ARTS AND HUMANITIES COLLOQUIUM SERIES - SPRING 2012

There will be two Spring 2012 sessions of the Arts and Humanities Colloquium. Both will be held at the Malaspina Theatre at VIU from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Friday, February 10, 2012: Knowing Their Place?: Identity and Space in Children's Literature

Traditionally in the West, children were expected to “know their place”; but what does this mean in a contemporary, globalized world? How does children’s literature help explain how identity is derived from a sense of place? This presentation brings together several speakers who participated in a post-graduate conference on The Child and the Book at VIU in May 2009 then contributed to a collection of essays edited by Terri Doughty and Dawn Thompson that explore indigeneity and place, analyze the relation between the child and the natural world, and study the role of fantastic spaces in the child’s construction of self.  In children’s literature, the physical places and psychological spaces inhabited by children and young adults help shape the identity of both characters and readers.

This session will be led by Terri Doughty, English Department, VIU, and Dawn Thompson, Chair, English Department, VIU. Participants will include Melissa Bachynski, a graduate student at the University of Western Ontario; Donna Flett, aboriginal teacher, John Barsby Community School; Janet Grafton, a graduate student at the University of Northern British Columbia;  and Sheila Grieve, co-Chair, Early Childhood Education, VIU.

Friday, March 9, 2012: The Power of Theatre in Indigenous Communities

In the building of nations, the suppression of indigenous cultural traditions by colonial powers was the practical and legislative means by which indigenous peoples were subjected to enforced enculturation. In his famous text, Theatre of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire describes colonial settlers as invaders who penetrate the cultural context of another group, ignoring potential and curbing expression, in order to impose their own view of the world upon them. In Canada, an acute suppression of sacred performance took place with the 1884 Potlatch Ban amendment to The Indian Act of 1876, which wasn’t dropped from the legislative books until 1951. This presentation will offer information on the suppressive acts of arts-domination in Canada and discuss Indigenous cultural theatrical expression in contemporary times.

Please join Eliza Gardiner (Theatre Department) and Laura Cranmer (First Nations Studies Department) in conversation as they question Euro-centric theatre assumptions and dispute the limitations that were waged on indigenous performance traditions.

**************************************************************************

Support for the Colloquium series is provided by Ros Davies and by the Dean of Arts and Humanities, Ross MacKay (Ross.MacKay@viu.ca).

For more information, please contact Daniel Burgoyne (Daniel.Burgoyne@viu.ca), Timothy Lewis (Timothy.Lewis@viu.ca), or Deborah Torkko (Deborah.Torkko@viu.ca).