Peter Wall Institute Centennial Events

May 2, 2016

The Peter Wall Institute is very pleased to have played a prominent role in commemorating UBC’s Centennial. Between September 2015 and May 2016, we produced and/or co-sponsored the following events and celebrations.

Distinguished Visitor September 25, 2015

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate, economist and a professor at Columbia University, participated in a lunch at the Peter Wall Institute with UBC faculty. Dr. Stiglitz was a Liu Institute for Global Issues visiting Scholar.

The Singer Behind the Song I October 8, 2015

When guest artist Philippe Castagner returned to UBC to take on the leading role in Massenet’s Manon, the Peter Wall Institute and Nancy Hermiston of the UBC School of Music presented a lively roundtable discussion and recital entitled The Singer Behind the Song with international opera coach, Denise Gaudry and the UBC Opera Ensemble.

Welcome reception for Mohamed Fahmy October 21, 2015

Welcome reception for Mohammed FahmyAfter Mohamed Fahmy was freed from an Egyptian jail, the journalist came to UBC to work with Peter Wall Scholar and UBC Journalism Professor Peter Klein at the Global Reporting Centre. Klein played a key role in bringing Fahmy to UBC where he accepted a position as Global Reporting Journalist in Residence at the School of Journalism and W. Maurice Young Centre Visiting Fellow in Applied Ethics.

Urban Myths for the Third Millenium October 28, 2015

Urban Myths for the Third MilleniumPeter Wall Artist-in-Residence Helen Eastman is the founder and director of the Live Canon ensemble—a company of professional actors and theatre makers who perform poetry at theatres, festivals and galleries and record poetry for the radio and sound installations. Dr. Eastman and her UBC host, Dr. Hallie Marshall, Professor of Theatre Studies in the UBC Department of Theatre and Film, examined ideas around choral performance with a scholar doing practice-based work. The two also created an interdisciplinary group at UBC that explored how the ancient idea of the chorus could be reinterpreted and reimagined for the modern world.

How will the world eat in the future? February 11, 2016

How will the world eat in the future?The Institute co-sponsored a UBC Reads Sustainability presentation by award winning author, activist and academic Raj Patel who shared some of the best and most surprising innovations to address the future of food. With a global population of nine billion by 2050, and climate change already taking a toll, Patel told stories from the world’s poorest people about how the world might feed itself in the future.

Ethics and Pragmatism in Indigenous Research February 22-24, 2016

Ethics and Pragmatism in Indigenous Research This Centennial Emerging Research Workshop, organized by the VP Office of Research and International, brought together UBC researchers with key community leaders to engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue on how to build meaningful relationships between Indigenous communities and research institutions.

Wall Scholar Speaker Series March 2016

Wall Scholar Speaker Series March 2016Peter Wall Institute Scholars deliver fascinating glimpses into the cutting edge, interdisciplinary research being conducted by UBC faculty.

The Singer Behind the Song II March 3, 2016

The Singer Behind the Song II In the second of our highly popular opera roundtables, the Institute, Nancy Hermiston and the UBC Opera Ensemble presented two of Canada’s great operatic talents, Judith Forst and Simone Osborne for an evening of song followed by a Q&A session that covered issues such as: How has the career of an opera changed over the years and what it’s like to be a woman in this very competitive and demanding profession?

Water Ways: Understanding the Past, Navigating the Future March 8-11, 2016

Water Ways: Understanding the Past, Navigating the FutureThe UBC Centennial Emerging Research Workshop on Water brought together leading water experts from UBC, the global academe, NGOs, and the public to share knowledge and advance emerging ideas. As part of this event, which was spearheaded by the VP Research and International Office, we supported a World Water Day screening of the documentary Fractured Land. The film was followed by a panel discussion featuring UBC researchers exploring critical issues around resource and water governance in Indigenous communities in BC and around the world.

100 Years WISE: Women in Science and Engineering, Bridging the Past and the Future March 9, 2016

100 Years WISE: Women in Science and EngineeringThe Institute was a co-sponsor of a panel discussion and reception hosted by the UBC National Core for Neuroethics. The event provided an opportunity for the local and international academic and public community to engage in a dynamic discussion about empowered leadership and WISE diversity with former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, university presidents, health and industry leaders.

Measurement Music: ‘Sonification’ as tool for uncovering patterns in data March 11, 2016

Measurement Music: 'Sonification' as tool for uncovering patterns in dataIn this workshop, Wall Visiting Artist Chris Chafe led a discussion of the practice and application of sonification in a wide array of disciplines, drawing on his own extensive experience in this field. Using examples from a variety of datasets, he showed how sonification can lead to the creation of innovative new musical pieces, and to a deeper understanding of many natural and human-influenced phenomena.

Wall Exchange Spring Lecture April 5, 2016

Wall Exchange Spring LectureDr. Naomi Oreskes delivered a free public Wall Exchange lecture on April 5th, 2016. Dr. Oreskes is a climate change activist and historian of science at Harvard University. Her lecture and engaging Q&A discussion, moderated by Johanna Wagstaff of the CBC, explored the phenomena of climate change denial and how the world can move beyond its dependence on fossil fuels.

Read our interview with Naomi Oreskes.

Forget everything you think you know about global warming April 7, 2016

Forget everything you think you know about global warmingThe Institute co-sponsored this UBC Sustainability Initiative talk by Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist, columnist and international bestselling author, where she tackled the most profound threat humanity has ever faced: the war our economic model is waging against life on Earth.

Bridging Genes and Environment: How Epigenetics Remembers the Past to Shape Your Future April 27-29, 2016

Bridging Genes and Environment: How Epigenetics Remembers the Past to Shape Your FutureThe UBC Centennial Emerging Research Workshop on Epigenetics, led by the VP Office of Research and International, brought together international and UBC researchers in this relatively new but already complex area to better understand and raise the profile of epigenetics research at UBC.

Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases April 28, 2016

Forgotten People, Forgotten DiseasesThe Neglected Global Diseases Initiative and its partners presented an evening with world-renowned global health expert, Dr. Peter J. Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. This event offered insights and conversation to understand the issues around global health, neglected tropical diseases and complexities of implementing systemic change in areas of need.

Who Cares? Re-imagine the Culture of Care for an Aging Society May 10, 2016

Who Cares? Re-imagine the Culture of Care for an Aging SocietyThe public event Who Cares? was an evening of storytelling, performance, intergenerational dialogue, comedy and music that dealt with issues surrounding the growing demographic of seniors in our society. Researchers and community members explored how, as family dynamics evolve, we might re-imagine our caregiving relationships and build more healthy, supportive and sustainable communities of care.

The Institute also presented the International Research Roundtable, Re-Imagine Aging: Adding Life to Years, an interactive presentation that showcased aging-health research.

They Grow Without Us: Mushroom Furniture April 12, 2016

Mushroom furnitureThis arts-based installation created by Wall Associates Joe Dahmen and Amber Frid-Jimenez explored soft furniture. The move toward soft methodologies across disciplines represents a significant shift with important implications for the way we approach architectural environments and materials. For example, mushroom technology can replace Styrofoam used in packaging materials; mushroom packaging biodegrades whereas Styrofoam doesn’t.