Webinar | The Intersection of Race and Intercultural On Our Campuses

Audience: Post-secondary, Languages.

Join BCCIE for the seventh webinar of our intercultural series: Intercultural Intersections in International Education: Reflective Practices through Dialogue.

For some international students, their arrival in Canada is the first time that they have had to negotiate new racial identities. It may also be the first time that they have had to confront prejudice, discrimination, and microaggressions that can come along with these new identities. In this session we will discuss how race and intercultural intersects on our campuses in BC and how we can integrate intercultural understanding, social justice, and conversations about race into our support systems and programming for our students.

Presenters:

Olivia Zhang, Director of Education at the Trinity Language Centre of Trinity Western University

Olivia’s research interests include languages, cultures and literacies, curriculum and pedagogy, international student experiences, narrative inquiry, and comparative and international education, among others. She has been actively engaged in CIESC (Comparative and International Education Society of Canada), CACS (Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies), TESOL Canada (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and BC TEAL (Teachers of English as an Additional Language). Olivia is passionate about collaboration in teaching and research locally and internationally; she regularly visits Mainland China and is a Visiting Professor at several universities. She is also an adjunct researcher in CRIE (Center for Research on International Education) in the Faculty of Education, SFU, where she earned her Ph. D. in 2017. Currently, Olivia is the Director of Education of TLC (Trinity Language Centre) of TWU. She has been providing visionary leadership to an exceptional team of faculty and staff in addition to developing curriculum and program from 2015 when TLC was established. Olivia came to Canada as an immigrant with her family in 2007 and became a proud Chinese-Canadian in 2014.

Kumari Beck, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, and Co-Director, Centre for Research on International Education, Simon Fraser University

Kumari’s research interests span critical internationalization studies, international education, internationalization of curriculum, equity issues in education, and international development. She is interested in how the experiences of those who participate in international education can inform ways in which we understand and practice internationalization. Her teaching interests include equity and social justice, international and global education, anti-racist and critical multicultural education, and current issues in curriculum and pedagogy. Her work history includes teaching English as an additional language in settlement programs for immigrants, international education program development in Canada and abroad, community adult education and extensive experience in international development in the NGO sector.

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.

To register for this event, please click here.

Registration deadline: 9:00 a.m., March 30, 2021.

For more information, please contact events@bccie.bc.ca.