On April 3, 2013, members of the Department of English and Film Studies, with support from the Coalition for Action on Post-Secondary Education (CAPSE) sponsored the University of Alberta's first teach-in on the recently released "Letter of Expectation" to the University of Alberta. Elegantly and passionately co-chaired by Dr. Katherine Binhammer and Dr. Dianne Chisholm with considerable assistance from English undergraduate student and CAPSE organizer Erika Luckert, the teach-in attracted an audience of 150 students, faculty, non-academic staff members and concerned members of the public. The event was a smashing success: the audience laughed, cheered, wrote and tweeted in response to six pithy, witty and politically fired-up readings by EFS professors of the Mandate Letter or Letter of Expectation given to the University of Alberta by the Government of Alberta last week. The readings were given by Drs. Jaimie Barron, Cecily Devereux, Natasha Hurley, Eddy Kent, Michael O'Driscoll, Julie Rak and Mark Simpson. Sadly not in attendance but invited to the event and given special front-row seats were Thomas Lukaszuk, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education and Premier Alison Redford. The readings of the Letter of Expectation ranged from denunciations of the directive to treat Campus Alberta as a universal brand, to deconstructions of the document's jargon, to reminders of what Henry Marshall Tory's phrase "uplifting of the whole people" really means for a public university. After the readings, attendees tackled a writing assignment given to them by Drs. Binhammer and Chisholm: they wrote and tweeted government officials about how they regard the upcoming budget cuts and the attempt to make all 26 postsecondary institutions into a single Campus Alberta-controlled entity. There was also a literary contest for Best Tweet, judged by Creative Writing professors: the prize was a recently-published literary and cultural theory collection edited by EFS professor Dr. Imre Szeman. Also in attendance were various media outlets, including CBC television, who covered the event for the evening news.University of Alberta's first teach-in
Julie Rak - 3 April 2013
On April 3, 2013, members of the Department of English and Film Studies, with support from the Coalition for Action on Post-Secondary Education (CAPSE) sponsored the University of Alberta's first teach-in on the recently released "Letter of Expectation" to the University of Alberta. Elegantly and passionately co-chaired by Dr. Katherine Binhammer and Dr. Dianne Chisholm with considerable assistance from English undergraduate student and CAPSE organizer Erika Luckert, the teach-in attracted an audience of 150 students, faculty, non-academic staff members and concerned members of the public. The event was a smashing success: the audience laughed, cheered, wrote and tweeted in response to six pithy, witty and politically fired-up readings by EFS professors of the Mandate Letter or Letter of Expectation given to the University of Alberta by the Government of Alberta last week. The readings were given by Drs. Jaimie Barron, Cecily Devereux, Natasha Hurley, Eddy Kent, Michael O'Driscoll, Julie Rak and Mark Simpson. Sadly not in attendance but invited to the event and given special front-row seats were Thomas Lukaszuk, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education and Premier Alison Redford. The readings of the Letter of Expectation ranged from denunciations of the directive to treat Campus Alberta as a universal brand, to deconstructions of the document's jargon, to reminders of what Henry Marshall Tory's phrase "uplifting of the whole people" really means for a public university. After the readings, attendees tackled a writing assignment given to them by Drs. Binhammer and Chisholm: they wrote and tweeted government officials about how they regard the upcoming budget cuts and the attempt to make all 26 postsecondary institutions into a single Campus Alberta-controlled entity. There was also a literary contest for Best Tweet, judged by Creative Writing professors: the prize was a recently-published literary and cultural theory collection edited by EFS professor Dr. Imre Szeman. Also in attendance were various media outlets, including CBC television, who covered the event for the evening news.