Artifacts from composer’s life included in international registry

Designation signifies late U of A professor’s importance to the Canadian cultural landscape as a renowned classical music composer

Artifacts from composer’s life included in international registryAn archival collection documenting the life and accomplishments of a University of Alberta music professor has struck a high note by earning a world-class designation. The Violet Archer fonds at the U of A has been accepted into the Canada Memory of the World Register, part of a UNESCO program that showcases the most meaningful documents in humanity’s…

Reflections on reaching middle age

Is this what life is all about?

Reflections on reaching middle ageI am a middle-aged man. There, I have said it. I have alluded to the not-so-stealthy approach of decrepitude, laughed (ha!) about my declining years, but never actually admitted the awful truth. I don't feel particularly different, except perhaps to feel more isolated than ever . . . and don't get me wrong . .…

Lean on family, community after heartbreaking losses

Januel Ibasco kept his goals in sight despite the deaths of his mother and grandmother, and was inspired to explore his Filipino roots

Lean on family, community after heartbreaking lossesThe traditional Indigenous game of Back Push sees two competitors seated on the ground back-to-back with their arms locked. The object is to stand up together but push your opponent out of a designated area. The goal of a children’s version of the contest is to simply communicate and lean on each other so that,…

Education grad and powwow dancer follows in her father’s footsteps

For Alicia Cardinal, attending the U of A was the fulfilment of a childhood ambition and a way to honour her dad’s memory

Education grad and powwow dancer follows in her father’s footstepsMany educators say they knew from an early age what they’d be when they grew up, but Alicia Cardinal says she knew from age four where she would go to school to become a teacher. Her father, a University of Alberta graduate, teacher and principal at First Nation schools around Alberta, would bring her to…

Trudeau trampling freedom of expression

So culture lobby can rake in more dough

Trudeau trampling freedom of expressionThe Trudeau government is throwing freedom of expression under the bus so the entertainment and culture lobby can pocket more dough. The proposed law, Bill C-10, opens the door for unelected bureaucrats to put online content under their microscope. These ramifications led Peter Menzies, former vice-chair of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications, to refer to the…

Literary detective work leads to major book prize for U of A poet

Iman Mersal won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award for her creative non-fiction novel recounting the life of a gifted young author

Literary detective work leads to major book prize for U of A poetAs a young poet cutting her teeth in Cairo, Iman Mersal randomly picked up a novel she’d never heard of in a discount book market in 1993. She was immediately struck by the narrator’s voice, and the mystery surrounding a gifted but virtually unknown author who struggled to be an artist during the political turbulence of 1960s…

Indigenous language learning made easy through technology

After finding few digital resources available, Delaney Lothian decided to create a game and app for learning Cree language

Indigenous language learning made easy through technologyDelaney Lothian jumped at the chance to take an introductory Cree language course – an opportunity to expand beyond the programming languages of her computing science major at the University of Alberta. Like any 21st-century student, she turned to the internet for help. To her surprise, she found very few digital resources for Cree. “The…

U of A teams up with West African universities

Project will provide training and mentorship to help emerging scholars from Canada and Africa diversify their knowledge and skills

U of A teams up with West African universitiesThe University of Alberta is partnering with three West African universities to mentor and build tomorrow’s diverse community leaders and global intellectuals through a new project. Powered by a $300,000 grant from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship (QES) Advanced Scholars West Africa program, the initiative supports research-focused exchanges for doctoral researchers, post-doctoral fellows and early career academics…

Science shatters misconceptions about Indigenous peoples

Archeologist believes unearthing evidence is the best way to change public perceptions – and public policy

Science shatters misconceptions about Indigenous peoplesMaggie Spivey-Faulkner lives to shatter misconceptions of Indigenous people with the power of science. “As an undergrad, I saw that a lot of American public policy was built on incorrect ideas of native cultures,” said the American archeologist, who joined the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Arts this fall after a stint as a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of…

Iqaluit and beyond, through snow and ice

Everyone was on high alert, and while the crew sailed and fretted, we watched the parading wildlife

Iqaluit and beyond, through snow and iceI left you last time off the coast of Baffin Island, where we shared the shore with polar bears and followed the tracks of early explorers. Let’s see what happened next on my 20-day journey northward. Nunavut was separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999, as a result of the enactment of the Nunavut Act…