Dr. Edward Akuffo first encountered Canadian foreign policy in the late 1990s when he was completing his undergraduate education in Ghana. After seeing the work that the now defunct Canadian International Development Agency was doing under the leadership of John R. Schram (the retired diplomat and former Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana), his curiosity was…

One of UFV’s newest academic alignments embodies the university’s commitment to impactful social development and justice, both locally and globally. The university has offered courses in global stewardship and social justice before, but now the College of Arts has amalgamated these disciplines into one school that will embody the spirit of engagement, transformation, and activism.…

A new interdisciplinary course that brought together perspectives from Visual Arts, Theatre, Film, and Media Arts resulted in a variety of innovative responses in the form of student projects. SoCA 401, Critical Theory for Creative Arts, was taught for the first time ever by Anna Griffith, an assistant professor in Theatre, in Fall 2022. with…

UFV’s Flood Stories project collected introspective and impactful stories, images, art, and insights from people affected by the devastating Sumas Prairie flood of November 2021 and related environmental disasters. Now the public will be able to view the results of the project at a special exhibition at Abbotsford’s The Reach Gallery Museum. The Flood Stories…

When you are an academic researcher, inspiration for your next study can come from some surprising places. For UFV sociology professor Kathleen Rodgers, that “aha” moment occurred four years ago as she indulged in her favourite guilty pleasure: listening to a true crime podcast. These days, a good true crime podcast episode for Rodgers is…

A year after flooding devastated the Fraser Valley, the collective experience has been captured in a series of artistic expressions garnered through a contest and an open invitation for those affected to share their stories. The results are in, and they’re remarkable, according to Dr. Michelle Superle, who organized the Flood Stories project. “The inspiration…

For a self-described anxious kid growing up in Ottawa, Dr. Noah S. Schwartz dreaded the active shooter drills in elementary school. The teacher would lock the door and turn off the lights; the children would duck and cover. Silence ensued in the classroom. The fear would persist long after the drill ended. This was the…

The early 1990s were an exciting time for UFV. What had been Fraser Valley College, a small two-year institution, was transformed after an intense community campaign into the University College of the Fraser Valley, adding upper-level courses and bachelor’s degrees while trying to honour its community roots. It was time to start planning and launching…

Four weeks before Creativity Lab for Climate Resilience events were set to begin at UFV in May, organizers received an email from the UFV Office of Sustainability. Attached was an Excel spreadsheet with a self-reporting checklist listing more than 50 line items with several different categories to abide by — from Event Materials to Waste…

From building UFV’s Graphic and Digital Design program from the ground up, to instilling a deep understanding of community and the power of design to generations of students, Karin Jager’s contribution to creative work in the Fraser Valley and beyond is immeasurable. For this and much more, Jager has been named UFV’s 2022 Faculty Service…

As it wraps up a highly successful and rewarding year of performances, presented both virtually and in person, the University of the Fraser Valley Theatre is excited to announce its 2022-23 season of Theatre. This season highlights original performances and innovative approaches to socially engaged theatre that will challenge and excite audiences in the Fraser…

Sharing stories can be a way of healing, and a creative project offered by the UFV Food and Agriculture Institute is giving people affected by the devastating floods of November 2021 a way to share their experiences. Dr. Michelle Superle, who is an assistant professor of English at UFV, a published writer, a research associate…

One of life’s simple pleasures for Anastasia Anderson, an associate professor of philosophy at UFV, is witnessing children think, comprehend and communicate on an advanced level.  At the annual Thinking Playground camp in late August that she helps organize, children and adolescents alike -- some of whom have attended for the past several years --…

A new exhibit in the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery on the UFV Abbotsford campus shines a critical light on racism and promotes ways of addressing and opposing it. The Black Lives Matters Social Justice Art Project brings together four local BIPOC artists, most of them UFV students, who have been selected to create works of art…

Dr. Scott Sheffield was at a payphone in France in the mid-1990s when he made a spur-of-the-moment decision that would not only change the course of his career over the next quarter century, but would bring much needed global awareness to the historical contributions of Indigenous communities to the Second World War in Canada and…