By Emily Putnam

Artist-in-Residence has closed their residency at 杏吧原创 with two student-led performances.

Shortt is a storyteller and performing artist working across Turtle Island and internationally. They are a vocalist, saxophonist, noisemaker, improviser, composer, sound designer, video artist, curator, administrator, and producer.

Shortt has been on campus since January 2024. While here, they’ve taught a course called Music Producing 101 (MUSI 4200) and ran the Performer-Composer Lab ensemble. They also gave a masterclass, presented a concert at 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre, and took part in music auditions and juries.

They say 杏吧原创鈥檚 music program hosts a uniquely diverse range of musicians in study.

鈥淭he program here is really great because I’m meeting students from a plethora of genres. I have metal guitar players, I have singer-songwriters, I have classical musicians and jazz musicians, people who are self-taught, and people who have had lessons their whole life. I think it creates a really interesting dynamic that’s fun to work with.”

Shortt says the students they鈥檝e worked with have been open and eager to the new challenges they鈥檝e been assigned.

鈥淪tudents here are super keen. They have been absolutely amazing to work with. I don’t think I’ve met that many people who are just happy to try things out.鈥�

Shortt focussed on teaching students how to prepare artist bios, build their resume, and send email pitches in hopes of helping artists become more well-rounded experts of their craft.

The 杏吧原创 Music that occurred on April 1 took place at local venue .

The showcase featured the music of ABBA, Gotye, Andrea Bocelli, and several original compositions from 杏吧原创 music students.

The ensemble also collaborated with 杏吧原创鈥檚 radio station where students Robyn Lichaa, Sarah Peters and Anastasia Wasylinko  and performed pieces that will be featured at the showcase.

Shortt says connections and community can be one of the keys to success.

鈥淚 think it’s the advice everyone gives, and not everyone takes 鈥� which is: ask the local artists you’re interested in for coffee, because you learn so much from these conversations. I’ve done that so many times. I still do it.鈥�

Shortt also advises aspiring artists to refrain from being discouraged when things don鈥檛 go according to plan.

They say Ottawa鈥檚 community has welcomed them with open arms.

鈥淚 really like that Ottawa seems to have specific communities. And while maybe if you look statistically, there’s less, it’s almost like there’s more, because you’re really focusing on specific places.鈥�

Shortt says they particularly connected with 鈥檚 work, one of Ottawa鈥檚 leading independent and underground music and arts presenters.

鈥淚 found people really want to connect with you. Even if they don’t have the time, even if time鈥檚 not available, they’re like: I’ll find time.鈥�

Another focus of Shortt鈥檚 teaching was improvisation and interpreting music beyond traditional notation.

鈥淚 did all this training for so long, and then someone introduced me to improvisation. It really opened my eyes and reshaped how I looked at my previous training and classical music.鈥�

鈥淭here’s now these different ideas and ways of approaching improvisation, but they all coalesce, and they all come together. I just think it’s good to make sure you’re working all the different parts of your brain. I think they all work together in the end, and I’m just hoping that I can help make people into full and complete musicians, so that they’re not just only looking at music one way.鈥�

Shortt鈥檚 most recent artistic expression-of-choice is creating that encompass all components of their creativity.

鈥淚 really like video art because it kind of became a substitute for theatre, which I had really fallen in love with.鈥�

The second student-led performance will be taking place on Friday, April 5 at the Kailash Mital Theatre at 杏吧原创 University.

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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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Renowned playwright Drew Hayden Taylor delivered a lecture titled ‘A Coming of Age: Indigenous Literature’ as the 37th Munro Beattie speaker.

This year’s Munro Beattie Lecture was delivered by , a dynamic and versatile playwright, novelist and documentarian from the Curve Lake First Nations celebrated for his blend of humoristic and deeply insightful storytelling. Taylor’s lecture offered a captivating glimpse into the multifaceted world and perspectives of one of Canada’s great authors. 

Taylor took the stage at the 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Taylor鈥檚 lecture marked the 37th year of the Munro Beattie lectures, a series dedicated to honouring the English department鈥檚 founding chair. Serving as chair for over two decades, from 1953 to 1969, Beattie is remembered as a brilliant conversationalist known for his wit and passion. This lecture series continues to celebrate and uphold the values he characterized.

Taylor’s talk, titled A Coming of Age: Indigenous Literature, explored what he calls the “contemporary Native Literary Renaissance.” He defines this renaissance as a powerful eruption of Indigenous Literature across various genres that started in the late 1980s and continues today.

In conversation with FASS writer Emily Putnam, Taylor discusses the ever-evolving world of storytelling, the transformative utility of humour, and what the dexterous creator hopes to work on next.

EP: Your speaker event is called ‘A Coming of Age: Indigenous Literature’. Is Indigenous Literature coming of age?

DT: That’s the $64,000 question. I think it is. In fact, some may argue it already has. In my lecture, I like to refer to what I think of as the contemporary Native Literary Renaissance, which began in the late 鈥�80s and early 鈥�90s. And that’s when there was this explosion of Native Literature, prose, plays, poetry, etc. where before, there had been very little of which that the dominant culture was aware of. And since then, there have been dozens and dozens and dozens and hundreds of books released. In fact, I’d have to say in the last five to ten years, when they do the annual awards, the Governor General’s, the Writers’ Trust, etc. It’s fairly common to have one to two finalists in there, if not actual winners. There has been this coming of age. But what’s been really happening in the last five to ten years is that the books coming out of the First Nations community have greatly expanded their genres. We’re now doing science fiction, horror, things like that. So yeah, I think it has come of age and is continuing to come of age.

EP: Can you speak to the power of storytelling? Does it have the ability to bring communities together?

DT: Storytelling is universal, I don’t think there’s a culture anywhere on earth that hasn’t had stories or a storyteller. The power of stories is the fact that in pre-literate times, they contained history, philosophy, and ethics 鈥� all different types of things that are covered by so many different fields today, and that was the way they passed on the culture. It was a self-generating system of knowledge. I think those stories, and most of them range from scary stories, which we all love, to historical stories, to stories that basically try to explain the natural world. So, I think everybody has an innate interest and innate ability to appreciate and welcome stories. Nowadays, you’ve got all these movies and things which have special effects and stuff like that. But the best special effects, the best interpreter of stories, is basically your imagination. I think storytelling will always be there. It’s just constantly morphing into different ways of telling that story.

EP: How is humour an effective storytelling tool for you when confronting complex issues?

DT: Well, I think everybody likes to laugh; it releases endorphins. It’s a wonderful, amazing feeling. And it also has an interesting way of delivering the message. I’ve had conversations with people, and it’s like, you have somebody angry on the side of the street, screaming out the wrongs of the world, and people will stop, they’ll listen for a few seconds, and then move on. And they’ll completely dismiss everything you had to say. But if you pick up that story, and you wrap it in humour, they’ll stop, they’ll listen, they’ll laugh, and they will take that bit of what you’re trying to tell them home with them and share it. I think humour is an excellent and innovative way of telling a story or improving the story, because what humour does is it takes something, turns it inside out, and then releases it in a whole new form. It’s like A plus B equals D.

EP: What compels you to pursue stories, and what draws you in to stories that make you feel like you have to tell them?

DT: I mean, the stories come to me, or I think them up. I guess it’s either what fascinates me, or what hasn’t been told before and what I think will intrigue people. When I write something, I try to entertain, I try to educate, and I try to illuminate. When I come up with something that includes all three of those, I’ve got a story there that is a 鈥榳inner鈥� for lack of a better term. Literally, it’s a strike of lightning that inspires you, and then you have to take that inspiration and make it work. I mean, what is it, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration in terms of writing, in terms of genius, all of that. I tend to agree, sometimes the difficult thing is coming up with that original idea. The rest of it is just gritting your teeth and making that idea work.

EP: When you choose to pursue a story, how do you make the decision to place yourself within it 鈥� which you鈥檙e known for 鈥� or to tell the story as the narrator behind the curtain?

DT: I work in so many different fields. I write novels, I write plays, I write documentaries, creative nonfiction, television shows, etc, etc. And I have a friend who is a journalist for the CBC, and I did numerous articles for newspapers, magazines, and radio. In fact, I had an in Saturday’s Globe and Mail. And my friend tells me that I’m a very poor journalist. And, I said, why? He says, because you use the words I and me, and no journalist uses the term I or me in what they write, yet I find that instrumental to any type of journalism I do because I am the observer. I am the viewer that wants to share what I see, because I know it’s filtered through my consciousness. When I’m telling a story, like a novel or a play, it鈥檚 again filtered through my consciousness where I am telling the story. I see it as it comes out of me. And that’s why I don’t try to write like other people. That’s why I do not teach, because I can only teach people how to write like I write. And that will not work for all people.

EP: You鈥檝e done everything from scriptwriting for The Beachcombers and North of 60 to novel writing and present-day documentarian work with APTN and the CBC. Can you speak to your evolution as a storyteller, and do you have any plans for what鈥檚 next for you? Is there something new you want to try?

DT: I originally started out writing for television, which was unexpected and delightful. But the cliche is it’s great work when you can get it, and I wasn’t getting a lot of it. Through a series of bizarre circumstances, I was offered the chance to be a writer-in-residence for Native Earth Performing Arts, one of the leading indigenous theatre companies in the country, and I needed the money. So, I signed on. And I learned the wonders of theatre, not just theatre, the practice itself, but the philosophies behind it. So, I went from television writer to writing for theatre. Along the way I started writing articles and essays because I’d come across an idea, or something I wanted to explore that was not worth a two-hour play, or it wouldn’t work in a television show. I would just write these one-offs about something usually funny, and they developed a following. I would do one occasionally, and then as I became more well-known as an artist, I began to get more and more requests. I started doing more and more articles, and then from there, I started doing the odd short story. From there, I was asked to write a novel, and then so on and so on. Today, I think I have done practically everything I want to do. I’ve done theatre pieces, I did one made-for-TV movie, I had a sitcom on HVTN called Mixed Blessings. I’d love to do a feature film somewhere along the line. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed, and I’m always waiting to hear what’s going to happen.

EP: Do you have a favourite artistic medium to create in?

DT: They all have benefits. It’s hard to say which is my favourite. I mean, I came to fruition as an artist and as a playwright, and I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for the theatre. But television, you can reach more people with one episode than you can with all the plays that I have produced. And it’s a fascinating industry, which I really like. Same with movies. With novels, it’s literally you and your computer, and you create the entire universe. The response, too, I think in the social hierarchy, you have playwrights and novelists at the top of the literary hierarchy. And the fact that you sit down and can read a novel, I can crawl into it. Plays are meant to be seen, not so much read. So that sort of limits the kind of inspiration that it has out there, because very few people are walking down the street saying, jeez, I feel like buying a play to read.

More Information about this year鈥檚 Munro Beattie Lecture

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By Thora Asudeh and Sera Patenaude

On March 6, we had the pleasure of sitting down for an interview with Professor , the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in North American Studies at 杏吧原创 University for 2022/23.

We were eager to learn more about his upcoming Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture titled “The Ubiquitous Muslim,” presented by the MA in Religion & Public Life in the College of the Humanities on Thursday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in Paterson Hall (PA) 303.

The interview quickly turned into a comfortable and personable conversation where Prof. Hughes’ academic drive, warmth and humour shone through. From the sleepy nature of Ottawa to the idea of multiculturalism and exclusion, Hughes offered a thought-provoking look at the perception of Muslims in the Canadian sphere.

As we delved into the topic of the lecture, we discussed how Canadian public life connects to the idea of the “Ubiquitous Muslim” and the flaws in having a purely secular view of public life.

Hughes outlined the basic idea of his lecture: “The lecture is not really about Muslims; it’s about how ideas around and about Muslims function in the way we think about ourselves in Canadian society.”

Hughes explained that this lecture is a synthesis of two projects he has been working on recently: A history of Islam and Muslims in Canada and a book titled The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: A Biography.

The latter is partly inspired by the confusion and misinformation that surrounded the Charter during the events of February 2022.

“I realized that many people don’t know what the Charter is, what it contains or how it can be applied in court,” said Hughes. “My biography will explore the origins of the Charter, its authors and how it functions. I often joke that it’s meant for my 80-year-old mother.”

The second project Hughes is working on is the first comprehensive history of the study of Muslims in Canada.

“I’ve spent my whole academic life studying Muslim identities in one way or another, usually in the medieval and late antiquity periods,” Hughes explained. “However, my focus has recently shifted to Islamic identity in Canada.”

Hughes argued that the value of religion lies not only in belief, but also in practice. He emphasized how religion is everywhere, even in our secular laws and institutions.

“You could argue that our entire legal and political system is based on religious ideas, both historically and practically,” said Hughes, “though we tend to only talk about religion when it’s not our own.”

He brought up the as an example, in which a woman insisted on wearing her niqab while testifying during a trial and the judge ruled that she had to remove it, arguing that her religious belief was “not that strong”.

“Two things were at work there: the religious freedom of the woman who wanted to give testimony with the niqab on, versus the charter right to a fair trial. It’s a case-by-case basis. The Supreme Court is ultimately deciding what constitutes a true religious belief, which they have no business doing. So, the question I address in my talk is: How does secular society regulate religion? And, of course, how is religion only a problem when it’s not our own.”

This example led to a discussion about who exactly we are referring to when we use words like ‘ourselves’, ‘Canadian society’ and ‘the public’. Hughes recent work examines Canadian society through a historical and political lens. This brings us to the idea that our understanding of ‘secular’ emerges from examining the historical and political contexts that shaped Canada’s identity and values as a generalized whole. Thora made the connection to Religion and Public Life MA student Alena Wilson’s recent paper: “‘Honk if you Love Jesus’: Christian Rhetoric & Symbolism in the Freedom Convoy 2022”. Hughes found the question of religion and its relationship to the convoy movement to be incredibly interesting, especially when considering how it connects to his work on the Charter.

We continued the discussion from our perspectives within the academic sphere, considering whether or not it is possible for religious studies to be something truly secular and objective.

Hughes illustrated this point with a thought experiment he often uses in his classes: “Imagine if the most powerful group in the world were Polynesians, and they had a concept called ‘mana’. If they came to America or Canada and asked us about our mana, we may not know how to answer them. But that’s essentially what we’re doing when we use our own terms to study other cultures and religions.”

As the conversation continued, Hughes revealed his desire to make his lectures more accessible to students outside of his specific academic interests. He expressed his frustration with the dry and formal nature of most lectures, and emphasized his goal to connect with his audience in a more personal and engaging way.

Overall, our conversation with Prof. Hughes was an incredibly insightful and fascinating one. We left feeling enlightened and energized, with a newfound appreciation for the importance of religion in our daily lives and in Canadian public life. His lecture promises to be an engaging event and we can’t wait to attend.

Learn more about the 2023 Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture: The Ubiquitous Muslim, presented by Professor Aaron W. Hughes, 2022/23 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in North American Studies at 杏吧原创 University.

杏吧原创 the Authors:

Thora Asudeh is a 3rd year student in the Bachelor of Humanities program with a Combined Honours in Religion who enjoys tackling academics with her “twin” Sera.聽

Sera Patenaude is a 3rd year student in the Bachelor of Humanities program with a Combined Honours in Religion who is constantly grateful for her academic twin Thora.

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By: Emma Sleigh, FASS Ambassador 2022-2023

Why does high school feel like a prison to so many students? Is that prolonged stress worth graduating for? Why is school even necessary?

These are some of the difficult questions I wrestled with when I was a high school student, which I was reminded of while attending the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences鈥� Healthy Cities: Back to School in the City event on September 27.

In high school, I moved in between different alternate forms of schooling. I was desperate to just get school over with. I could never visualize a learning environment that I could tolerate, let alone enjoy.

When I was finally introduced to the Enriched Support Program (ESP) at 杏吧原创 University, after meetings with a chain of guidance counselors and supports, I felt a new kind of chapter in my life emerge. Interestingly, it was the connections I made with those guidance counselors, and now a whole community of ESP staff and students, that truly ignited the desire I鈥檝e always had to learn. With those communities, I gained more than just a few skills, but actual opportunities to create those engaging environments that I couldn鈥檛 quite visualize before.

The journey of connections I鈥檝e made hasn鈥檛 stopped there. I find my life has become a sort of cycle of motivation, learning, unlearning, and action. Humans are extremely socially dependent and community is always at the center of this cycle, fueling each step of the journey. The integrating and privileging of social bonds within education was reinforced and crystalized as a kind of revolutionary, plausible reality when I listened in on the Healthy Cities roundtable discussion between three 杏吧原创 professors 鈥� Drs. Julie Garlen, Leila Angod, and Maria Rogers 鈥� and elementary school principal Sherwyn Solomon.

I came into the event as a now senior ESP mentor and a FASS Ambassador, ready to absorb as much information as I could. The three panelists and moderator added new layers of reflection onto the preliminary ideas I had. All speakers gave a different approach to their critique of the impacts and the resulting opportunities that the pandemic has created for students, teachers, parents, and so on. One reply by Mr. Solomon about the devastating statistics on racialized children highlighted the inherently discriminatory nature of today鈥檚 schooling.

The greatest message I took away from the speakers was this:

As an anthropology major, this is especially important to me as I learn how to decolonize my mind to better understand my place in relation to others on the traditional and never ceded territory of the Algonquin nation.

Increasing the quality and amount of social connectedness found in schools needs to be a primary goal of education. Just like when I was an ESP student, I find the most diversity, the most collaboration, and, consequently, the greatest successes to occur in spaces of community and support.

In these spaces, I must acknowledge that I am a white, middle-class, able-bodied, and cis-gendered female and that I鈥檝e been privileged to even have the opportunity to go to school my whole life. At the same time, if someone with as much privilege as me found school so intolerable, it only makes sense that there are larger systems of power creating a space that is fundamentally anti-human or at least anti-collaboration.

Altogether, the event felt like another stepping stone towards building the kind of academic spaces I strive to belong to.

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Three Bachelor of Humanities alumni return to campus to share advice with current students

By Erin Wai

Three graduates of 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Bachelor of Humanities program returned to campus last fall to talk to current students about opportunities in the tech industry post-graduation.

The event was hosted on November 19, 2020, at the College of the Humanities lecture hall, with students in attendance both in-person and .

The panelists were Amanda Hadi (BHum ’10), a senior talent scout at Shopify, and Ian Hartlen (BHum ’10), a senior operations specialist at Shopify. The panel was moderated by Douglas Soltys (BHum ’17), the founder and editor-in-chief of BetaKit. The three said they hoped to empower current students to embrace the exceptional skills the Bachelor of Humanities program teaches them.

鈥淩ecognizing that you are something now, rather than focusing on what you need to become to be accepted in society, is a strong message that I would want to underscore,鈥� said Soltys. 鈥淲e want you all to feel like you can pursue anything you want because you鈥檝e had the education and training to literally go and do anything.鈥�

The Bachelor of Humanities (Great Books) program is a holistic four-year liberal arts degree in which students study primary texts in their entirety 鈥� chronologically, from ancient to modern society 鈥� and explore literature, philosophy, history, art, music, political theory, and religion to understand the evolution of thought and culture.

Soltys explained the skills that the Bachelor of Humanities teaches are foundational and easily transferrable. Among the skills all three panelists highlighted are writing, strong research and reading comprehension, communication, critical thinking, and the ability to pick up new concepts quickly.

The Bachelor of Humanities at 杏吧原创 is a small program that fosters a tight-knit community among its students and faculty. According to the panelists, that community-oriented aspect of the program gives its students natural opportunities to network and connect with their professors and with their peers.

鈥淭he most valuable part about this program is that it attracts these weird, interesting people,鈥� said Hadi. 鈥淭he friends you make and the connections you make in the College are super important.鈥�

For example, Hadi said she has stayed friends with her classmates over the past 10 years and they have all helped each other find jobs and further their careers.

鈥淚 think the point of liberal arts is that it is explicitly not about job training 鈥� and that鈥檚 actually the beauty of it,鈥� explained Soltys. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e saying that becoming a human in this program, and a well-read one does actually make you an interesting person in the job market and you can use those skills to go and do things that you might want to.鈥�

Hartlen agreed that having a unique path through the liberal arts to his career in tech is in part what helped him achieve the success he has found.

鈥淚 try to lead with the fact that I have a philosophy degree,鈥� said Hartlen, who combined his B.Hum with an Honours in Philosophy. 鈥淏eing well-read and having a bit of a different background and a different perspective makes you an interesting candidate for people.鈥�

As the job market is changing, especially in the tech field, humanities programs give graduates the ability to adapt with that evolution. According to Hartlen, companies 鈥渨ill need people who can put context around what they do technically to communicate that to the rest of the world and everyone here in this room (i.e., humanities students) is capable of doing that.鈥�

Soltys advises that 鈥渨here you want to be is pushing the emerging conversation around STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), because companies in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere are realizing that they鈥檝e maybe over-indexed in specific skill sets, and the people they need to manage their teams of engineers are those with soft skills and training from the arts.鈥�

All three alumni echoed the advice that a career path is not a straightforward line, but rather an accumulation of skills from one job to another. A humanities program teaches students to be adaptable, to learn well and engage with what they are learning, and those skills are transferable to any job.

鈥淭he pressure that I think society puts on students 鈥� from your high school teachers, your parents, whatever 鈥� to be something when you graduate is [鈥 something you should let go of to experience different career paths and different potentials,鈥� said Dr. Shawna Dolansky, interim College of the Humanities Director and organizer of the event.

鈥淚 lead my life and I let my interests and passions lead me where they will 鈥� and right now, that鈥檚 a role in a technology company,鈥� said Hadi. 鈥淭hey hired me knowing I have transferable skills, that I didn鈥檛 do the job before I do now, but they knew I could be taught and trained how to do it and they wanted to invest in that.鈥�

With the potential for multiple career paths, the panelists advised students to embrace the discomfort of not being trained for a specific job and not knowing exactly where life will lead you after graduation.

鈥淧repare yourself for a little bit of uncertainty and be kind to yourself 鈥� like Shawna said, you don鈥檛 have to have it figured out,鈥� said Hartlen.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e gotten a better education than most people in Canada or elsewhere,鈥� said Soltys. 鈥淧art of that realization that we鈥檝e all had, in sitting in a professional setting, is realizing that just being in discussion groups and discussing ideas based upon difficult readings that you鈥檝e done, has put you miles ahead of everyone else in that room who鈥檚 hopefully just trying to do their job.鈥�

Learn more about the Bachelor of Humanities “Great Books” program in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

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On Thursday, March 12, 2020, affiliated scholars, friends and supporters of 杏吧原创’s Institute of African Studies (IAS) gathered to celebrate its anniversary and reflect on a decade’s worth of achievements and shifting landscapes. The festivity also served as an opportunity to honour the inimitable contributions of the late Dr. Pius Adesanmi, former IAS Director. An in-depth piece on the 10-year history and impact of 杏吧原创’s IAS is forthcoming, but in the meantime, we invite you to enjoy this gallery of photos from the celebration.

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杏吧原创 the Author

Samphe Ballamingie

A senior undergraduate student, Samphe Ballamingie is completing a directed studies credit in Sociology, working with Dr. Tonya Davidson. After each Healthy Cities panel, she will produce summaries of the panelists’ contributions, including select supplementary readings.

Ballamingie’s recent accomplishments include winning the Extra Court Award at the Mobile Film Festival in Paris for her short film and completing a 2019 Summer Research Internship studying the role of public libraries and innovative practices at

Ensuring Adequate, Affordable Housing in the City of Ottawa

On February 24, 2020, panelists City Councillor Catherine McKenney, Dr. Abra Adamo, and Josh Hawley gathered at the 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre for the third Healthy Cities panel, Housing in the City, sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dr. Aaron Doyle, a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, moderated the panel, asking panelists to reflect on how the city of Ottawa might develop healthier and more effective strategies to deal with our shared social problems of poverty, housing insecurity, and chronic homelessness. Doyle introduced the panel by bringing to the fore Ontario鈥檚 plans for a new jail in Ottawa, a project that would cost the provincial government a staggering sum of between $500 million to $1 billion. Homelessness often exists in a vicious cycle with incarceration, given the criminalization of poverty and addiction, and, as Ottawa faces what many have characterized as a 鈥渉ousing epidemic鈥�, Doyle suggested that the funds allocated for a new jail would be better spent on a more radical and comprehensive housing strategy.

The first panelist, , Councillor of Ottawa鈥檚 Somerset Ward, described elements of some dire housing situations for many in Ottawa. More and more people are living in shelters and experiencing chronic homelessness, Indigenous people are overrepresented within this population; since April 2019, six hundred women and children fleeing abuse have been turned away from shelters due to lack of space, and over seven hundred children in Ottawa are currently living in motels. Councillor McKenney explained that this crisis emerged over a long period of time, and so it became easy for us to ignore Ottawa鈥檚 homelessness crisis; they explained that people are dying because municipalities are failing them, and they asked: 鈥淲hat do we do next?鈥� In fact, McKenney put forward a motion 鈥� unanimously endorsed by City Council in January 鈥� declaring a state of emergency on housing and homelessness in Ottawa, in hopes of influencing 2020 Ottawa budgetary decisions and appealing to other levels of government for support.

McKenney explained that in developing its 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan (City of Ottawa, 2018), Ottawa sought to create a robust strategy with serious, measurable targets and actions. They cited many steps the city must take to eliminate chronic homelessness and housing insecurity, including (but not limited to): better support for people emerging from chronic homelessness; and stronger 鈥渉ousing first鈥� policies aimed at providing people with immediate, independent housing. While scholars such as Katz et al. (2017) argue that 鈥渉ousing first鈥� strategies prove successful in providing shelter, they echo McKenney鈥檚 call for better supports and treatments for those receiving immediate housing (p. 140). In order for 鈥渉ousing first鈥� strategies to succeed, a comprehensive suite of economic, social and physical supports must also be established.

McKenney further argued that Ottawa must reduce core housing need by fifty percent. The common yardstick of housing affordability is that families should spend no more than thirty percent of their income on housing (though, as some scholars point out even this simple measure can be further nuanced) (see Herbert et al., 2018). McKenney says they regularly receive emails from families who spend more than thirty percent of their income on rent and risk losing their homes. The city must also maintain and repair its rental stock, to avoid painful and disruptive evictions that push people out of their communities during renovations and development, fraying social connections in the process. McKenney stressed the need to develop mixed-income communities for cities to be healthy.

The second panelist, Dr. Abra Adamo, Advisor of Housing Policy and Research at the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, has over a decade of experience in urban planning related to housing and homelessness policy, largely focused on community partnerships in academic spaces at the federal level. Adamo described the myriad complexities of housing.  First, she provided a more fulsome definitions of housing affordability (i.e., beyond the 30 percent rule cited above): not only must people be able to pay rent, but they must also have enough income to afford other necessities of life. Second, Adamo asserted that while the notion of housing adequacy remains subjective, adequacy generally means a person’s home must meet their unique physical and cultural needs. Finally, Adamo stressed that housing must address the critical vulnerabilities people experience; whether they are fleeing violence, or establishing themselves in Canada, we must offer housing that caters to these more challenging situations.

Adamo also questioned whether the city of Ottawa builds adequately along a spectrum of possibilities, arguing that most of the city鈥檚 development consists of either condominiums or (at the other end of the continuum) detached, single-family, suburban homes. She affirmed the need for more size-appropriate housing types, like duplexes/triplexes or low-rise apartments, as well as different types of tenure, not just market housing but also affordable rental housing, subsidized housing, etc. In her doctoral thesis, Adamo (2012) described Canada as a (sub)urban nation (p. 4), and noted that a rise in suburbanization necessarily affected the socio-ecological landscape of Canada鈥檚 city centres. This shift towards suburbanization has forced city planners to reconsider what a healthy and sustainable city looks like in the 21st century, encouraging them to implement 鈥榮mart growth鈥� strategies for urban development that result in greater density and diversity of housing choices, which, in turn, confine growth to protect sensitive ecological terrain (Adamo, 2012, p. 7).

Our neighborhoods must be designed with smart growth strategies in mind, implementing 鈥渕ixed use urban development practices鈥� (Adamo, 2012, p. 7). Housing that is disconnected from services, schools, community spaces, and other social and transportation infrastructure leads to unhealthy communities, and in a city like Ottawa, where the vacancy rate lies at 1.8 percent, many are forced to live in places that are disconnected from services. Ottawa must design neighborhoods that are mixed use, with a full range of services available, and where reliable public transportation can reliably deliver you to your destination in a reasonable amount of time.

The final panelist, Josh Hawley, a PhD candidate in Sociology at 杏吧原创, who grew up in the Herongate community, has worked tirelessly with Herongate residents to fight the mass evictions jointly enforced by the development company Timbercreek and the City of Ottawa. Hawley began by boldly declaring: 鈥淭here is no housing crisis, rather we are experiencing the continual effects of colonialism and capitalism.鈥� He argued that there are no market solutions that will mitigate evictions and the housing crisis, and that the only way to affect change is through freeing the land from the logics of capitalism and colonialism. Hawley asserted that people have the power to stand up against landlords and the owning class, arguing for a shift in how we relate to each other and to the land settlers are unwelcome guests on. As individuals, we don鈥檛 have much power, but when we have trust and support in the people around us, we can come together to act collectively.

During the question-and-answer period, Dr. Tonya Davidson asked Hawley: 鈥淲hat do you think of rent strikes?鈥� (A rent strike is a form of protest against high rents or inadequate repairs or other grievances that involves tenants withholding their rent until their demands are met.) Hawley described an example of an effective rent strike in Toronto. When Nuspor Investments, the landlord of 1251 King Street West in Parkdale, introduced a 3.4% rent increase, residents protested in the form of a rent strike (Tierney, 2018). After nearly four months of withholding rent, the residents were victorious, as Nuspor Investments lowered the rent increase (Tierney, 2018). Hawley believes actions like rent strikes are essential to securing our right to affordable and adequate housing.

The Housing in the City panel brought to the fore a nuanced understanding of what it means to have healthy, adequate housing in a sustainable city. The lessons presented by Councillor Catherine McKenney, Dr. Abra Adamo, and Josh Hawley prove that Ottawa in particular, and Canada more broadly, must radically re-envision adequate and affordable housing to eliminate the growing homelessness crisis within our cities.

Photos from Housing in the City

Reference List

Katz, A. S., Zerger, S., & Hwang, S. W. (2017). Housing first the conversation: Discourse, policy and the limits of the possible. Critical Public Health, 27(1): 139-147.

Adamo, A. (2012). Intensifying inequality in the 鈥榮ustainable city鈥�: A political ecology of 鈥榮mart growth鈥� in an era of neoliberal urban governance in the City of Ottawa, Canada. Doctoral Thesis, 杏吧原创 University.  Ottawa, ON.  Retrieved from:

City of Ottawa. (2018) 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. Retrieved from:

Herbert, C. Hermann. A. & McCue, D. (2018, September). Measuring housing affordability: Assessing the 30 percent of income standard. Joint Centre for Housing Studies of Harvard. Boston, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved from:

Tierney, A. (2018, March 27). Group of Toronto striking renters declare victory. Vice. Retrieved from:

Willing, J. (2020, January 29). City council declares a housing and homelessness emergency.  Retrieved from:

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George Hinchliffe鈥檚 Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Date: April 07, 2020 at 7:30pm (doors at 7:00pm)
Location: 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa
Tickets: $35 + HST
Student tickets: $30 + HST

is a touring musical group which has been delighting audiences, raising the roof, selling out performances, and receiving standing ovations since 1985. This all-singing, all strumming group has been performing for 35 years using only a fistful of ukuleles and maintaining that all genres of music are available for reinterpretation.

The premise sounds astoundingly simple: instruments, voices, no gimmicks, no light show. Yet the New York Times exclaim that 鈥榯hey extract more than seems humanly possible from so small and so modest an instrument鈥� and millions have enthused over the years about the fact that the Orchestra tears the house down with a lively, touching, catchy, emotive, stomping show, threaded with humour and wit which inexplicably draws the audience in, to a joyous world beyond the conflicts of musical genres and transcending differences between a serious concert and entertainment.

As soon as the performers walk on stage, the audience feels that they are in safe hands, at home with friends who are totally in command of the art, craft, and magic of the stage. Sitting in chamber group format, and dressed in formal evening wear (regardless of the time of day or the venue, whether Glastonbury Festival or Carnegie Hall), it uses the limitations of the instrument to create a musical freedom as it reveals unsuspected musical insights.

At this point, the audience may well sit back, all prior assumptions forgotten, and allow the Orchestra, which has sixteen-handedly changed the face of the ukulele world, to give what the Independent raved as “the best musical entertainment in the country鈥�.

The first gig, intended as a one-off bit of fun was an instant sell out and led to national radio, TV, album recordings and international tours. Since then the Orchestra has become what the Observer called 鈥渁 much loved institution鈥� giving thousands of concerts, TV, and radio appearances all over the world. There have been tours in Britain, across Europe, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China America, Canada and the North Pole. They also had the honour to perform, by invitation of The Prince of Wales, at the private 90th Birthday party of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle.

The Ukulele Orchestra have released CDs and DVDs on their own independent label. The orchestra鈥檚 music has been used in films, plays, and commercials. The Financial Times praised 鈥淭he sophisticated sound they make 鈥� both percussive and melodic 鈥� is at once hilarious and heartfelt鈥�

The programme will be announced from the stage. There will be a 20 minute intermission.

杏吧原创 the Members

Musical Director: George Hinchliffe
Management: Jodi Cartwright
Sound: Doug Beveridge

Dave Suich

Dave has worked as a teacher, a drama & a special needs specialist, and is a Makaton signer. For many years he was a compere at Glastonbury Festival for the Theatre Stage. Dave has been with the Orchestra for 35 years and notes that he has 鈥渏ammed with a Beatle and performed for a Rolling Stone鈥� as well as discussed gardening with HRH Prince Charles. At the same Chamber Music Chicago Festival at which the Kronos String Quartet played Purple Haze in the 80s, Dave introduced the Ukulele Orchestra version of Born To Be Wild to the north American audience.

When Dave is not touring with the Orchestra he may be found instead with his bluesy group: The World Wide Whelks, or on his allotment.

Peter Brooke-Turner

At over 2 metres tall, Peter Brooke Turner may well the tallest ukulele player in the world 鈥� he is certainly the tallest in the Ukulele Orchestra. He was born in Portugal and grew up in the Soviet Union, Brazil, America, Finland and Italy. After false starts on the violin, trumpet and guitar, he finally discovered the ukulele and joined the Ukes in 1995.

He has released three albums under his pseudonym Tony Penultimate and has worked with many well known showbiz names in the UK and has even lent his uke to Tiny Tim. He fronted his own 鈥楿kulele Kings鈥� rock group in the 90s.

Peter has started the worlds first high altitude drama company 鈥� the ATTC (Airline Toilets Theatre Company) which has subsequently produced over twenty high quality, low budget songs, sketches and shows (all on Peter鈥檚 iPhone) from this oft neglected performance area. They can be viewed online.

Ben Rouse

Ben was born in Cornwall but grew up in Hampshire. At the age of 8 he began playing the drums, turning to the guitar at age 11. At 23, Ben formed the rock band Purple Monkey, which became a popular band along the South coast of England. At 25, he decided to learn the violin and mandolin and formed the folk duo, Teapot Junkies, releasing two albums of original material. He went on to teach himself the saxophone, flute, trumpet and banjo.

At 30, Ben decided that a proper job might be necessary and earned himself an HND in electronics but in 2007 was drawn back to music when he saw the Ukulele Orchestra perform on 鈥楯ools Holland Hootenanny鈥�. The next day he bought a ukulele and began performing and teaching workshops at festivals around the UK until, in 2014, he was invited to play with the Orchestra, he has since toured America, China, Europe, Scandinavia and the UK with them.

Richie Williams

Born in Liverpool, Richie took up the guitar at thirteen. He played with many local bands through his teens, including sharing the bill with Ralph McTell at Liverpool University and with Thin Lizzy at The Cavern. During this time he also roadied for Frank Zappa and Status Quo.

After studying music at college in Liverpool, he moved to London in the 80s where he played with Snake Davis on Motown tours backing Mary Wells, Martha Reeves, Ben E.King and Edwin Starr 鈥� this led him to meeting George, at that time playing the Hammond organ.

In 1985, George invited him to play baritone ukulele in his new project with Kitty Lux 鈥� a Ukulele Orchestra. Within 2 years, Richie had moved to Yorkshire, and for ten years, he juggled playing with two local bands with the Ukes gigs.

Richie moved to Dorset in 2001. He has since travelled the world with the Ukes playing venues most musicians can only dream of!

Leisa Rea

Leisa鈥檚 has worked as an actor, director, comedy writer and teacher. Her professional directorial debut in 1991 of Oscar Wilde鈥檚 The Selfish Giant, won the Lloyds Theatre Challenge and was performed at the National Theatre in London.

Since then, she has taught Stand Up Comedy at the Soho Theatre, directed several smash-hit comedy shows, written and performed two critically acclaimed solo shows, and for some time, was one half of the duo, Adams & Rea, who scooped the Musical Comedy Awards prize in 2009.

Alongside this, Leisa co-created a theatre show with Miranda Hart and was one of the writers for the pilot episodes of BAFTA nominated 鈥楳iranda鈥� on the BBC. When she鈥檚 not on tour with the Orchestra, Leisa is a creative consultant for several organisations offering training, workshops and advice.

She joined the Ukulele Orchestra in 2003 and found it to be the perfect home for her colourful backstory.

Will Grove-White

Will began playing with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in 1989, when he was just 16 years old, after seeing them perform in a North London pub and pestering George endlessly for sheet music.

After University Will began a career directing and producing television documentaries, one of which won a Royal Television Society Award (as well as others that very much didn鈥檛). Luckily the Ukulele Orchestra took over and he鈥檚 been a musician ever since. His voice has been described as 鈥渟uitably insane-sounding鈥� by the New York Times. He can also balance a ukulele on his chin, which is useful.

Will records his own solo albums and writes and produces music for television and radio. He’s written eight library music albums for Universal and Warner/Chappell, one of which won a Library Music Award in 2015 (they鈥檙e a bit like the Oscars only more prestigious). In 2014 he wrote the book 鈥楿kulele for Beginners鈥� for Hachette press. He now lives in South London with his wife and two sons and is currently learning how to speak Welsh.

Jonty Bankes

Jonty was serenaded to sleep as a child by his father playing Bach on the cello, inevitably he learned to appreciate music and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a performer. His formative years were spent playing music and acting. He discovered and fell in love with the bass in 1972.

Moving to London to try an acting career in 1980 he met Dave Suich and acted in his show until the bassist left and he took over; he changed from struggling actor to struggling musician. He supplemented his income as a London double decker bus driver and has since discovered he drove Will to school.

Jonty became a full time musician in the early 90鈥檚 joining the orchestra in 1992 while also recording and touring with Ray Davis, Louisiana Red, Marcus Malone and John Mayall. He can also be heard whistling on many TV soundtracks and commercials.

He currently lives in Germany and often performs as a guest bassist with various bands and supported Eric Clapton on the German leg of his 2018 stadium tour.

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Award-winning 杏吧原创 University neuroscientist Dr. Kim Hellemans and cognitive scientist Dr. Jim Davies created a audio show called 鈥�.鈥� It is released as a podcast and will be aired on 杏吧原创 University radio station CKCU (93.1 FM). It is free on the web, and can be subscribed to on . This monthly show features Jim and Kim discussing various issues about cognitive and brain sciences, such as stress, imagination, emotion, and addiction.

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