New installation viewable from outside coming to the Saint Mary's University Art Gallery

Mitchell Wiebe beginning his installation...painting the walls in the window studio space at the gallery pic.twitter.com/PwGhP1E7SH

— SMUgallery (@SMUgallery) November 16, 2020

The gallery’s current activity is a hybrid of a virtual and physical exhibition called the Window Studio Project. It provides an artist the opportunity to explore ideas in a new space and create something unique for that environment. It also gives those who are on campus something different to see each day, since the entire space is viewable from the front window. The gallery will be posting video and images on its social media for those not on campus.

The featured artist this month is Mitchell Wiebe. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver and a Master of Fine Arts degree from  NSCAD University in Halifax. His art practice involves painting, music, performance and installation, and sometimes a convergence where all mediums coexist. Mitchell currently has a nationally touring solo exhibition titled VampSites, curated by Pan Wendt and organized and circulated by the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, PEI.

In his installation at the gallery, Mitchell is considering the view through abstract Adirondack sculptures. He is embracing the challenge of having his work viewable only through a window. He says, “The idea of looking into an installation through a window offers many possibilities. I am enjoying building a space for paintings and objects to mingle, and hopefully offer a glimpse where the imagination can take shape. Humour might not be readily apparent, but I'm going with the notion that the grass is always greener through the slats of wood!”

Mitchell is also exploring a number of lighting techniques with blacklight, multi-coloured lights and mirrors. He will be working in the space through next week, so for those who have permission to be on campus go check it out. If not, visit the gallery’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for images and video.

For more information on Mitchell, visit his website at www.mitchellwiebesart.com.

The Homburg Centre surpasses cleaning expectations in surprise inspection

The Homburg Centre recently impressed the departments of Labour and Advanced Education and Occupational Health and Safety with the rigorous safety measures put in place to keep community members safe. The surprise inspections by Labour and Advanced Education and Occupational Health and Safety are used to ensure that businesses are being compliant with COVID-19 regulations put in place by Dr. Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Upon re-opening the Homburg Centre has enacted stringent protocols that include capacity limits, two-layered contact tracing, pre-screening measures and enhanced cleaning practices.

The Homburg Centre allows for a maximum capacity of 51 people in the building, which includes staff, facilities and members. The weight room and cardio rooms would normally hold 40–50 people; they have decreased their capacity respectively to 15 in the cardio rooms and 10 in the weight room. The new capacity limits allow the equipment to be spaced out appropriately.

“When setting up the rooms for re-opening, we were focused on the increased respiratory rates of people when they are undertaking exercise activities,” says Greg Knight, Assistant Director of the Department of Athletics and Recreation. “The general public maintains a social distance of six-feet, but after our assessments, we based our set up around an eight-foot separation.”

When a member arrives at the Homburg Centre for a workout, they must answer a series of pre-screening questions before entering the building. They are then asked to wash their hands or sanitize before signing in and scanning their membership card at the front desk. Masks are mandatory at all times, with the exception of while they are working out. 

After a member uses a piece of equipment, they are required to clean it themselves before a student staff member follows behind with the hydrostatic sprayers, a new sanitization investment by Saint Mary’s University. The chemical agents in the sprayers require time to effectively kill coronaviruses so it must dry completely before another member may use that equipment. After the 90-minute workout time slot, the gym is closed for a 30-minute deep sanitization before the next session begins.

“Upon re-opening we had our chemical supplier facilitate a session to teach our staff and student employees how to properly use the hydrostatic sprayers in a safe and effective way,” says Roberta Graham, Custodial Manager. “This is a major step in our multi-layered approach to protecting our members while they enjoy a workout.” 

This week, the Homburg Centre has added a seventh time slot in the day and is opening up the option for day-use lockers. With the cooperation of its members and persistent hard work by staff and custodians, the Homburg Centre continues to serve the community in a safe way.

To learn more or to book a workout, visit smu.ca/campus-life/smufit-main

Lest We Forget: University Archives, Institutional Repository house memories from war years

Being virtual hasn’t stopped the University Archives from providing access to Saint Mary’s history, including our community’s involvement in the World Wars.

As Remembrance Day draws near, Canadians prepare to remember the fallen, safely, in accordance with public health measures. The Patrick Power Library's Institutional Repository provides access to photos and yearbooks from the Second World War era and essays and academic work relating to the wars and peacekeeping efforts, among other materials.

Materials in the Repository include an oral history interview with C. Anthony Law, the first curator of Saint Mary's Art Gallery, who enlisted in the Canadian Navy in 1939 and went on to become one of Canada’s most prominent war artists. We also have a documentary on Stanisław Swianiewicz, a former Professor of Economics at Saint Mary’s, who served in the Polish army in World War II and is the only known survivor of the Katyn Forest Massacre.

The University Archives is the official memory of the University. It plays an essential role in reminding us of the effects and the high costs of the war on our institution, our nation and our global community. Dedications to 1942, 1943, and 1944 Yearbooks are to those at war and the fallen. This excerpt from the 1942 Yearbook provides insight into grim realities at that time and the hope for a brighter future:

“What will youth find in the dim far future? They now live in a world of hate, turmoil, and devastation. Guns, battles and death constantly re-echo about them…

But it is not into this chaos that they search for light. In their youthful age another training is theirs, charity, love and justice.”

The photo below can be found in the Institutional Repository and depicts the Saint Mary's C.O.T.C contingent outside the main doors of the Windsor Street Campus in 1940.

Lest we forget.

New SMU lab tackles society’s wicked problems

Saint Mary’s University’s new Wicked Problems Lab is a teaching, learning, and research hub that brings big data, software, analytic techniques, and resources together to tackle wicked problems.

Wicked problems are complex and multifaceted issues that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve. Saint Mary's aims to take on these challenges, evaluating the problems from various perspectives and offering potential solutions to address the issue.

Made possible by gifts from The Windsor Foundation, the Hewitt Foundation and Dr. Daniel McCarthy BComm'76 DComm'11, this new lab’s mandate is to help students and researchers across the university tackle some of society’s most wicked problems.

"Our lab is working to build capacity in employing the large quantities of data currently available and advanced analytical tools to track, assess, and tackle wicked problems both locally and globally," says Dr. Mathew Novak, a Saint Mary's associate professor and director of the Wicked Problems Lab. "We invite students and faculty to bring us their wicked problems, and we will work them to find a solution.  We can help find data and use a host of analytical software that will help in understanding the complexity of the problem and contribute to our pursuit of new knowledge and solutions."

"The resources and expertise of the lab will help our researchers and our students in every discipline. Students writing a term paper may want to include data to support their arguments," says Dr. Novak. "We can help them with the skills, tools and support needed to wade through the mountains of publicly available data and demonstrate how to look at that data in new ways."

The lab follows three critical facets to its resourcing: teaching, learning, and research.

As a teaching resource, the lab offers problem-based learning activities for undergraduate and graduate-level courses. Each exercise has students engage with data and analytical tools to assess a problem while posing questions about challenges in tackling the issue.  These virtual classroom sessions are available for instructors in all disciplines and are timely demonstrations of how Saint Mary’s is innovating in its delivery of courses online.

As a learning resource, the lab will deliver individual and group training to any Saint Mary's community member that wants to enhance their knowledge and use of data analytics and specialized software tools and databases. Training sessions with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are already underway, demonstrating how the software may be employed in various disciplines across campus and offering participants hands on exercises in map making, data management, and spatial analysis. 

As a research resource, Saint Mary’s faculty and students can work with Dr. Khan Rahaman, the full-time research analyst, for free assistance in addressing their wicked problem.  Dr. Rahaman will work with the lab's clients and help them collect, manage, and analyze data for reports, theses, and other research outlets.

"We are very excited to be up, and we are embracing online learning and collaboration, offering our services remotely," says Dr. Novak. "We also look forward to when we can be back on campus, and our lab space will be available for in-person teaching and training as well as research assistance.”

“I also want to thank the people behind the gift that supports all of the work that we do,” adds Novak. “A special thanks to The Windsor Foundation, the Hewitt Foundation, and Saint Mary’s alumni Dr. Daniel McCarthy for making this possible.”

• For more information, visit the Wicked Problems Lab website.

Women in the finance industry making change focus of day-long Sobey School of Business event

Women working in business and finance came together to discuss change and the future of the financial services industry at a day-long event hosted by Saint Mary's University's Sobey School of Business.

Keynote speaker Catherine Philogène, CIM, RIPC, Vice President, Product Management, RBC Global Asset Management Inc.

"Canadian businesses know the benefit of diversity, achieving gender parity and the risk of not doing so," says Karn Nichols, the event organizer and manager of Career Services with the Sobey School of Business. "This event is about building a more equitable and inclusive field in financial services and helping to support all women by building community."

The event, Women in Financial Services: Making Change, reflects the history and the future of women in the financial services industry. The early history of the sector often limited women to teller windows, cashing cheques and literally making change. At the same time, their male colleagues leapfrogged to corner offices and roles in wealth management, capital markets and commercial lending. Today, the value of diversity is proven to add value for all stakeholders and add trillions to North America's gross domestic product (GDP). Banks and other financial services companies are actively recruiting women to help them make change, by taking on non-traditional roles, moving into C-suite leadership, offering their talent in developing and programming fintech, and building support for entrepreneurs and venture capital.

"The Sobey School of Business has always valued and supported initiatives that contribute to our understanding of important issues like increasing diversity and representation in business," says Dr. Harjeet Bhabra, dean of the Sobey School of Business. "I am very pleased that we are taking a leading role in this area and would like to thank everyone involved in organizing this event, for bringing our community together during challenging times to discuss the importance of diversity and representation."

At the event, participants heard from diverse voices and actively participated in workshopping solutions to boost and improve women's representation and increase diversity throughout financial services, including the C-suite and the board room. Participants also had the opportunity to connect with potential mentors or mentees. 

The event featured three streams of interactive workshops on women and diversity in financial services, women, fintech and venture capital financing, and corporate social responsibility in finance. The keynote speaker was Catherine Philogène, CIM, RIPC, Vice President, Product Management, RBC Global Asset Management Inc.

For more details on the event, the keynote speaker, panelists and more, visit https://smu.ca/sobeywib/ .

Retail excellence celebrated at the 4th annual National Retail Innovation Awards

Dr. David Sobey, CM, at the National Retail Innovation Awards in 2019

The excellence of three Canadian retailers was recognized at the 4th annual National Retail Innovation Awards, presented by the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services, located at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

"This is our 4th Annual National Retail Awards, and it is a great pleasure to recognize three outstanding, up-and-coming Canadian retailers for their innovation this year,” says Dr. Ramesh Venkat, director of the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services. “The big lessons for retailers from the past six months are the need for nimbleness, innovation customer focus, and social consciousness. Our award winners exemplify these virtues."

This year’s winners are:

• DUER, winner of the Retail Business Model Innovation Award

• Knix, winner of the Retail Technology Innovation Award

• Vessi Footwear, winner of the Community Service Innovation Award

Retail Business Model Innovation Award winner DUER was founded in 2013 and is based in Vancouver. They feature modern jeans and pants that meet the needs of the active with performance, comfort, and style. They create and market a prototype of a product: new washes, new colours, or a completely new style. Customers place orders, and then if enough of the design is purchased, DUER puts it into production and delivers the garment in four to six weeks. Their products are sold online and at three DUER store locations. 

Retail Technology Innovation Award winner Knix was founded in 2013 and is based in Toronto. Knix makes wireless bras, sports bras, period-proof underwear, loungewear and more. Their clothes are designed with comfort in mind. In response to the pandemic, Knix switched its annual warehouse sale to an online format. Sale volumes rose and turned a three-day event into an event that sold out in only four hours. They also launched a virtual fitting program that allows customers to do a video chat, during which a Knix consultant can help customers find products and assist them with determining the right size. 

Community Service Innovation Award winner Vessie Footwear is based in Vancouver and was founded in 2017. They sell the world's first 100 percent waterproof knit shoe. This online retailer has given away 2,000 free sneakers to health-care workers, launched a 'pay what you can' model to donate 400,000 face masks, and created a Community Fund Program to give away $100,000 for initiatives launched in the community. It also started Vessi TV, giving the community ways to stay healthy and cope with the coronavirus crisis. 

“As the largest private-sector employer in the country, retailers in Canada hold a critical role in our economy,” noted Diane J. Brisebois, President & CEO of Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and a member of the David Sobey Advisory Council. “This year has been particularly challenging for retailers. To succeed in the post-pandemic retail world, Canadian retailers must adjust to new realities and new patterns of consumer behaviour. To grow and prosper in this new environment, our retailers must continue to innovate in technology, customer experience, store design, supply chain, and much more. We applaud this year’s winners as they embody innovative thinking and customer care – Congratulations to Knix, DUER and Vessi Footwear."

The National Retail Innovation Awards celebrates Canadian retailers' achievements and retailers who have demonstrated innovation and excellence in the industry. The awards are hosted by the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services, part of Saint Mary's University's Sobey School of Business. The awards close a very successful Retail Month that featured panels and discussion on e-commerce and the future of retailing, women in retail, and sustainable retailing.   

Founded in 2014, the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services funds research projects relevant to the retail sector, sponsors retail innovation and student competitions, and offers executive education for the retail industry.

Recognizing research at Saint Mary’s

The Saint Mary’s community has many reasons to be proud. Over the last twelve months 95 researchers from across the faculties in Science, Arts and the Sobey School of Business have secured over $8 million dollars in external funding through Canada Research Chair positions, tri-council grants and research contracts.

The impressive diversity of research takes us from re-examining Roman Villas in Italy to implementing nature-based adaptation strategies along Nova Scotia’s coast. The research effects go beyond geographic boundaries to promoting gender equality and using storytelling as a key approach to climate communication.

While under a global pandemic, members of our research community have also pivoted their focus to the covid-19 virus. Researchers are aiming to understand how covid-19 is impacting immigrant populations, whether we can make medical grade pulp for N95 masks from trees in Nova Scotia, looking at environmental factors and how social mobility is transmitting the virus.

Our researchers at Saint Mary’s are exceptionally talented in their fields of work. We have so many reasons to be proud of the calibre of research happening here. Let’s see where the next twelve months take us.

Service learning moves online

In fall of 2020, 95 students are participating in the Service Learning program offered through our faculties in Career and Experiential Learning, a department within Student Affairs and Services. With 15 Community Partners offering virtual placements for students, students will apply what they learn in the classroom to support local organizations.

Virtual placements and projects this term included: 

• Mapping different species of eelgrass photographed throughout Nova Scotia.

• Collecting cherished watermark stories from Maritimers about their favourite waterfront memories.

• Helping a local organization to create new business plans and a rebrand strategy. 

• Creating an App to support clients at a local non-profit organization.

• Creating virtual events for long term care facilities, such as fundraising events, virtual trivia games and auctions.

• Mentoring and supporting young students at a virtual capacity through tutoring and reading support.

• Providing social media and website support to organizations.

Service learning planning is underway for winter 2021, and there is still time to incorporate service learning into your course. Whether a course is taught online, or using a blended model, service learning can help apply course content to community-based learning.

Faculty interested in learning more about service learning for winter 2021 can email service.learning@smu.ca to sign-up for access to a Service Learning Brightspace course. This resource covers everything from incorporating service-learning into your course to providing peer-reviewed research about service-learning. 

Homecoming 2020 talks available for viewing online

The SMU community – including alumni around the world – celebrated a virtual Homecoming 2020 last week, with a great lineup of thought-provoking panels and other events organized by the Alumni Office.

In case you missed them, recordings of these five Homecoming webinars are now available with closed captioning through the Saint Mary’s Alumni Facebook page:     

Back to the Classroom:

• #BLM and Steps to Being Anti-Racist, with Dr. Rachel Zellars;

• Who is Women & Gender Studies For?, with Dr. Michele Byers and Dr. Tatjana Takseva marking the 25-year history of the program at Saint Mary’s;

• Putting "Science" in Forensic Science, with Dr. Timothy Frasier, celebrating the 20th anniversary of SMU’s Forensic Science program;

• SMU After Hours: Accessibility & COVID-19, hosted by Dr. Lori Francis, Dean of Science, with Dr. Linda Campbell, Dr. Sailaja Krishnamurti, Jennifer Green and Baden Mercer; and

• SMU in Action: Black Lives Matter Nova Scotia, moderated by Dr. Zellars with African Nova Scotian community advocates Delvina Bernard (BComm'82, current PhD student in IDS), Andre Anderson (Economics major), and Trayvone Clayton (Criminology major).

In both of the Black Lives Matter events, Dr. Zellars provides historical context to the current times, plus practical takeaways to help people become better allies to the social justice movement.  

“We are in an absolutely unprecedented time,” she says in her Back to the Classroom seminar. She urges viewers to do their research to better understand why the world has exploded in global uprisings around the urgent issues of state violence and social justice.

“There are lots of questions about what we should be doing together. What does solidarity look like in this moment?” she asks. It goes far beyond simply sharing #BLM support on your social media channels or writing anti-racist solidarity statements for your organization, she says, adding “do not hashtag #BLM if you’re not doing the work.”

It’s also important to acknowledge your own implicit bias – everyone with a brain has bias, even if you don’t realize it, she says.  

“In this moment, allyship means taking a back seat, taking a moment of humility that may be unfamiliar to you. Those who are closest to the experience have the most to say. Really listen.”

Most importantly, “educate yourself,” she says, sharing some great places to start with the following list of book and podcast recommendations.

BOOKS:

• White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018);

• Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates (One World, 2015);

• Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, Robyn Maynard (Fernwood Publishing, 2017);

• North to Bondage: Loyalist Slavery in the Maritimes, Harvey Amani Whitfield (UBC Press, 2016);

• Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Ejeris Dixon (AK Press, 2020); and

• Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, adrienne maree brown (AK Press, 2017).

PODCASTS:

• Democracy Now!;

• MEDIA INDIGENA, Interactive Indigenous Insight with Rick Harp;

• Fresh Air, specifically this episode on why police reform fails; 

• On Being with Krista Tippett; and

• How to Survive the End of the World, with the Brown Sisters.

Saint Mary's University climbs into top tier of Maclean’s rankings

Saint Mary's University now ranks fourth among undergraduate universities in Canada.

According to Maclean’s magazine, the university is ranked fourth among primarily undergraduate universities for 2021. Saint Mary’s has continued to climb in the rankings over the past decade.

Among the highlights in this category, Saint Mary’s ranked:

• 1st in student awards (national awards won by students)

• 5th in medical/science grants for faculty

• 5th in student services (under student support)

• 5th in library acquisitions and expenditures

• 5th in the reputational survey

• 6th in faculty awards (national awards won by faculty members)

In addition to ranking fourth among undergraduate universities, both Saint Mary's and the Sobey School of Business's national prominence continue to rise. Saint Mary's is now ranked 33rd in the country when it comes to the national reputational ranking of all universities. This year, the Sobey School of Business ranks among Canada's top 15 business programs. The university's business program is tied for 14th in the country and has the highest reputation for business research in the Atlantic region.

Peace and the pandemic

Peaceful Schools at Currie Primary School, Belfast, Northern Ireland/ North of Ireland

Can there be peace in the midst of conflict? Can peace flourish during a pandemic? And do we have an ethical obligation to teach peace education? Those were some of the questions posed at this year’s annual United Nations International Day of Peace conference. Dozens of participants came together under the auspices of Peaceful Schools International, Saint Mary’s University and Yale University, along with students from public and private schools in Halifax, Northern Ireland / North of Ireland as well as the United States.

The Faculty of Education at Saint Mary’s University has been particularly engaged and supportive of a wide range of peace education initiatives, projects and the provision of relevant academic courses over the past 15 years, including this most recent virtual conference. Saint Mary’s University Professor and President of Peaceful Schools International, Bridget Brownlow, noted that the pandemic posed issues for the conference itself, “Like so many organizations, we were tested by not being able to meet in person this year.  However our students and the partner schools rose to the challenge using videos and online technology to connect in a virtual setting.”

Bryn de Chastelain, President of the Saint Mary’s University Students Association (SMUSA) said, “The pandemic gives us a common issue and demands that we work together to develop common solutions. The pandemic has exacerbated problems and inequalities in our local community and around the world. Never before have we been so interconnected. It’s crucial that we focus on how we can work together as we priorize ongoing education and reflection.”

Peaceful Schools International is a not-for-profit network of educators and students which is housed within Saint Mary’s University and has over 380 member schools worldwide. Among many other projects and initiatives, the organization also provides university students with conflict resolution skills and enables them to travel internationally to the North of Ireland / Northern Ireland to teach these valuable skills in peace education to younger students in elementary schools. “Conflict resolution requires daily practice. We start learning at a young age, said SMU student, Salman Sadib, an Accounting major who has travelled to Belfast, Northern Ireland and credits the program with changing his life. “We want the world to be a better place for everyone; we learn to negotiate with peace in every situation.”

Dr. Bonnie Weir, representing the Department of Political Science at Yale University, also participated in the virtual conference. In February, 2020, she had the privilege of observing students from Saint Mary’s University facilitating peace education workshops in primary classrooms in Belfast and learned firsthand that we all have an ethical obligation to teach peace education to both children and adults, including the ability to understand others, respect for difference and the value of uniqueness. Dr. Weir is also a member of the Board of Directors for Peaceful Schools International.

Crystal Witter, a SMU Psychology major, said peace education should be taught at all levels of university, and included in business strategies and programs. “I now see how diversity and inclusion is so important for peace and harmony.”

For more information on Peaceful Schools International and the virtual conference please visit the website: http://peacefulschoolsinternational.org/