Spring 2011. Vancouver - A Local Exchange

Full-time, 15 credits (DIAL 390W, 391W, 392W).

A recent trend towards globalization encourages university students to 'go abroad' for a semester, immerse themselves in new cultures and experiences. Yet another trend suggests that we need to 'localize'  - learn more about place and the land we live on.  This semester will help students to begin to imagine what is possible in the place where we are – Vancouver, British Columbia.

This semester is about the stories we tell in the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Region. We invite 20 students to the SFU Vancouver Campus on a 'local exchange'. We will encourage the students to slow down, experience the neighbourhoods by walking streets and alleys in Vancouver, participating in local activities and imagining what is possible. We will involve ourselves in a range of experiences in the local community in order to consider diverse perspectives about the future story of Vancouver.

How does Vancouver tell the story of place? Who can live in this city? Who has lived here in the past? How does/can the past of Vancouver shape, influence and inform where we go?

What kind of city is this becoming and for whom? Who will shape the future of this city? How will that happen?

A fully immersive program in to what it means to live, move around and breathe in Vancouver. We will explore stories of the history, the ecology, the place and the people.

Come experience dialogue-archive, community, engagement and learning – join us on a Local Exchange in Vancouver for a semester.

FACULTY

Janet Moore is an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue. She has imagined, designed and facilitated courses that focus on community engagement, resilience, lifestyle activism, food systems, group process and urban sustainability at UBC, SFU and the Great Northern Way Campus (a collaboration of UBC, SFU, BCIT and Emily Carr). Janet is currently the University Teaching Fellow for the SFU Faculty of Environment and a research associate with the SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development. She keeps busy raising two kids and dreaming of life as a social entrepreneur/urban farmer.

Kevin Millsip is currently the Sustainability Coordinator with the Vancouver School Board and the Director of Next Up, a leadership program for young people committed to social and environmental justice.