![]() Fall 2017 | Issue #9From the Dean
In Issue #6 (Spring 2016) I referred to C.M Christensen and H.J Eyring, The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out (San Francisco, 2011). A couple faculty borrowed the book from me, and if others would like to read it, I can make it available. As I noted then, I had become fascinated with Harvard and how it has shaped our vision of higher education, particularly its drive to become bigger and better, “everything at its best”, as President Eliot envisioned Harvard. Many of the things, which we have come to associate with modern universities, have either been innovations or practices adopted by Harvard. The Innovative University traces the history of Harvard and Rick’s College, which later became BYU- Idaho, and what shaped their respective DNAs. The last section of the book, “Genetic Reengineering”, speaks among other things about the dangers of imitating the “bigger-and-better” schools and the need to make firm choices as to what an institution will and will not do. Unlike a Harvard, we do not have the resources to be best at everything. But we can certainly be best at some things, and possibly many things, but it will require choices. Sadly, I would love to have a Classics Program, but that is not likely to happen in my time. I guess History is stuck with me. As the authors of The Innovative University note, “competitive success requires being different, making unique choices about what an organization will and will not do” (345). It means adopting “a strategy that transcends Harvard imitation”, not necessarily by “forgo[ing] “graduate programs and discovery research”, but by “step[ping] off the traditional ladder in defining themselves” and by “thinking about what they do, not solely in terms of the course taken by Harvard” and other bigger-and-better universities (345). So, how do we step off that traditional ladder in defining ourselves? As the authors note under the heading, Suicide by Imitation, institutions are often “engaged in genetically driven, destructive rivalry with their own kind -other institutions trying to be world’s best according to a single, narrow definition of excellence” as Conant had defined it for Harvard. We know who our own kind are in the province of Alberta, and personally I am not interested in being a smaller version of that. That’s to no one’s benefit. The authors (332-336) highlight three things that face-to-face universities uniquely do best: discovery, intellectual grounding (or memory) and mentorship. The first speaks to excellence in research; the second to excellence in teaching and the third to the excellence of the student experience. All three are important and one should not come at the expense of the other: teaching excellence, in my mind, is as important as research excellence, and at the centre of both activities is mentorship, both of graduate and undergraduate students. These are three things which we already do well, but which we can always improve upon. How do we improve our research excellence? How do we improve the intellectual grounding we provide our students, and how do we improve our mentorship? These are questions we need to ask. In the fall the Associate Deans will begin circulating three reports, one on research, one on teaching and one on outreach; they will serve as discussion papers to inform our strategic plan as a faculty. We welcome your feedback. What I hope will come of this exercise are a number of clear objectives that we can all work toward. I want us to become a faculty that is always striving and straining to improve our teaching, our research, and our community engagement, and in all that, we are guided by the principles of liberal education. And through that process of reflection and benchmarking, we find a path forward that allows us to step off that traditional ladder in defining what makes us unique among comprehensive universities. I wish everyone a successful term. ![]() ![]() ![]() We have begun the planning process for Open House 2017 which will take place on Saturday September 30th. This event is designed to welcome prospective new students to campus and give them a chance to find out about us, and hopefully offer them Early Admission. This is the largest prospective student event we host on campus and this is our time to shine! Open House is designed for current high school students, prospective graduate students and transfer students considering uLethbridge for Fall 2018. Catharine Reader is connecting with departments and programs to finalize Faculty of Arts & Science activities, which will include: 11:00am & 12:00pm | B650, uHall
11:00am-2:00pm | Atrium & uHall
For more information, contact catharine.reader@uleth.ca Public ProfessorThe PUBlic Professor Series is back for another season! The upcoming lectures are sure to be thought-provoking and encourage open conversation. No matter what, there will be something for everyone. Each talk takes place from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at our new location: Lethbridge Lodge, 320 Scenic Dr S, Lethbridge, AB. See the lineup below. September 21, 2017 From the Beginnings of Life to Modern Medicine: Why RNA Matters. October 26, 2017 November 23, 2017 Global Climate Archives in Mud and Rock: The magnetic recorder is always on [somewhere]! January 25, 2018 Beyond the Binary: What the West Can Learn from Non-Western Approaches to Gender Diversity. February 15, 2018 March 22, 2018 If you miss a talk, or just want to hear it again, you can visit After The Talk, where you will find research stories and videos for each of our PUBlic Professor lectures. Sign-up for the mailing list and never miss a thing!
![]() Profs & PrizesThurs, Oct 5 - 4:00-6:00PM Join the Department of Modern Languages for the annual Profs and Prizes ceremony to recognize excellence among language students. This year we will also reflect on 50 years of languages at the U of L, by connecting with alumni and former faculty. The Philosophy Department Colloquium Series presents: Trump, Snakes, and FablesGuest Speaker: Prof. Katharina Stevens Chinook Symposium11th Annual Chinook Symposium for Chemistry and Biochemistry – Gairdner award winner Dr. Lewis Kay will be visiting on October 19-20, and providing a keynote lecture. “How Antisemitism has Shaped the Lives of Jewish Canadians”Presented by Dr. Ira Robinson (Concordia) Sept 13th - 7:00 - 9:00 PM Stop the Presses!July 1 - Oct 28
![]() The Faculty of Arts & Science is on Facebook!Please like and follow our new page (@uLethbridgeArtSci) to stay up to date on the latest news and events in our community. If you have content that you would like shared on our social media network, please submit your suggestions to: alix.redmond@uleth.ca ![]() We want to again showcase shining students at our 2017 Open House and need your help to identify who they are. It is our hope that we will have at least one student at each table as they were a very popular addition to this event last year. We are looking for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels who can participate at our Open House event on September 30th to engage with prospective students about their U of L experiences. If you would like to nominate a shining student (or several), let us know by filling out the sections below, by September 15th, 2017 and emailing your list to catharine.reader@uleth.ca . We will contact students directly to find out if they can participate in Open House and arrange a time to photograph them. Name :
Why the Gulf Coast Is Uniquely Vulnerable to DisastersInterview with History professor Dr. Cindy ErmusAs the editor of the upcoming book of essays Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South, Cindy explains why the book provides important social context for the many “natural” disasters that have plagued the region for 200 years. EMS Microbiome ProjectLethbridge Fire and Emergency Services and University of Lethbridge: First Responders for Identifying and Mitigating Biological Risks in EMSBy Andy Hudson Sick people pass through them all the time, so how clean are our ambulances?Interview with Andy Hudson, microbiologist with the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute.
Congratulations2nd Place at the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society MeetingCongratulations to Annual Meeting of the Institute of Biological Engineering (Salt Lake City, Utah)
13th Annual RiboWest Conference Prizes
PublicationsDubé, S., Orr, D., Dempsey, B., and Wieden, H.-J.* (2017) A synthetic biology approach to integrative high school STEM training. Nature Biotechnology 35, 591–595. doi:10.1038/nbt.3896 (Impact Factor: 41.667) N-steps closer towards testing the theory of everything Unifying quantum mechanics and gravity is the holy grail of theoretical physics. Igor Pikovski (Harvard) and Michael Vanner (Oxford) and Pasquale Bosso, a recent Ph.D. from the University of Lethbridge and Saurya Das of the Department of Physics and Astronomy show that these "quantum gravity signals" can be amplified significantly, by letting the interferometer laser circulate N (a large number of) times, while keeping noise levels to a minimum. Michael Smith Foreign |