Upcoming Author Events
The Phil Lind Initiative: Sasha Velour
April 18, 2024 AT 6:00PM | Tickets Sold Out
The Phil Lind Initiative 2024 Speaker Series | Pop Politics: Pop Culture and Political Life in the United States
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts | 6265 Crescent Rd
MODERATED BY J. LOGAN SMILGES
Critically acclaimed gender-fluid drag queen, visual artist, speaker, illustrator and author, Sasha Velour has been a force in the international drag scene long before her scene-stealing, rose-petal-filled win on season nine of the Emmy Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race. Her first book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag has been heralded as “a rousing tribute to a revolutionary art form and its practitioners” (Publisher’s Weekly).
In her Phil Lind Initiative talk titled The Big Reveal: Why Drag Matters, Velour will delve into queer history and the importance of drag as an expression of oneself, as a revolutionary act of visibility for queer culture, and as a rich, multifaceted and politically-charged art form that delights and disrupts. “Drag embodies the queer possibility that exists within each of us,” Velour states, “the infinite ways in which gender, good taste, and art can be lived.”
Velour’s first one-queen drag show Smoke & Mirrors was called a “spell-binding tour de force” (Forbes) touring to over 80 cities around the world from 2019-22. Her acclaimed NYC drag show NightGowns was adapted into a docu-series in 2020 and recently completed a sold-out residency at Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge. Velour’s star continues to rise with a brand-new stage work created in connection to her book, as well as a role hosting the fourth season of HBO’s Peabody and Emmy-Award winning tv show We’re Here. She was also recently commissioned by the Tony Award-winning Tectonic Theatre Project to star in and co-create a new theatrical work premiering in 2024.
The Phil Lind Initiative is presented by UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
Basil Stuart Stubbs Gallery Opening:
Official opening and ribbon-cutting of the gallery showcasing the Wallace B Chung and Madeline H Chung Collection and the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection
Friday, April 19, 2024 2:00 - 4:00pm
Irving K Barber Learning Centre | Level 2 Concourse, 1961 East Mall
These books represent the collection:
In the mid-1880s, Johnny Lind, a teenager from Pond Mills, Ontario, struck out for adventure and wealth. After a decade working as a railroader in the United States, Johnny headed north, to Yukon and Alaska, and he was mining gold nearby when the Klondike Gold Rush began.
As a “sourdough,” albeit an unsung one—the nickname for miners who had survived an entire winter in the North—Lind’s story goes largely unrecognized in the lore of the era, his understated demeanor overshadowed by the larger-than-life characters that dominate the history books. But he kept journals recording his adventures in the Klondike, and these form an invaluable personal record. His stories shed light on the people and events of the gold rush, from the perspective of an everyman who wound up striking it rich.
Here, Johnny Lind’s grandson Phil Lind shares his grandfather’s fascinating story, along with his love of the Klondike, the history of the gold rush, the colourful players in that famed period, and the peoples and land affected by the legendary stampede for wealth.
Golden Inheritance: The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection at UBC Library, penned by local author and UBC alumnus Larissa Buijs, provides an overview of Dr. Wallace B. Chung and his family, profiles the dedication and dynamics behind the Chung Collection, and offers an in-depth examination of its three themes: early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
The result is an absorbing read, accompanied by an array of images that speak to an exceptional collection, its passionate collector, and the broader forces that inspired the Chung Collection and helped shape today’s Canada.
As author Larissa Buijs writes, “The strengths of the Chung Collection lie not only in the merits of its titanic array of primary source materials–many of which would be nearly impossible to find today–but also in the invaluable perspective it offers on the development of Canada from a Western Canadian and, in particular, Chinese Canadian viewpoint.”
Dr. Chung has personally dedicated Golden Inheritance to his parents, Chung Ham and Chung Hung Sze, and to the pioneers whose toil and sacrifices have made their dream of Gold Mountain a reality for all those who followed them.
Tuesday April 23, 2024 AT 6:30PM - 9:00PM | Register Here
This event is presented by the Peter A. Allard School of Law, the UBC Faculty of Arts and St. John's College UBC and is free, but registration is required.
Jack Poole Hall, Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre | 6163 University Blvd
Join us to hear from author Denise Chong (BA ’77) about her new book, Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse. The book explores Rumana Monzur’s (MA’13, JD’17) story of domestic abuse in times of cultural turmoil and celebrates her irrepressible spirit as she found light in sudden darkness.
From the outside, Rumana seemed an unlikely victim of domestic abuse: well educated, married to a man of her own choosing, and progressing in her career as a professor of international relations at Dhaka University in Bangladesh. But in 2011, on return from graduate studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), her husband attacked and blinded her in front of their young daughter. Rumana's UBC friends rallied to support her, drew international attention to her plight, and helped bring her to Vancouver in an attempt—ultimately futile—to restore her sight. Rumana’s story reminds us that there are no typical victims of intimate-partner violence, but also that there is tremendous strength in community:
Throughout my challenging journey, there were moments when the weight of my hardships threatened to overwhelm me. Lost in a sea of doubt, I succumbed to a loss of faith in myself. It was during these darkest times that my UBC family emerged as a beacon of hope. Their unwavering support not only restored my faith but made me feel as if I had lost two eyes, only to gain hundreds. (Rumana Monzur)
This special event will bring together Denise and Rumana for a thoughtful conversation about Rumana’s personal journey from Bangladesh to Vancouver, the UBC community that supported her escape from domestic abuse, and the global effort to expose and combat intimate-partner violence.
Doors will open at 6:30pm, the formal program will begin at 7:00pm, and the reception and book signing will begin at 8:00pm. Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse will be available for purchase on site. Light refreshments will be available during the reception
Faculty Conversations in Kinesiology: Educating the Body
Thursday April 25, 2024 AT 4:30PM - 6:30PM | Register Here
Thea Koerner House, Thea's Lounge | 6371 Crescent Rd
Join us for an engaging panel discussion with authors Dr. Bruce Kidd, Dr. M Ann Hall, and Dr. Patricia Vertinsky, and featuring Dr. Janice Forsyth and Dr. Leanne Petherick. Wine and cheese will be served.
Attendance in person or virtual on Zoom.
This celebration focuses on ‘Educating the Body: a History of Physical Education in Canada, ’ by Ann Hall, Bruce Kidd and Patricia Vertinsky (University of Toronto Press 2024), the questions it raises, the problems it reveals, and the future it hopes for. It is the first scholarly history of physical education in Canada since 1971, designed to recapture and analyze the two centuries of formal instruction in physical education and related practices, in light of: changing understandings of the Canadian state, public education, health, physical activity sport and the body ; the profound effects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the past and present of colonialism and the effects of the residential schools; the marginalization of physical education in many Canadian schools and universities along with the relative decline in historical scholarship about the field and the upsurge and importance of kinesiology in higher education and medicine.
Educating the Body presents a history of physical education in Canada, shedding light on its major advocates, innovators, and institutions. The book traces the major developments in physical education from the early nineteenth century to the present day – both within and beyond schools – and concludes with a vision for the future. It examines the realities of Canada’s classed, gendered, and racialized society and reveals the rich history of Indigenous teachings and practices that were marginalized and erased by the residential school system. Today, with the worrying decline in physical activity levels across the population, Educating the Body is indispensable to understanding our policy options moving ahead.
Our discussions will use this newly published book as a taking off point for debate, as it relates to the future of Kinesiology as well as physical education in Canada.
Basil Stuart Stubbs Prize Reception
Thursday May 2, 2024 4:00 - 6:00pm
Cecil Green Park House | 6251 Cecil Green Park Rd
The annual prize recognizes an outstanding scholarly book published on a British Columbian subject by a Canadian Author
Wayne McCrory,The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin
The Chilcotin’s wild horses are romantic and beautiful, but they are also controversial: they are seen by government policy as intruders competing for range land with native species and domestic cattle and, as a result, they have been subject to culls and are not officially protected.
In this compelling book, wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory draws upon two decades of research to make a case for considering these wonderful creatures, called qiyus in traditional T?ilhqot’in culture, a resilient part of the area’s balanced prey-predator ecosystem. McCrory also chronicles the Chilcotin wild horses’ genetic history and significance to the T?ilhqot’in, juxtaposing their efforts to protect qiyus against movements to cull them.
McCrory is a registered professional biologist specializing in the study of wild horses, bears, and western toads. He has published more than ninety scientific reports on wildlife and conservation, including two technical reports on wild horses in BC and Alberta and, with horse genetics expert Dr. Gus Cothran, two reports on the genetics of wild horses in the Chilcotin. McCrory lives on a small farm in Hills, BC, with his wife, conservationist and journalist Lorna Visser.
If you wish to honour Basil’s memory and support the award, please click here for more information.