Undisciplined Reading and Conversation w/ Artist Vivek Shraya

Shraya reads from her acclaimed collection of short stories "God Loves Hair" followed by a conversation about her motivations in pushing the boundaries of children's/YA literature.

Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, TV, film, and fashion. A Canadian Screen Award winner, Vivek is the creator and writer of the new CBC Gem Original Series “How to Fail as a Popstar”. She has collaborated with musical icons Jann Arden, Peaches, and Jully Black, and was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. Her best-selling “I’m Afraid of Men” was heralded by Vanity Fair as “cultural rocket fuel,” and she is the founder of the award-winning publishing imprint VS. Books, (featured on CBC ’s Canada Reads) which supports emerging BIPOC writers. Vivek has been a brand ambassador for MAC Cosmetics and Pantene, and she is a director on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation.

Radical media engagement @ the convergence of adult-child-algorithm

How do an algorithm, a professor-parent, and her teen daughter engage in a study with TikTok that attends to its relevance in the lives of young people? And how might this unusual arrangement generate chaotic, yet profound lessons that disrupt an adult/child hierarchy that holds adultism firmly in place? My talk explores these questions as I unfold a post qualitative inquiry on the importance of TikTok in my daughter’s life and in our home, where its intensity was palpable.

Shauna Pomerantz is Professor of Child & Youth Studies at Brock University. Using feminist, immanent, and affect theories, Shauna’s research explores cultures of childhood and girlhood, gender and education, youth culture, representations of young people, and social media, particularly TikTok. She is author of Girls, Style, and School Identities: Dressing the Part, and co-author of Girl Power: Girls Reinventing Girlhoods and Smart Girls: Negotiating Academic Success in the Post-Feminist Era. When not working, Shauna listens to Spotify playlists, studies music trivia, watches teen dramas and coming of age movies, lifts weights, and hangs with her fam.

Building a Cree School System

Brian discusses the building of a Cree school system, his involvement, and the impact that it has had on the community.

Brian's leadership was instrumental in the creation of Maskwacis Education Schools Commission (MESC), which was launched in September 2018, taking responsibility for 11 schools, 2,200 students, and 500 employees. The work to amalgamate four small school authorities into a single school system was guided by three beliefs: focusing on what is best for children; guidance by the Cree philosophy of Wahkohtowin; and putting into practice our treaty right to education. Brian believes the best way to implement the treaty right to education is to achieve a high degree of success within Maskwacis schools.

Brian has a B.P.E. in Outdoor Pursuits from the University of Calgary (1987), M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of Alberta (1995), and an Honorary Doctor of Laws, from the University of Alberta (2022). Brian, a member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, lives in Maskwacis, with his wife Pam. They have three children and two grandchildren.