Pitnic Event: Grad night in the Pit

Interested in what graduate student life at UPEI is really like? Interested in finding out what kind of graduate research is being carried out at UPEI? Join graduate students as they discuss their experiences and research in the Pit, Thursday, February 11, 6:30-8:45 pm. This is the third in a series of “Pitnic” events happening this semester in the Library’s Pit area and is the result of a partnership between the Graduate Student Association and Robertson Library. UPEI students, staff, faculty, and the wider community are welcome!  

Pancakes and Sausages

Due to the storm closure on Shrove Tuesday, "Pancakes and Sausages in the Chaplaincy Centre" was rescheduled to today, Thursday, February 11, from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. Everyone is invited to enjoy this feast, prepared and served in collaboration with The Point, Connection Point Christian Church.

Island Studies Lecture Series

“Mar bhlàth an fheòir” (“like the flowering grass”) - Scottish Gaelic Language and Song The Institute of Island Studies Lecture Series continues Tuesday, February 23, with a talk by Dr. Tiber F.M. Falzett, Research Associate at the Institute of Island Studies. His public lecture, “Mar bhlàth an fheòir” (“like the flowering grass”), focuses on the oral and written interfaces in local Scottish Gaelic song composition on Prince Edward Island. The lecture takes place in UPEI’s SDU Main Building Faculty Lounge, and gets under way at 7 p.m. Dr. Falzett investigates a once vibrant, yet fragmentarily documented, tradition of local song composition and performance as expressed throughout the nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries among Scottish Gaelic speakers on Prince Edward Island. By engaging both contemporary printed texts as well as sound recordings from fieldwork undertaken among remaining speakers and semi-speakers in the second half of the twentieth century, a multifaceted and dynamic body of tradition is capable of being pieced together. In turn these reassembled fragments of oral tradition can be reinterpreted to reveal a multi-accentual dynamic in what has since become a silenced ethno-linguistic community. Ultimately, it is intended to place these expressive forms of intangible cultural heritage as created and carried down by Gaelic-speaking Islanders in the context of the wider multicultural zone of the Canadian Maritimes to which they once belonged. Tiber Falzett’s current research explores the documentation and dissemination of archival intangible cultural heritage on Prince Edward Island. His doctoral research explores the relationship between language and music through sensory metaphor as expressed among Scottish Gaelic speakers on Cape Breton Island. A fluent Gaelic speaker as well as a singer and bagpiper, Tiber has presented his research and performed for broadcast media, including the BBC Television and Radio in Scotland and CBC, and is an active public folklorist in Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. He, his partner Giulia, and their dog Sofia live in Summerside. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend. This is the second in a series of an Island Studies Winter/Spring Lecture Series. Watch for details for another lecture about islands – near and far – March 22!

Institute of Island Studies Symposium

Geography of Local Governance on Prince Edward Island The topic of local governance is the focal point of an upcoming Public Symposium, “The Geography of Governance,” to be sponsored by UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with UPEI Research Services. The date is Thursday, February 25, at UPEI’s MacKinnon Auditorium (Room 242), Don and Marion McDougall Hall, beginning at 7 p.m.  (The storm date is the following evening, Friday, the 26th.) The reform of local government on the Island has been much discussed in recent years, especially since the release of the 2009 Thompson Report of the Commission on Land and Local Governance. At that time, the Island had 75 incorporated municipalities – many of them with just a few hundred people – and 70% of the province’s territory had no local government at all.  The situation remains much the same today. Judge Thompson recommended that local government be extended to cover the entire Island, and that the units be large enough to be effective and sustainable – that is, with a population of at least 4,000 each.  There’s a perception among Islanders that reform is now in the air, and some communities have initiated discussions with their neighbours about joining together to form larger governance units. If we assume that larger municipal units are on the horizon, and all of the Island would be included, then the question arises about the criteria to be used in deciding on new boundaries. Should cultural factors be paramount? Or “communities of interest”?  Or geographical factors?  Or environmental management – such as including a whole watershed within a municipality? Or some combination of these – and others? The principal speaker will be Diane Griffin, noted Island environmentalist, Stratford Town Councillor, and Vice President of the Federation of PEI Municipalities. She will be joined by a Panel of three individuals representing various points of view: Dr. Ryan Gibson, Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, and Jeanetta Bernard. Dr. Gibson, who is currently Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Institute of Island Studies, teaches in the Department of Geography, Saint Mary’s University. He has a special interest in collaborative governance in rural regions. He will address the question:  How can the Provincial Government guide and oversee change while respecting and enhancing local democracy and authority? Dr. van den Heuvel is the Director of the Canadian Rivers Institute based at UPEI.  He will discuss case studies and the advantages of defining municipal boundaries based on watersheds to enhance resources for environmental management. The third Panel member, Jeannita Bernard, of St. Philippe, is a well-known Island singer-songwriter and community leader in the areas of health, education and community development. She will explore the idea of creating a new Evangeline regional government unit, which would include the present villages of Wellington and Abram’s Village, plus 12 adjacent unincorporated communities. Members of the public are cordially invited to attend. Admission is free. Following the presentations, there will be ample time for discussion and questions from the floor. Storm date: Friday, February 26.

UPEI Used Book Sale

Robertson Library, in conjunction with the UPEI English Society, will be holding a used book sale on Friday, March 4, noon - 6 pm and Saturday, March 5, 10 am - 3 pm in Room 302/303 (Upper Level) of the Robertson Library. (Storm date the following weekend, same time.) Proceeds from the book sale help support the UPEI English Society and the Library's collection. Tickets will be available for a chance to win signed copies of works by local UPEI authors: Deirdre Kessler Richard Lemm Brent MacLaine Shannon Murray Money raised from the draw will go to the PEI Literacy Alliance. Books beyond your imagination: Come and browse through a great collection of books - there's something for everyone.   

UPEI Used Book Sale

Robertson Library, in conjunction with the UPEI English Society, will be holding a used book sale on Friday, March 4, noon - 6 pm and Saturday, March 5, 10 am - 3 pm in Room 302/303 (Upper Level) of the Robertson Library. (Storm date the following weekend, same time.) Proceeds from the book sale help support the UPEI English Society and the Library's collection. Tickets will be available for a chance to win signed copies of works by local UPEI authors: Deirdre Kessler Richard Lemm Brent MacLaine Shannon Murray Money raised from the draw will go to the PEI Literacy Alliance. Books beyond your imagination: Come and browse through a great collection of books - there's something for everyone. 
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