Sfu's Vancity Office Of Community Engagement

BC’s Attorney General and Minister of Housing David Eby joins Am Johal for this episode of Below the Radar, discussing policy solutions to BC’s housing crisis — from protecting tenants’ rights and serving those who are under-housed to curbing speculation and quashing renovictions, to addressing issues of supply and an aging rental stock. David also looks back on getting his start as a lawyer and housing advocate in Vancouver’s urban core decades ago. He provides insights into his time in office so far, and the different policies he has gone, and continues to go to bat for. He speaks to the effects of COVID-19 on Vancouver’s housing availability and real estate market, and gives a brief update on the public enquiry into money laundering in BC. Resources: — David Eby - MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey: https://davidebymla.ca/ — The Dash Podcast: https://www.thedashpod.ca/ — Sen̓áḵw: https://senakw.com/ — Pivot Legal Society: https://www.pivotlegal.org/ — BC Civil Liberties Association: https://bccla.org/

Global health epidemiologist Angela Kaida joins Below the Radar to share her passion for research to support the sexual and reproductive health of women and nonbinary people. An associate professor in SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and a recent researcher-in-residence with SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative, Angela adopts an interdisciplinary, community-driven, ethics-based approach to researching the health of people living with HIV. In this episode, Angela is in conversation with Am Johal about the process and potentials of embracing a community-engaged approach in her research, from community outreach and the training of peer research associates, to issues around informed consent. She discusses some of her recent projects, including the Life and Love with HIV platform and the CHIWOS-PAW project, and shares how she and her colleagues have had to adjust to working with the communities they serve in the context of COVID-19. Resources: — About Angela Kaida: https://www.sfu.ca/fhs/about/people/prof

Below the Radar checks in with Simon Fraser University’s recently installed president and vice-chancellor, Joy Johnson. Stepping into her new role in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joy speaks to how SFU is working to meet the current challenges it is facing, from adapting to online learning and an added strain on mental health, to addressing systemic racism and inequality within the university and beyond. In this episode, Joy shares her vision for a more equitable, inclusive, and connected SFU, centering the student experience and community partnerships. We hear about some of Joy’s hopes for SFU’s future medical school and the proposed Burnaby Mountain gondola. She also speaks about her background as a nurse and public health researcher interested in the social determinants of health.

Below the Radar explores critical theory, anti-authoritarianism, the philosophy of technology, and the storied academic career of SFU School of Communication professor Andrew Feenberg, who studied under influential theorists, including renowned German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse of the Frankfurt School. Am Johal and Andrew Feenberg discuss Andrew’s intellectual journey with critical theory, the rise of social democratic student movements in the United States in the context of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the ‘60s, and dig into the relevance of Marcuse’s work in radical politics and art today.

Below the Radar explores immigration and connecting to community and social justice movements through art with Adriana Contreras, a visual artist and storyteller who captures dialogues as they unfold as a graphic recorder. Adriana is in conversation with co-hosts Fiorella Pinillos and Melissa Roach about her journey with visual arts and dance as a first generation immigrant from Colombia. Adriana tells us how her love for the arts has shaped her career, sharing her experiences of working as a visual artist and communicator at the intersection of art and social change. Resources: — New Works: https://www.newworks.ca/

“Cities are fundamentally about people.” Mary Rowe joins Below the Radar to discuss the pandemic moment as an opportunity to reimagine how we live together in an urban environment. She and Am Johal are in conversation about the urgent need to build social solidarity around collective disaster, honing in on how people are in relationship with their community at the hyperlocal level. As the president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, Mary’s recent work is concentrated on urban planning in disaster times, building social infrastructure, and helping cities recover and re-emerge from COVID-19 more connected, more resilient, and more empowered to effect change locally. Resources — Canadian Urban Institute: https://canurb.org/ — Bring Back Main Street: https://bringbackmainstreet.ca/ — CityTalk/Canada: https://canurb.org/citytalk-canada/ — “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History” by John Barry: http://www.johnmbarry.com/the_great_influenza__the_story_of_the_deadliest_pandemic_i

In this episode of Below the Radar, Brandon Yan, the executive director of Out on Screen, joins producers Fiorella Pinillos and Paige Smith to discuss his work in film education dialogue and fostering inclusive spaces for youth. Brandon speaks to supporting queer and trans youth in schools by bringing queer joy into classrooms, working collaboratively to push forward policy change, and reimagining the future of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Brandon also shares his path of embracing his identity as a queer, mixed-race person, and his experience running for city council in Vancouver. Resources — Out on Screen: https://outonscreen.com/ — Vancouver Queer Film Festival: https://queerfilmfestival.ca/ — CBC article - I'm working to unlearn the racism I internalized as a biracial kid: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/unlearning-internalized-racism-1.5677387 — Study: “A Media-Based School Intervention to Reduce Sexual Orientation Prejudice…”: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2447

Below the Radar’s Am Johal talks issues in urbanism and art as a research method with Sabine Bitter, Jeff Derksen, and Helmut Weber of the cultural research collective, Urban Subjects, based in Vancouver and Vienna. In this episode, they reflect on past arts exhibitions and programs they’ve facilitated on the urban experience, image politics, and visual representations of urbanism. Their work makes space for critical conversations about dispossession of land, the idea of a commons, the ‘right to the city’ in a contemporary context, the neoliberal commodification of housing, and more. Resources: — Urban Subjects: http://www.urbansubjects.org/ — Artspeak Gallery: http://artspeak.ca/ — “How High Is the City, How Deep Is Our Love” essay by Jeff Derksen: https://fillip.ca/content/how-high-is-the-city-how-deep-is-our-love — “The Right to the City” by Henri Lefebvre: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/henri-lefebvre-right-to-the-city#toc1 — The Vienna Model - Museum of Vancouver Exhibit: https://museumofvan

SFU librarian Baharak Yousefi joins Am Johal on Below the Radar to discuss critical librarianship, interrogating the entrenched systems and structures of libraries. She speaks to issues around the way librarians are schooled, the commodification of knowledge, and the need to make libraries welcoming spaces to all. Baharak also shares her love of books and culture that brought her to librarianship and talks about the popular One Book One SFU events she planned and hosted through the SFU Library. Am also asks her about her fondness for Vancouver’s West End and the neighbourhood’s quirky design gems. Resources — CritLib: http://critlib.org/ — Baharak Yousefi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BaharakY — #WestEndFonts: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23westendfonts&src=typed_query&f=live — SFU Library: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/ — Fugitive Libraries: https://placesjournal.org/article/fugitive-libraries/ — One Book One SFU event recordings: Maggie Nelson and Amber Dawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6wsD9khaSQ

Barbara Holland is a leading community engagement scholar who has done extensive research in the areas of organizational change in higher education, service learning, and community-university partnerships. In this episode, she is in conversation with host Am Johal about the shifting landscape of community engagement and embedding engagement in the culture of the urban university as a method of scholarship, teaching, and learning. Resources — Barbara A. Holland Collection for Service Learning and Community Engagement: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slce/ — The Maverick Minute: Barbara Holland and the Metropolitan University Mission: https://www.unomaha.edu/news/2018/04/the-maverick-minute-barbara-holland.php — Metropolitan Universities Journal: https://www.cumuonline.org/metropolitan-universities-journal/

When Sobhana Jaya-Madhavan landed in Vancouver 25 years ago from Malaysia, she was told her foreign credentials would make it hard to find employment as a social worker and was encouraged to apply for minimum wage jobs. In this episode, Sobhana is in conversation with Am Johal about the joy of finding community in a new place — and the barriers to employment she experienced as a newcomer to Canada. Sobhana tells stories from her journey as a social worker and public servant, sharing how her dedication to service and relationship-building led her to her current role as SFU’s Associate Vice-President, External Relations, where she liaises with governments and communities to help facilitate social inclusion and reconciliation initiatives at the university. SFU News: “SFU education champion walks the talk during her life journey”: https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2019/06/sfu-education-champion-walks-the-talk-during-her-life-journey-.html Canadian Immigrant: SFU’s Sobhana Jaya-Madhavan leads with optimism: ht

Below the Radar explores Lacanian theory with Lacan Salon President and SFU English Professor Clint Burnham. Clint speaks to how Lacan’s ideas are taken up in the digital age. Clint takes up Lacanian theories of the ‘unconscious,’ ‘extimacy,’ or ‘the split subject,’ as well as Žižek’s works, to unpack racism and microaggressions; intimacy and digital devices; and virtual interactions and teaching in pandemic-times. For this interview, Clint joined Am Johal to film a distanced conversation in the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre on SFU’s Vancouver campus. Watch the video version of this interview here: https://youtu.be/1cx6S0jx8dE Resources: — Lacan Salon: http://www.lacansalon.com/ — Clint Burnham: We don't know what we want when we're on the internet (and that's ok): https://youtu.be/WPExmWzljTU — Book Launch: Alberto Toscano & Clint Burnham: https://soundcloud.com/sfuw-community... — Clint Burnham: The Sublime Object of Edward Burtynsky: https://youtu.be/2e1ecaAnN0A

Dalannah Gail Bowen reflects on a lifetime of making music and convening community in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. A passionate singer, community arts administrator, and activist, Dalannah shares her philosophy of walking compassionately through the world and how she aims to make space for — and remove barriers to — finding connection through art making. She and Am Johal discuss her work in community arts, her career as a musician, and how she interprets our political moment during the COVID-19 pandemic as a widespread awakening to social inequities. Dalannah gifts us with a song to close the episode. Resources: — Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts: https://www.dtescentreforthearts.com/ — Videos of Dalannah Gail Bowen in concert: http://www.dalannah.com/music/videos.html — Heart of the City Festival 2020: An Evening with Dalannah Gail Bowen: https://vimeo.com/473661581 — Germaine Tremmel on the Rise of Women Warriors at Standing Rock: https://www.sfu.ca/sfuwoodwards/community-engagement/blog/2017

Below the Radar unpacks ethics in community-engaged research and experiential learning with Kari Grain, who has been working with host Am Johal at SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative. Kari speaks to her dissertation on the impacts of international service learning on local community partners. Centering ethical relationships and the unlearning of harmful biases about expertise and knowledge, Kari talks about teaching courses at UBC on community-based participatory research. She and Am also discuss barriers to meaningful and ethical community-engaged research at the institutional level, and the importance of reciprocity and bringing community in through the doors of the university. SFU’s Community Engaged Research Initiative: https://www.sfu.ca/ceri.html Experiential Education at UBC: https://blogs.ubc.ca/experiential/

Community-engaged scholar and filmmaker Lyana Patrick joins Am Johal to discuss how an Indigenous approach to community-building can positively impact the health and wellness of communities. Combining a diverse interdisciplinary background with her own lived experience, Lyana’s work addresses the ongoing colonial impacts of governance and urban planning on Indigenous community health. In this episode, Lyana also speaks to the importance of relationships and reciprocity in filmmaking and telling community stories, making the distinction between telling stories for communities, not simply about them. SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative: https://www.sfu.ca/ceri.html Blog: Announcing Lyana Patrick as CERi Researcher-in-Residence: https://www.sfu.ca/ceri/blog/2020/meet-researcher-in-residence-lyana-patrick.html Lyana's films "A Place to Belong" and "The Train Station" played at VIFF 2020: https://bit.ly/3eL8PJX https://bit.ly/32vVgZU

Since the onset of the COVID-19, WISH Drop-In Centre Society has rapidly expanded its efforts to support street-based sex workers. Am Johal is joined by executive director, Mebrat Beyene, to discuss how WISH and other Downtown Eastside service providers are collectively responding to the pandemic, which has restricted services and exacerbated many pre-existing crises facing the community. Mebrat speaks to new WISH initiatives, such as opening a new 24/7 shelter for sex workers, increasing access to bathrooms and showers, and finding new ways to accept donations of essential items. She also calls on policymakers at all levels to swiftly address access to emergency income relief for sex workers, to provide a safe supply of drugs, and to house people as quickly as possible. Resources: WISH Drop-In Centre Society: https://wish-vancouver.net/ The Courage Campaign: https://wishcouragecampaign.squarespace.com/ Donate to WISH: https://wish-vancouver.net/about/our-board/get-involved/donate/

Am Johal is joined by Derek Woods, an assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of British Columbia. They discuss Derek’s intersecting expertise in media studies and ecotechnology, examining what he deems the three defining characteristics of ecotechnology: artificial ecosystems, media archaeology, and the cultural imaginary through science fiction. They also problematize the term ‘Anthropocene,’ which proposes a new geological epoch marked by the significant impact humans have had on Earth’s geology and ecosystems, including climate change. Derek takes issue with the idea as it universalizes the human species, ignoring how colonialism and capitalism drove the transformation of the earth system. You can read some of Derek Woods' writing here: https://ubc.academia.edu/DerekWoods

A visual artist who grew up in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Gwen Boyle’s work explores movement, history, and place. The granddaughter of a Pender Street jeweller, Gwen draws inspiration from the sights and sounds of her childhood — the clinking of beads on an abacus, the hammering of jade, the melting of gold. Gwen is in conversation with host Am Johal about experiences from her Chinatown upbringing. She shares what led her to pursue a lifelong career in art, and her fascination with the Arctic. She also speaks to some of her particular works, including the public art installation, “Abacus (Suan Phan),” an interactive sculpture symbolic of the “merchants and old social fabric of Shanghai Alley and Chinatown.” Gwen Boyle’s website: https://gwenboyle.com/index.html Abacus (Suan Phan): https://gwenboyle.com/public-art/abacus-suan-phan/index.html Visit our website for photos of Gwen's work and life: https://www.sfu.ca/sfuwoodwards/community-engagement/Below-the-Radar/episodes/episodes1/ep85-gwen-boyle.html/

Working at the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality, Jen Sungshine collaborates with fellow Love Intersections artists to celebrate diasporic narratives of queer identities. Jen joins host Am Johal to discuss art making and storytelling as a tool to address systemic racism and build understanding in conversations about gender and sexuality. She shares some recent Love Intersections projects, including Yellow Peril: Queer Destiny, a short documentary following Vancouver drag artist Maiden China and a subsequent visual art installation — both inspired by the Chinese five elements as a framework to explore the artists’ experiences of Chineseness and queerness. Jen Sungshine: https://www.jensungshine.com/ Love Intersections: https://loveintersections.com/ Documentary: Yellow Peril: Queer Destiny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4LvRXTtrq4 Visual art exhibit: Yellow Peril; The Celestial Elements: https://loveintersections.com/yellowperil-celestialelements/

Urban Indigenous youth are taking the lead, advocating for policies that uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples on and off-reserve. Host Am Johal is joined by Jessica Savoy and Edgard Villanueva-Cruz from Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement Society (ALIVE). They discuss their recent report, Our Place, Our Home, Our Vision: Youth Voices of East Vancouver. The report contains Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth-generated recommendations for bringing urban Indigenous voices to the table, applying UNDRIP across different levels of government, and creating new models of self-governance for Indigenous people living off-reserve or in urban centers. Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement Society (ALIVE): https://alivesociety.ca/ ALIVE Report: Our Place, Our Home, Our Vision: Youth Voices of East Vancouver: https://alivesociety.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/alive-youth-policy-report-V02.pdf B.C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/indigenous-p