Dr. Lynne Phillips, Dean of Arts
Why does research in the Arts matter?
This year the Faculty of Arts will be showcasing its answer to this question. And we have a wonderful line-up of celebrations and guest speakers this year to begin the conversation. Let’s start with the SPARKS Literary Festival this weekend, January 20th, at the Petro-Canada Hall, School of Music. In its fourth year, SPARKS is a wildly successful literary festival, sponsored by the Faculty of Arts. It is designed to heat up the cold month of January and to encourage us to reflect on, challenge and celebrate the human experience. Who are we in the 21st century? Come to SPARKS and find out.
Then on February 11th we will be ‘having a time’, celebrating the many achievements of Arts faculty and staff over the last year. This event, formerly known as Author! Author!, will be re-launched with a new name to honour our strong researchers, writers, instructors, community engagers and general do-gooders. Last year Arts faculty produced more than 20 books, earned five Queen’s Jubilee medals and brought in more than $two million dollars in research funding. We also won the President’s Research award, the President’s Teacher’s award and the President’s Service award. And we could go on…
February is also the month of the Henrietta Harvey Lecture. Dr. Frederick Neumayer will honour us by sharing his path-breaking research on the history of language. On February 26th he will ask “Can We Reconstruct the Language of the First Humans?” – a question of interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, linguists, and, well, anyone interested in language.
Finally, I’m sure that Dr. Gwynn Dyer will provoke with his special lecture on “The Triumph of Non-Violence” on February 28th, at 7:00 p.m. Dr. Dyer is a world-renowned journalist who was born in St. John’s and received his BA in history from the Faculty of Arts. His talk draws inspiration from the Arab Spring events and explores the successes of non-violent activism. This event is presented by the Office of Alumni, in partnership with the Faculty of Arts.
Keep in touch for more events such as these, as we explore how research in the Arts matters.
Find out more about my research interests by visiting my personal website.
