is a poet, novelist, storyteller and veteran whose novel Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures is available from Double Dagger Press.

Today, Matt writes and teaches in Paris: leadership at the 脡cole Militaire and creative writing at SciencesPo. His many published works interrogate themes of dehumanization, poetics, monsters, masculinity, cross-cultural exchange, and healing. He also co-hosts the by-donation Write Time workshop, and organizes fitness enthusiasts who use trees as barbells: the Log Club.

Follow his work and receive .

杏吧原创 the Novel

Predators, Reapers, and Deadlier Creatures tracks Jones, a drone operator stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2010. As he monitors Sahar, a teenager and suspected terrorist, Jones commits the ultimate crime: he cares.

Jones鈥檚 supervisor is similarly stained, a fierce soldier who champions Afghan women. By day, Jones and the Major track Taliban down the cratered highways. By night, they wish their love had never hurt so many.

Beneath the base, Jones befriends Noah who, despite his cruel fangs and horrifying strength, is the only gentle creature in the entire desert. As Jones contends with a brutal predator stalking soldiers, Noah鈥檚 bids for freedom grow desperate, and the fighting season renews with a fresh crop of Taliban.

In Kandahar, there鈥檚 a monster in every window. And there鈥檚 also one in every mirror. As the war grinds him to ever-finer particles, Jones grapples with the toll鈥攎adness, craters, grief.

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By Emily Putnam

Those from the 杏吧原创 community tuning-in to the this weekend may get to see a familiar face on screen.

, who is now a Juno nominated composer, started her journey at 杏吧原创 in 2002 to study jazz guitar.

Brandon says she feels overwhelmed and excited for her first-time nomination.

鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful to have this acknowledgement from my peers and to be in the company of the other nominees I admire so much, such as Dinuk Wijeratne, Emilie Lebel and Nicole Liz茅e.鈥�

Brandon is nominated for Classical Composition of the Year for , a piece recorded with and cellist , who she says she wrote the piece for.

鈥淪imulacra is essentially a sonification of my own experiences with identity鈥�, says Brandon. 鈥淟ike many others, I鈥檝e often felt intense pressure to alter aspects of my fundamental self in order to better 鈥榝it in鈥�.鈥�

鈥淚 express this in the piece by making the timbre of the cello a metaphor for this kind of self-inhibition and self-suppression 鈥� it travels from the narrowest of timbral ranges to the fullest, undergoing continuous transformation, eventually ending in an uneasy balance.鈥�

Brandon鈥檚 compositions have been described as 鈥�…gut wrenching and horrific鈥� (Critipeg), and “otherworldly, a clashing of bleakness with beauty” (Minor Seventh).

鈥淚 get great satisfaction from creating music that has a certain physicality, although sometimes that quality is not necessarily beautiful in the traditional sense. But to me, this manipulation of timbre is what carries the most communicative aspects of music.鈥�

The piece, conducted by , was first performed at the in 2023 and was supported by , and .

鈥淭he title of the cello concerto, Simulacra, refers to Baudrillard鈥檚 famous book on semiotics, and the concept of 鈥榓 copy that does not have an original鈥�. This is a nod to the idea that sometimes we create our identities out of nothing, creating a kind of hyperreal self that replaces us in the real world.鈥� says Brandon.

She says her education at 杏吧原创 helped to instill important values that she carries with her today.

鈥淚 worked with Wayne Eagles, Garry Elliott, Tim Bedner and , all of whom had a profound impact on me musically and as a person. I was lucky to have had the chance to work further with Roddy beyond my degree – we toured a little together on the East Coast and he is featured on my first album, ‘‘ which was released in 2016. He’s a brilliant guitarist and composer.鈥�

鈥淚 also took classical guitar lessons from Garry even after I graduated. His approach to teaching gave me a foundation of discipline which I relied on later in life as I moved into composition. He taught me that nothing good comes without effort and practice, which is a philosophy I use to this day twenty years later.鈥�

Brandon says 杏吧原创鈥檚 music program was always encouraging of her innovative and unique sonic interpretations.

鈥淥ne thing I appreciated about 杏吧原创 as a whole was its openness to musical ideas and influences from beyond the traditional conservatory system. I never felt that my musical ideas, however outlandish, were considered unwelcome. This musical openness definitely laid the foundation for my later approach to composition and performance in more experimental and free improvisational styles.鈥�

She says her compositions help bring her internal emotions outward.

鈥淔or me, composing is as simple as wanting to take everything that I hear inside, and bringing it outside. Simulacra, and all my pieces are these kinds of personal communications to ‘the outside world’.鈥�

鈥淚’m grateful that other people have found these expressions to be something worthwhile, and I cherish all the collaborations with performers that have come from that.鈥�

This year鈥檚 winners will be revealed in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the  Presented by Music Canada on Saturday, March 23 and The on Sunday, March 24, live on CBC.

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Kika Otiono, a recent graduate of聽Bachelor of Humanities and Biology, has won the prestigious聽$15,000 .

Established in 2017 by The Canadian Medical Association Foundation, the 150th Anniversary Award is awarded to students enrolled in the Michael G Degroote School of Medicine at McMaster University who
demonstrate the values of medical professionalism, including honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility and accountability, commitment to self-improvement and collaboration.

Impressively, Otiono received an offer of admission to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in 2018 while she just was a third-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Humanities and Biology program at 杏吧原创.

Congratulations, Kika!

Read more about  and her .

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Chronicling Carolyn Goodman鈥檚 academic and professional story is no easy task鈥�

Goodman graduated from 杏吧原创 in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology and has since gone on to become monstrously successful in the fields of marketing and advertising. Based out of San Francisco, Goodman holds an inherently cool and prolific job, has an even cooler family, is a tremendously active athlete, a pop culture aficionado, an enthusiastic world traveller, and an outdoor adventure junkie. She鈥檚 also a compassionate 杏吧原创 University mentor, who helped land her most recent mentee a dream job as a sport marketer in his dream city of Amsterdam (wow).

As stated at the outset of this introduction, beyond simply referring to her as an 鈥渋nspiration,鈥� profiling the very composite and fascinating life of Carolyn Goodman is not an uncomplicated task; so we asked her for some help鈥�

The creative entrepreneur was kind enough to take time out of her unfathomably busy schedule to chat with FASS about school, work and life. Enjoy.

Could you give us a synopsis of your fascinating career path and some lesson you may have learned along the way? 

After graduating from 杏吧原创 in 1977 with a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and then completing the Creative Advertising (my calling!) program at Algonquin College, I moved out west, and landed a job as a writer/producer at CFCN-Television in Lethbridge, and was lucky enough to follow that with a job at the Calgary offices of Cockfield Brown 鈥� one of the largest ad agencies in Canada. I worked my way up from media planner to Account Executive, and was lucky to keep writing and producing commercials as well. After moving to California in 1983, I talked my way into a job at Chiat/Day 鈥� the 鈥渉ot鈥� agency who handled the Apple business (although everyone else at the agency worked on Apple, I worked on start-up retailer BusinessLand, one of the first PC retail chains!).

As is typical in this business, I worked at several different large agencies over the course of the next 20 years including Ogilvy & Mather Direct, DDB Needham and client-side at Bank of America and 1^st Nationwide Bank. In the early 1990鈥檚 I was tapped to move to Toronto to open a Canadian beachhead for direct response agency Cohn & Wells, and discovered that I was also very good at new business development, landing Bell Canada, Stentor and BC Tel at the beginnings of telecommunication deregulation.

I took all of those skills and experiences and finally struck out on my own in 2002.

I opened my own agency (which was based out of my home), Goodman Marketing Partners 鈥� a full-service marketing company. After my husband discovered a large meeting of 30+ people in the living room one day, he gently suggested I rent some office space 鈥� and the rest is history.

I continue today as the President and Creative Director of Goodman Marketing Partners.

Throughout the course of my career I鈥檝e discovered that I have an equal balance of left brain and right brain skills 鈥� I love the creative challenges involved with conceiving an idea and bringing it to life, but I also love analyzing data, and figuring out what it鈥檚 really telling me about a business opportunity. I鈥檝e also learned an immense amount about self-discipline 鈥� and to never, ever, ever give up. Just because somebody tells me 鈥渘o,鈥� I don鈥檛 take it personally. Instead, it just fires me up to work smarter and harder.

What is your role as mentor for 杏吧原创 U?

When I first signed on to be a mentor, I knew it would be challenging. I鈥檇 already had one son graduate from college and was lucky that he had mapped out a path for himself in surfing and photography, so I had no experience 鈥済uiding鈥� him. When I was introduced to my first mentee via Skype, we spent the first few meetings just getting to know each other and trying to figure out what career path he wanted to pursue. But once we discovered his passion, we were off and running.

I treat the role as an opportunity to help guide a student into a job that will launch their career. I鈥檓 happy to answer questions about the marketing/advertising industry, my day-to-day job, or provide an overview of the advertising and marketing landscape. But more importantly, I give extremely tactical advice about how to put together a solid resume and LinkedIn profile, and how to self-brand. Together we look at and evaluate job opportunities, and I help my mentee research and make contact with other people who can help him land that 鈥減erfect鈥� job. By analyzing the profiles of his key targets, I help him understand the right industry lingo to use, how to make contact and follow up, and how to prepare for a job interview. I help prepare a lifestyle budget in order to determine salary requirements and I get as excited as my mentee does when everything starts to fall into place!

Why did you choose Sociology as your major? 

When I enrolled at 杏吧原创 I was only 16 (!), and I had no idea what I wanted to do. After taking Introduction to Sociology, I became fascinated with the entire discipline and how the world was purposefully organized into networks and institutions. I loved that it included research and critical thinking 鈥� and actually got excited the first time I turned in my punch cards to try and create a cross-tab report! I apply many of the insights about human behavior into my marketing work as my job is to motivate target audiences to take an action.

How has your arts degree been an asset in helping you achieve your great professional and entrepreneurial success?  

In 2016, many students are pushed into determining a career path beginning in high school in order that they might find the right university that will prepare them for their future. I think that鈥檚 a lot of pressure to put on a student who is still trying to figure out who they are and life in general.

Instead, I encouraged my kids to find a subject that interested them by taking a wide variety of classes in their freshman year 鈥� and if 杏吧原创 hadn鈥檛 insisted that, as an undeclared major, I take a variety of classes, I never would have discovered Sociology.

A degree in the arts prepared me to have a curious and open mind; to research and explore alternate ideas and respect points of view that may be contrary to my own. Today, my job involves working with a wide variety of people who all bring different perspectives to the table, so it鈥檚 apt that I am prepared to understand group dynamics and consensus-building principles. Plus, I know how to look at research critically, ask questions and form conclusions or theories that can help advance a marketing strategy.

What practical advice can you offer to 杏吧原创鈥檚 FASS students and recent grads? 

Rarely does anyone graduate from high school, fully prepared to make a contribution to the business world. Of course there are exceptions, but even living in entrepreneurial San Francisco, I meet plenty of young people who are full of great, big, ideas, but don鈥檛 know how to write a business plan or how to frame their idea to an investor or even how to research and determine if there is even a market for their idea. A secondary degree should help give you the time you need to explore new topics, ask questions and figure out what interests you. Then, seek out people in that industry and find out what they do and how they got there.

You can find lots of working professionals at industry events, so sign up and get ready to be social! Introduce yourself, engage in conversation and ask for informational interviews 鈥� and then show up prepared to ask questions (and write down the answers) about what they do, what it鈥檚 like to work in that industry and what it might take for you to get a job in that category. There are so many professionals who would be happy to help recent grads, but never get asked for help!

Make sure your personal brand is ready 鈥� set your social network sites to private; critically evaluate your tweets (and if they鈥檙e not appropriate for the business world, delete your account and start again); set up your LinkedIn profile with a professional photo and engaging summary. Link in to friends, professors and other 杏吧原创 alum and then network, network, network!

A career in advertising and marketing is so coveted! In your experience and opinion, what makes the profession so sought-after?

What keeps advertising and marketing interesting for me is that the work has so much variety to it, so every day is different. Last week, for example, consisted of writing, casting and recording three radio spots; an all-day photo shoot in a grocery store; writing and designing ten different digital ads; going on a press check to check the color on a printed piece; sitting behind a one-way glass watching consumer focus groups; analyzing email open rates, click through and sales conversion results; writing a marketing proposal for a new client and working with a video editor on three product-focused videos for a tech client. And yes, over the years I鈥檝e worked with lots of 鈥渇amous鈥� people, travelled to practically every state and Canadian province, spent two weeks in Hawaii on a shoot (really, really tough work!), enjoyed meals at some of the top restaurants, stayed in luxurious hotels and been treated like royalty.

I鈥檝e been at judge at the Direct Marketing Association ECHO Awards for many years, and have seen some creative work that I鈥檝e truly coveted 鈥� but I鈥檝e also got work in my own portfolio that I鈥檓 very proud of鈥� like the miniature Zen garden that we turned into a construction site and sent to executives at the top ten homebuilders in the U.S.; or when we sent one half of a two-way radio to CFO鈥檚 and told them they鈥檇 get the other half when they met with a sales rep to talk about 401(k) plans. Both those campaigns yielded superior results for the client. Advertising is such a visual medium that it鈥檚 hard to describe something that鈥檚 highly creative without showing it.

Do you view your profession as a type of artistry?

Direct response marketing is a combination of art and science. While the science is in the ability to profile a target audience and then use a variety of media tools to find likely prospects, the artistry is in the strategy of message and how to create a compelling unique selling point that stimulates a response. I鈥檝e seen plenty of 鈥済reat鈥� ideas fall flat because they were not executed properly.

Who are some of your personal heroes and how do they inspire you?

Many of my heroes are in my family 鈥� my husband who also runs his own ad specialties business; my oldest son who creates surfing videos and has his own photography business; my twins (one is studying acting and ad libs on stage better than anyone I鈥檝e ever seen; the other wants to study Game Design at 杏吧原创 and has already had paid game design gigs with Dell and other companies). All are tremendously creative, innovative and hardworking, but a blast to spend time with.

The prof. who inspired me the most was actually the Senior Res Fellow in Renfrew House, Dr. Ken Hatt. Ken was a professor of Sociology at St. Patrick鈥檚 College and I remember spending many an evening in his student-crowded living room debating life issues. He was a wonderful man who was very encouraging of every student in the dorm, no matter what subject matter they were studying.

Are you a binge reader or TV/movie watcher?  If so, can you offer our FASSinate readers some recommendations?  What else do you do for fun in your (likely limited) downtime?

I formed a book club many years ago because I was afraid I wasn鈥檛 finding enough time to read, and I knew that if I was held to a monthly dinner meeting and discussion, I would live up to my commitment! We鈥檝e explored many wonderful books that I may not have picked up on my own and for that, I am deeply grateful.

I am a binge TV watcher鈥� but I tape everything and watch it when I have time. I enjoy a lot of British series that have with quirky characters like 鈥淒oc Martin,鈥� 鈥淩iver,鈥� 鈥淏roadchurch鈥� and 鈥淭he Fall.鈥�

Having a structured day is the best way for me to get everything done, so I get up at 5:30 am and swim for 45 minutes (living in California has its advantages!); I mountain bike on Saturdays and hike every Sunday morning before church; Take boxing classes week nights; Play on a co-ed softball team in the summer and try to take a major trip each year. One year it was hiking in Nepal to the sacred city of Lo-Manthang (founded in 1380), three years ago I hiked the West Coast Trail of Vancouver Island with my siblings and a 50 lb. pack on my back; most recently it was a trip to Machu Picchu in Peru with my husband. Next up? Who knows!

What topic do you love talking about?

Given the political climate in the U.S., it鈥檚 hard NOT to talk about politics and the embarrassment of it all. But more often than not, the conversations with my friends are about travel, our kids and the next chapter of our lives 鈥� because retirement is right around the corner!

Any parting words of wisdom?

My advice to students and grads is simple: Embrace life. Find something that excites you and work hard at it to be the best you can be, and I promise that you鈥檒l be rewarded with a rich and fulfilling life. Oh, and have a little fun along with way.

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The City of Ottawa honoured three people, including Dr. Maria Rasouli, (PhD Psychology alumna), who run successful businesses and give back to the community during its Friday morning…Read more on the .

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FASS alumnus, Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki’s  (PhD, History, 2007) book, , has been shortlisted for a .

According to Baba: A Collaborative Oral History of Sudbury鈥檚 Ukrainian Community was first written by Dr. Zembrzyckias as her PhD dissertation at 杏吧原创 University in the  under the supervision of and .

As a child, Stacey Zembrzycki listened to her Baba鈥檚 stories about Sudbury鈥檚 small but polarized Ukrainian community and what it was like growing up ethnic during the Depression. According to Baba discloses with honesty and respect what happened when Zembrzycki tried to capture those experiences through oral history. Baba looms large in the narrative, wrestling authority in the interview process away from her granddaughter and then eventually coming to share it. Together, the two women lay the groundwork not only for an insightful and deeply personal social history of Sudbury鈥檚 Ukrainian community but also for truly collaborative oral history research and writing.

“I am truly honoured that my book, According to Baba, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Kobzar Literary Award,” said Zembrzycki.  “It is the first oral history to be written about Ukrainian Canadians and it is also the first to document the experiences of those immigrants who chose to call a remote northern Ontario mining town鈥擲udbury鈥攈ome.

“Additionally, it is an incredibly personal narrative about my own family and its role in building and sustaining this community. I grew up listening to my grandmother鈥檚, my Baba鈥檚, stories about this place and what it meant to her and my goal has always been to give these stories back to my community. Being recognized in this manner, by the , powerfully symbolizes that return.”

Her former supervisor, 杏吧原创 University’s Professor Walsh, was thrilled to learn that his former student has received this recognition for her remarkable work.

“The creativity, accessibility, and scholarly rigour which is a hallmark of According to Baba and all of Stacey’s work demonstrates the transformative potential of collaborative oral and public histories. It is also a model for producing the kind of affective interdisciplinary scholarship and storytelling which is occurring across FASS,” said Walsh.

Since completing her PhD in CU’s , Zembrzycki has gone on to become an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Concordia University. She is an award-winning oral and public historian of ethnic, immigrant, and refugee experience, and author of According to Baba’s accompanying, website: .

Zembrzycki is also co-editor of , which won the 鈥檚 2014 Book Award. Zembrzycki鈥檚 current SSHRC funded project, , uses oral history to explore the connections between mining, health, and the environment and their impact on postwar immigrant communities in Sudbury, Ontario. She is also completing a book entitled Chaperoning Survivors: Telling Holocaust Stories on the March of the Living, which uses multiple, life story oral history interviews to understand how five Montreal Holocaust survivors give testimony, remember in-situ, and educate others about the horrors they witnessed.

Read more about Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki’s According to Baba: A Collaborative Oral History of Sudbury鈥檚 Ukrainian Community in the and on .

The Kobzar Literary Award

The Kobzar Literary Award was launched in 2003 by the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, the biennial $25,000 Kobzar Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts through presentation of a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit. The Kobzar shortlisted authors will read from their works at the , on Sunday October 25 at Harbourfront in Toronto and a winner will be announced at the award ceremony on March 3, 2016 at Palais Royale in Toronto. More information about the prize can be found here:.

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