Webinar | A Focus On Digital: Equity Issues In The Pivot To Digital: Postponed
PLEASE NOTE THIS WEBINAR HAS BEEN POSTPONED TILL A LATER DATE.
Join BCCIE for the fourth webinar of our intercultural series: Intercultural Intersections in International Education: Reflective Practices through Dialogue.
As we spend more time working with our students, partners and colleagues online, our personal has become the professional and our private spaces have become more public than ever. In this webinar, speakers will discuss some inequities of online delivery and critical intercultural approaches to interrogating our own practices, as one step towards ensuring that we are providing a safe space for our students, colleagues and partners in the field of international education.
Presenters
Arif Abu, International Student Advisor (Immigration and Special Projects), Memorial University
Arif (He/His/They/Their) came to Newfoundland, the ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk, via a long journey which started in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Arif is currently serving as an International Student Advisor (Immigration and Special Projects) at Memorial University’s Internationalization Office and has served in five other post-secondary institutions in Canada. He has also served as a special advisor to the AVP (Academics) on matters related to EDI at the Memorial University.
Arif is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Education and a research at the CLEAR an anti-colonist and feminist environmental lab at the Memorial University. His academic background, lived experience, and work in the field of international education and social justice have influenced him to examine critically the concepts of western epistemological racism, the decolonisation of existing knowledge acquisition and dissemination structures, the experience of international students, and the concept of fourth-wave student development spaces within student affairs. But above everything – Arif is the proud uncle of three nieces and a nephew who keep him grounded.
Heather Williams, EDI Project manager, Simon Fraser University
As the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Project Manager for Simon Fraser University’s Work Integrated Learning unit, Heather oversees a variety of projects that aim to create more opportunities and support for people who experience marginalization. In her previous work she combined her knowledge of intercultural development, curriculum and pedagogy to create curricula designed specifically to meet people “at the place where they are.” Heather earned her Masters of Education in Equity Studies through SFU and is pursuing her PhD in the Philosophy of Education at SFU. Her research interests include transformative learning, reconciliation, online learning and non-dualistic philosophies. Recently Heather co-authored a research project with BCcampus that examined the challenges and strategies that students who experience marginalization face in online learning.
Moderator
Todd Odgers, Associate Dean International at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)
Todd is Associate Dean International at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the and the former Principal of NorQuest Centre for Intercultural Education (CIE) in Edmonton. Todd has spent his career working in many intercultural intersections in Canada and abroad as a consultant, teacher, faculty trainer, and applied researcher. The eight member CIE team he directed for nine years completed almost five million dollars in funded research and educational projects for vulnerable communities, immigrants, educational institutions, businesses and industry. He facilitates and speaks widely to groups nationally and internationally on how they can effectively create inclusive campuses and workplaces. His experience as a corporate trainer overseas informed his approach to engaging across cultural similarities and differences. Back in Canada, his early research and work in higher education contributed to the emerging practice of interculturalization. In his role at BCIT, Todd brings the experience and resources learned and earned from his work with students, faculty, leaders and service staff to move the Institute’s interculturalization initiative forward.