly known as International Development Studies (IDST).

Please note that program requirements will not change in either of these programs. For students who have already declared a major, minor, honours or concentration in Classics or International Development Studies, those program names will remain the same on your transcript. The new program names will apply for students who declare majors or minors from September 1 onward.  

We are also pleased to announce a new department, plus two department name changes within the Faculty of Arts:

• New! Department of Global Development Studies, formerly the International Development Studies program (stay tuned for more exciting news on the launch of our twelfth Arts department);

• Department of Languages and Cultures, formerly Department of Modern Languages and Classics; and

• Department for the Study of Religion, formerly Department of Religious Studies.

The Ancient Studies program continues to reside within the Department of Languages and Cultures.

Contact the departments directly if you have questions about the new names. If students have any questions about program requirements or course selection, please feel free to reach out anytime to the BA Advising Office.