The legendary journalist ‘who lifts as she rises’
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Delegates travelled to Halifax from around the world for the Fall 2023 Universities Studying Slavery (USS) conference. It was the first time this international consortium met outside the United States. Read about what the keynote speakers had to say, view a selection of photos from the four-day conference and hear about its impact.
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What AI is and AI’nt Wondering what to make of text generative AI programs like ChatGPT? So were we. Eschewing the algorithm for this exercise, Website Manager Nicola Pulling spoke with Director of Journalism Fred VallanceJones, MFA Cohort Director
Kim Pittaway, Vice-President
Sarah Clift and writer Stephen Marche, BA(Hons)’97, to find out what all the fuss is about.
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Taking Time
One reason why Adrian Lee, BJ(Hons)’11, says he applied to the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) was for the opportunity to step away from his fast-paced routine as Opinion Editor at The Globe and Mail. Read Lee’s account of the experience and what it taught him about “...my own responsibility as a working journalist in these momentous times.”
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What it means to be seen: the impact of Sherri Borden Colley It was reporting by Sherri Borden Colley, BJ(Hons)’97, that brought attention to the historic injustice suffered by African Nova Scotian Viola Desmond—who now appears on the $10 bill. As King’s honours the legendary journalist with an honorary Doctor of Civil Law, Jon Tattrie, MFA’20, considers Borden Colley’s legacy.
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Ruby Stocklin-Weinberg
Who mines the minerals and gemstones that we use in everyday products? This is the question that gripped Ruby Stocklin-Weinberg, BA (Hons)’08, while working for a mineral supply chain consulting firm. As the first employee of GemFair, a De Beers-owned company focused on improving the working conditions of artisanal miners, StocklinWeinberg is learning who they are and what they need.
SINCE JOINING THE KING’S community in 2016, my greatest reward has been watching the multitude of ways in which King’s transforms lives.
First-year students arrive on Welcome Day radiating a mixture of excitement and nervousness: as their first term unfolds, they find their people and place. A uniqueness of King’s is the extent to which this happens in tutorials, classrooms and the library as well as in social spaces, residences and student activities. As students get to know one another, they are also, inevitably, getting to know themselves in a new light. Lasting friendships and their foundation in a shared experience of learning and growing in community are transformative and of enduring influence.
It is a privilege to witness these moments, a joyous opportunity to sometimes be a part of them and inspiring to have the responsibility to support an educational experience that expands minds, develops character, builds foundational skills and makes us all more ready for citizenship in our complex world. Contrary to what some clearly think, such an education is far from obsolete in our technological age. It is every bit as urgently relevant as it ever has been if we want not just higher productivity, but a better world.
All of this hits home in a different way when I have the opportunity to visit with alumni, both on and offline, in Halifax and around the country. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: King’s graduates are amazing people! Whether it’s breakfast with alumni in Moncton, the holiday gathering in the Lodge, an after-work meet-and-
greet in Toronto or upcoming receptions in Bermuda and Vancouver, it is manifest that King’s alumni move through the world with purpose, living lives that leave things better than they found them.
These inspiring gatherings—like the stories and profiles found in this edition of Tidings—deepen my admiration and love for this community as they broaden my understanding of how King’s, through its people, makes so much difference in our world.
In this way, the life of the Quad continues beyond the Quad and indeed, around the world.
What I hear constantly in alumni gatherings are the names of the faculty—as well as those of staff, coaches, dons and
friends—who made a world of difference to the people alumni became, and are still becoming. If King’s has a formula, it is both as simple and as formidable as that. For those of us fortunate to be part of this community, we know that its gifts are rare and abiding.
Long may it be so!
THE KING’S ALUMNI ASSOCIATION is in its Activate Era. As a network, we have a reputation for excellence in oration, writing and critical thinking. But we are also doers. Across the globe, you’ll find us actively solving problems across journalism, law, medicine, fine arts, marketing, fundraising, public relations, performing arts, politics, academia, technology and beyond.
The passionate energy we put into our personal and professional lives we can (even if it’s just a smidge of what we have to give) also channel into the future of King’s and the continued success of its students and network.
Not too long ago, we sent a plea asking for support for the Wardroom. You acted. The beloved space pulled in the donations required to see it through in record time. The reason we acted wasn’t because we couldn’t imagine a world without cheap Friday night pints. It was because we remembered challenging debates, FYP paper breakthroughs, first loves and best friends forged and sustained within the Wardroom walls.
We can pursue many other avenues to keep those experiences alive and flourishing for the classes to come, and help us maintain that connection we felt on campus out in the world.
As I recently wrote to those who follow the university’s newsletters, while the world is full of unknowns, there are some truths we can rely on and use as our guideposts:
1. Our shared experience of place and education at King’s connect us.
2. We believe in the power of learning and education.
3. We are all uncertain as to what the future will bring.
4. We all need true friendships.
5. Everyone needs help getting started.
The Alumni Executive is working on multiple ways you can act to support these truths. They include:
• Monetary donations to support essential renovations and student assistance
• Following and engaging with news and events at the university
• Staying connected to the alumni network
• Connecting with current students and alumni to strengthen our network through in-person and virtual events
I actively welcome all alumni and the extended King’s community to find strength,
support and friendship from our collective network. I look forward to hearing your ideas as we meet in the coming months, and I welcome your action.
Stephanie McGrath, BJ(Hons)’99 University of King’s College Alumni Association President
We’re calling all alumni to join us Saturday, June 1 for Alumni Day 2024! Tour guides will be on hand to take you on a stroll down memory lane and point out what’s new on campus. Catch up with friends and celebrate your peers as we honour recipients of the Alumni Awards.
ALUMNI DAY INCLUDES:
• alumni brunch & Alumni Awards ceremony
• campus walkabout
• special alumni tour of the Library Treasure Room
• afternoon tea and social
• evening on the waterfront
Ever wonder what it would be like to go back to residence?
Alumni Association President Steph McGrath met up with fourth-year student Miranda Dagley to find out
by Elizabeth Foster, BJ(Hons)’22
WALKING THROUGH THE first floor of Alexandra Hall with Junior Don Miranda Dagley, Stephanie McGrath, BJ(Hons)’99, marvels at how much has changed.
“I see the entryway for sure is very different. The room doors are different than they used to be, too. It’s nice to see all the accessibility changes, that’s really good.”
They stop outside Dagley’s room. McGrath points to the next door over. “My best friend Ruth used to live there.” McGrath herself lived across the hall.
Dagley’s room is bright, airy and inviting. From the fairy lights adorning the door-
frame, to the Lego orchids and Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia on the bookshelf, it’s a perfect snapshot of life as a residence student in 2024. McGrath remembers how she and her friends also decorated with fairy lights, but accessorized instead with posters of ’90s heartthrobs like Keanu Reeves. When she lived here, the entire building was women-only—Alex Hall didn’t go co-ed until 2006.
On paper, McGrath and Dagley are completely different, and not just because of the twenty-odd years that separate their undergraduate experiences. McGrath came
to King’s from Moncton, N.B. She lived in Alex Hall for her first year, then moved off campus with three friends. She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) and is now the Chief Strategy Officer at VERB Interactive, a Halifax-based marketing agency. Dagley is a fourth-year student double-majoring in gender and women’s studies and history, originally from East LaHave, N.S. Unlike most residence students, Dagley didn’t live on campus in first year. Before becoming a don, they bounced between dubious sublets and crowded co-living situations.
“I had some weird roommate situations that have given me a lot of insight as a don,” they say. “It’s [nice to] be a support to students and help them learn what type of housing is safe, and what maybe aren’t their best options.” This resonates with McGrath, who remembers the supportive living environment residence provided, something she says helped in her first year at King’s.
As Dagley and McGrath reminisce over living on the first floor of Alex Hall, similarities emerge. They’re both ambitious, hardworking and prioritize involvement with the King’s community. Dagley works three part-time jobs as a student ambassador, peer academic advisor and don, and McGrath leads the Alumni Association. Impressive resumes aside, they’re both enthusiastic and outgoing, finding their favourite part of residence to be the social aspect.
McGrath asks if students still watch TV together in the common room. Dagley explains that while they do occasionally host movie nights in the Manning Room, people often go to the Deane Little Common Room in Middle Bay, since it has the biggest TV.
“Back in my day, we would all gather [in the third-floor common room] on Thursdays to watch Friends,” McGrath says.
The conversation shifts to their favourite spots on campus. McGrath preferred to study in the library, since she found it less distracting than her room. Dagley smiles. “I do the same thing. I really like the basement of the library.”
Then they add, “The fourth floor is actually Friends-themed now. The doors are all purple, and they added the little yellow frame.”
McGrath and Dagley also agree that living in Alex Hall opened figurative doors for them.
“… I loved the freedom of being on my own,” McGrath says. “I think residence was when [a lot of people] found their groove with their peer group and people that they have things in common with.”
Dagley nods. “It was definitely noticing you can make friends with people you had things in common with, not necessarily who was conveniently like, in your high school class.”
“I felt really independent,” McGrath finishes. “Even though you’re protected here, you’ve got your meal hall and people looking out for you and all those kinds of things, it definitely was the first taste of true independence.”
REVISIT
“What kind of mother are you?
“A merry good-natured beautiful healthy mother—one with plenty of iron in your blood? Or a pale, weak, cross, nervous mother who needs iron? … Take Nuxated Iron to increase red blood corpuscles and help build up her strength and health, says physician.”
by Elizabeth Foster, BJ(Hons)’22
examines it. Where most see little more than an old-fashioned advertisement, Martel sees something more: a pattern, a story.
For two years, she has immersed herself in research exploring how ads in early 20th century newspapers impacted women’s access to health-care information, prior to widespread health education and resources. “Essentially, the overarching argument of my project is a claim that women’s health is shaped by a ‘moral imperative’ that advertisements and other health information sources place upon them,” she explains. Her finding could be used to draw parallels between how this information was communicated then, via newspapers, and how it’s being communicated now, through newer channels like social media.
Her research is made possible through the Scotia Scholars Awards, administered by Research Nova Scotia and funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. The awards provide financial sup-
port to students with exceptional potential who are engaged in a health research project. It’s a perfect fit for Martel, who graduates this spring with a Certificate in Medical Humanities, alongside a Bachelor of Arts with combined honours in Early Modern Studies and religious studies and a minor in the History of Science and Technology (HOST).
Martel initially focused on ads targeted to women in 1918—a tumultuous time in Nova Scotia, with the Influenza Pandemic beginning, First World War, the recent Halifax Explosion (1917) and growing industrialization.
“You have a lot of women who are home alone now, managing their households, managing their money,” Martel explains. “And these advertisements are really quick to jump on to that, and to paint a picture of a good mother character who is healthy, and who therefore, to be healthy, needs to buy their medications.”
Digging into this phenomenon in the
past helps inform Martel’s understanding of similar dynamics in our current moment.
“A lot of people have said … they experienced something similar throughout Covid, with different types of advertisements and reporting taking certain angles that may place some form of blame upon people, or make people feel guilty ... for how they engage with the world.”
Now in her second year of funding, Martel has broadened her scope.
“This second project is taking what I found in that first term ... and looking into later and later newspapers to see if I can identify a shift as public health begins to have more directives toward helping with maternal health care,” she says.
This early immersion in original research means that Martel is also learning how to write research proposals and reports, apply to conferences and submit to journals. Last May, she presented “What kind of mother are you?: The Influence of 1918 Advertisements on the Relationship Between Women
and Medicine” at a conference of the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine in Toronto.
“That was a really rewarding experience that I can’t imagine would have happened without the support of the award and all of the wonderful people at King’s who encouraged me to apply for it.” Specifically, she says, working with Associate Professor of Humanities Mélanie Frappier, who advised her through the Scotia Scholars application and has been her research mentor.
Frappier describes Martel as inquisitive, hardworking and invested in changing the world.
“Emma’s work on the ads found in Nova Scotia newspapers during the Spanish flu epidemics is reminding us that, still today, advertisements play an essential role in how we understand and react to disease, and that our right to free speech sometimes comes at the cost to both our physical and mental health.”
Martel graduates in May and, after a
Essentially, the overarching argument of my project is a claim that women’s health is shaped by a
‘moral imperative’ that advertisements and other health information sources place upon them.
gap year, she will pursue graduate studies in England—taking her research with her. Looking ahead, she expresses gratitude for the doors King’s has opened, and the memories she’s made here.
“There’s a very specific brand of King’s conversation that kind of opens you up to people right away,” she says. “Like, we skip the small talk and we get right to who’s your favorite philosopher, and why. A lot of my memories are people-focused: I’ve made a lot of really wonderful friendships here.”
Scan this QR code to watch a short video with Emma and learn more about her project.
The University of King’s College punches above its weight when it comes to athletics. This year the Blue Devils have seen continued success in several sports, including competition within the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Every team has exceeded expectations, says Varsity Administrator James Wise, BA’14. Having multiple teams sitting in top positions boosts pride across the whole department—or as Wise puts it, the rising tide is lifting all boats.
by Kaija Jussinoja, BJ(Hons)’22
The women’s soccer team wrapped up the season with an ACAA Championship run and an appearance in the CCAA National tournament—the first time both King’s soccer teams have played on the national stage since the ’90s.
The Blue Devils women took home silver in the Atlantic league and ranked sixth Canada-wide.
“We were all super proud to represent our team,” says centre midfielder Tia Lovegrove. “It’s an opportunity that not many people get.”
The third-year BA student says the soccer team has grown really close on and off the field over the years; that chemistry gives them a competitive edge in their possession-oriented “smart game.”
“We’re all friends and I think that plays a big part,” the Ottawa-born athlete explains. “Knowing that we all support each other, we all care for each other, and we really just translate all those positive feelings onto the field.”
The Women’s volleyball team was sitting top of the league when they won the 2023-24 ACAA Championships in February. Not only that, but they went into the game with several players listed in the top five—in both the CCAA and ACAA— for hitting percentage, kills, assists and blocking. Even more, the team is ranked 12th in Canada.
“From my first year, the team has only gotten better,” says middle blocker Elena Neufeld. “We’ve really grown together through the program.”
The third-year Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) student from Margaret, Man., attributes her team’s dominance in part to coach Beate Shannon. “She really cares a lot about our team environment,” Neufeld explains. “Our atmosphere is pretty uplifting—it’s really easy to get in your head with this sport, so having a support system like that, I feel, is what’s really changed the dynamic.”
In addition, Neufeld says excitement from the bench translates to power on the court through the team’s “notorious” cheering. Every player has a custom callout for whenever they get a point.
“I don’t think that we would have played as well as we do if it wasn’t for the fun and the energy that we bring to all our games,” Neufeuld says. “It sounds a little sappy, but it is true.”
This year, the Blue Devils men’s soccer team did what hasn’t been done in over a decade. They brought home the gold in the ACAA Championships. The October 2023 final against cross-town rivals Mount Saint Vincent was a close game, but King’s came out on top.
“People rushed out onto the field,” recalls team captain and goalkeeper Rylan Logan. “It was definitely a big, uplifting moment and everyone’s spirits were really high.”
The Blue Devils then went on to represent the league at the CCAA National Championships and finished the season in eighth place in the country.
The fifth-year arts student says his team’s success comes from a strong bond between players and passionate coaches who want everyone to excel.
“I don’t think it was really expected for us to go all the way right from the beginning. But as the year went on, you could just see the improvement grow and grow and grow,” the Tantallon, N.S. native says.
And while this was Logan’s final year on the team, he says it felt amazing to go out on a win, and he knows that the Blue Devils will keep the momentum going.
It was hard to predict how the season would go for UKC men’s rugby this year, as the team had said goodbye to 14 members who graduated in 2023.
But there was no need for worry. The Kingsmen advanced to the Rugby Nova Scotia finals for the second year in a row and were the runners-up in the league.
Second-year arts student Max Solano says the underdog team has undergone a huge transformation in recent years, thanks to head coach Geno Carew. Last year, King’s took home both the league and Maritime cups for the first time in a decade after an undefeated season.
And while losing all those players was a blow, the prop says the team still has “championship DNA” in the athletes that remain—and promising newcomers rounding out the ranks.
“It’s exciting, seeing a lot of the guys that are coming in with the guys that we have,” the Calgary native says.
“It’s gonna be a good few more years,” he continues. “We’re just looking forward, hopefully looking forward and looking up from here.”
The Blue Devils’ women’s basketball team had its best season in years, winning its first ACAA championship in more than 20 years against Mount Saint Vincent University.
Going into the game, point guard Jenna Bain was confident the Blue Devils would take home the banner this season. The fifth-year science student highlighted the strong roster rounded out by several upper-year players who brought maturity to the game and acted as mentors for the team’s talented rookies.
“Our team is known for pressing, getting lots of steals, playing fast-paced, pushing the ball,” the Bedford, N.S.-born athlete explained.
“We definitely have the most skilled team in the league and we have beaten every team so far,” Bain said. “If we play the way we can, then it definitely should be ours to win this year.”
And it was.
One student finds out-of-this-world opportunities at King’s and beyond
by Marilyn SmuldersFOR LEAH CHAMBERS, the University of King’s College represents a door—a door she’s let her curiosity open time and again.
Currently a third-year student, Chambers expects to graduate in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts.
Her first encounter with King’s was through the Humanities for Young People (HYP) program, a summer program for bright and highly motivated young people. At the time, Chambers lived in Vancouver, B.C., and was reading philosophy texts for fun. Her mother, Beth Hayward, who took the King’s Foundation Year Program (FYP) in the early ‘90s, encouraged her to go.
Chambers explains that HYP gives high school students a taste of King’s famed firstyear program, as innovative as ever more than 50 years after it was introduced.
“You live in residence with all these other students who are kind of like you. You take all the classes together. You go to lunch together,” says Chambers, 20, who still recalls some of the lectures from that first summer and how they captivated her. “You’re talking
about all the things you’re learning in class in social settings.”
“It gave me a feel for what university could be like,” she adds. Chambers attended HYP in 2018 and 2019, the last time it was offered before a four-year pause due to the pandemic. The program returns this summer.
From HYP, opening the door to further learning through FYP was a natural progression.
“There’s something so rich about going through something together—reading the books, going to the lectures and talking about what you’re learning. To me, there’s a lot of value in the unity of what we’re learning instead of taking ... disjointed intro classes.”
Now in her third year, Chambers is studying the History of Science and Technology at King’s and philosophy at Dalhousie. She was well on her way to an academic path she had already mapped out for herself by age 12—do a master’s degree, then a PhD and onto teaching and a research career as
a professor. But then King’s swung open another door and Chambers walked right through it.
In this case, the “door” was the Liberal Arts Passport to Innovation program, a short, non-credit course designed by Dr. Dawn Henwood, BA(Hons)’91, aimed at helping students in the humanities discover how their values and interests could appeal to innovative nonprofits and businesses. Chambers’ roommate convinced her to go and she’s glad she did. The program consists of online modules combined with in-person group sessions.
“I stumbled across a job posting for a Halifax startup that builds satellites. If I hadn’t done the program I would have said, ‘That’s not for me.’”
No one was more surprised than Chambers when she got an interview and then scored the summer job at Galaxia Mission Systems. Based in Halifax, the space computation company was founded in 2020 by Dalhousie graduate Arad Gharagozli. Galaxia is developing technology that allows
groups of satellites to communicate more effectively: they recently received $1.7 million from the Canada Space Agency to build and launch the first of two “nano-satellite” prototypes—satellites about the size of a shoebox—into orbit.
“I do what the engineers can’t do,” says Chambers with a grin. Through the academic year, she continues to work at Galaxia part-time. “I write applications. I work on budgeting. I do event planning. I’m now working on an educational summer program for high school students—almost like Humanities for Young People but about space.” Chambers even represented the company at an online meeting with the European Space Agency. Not bad.
She pauses, then continues. “So many people are like, ‘There’s nothing you can do with a degree in philosophy’ … but what the course showed me is that there is so much else that I can do. Even if I don’t end up in academia, I can still be intellectually stimulated in my work.”
There’s something so rich about going through something together—reading the books, going to the lectures and talking about what you’re learning.
Experience a slice of life in King’s acclaimed Foundation Year Program! From July 6-14, King’s invites high school students to join Humanities for Young People (HYP) and immerse themselves in a world of big ideas, with peers from across Canada.
This year’s theme is journeys— from the geographical to the intellectual, artistic or spiritual, explored through everything from travel, to education, media and migration. Students will share meals together in Prince Hall, attend morning lectures and participate in small group discussions to deepen understanding. Afternoons and evenings feature co-curricular workshops, activities and visits to local sites.
Participating students can opt for either a day student model or the residential option. Scan the QR code to learn more and register.
King’s launches a new, mandatory course for journalism students in direct response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action
THE SLIDE PROJECTED on the screen behind Mercedes Peters in the KTS Lecture Hall is brief and to the point: “This class is not about the Indian Act.”
Peters, a guest lecturer in Assistant Professor Trina Roache’s, BJ’00, Indigenous Peoples and Media course is, ostensibly, here to speak to the class about the Indian Act, but it’s not that simple. To understand the Indian Act, Peters explains, you must first understand how it impacts First Nations: “In order to see it, you need to see us first.”
This assertion echoes the course’s goal to provide journalism students with “a deeper understanding of Indigenous perspectives, Canadian history, key issues in reporting and impacts of colonialism.”
“The Indian Act actually shifts how you can conceptualize and view Indigenous Peoples, regardless of whether or not you are Indigenous,” she says. “The Indian Act … creates a legal category of Indigeneity, … then it gets to legislate us out of existence.”
Peters spends the next hour helping the young journalists in the room to “see” the Mi'kmaq, showing slides of ancient artifacts, describing cultural traditions and explaining stories created in response to the ebb and
flow of the seasons. Through images and insights, facts and stories, she adds richness and texture to students’ concept of the Mi'kmaq, ensuring they ‘exist’ to the people in the room, in spite of the Indian Act.
This type of presentation is an important part of the work taking place at the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Centre (MDCC) in Debert, N.S., where Peters works. MDCC was founded in 1989 after Dr. Donald M. Julien, Executive Director of the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq, was notified about artifacts found near Belmont, N.S. Dr. Julien’s work to protect the integrity of these important sites laid the foundation for MDCC.
Peters’ role is the Sharing Our Stories Coordinator. The action-focused title echoes something Peters brings up as part of her presentation: the Mi'kmaw language is dynamic, favoring verbs over nouns, and it often names things according to what they do. Knowledge carriers from the community and an Elders Advisory Committee guide Peters’ and her colleagues’ work. This work includes creating a digital archive of Elders’ stories, education and community outreach and bringing together Kluskap stories “that
convey knowledge about our physical world including important geological features.”
Peters explains to the class the Mi'kmaq have lived in Mi'kma'ki—a region that covers Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, much of New Brunswick and parts of Quebec—since “time immemorial.” At MDCC, Peters says they work with artifacts and architectural sites that have been radiocarbon dated to between 11-13,000 years old. She compares this to the age of the Indian Act, a mere 148 years old.
“When you have been in a place so long that you have a hard time remembering back that far, there develops this really deep and intimate connection to that place. And the connection to that place shapes who you are as a people.”
A map of Mi'kma'ki flashes onto the screen. Peters explains that “the language acts as a history book and also a map”: the land at the southern tip of Nova Scotia, including Yarmouth is called Kespukwitk, which translates to “land ends/ end of flow/ last flow.” Piktuk is in and around the area that we call Pictou County. Peters says it translates to “place where ground gases erupt,” in recognition of underground gases
that surfaced there. Today, she says, the Mi'kmaq are often referred to as the region’s first geologists.
Indigenous Peoples and Media launched this winter. Roache designed the course with support from Director of Journalism Fred Vallance-Jones. It was introduced as a requirement for all second-year students pursuing a single honours degree in journalism and in the fall of 2024 it will become a requirement for any student pursuing a combined honours degree in journalism.
The course was created in direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Call to Action (CTA) 86, one of 94 Calls to Action laid out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015:
We call upon Canadian journalism programs and media schools to require education for all students on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown relations.
“What really struck me about that [TRC] recommendation is that it said ‘all students’,” says Vallance-Jones. “My absolute number one priority coming into [the directorship] was to get this done.”
The course builds on existing initiatives in the university to address CTA 86 and decolonize the journalism programs: Roache delivers several lectures relating to Indigenous Peoples as part of the first-year Foundations of Journalism course; and since 2019 the elective Reporting in Mi'kma'ki has introduced a small group of students each year to Mi'kmaw culture while teaching them what it means to report Indigenous stories responsibly.
Roache says media play a vital role in shaping public understanding of Indigenous cultures and communities, treaty relationships and reconciliation.
“This course provides us an opportunity to think critically about how Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous Peoples are represented in media,” says Roache. “Hopefully it provides a strong foundation for a new generation of young journalists to head out into Mi'kma'ki and beyond, and add to the narrative in a meaningful way.”
To understand the Indian Act, you must first understand how it impacts First Nations: “In order to see it, you need to see us first.”
With the launch of King’s first mandatory course focused on Indigenous Peoples, the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing has taken an important step toward ensuring its journalism graduates know what it means to “see” the Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous Peoples and, through their reporting, help us do the same.
Scholars, theologians, alumni and friends gather to celebrate the work of Dr. Robert Crouse
THE LEGACY OF THE Revd Canon Dr. Robert Darwin Crouse, BA’51, outstanding scholar and a well-beloved teacher at King’s and Dalhousie, lives on across generations both locally and internationally. The Halifax book launch of two volumes of his works in January bore ample testimony to this.
The launch marked the beginning of a series of publications; a gathering together of the scattered leaves of Sibyl’s oracles, as it were, though not, as in Dante, into one volume, but many. At once a little-known contemplative, as (Revd) Dr. Gary Thorne, DD’04, remarked, he was also a well-respected scholar of patristic and medieval thought; the first non-Roman Catholic theologian to have been appointed the visiting professor of Patristics at the Augustinianum in Rome.
The Works of Robert Crouse is a publishing project under the editorship of Dr. Neil Robertson, BA(Hons)’85, Dr. Stephen Blackwood, BA(Hons)’97, Dr. Susan Dodd, BA(Hons)’88, and Dr. Thorne; very much a King’s affair. The launch offered
an intriguing and, at times, poignant set of testimonials to the effect of Crouse upon the lives of clergy and academics from a broad spectrum, reminding me at times of an observation by Inglis Professor Dr. Henry Roper, DCnL’09, about Crouse as the “enigma variations!”
The Rt. Revd Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand (ret’d), preached at St. George’s Round Church commenting on Crouse’s unique and valued contributions to the global church. (Revd) Gavin Dunbar from Savannah, Georgia, gave an address on Crouse’s treatment of the classical Eucharistic lectionary of the Western Church and its continuing significance. He drew upon the artistic and geometric imagery of Raphael’s School of Athens and La Disputa in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura which suggest the interplay of philosophy and theology so dear to Crouse’s teaching. He also gave a paper on the relation of the Christian Sacred and Secular in relation to the art of Michelangelo. Dr. Daniel Watson, having journeyed from Ireland, comment-
Crouse’s teaching understood and addressed many aspects of the existential angst of modernity by allowing the voices of the past to speak to our present confusions without collapsing them into one another.
ed on Fr. Crouse as pastor and mentor. Dr. Paige Hochschild, BA(Hons)’94, of Mount St. Mary’s, Md., offered a thoughtful treatment of the significance of memoria for the understanding of the integrity of human personality as developed by Crouse’s studies of Augustine.
(Revd) Chris Snook, BA(Hons)’00, showed how Crouse’s teaching understood and addressed many aspects of the existential angst of modernity, such as in Kafka’s “knowing the goal but not the way,” by allowing the voices of the past to speak to our present confusions without collapsing them into one another. Rhea Bright, BA(Hons)’80, commented on her Guide To The Images of Pilgrimage that complements Images itself. Musical offerings by Janet Ross et ensemble celebrated Crouse’s love for, and interest in, the music of the Baroque.
The annual Robert Crouse Memorial Lecture was given in the College Chapel following Evensong by (Revd) Dr. Thomas Curran, ’81. His address drew on the imagery of la doppia danza, the double circle of
the doctors emblematic of the reconciliation of opposites in Dante’s Paradiso (Canto XIII) and extended that imagery into the enlightenment and post-enlightenment world of Hegel and Schleiermacher et alia He told an amusing and revealing anecdote about Crouse attending an Anglican church in Europe only to hear the preacher preach one of his own sermons! He spoke to the preacher afterwards with four simple but devastating words: “I am Robert Crouse.” Imitation is, as they say, the highest form of flattery.
Dr. Bruce Gordon, BA(Hons)’84, DCnL’19, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale, gave a thoughtful address on Crouse’s teaching and understanding of Augustine, developing Crouse’s view of the many “Augustinianisms” of the medieval world to the reformation period. At Evensong on Monday night at Trinity Anglican Church, (Revd) Dr. Ross Hebb, BA’81, gave a lovely homily honouring Crouse’s influence as pastor, preacher and organist. The banquet which followed was
framed by toasts and testimonials to the legacy and person of Robert Darwin Crouse by Michelle Wilband and Dr. Roberta Barker, BA(Hons)’96
Gathering together the writings of Crouse; a gathering like that of the scattered leaves of Sibyl’s oracles; the beginnings of a legacy.
The Fall 2023 Universities Studying Slavery Conference considered the legacies of slavery and racism in Nova Scotia and what should come next
IN OCTOBER OF 2023, King’s and Dalhousie University partnered with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia (BCCNS) to host the Fall 2023 Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Conference. Comprising over 100 member institutions worldwide, the consortium describes its conferences as being focused on “sharing best practices and guiding principles as they engage in truth-telling educational projects focused on human bondage and the legacies of racism in their histories.”
Taking the theme, “Slavery, Reparations and Education: African Nova Scotia, Canada and Beyond,” the Halifax conference was a landmark event: not only was it the first USS conference to be held outside of the United States, it was the first time a meeting of the USS consortium foregrounded the history of slavery in Nova Scotia and Canada and the experience of African Nova Scotians particularly. “I think what this does is show that
slavery wasn’t just a passing or insignificant feature of Canadian history, it was a very important dynamic that continues to shape Canadian society as a whole, but particularly the experience of Black people,” said Dalhousie Associate Professor Isaac Saney, Chair of the conference organizing committee.
The conference was held 100 years after King’s and Dalhousie University entered into formal association: prior to the conference’s start, the universities jointly announced a new professorship, the Centennial Carnegie Appointment in the History of Slavery. Beyond this, the conference marked one of the most ambitious examples of collaboration between the two universities—one with impact far beyond the academic sphere.
As Canada’s oldest museum of Black culture and history, the expertise brought by BCCNS was vital to the hosting partnership. Speaking ahead of the conference, BCCNS
Executive Director Russell Grosse anticipated that it would mark “a turning point” for the centre and called it an example of the way communities and educational institutions can work together.
Two days of the four-day conference were hosted at BCCNS, including the first, which included the announcement of a new partnership between King’s and BCCNS under which BCCNS will help create an advisory process for King’s, and King’s will contribute to BCCNS’s research work. Though not scheduled to speak until the following day, His Excellency John Mahama, former President of Ghana, was in attendance and addressed the crowd with spontaneous remarks, sharing his first impressions. In his keynote the following morning, Mahama referenced the bus tour he joined later that afternoon, focused on the historic community of Africville.
Mahama’s keynote included moving reflections on the unfathomable loss that resulted from enslavement of Africans to build nations outside of Africa. Fourth-year student Seleste David, in attendance for Mahama’s keynote, later wrote, “How do we begin to look at the financial cost of slavery in order to settle on a number for reparations for the descendants of enslaved people and the African continent? Could a number even be placed on the emotional cost? These questions were at the forefront of my mind throughout the rest of the conference.”
LEFT: Dr. George Elliott Clarke, Dr. Isaac Saney and Dr. Gordon Earle, BA’63, DCL’22
MIDDLE TOP: Dr. Afua Cooper holds shackles that washed ashore near Port Greville, N.S. while she delivers her keynote
MIDDLE BOTTOM: H.E. John Mahama attends the first day of the conference at BCCNS
RIGHT: Dr. Sarah Clift is seen with Dr. George Elliott Clarke
Photos by Paul Adams, Adams Photography
Inglis Professor Sylvia D. Hamilton made the lessons and legacies of ancestry the focus of her luncheon keynote delivered on the second day. Titled “On the Soil of My Ancestors: A Report from the Field,” Hamilton shared personal and archival photographs and commentary as “field notes” that blended narrative with poetry.
“I am the great granddaughter of Charlotte and Charles Grosse, a descendant of Robert and Tena Hamilton, self-liberating Black Refugee Survivors of the War of 1812.
African descended people in Nova Scotia have shaped their identity with the forge and anvil of resistance, struggle and love.”
Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and Chairman of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission (CARICOM), delivered the dinner keynote on the second day by video. Beckles described how UWI has, from its origins, worked to advance reparatory justice, no matter how painful or complex: “We are not one to research and
What this does is show that slavery wasn’t just a passing or insignificant feature of Canadian history, it was a very important dynamic that continues to shape Canadian society as a whole, but particularly the experience of Black people.
run, we are one to research and repair.”
Dr. Afua Cooper of Dalhousie University, Chair of the Scholarly Panel on Lord Dalhousie’s Relationship to Race and Slavery, delivered the morning keynote on the third day. She held up a pair of shackles that washed ashore near the Age of Sail Museum in Port Greville, N.S.—a clear reminder of the region’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield’s luncheon keynote on day three concentrated on the variable interpretation of historical documents. Whitfield noted that the historian’s necessary reliance on documentation of enslaved people who came into contact with the legal system risks skewing our understanding of Black history if the bias of those who created the documents is not adequately recognized.
Attendees filled the room to hear Dr. George Elliott Clarke that evening. Clarke delivered a spirited presentation arguing for Halifax to become home to the first museum of slavery in Nova Scotia. One by one, Clarke introduced a series of items that should form that museum’s collection, including archival ads for the sale of enslaved people in Halifax and entries from the Book of Negroes.
Fourth-year student Sophia Wedderburn writes, “Condemning the ‘Machiavellian malfeasance’ of Nova Scotia’s roots as a slave state, Dr. Clarke shone light on pieces of history long buried in the shadows.”
Throughout days two and three, concurrent panels were held between keynotes. Topics examined included “Universities and Slavery,” “A Pan-African Intervention in Undertaking Reparations” and “Loyalists and Enslavement at King’s College, Nova Scotia.”
The final day brought conference delegates back to BCCNS for breakfast and a keynote by Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM, and founder of the Clement Payne Movement, David Comissiong. Comissiong spoke about the history of the CARICOM Reparations Commission’s work on reparatory justice.
Following Comissiong’s speech, Inglis Professor Hamilton was joined on stage by representatives of the Global Afrikan Congress to propose a resolution that Canada create a National Reparations Commission. The resolution was passed, laying the groundwork for the conference to have a nationwide legacy.
Asked about the conference’s legacy with-
in the King’s community, President William Lahey said the conference has raised the profile of King’s scholarly inquiry into its historic connections to slavery.
“There is also greater awareness of our determination to be a university that Black students will trust is for them, including through our new partnership with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. That partnership is founded on the experience of organizing the conference together with Russell Grosse, Executive Director of BCCNS, in collaboration with our Dalhousie colleagues, especially Dr. Theresa Rajack-Talley and Dr. Isaac Saney.”
Grosse says the effects of the conference continue to be felt at BCCNS several months later. “It has created some remarkable bonds between the community and scholarly work and research in the study of slavery like never before seen.”
King’s Board Chair Douglas Ruck, KC, BA’72, placed the conference in a long trajectory of work the university has undertaken.
“The University of King’s College has been on a journey to uncover its past in relation to the history of the transatlantic slave trade. The journey began in earnest in 2018 when President Lahey announced the estab-
lishment of a scholarly inquiry to examine the possible connections, direct and indirect, of the university with slavery. The journey continued when King’s in partnership with [BCCNS] and Dalhousie University hosted the Universities Studying Slavery Conference.
“As an African Nova Scotian, alumnus and Chair of the Board of Governors, I was exceedingly proud that this university played a prominent role in highlighting the historical legacy of slavery in Nova Scotia, Canada and beyond and the ongoing impact on present-day society. It is a history that needs to be told.”
TOP LEFT: H.E. David Comissiong is pictured during his keynote on day four of the conference
BOTTOM LEFT: Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield speaks on day three
SECOND FROM LEFT: Inglis Professor Sylvia D. Hamilton delivers her keynote
SECOND FROM RIGHT, TOP: Dr. Isaac Saney welcomes delegates on the third evening
SECOND FROM RIGHT, BOTTOM: H.E. John Mahama delivers his keynote on day two
WITH A FACULTY WHOSE expertise spans the breadth of human history, philosophy and creativity, we were curious if King’s professors had a book in their past that played an outsized role in making them who they are today. Beginning last fall, as an exclusive feature of our monthly Alumni & Friends newsletter, we asked professors to tell us about the books that have stayed with them. The selection is as varied as you’d expect from faculty who teach across a range of disciplines.
For this special Tidings-exclusive edition, Vice-President and Associate Professor of the Humanities, Dr. Sarah Clift, shares her Words to Live By.
What book have you chosen?
Before I answer your question, could I give the books I haven’t chosen, but might have if you had caught me on another day?
Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov; Lives of Girls and Women, Alice Munro; Middlemarch, George Eliot; History: A Novel, Elsa Morante.
The book I’ve chosen is The Emigrants by W. G. Sebald.
When did you first read this book?
I first read it in 1997, just a year or so after it came out in English. It was the first work of Sebald’s I read, and since then, I have read everything he wrote (he died an untimely death in a 2001 car accident).
Was it a book that you read quickly or did you take your time reading it?
The Emigrants is not a book you should read quickly, because of the complexity of its narrative structure and the incredible attention Sebald pays to detail. It really is a work to savour and mull over at length. But I don’t want to give the impression that it’s a ‘slog’ to get through; it is a completely gripping read and I quickly became attached to the characters. In fact, I still feel the same strong attachment I felt all those years ago when I first read the work.
What was it about the book that first stood out to you?
One thing that really startled me about the book on my first encounter was the quality of the prose. I read it first in Michael Hulse’s translation, and Hulse brilliantly captures what I might call the “artful obsolescence” of the prose. Indeed, were it not for the 20th-century giveaways, it could be mistak en for 18th-century German prose, that of Goethe, for instance.
The Emigrants consists of four narra tives, each of which is named for its main character. All of these central characters have undergone experiences of emigration; that is, they have all been displaced by war, persecution, trauma, mostly due to the two world wars and the Holocaust. While each narrative is entirely distinct from the others, there are nonetheless motifs and images that “flit” through all of the stories, causing an in tricate pattern to emerge that joins the lives of these characters and the unnamed narra tor who is compelled to tell their stories—or the stories of their significant “others”—of displacement, memory and loss. I found these patterns really striking—so subtle, and at the same time, so insistent.
How did this book shape you?
The Emigrants has been a really good teacher for me: it has helped me think about how ethics and aesthetics are connected when it comes to representing historical catastrophe. That is, the issue of what is represented—the content—is inseparable, for Sebald, from consideration of “how” that content should be represented. When I first read The Emigrants, I was already interested in, and doing doctoral research in the areas of memory and trauma studies. But Sebald’s The Emigrants gave me a way to think about the imaginative possibilities that can be opened up even in relation to the most difficult histories, to stories that are so hard to tell … possibilities that allow for connections to be made between individuals, cultures and ways of seeing. There are risks in that
Simon Kow, Professor of Humanities
Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en
“As a child … the story of the Monkey King was a fun way for me to inhabit an important and fun part of my Chinese heritage,” Kow says. “I was—in my mother’s words— ’full of imagination,’ and so I could not get enough of the characters, story and vast invention of the book … Monkey reminded me [of myself]: restless, mischievous, unruly, needing discipline but continually pushing against boundaries ... As an [Early Modern Studies] professor and for my students, it has proven itself time and again to be an enjoyable and playful lens to think about Chinese culture—including the syncretism of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism of Ming China—in the early modern period.”
Roberta Barker, BA(Hons)’96,
Professor of TheatreThe Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
“It seems ludicrous to say that I, a very ordinary Calgary high schooler, discovered anything at all of myself in these clever, elegant members of 19th-century Euro-American high society. But the impulse to understand the rich and strange inner lives of other human beings, which James articulates with great nuance and insight through these characters, would eventually be one of the key forces that got me interested in theatre,” Barker says, adding that her view of it has changed. “I now perceive it as a novel about the loss of youthful illusions—and the possibility that self-worth, integrity and dignity can lie on the other side of that loss.”
Gillian Turnbull, MFA’17, Director of Writing & Publishing Woody Guthrie: A Life
“It changed the trajectory of my whole life,” Turnbull says. “[Guthrie’s] recognition that music could play an important role in helping us understand and communicate about pressing issues shaped everything I thought about music going forward … The book married my two loves of folk music and writing, and I ended up doing just that, writing about music, for the next 25 years.”
Read Dr. Clift’s full entry and explore past editions by visiting ukings.ca/words-tolive-by or scan the QR code.
Chancellor Debra Deane Little and her husband Robert Little cut the ribbon on the newly minted Deane Little Community Support Centre, a space they generously helped to fund. Located in the Link off the Willwerth Garden, the centre was renovated in summer 2023 to house new offices for the Sexual Health & Safety Officer, Student Support Officer, Equity Officer and Accessibility Officer.
Big changes came to Alexandra Hall this year with the addition of a Mawio'mio'kuom (gathering room) for Indigenous students at King’s. Since opening at the start of the school year, this room has hosted cultural events and workshops, led by Indigenous staff and faculty on campus. From a fridge and washing machine to a designated smudging space, the Mawio'mio'kuom has everything an Indigenous student may need to feel a little more at home.
This summer we wished Pjila'si (welcome) to the athletes from around the continent who stayed on campus while they competed at the North American Indigenous Games, hosted in Mi'kma'ki in July.
You never know what you’ll find when you step out onto the Quad! Last spring, as part of Assistant Professor Justina Spencer’s “Art, Optics & Technologies of Illusion” course, student and artist
An Milne demonstrated the functioning camera obscura they’d built. On a sunny day, the class went outside and put the technology to the test, observing the science behind optics in real time.
Two celebratory athletics matchups were held as part of celebrations to mark 100 years of King’s and Dalhousie’s association: a men’s rugby match in September and a women’s volleyball match in February. Both games enjoyed a great turnout and plenty of friendly competition.
This winter, 20 alumni came back to King’s for Formal Meal. Pictured here is the Hon. Madam Justice Sandra Oxner, BA’61, DCL’97, with Alumni Relations Manager Kimberly Gosse. Participants enjoyed good food, great company and Senior FYP Fellow Dr. Maria Euchner, BA(Hons)’99, delivered a special introduction for retiring Associate Professor of Humanities Dr. Thomas Curran, ’81. (Did YOU know he used to run a men’s fashion blog?)
The proceeds from this event went to the newly formed King’s Journalism Student Society (KJSS), to establish a fund to pay for student journalism equipment. There was also a 50/50 raffle for Assistant Professor Pauline Dakin’s, MFA’15, coveted cherry-apple pie!
In January students, alumni, faculty, staff and administration came together with representatives from RBC to celebrate King’s Experiential Learning Program (KELP), an initiative that received funding through an RBC Future Launch grant. KELP is led by Joanna Sheridan, BA(Hons)’07, (second from right), Manager of Experiential Learning and Public Humanities at King’s.
“Sitting at the side of the library signaling actors when to take their places, will forever remain with me as a core memory from my time at King’s,” says first-year student Sami Brandes. Brandes stage-managed the King’s Theatrical Society production of Aristophanes’ classic Greek comedy The Birds and called it a “wonderful learning experience.” Read more about Brandes, the 2023 Harrison McCain Scholar, on pg. 29.
The publication of the first two volumes of The Works of Robert Crouse publishing project—Images of Pilgrimage and The Soul’s Pilgrimage: Theology of the Christian Year Vol. 1, was celebrated with a two-day series of events that featured multiple speakers (read about the launch on pg. 12). As part of the launch, Dr. Thomas Curran, ’81, delivered the 2024 Robert Crouse Memo-
rial Lecture, “Bologna. Paris. Pisa. Wittenberg. Berlin: The Legacy of the Medieval European University.” Dr. Susan Dodd, BA(Hons)’88, is the co-editor of The Soul’s Pilgrimage, which will eventually comprise three volumes. Dr. Neil Robertson, BA(Hons)’85, is a General Editor of The Works of Robert Crouse, together with alum Dr. Stephen Blackwood, BA(Hons)’97,
and former King’s Chaplain, Dr. Gary Thorne, DD’04. The series is described as “a project undertaken by former students of Robert Crouse who wish to share what they received from their teacher: a profound philosophical thinking that gathers up the riches of the Western intellectual tradition, interpreted by caritas.”
Professor of Theatre Dr. Roberta Barker, BA(Hons)’96, was awarded the 2023 Ann Saddlemyer Award, given by the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR) in recognition of the best book published in English or French in a given year, on the basis of its “substantial contribution to the field of drama, theatre, and performance studies” in Canada. Barker was selected for the award for her book Symptoms of the Self: Tuberculosis and the Making of the Modern Stage (University of Iowa Press, 2022), described by the CATR as “an original, deeply researched, and beautifully written analysis of the emergence and endurance of pulmonary tuberculosis as the primary theatrical representation of illness from the nineteenth century to the modern era.”
Inglis Professor Dr. Elizabeth Edwards co-edited with Dr. Kathy Cawsey The Broadview Anthology of Medieval Arthurian Literature (2023). This unique anthology “includes selections from mainstream canonical authors, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Sir Thomas Malory, and more peripheral works, such as the Melech Artus (a twelfth-century Hebrew text) and the Dutch Morien (featuring a black knight).”
Inglis Professors Sylvia D. Hamilton and Stephen Kimber were invested with the Order of Nova Scotia, the province’s highest honour, by Lt.-Gov. Arthur J. LeBlanc. Two of only five recipients in 2023, Hamilton and Kimber were appointed by the Lieutenant Governor on the recommendation of an independent advisory council. Hamilton was selected “for capturing and preserving the experiences of African Nova Scotians.” Kimber’s honour recognized him “for representing Nova Scotia in the national press and mentoring several generations of journalists.”
Associate Professor of Humanities Dr. Ian Stewart is part of an historic $154-million, seven-year research grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). Led by Dalhousie University along with three other universities, Transforming Climate Action: Addressing the Missing Ocean will bring together academic researchers across several ocean-focused STEM, social science and humanities fields to explore the complex relationships connecting people, oceans and climate. Interdisciplinarity is central to Stewart’s teaching and research, based in the King’s History of Science and Technology (HOST) program, which inspires his role in this project. He also co-chairs the project’s Research Advisory Committee, helping to coordinate the efforts of 170+ researchers and their innumerable collaborations outside academia. This ship is just launching, so more news to follow in months and years ahead.
Run, Hide, Repeat, (CBC Podcasts), a podcast by Assistant Professor Pauline Dakin, MFA’15, won Gold at the New York Festivals Radio Awards in the Personal Lives category. The podcast is an adaptation of Dakin’s award-winning 2017 book, Run, Hide, Repeat: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood (Penguin Random House Canada).
Originally from Chelsea, Que., Katie Cheslock is in her fourth year of a combined honours degree in Contemporary Studies and international development studies. In February, Cheslock was announced as a 2024 recipient of a McCall MacBain Regional Award; $5,000 that can be used toward graduate study at any eligible Canadian university.
For Cheslock, Development and Activism is the class she’s taken that stands out most, because of the opportunity it gave her to “develop practical tools for advocacy in the
international development studies sphere.” Through this experience, Cheslock co-founded the Dalhousie Mutual Aid Society, an organization addressing “food and housing insecurity within the student community.”
“[The course] showed me a path to put my theoretical knowledge about injustices and the socio-political circumstances that produce them into practice and has ultimately reshaped how I relate to my liberal arts education and the trajectory of what I want to do post-grad.”
Asked about the highlight of her time at King’s, Cheslock points to Formal Meals.
“I started my degree in the fall of 2020, doing [the Foundation Year Program] online from my dorm room in Middle Bay, and was not able to take part in this tradition during my first year. Since then, my friends and I have always made an effort to attend every Formal Meal we can, even in our upper years, to soak in the feeling of community. King’s has such a special community of warm and bright people, and there’s something really lovely about coming together and remembering that we’re a part of something bigger.”
Anna Dugandzic is completing a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. While at King’s, she played Blue Devils women’s soccer, being named team MVP in 2022. In the fall of 2023, Dugandzic was a Maritime Region Finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
“It’s all about problem-solving!” she says, explaining why Biochemistry of Clinical Disorders is her favourite course. “I enjoy getting to apply what I’ve learned to clinical scenarios encountered in health care.” Asked what motivates her, she says, “I’m driven by the unknown possibilities in my future,” adding, “I get excited by learning new things and tackling new challenges.”
So how did she approach her personal statement for the Rhodes application? “I
approached it with honesty! I focused on how I am an ordinary, average 22-year-old. I explained how others have impacted me, rather than the other way around. Taking the time to really reflect on who I am, and who I hope to become helped me through the process.”
Lily Van Beek has wasted no time becoming involved at King’s. The Foundation Year Program student plays forward with the Blue Devils women’s basketball team and in the fall, she accompanied SODALES, the King’s-Dalhousie Debating Society to New Haven, Ct., to compete at Yale IV.
“Yale IV [is] a debate tournament hosting students from universities across Canada and the United States. I was thrilled to attend, given that I would be competing against talented students from the top universities in North America, and that I would have the opportunity to travel to New Haven with my teammates.”
Van Beek says they debated “a variety of topics, including everything from the FDA approval process to religious theodicies. Our opponents came from across North America, from schools including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, McGill and [University of] Ottawa.”
What’s her top tip for winning a debate?
“There are so many facets to debating—everyone has a unique skill or area of knowledge they bring to the table. The most important thing is to stay calm and confident in yourself and your abilities.”
Read more from Van Beek, who holds the 2023 Carrie and Ralph Wright Memorial Scholarship on pg. 28.
VICTORIA GIBBS KNOWS HOW SHE wants to make an impact on the world, even if she can’t fully explain why.
“I don’t think people realize how many forcibly displaced persons there are in the world… There are over 100 million people that do not technically have a location where they call home, and that number has only grown every single year for the past 70 years—and will continue to grow.”
Gibbs graduated in 2023 with a BA in political science and international development studies. Her thesis focused on migration. Discussing her ongoing interest in this field, she is quick to say that she does not consider herself an expert. Instead, she describes herself as a “Canadian-born girl from Prince Edward Island with no familial connections to immigration.” This background has prompted some to ask why migration matters so much to her, she says. It’s a question she doesn’t quite know how to answer: perhaps it goes back to childhood friendships, or a middle school project on the Syrian refugee crisis. But matter to her it does, and her commitment to working on this massive issue has impressed some very discerning people.
In February, Gibbs was named a finalist for a McCall MacBain Scholarship, advancing to the last stage of a highly competitive process open to students from around the world, entering master’s and professional
degrees at McGill. If she’s successful, Gibbs will pursue either a master in political science, or the master in public policy. Gibbs will travel to Montreal in March for a series of interviews.
At King’s, Gibbs held the roles of Financial Vice-President and President of the student union. She participated in Classics in the Quad and volunteered with St. George’s Youthnet.
Her time at King’s meant a lot to her, for a few different reasons.
“What I experienced in my undergrad is so much more than [a means to an end] … It’s more about … how you critically analyze things, how you understand the world— those are the biggest things I took out of my education….”
“I feel like I had huge life experiences at university—because I’m the kind of person who likes to be involved and take part in extracurriculars—I had really high highs, and really low lows, but it was all super-educational to me and to understanding where I’m at in life and informing my future decisions—and I want more of that.”
Gibbs notes that she would be the first person in her family to attend graduate school—something she plans to do no matter the outcome of this competition.
Asked to share the highlight of student days at King’s, Gibbs laughs and asks if she can share two memories.
“On my very first day at King’s, during Move-In Day … the [Orientation] leaders were dancing on the library steps and being super-fun and silly and not insecure at all ... I really loved that because they weren’t taking themselves too seriously.
“I think when you’re 18, going into university it can be hard not to take yourself too seriously; you don’t really know what you’re getting into, it feels like you’re going into a weird part of the adult world you’ve never seen before—and so I loved that.” The same day, she says she found a four-leaf clover for the first and only time; she took it as a good sign.
Her second highlight came on the other side of the pandemic, after two years of online learning. She began to appreciate the little things around her—things that should have been normal by then, like seeing the faces of your peers, but that hit differently after two years of social distancing and masking.
“There were things I noticed that … students hadn’t had for two years; little glimpses of experiences that made me really happy. But my number one enjoyment was when there were a lot of people in the Wardy and you’re dancing—or even if you’re just sitting there and seeing people are happy, because … I realized that it was such a fleeting moment … Fourth-year was the first time many of us got to see each other smile.”
In high school Jayden Lewin visited King’s and Dalhousie’s campuses just to be around people “who were there to learn.” Now part way through FYP, the 2023 Gordon Earle Scholar talks about life on campus as part of the King’s community
by John Mackay, BA’71JAYDEN LEWIN IS EXCITED. He’s talking about the Foundation Year Program (FYP) and the King’s community, everything from the great books he’s reading to residence life and his part-time job in the Wardroom. As Lewin sees it, his beautiful dreams are being realized, his clear, determined plans are coming to life. “Life is the best it’s ever been for me, honestly,” he says. “Everybody has been extraordinarily open and welcoming. I found a group that’s truly amazing to hang out with and just be around. It’s a King’s community experience.”
Lewin is the recipient of the Gordon Earle Scholarship, awarded to African Nova Scotian students who’ve demonstrated academic excellence. Formerly called the Prince Scholarship, the award was renamed after the trailblazing African Nova Scotian who was its first recipient, Dr. Gordon Sinclair Earle, BA’63, DCL’22.
“I got a random call from a number I didn’t know, and I almost didn’t answer. It was President Bill telling me I had been awarded the scholarship. I was in shock— and gratitude. I said thank you an absurd number of times,” he laughs. “Before classes started, I attended [a reception] for the scholarship. I got to know past scholars and spoke with Gordon, the first recipient. He is
an incredibly welcoming and kind man and speaking to him made me feel truly proud to receive a scholarship in his name.” Thanks to the scholarship, Lewin can live in residence and have the full-on King’s experience he’s cherishing, an experience that includes performing in the King’s Theatrical Society’s fall production of Yasmina Resa’s Art. And it’s no small thing that living on campus allows him to avoid a daily commute to class from his family home in Cole Harbour, N.S.
For Lewin, learning and academic achievement have always been top priority. “I was always a curious person, I wanted to know how things worked. I was encouraged to do so by my parents. And there is a looming idea that moves me forward—I want to have a family. I want my kids to have a better life, which both my parents did for our family. I’ve been lucky enough to never experience poverty, we were always able to keep our heads above water, though narrowly at times. Both my parents worked hard to better their situations throughout my childhood.”
Lewin’s heart, it seems, got to university before he did. A few times in high school he walked around the Dalhousie and King’s campuses, grabbed a coffee and sat and did some reading. “Just being around people
who were there to learn was great,” he explains. “What I was looking forward to most was being around people who chose to be in school, who actually wanted to study.”
A university fair at his high school brought King’s into focus. “The King’s recruiter, Yolana Wassersug, [BA(Hons)’08] was amazing,” he says. “I fell in love with King’s the way she described it. It sounded like the best of Dal and the best of other things with its small community. And with FYP I was going to be able to do what I wanted to do and really dive into the humanities.” A campus tour, where he met President Lahey, strengthened his interest. “Then I did some research and saw the very high rate of acceptance of King’s students into postgraduate studies. That clinched it.”
“Challenging,” Lewin says when asked to describe FYP a few months in. “It’s challenging all the ideas I had about myself coming in…but the material is amazing!” He finds the FYP community, his fellow students, amazing as well. “Even if I don’t have much to say about a text, I’m surrounded by others who will debate it at considerable length,” he laughs. “At times we’re an argumentative bunch but it’s phenomenal to get all the different perspectives on a text. It helps you learn to look at things more deeply.” Lewin
“At times we’re an argumentative bunch but it’s phenomenal to get all the different perspectives on a text. It helps you learn to look at things more deeply.”
singles out his primary tutor, Hilary Ilkay, BA(Hons)’13. “She’s been absolutely incredible in helping me understand the texts. She brings joy to my days and makes going to tutorial a truly wonderful experience.”
It’s no surprise that Lewin has his sights set on becoming a university professor and the next steps on his path are sharply drawn; he’ll do a double major in classics and Early Modern Studies and, hopefully, a creative writing minor. Asked where he can imagine himself going to graduate school, he’s quick to reply. “An absolute dream would be a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford and then NYU or Columbia for my doctorate. I’d love to have a New York experience. My mom’s best friend and her husband, kind of my aunt and uncle, own a jazz club in Brewster, N.Y.—he’s Ian Hendrickson-Smith, he plays saxophone for The Roots. My dream would be living up there with them, working in the club as a bartender and going to school. I don’t know if I can make it, but I can dream about it—and shoot for it.”
This year 33 King’s students hold the Debra Deane Little and Robert Little Academic Scholarships for Varsity Athletes, with nine in their first year. Among these are Georgia Gavas of Halifax, N.S., who played high-level soccer since age 12 and is now part of the UKC varsity women’s soccer team. Gavas says the Foundation Year Program is teaching her to think critically and adds “Because I’m a FYP Science student I’m getting the best of both worlds—I’ve got the small community of King’s and a taste of the five-hundred-person classes at Dal.”
Fellow Deane Little Scholar and Halifax native Ariana Nikolaou knew she would love FYP as soon as she learned it involved a lot of reading. She enjoys the tutorials, even as she notes “it can be humbling to hear what everyone has to say.” For Nikolaou, the highlight of her first year has been assisting on a goal scored when the team went to Nationals.
Will Patterson of Coquitlam, B.C., is a member of the varsity men’s basketball team and a Deane Little Scholar taking FYP Science. Strong on the court and in academics, Patterson nurtured a love of the classics early on. Asked what he thinks of the FYP essay, Patterson is philosophical: “Sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day. I’ve just finished one and whoops, here comes another one.”
Coleton Walker spent his first season on the UKC men’s soccer team making strong memories: “As a rookie to be scoring goals and starting games, playing in finals and winning the league … that was awesome ... These are things I won’t forget.”
The Sackville, N.S., native dreams of playing on a European soccer team one day, but for now, he says he enjoys the structure of FYP and praises the support available to students, saying, “They want you to win.”
Courtland Carmichael of Hamilton, Ont., is a big fan of the late Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Writing his Sobey Family Scholarship application essay, he drew on Tarkovsky’s film Mirror in reply to the prompt: “There are no facts only interpretations.” Now part-way through the Foundation Year Program (FYP) he draws a line from his favourite film director to the program. “… he never speaks on what the message is, it’s all about how you interpret it … In FYP, it’s not a lot about reading
secondary sources; it’s all about reading the authors themselves.”
Fellow Sobey Family Scholar Noam Koubi also holds a deep affinity for the arts—he plays violin and is currently taking the FYP (Music) path. On top of his studies and teaching piano lessons, Koubi is practicing for a very special performance—he’s one of only 10 students selected to be part of the Fountain School of Performing Arts’ Concerto Night, where he’ll play one of his favourite composers, Henryk Wienawski.
In high school, Lily Van Beek of Saint John, N.B., mourned the lost art of the student newspaper. So she did something about it, launching a student publication that accepted submissions from around the province. The experience taught her “about the impact students can have.” Now in the Foundation Year Program at King’s as this year’s Carrie and Ralph Wright Scholar, Van Beek looks guaranteed to make an impact on her new community. She plays varsity women’s basketball and is part of the debating society. What does she like best? “I love the community, that I can walk into the common room and pull out a book and someone will ask my thoughts on it.”
“We’re learning to produce content for the world, and we have the world in our classes,” says Andie Mollins, the 2023 River Philip Foundation Journalism Scholar. Arriving at King’s from the small town of Shediac, N.B., Mollins comes to the one-year Bachelor of Journalism degree with a seemingly endless wealth of energy to tell the stories she cares about and change hearts and minds on matters ranging from sex and gender to “poverty and homelessness, climate change and the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.”
Sami Brandes came to King’s with a clear sense of her future career. Her sister is chronically ill and Brandes sometimes felt overlooked as a child—a family dynamic leading to (what are sometimes called) “glass children.” Brandes hopes one day to become a therapist specializing in this area.
For now, the Harrison McCain Scholar is taking advantage of everything her first year at King’s has to offer. With ambitions to direct theatre, she’s working her way from the ground (stage) up. “... I talked to one of the [KTS] execs. They said, ‘If you want to get into directing, stage managing is a really good way to get in and do things behind the scenes,’ as a way to understand how it all works. And so I just thought, ‘Okay, cool!’”
For Eunice Abaga, a student in the oneyear Bachelor of Journalism, this degree is the realization of a long-held ambition. “If someone asked me today, why I am doing this? I would say I’m living my dream.”
With degrees in education and public administration and a career as a policy analyst with Nova Scotia Health, journalism could be considered a departure, but Abaga has been building these skills for some time—something recognized in her selection
for a Sylvia D. Hamilton Award. Volunteering with the production of a documentary, she was tasked with conducting multiple interviews—a process that became therapeutic as she grieved the sudden death of her sister in the United States. That wasn’t all the experience brought her—when the film was released at Lunenburg Doc Fest, Abaga had the opportunity to meet Inglis Professor Hamilton, namesake for the award.
You might wonder what brought a young person growing up in Australia with an interest in medicine to choose King’s. But then, you probably didn’t reckon on Miss Carrol.
Joseph Edward-Smith explains “... my Grade 11 teacher in Melbourne, Miss Carrol, this terrifying Irish woman, put a book of Seamus Heaney’s poetry on my desk and said, ‘This will change your life.’ And it did ... literature and the world of books … I felt like this is the only world I wanted to be a part of.” That book propelled Edward-Smith around the world to Canada, where his mother is from. Now that he’s here, what does he make of FYP? “The beautiful thing about FYP is that everyone who is doing FYP wants to do FYP. No one is using it as a means to an end and so there’s this kind of universal internal motivation for doing it.... I think FYP sets a lot of people free in a way that they didn’t expect.”
The archives hold a multitude of stories: we join University Librarian Tracy Lenfesty and alum Cassandra Burbine as they work to reveal them
“I’M TRYING TO THINK WHERE I could have put it because I know I didn’t hide it,” says Cassandra Burbine, BA(Hons)’23 “When I left, I needed to clear all of the tables for Orientation Week because they bring the students in here to show them some of the library’s older manuscripts.”
Burbine is looking for a scrapbook belonging to the Alexandra Society, namesake of Alexandra Hall. Active from 1902-2002, the society began as a women’s auxiliary to King’s College in Windsor. Renamed in 1910 after Queen Alexandra, consort of King Edward
VII, it was active in fundraising in support of the College, Church and greater community.
Burbine recalls leaving the scrapbook on a library cart. The book was one archival document of many given to the library by the society. Burbine read it during the summer of 2023 while working as an Archives Assistant with University Librarian Tracy Lenfesty. Now in her first year of the master of information program at Dalhousie, Burbine has come back to King’s one day a week to finish the project.
“I didn’t know anything about the
Alexandra Society until I got the job,” says Burbine. “We have their meeting minutes, scrapbooks and artifacts, or ‘ephemera’ as they’re teaching me to call it in school….
“You realize how much effort they put into supporting the college…And little ‘mini-legacies’ [the society] left around campus.”
Advocacy for women students was not the Society’s original mandate, but that became the goal when they raised money for a women’s residence, which became Alexandra Hall.
“After the fire on the Windsor campus, they raised money again to help have the college rebuild and set up the women’s residence.” She and Lenfesty say that within the Society’s archive are stories about women students on campus and about women’s unpaid volunteer labour.
“You know, these societies were more common in the 1900s,” says Burbine. “Middle class women would have tea together and say, ‘How do we solve the world?!’”
Burbine’s primary goal with the Alexandra Society material is to develop a finding aid, a descriptive file list used by an archive to outline the documents and other material relevant to a specific subject that are in its possession. When the finding aid is com-
plete, Burbine will prepare a library display of objects from the Society.
But first, she needs to find that scrapbook.
At a table nearby stands Faculty Fellow Dr. Parisa Zahiremami. She is leafing through a book while Librarian Patricia Chalmers and Library Technician Andy Curry look on astonished. Zahiremami has been asked to look at a book donated to the library in the 19th century; the information provided then suggested it contains lyric poems by Hafiz, a 14th C. poet. Zahiremami, an expert in medieval Persian literature, quickly determines that the book is, in fact, Khusraw va Sh r n, a tragic narrative romance by the 12th C. Persian poet Nizami.
The book is part of the library’s rare book collection that includes 44 incunabula, books from the earliest stages of printing in Europe. Additionally, there is an impressive collection of historical Anglican theology that includes the Bray Collection, comprising books from three early clerical libraries given to King’s by Christ Church Parish, Windsor in 1979, and the Kingdon Collection, bequeathed by Hollingworth Tully Kingdon (1835-1907). Kingdon was a scholar, author and Anglican clergyman who became the second Bishop of the Diocese of
Fredericton. His collection consists of some 2,500 volumes and is designated as a “Special Collection of Research Value” by Library and Archives Canada.
Meanwhile, Burbine has found the scrapbook. Taking it to the other end of the table, she opens it to reveal hand-written notes, newspaper clippings and photographs. She turns the pages with clean but bare hands: gloves block important tactile information gained through the sensitive nerve-endings in our fingertips that can help the archivist handle delicate material more carefully.
Located on the library’s lower level, the archives and special collections are held in a cool, brightly lit room, colloquially called the Treasure Room, that is a far cry from the dark, musty-smelling space the word “archive” might conjure.
MIDDLE TOP: A scrapbook from the Alexandra Society archive
RIGHT: Tea set gifted to the ladies of Alexandra Hall by the Alexandra Society for the society’s 50th anniversary in 1952. The tea set consists of a teapot, coffee pot, sugar bowl and creamer, all made of silver from Birks. The engraved, silver-plated platter is from the International Silver Company
All photos by Elizabeth Foster, BJ(Hons)’22
[The archives] house the raw materials of scholarship. If these items are not stored, organized, preserved and made accessible, history is lost.
“If it smelled moldy down there, we’d have a major problem,” Burbine commented in an interview earlier that day. Lenfesty explained that it’s climate-controlled to remain low-temperature and low-humidity—optimum conditions for preserving paper, of which the archive holds volumes.
For example, the Martell diaries, belonging to King’s alum James Stuart Martell, BA’32, historian and Assistant Provincial Archivist during the 1930s and 40s, regularly attract researchers and historians. A similarly attractive collection of papers belonged to journalist and poet Andrew Doane Merkel, born in New York State in the mid 1880s, who came to Nova Scotia as a boy when his father, Anglican Minister Rev. A. Deb Merkel, took over a parish in Digby. For almost forty years Merkel worked as a journalist in the Maritimes. By the time Merkel retired in 1946, he had covered a range of regional, national and international stories that included Marconi’s transmission from Cape Breton, the sinking of the Titanic, war and the first airplane flight in the British Empire.
If the archival environment is meticulously tracked and managed, Lenfesty dreams of the time when the same can be said of its contents. Like many small universities, King’s doesn’t have a dedicated archivist. Lenfesty oversees the archives, though her role permits limited time to undertake the larger organizational efforts that would make it a higher profile resource. That’s why she hired Burbine for the summer as Archives Assistant, a role that was jointly funded by the Provincial Archival Development Program and with funds from a gift in Will made by former University Librarian and Archivist Henry Drake Petersen.
Asked what type of projects she envi-
sions for the archives, Lenfesty begins to cycle through a list of goals, some of which are underway, while others remain in the planning stages. There are materials that need to be described and finding aids written, allowing someone unfamiliar with the material to make an informed decision as to whether or not it would be relevant to their research. And then there are the photographs.
“Digitization of anything, specifically for photographs ... is time-consuming with quality checks required on each image,” she says.
While digitization is a powerful way to make archival material accessible to people around the world, it’s not a panacea.
“People who aren’t familiar with archives think that digitization will mean ‘forever,’ but ...Technology changes so fast that you have to digitize something—and then digitize it again.
“Some people think that once you scan something, you can throw out the original but you can’t,” says Lenfesty. “There are things that you need to keep forever.”
Long-term, Lenfesty hopes to hire a part-time archivist.
“The important thing about the archives is that none of this information is available elsewhere. These materials are not published. In this way, the archives are essential. They house the raw materials of scholarship. If these items are not stored, organized, preserved and made accessible, history is lost. In our case, the history of King’s is lost, and by extension, a part of the history of the province.
“Until we do this work, we don’t know the full breadth of the stories the Treasure Room holds.”
Stories like the 12th-century Persian text Zahiremami unlocked.
Interested in seeing what King’s archives have to offer? Alumni are invited to join a special visit to the Treasure Room on June 1 as part of Alumni Day.
Visit ukings.ca/ events/alumni-day-2024/ to learn more and register.
Known to colleagues and friends as Drake, Henry Drake Petersen died in 2012, leaving a gift in Will to create an endowment at King’s for the archives. The gift that formed the Petersen Endowment was in excess of $100,000, the biggest staff gift to the university to date.
Originally from Amityville in Long Island, N.Y., Petersen came to Nova Scotia in 1969. He held a BA with honours in history from Long Island University. Soon after arriving in Halifax he was invited to attend dinner at King’s and it made a lasting impression. Petersen applied for a Donship, serving as Don of Middle Bay through the 1970-71 academic year, and then Don of North Pole Bay in 1971-72. During this time, he participated in the Quintilian Debating Society, the Haliburton Literary Society and the King’s Dramatic and Choral Society.
arranged Petersen’s papers and records, held in King’s archives. In the biographical sketch of Petersen that accompanies the finding aid, Hathaway wrote, “Through his years at King’s Petersen gave his time freely to any student who asked, reading and discussing their essays and tutoring them in Foundation Year and Classics topics. He solicited suggestions from students about how the Library could be improved, and responded thoughtfully to every comment.”
Petersen celebrated the library’s position as the central hub of the college community. Weekly in the Committee Room he held tea, which often included cake and oranges, for all who wanted to drop by.
Petersen began his 41-year career at the University of King’s College Library when he was hired as a cataloguer in 1971. Promoted to University Librarian in 1993, in 2006 he became University Librarian and Archivist, a role he maintained until his retirement in August 2012. During these years, he spent a summer at the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, and in 1990 he graduated with an MA in Classics (Greek Literature) from Dalhousie University.
He was known as a devoted friend, corresponding regularly with friends and family throughout Canada and the United States. After his death, (now retired) University Librarian and Archivist Janet Hathaway
Today the Petersen Endowment provides an invaluable foundation to enhance King’s archives. We acknowledge the care and foresight of Henry Drake Petersen and the generosity he felt towards the College.
Jon Tattrie looks at the legacy of legendary journalist Sherri Borden Colley, who King’s honoured in February with a Doctor of Civil Law in a historic ceremony at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia
by Jon Tattrie, MFA’20
SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY, BJ(HONS)’97, has been called a “modern-day Carrie Best,” a community builder who lifts as she rises, and a proud mother, wife and champion of Black Nova Scotians.
And now, she can be called a Doctor of Civil Law as the University of King’s College bestows the honorary degree on the veteran journalist in a historic ceremony at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia (BCCNS) this February.
“It just lifted my spirit so much,” she says. “I don’t do journalism for recognition, I do it because I’m passionate about journalism. I love the fact that people trust me to tell their stories.”
She traces her career origins to a Christmas gift from an aunt in New Glasgow, N.S. “On store shelves, you’d often see dolls, but they weren’t dark-skinned dolls. This doll was dark skinned, she had curly black hair, and I saw myself in that doll.” She later wrote an essay about the doll. “My English teacher ended up reading my essay in front of the class. I felt so special.”
That inspired her to enroll in a community college program for broadcast news in
1989. A key breakthrough came when King’s Inglis Professor Sylvia D. Hamilton hired her to work on a film called Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia. Borden Colley earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1997. While still a student, Borden Colley started her career at the Chronicle Herald, where she ultimately worked for 21 years.
“I remember one story that I was really proud of early in my career. It was on the Upper Hammonds Plains volunteer fire department, which was the first and only allBlack fire department in Canada,” she says.
Another early story introduced people to Viola Cain, a foster mother in North Preston who had cared for dozens of children over the years. Borden Colley reported on the courts for many years, but it was a story about another Viola that would change her life.
In 2010, Borden Colley covered a school talk delivered by Wanda Robson about her late sister, Viola Desmond, and the injustice she’d been subjected to after being arrested for sitting in the whites-only section of a theatre in Borden Colley’s hometown of New Glasgow in 1946. “We used to go watch movies there almost every Saturday and we
I don’t do journalism for recognition, I do it because I’m passionate about journalism. I love the fact that people trust me to tell their stories.
never knew the story of Viola Desmond and what had actually happened there,” she says. “I didn’t know about her story until I became an adult. It was never taught in schools. And that’s a shame—shame on the education system then for hiding that story from us and hiding our Black history from us.”
Borden Colley set out to rectify that with a series of stories, including the first interview with a man who’d been an eyewitness to the outrageous arrest in the Roseland Theatre. She convinced a retired judge to go on the record calling for a pardon. “That is the number one highlight of my career,” she says. “The issue of the pardon I don’t think had ever been raised.”
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter read her series and a few weeks later announced his government would pardon Desmond. In 2018, Desmond became the first Black Canadian woman on our money when the beautician graced the $10.
It was a profound moment for Borden Colley. Her father grew up in the same racist environment as Desmond. “He grew up in an era where he could not go into a barber shop in New Glasgow until after hours. That wasn’t my great-grandfather or grandfather; that was my dad. I think it was the pain of those experiences, the trauma caused by that, I think that’s why older people didn’t talk about it.”
Bill Lahey, President of the University of King’s College, says honorary degrees mark outstanding success. “Sherri’s being honoured because we’re very proud of what she’s accomplished as a journalist. She’s an extraordinary representative of what you
can contribute and accomplish if you’re a graduate of journalism from King’s,” he says.
Brian Daly, Assistant Professor of Journalism at King’s, first met her in 1997 at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. It was a “seminal moment” for Black journalists of his generation, and he was on the bus with her from Toronto to the conference in Chicago. “She went back home and started the Black Journalists Association of Nova Scotia,” he says.
He said her work on Desmond sets “the gold standard in journalism. You don’t just want your story to get in the paper, you want your story to be part of the history books. You want the journalism you do to have an effect in society. Sherri’s story on Viola Desmond hit all of those marks.”
Daly saw her reporting skills up close when they both worked at CBC Nova Scotia, where she pitched original stories every day. “And that’s because Sherri is plugged in. She spends most of her time, and most of her capital, out of the newsroom and in the community, I do consider her to be a modern-day Carrie Best,” he says, referring to the revered journalist who was honoured by King’s with a Doctor of Civil Law in 1992.
Russell Grosse is the Executive Director of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. He says Borden Colley brings a professionalism to her volunteer work, including with the New Horizons Baptist Church and the Nova Scotia Mass Choir.
“Her precision for wanting to tell the stories of African Nova Scotians in our own voice—I think that work she’s done is revolutionary,” he says. “I liken her legacy to that of
Dr. Carrie Best and The Clarion newspaper.” Borden Colley grew up hearing about Dr. Best’s radio show and her columns. She relied on her pioneering work in first reporting on the Desmond story as it happened. And from the moment she got that doll as a child, she understood the power of being seen in your society.
Dr. Sherri Borden Colley received her honorary degree in an extraordinary ceremony at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia during African Heritage Month in February.
President William Lahey noted that it was the first time in the university’s 235-year history that it had gone into a Black community for such an event, for which he credited Dr. Borden Colley.
“It will be remembered for its significance in moving forward the promises King’s and the centre have made to each other to work together in advancing and strengthening our shared commitments to racial equity, diversity, inclusion and justice in and beyond Nova Scotia,” he said.
The convocation had the energy of a church service, with songs from the Nova Scotia Mass Choir and King’s Chapel Choir, prayers from Rev. Dr. Rhonda Britton of the New Horizons Baptist Church, and frequent cheers and applause from the congregation.
“I want to thank God for blessing me
“I know that my platform can help bring about change. I have used my platform as a form of advocacy for people who didn’t feel empowered, didn’t feel they had a voice. That’s what I want my legacy to be when I leave this earth: I want people to look back and say, ‘She did important stories.’”
with the opportunity to work as a journalist in Nova Scotia for 25 remarkable years,” Dr. Borden Colley said. “Looking out into this audience, my heart is full of gratitude.”
She drew attention to the banners of Black Nova Scotians that decorated the room, including a portrait of Viola Desmond, and acknowledged her husband and children sitting proudly in the front row, and her friends and colleagues.
“This place is very dear to my heart,” she said. “You are my village. You are my tribe. In the spirit of Ubuntu, I acknowledge that I am because of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Douglas Ruck, KC, BA’72, chair of the Board of Governors, thanked her for choosing to study at the university and for accepting the doctorate.
“Sherri has a very slight step, but she leaves an extraordinary footprint,” he said. “What you did cannot be measured, it can never be met. But we will do our best to reflect your values in everything that we do going forward.”
Under the direction of an MFA alum, a group of King’s students are working on a hospital cardiac ward and learning what the humanities and health care can offer one another
by John MacKay, BA’71A CARDIOLOGIST WHO BELIEVES in the restorative power of literature. A college for humanities and journalism with a unique vision for student work experience. An association of book publishers with a novel idea for reaching new audiences with Atlantic Canadian content. And students, excitedly exploring unexpected professional possibilities.
This is Books by Heart, a program that has, in its development stages, been a part of King’s campus life for the better part of two years. Recently, it’s moved into a new phase, one that’s seeing a team of the university’s humanities students at work where you may not have expected to find them: on the cardiology ward of the Halifax Infirmary. But let’s back up a little. Books by Heart begins with Dr. Gabrielle Horne, MFA’19, Attending Cardiologist at QEII Health Sciences Centre, Associate Professor of Medicine at Dalhousie and, perhaps surprisingly, a graduate of King’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction program. Dr. Horne has always been acutely aware of the heightened stress, anxiety and, often, depression that patients hospitalized with cardiac episodes face. A writer herself and a lover of literature with its ability to soothe and transport the reader, she wondered if something as simple as a
carefully developed program of books and audiobooks might benefit the mental health of cardiac patients.
“People are wrenched from their lives very suddenly and put in this unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people,” says Dr. Horne. “And we know that people who have heart attacks, if they have depression after a hospital admission, have twice the risk of dying over the next couple of years. We all have different ways of dealing with an experience like that, but I think reading is potentially a very powerful one.”
Books by Heart developed with the ease of something that somehow felt destined to happen. The hospital IT people suggested an app with ebooks and audiobooks. Dr. Horne’s contacts in King’s MFA program introduced her to the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association that would, with the support of King’s students, trial the app within the King’s community. Early on, Dr. Horne contacted Joanna Sheridan, BA(Hons)’07, King’s Manager of Experiential Learning and Public Humanities, in search of a student to help with writing a grant proposal for the project. “Joanna said ‘we can send you a student, but I think we could do more,’” Dr. Horne says of her conversation with Sheridan. With a team of seven interns,
Sheridan oversaw the yearlong testing phase on campus. “So that’s how everyone came on board,” Dr. Horne explains. “It was the beginning of a very deep partnership with the University of King’s College.”
This year Books by Heart has seen a new team of King’s students on the ward conducting interviews and administering surveys with patients, collecting baseline data on how patients are experiencing being in hospital and dealing with any mental health issues that arise. This will determine where the program can make a difference and how best to roll out the ebook program to patients next year. Conversations with some of the students involved reveal the particular insights and unique capacities that humanities students bring with them.
“All the research assistants are King’s undergrad students. They have a different level of curiosity,” says Nicole Ponto, BSc’23, who is overseeing the work of her fellow research assistants on the ward. Ponto, who got involved in Books by Heart in the program’s early development stage on campus, is now working on a masters in medical neuroscience at Dalhousie while finishing up a second undergraduate degree in philosophy at King’s. “King’s humanities students have a lot of insight when it comes
When I interview patients I see the huge diversity of life experience, the diversity of how we react to difficult situations. But I also see the universality of how people respond. I have no doubt my King’s education has helped me develop these perspectives.
to interpersonal connections. Maybe that’s because King’s has such a powerful sense of community. We’re trying to develop that sense of community on a hospital ward so having that experience of community is invaluable. As for our humanities background, as King’s students I think we come in with very open minds—being able to connect complicated topics and think quickly...”
Emily Frank, a fourth-year student doing a combined honours in Contemporary Studies and history, finds working on the ward a perfect fit. “Books by Heart is, in itself, bridging the medical field with the humanities as to how non-medical interventions can help support people in the cardiac ward. In Contemporary Studies, the second-year core course looks at how science interacts with the humanities, so it’s amazing to be learning about these things on the ground.”
Frank appreciates the opportunities that led her to working on the ward and the part King’s played. “I had some volunteer experience at a hospital when I was in high school,” she says. “Joanna Sheridan remembered that and she reached out, thinking I’d be a good fit. That would not have happened at a larger school where I wouldn’t have had that connection with Joanna. I feel very lucky for that.”
When Zoe Beiles, in her third year of a double major in Contemporary Studies and biology, learned of Books by Heart, it seemed like a perfect fit with her studies. “I’m exploring the humanities within science and how important philosophy and literature can be to medical research,” she explains. Responsible for collecting qualitative data, Beiles does long form interviews with patients, exploring their hospital experience in depth, what they’re thinking about in the hospital and what they hope for the future.
Beiles says, “My King’s education has exposed me to so many ways people have thought throughout history and the implicit beliefs so many of us have. When I interview patients I see the huge diversity of life experience, the diversity of how we react to difficult situations. But I also see the universality of how people respond. I have no doubt my King’s education has helped me develop these perspectives.”
LEFT: Dr. Gabrielle Horne, MFA’19, Attending Cardiologist at QEII Health Sciences Centre
SECOND FROM LEFT: Zoes Beiles
THIRD FROM LEFT: Emily Frank
TOP RIGHT: Nicole Ponto, BSc’20
How are we to live in a world full of suffering, when people hold intimate histories of pain?
A visit to Holocaust sites offered one path forward
By Adrian Lee, BJ(Hons)’11BY
THE THIRDCONCENTRATION camp I stepped foot into, there were things about the experience that had become disquietingly familiar.
There is always slow-dawning nausea around the camp’s size: either too large to fathom, or too small to stomach. There is the stillness of the bus ride through a dark forest, so all you can take in is the groan of the engine, the grind of the road and the grief of those around you. There is the reliable crunch of gravel under shoes, as tour groups lurch along in the eerie kind of quiet that can only be found in a graveyard.
But I never got used to seeing reminders that people, to this day, choose to live on these blighted sites.
Tucked along a side road of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, across from the Brandenburg State Police Academy—brazenly built in 2008 on the brownfield grounds of former SS barracks—there is an outcropping of simple homes, with satellite TV receivers as a testament to their occupancy. On the outskirts of Oświęcim, the haunted Polish town that the Nazis had planned to transform into a model city after they won the war, a canary-coloured house complete with a garden topped by cheerful wind-spinners sits a stone’s throw away from the “Judenrampe,” the rail junction where Jewish, Romani and other deportees pulled into Auschwitz, the final destination of so many. And right in front of that killing field, a banner spotlights the plight of the self-proclaimed “forgotten victims of World War II”: the uncompensated families of Poles whose homes were demolished by Nazis to build the camp.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so shocked by all this. Why should I have believed that this site of genocide would be immune to those ancient and implacable forces of real-estate supply and demand?
Seeing the camps is enough to make you seethe at those who continued to live their lives during the Holocaust as millions of Jews, Soviets, Romani and people with disabilities, among others, were senselessly killed; seeing the homes there today triggers rage at those who dare to choose to live on now. As the poet W.H. Auden wrote, these are the people who ate or opened a window or walked dully along amid others’ suffering. But is that fair? The world impassively turns; ‘twas ever thus. As the adage that inspired the painting that inspired Auden goes: No ploughman stops for the dying man.
I visited these camps as part of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE), an intensive
program that began in Berlin in June, ended in Krakow in July, and stopped at memorials, museums and small-town sites of mass murder in between. My time at King’s was an inspiration for and an approximation of those two-plus weeks: eager to redeem myself for failing to apply for Sarah Clift’s legendary study-abroad program on memory, politics and place, inspirited by David Swick’s wise lessons on journalism ethics and relieved that I’d have to do less of FASPE’s required pre-reading (though it’d been more than a decade since I’d read Primo Levi), I was drawn to this King’s-like opportunity to deepen my understanding of how this turnkey era has left wide streaks into our present.
But perhaps most of all, I sought the chance to stop, to breathe, to think about the work I churn out every day. It may seem like a trivial aspect to our ongoing crisis in democracy, but the single-greatest foe for conscientious journalism may well be the time pressures of filling the insatiable maw with content, especially as newsrooms continue to be sawn beyond the bone. I discussed texts with peers, did close readings of Nazi-era journalists’ writings, and stood weeping in front of art. To be able to pause to think like this is a gift; I don’t know that I’ve had that privilege since my time in Halifax’s oldest fishbowl.
But just as the most powerful lessons I took from King’s were the ones that hit home—Giorgio Agamben still frames my newspaper work on the rise of authoritarian states; Simon Kow’s Confucianism lectures helped explain my parents—FASPE most resonated when it connected the past to my personal present. As my colleague Marsha Lederman writes in her harrowing Holocaust memoir Kiss the Red Stairs: “When you learn about something, it becomes part of your own story—even if just a little bit.”
And so I considered my own responsibility as a working journalist in these momentous times, and how some Nazi-era journalists’ failings were the product of systemic flaws that still exist: the desire to maintain access to power, the stress of financial imperatives, impossibly assured accusations of bias, existential attacks by politicians. In some ways, things are worse today: the industry has tightened and grown more consolidated, and there is less trust in authority than ever before.
Studying that history in some of the pestilential places where it actually happened served as a reminder that no matter how firmly we believe in the slow, righteous bend of the moral universe, we are those people
The single-greatest foe for conscientious journalism may well be the time pressures of filling the insatiable maw with content.
that Auden describes, so blinkered by our valiant pursuits in the hurly-burly of life that we fail to notice a wax-winged boy plunge from the sky. And while this terrible era suggests that a perfectly ethical life may not be realistic—and perfect communal ethics definitely impossible—it remains a worthy ambition, all the same. So when—not if—we violate our own moral values, knowingly or otherwise, the most important question is: how will we respond? And given all that: how much can we judge those who have failed in the past?
Unfortunately, echoes from the past cut both ways. Amid Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, antisemitism has surged, even in our distant land. Too often, society conflates a state with a people, and we must all rebuke that instinct at every turn; we must work, even under strain, to remember that people carry the pains of their past, no matter how many generations ago they transpired. (Of course, this is not to diminish the acts of the state themselves, which also demand rebuke; Israel’s response to Hamas’s terrible attacks have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, who have suffered their own generations of oppression and pain.)
It is hard to be so attentive. But then, never again is easy, until it’s not. It only becomes easier when you take the time to try to see the places, to understand the people, to hear the ghosts that rush in the wind between the branches of the birch trees—the birken of Auschwitz-Birkenau—to try, at all.
May we all at some point get the opportunity that FASPE offered me. It is better that the plough stops, even for a moment, than if it thoughtlessly presses on.
AI is transforming everything from images, to video, to books. We explore what it means most to the King’s community: the written word
by Nicola PullingSTART A DISCUSSION ABOUT ChatGPT and there’s one point on which everyone agrees: There’s no putting AI back in the virtual bottle.
Since the powerful AI text generator exploded into the writing world at the end of 2022, reactions have vacillated from panic to reason, from Armageddon to adaptation.
The ability to ask generative AI, like ChatGPT and others, to create text in whatever style, form and voice you want has, not to put too fine a point on it, freaked people out.
“Am I creeped out by it? Yeah. There’s an aspect of it that is creepy,” says Kim Pittaway, Cohort Director of King’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction. “And yet I’m interested/terrified/ mesmerized by watching how it’s going to unfold.”
Just over a year in, as the initial panic subsides, people are beginning to explore AI’s uses. In mainstream western society, the reaction to AI has followed a long-established pattern: throughout human history innovations have been greeted by shock and fear, evolving into acceptance and commit-
ment. Generative AI is taking people (some kicking and screaming) into an exploration of what human creativity, thinking and being means.
To start, it’s clear that generative AI is a powerful tool, and it’s clear no one knows where it’s going.
Common fears include the assertion that generative AI is a job killer, promotes misinformation, is inherently biased, promotes plagiarism and will remove the human from the creative sphere.
Some news organizations have been using sophisticated computer applications to write simple, formulaic content such as stories about company earnings reports and sports scores. With generative AI, a computer can be used to create content about more complex subjects. Take ethics and oversight out of the equation, and AI can create news content that seems real.
At the time of writing, NewsGuard, which tracks AI-generated news and information sites, reports 739 sites in 15 languages that, they say, operate with little to no human oversight, and some readers
might fail to distinguish that content from that produced by real journalists. “That is a threat,” says Fred Vallance-Jones, King’s Director of Journalism.
“I think generally, across the news industry there’s apprehension … about exactly where it will land,” says Vallance-Jones. But, he says, “It doesn’t yet have that sort of human ability and probably won’t, for a very long time, to look at something through the eyes of [lived] experience.”
That said, Vallance-Jones thinks existing AI tools could be used under human supervision to perform mundane tasks such as rewriting a news release, leaving reporters with more time to produce better journalism.
A lot of the basics will remain the same, he says. Journalists have to understand what makes good prose and how to do excellent research. They have to discern what’s important, find the people, talk to them. “All those things that require understanding, nuance and intelligence. We aren’t going to be able to send out a ChatGPT bot to do it,” he says. “If we get to the point where bots
are going out to interview people, then we probably have bigger problems than journalism.”
Alongside King’s current courses on data journalism and fake news and verification, he can see the need for an AI-in-journalism course. “We have to engage with these things as they happen. Part of our role is to help our students understand the implications … and how they can live their life in a world that’s constantly evolving.”
Likewise, writers and the publishing sector must contend with AI-generated books. “You’re certainly already seeing instant garbage books being generated, you’re seeing content flood and pollute the Google rankings,” says Pittaway, who, in addition to her MFA job, is a nonfiction author. And that, she says, pushes real content down the rankings, cutting authors’ incomes.
Publishers are exploring AI for ways to drive costs out of the system, says Pittaway, from proofreading new manuscripts to making sure endnotes are consistent. And yet, on the writing side, she says, editors are concerned with maintaining quality and
All those things that require understanding, nuance and intelligence, we aren’t going to be able to send out a ChatGPT bot to do it.
the human aspect of content that creates connection with the reader.
Pittaway says they talk with the MFA students about knowing the business side and the creative side of book publishing, and that applies to discussions of AI as well. “We’re talking about it [AI] in terms of what they need to be concerned about in their book contracts. But also, to be cautious about not putting any original material into the machine.”
The “machine” refers to the large language models (LLMs), the generative AI focused specifically on language modelling. These computer models are trained by uploading vast amounts of text data. The model then “learns” the statistical properties of the language, finds patterns and relationships, making it possible to predict text based on the request the user makes.
In September, Alex Reisner wrote in The Atlantic that he had acquired a data set of more than 191,000 books that had been used, without permission, to train generative AI. It raised many legal eyebrows and hackles. A group of novelists and another of nonfiction writers have launched lawsuits against Open AI (which created ChatGPT). And at the end of 2023, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against Open AI and Microsoft for copyright infringement for using millions of its articles.
So, is AI any good at writing? No. At least, not yet. The consensus is that the writing it generates tends to be bland—an admixture of what it finds, based on the user’s prompt. It also gets facts wrong and makes up answers, which experts refer to as “hallucinating.”
“I don’t use it to write essays or anything like that. I’m better than AI at every form of writing,” says Stephen Marche, BA(Hons)’97, author and essayist, whose
latest work is a novel he wrote with AI. “I think people are starting to realize … if you can be replaced by ChatGPT, you shouldn’t be writing.”
Associate Professor Sarah Clift agrees. As the university’s Vice-President, she is responsible for the integrity of academic programs.
Like all universities, King’s had to contend with the possibility that AI-generated essays might come across professors’ desks. Last summer, faculty adopted the position that students cannot use AI in their schoolwork. Instructors can override that if AI is being used to demonstrate something—for example: bias, news judgment, critical analysis and/or deeper thinking.
Clift wasn’t sure what to expect once school started. She got regular reports from Tracy Lenfesty, King’s University Librarian and Academic Integrity Officer. To her surprise, the university has had only five suspected cases of AI-generated work. “I think students are rightfully nervous about this feverish advent of AI in their worlds.”
The AI position is on every syllabus, for every course at King’s. While going through the syllabus at her first class this year, Clift discussed AI with her students. “I said to them, ‘When you learn to think […] this is not external to who you are. When you’re in a classroom, you are developing yourself, as a person. You’re developing your own perspective, you are kind of figuring out what you think about things, why you think the way you think about things, these are not separable from who you are as a human being.”
She went on, “It is a tremendous honour for me to be alongside and support you, as you’re doing that work of creating yourself. An AI cannot help you,” she said. “You have to do that work.”
The AI world has been the domain of
I think the time has come for those of us champions of the humanities to draw a line in the sand about the integrity and the rigor and the ethical commitment of what we do.
engineers and computer scientists. Clift says that must change. “I think the time has come for those of us champions of the humanities to draw a line in the sand about the integrity and the rigour and the ethical commitment of what we do.”
“To think about the human and the nonhuman, engineers can’t do that,” she says. The early 19th-century writer E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote a story that Clift has used in her classes about an automaton who was supposed to be the ideal woman. “Hoffmann was already thinking about this, over 200 years ago. How do you tell the human from a nonhuman when they look or sound exactly the same? That’s a really important question. And that is a question that humanities people can respond to in meaningful and provocative ways, not computer programmers.”
Marche, who holds a PhD in English literature, has worked with generative AI for years. Initially skeptical, he got an inside look before AI burst on the scene, thanks to his daughter’s love of dogs.
His daughter’s canine obsession (coupled with his wife’s allergy to them) meant giving his daughter her dog fix with frequent visits to their local dog park. It’s near the University of Toronto where there was a research group led by AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton. Some of the computer scientists were also dog owners. Marche found himself standing around chatting about AI. He then started writing about AI and eventually writing with AI. His park connections began creating special AI models for him to use for writing experiments.
In what he has called his “aha” moment, Marche wrote a piece for the New Yorker in which he prompted AI to complete Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s unfinished poem Kubla Khan. “It finished it in a way that I thought, well, Coleridge easily could have written
that. It just kind of blew my mind.” He wrote some short stories and is now contracted by an academic publisher to use generative AI to fill in the gaps of the Epic of Gilgamesh
Last year, he used three different large language models to create, or as he says, “build” a murder mystery called Death of an Author—under the pseudonym Aidan Marchine—a name suggested by ChatGPT when Marche asked for a fusion of his name and a computer. “It got way more attention than anything I’ve ever done. But on the other hand, people don’t want this work … People do not want to be reading AI-generated text,” he said. “I think that’s partly because they’re afraid of it. And also just because of the novelty of it. I think every art form takes a while to reach the public and to develop into what it’s supposed to be. And I’m not sure that creative artificial intelligence has reached the place it’s supposed to be, especially in literature.”
He likens this new art form to the jump from plays to film, from painting to photography, from funk, blues and jazz to hip hop. “I think what I’ve done so far, and basically what anyone who does a new art form does … is cannibalize the old art forms. That’s sort of where I’m at.”
Marche says AI will not replace writing, any more than photography replaced painting. “The question is, what can we do with the photograph? And how will painting change after the camera? … And when you’re dealing with [this new art form] creative AI, the reason that it’s very fun and very exciting, is it’s at the beginning. It’s actually in the prehistory of it.”
“What can this be used for that people can’t do? That’s actually the interesting question,” says Marche. “It’s not the question anyone’s asking, but that is the really interesting question.”
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY (MWS) was only 18 years old when she began work on the novel that we know as Frankenstein; the manuscript of the novel was prepared while MWS was still 19, and when Frankenstein was published (in three volumes) on January 1st, 1818, Mary had turned the ripe old age of 20. By then MWS had been together with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley for fewer than four years and had also given birth to three children—all of whom had died before MWS had passed her 21st year. MWS and Percy were not able actually to marry until the very end of 1816, and only after the disturbing discovery of the death of Percy’s first wife. By the time MWS had turned 24, Mary had been transformed into a widow with a single surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley.
Frankenstein was published anonymously, but in the month before MWS turned 26 the genius of her work was being celebrated in London by a dramatic performance based on her novel. The play, Presumption: or, The Fate of Frankenstein had 37 performances in London, near the Strand; then on 11th of August, 1823—still during the run, a new two-volume 2nd Edition of Frankenstein was published, where the author’s name was now no longer suppressed. On the night before her 26th birthday (August 29th, 1823), MWS herself actually attended a performance of Presumption—enjoying her unanticipated
fame—and which MWS also commended for listing the actor playing Frankenstein’s nameless creature in the Dramatis Personae in this way:
———— by Mr T. Cooke
MWS added in her correspondence: “This nameless mode of naming the unnameable is rather good.”
It is worth adding that Thomas Cooke reprised the role of Frankenstein’s creature more than 350 times during his career. And it is even more astonishing that in August of 1820, Cooke took the role of Lord Ruthven as the protagonist of a dramatic version of The Vampyre—which was first crafted on the shores of Lake Geneva during that same Summer of 1816, which saw the invention of Victor Frankenstein’s eight-foot tall monster. 1816 was a “year without a summer” because of the after-effects of the 1815 massive volcanic explosion of Mount Tambora (Indonesia)—so a “spectral” contest was agreed between Mary and Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and Dr. Polidori (Byron’s physician). This was to pass the time, and led not only to the name of Victor Frankenstein becoming world famous, but also to Byron’s creation of Lord Ruthven, which was then transformed by Dr. Polidori into The Vampyre: A Tale, published in London 1819. Subsequently, the inquisitive public had no hesitation in equating Lord
Ruthven with Lord Byron—as this is taken up, for instance, in Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-1846). Indeed, the Count explicitly refers us to Byron’s great (exotic and Gothic) poetic inspirations—the Count agrees that he himself has a “a reputation for eccentricity… I am a Lara [1814], a Manfred [1817], a Lord Ruthwen.” [In accordance with Dumas’s spelling, as translated by Robin Buss.]
To complete this sad litany of the life of MWS, here are two further footnotes:
Lord Byron died in support of Greek independence in April of 1824, when MWS was just 26—having suffered the loss of her husband Percy in July of 1822—as Percy, who could not swim, was making his return South to MWS from Livorno (Leghorn) Italy. The name of Percy’s ill-fated yacht was the Don Juan—which also happens to be the name of one of Byron’s most celebrated poetic epics, his Don Juan—the first edition of which was published in 1819.
At the age of 34, MWS published a single-volume (revised) 3rd edition of her novel in 1831. For about a century and a half, this final vision of Frankenstein’s creature was the one that remained in print and which was the one popularly read and available. But over the course of the last 40 years, the fashion has been to prefer the 1st edition of 1818, as much truer to MWS’s original vision. In FYP (the Foundation Year Program) we now read only this first
And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my heart.
edition of 1818.
But the Preface that MWS wrote to the final edition of 1831 is worth making central to anyone’s appreciation of Mary’s achievement. Not only there does Mary discuss the circumstances of the creature’s coming to life for the first time in 1816— but the Preface also discusses the crucial role that Percy played as assisting with the manuscript, but even more significantly in finding a publisher for this novel—a novel, which like the spirit world it inhabits, never ages.
In the Preface Mary acknowledges: [October 15th, 1831:] In this 3rd Edition:
“And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my heart. Its several pages speak of many a walk, many a drive, and many a conversation, when I was not alone; and my companion was one who, in this world, I shall never see more.”
What an extraordinary life and what an extraordinary novel—which FYP will continue both always to honour and celebrate.
April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023
GETTING TO KNOW KING’S students is the joy that unites everyone associated with the university. After serving nearly eight years as president, and always a teacher at heart, I take pleasure in the longer view that time now provides me. Students I have come to know have now joined the legions of alumni deploying their talents beyond the Quad—often, one way or another, in the service of others. There is a generosity of spirit nurtured in caring for one another in our practice of “learning and living in community.” It encourages a spirit of giving back to the other communities our alumni enrich. In this issue of Tidings, examples abound.
Among these community enrichments is the significant support given to King’s by those whose names appear on the pages of this Stewardship Report. We are grateful that you choose to support the university and its students, and the extraordinary vibrancy and purpose each and every one of them brings to King’s. They are stronger for your support, and so is the mission of King’s.
In the fiscal year reported here, April 1, 2022–March 31, 2023, your gifts provided $840,977 in new financial support for students. Within that figure is $104,058 raised for student assistance (bursaries, scholarships and other kinds of financial assistance) from the Annual Fund. Included in this report are the voices of two students who have each received one of the roughly 50 awards supported by your Annual Fund gifts.
This year, there are courses, programs, extracurriculars, employment, special projects, books, lectures and more, all made possible by your generosity. And in these times, as ever, we are grateful to those who make unrestricted gifts, which allow us to apply your support to urgent and priority needs.
Your generosity toward this generation of King’s students is a reminder that a King’s education and the richness of the King’s experience, is truly a collective endeavour. To the generous alumni, parents, faculty, staff, volunteers, friends, relatives and even students, whose names follow—I extend to you our sincere appreciation and thanks.
William Lahey President and Vice-Chancellor
Please note this report reflects donations made from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. Donations made after this date will appear in next year’s Stewardship Report. Every effort has been made to list names accurately. If your name has been omitted, or displayed incorrectly, please accept our apologies, and notify King’s Advancement Office, 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2A1 or call (902) 422-1271 or e-mail Paula.Johnson@ ukings.ca
Explaining the “King’s Crown”. The “blue crown” symbol marks all those donors who have contributed consecutively for the last five financial years and the “gold crown” symbol marks all those donors who have contributed consecutively for the last ten financial years. And there is an invisible “heart” symbol that marks all of you as King’s!
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From Bedford, N.S., Ritu Shah is in the second year of a Bachelor of Science degree, studying neuroscience.
Last year at the CCAA Badminton Nationals I won the Gold in Women’s Singles and was named the Female Player of the Year. It was an absolute honour to win these titles for King’s. It was also the most successful year that King’s Badminton ever had, with a total of two gold medals and two silver medals.
Donations to the Annual Fund have played a huge role in supporting my academic and athletic pursuits during my time at King’s so far. This scholarship has allowed me to spend more time studying and training for badminton. This has enabled me to excel in those areas far better than I could have without that support.
It is motivating to know that there are donors who believe in my potential and have been generous enough to invest in me. Thank you for supporting my dreams and ambitions!
Following this interview, Shah successfully defended her title at CCAA Badminton Nationals, again winning Gold in Women’s Singles. She was also named the 2024 CCAA Women’s Badminton Player of the Year.
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been a highlight of my time at King’s. I’ll never forget long days and nights of set-building and painting the floor of The Pit with my producers. How many people can say they’ve painted a floor with wall paint to look like a parquet wooden floor? That’s definitely one of the silliest things I’ve done and I’m so glad I did—both because it meant I got to have a lot of fun with really cool people, and also because it was a big risk that we took (we were not confident that we could do a convincing paint job to look like wood) but it really paid off for the show!
For me, receiving a King’s scholarship supported by the Annual Fund is a sign that I’ve been on the right track. It means a lot to have my hard work both in high school and in my first year at King’s be recognized, and to receive support from the school and the community in that way is really gratifying.
Jennifer Otto
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LEGACY
Estate of F.C. Manning* ∂
Estate of George Henry Phills*
Estate of Brian Sherwell*
IN MEMORY OF
Ira Abraham
Malcolm Henry Bradshaw
Capt. Jenn Casey
Michael Cobden
Borden Conrad
Wayne Cregan
Jane Curran
Dr. Margaret Dechman
A. Fraser Dewis
Frances Dibblee
George Earles
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Dr. Marie Hamilton & Mrs. Wanda Greenlaw
C. William Hayward
The Ven Dr. F. Harold Hazen
Peggy Heller
Carl Holm
James & Audrey Ingalls
Angus Johnston
Sheila Jones
Raymond Lahey
Jack Lawson
John Leefe
John MacDonell
Brian MacGillivray
Douglas MacKenzie
Libby MacLennan and Barb MacLennan Spears
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Stuart McPhee
Nicola Moore
Douglas Morrison
Rev. Canon Donald Neish
Mark Pastreich
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Nan Robertson
Mike Rutter
Bonita Shepherd
Harry and Joy Smith
Sharon (Green) Spence
John Taylor
Dr. G. Campbell Trowsdale
Les W. Tuck
Professor Kraft von Maltzahn
Leslie (Cutler) Walsh
Audrey Weir
Ian Wiseman
Nathaniel Woolaver
IN HONOUR OF
Joanne Cadogan
Dr. Jackie Cappell
Sharon Carstairs
Chapel
Class of 1982
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Foundation Year Program
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“The outstanding things
King’s did for its students through the pandemic”
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Bachelor of Journalism 2011
Canadian Armed Forces Directorate of History and Heritage
Finding good sources of information is very challenging these days—and I don’t think there’s anything else out there that can prepare you as well as journalism does
THE DRIVING FORCES IN CMDR. Ken Ingram’s life are a never-ending thirst for knowledge, the desire to share diverse ideas and a dedication to serving communities. These impulses have taken him all over the world—to Cambodia, Cuba, Afghanistan and Italy—just to name a few.
Ingram’s values of curiosity, wanderlust and altruism make an education in journalism seem like the obvious choice. But his career has been anything but predictable. Ingram steers clear of the beaten path.
This story begins in 1999 in Halifax, when Ingram was 18, hungry for adventure and unsure of who he wanted to be. His friend just completed basic training in the Canadian Armed Forces, and her experiences sounded intriguing. So Ingram went to the waterfront and joined the Naval Reserves as a Naval Combat Information Operator—or in other terms, using radar to detect what’s around a warship and sonar to uncover mysteries at the bottom of the ocean.
Ingram spent the next few years in the reserves while completing a bachelor’s degree in international development at Dalhousie University, which included a semester abroad in Cuba. The degree choice was inspired by his first trip overseas with a friend in 2001, to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, when the travel bug officially set in.
The call to study journalism at King’s
came in 2009, when Ingram, now an intelligence officer, was on his first deployment— in Afghanistan.
“I was struggling at the time in Kandahar writing back to my friends and family trying to explain what was going on, on the ground there,” Ingram says. “I was meeting some of the journalists and seeing what they were able to convey to Canadian audiences for just how complex that operation was, and I was really impressed with what they were able to do. And I felt that journalism was really just a natural stepping stone.”
Ingram saved all the money he earned during his deployment to enroll in the oneyear Bachelor of Journalism program in 2010. “It was an investment in my future— and I’m happy to say that in hindsight, it was one of the smarter decisions I’ve made because there’s a lot of transferable skills,” he says.
One thing Inglis Professor Kelly Toughill said in class still comes back to him and it rings true to this day. “She said, ‘Journalism is like having keys to doors that were previously locked, and every time you open one of these doors, it’s like seeing a new universe.’”
One of those doors was a five-month internship in Cambodia at the Phnom Penh Post, which “in hindsight was kind of crazy,” but it’s where Ingram did some of the most interesting and impactful reporting of his career. He chronicled the country’s first methadone clinic, the struggles of Cambo-
dian firefighters and his story about how a woman taking care of hundreds of stray animals spurred the creation of the country’s first humane society.
After Cambodia, Ingram deployed to Italy and Bahrain, before moving to Ottawa where journalism opened another door—a cyber security position with the Department of National Defence. He barely knew how to hook up a printer, but Ingram realized who the team really needed was someone who could draw on multiple sources of reliable information, translate complex technical jargon and contextualize it in a way that is quick and easy to understand—skills he learned at King’s.
“There’s few feelings that are more satisfying than when the client or the reader understands and wants to learn more or ask more questions,” Ingram explains. “Finding good sources of information is very challenging these days—and I don’t think there’s anything else out there that can prepare you as well as journalism does.”
While working in cyber security, Ingram kept his reporting muscles strong by writing human interest features for various news outlets and running his own Humans of New York-style website. In 2015, he made a documentary about Canadian thalidomide survivors’ fight for recognition from the media and government, with activist Mercedes Benégbi. That film, Ingram suspects, is what helped him gain admission to Colum-
bia University in New York City where he completed a masters in science journalism. At Columbia, Ingram received the prestigious Campbell Award for his leadership and support of the campus-wide community, including his role as co-president of the university’s chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
“I used to be incredibly shy and journalism really allowed me to get out of that bubble,” Ingram says. “Journalism gives you that excuse to be nosy, and for what I really firmly believe are altruistic reasons. There’s a reason we ask these questions and we want to share that knowledge with others.”
Fast forward to now—with a recent United Nations mission to Mali and a pandemic wedding with guests in attendance via video in between—Ingram is the Chief of Staff for the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH), where he oversees a staff of about 60 people, both military and civilian, including more than a dozen people with PhDs.
The DHH is responsible for an array of meaningful projects. It supports more than 70 military museums across Canada, embeds artists with the armed forces, writes official histories and updates military dress policy to be more inclusive. It also is reviewing Indigenous iconography in the Canadian military to address cultural appropriation and highlight military histories of traditionally marginalized groups.
A forensic anthropologist and her team
of mostly co-op students in DHH work to identify the remains of unknown soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars. Ingram recalls one morning, only a few months ago, when he had the opportunity to call the next-of-kin of a soldier who was killed in the First World War. Ingram informed them, on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces, that their relative’s remains— known as “an unknown soldier” to date— were successfully identified more that 100 years later using more advanced techniques. DHH, with Veterans Affairs Canada and other partners such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, honour recently identified casualties with an updated headstone that bears their name and military ceremony.
This year, Ingram was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit (OMM) for his outstanding service in duties of great responsibility. He explains that as one of the highest honours in Canada for its military, the OMM is like the armed forces equivalent of an Olympic medal—as only 0.1% of personnel are appointed each year.
“It continues to be a really wonderful career,” Ingram says. “I think I would have gotten bored in a lot of other careers, but the military still continues to inspire me.”
Of course, once a journalist, always a journalist. Ingram’s training at King’s is never far away. “I’ve yet to escape that underlying fear or anxiety of meeting a deadline,” he
Journalism gives you that excuse to be nosy, and for what I really firmly believe are altruistic reasons. There’s a reason we ask these questions and we want to share that knowledge with others.
laughs. “And there’s a lot expected of journalists to get the story right and get the facts correct, and I still bring that to my work, no matter what I’ve been doing.”
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Ken at the helm of a minor warship in early days of his Navy career in 2001
Ken delivering a briefing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2009
Ken with the UN in Timbuktu, Mali, 2022
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) 2008 Program Manager, GemFair, De Beers Group
King’s had such a strong sense of community. Even after first year, when I was taking all my classes at Dal, I had King’s to come back to—my friends, the societies, the Wardroom. King’s was really formative for me
IF THERE’S SOMETHING POSITIVE to be said about the pandemic, it may be that some were able to reshape their daily lives in ways that would not have otherwise been possible. Case in point, Ruby Stocklin-Weinberg, who left London to work remotely from Halifax. Stocklin-Weinberg works for GemFair, a program under the auspices of De Beers Group, the international diamond company, helping artisanal diamond miners in Sierra Leone raise their livelihoods, ensure their safety, receive a fair value for their diamonds and a connection to the international market. But we’ve skipped ahead. Stocklin-Weinberg’s path has been a confluence of unexpected events and surprising opportunities. She puts it simply, describing “a series of gut-based decisions and meeting the right people at the right time.”
Throughout, it’s clear that she’s been guided by her deeply held personal values.
A weekend visiting a friend at King’s, while in high school, convinced Stocklin-Weinberg, a Massachusetts native, to come to King’s and enroll in the Foundation Year Program (FYP). “As soon as I got here, I wanted to stay,” she says. “King’s had such a strong sense of community. Even after first year, when I was taking all my classes at Dal, I had King’s to come back to—my friends,
the societies, the Wardroom. King’s was really formative for me.”
She was studying international development and French when the first tumblers clicked. “I had this amazing prof at Dal who was Congolese. He told incredible stories about the period around independence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the conflicts that followed. I was fascinated. I made that the focus of my undergrad thesis.”
Graduate school at the London School of Economics followed. “I wanted to keep focusing on the conflict in Congo and my advisor said, not surprisingly, you need to have an economic focus to your dissertation, so that’s where I began to explore mining.” After her degree, Stocklin-Weinberg worked in London for a consultancy that helped companies understand their mineral supply chains. “I consulted on where the minerals were coming from, what the risks were, what the mining populations were like,” she explains.
It wasn’t the business of mining, however, that drew her. “It was the people whose lives are impacted by mining, particularly artisanal mining … the really small producers who go into very deep tunnels to recover the diamonds and minerals that we use in our everyday products,” she says. “I came at
it from a human rights and a labour rights perspective. Who are these people? How can we make their lives easier? How can we improve their working practices?” Worldwide more than 40 million people depend on artisanal mining to provide for themselves and their families.
Stocklin-Weinberg was at the tail end of her doctorate in mining engineering at the University of British Columbia when the next piece of the puzzle piece fell into place. De Beers was developing GemFair which, with its focus on improving the lives and working conditions of artisanal miners, meshed perfectly with Stocklin-Weinberg’s knowledge base and personal values. “I didn’t plan to go back to the UK but the job was tailor-made for me; I was GemFair’s first employee. I went from my doctorate straight into it—I defended my dissertation thesis on Thursday in Vancouver and started work in London on Monday.”
Shattering, as it did, the rules of how and where we work, the pandemic created the circumstances that allowed Stocklin-Weinberg to return to Halifax, the city of her heart, and work remotely. As cozy as she is in Halifax, she continues to work in the field. Last year she made three trips to Africa, working directly with miners and her team,
with more trips planned this year. “Having an impact,” Stocklin-Weinberg asserts when asked what drives her. “It’s the tangible impact on miners and their families, their changing working conditions and seeing year-on-year the progress in their awareness of what their rights are as workers and how they should be profiting.”
I
came at it from a human rights and a labour rights perspective. Who are these people? How can we make their lives easier? How can we improve their working practices?
The education that you get from a place like King’s puts you in a very good position to take advantage of changes … that you can’t predict when you are a student
THE PANDEMIC MAY HAVE changed the way law is practiced, says Mark Fleming, an accomplished and well-regarded lawyer based in Boston, but not the fundamentals. In 2020, American courts moved to hearing arguments virtually, and while some still do, most are now back to hearing cases in person. But the substance of his work remained the same throughout: reading, writing and strategizing—all skills honed at King’s.
“The ability to write persuasive written work is something that the Foundation Year and then later my BA work really improved,” Fleming says. “The job that I do really remained the same.”
Fleming has appeared in hundreds of appeal cases, presenting oral arguments in 62 of them, including eight arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States. His cases cover a broad range of subject areas, from patent law to complex business disputes, with clients from industries ranging from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to high tech—in a legal environment that is constantly evolving.
“The education that you get from a place like King’s puts you in a very good position to take advantage of changes—whether in the market or technology or government or whatever you’re focused on—that you can’t predict when you are a student,” he says. “Learning how to think critically, how to write well, how to present orally, these are all skills that allow you to be flexible and dynamic as opportunities reveal themselves.”
Useful skills in a rapidly changing field like law.
“Ten years ago, no one was talking about artificial intelligence. No one was thinking about what kind of legal issues it would bring up. Now you cannot open an article from the legal press without hearing about how artificial intelligence is going to change the practice of law, how it changes the way that companies behave and interact with their own markets and all the legal questions that that brings up and how governments are going to regulate its use.
“These are massive legal questions for which legal thinking is needed. But nobody
who went to law school when I did would have even considered that.”
Fleming is especially proud of his pro bono work, including cases involving immigration law, where he has argued and won several high-profile Supreme Court cases. He typically represents someone facing deportation from the country, who either doesn’t have a lawyer or can’t afford one who is experienced in appeals.
“It’s highly rewarding work, not just because you’re helping someone, your individual client, who wouldn’t otherwise have a shot,” he says. “But also because if you win, you can create a precedent that will help lots of other people. Some of the cases I’ve been lucky enough to argue in the Supreme Court of the United States have set precedents that have been cited in thousands of other cases and have a broad range of consequences for people all over the country.”
His pro bono work has included helping to free six men imprisoned by the U.S. government at Guantanamo Bay and acting as co-counsel to the government of Massachu-
setts in the fight to have marriage equality in that state recognized by the federal government.
His interest in law predated his arrival on campus, sparked by an influential high school English teacher. “I think what she saw was a real enjoyment of language and the way that language can be used to persuade, encourage and produce particular ends,” he says.
Like so many intellectually curious students who continue to be drawn to King’s, he brought not only an interest in a challenging field, but engagement with the arts. His early theatrical experience was greatly expanded as a member of the King’s Theatrical Society (KTS). Valuable experience in itself, but a contributor to his career as well.
“Not just oral argument in court … but also giving speeches, talking to young lawyers and law students who are starting out their careers, presenting at bar associations, presenting at legal conferences—the ability to speak publicly in a way that is hopefully interesting and engaging is also something
I developed while at King’s through theatre productions.” The debating society, Quintilian, now called SODALES, also helped him deal with stage fright and imposter syndrome.
Most significantly, one of Fleming’s fellow KTS thespians was Rachel Renton, BA(Hons)’94. They married in 1998 and have two daughters, one a freshman in college and another in 11th grade. Once they are well launched into the world, he may continue to practice law, but he hopes he and Rachel will be able to travel—inspired by a recent trip to Bhutan and an eight-day trek in the Himalayas.
“I learned an awful lot about a country I hadn’t thought much about. And it only inspired me as I get older to make more time for things like that. That adventure really changed my outlook on how I will spend my next decade—for the better.”
Learning how to think critically, how to write well, how to present orally, these are all skills that allow you to be flexible and dynamic as opportunities reveal themselves.
I knew my strength was in broadcast and I needed to polish my writing skills, so it was really nice to be able to do a bit of both and gain the expertise in one and also develop more tools in another
FOR MOST OF RAEESA LALANI’S life, there have been two places you can find her: the stage or the volleyball court, and she’s become a star of both in Halifax, even if she’s behind the scenes.
When Lalani first arrived in Nova Scotia from Calgary, she was on a cross-country recruiting trip, but immediately felt at home. She’d come looking for a school where she could play varsity volleyball while studying journalism and she was fielding multiple offers. It wasn’t long before she enrolled at Dalhousie University for a bachelor of arts with a major in English and a double minor in Spanish and journalism. The latter offered her a taste of a path she had a hunger for, so after completing her BA, she applied to King’s one-year journalism program.
“I always secretly wanted to be a King’s student when I was at Dal. I liked the way the university functioned, I liked the close-knit community, so it was kind of a no-brainer once I finished my varsity volleyball career,” she said. “King’s was the perfect fit for another, different but appealing post-secondary experience.”
Having a background as a performer and musician—and acting in any theatre class she could take at Dal—it makes sense that broadcast drew Lalani in. Under the guidance of CBC’s Doug Kirkaldy and Raj
Ahluwalia, Lalani signed up for the radio and TV workshops. She also took the magazine workshop to focus on writing. “I knew my strength was in broadcast, and I needed to polish my writing skills, so it was really nice to be able to do a bit of both and gain the expertise in one and also develop more tools in another.”
Out of her varsity career, Lalani landed her own show with Bell TV1 showcasing Atlantic University Sport. “I was getting experience in the field while studying,” she said. After multiple experiences, including a very instructive internship with Global News, Lalani realized that leveraging her background as an athlete was inspiring her broadcasting goals; she wanted to share stories that felt uplifting and relatable to her.
Even after graduation in 2015, Lalani didn’t leave King’s behind. She was the Head Coach of the UKC women’s varsity volleyball team for seven years, aiming to enhance the players’ abilities and experiences in a competitive realm, as they had just recently re-entered into the National Collegiate Athletics Association.
Reflecting on her studies, she says the journalism program “gives you a very broad skill set that can be transferable in many ways… for example, if I look at social media marketing, which is one of my professional
passions, it’s just telling a story through a different platform.” Lalani herself has used her foundation in journalism to work in broadcast, communications, marketing and now in the non-profit sector as the Artistic and Executive Director of the Prismatic Arts Festival. As a young woman of colour, Lalani immediately recognized the importance and responsibility of leading an organization that mandates supporting marginalized and racialized artists.
When Lalani joined Prismatic in 2016, she found her worlds of arts and journalism colliding. With Prismatic, Lalani still faces tight deadlines, multitasking and platforming others’ stories. To bring a festival to life, “You’re on the ground 18 hours a day, you find the energy from who knows where, but that was something we learned about in the journalism field: you’re always looking for a story, you have to get things done on time, you have to be able to pivot and figure things out quickly.” And, it also enabled her to reconnect with her own craft and develop her own practice as an artist.
“It’s giving people the space and the time to be who they want to be, say what they want to say, without any preconceived notions,” Lalani says. “And that’s what the arts is a beautiful space for.”
We all cared about what we were learning. You’d come to lunch and everyone was talking about the lecture
NUALA POLO RECALLS THE confused reactions, “What would you ever do with that?” that the mention of her King’s Bachelor of Arts degree would elicit.
But there’s a direct line between that degree, with its combined major in the History of Science and Technology and philosophy, and a minor in mathematics—to her present role at the forefront of efforts to harness the good of artificial intelligence (AI).
At the age of 27, Polo is the Senior Policy Advisor for the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, a directorate of the UK government’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. Her job involves developing policies and regulations relating to the burgeoning impact of AI, with a focus on championing the role of tools for trustworthy AI, like assurance techniques and standards.
“Every once in a while, when our team gets together for a roundtable, we get to really dig in and brainstorm,” says Polo, from her office in London, England. “It takes me back (to King’s) and feels very seminar-y … it feels like I’m always learning here and you have to because the AI landscape is changing so quickly.”
Of course, when she enrolled in King’s Foundation Year Program (FYP), she had no idea she was embarking on the path to her dream job. She was ready to explore.
“When I was in high school, I liked everything: math, science, art. I wasn’t ready to pick one thing just yet, and that’s why the Foundation Year Program fit the bill for me. Plus, I didn’t want to go to a school with a thousand other students in a lecture hall. I’d just feel lost.”
What she discovered at King’s guided her to the forefront of one of today’s most controversial topics.
She also found a tight-knit community of students who rapidly became fast friends.
“We all cared about what we were learning. You’d come to lunch and everyone was talking about the lecture,” says Polo, originally from Toronto. She loved being challenged and having her views changed around.
She says her classes made critical thinking second nature.
“In those (History of Science and Technology) classes, what you learn is that we’re almost always wrong initially. Someone will come, say 100 years later, and completely disprove a concept, an idea. There’s so much we don’t know and that’s always very evident. The key is to keep questioning, to delve deeper, and not to take things at face value.”
Graduating from King’s in 2018, Polo then pursued a master’s in Cognition in Science and Society at the University of Edinburgh, where she investigated the ethics of
driverless cars. After graduating, she quickly got a job with a tech startup and then moved on to an AI research company. That, in turn, led to her present position with the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.
Recent projects for the Centre include the white paper, “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation,” and facilitating a funding competition. “A Fairness Innovation Challenge” will offer up to £400,000 ($680,000 CDN) for projects resulting in new solutions to address bias and discrimination in AI systems.
According to the white paper, AI is already delivering societal benefits, from medical advances to mitigating climate change, even to detecting fraud in our bank accounts. On the flip side, there are many uses of AI that are malicious and have potential to cause real damage: from automated recruitment screening tools that promote certain candidates to the digital manipulation of authentic images, video or audio clips.
“What I am interested in is developing legislation to protect people. As corny as it sounds, I think that’s what drives me,” says Polo, confessing that she burst into tears when she hung up the phone after accepting the job. “This was the goal, this was the ‘dream job’ and this is where I’m going to stay.”
Bachelor of Science 1979
Brain surgeon, Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery, Dalhousie University
Ask Steve Lownie and Tim Lownie, brothers and King’s alumni, about their upbringing and the answers are illuminating: a Canadian Armed Forces family, raised on or near bases across Canada, finally settling in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Parents who believed in higher education and lifelong learning. A mother who nurtured the brothers’ belief in the equality of men and women, both parents teaching them that everyone is equal, to treat everyone the same. Add a dash of their father’s military rigour and the kind of parental support that may be key to the remarkably successful careers that both brothers have created: “They always told us we would be good at whatever we wanted to put our minds to,” Steve says. “That we could do well at anything.”
STEVE LOWNIE, A BRAIN SURGEON currently working at Dalhousie University, can sum up what brought him to King’s and what he remembers most about the college in a word: community. “It was perfect for me, coming from the Valley. I quickly got tied into the King’s community … I sang in the Chapel Choir and became friends with an incredibly interesting group of people.”
Medical school at Dalhousie followed, and his interest in neurosurgery came about partly as the result of an uninspiring first year. “It was a lot of basic science and I was kind of turned off by it. I was thinking I have to do something where I’m actually interacting with patients. A neurosurgeon, Dr. Renn Holness, was running an elective class on Wednesday afternoons and he took on a couple of students every year. He took me on, and I learned how to assess neurological patients. That’s how it started.”
An internship and residency in neurosurgery in London, Ontario, followed, then additional training in Los Angeles, and back to London as an attending neurosurgeon and neurointerventionalist at University Hospital, attaining the rank of full professor at Western University. This quick bio, however, barely hints at the accomplishments, the “firsts,” the papers published, the Chief of Neurosurgery position, the procedures he helped to pioneer or establish.
Married with four grown children, his wife, Penny Campbell-Lownie, has had her own storied career as both a nurse and a dentist. The two returned to Nova Scotia just weeks before the pandemic took hold in 2020.
Steve is grateful for what his work has brought to the lives of his patients. “The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, a network of billions of wires, each one important,” he says. “It’s an incredible thing to be able to use one’s hands to
Bachelor of Science (Honours) 1984 Vice-President, Global Markets, Goldman Sachs
TIM LOWNIE MAY HAVE FOLLOWED in his brother’s footsteps, but he wasn’t in his wake; he arrived at King’s in the fall of 1980 after Steve had graduated. “I definitely knew King’s because of my brother, but it was actually basketball that got me there,” he says. He was recruited by legendary basketball coach Bev Greenlaw to play for the King’s Blue Devils, which, he says, is his fondest memory of the university. “In 1982, in my second year, we won the provincial championships, which I think may have been a first for King’s. It was pretty exciting.” Beyond basketball, it’s residence life he remembers most vividly. “There was such an incredible community. It would have been very hard not to have had a lot of friends.”
After completing a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in computer science (CS), Tim went to the University of Toronto for a masters and then to Queens for a PhD, both in CS. Right time, right place, finely honed instincts, whatever it was, Tim always found himself in cutting edge educational and professional pursuits. “My doctorate was in a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI). Of course, this was well before the internet and cloud computing really unleashed the power of big data and AI,” he explains.
While his classmates wanted to become college professors, Tim wanted to work in business, chasing applications of the work
restore someone’s vision, or their ability to walk, or restore their loss of cognition. And in so restoring function, to help restore their dignity, to return them to normal or closeto-normal life. And there’s the ‘being human’ part—helping people understand the complexity of their condition, empowering them to make huge decisions. And learning to accept one’s own humanity, to accept failure rather than deny it.”
And then there’s the book. Not only has Steve returned to Halifax, he’s also returned
to King’s. He’s finishing up an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, where he’s been writing a book about Dr. Charles Drake. One of Steve’s surgical mentors in London, Drake was the world’s most renowned aneurysm surgeon. An excerpt (you’ll find it at www.sabatboy. com) reads like an exhilarating sci-fi adventure, a journey into the mysterious vastness of the human brain.
that were practical rather than theoretical. “This was the early mid-nineties. Personal and business computing was really starting to become mainstream and the internet was really starting to ramp up. There was a tremendous amount going on and it was exciting.”
He got involved in a couple of tech startups, one industrial, another in the financial sector, then networked his way into a few more. “The use of computers was exploding,” he says, “especially in finance. Two of the startups were bought out, and my wife, Matilde Leon-Ponte, who is a researcher at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, and I took a year off to travel. Basically, we got on a big ship and sailed around the globe.” At that point, he says, he probably didn’t need to work again. “We asked ourselves whether we were really ready to retire. We decided we weren’t.”
Tim had always been somewhat interested in computer trading in the stock market. “There was a lot of stuff going on around algorithmic, high speed trading—computers buying and selling stocks based on programs. Sort of a weaponization of the stock market using software.” He went to work for RBC Capital Markets, his introduction to the world of automated trading.
“Basically,” he explains, “I was a member of a team of ‘quants,’ designers of strategies run by computer to optimize trading.” Next, he went to Scotia Capital as Lead Algo Equity Developer and, in 2022, to Goldman Sachs as Vice-President, Global Markets, his current position. Any future plans lean towards enjoying the life he and his wife have built.
“My wife has a lot of friends and relatives in Madrid and the south of Spain. We’re hoping to spend more time there. And Halifax also, of course.”
Martine Jacquot, BJ’84, has published a book which is a collection of short stories, Les enjolieurs du temps, with Éditions de la Grande Marée. Martine has given presentations during Francofest in Halifax, where she gave a talk about her trilogy L’envol des jours published by AfricAvenir International and also a presentation organized by Le Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques for students of Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazón in Lima, Peru, who are studying her novel Les Oiseaux de nuit finissent aussi par s’endormir, published by Éditions David.
Kevin Lakes, BA’89, and Marilyn Curry,’83, have published a book called Wink (Friesenpress). A poem written for middle-grade readers, Wink is a true story about gaining the confidence to overcome life’s challenges. Focused on a less commonly discussed side of horse training, Wink’s inspiring lessons will resonate with audiences of all ages. The book is available for sale and all profits from sales go towards re-homing racehorses.
Author and journalist Randi Druzin, BJ’92, has recently published her fourth book Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at Twelve of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History (Greystone Books, October 2023). It blends accounts of the goalies’ on-ice exploits with anecdotes about their lives off the ice—information gleaned from archival research as well as interviews with teammates, family members and the goalies themselves.
Carnegie Professor Roberta Barker, BA(Hons)’96, published a new book Symptoms of the Self: Tuberculosis and the Making of the Modern Stage, which came out with the University of Iowa Press’s award-winning series “Studies in Theatre History and Culture” in January 2023. It has recently won the Ann Saddlemyer Award from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research for best book in Theatre and Performance Studies published this year (read more about this on pg. 23).
Lauren Freeman, BA(Hons)’01, is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the MA in Applied Philosophy/Health Care Ethics at University of Louisville. Her book, Microaggressions in Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2024) introduces a novel account of microaggressions and applies it in medical contexts. Guided by diverse patient testimonies and case studies, it focuses on harms
experienced by patients marginalized on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, body size and disability. It makes a compelling case that the harms of microaggressions are anything but micro and argues that health-care professionals have a moral obligation to prevent them.
Freelance journalist and writer Heather Fegan, BJ(Hons)’05, has written her debut book: a memoir titled Gutsy: Living My Best Life with Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis (Nimbus Publishing Ltd., October 2023). Heather weaves her personal experiences of living with Crohn’s with expert insights from doctors, nurse practitioners, dietitians and researchers.
This fall, Dave Hurlow, BA(Hons)’06, published his first novel, Deep Sea Feline (Latitude 46 Publishing, 2023). The magical realism novel is currently being cross-promoted with his new musical project, Decafwolf. The first single No Need is streaming on Spotify now.
King’s Medal winner and Valedictorian Eli Burnstein, BA(Hons)’09, is excited to announce the publication of his debut book, Dictionary of Fine Distinctions. A neurotic treasury of commonly confused objects, ideas and words, Dictionary of Fine Distinctions is published by Union Square & Co. and now available for pre-order from all major booksellers online.
In the spring of 2023, Harriet Alida Lye, BA(Hons)’09, will be releasing her third and fourth books. Children’s picture book, Serge the Snail Without a Shell (Nimbus, 2023) will be released first, followed by a novel for mature readers, Let It Destroy You (McClelland & Stewart, 2023).
20s
Marilyn Carr’s, MFA’20, second memoir How I Invented the Internet (Iguana Books, 2022) was published in September of 2022. She is working on the third installment, If it’s Shreveport, it must be Tuesday, and anticipates a late 2024 release.
Alec Bruce’s, MFA’22, book, The Cooperators: The People Behind the Rebirth of a Nova Scotia Movement, will be published by Pottersfield Press in March 2024.
Read about more alumni and find details about what’s happening in the Alumni & Friends section of King’s website: www.ukings.ca/alumni
Lois Miller, BA(Hons)’65, has received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of “meaningful contributions that enhance our Province,” in particular for her advocacy on behalf of persons living with disabilities. Lois is pictured here (centre) with Claudia Chender, MLA for Dartmouth South and Leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, and accompanied by her husband, Rev. Iain Macdonald.
Historian, writer and public speaker Judith Hoegg Ryan, BA’69, earned the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for her exceptional qualities and outstanding service to the Province of Nova Scotia in the field of heritage. As noted in her induction ceremony, “her expertise on industrial heritage and oral history has contributed to events and organizations in Pictou County, including the Museum of Industry, the Town of Stellarton, Davis Day and Westray disaster commemorations.”
Ian Johnson, BA(Hons)’72, embarked on a two-week trip to Scotland with his two sons and grandson in June and July of 2023. Ian continued his travels in August, this time with his wife Olga Milosevich, as they visited Olga’s daughter who is attending Scripps Institute in San Diego, California.
Andrew Graham, BA(Hons)’79, recently retired after 17 years as an Associate Judge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and now works as a mediator in private practice in Toronto.
Sally Pitt, BJ(Hons)’84, retired after 33 years as a reporter and producer with CBC P.E.I. She’s now working part-time as an instructor with the Journalism and Communications program at Holland College in P.E.I.
Congratulations to Major Peter Dawson, BA(Hons)’85, who received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
Susan Tremills, BA’87, is approaching eight years as a French as a Second Language Instructor at Alliance Française, Halifax. She will also be teaching two interpreting courses this spring with the Université Sainte-Anne, Halifax campus: Fondements en interprétation de dialogue (Introduction to Community Interpreting) and Interprétation médicale (Medical Interpreting).
Lisa Blackburn, BJ(Hons)’90, has been appointed Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of 3 Intelligence Company stationed in Halifax, N.S. For the next three years she will support this dedicated group of army reservists in the community as part of a Canadian military tradition that is over 100 years old. Honorary members of the Canadian Navy, Army and Air Force help foster esprit de corps for the troops and serve as ambassadors to the public.
Martine Jacquot, BJ’84, has become a member of the prestigious Parlement des écrivaines Francophones, an international association which works for the rights of women. To mark International Women’s Day, she was invited to present at a conference in Cameroon on the psychological violence inflicted on women. Four of her books were published there with AfricAvenir International. She was also invited to French & Friends, a multilingual book event in Washington, DC, and received the Excellence Award for her two collections of poetry, Filigrane and La couleur du désir, published by Bridgevision. Martine also held a writing workshop through the Regroupement des aînés de la Nouvelle-Écosse and took part in a storytelling evening for children in the Annapolis Valley.
After working as a reporter in the United Kingdom for over 20 years, Tristan Stewart-Robertson, BA(Hons)’00, has released his first podcast, called A Murder Without End, about a story he has followed for 15 years of his professional career. It has won two 2023 Signal Awards (a Silver and Listener’s Choice) in the category Limited Series & Specials—Best Indie Podcast.
Two months after the podcast was released, Tristan returned to his hometown of Saint John, N.B., where he married his partner (and the podcast’s producer), Liam Pollock, on Black Beach.
Charles Pendleton, BA’01, and Alexia James welcomed their child, Olivia, on May 23, 2023.
John MacLean, BJ(Hons)’03, was promoted to Senior Legal Counsel in the Legal and Constitutional Law Division of the Nunavut Department of Justice in March 2023.
Inspired by her own life experiences, Rebeccah Love,’09, screened her short film Eve Parade through TIFF’s “Short Films, Big Ideas: Community Impact” earlier this year. In September, she shot her debut feature-length film Fortescue featuring collaborations with many King’s alumni, including Canadian Screen Award nominee
Braeden Jones, BJ(Hons)’14, is serving as Chief of Staff for Manitoba’s Official Opposition, the Progressive Conservative party. A journalist until 2017, Jones previously held a variety of roles for the former PC government, including Special Assistant to the Premier and, in 2023, the Director of Communications.
Congratulations to Georgia Atkin, BA’17, who is the 2023 recipient of the Claudette Upton Scholarship, a national award given out by the Editors’ Association of Canada.
composer Thomas Hoy, BMus’14, editor Rick Bartram, BA’12, and Production Designer Celina Clarke,’09. She is grateful for the mentorship and friendship of Mitchell Cushman, BA(Hons)’08, in helping her with her storytelling. She looks forward to sharing news of a premiere with the King’s community.
Meryn Winters, BA’12, has successfully entered the museums industry, after getting her masters in Museum and Artefact Studies from Durham University in 2018. She began working at the Royal Ontario Museum as a Promotions Ambassador with the marketing team in July 2022 and began working as an Assistant Database Coordinator in the membership department at the start of 2024. Meryn also indulged the travel bug, spending time in the UK before doing a 13-day African safari tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe and then onto Egypt for an additional 13-day tour.
Alison Fishburn’s, MFA’20, latest play, Church Boyfriends & Other Impure Thoughts, debuted at the 2023 Hamilton Fringe Festival where it was awarded Best in Venue at Theatre Aquarius. Church Boyfriends was remounted at The Staircase, also in Hamilton, in October. Writer Tanis MacDonald interviewed Alison about the play for the Watershed Writers podcast. The episode aired in November and is available on Spotify. Alison (pictured below) continues to run the Riverside Reading Series in Paris, Ont., and joined the teaching faculty in Laurier University’s English and Film Studies department in January 2024.
Marilyn Carr, MFA’20, was invited to be the speaker at the annual lecture sponsored by The Friends of Victoria University Library (part of the University of Toronto) in early November. Her talk was titled “How to Write Memoirs for Fun and Profit” and featured readings from her first two memoirs. Her next gig is headlining the Bonnechere Authors Festival in Eganville, Ont., on July 8, 2024.
Nancy Olivieri, MFA’21, a senior scientist at Toronto General Hospital, has been awarded the 2023 John Maddox Prize “for communicating the importance of being open with patients about medical research whilst withstanding great personal cost.” The award is presented by the UK-based Sense about Science charity in partnership with the journal Nature. Dr. Olivieri is completing her book Blood Money (which she began at King’s) about the experiences which led to the awarding of the Maddox Prize, involving the issues of academic freedom and scientific integrity in medical research.
James Barker, (friend of the college), December 2, 2023
Sheri Clift, (friend of the college), February 20, 2023
Walter Cook, (1954), May 3, 2022
Brian Cuthbertson, (friend of the college), July 15, 2023
Robert Edwards, (BSc’70), June 8, 2023
Evelyn Fox Keller, (DCL’18), September 22, 2023
Edgar Gerhardt, (1956), March 4, 2023
Joan Glode, (friend of the college), March 9, 2023
John Godfrey, (DCL’06, former University President), December 18, 2023
Geraldine Hamm, (BA’62), August 9, 2023
Mae Howe, (friend of the college), September 14, 2023
Linda Hubbard, (friend of the college), August 29, 2023
Walter Kemp, (Inglis Professor, former Director of Music, King’s Chapel, Public Orator), June 9, 2023
Peter Kussmaul, (friend of the college), October 2, 2023
Valerie MacDonald, (BA’72), December 5, 2022
Don MacVicar, (HF’89), June 19, 2023
Gregory Moore, (1968), November 23, 2023
Jen Powley, (BJ’01, MFA’15), September 18, 2023
Peter Hardress Puxley, (BA’63), December 11, 2023
Glen Pye, (1977), August 4, 2023
Barbara (Glendinning) Smith, (BA’64), December 11, 2023
Jennifer Stephen, (BA(Hons)’02), April 28, 2023
Audrey (Powell) Weir, (1952), March 9, 2023
Christopher J. White, (BA(Hons)’94), December 29, 2023
J. Christopher Wilcox, (DCL’06), October 4, 2023
Up to February 14, 2024
THE HONOURABLE Dr. John Godfrey PC, CM., DCL’06, enjoyed a long and varied career in education, journalism and politics. His path started in Toronto where he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Toronto in 1965. Then to Oxford for a master of philosophy in 1967, followed by a doctor of philosophy in 1975. He returned to North America soon after and became a popular teacher at Dalhousie before taking the mantle at King’s.
In the fall of 1977, Godfrey became the youngest president in King’s history at 34 years of age. A stalwart for traditions, he established several new ones during his presidency. MacLean’s (Oct. 17, 1977) introduced Godfrey as someone “hell-bent on a singular course—toward the last century.”
Following Godfrey’s death on December 18, 2023, President William Lahey wrote of Godfrey’s contributions to King’s: “John’s time at Oxford instilled in him a strong belief in the living and learning community exemplified by the Oxford-Cambridge collegiate model. During his [presi-
dency] he championed its value for King’s students, and the model remains at the heart of the education King’s offers…
“During John’s tenure as president, the journalism school was founded and quickly established its reputation as one of Canada’s premier schools of journalism. Now called the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing, it was and remains the only school to offer journalism degrees in Atlantic Canada…
“John created a strong academic legacy at King’s that remains integral to the unique and dynamic education we are known for and for this, we are grateful. His love for King’s never dimmed: anyone who visited John and Trish at their summer place in Nova Scotia could expect to find the King’s flag flapping in the wind over their yard…”
As tribute to Godfrey, Lahey lowered the flags and at 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 23, arranged for a piper to play in the Quad. This was a Godfrey tradition, known by the students of the day as the “tartan alarm clock.”
In the obituary published in The Globe
and Mail, Godfrey’s family invited friends to consider, among other causes, “donating to the John Godfrey Travelling Scholarship at the University of King’s College.” We thank all who responded to their call. Your contributions will make a difference in the lives of King’s students.
Established in 1987 in honour of his retirement, the John Godfrey Travelling Scholarship is designed to assist a) an international student from a country with a developing economy to study at King’s; b) a King’s student to study at a university in a country with a developing economy; c) a King’s student to engage in a project connected with education in a country with a developing economy. The scholarship now provides $4,500 annually (it can be split amongst multiple recipients). Since it was first awarded in 1989, it has supported 33 students.
The students often write notes of thanks. With the author’s permission, we share one such note.
December 17, 2022
Dear Dr. John Godfrey,I am from Victoria, British Columbia, and King’s was the only school I truly saw myself at for my post-secondary endeavours. I am currently in my second year at King’s and am on the women’s soccer team. Last year, I completed the Foundation Year Program, and absolutely adored it. I am now double majoring in sustainability and political science, while also pursuing the co-op program in sustainability.
Being awarded the Dr. John Godfrey Travelling Scholarship allowed me to pursue the adventure of a lifetime. I attended the School for Field Studies’ location on the small island of South Caicos, located in the Turks and Caicos, one of their ten program locations around the world. I, along with my 30 other peers from around the world, studied the Fundamentals of Marine Conservation. This program included themes such as marine ecology and conservation, climate change and ocean acidification, marine protected areas, coastal management, marine resource management and sustainable tourism and fisheries practices.
Despite the rigorous academics included in this program, it was mostly hands on, experiential learning. One of the projects that was definitely my favourite was when we conducted a population analysis of queen conch inside a marine protected area (MPA) compared to outside an MPA, to determine whether the MPA was helping its population size increase. We spent hours diving to gently collect the queen conch, measure and weigh them and place them back in their habitat. The data we collected was even sent to the Turks and Caicos government, which was amazing to be a part of … it opened my eyes to the importance of marine conservation, but also how strenuous it was to conduct analyses like this one, especially in the ocean.
As well as how much I learnt through this program during our academic time, I greatly valued spending time with the locals. We had the opportunity to open the small campus (about the size of the King’s library!) to the local community, and play games and make jewellery. We also hosted a sports day event at the local park, where we played pick-up basketball and soccer. Although I may have beaten them in soccer, I definitely struggled against these kids in basketball! Halfway through the program, there was a small Covid outbreak on the island, so we sadly had to limit our community engagement. But, we held an online fundraiser for our friends and family to donate to the South Caicos school, to provide them with more books and supplies. I will never forget the people I met from this small island, and I hope they know how much they impacted me.
But with the amount of gratitude I have for South Caicos and all its beauty, I also hold insurmountable gratitude that you were able to help me reach this dream. I hope that you can now understand how much this trip meant to me, and how grateful I am that I was supported by you on my endeavours. For every moment and memory I have from this trip, I also have gratitude towards you.
Thank you for your generous, life-changing support, Dr. Godfrey.
Also, I’ve attached some photos from my trip on the next page!
Warm regards,
Claire Pontefract
