Written by: Jess Dela Cruz, News Writer
Uniting to Improve Healthcare for Patients
January 21 | SFU Surrey, RM SP 291 | 1 p.m.–4 p.m. | Free
Part of the Champions of Science & Tech Speaker Series and hosted by the Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, the panel will discuss the healthcare system and highlight how, as the Event page states, unity is needed to “advance innovation.” Topics include: changes that may need to be done, the introduction of new and advanced technologies and therapies, and the various players in the system that are needed to create and improve Canadian healthcare. Registration is required, and can be found on the SFU events page.
Challenging Carceral Feminism: Why police and prisons are not the solution to sexual violence
January 23 | SFPIRG Lounge, TC 326 | 1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. | Free
The Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), a group focused on social and environmental justice funded and directed solely by students, is holding a discussion based on transformative justice, “Challenging Carceral Feminism: Why police and prisons are not the solution to sexual violence.”
This event fits in well given that January is Sexual Assault Awareness Month at SFU. Join SFPIRG and others “to build capacity in our communities for responding to harm, including sexual violence, without relying on the state.”
January 23 | SFU Global Student Centre | 5 p.m.–7 p.m. | Free
In partnership with Fraser International College (FIC), and Residence and Housing for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, MOSAIC is bringing an interactive workshop that provides students the education and tools to deeper their understanding and engage in disussing matters involving sexual assault. These include: defining gender-based violence, consent, rape culture, and the cultural expectations observed in host culture. Registration is required and can be found on the SFU events page.
MOSAIC is a “registered charity serving immigrant, refugee, migrant and mainstream communities in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as well as throughout the province of BC and overseas via online programs.”
Salish Singing and Drumming Workshop
January 23 | SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | 7 p.m.–9 p.m. | Free
SFU frequently aims to highlight Indigenous culture in its educational mission, as it currently sits on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Kwikwetlem Nations. In accordance with this mission, the Office of Community Engagement, and the Office for Aboriginal Peoples, are holding a workshop where you “learn traditional Salish drumming techniques and hear the stories and histories behind these songs.” Registration is required, and can be done on the SFU events page.
Violence, Nonviolence, and Necessary Suffering
January 24 | Harbour Centre Rm 2270 | 6 p.m. | Free
This event hosted by the SFU Institute for the Humanities entails a philosophical discussion about the relationship between violence and non-violence, and their roles in society. The book that inspired this event will also be sold on-site. According to the event description, pain is a part of life, and for humans to liberate themselves from injustice, “humans should learn to embrace necessary suffering.” University of Victoria Professor of Sociology Peyman Vahabz (who also wrote the aforementioned book) and SFU Professor Emeritus of Humanities, Ian Angus, will be speakers at this event. This event is organized by the SFU Institute for the Humanities. Registration is required and can be found on the SFU events page.
Improv Opera Episode 1: Coral Calls for Cloud
January 26 | SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | 2:00 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 3:30 p.m. | $7-$15
This interdisciplinary artistic performance is the first of several sessions that combine fine art, poetry, video, music, and science. The story, according to the event description, is based on the “fascinating phenomenon where overheated coral reefs emit bio-chemicals which become aerosols, thus triggering cooling cloud formations directly above themselves.”
It is written by Meagan Woods, an interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, and Master of Fine Arts candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts. She collaborated with SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU’s Music Program, and other well known composers and musicians to put on this performance. Tickets can be purchased through the SFU events page.
