artsworks THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA | FACULTY OF ARTS 2012-14

welcome

An invitation to join the conversation.Welcome to an exciting new stage of your life. When you enroll as a student in the Faculty of Arts at UBC, you won’t just be launching your post-secondary education — you’ll be joining an intellectual community. The Arts UBC experience consists of so much more than lectures. You will be invited to participate in the conversation, the interplay of ideas and research through which our civilization’s knowledge progresses. Add your voice to a global dialogue between the world’s leading scholars as they debate ideas that are shaping the societies of tomorrow and social justice today.

At Arts UBC, you’ll be immersed in research from day one, whether helping others acquire new knowledge or contributing your own to publications and academic conferences. Learn about the broader world in International Relations or direct your reflection inwards through the study of Psychology. Look into the past through an anthropologist’s lens or explore how we can affect the future with Political Science. Explore new ways to describe the world around you through Economics or Creative Writing, Theatre or Linguistics.

Vancouver is the perfect place to nurture your talents. People from all over the world are doing fascinating work — from the latest developments in film production to researching the history of expressions specific to Canada, from developing sustainability policy to innovating in the visual arts.

The journey will take you beyond Arts UBC classrooms and labs and into new contexts where your education will interact with the practice of prospective careers, through internships, international exchange programs, co-op work terms and community-based experiential learning.

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your first year

Let your curiosity roam Take your first glimpse into the world of academic inquiry alongside a community of intellectual explorers. Arts UBC’s world-renowned researchers are at the forefront of discovery. They are breaking new ground on subjects as diverse as humanity itself. Instead of simply reading about research in a textbook, put your questions directly to the researcher who brought that knowledge to light. You won’t just acquire knowledge — you’ll also participate in the creation of it while mastering the research skills needed to start your career as a scholar. Your first year in Arts UBC will be a period of personal exploration. Now is the time to follow your interests, passions and hunches. Whether it’s film or philosophy, German or geography, there is a place for you here. Who knows where your curiosity might take you?

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“At Archaeology Lab Nights, undergraduates join in on the research and get a taste of the wide range of work that’s being done, and in some cases they’ll become assistants or volunteers for particular researchers. We’re not just researching because it’s an academic exercise, but because history is important for people, and knowing that makes us better scholars.”

— Assistant Professor Andrew Martindale, Founder of Archaeology Lab Nights, a weekly

open house and research collective

Get a head start by learning the fundamentalsVictor Ngo, Major in Human Geography

Victor Ngo found the academic workload of university intimidating when he was in his first year. “The transition from high school to university writing is huge, and anyone who is not familiar with how to write a scholarly paper is at a serious disadvantage,” he says. Then he discovered Arts Studies in Research and Writing (ASTU 150), a unique course offered at Arts UBC.

“The class is an introduction to the research culture of UBC,” says Lecturer Michelle Riedlinger. “It gives students who haven’t been exposed to academic research an understanding of how to conduct research, write for different disciplines and the importance of scholarship.”The class was transformative for Victor. He has applied the writing and research skills he learned to all of his classes, even biology. He began taking a leadership role in group projects, and found himself helping other students use correct citation.

“Whatever faculty you are in, you engage in scholarly work,” Victor says. “Understanding how universities produce and disseminate knowledge is critical to your success as a student and a learner.”

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Learning goes on a pilgrimage to Burns Bog Laura Janara, Associate Professor of Political Science

Prof. Laura Janara searched for a way to get students to consider nature and the environment in her political philosophy class. “Political theory makes humans the centre of politics, and it breeds a disregard for the planet. I wanted to question that in class,” she says.Her solution was to make nature her classroom. Prof. Janara’s students study while volunteering with conservation societies and biologists working in Burns Bog, a 3,000-hectare raised bog ecosystem in Delta, which is being threatened by highway development and other political policy decisions.

“Students talk to the people who are trying to protect these other life forms. They think about them in ways they have never thought about them before,” Prof. Janara says.

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your second year

Discover your callingDuring your second year as an Arts UBC student, you will blaze your intellectual path in the new academic world you’ve joined. Identify your passion, and design an academic career that will transform your interests into a degree. Get beneath the surface of your future calling through internship and co-op programs. Participate in groundbreaking Arts courses that integrate community-based experiential learning, where you’ll apply what you learned in the classroom to real world community priorities. Take your growing knowledge of theory and apply it outside the classroom. Learn how your Arts UBC experience can translate into a career, and focus your interest. Imagine your future possibilities.

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UBC psychology students like to roll up their sleeves Eric Eich, Professor of Psychology

When Prof. Eric Eich first started out as the head of UBC’s Psychology Department in 2004, he had a simple goal: “To make this the best psych department in the world.” Now several years later, it’s well on its way. With its world-class faculty and more than 1,900 undergraduate psych majors, UBC’s Department of Psychology is undeniably among the top programs in North America.The department emphasizes research and undergraduates spend less time in lecture halls and more in labs, where they apply theory to empirical evidence.And like their professors, undergrads share their research findings with their peers. “Students love the Psychology 217 conference because they’re now actually getting their hands dirty and doing research,” says Prof. Eich.

“Community Service Learning is wonderful for students to apply their knowledge in an immediate way that enriches their learning experience.”

— Gillian Jerome, started the English Department’s first-ever Community Service Learning course by having

her students teach poetry at local elementary schools

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Go out into the worldYou’ve selected your major, so now is the time to go out into the world and apply your growing expertise. Collect the experiences that will give you the perspective to make the best use of your education. These experiences — internships, international opportunities, co-op terms, community-based experiential learning and more — will guide you as you make the transition from your undergraduate education to your career. Get a feel for your new career during co-op placements by choosing from a variety of companies within the non-profit, private and government sectors. Whether your co-op is close to home or takes you to another part of the world, your education will prepare you to make a contribution. You’ll meet potential mentors as you work alongside researchers, Arts UBC’s network of alumni and your fellow learners. Benefit from the experience of those who have gone before you.

your third year

Being invited into an academic community Negar Khodarahmi, Major in Psychology

When psychology major Negar Khodarahmi began volunteering at Assistant Professor Kiley Hamlin’s developmental psychology research lab, she wanted to become a clinical psychologist. But after her hands-on experience, she is considering a career in research.

“In the lab we’re specifically looking at social cognition,” Negar explains. “We conduct puppet shows for babies, where one puppet is mean and one is friendly, to see what the baby might understand at that age. The work is fascinating.”

“My degree has given me critical thinking skills that I can apply to a great number of industries. Through my directed studies project, I made contacts outside of school, and started tying my interest in film in with all the schoolwork.”

Learn philosophy on a coffee plantation Sylvia Berryman, Associate Professor of Philosophy

For the last several years, Prof. Sylvia Berryman and her colleague Thomas Kemple, Associate Professor of Sociology, have taken a group of 20 students to Guatemala for a Global Citizenship Term Abroad. During two courses, the students read classic texts and current scholarship about the role of

“civil society” and theories of power and oppression. Outside the classroom students experience these concepts in context as they witness first-hand extreme poverty and systematic oppression.During their six weeks in Guatemala, students volunteer on community projects, such as working on a coffee plantation. By living and working alongside Guatemalans, students learn about the impacts of colonial violence and civil war, and how land tenure and the global marketplace affect workers. By engaging with the community, Global Citizenship students get a first-hand look at Guatemalan life, transforming the formerly abstract concepts of oppression and poverty into hard realities in the minds of students. “What I am interested in,” says Berryman, “is how an experience of a particular environment can challenge philosophical theory.”

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— Alumna Devon Wong, Sociology (major) and Women’s and Gender Studies (minor), BA 2010, turned her degree into a career as a filmmaker by taking advantage of opportunities outside the classroom: an exchange

at the National University of Singapore, the Tri-Mentoring program, a teacher’s assistantship and a directed studies project.

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Now, it’s your turnYou’ve come into your own as a learner and a thinker. During your fourth year in Arts UBC, you are preparing to offer your skills and knowledge to the world. You’ve matured as an academic, and you’ll be able to fully participate in the Arts UBC environment. Explore your own line of inquiry through a research-intensive experience or a student directed seminar. Give back by mentoring others. Having carved out your own path, you have much to share with those members of your academic community who are only beginning their journey. Whether you enter the workforce or pursue graduate studies to further your research, you’ll find a way to make your own mark and continue contributing to the world around you.

your fourth year

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Get involved in your future Claudia Pedrero, Alumna of Art History and International Relations (double major), BA 2011

As though a double major in Art History and International Relations wasn’t enough to keep a person busy, Claudia Pedrero was also involved in a variety of extracurricular activities on- and off-campus — so involved, in fact, that she won Arts UBC’s award for outstanding leadership.Claudia volunteered as a docent at the Vancouver Art Gallery, was heavily involved in the Art History Student Association, and she even ran a student directed seminar that combined her two majors, entitled “Stealing History: Arts and Cultural Property Theft in Situations of Armed Conflict.”

“These involvements gave me some perspective,” Claudia says. “Perspective in terms of the reality of the job market, in terms of what certain institutions are like and in terms of what I can do with my degree.” But it wasn’t all for practical purposes, according to Claudia. “It definitely made the experience more fun!”

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Applying history in the video game industry Brent Nielson, Alumnus of History (major) and Economics (minor), BA 1993

Brent Nielson graduated in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in history, and merged his education with his lifelong love of hockey and other sports.He started out as a game tester at the video game company Electronic Arts Sports and he firmly believes his education helped him advance in the industry. He eventually became an executive producer.Nielson says his Arts UBC education gave him the foundation he needed to grow into his career at EA Sports. “Writing all of my papers, collecting thoughts and creating an argument served me well for games. It helped me identify the creative core of a game, and to clearly and concisely articulate a vision.”

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“When you study literature or art history or philosophy, you are being exposed to different stories that, even if you haven’t experienced them, you have to try to understand. From this, you learn cultural sensitivity, you learn empathy. When somebody comes to my office with chest pain, numbness or tingling, I have never experienced those things, but I have to be able to listen to their narrative.”

— Dr. Jean Clarke, Alumna in Art History, BA 1974, on making the transition from Arts to Medicine

Faculty of Arts

Getting StartedBefore you start registering for classes, take some time to plan out your degree.

1. From the start of your Arts UBC journey, you will be designing your own learning experience by choosing the courses you want. You are not asked to declare your specialization (major) in first-year. Instead, you may choose one of three study options: Arts One, Coordinated Arts Program (CAP), or Custom Timetable.

2. Familiarize yourself with the Faculty of Arts degree requirements. Then, look through the first-year Arts courses on the Student Service Centre (SSC) to identify those that you will need to graduate, as well as those that you would like to take as electives.

3. It is never too early to start thinking about your academic specialization. Most majors are declared in third-year, but some are declared earlier, and some require applications. Research the specializations that interest you, so you know which prerequisites to complete in first- and second-year.

students.arts.ubc.caThe Arts Undergraduates website (students.arts.ubc.ca) is an online hub for student resources, many of which are mentioned throughout this booklet and listed below. This information will help you make a successful transition into Arts UBC.

Whether you have a specific academic advising question or want to find out more about Arts UBC learning experiences, make students.arts.ubc.ca your first stop.

Arts Academic AdvisingArts Co-op ProgramArts Internship ProgramArts Learning PlanCareer ServicesGo Global: International Learning ProgramsLeadership and MentorshipScholarships and AwardsUBC-Community Learning Initiative

Design and writing: Kaldor.com Photography: Page 2–3 David Campion Page 4–5 Bruce Marchfelder Page 6 Gillian Jerome Page 7 Eugene Lin Page 8–9 Erik Flakstad Page 10–11 Bruce Marchfelder Page 14 Darin Dueck Page 15 Bruce Marchfelder

© The University of British Columbia, April 2011. Updated March 2012.Printed in Canada. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission.

Page 2–3 Museum of Anthropology Multiversity Galleries Page 10–11 Image of Claudia Pedrero taken in the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery; (on wall) Neil Campbell, Narcissus, 2011, Myfanwy MacLeod, One Week, 2000.

The Arts UBC Artsworks book uses paper made from post-consumer recycled content. The paper selection preserves three 40-foot tall trees, 5,261 litres of water, 1 million BTU of energy, 38 kilograms of solid waste and 130 kilograms of greenhouse gases.

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The University of British Columbia Faculty of Arts, Buchanan A240 1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 Tel: 604.822.3828

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