Agenda Item # 3.2 REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS SUBJECT UBC'S OKANAGAN CAMPUS PLACE AND PROMISE FACULTY ACADEMIC PRESENTATION MEETING DATE September 17, 2013 Forwarded to the Board of Governors on the Recommendation of the President APPROVED FOR SUBMISSION Stephen J. Toope, President and Vice-Chancellor Presented By Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice - Chancellor and Principal, UBC Okanagan Report Date August 17, 2013 DECISION REQUESTED For Information EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In these presentations we highlight the work of three young researchers within the Barber School for Arts and Sciences. In the first presentation, Dr. Z. Walsh will discuss his recent work examining the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Zach Walsh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Psychological Science and Law, and a registered clinical psychologist. He completed his graduate work at the Chicago Medical School, where he worked with jail inmates to study violence and psychopathic personality and his postdoctoral work at Brown University where he studied the influences of personality and alcohol use on domestic violence. In the second presentation, Dr. C. Schreyer and Ms. R. Giffen will examine language revitalization. Christine Schreyer is an assistant professor of Anthropology, where she teaches courses in linguistic anthropology. Her research focuses on language revitalization in Canada and, more recently, in Papua New Guinea. She also researches speakers of created languages, such as Na’vi from the movie Avatar, and was also the creator of the Kryptonian language in the recent Hollywood movie Man of Steel. Ms. Giffen is currently pursuing her Master of Arts degree under Dr. Schreyer’s supervision. Her research is focused on documenting the language of Nabit, spoken in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and helping the community to create a writing system for the language. Template revised: 5/27/2013 10:07 AM
UBC Okanagan Place And Promise Faculty Academic Presentations Cannabis: The Aspirin of the 21 st Century? Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in interest in the therapeutic potential of cannabis-based medicines to treat diverse symptoms and conditions, including pain, spasticity, seizures, nausea, anxiety, insomnia, and other serious and prevalent maladies. The number of Canadians who have obtained legal access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP) has increased steadily since the inception of a federal program in 2001, and is expected to increase exponentially following changes to regulations in 2014. In addition to those within the federal program, estimates suggest that more than 500,000 Canadians access CTP outside of the authorized system. This talk will provide a thumbnail sketch of recent history, current practices, and future directions for this promising and controversial medicine. Discussion will focus on new findings from the ongoing Cannabis Access for Medical Purposes Study (CAMPS) which is the largest study to date of Canadian users of CTP, and the Medical Cannabis - Standards Engagement Evaluation and Dissemination (SEED) project, which is supporting community groups to establish best practice guidelines for medical cannabis dispensaries. From Alphabet to Dialect. Professor Schreyer will be presenting on her work helping the Kala language committee suggest symbols for the oral language of Kala which is spoken in the Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. In this presentation, she discusses why making an alphabet via group consensus can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can help Kala speakers retain their language. Following on Professor Schreyer’s presentation, Ms. Giffen will discuss another example and dimension of language renewal, outlining her efforts to examine two of the five dialects of Ghana’s Frafra language to determine if one of the dialects should be classified as a separate language and subsequently have a unique alphabet. Page 2
UBC Okanagan Place And Promise Faculty Academic Presentations Place and Promise This visioning exercise contemplates how UBCO will uniquely deliver on Place and COMMITMENT(s) Promise and contribute to a global, civil, sustainable society. Place and Promise The outcomes will be focused on the core Place and Promise commitments of a ACTION(s) transformative student experience, research excellence and community engagement Description & n/a Rationale COSTS n/a Capital & Lifecycle Operating n/a FINANCIAL Funding Sources, Impact on Debt Ratios SCHEDULE n/a Implementation Timeline n/a RISKS Financial, Operational & Reputational BENEFITS n/a Learning, Research, Financial, Sustainability & Reputational CONSULTATION n/a Relevant Units, Internal & External Constituencies UBCPT Date of Review: Signed Off by: COMMENTS n/a Complete for all reports that include a property component Page 3
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