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University of British Columbia (UBC) Podcasts

UBC Podcasts allow University of British Columbia alumni, students, faculty and others to access a wide variety of UBC-related digital content, from public lectures and talks to student-created music and more. Stay connected to UBC by subscribing to UBC podcasts.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

 
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.

"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"

"Because there is a war."

"You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?"

"Yes, all the time."

"Cool."

I smile a little.

"You should tell us about it sometime."

"Yes, sometime."

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

Beah came to the United States when he was seventeen and graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is a member of Human Rights Watch Children's Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations on several occasions. He lives in New York City.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now 26 years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty. (A UBC Talk of the Town public lecture originally presented on 29-Mar-2007)

Posted by Web Communications, UBC Public Affairs 3:42 PM  #Permalink


Monday, March 26, 2007

2007 Great Trekker Alumni Luncheon

 
Local UBC Toronto Alumni and Great Trekker award recipients, John Turner, BA'49, LLD'94, Allan Fotheringham, BA'54, and the late Pierre Berton, BA'41, DLit'85, connected through UBC and kept their UBC spirit alive in Toronto. Years ago, they created a tradition with an annual luncheon which we brought back with the Great Trekker Alumni Luncheon.

Hear Professor Stephen Toope "in conversation" with UBC Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Frank Iacobucci (BCom'61, LLB'62, LLD'89).

A Justice of the Supreme Court until his retirement in 2004, Frank Iacobucci has shared his professional insight broadly, providing guidance to private practice, academia and government as well as the judiciary. He has stated that the noblest attribute of membership in a profession is service to both clients and the public, and in this he has been exemplary. He was a law professor and Dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, then a high-ranking university administrator, including a period as the interim president of the University of Toronto. During the 1980's, he was Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada before being appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada.

Frank Iacobucci is current holder of the Walter S. Owen (visiting) Chair, the first endowed chair in the Faculty of Law at UBC. In 1993, he was appointed Commendatore dell'Ordine Al Merito by the Republic of Italy. In 1999 he became an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge University (where he completed his Masters and a diploma in International Law), and also of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

He has received eleven honorary doctorates, including one form UBC, and received the UBC Law Alumni Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the UBC Alumni Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. (A UBC Alumni Association luncheon event originally presented on 26-Mar-2007)

Posted by Web Communications, UBC Public Affairs 12:34 PM  #Permalink


Thursday, March 22, 2007

Campus Architecture and Urban Design: UCLA Case Study

 
Learn about the architectural challenges facing the UBC Vancouver Campus through a case study of the University of California Los Angeles featuring UCLA campus architect Jeffrey Averill. Using the development of the distinctive and visually-unified architectural style of the UCLA campus, Mr. Averill presents techniques for improving the architectural image and urban design using a prescribed pallette of building materials.

Following the lecture component of this presentation, UBC respondents consisting of architect Bryce Rositch, chair of the UBC Board of Governors' Property and Planning Committee, architect Joyce Drohan, who chairs the UBC Advisory Urban Design Panel, and art history and design professor Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe provide their viewpoints on the comparisons and contrasts between UBC and UCLA campuses.

Jeffrey Averill is the Campus Architect for the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been practicing architecture for over 25 years as a member of numerous offices around the World. A graduate of the Master's of Architecture degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Averill was also a Principal with Johnson Fain Partners where he managed a number of large design projects, including the new MGM Tower in Sacremento. He joined UCLA Capital Programs in early 2001 as a Project Manager responsible for a new laboratory building, and in June 2003, he was formally appointed Campus Architect and Director of Design Services. He currently serves as vice-chair of the City of Los Angeles Westwood Design Review Board. (A Vancouver Campus Plan Speakers Series lecture originally presented on 22-Mar-2007)

Posted by Web Communications, UBC Public Affairs 4:48 PM  #Permalink


Campus and Student Life at UBC

 
Is there a place on campus where you really feel connected to UBC? Join Dr. Peggy Patterson and participants in this "World Cafe" discussion, the third presentation of the UBC Campus Plan Speaker Series, as they consider how physical space can generate a campus lifestyle where students, faculty, staff, alumni, and residents connect as a community. In this event, participants draw from their experiences at UBC and respond to questions about those places on campus which they feel have special meaning, and where they feel connected to UBC and to learning. Dr. Patterson highlights some common characteristics among these successful spaces, and offers a model for campus and student connections that links the level of social connectedness to a range of factors, including campus design, public spaces, academic mission, and educators.

Dr. Peggy Patterson is a Professor in the Graduate Division of Educational Research at the University of Calgary and the Co-coordinator of the Higher Education Leadership specialization. With 28 years as an academic administrator, adjunct faculty member, and graduate supervisor at both U of C and the University of Guelph, she is a student of Higher Education, as well as a leader and educator. Her passion and her professional research interests focus on students, their learning and their development. She is also the Director of the Canadian Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CCSHE) - an initiative that will bring attention, research interest and collaborative activity to this exciting area. Dr. Patterson’s efforts have earned her recognition with numerous awards and honours at both the University of Calgary and internationally. Ultimately, Dr. Patterson has made colleges and universities better places for all students through her inspiration and leadership. (A Vancouver Campus Plan Speakers Series lecture originally presented on 22-Mar-2007)

Posted by Web Communications, UBC Public Affairs 4:31 PM  #Permalink


Friday, March 09, 2007

An Evening With a Nobel Laureate

 
Nobel Laureate and UBC Prof. Carl Wieman talks about his passion for science education and why he decided to come to Canada to join UBC in January, 2007. This Celebrate Research Week event was hosted at UBC's Robson Square campus by Prof. Sid Katz, Executive Director, Community Relations. (A Celebrate Research Week lecture originally presented on 09-Mar-2007)

Posted by Web Communications, UBC Public Affairs 1:57 PM  #Permalink


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