Weekly Photo Contest—Enter now!
Each week, we'll be asking students to submit a photo around a particular theme, and a guest judge (faculty or staff member) will select their favourite photo. The winning photographer will take home a prize. FUN!
You can submit your photo on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or by email. Just be sure to tag your image with #upeiphoto to have it entered in the contest!
Check out winning photos from Week 1 and Week 2. Check out this week's theme "Me and UPEI." Good luck to all entrants!
Poetry as aide-mémoire: Maureen Hynes & Ruth Pierson
There are poets who capture the literary spotlight and wider public appreciation with poems that tap into compelling concerns of the day. And there are poets who book after book, with elegant artistry and eloquent sensibilities, steadily earn the admiration of peers and readers. Then there are such poets as Maureen Hynes and Ruth Roach Pierson who have done both. Hynes and Pierson will read from their new work on Monday, September 24, at 7:30 pm in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Ruth Roach Pierson published her first book of poems, Where No Window Was, after retiring from 31 years of teaching as a historian and feminist scholar at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and later at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her best-known scholarly publication is They're Still Women After All: The Second World War and Canadian Womanhood.
Pierson's second poetry book, Aide-Mémoire, a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Poetry, delves into the dangers and delights of growing older. There is the increasing unreliability of memory, but also the continuing pleasure and surprise to be found in nature and the arts, as well as the people, objects, and events from the past, aides-mémoire, binding us to the experience of 'now.'
Her new collection, Contrary, articulates the oppositional emotions connected with the loss of a loved one. While humour and fond remembrance permeate these poems, Contrary is also an unflinching portrayal of the emotional maelstrom that overtook the poet as she faced the dying and death of her only brother.
Maureen Hynes' new book, Marrow, Willow, is a joyful, personal look at the 'human project of mortality.' She tells us how she came into her own as a poet many years after abandoning earlier attempts. In a magazine interview, she speaks of the 'amazingly difficult challenge of discovering what you want to say,' and the 'equally joyous and felt-in-the-body pleasure of what language can do.'
Hynes' first book, Rough Skin, won the League of Canadian Poets' best first book award. Her other books are Letters from China and Harm's Way. Her work appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2010. She is on the board of MayWorks, Toronto's annual Festival of Working People and the Arts, and is poetry editor for Our Times magazine.
Their reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts. A reception and book signing will follow. Admission is free and all are welcome.
UPEI honours 2012 Founders
UPEI alumnus honoured at Lancaster University
UPEI alumnus Jeff MacKenzie received top honours from Lancaster University earlier this month. The recent UPEI business graduate was awarded 'The Lancaster MBA Student of the Year,' 'The Most Useful Contributor to Class Discussions,' and 'The Most Respected Class Member for their Future Leadership Potential in Business.'
UPEI signs MOU to provide education students with practicum opportunities abroad
The University of Prince Edward Island signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week to formalize an agreement between UPEI's Faculty of Education and Advanced Knowledge Database (AKD) International Inc in China. The agreement will provide opportunities for education students to teach abroad in a K-12 school in China during a six-week practicum.
The agreement was signed by Miles Turnbull, UPEI's Dean of Education; Christian Lacroix, Interim Vice-President Academic; and Andy Truong, Executive Director, AKD International Inc.
'Today, we are very pleased to meet and work with representatives from AKD International in China,' said Lacroix. 'This MOU is an excellent opportunity for UPEI in many ways. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.'
Turnbull agreed with Lacroix. 'The agreement will provide an excellent opportunity for education students who choose to complete a six-week practicum experience in a K-12 school operated by AKD International in China,' he said. 'International education and the opportunity to learn and teach in another country are key features of our teacher education program at UPEI. This opportunity in China will help us to expand horizons for future teachers who will graduate from UPEI.'
'Having the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty of Education interns on our campus in China will strengthen our pursuit for twenty-first century learning for our students,' said Truong. 'These quality UPEI interns will enhance their horizons for endless opportunity back in Canada or around the world. Classroom dynamics and geographics are ever changing and international experience will put these interns at an advantage.'
AKD is a parent company that operates 10 schools in China in the K-12 groups. It includes Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada, Anhui Concord College of Sino-Canada, and Concord College Sino-Canada in Shenzhen. AKD also collaborates with the University of New Brunswick, University of Alberta, and Crandall University.
Island Camerata Players perform—Morgan Saulnier, Natalie Williams Calhoun, and Frances Gray
On Friday, September 28, The UPEI Recital Series presents 'A Treasure of Trios' featuring members of the Island Camerata Players: Morgan Saulnier, flute; Natalie Williams Calhoun, cello; and Frances Gray, piano. The performance will take place in UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall at 7:30 pm. The trio will perform again on Sunday, September 30 at the Trinity United Church in Summerside, beginning at 3 pm.
The repertoire for this combination of three instruments includes an early work by a 13-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven which challenges the virtuosity of the players in its dazzling figurations and tour de force variations taken up by each instrument in turn. The second work entitled 'Aquarelles' by French composer Gaubert depicts three watercolours, the first suggesting a clear morning with ever-rippling arpeggios on the piano, perhaps reflecting sunlight on water, the second more tenderly evoking an evening in autumn, and the third conjuring up a serenade with a distinct Spanish flavor. The final work before intermission is a cheerful trio by the Czech composer, Martinu, who wrote this in the United States shortly after fleeing Europe during the Second World War. The slow movement, in contrast to the other ones, is more reflective with perhaps a hint of nostalgia for his homeland.
The second half of the program opens with a transcription of the beautiful and beloved impressionistic symphonic poem 'Afternoon of a Faun' by Claude Debussy. The concert comes to a close with a brilliant trio by early Romantic German composer, Carl Maria von Weber, who is perhaps best known for his influential operas.
This program gives the audience a rare opportunity to hear music composed or arranged for this particular ensemble. Saulnier is a versatile flutist who teaches the flute majors at UPEI and runs her own busy music studio. Calhoun is a respected teacher of strings and adjudicates for the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in addition to her role as administrator of the PEI Symphony. Gray has had a long association with UPEI as professor of piano and music theory. All three musicians perform in the PEI Symphony Orchestra. The players have been well-received on a number of occasions as a group and now come together for another great evening of chamber music.
Tickets are available at the door beginning at 7 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. The Dr. Steel Recital Hall is wheel-chair accessible. For more information, please call (902) 566-0507. Tickets will be available at the door at 2:30 pm for Sunday's concert at Trinity United Church in Summerside.
Panther home games this weekend!
Friday:
UPEI students hope tree prompts conversation
UPEI extends condolences on the passing of Sam Sniderman
The University of Prince Edward Island issued a statement today on the passing of UPEI honorary degree recipient Sam Sniderman.
UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, 'Mr. Sniderman was a friend to many, including to UPEI, and was a great contributor to arts and culture in Canada. For example, he and his partner, the late Janet Mays, implemented the Sound and Film Archive as part of the Robertson Library collections at UPEI. On behalf of the entire UPEI community, I want to pass on my most sincere sympathies to Mr. Sniderman's family, friends, and colleagues.'
Though the record retailer and colourful personality was a Torontonian through and through, Sam 'the Record Man' Sniderman was a seasonal resident of PEI for many years and considered the Island his second home. Sam Sniderman received the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from the University of Prince Edward Island in 2003 for his significant contributions to the music-in particular east coast music-industry, and for his support of music education and budding talent.
UPEI student launches iPad application for stroke patients
Today, UPEI computer science student Ben Docksteader and a dynamic team of young entrepreneurs launched their new iPad application-StrokeLink-an app destined to positively impact the lives of stroke patients. The team worked over the past eight months to design, build, and test the new healthcare app and is excited today to release the public beta in Canada.
StrokeLink is a venture of The Next 36, an organization with a goal to increase Canadian prosperity by developing Canada's next generation of high impact entrepreneurs. Docksteader and his team of Anne-Marie Paquette, Morgan Moe, and Simon Jalbert, were all selected as four of the top 36 graduates from across Canada to be a part of the 2012 cohort of The Next 36.
StrokeLink, a free app that uses a patient-focused interface, empowers stroke survivors by providing them with the necessary tools to regain their independence. The app's comprehensive toolkit of health- reference material and its powerful tool for rehabilitation was created to guide and actively engage stroke patients as they recover, using accessible design and rich media content. These self-care tools include rehabilitation programs with exercises ranging from fine motor skills to full body movements, and are presented as text, pictures, or videos, accompanied by audio cues.
The accessible and engaging design seamlessly guides stroke survivors through their daily rehabilitation programs and allows for custom exercises to be created using the iPad's camera. Users can also enter the number of sets and repetitions for each exercise, just like a gym workout, and a calendar tracks the user's progress. The purpose is to help stroke survivors regain not only functional independence, but also confidence.
As StrokeLink's chief technology officer, Docksteader was eager to put his technology skills to good use, but credits the nature of the app that made him truly passionate about the work, with special motivation from his grandfather who suffered a stroke more than 15 years ago. 'Almost all of my memories of him were after his stroke, and seeing how it had serious impacts on him, my grandmother and mother,' he said. 'He is one man that I sincerely look up to and respect to the utmost, and I hope that what I am doing would make him proud.'
Although Docksteader and the other company co-founders will be graduating from The Next 36 program later this month, their involvement with the product is far from over. Docksteader hopes to see StrokeLink become a standard in Canada and in the US, in hopes that it will impact the lives of many stroke survivors, ultimately leading to improvements within the healthcare system.
For more information on StrokeLink, visit http://strokelink.ca/.