On April 6, the School of the Arts, Media and Culture (SAMC) marked its official launch at Trinity Western University.
“These are exciting days to be launching a new school, a new way of seeing, thinking [and] working,” said David Squires, dean of SAMC. Squires also said that the launch of SAMC will be exciting for professors and students.

The main vision for the new School is to offer students professional degree programs with interdisciplinary courses.

“Alongside the development of new professional degrees in which students are mentored by working professionals in their discipline, we are also transitioning from a diverse group of departments with a common administration to a single school with many programmatic expressions and a greater concern for interdisciplinary connections,” said Squires.

Educators around the province, and outside of TWU, have looked at SAMC programs and have mentioned that they will be strong programs to create leaders.

“SAMC uses positive mentoring within a community of learning to nurture students into transformers of culture,” said Squires.
Squires has been working at TWU for 15 years and initially never saw SAMC coming, but now that it’s here, he feels that the arts, communications, music and theatre departments are more unified.

“The launch of a School of the Arts, Media, and Culture at TWU is really a momentous event,” said Squires. “While we honour the efforts of our forebears at this remarkable university – who 50 years ago dreamed and prayed into being a college, later to become a university – and especially as we acknowledge the breadth and depth of courses and programs in various arts, media and culture disciplines which many colleagues have laboured to develop and shape over several decades – yet we now stand looking to a very different future.”

In the fall, students can get a taste of what the School is about if they take SAMC 111. “SAMC has new foundational courses in place for fall, bringing together across traditional disciplinary lines to engage critical issues in the arts,” said Squires.

For senior students, interdisciplinary “capstone” courses are being worked on, as well as travel studies and experiential projects. Also, courses are transferable for SAMC.

“We at SAMC are creative thinkers who believe in a dynamic curriculum in an ever-changing culture,” said Squires.
To find out more information about SAMC, visit their website at www.twu.ca/academics/samc.

Currently pending approval by the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting is a potential new program that the School of the Arts, Media and Culture (SAMC) hopes to launch in fall 2010.

Students are anxiously awaiting final news regarding the program and are not only excited for the production classes they would have to take, but also the required courses, such as directing and playwriting.

Brittany Gainer, a potential BFA student, is looking forward to expand her repertoire through such a program. “I think it will be a great opportunity to get to know other perspectives through required courses that I wouldn’t normally take,” said Gainer. “In the end, I would be able to be a better actor.”

Instead of specializing in a certain area such as acting, dramatic literature or stage managing, as theatre students normally would, acting students would be challenged in all areas of the field, as well as theatre history, literature and practice.

The acting program would differ from the theatre program, as it would require students to take twice as many courses. Many of the students are looking forward to the community that could be built due to so many classes that they would have to take with one another over the next couple of years.

“[Students] would be immersed in productions that enable them to exercise the muscles and test the ideas they are acquiring in their courses,” said Angela Konrad, chair of the theatre department and assistant dean of SAMC.

“We encourage and challenge each other to think critically about the art and its intersection with our faith,” said Konrad. “We want to make that art better.”

With twice the amount of obligatory courses, students would be able to refine their skills so as to exceed in the acting industry, and by living with integrity through their work and their faith, they may touch others’ lives while working in the industry.

The program would better be able to prepare its students for life after TWU, according to Konrad.

Students would be pushed to excel in all aspects, developing creative minds, acquiring an extensive amount of knowledge and skills, fervour for their work, as well as strengthen their faith, which will ultimately enable students to excel when they leave TWU to pursue a career in the industry.

For more information on SAMC and its programs and special events visit twu.ca/SAMC.

HODI is a non-profit organization that emerged partly from TWU’s Kenya travel study program, run by communications professor Ruth Anaya, her husband Petra Anaya, and UFV professor Cherie Enns. Since 2004, these three directors have initiated research and a partnership with Petra’s home community of Muhanda in Western Kenya.

“On April 16th, HODI will be celebrating big successes in small places,” said Anaya. “Ordinary people can do extra-ordinary things in this Kenyan village.”

Through HODI’s partnerships, they have transformed Muhanda with a diversity of projects, including: a large infrastructural piped water system serving 5,000 people; a health center that is now being upgraded into a maternity facility; a student sponsorship program; and most recently, the construction of a community center focused on providing care services for vulnerable children.

HODI’s African-themed launch party will include the African music group Shirika, African food, and African auction items, and will double as a fundraiser for a maternity facility in Muhanda – a need in this densely populated rural village where there is a high mortality rate.
“We have a phenomenal opportunity to be involved with the building and equipping of a maternal health and birthing facility,” said Anaya. “What could be more exciting than breathing life into an impoverished community?”

To help raise awareness about the Dalit people in India, a Worship for Dalit Freedom awareness concert was held at TWU on April 8th.
“The Dalit people won’t even share their water with anybody; instead, they have to smash the cup they drink not to pollute anybody else from their status of worthlessness,” said Froese.

On a recent trip from India, students Rachelle Rovner and Sharlene Petigara had a life changing experience and were affected by the severity of the people’s circumstances. “They live in pipes,” said Petigara. “A mother was building another pipe for her children to study in because the smoke from cooking food was too strong. She was building them a pipe house, not a normal house but a house in a pipe, and that was a sacrifice for her living under what they live on per day.”

“Their circumstances will break you,” said Froese. “People need to become aware of what is happening in the world and that is the entire purpose of the worship concert.”

The concert had a great turnout. “The main purpose of the night is to bring awareness,” said Brtiney Broadhead, a TWU student and co-leader of the concert. “We might be the only voice for these people.”

The Worship for Dalit Freedom awareness concert included music, Henna tattoos, t-shirt and products made for sale to help the Dalit people. In India, henna tattoos are a popular tradition. With students having henna on their arms for two weeks, it allows them to spread awareness as others notice it on their body.

“You can’t be ignorant towards this once you know,” said Matthew Froese, a business student at TWU and Dalit Freedom awareness member. “Once you are educated about something like this, it’s hard going back to everyday life when you know people are living in extreme circumstances.”

For more information on how to get involved, visit www.dalitfreedom.net.

“Last year’s council voted to increase student fees to $65 from $60, but that change did not come into effect until January 2010. So for the first semester, full-time undergraduate students paid $60 and second semester they paid $65. Part-time students paid $30 and $35, respectively,” said Daniel Reynolds, TWUSA’s executive director of internal relations.

Events and services on campus that individually cost each student less than $5 included: American Student Government Association Membership, the Cube, TWUSA Express, Spartan Nights, Banana Challenge, campus barbeques, Hootenanny, CANAM, Open Mic, the Reel, and the Grad Banquet. Mars’ Hill and Pillar only took around $20 each from student fees.

TWUSA’s major initiatives allocated over $9000 to their largest proposals budget ever; this budget was used to support initiatives such as composting bins for residents, opening night galas for TWU Theatre, distribution of [spaces] literary journal across Canada, tetherball pole on campus, art shows, School of Business Association’s Bachelor Auction for Haiti, International Social Justice Club events and fundraisers, and Faith and Science Week.

As for the recreation fee, students paid nearly $200,000. TWUSA advocated for fiscally responsible and effective use. So far, the results from the recreation fee are the new bouldering wall, new fitness centre equipment, and long-term plans for a major project.

At TWU, CAN-AM is the largest event outside of convocation, however this year Hootenanny was a big hit. “Outside of grad banquet, we spent more money on Hootenanny than any other event and this year approximately one in three TWU students attended,” said Reynolds. “Traditionally we do not charge for Hootenanny and instead donate any proceeds to charity, meaning we cannot rely on any revenue to subsidize the costs.”

In addition to finances, TWUSA worked with Sodexo to improve students’ food experience. TWUSA also approved the creation of: the new School of the Arts, Media and Culture, the Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications major, and a new RELS 100 class, designed for students from a non-Christian background. Finally, TWUSA investigated the possibility of students receiving academic course credit for extra-curricular involvement.

The success of collegiums at Trinity Western University has grown over the past few years. It is the hope of Glenn Hansen, assistant director of community life for graduate and commuter programs, that it continues—especially for upperclassmen collegium membership.
In order to encourage membership growth, students can enter a contest to win one of five free collegium memberships and a free parking pass by attending the Collegium View Week from April 12th to 16th, taking place in the Marlie Snider collegium.

Hansen said the collegium’s population increase was due to a 2007 survey, which showed that membership had dropped because of the annual cost of $150. In the following school year the fee was lower by 40 per cent to $90 a year—leading to increased membership. However, Hansen also said that numbers are not as high as they were in the past, when there were waiting lists to get into collegiums, which he thought might be attributable to a decrease in the intake of students.

Change was also in the air at the start of the fall 2009 semester. “Instead of the West Coast collegium being first year and fourth year students we made it first and second year,” said Hansen.

Consequently the shift meant that the Marlie Snider collegium became home to third and fourth year students. An effect, Hansen said, is that the West Coast collegium has a higher membership, including over 200 members, while the Marlie Snider has around
100 members.

“There is still room for growth in the upperclassmen collegiums,” said Hansen, whose goal is to encourage commuters to apply for membership early just as students would do for courses.

Reuben Moes, a fifth year business student and comunity life assistant, agrees with Hansen that there was a change in the atmosphere in both collegiums. Moes said that the Marlie Snider is more studious and quiet. “The first and second year [students] tend to be more rowdy,” said Moes, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—unless you’re trying to study, of course.

In addition to collegium membership growth, there has been a reduction in theft from the honour bars—a system which allows commuters to purchase food stocked by Sodexo. Hansen noted that a few years ago there was a substantial amount of money stolen from the honour bar, but now that is not the case. He hopes if members witness theft, there will be a mutual accountability that will
encourage honesty.

Overall, it has been a successful year in the collegiums, making it a home to Hansen and commuter students.

The event will be held on Friday, April 16 in Northwest Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. and is free of charge.

Professionals from the film industry will judge for overall winner, best director, cinematographer, scriptwriter and actor.

In addition, the audience will also have an opportunity to pick their favourite for the Audience Award. The overall winner will receive a $500 gift certificate for the Apple online store; other prizes include $200 Apple online store gift certificates.

For a short time this April, we are offered a rare and unique opportunity: to see the inside of a Mormon temple. The first in B.C. and the seventh in Canada, the Vancouver British Columbia Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be open for public tours before its dedication at the beginning of May.

The temple, located at 20370 82nd Avenue in Langley near the Langley Events Centre, is open for free tours from April 9th through April 24th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. On May 2nd, it will be dedicated, after which point only members “in good standing” will be permitted inside.

As a belief system that is often shrouded in mystery, outsiders stereotypically associate Mormonism with door-to-door missionaries and renegade polygamists. Few get a chance to see for themselves a glimpse of the inside without becoming a convert.

As Intercultural Religious Studies professor Jonathan Dawn commented, “the danger very often in many of these movements or beliefs is talking about it without ever going or interacting with people.” Dawn encourages students to visit the temple during the open house, and on the opening day I took him up on this challenge.

The building is fittingly described by Dawn as “opulent.” According to the Latter-day Saints, or LDS (preferred over “Mormon”), the temple is the “holiest place on Earth.” As members are required to tithe 10 per cent there is no money spared: only the best for God’s house.
The temples are built partly patterned after the Old Testament tabernacle, but each one is unique, incorporating elements of local culture – the Langley temple features dogwood designs worked into the furniture and decor. From the outside it resembles a cathedral, but on the inside it is filled with many small rooms.

“The rooms are symbolic and have meanings in and of themselves,” said Dawn. Tours take the public through many of these rooms, each of which showcases a different aspect of LDS beliefs – many of which are familiar yet foreign to the touring Christian.

One of the things distinguishing the LDS is a doctrine of baptism for the dead. This practice, based on 1 Corinthians 15:29, is one of the main purposes for the temple. In a baptism tank resting on the backs of 12 oxen – symbolism taken from the Old Testament design – proxy baptisms occur where a family member is baptized on behalf of a deceased ancestor. This is not imposed but the ancestor is believed to have a choice as to whether to accept the favour.

Another thing distinguishing the LDS, as Dawn described, is “marriage not until death do us part, as is conventional, but marriage for eternity.” Families are bound together forever in the “sealing room,” which features two large mirrors on opposing walls. The concept of eternity is illustrated as families can look into the mirror and see images of themselves reflected unendingly.

There are also several rooms where members come to learn about God and the purpose of life. A key LDS focus is on “restoration of what was lost,” as our tour guide emphasized. “We didn’t just make this stuff up,” she explained.

According to Dawn, “the LDS see the time between the Apostles and their own beginnings as being a time of great turning away from truth. It was only because of a revelation to Joseph Smith that there is a renewal and now this is the true church.” The Book of Mormon elaborates on this alternative perspective on history.

While there are many theological differences between the LDS and Christianity, there are many things a Christian can take from the experience. “They’re here to be missionaries, impact society, and try to be good examples for the faith they uphold,” said Dawn. “So there’s much to commend them for.”

A trip to the temple will give visitors a window into the LDS world and a first-hand account of what they believe. Also, it is a great way to meet the new neighbours.

For more information visit ldschurchtemples.com/vancouver.

On March 11th, a one-time faculty workshop was held at TWU to discuss the use of laptops in classrooms.

Bill Strom, communications professor and associate director of faculty developments, was asked by the provost to think of topics and offer seminars for faculty to become better teachers and researchers.

“There has been discussion about how laptops have become a fact of our existence and how they are sometimes very helpful and sometimes very detrimental,” said Strom. “Usually what our seminars do is not preach a certain answer. We just like to get lots of information out on the table and faculty can look at it and debate and tell their stories…[then] make their own decisions.”
What came out of the seminar were arguments that came from both sides of the issue; it was also not a policy discussion.

“Those who said we have the right and responsibility to ban computer use in some classes in order to guarantee that students can really engage material. On the other side was, that’s not our role and there is not great benefit to banning, in fact banning is negative. We should rather embrace technology and use it the best we can to engage students,” said Strom.

What do students think about this topic?

“Everyone I see is using laptops, they may be taking notes but there’s always something on the side,” said Chimdi Nwosu, an applied mathematics and computing science student at TWU. “I’d rather take notes; I learn better that way.”

“I think, depending on the class that you’re in, if I were in a math class I wouldn’t use my laptop, but I know students who can only learn on their laptops. Maybe they could implement a policy for no Internet in classrooms,” said Samantha Selvin, a business student at TWU.

The main speaker of the seminar who has banned laptops in one of their introductory level courses is David Jeffery, a linguistics professor at TWU.

For Jeffery, pedagogy, a class survey on the issue, lessen distractions, inequality and respect issues were the reasons for banning laptops in his LING 210 class.
Strom also mentioned that several other professors have banned laptops in their classes.

“Many of our students seek and find employment in the public relations field, or what is often called corporate communications. In fact, over a third of our graduates were in roles such as communication officers, public relations staff, and marketing,” says Strom.

Although practical public relations degrees and graduate level professional communication degrees are offered locally, the BACC’s program is unique in B.C. for its strong undergraduate foundation in business and communications

The BACC is a partnership with TWU’s School of Business. Students take both 30 hours of communication courses and 30 hours of business courses in addition to core requirements and electives. Core courses in communications include 18 semester hours of writing, public speaking, research and writing, and 18 hours of business courses that include accounting, business law, and a microeconomics course. As well, students must complete a practicum, and select upper-level courses in writing, media, and leadership. Upper-level business requirements include advertising and marketing courses, and an intense capstone course.

Increasingly, various organizations are trying non-traditional approaches to developing business relationships and connecting with clients. The use of media, including social media, in various business settings and even government is undergoing continual change.

Recent examples include the use of social media by Stephen Harper and Barack Obama to connect with constituents via YouTube casts, and by the recent launch of “TWU Impact,” a story-telling project for building financial support at TWU. Professors in the BACC program may use such examples for “discussion, analysis, and emulation,” says Strom.

Additionally, diverse work settings, such as not-for-profits, government, or ministry settings demand an awareness or “moral conscience” of how ethical public relations are applied. Corporate social responsibility is progressively becoming a public expectation of professional organizations, as discussed in recent professional publications. To prepare graduates for senior level leadership in corporate communications, BACC students will be challenged and given the opportunity to develop wise decision-making, in addition to skill development.

What can prospective students expect? “The strength of the program,” says Strom, “is that business students will know public relations strategy, and communication students will learn business principles and practice, resulting in graduates who know both how businesses work, and how public relations work.”

Students interested in more information about BACC can contact Dr. Kevin Schut, Chair of Communications or Andrea Soberg, Dean of the School of Business.