Sophia Horwitz is excited to ask the Dal community some big questions.
鈥淲hat is learning that makes it so alive for you, and how do we integrate that into the larger idea of Dalhousie?鈥� she says.
Horwitz is one of the facilitators who will guide the Dal community in conversation at the , which takes place on Tuesday, November 13.
DALVision 2020 will be held in the McInnes Room of the Student Union Building during the day, with an evening session in Jenkins Hall at Truro鈥檚 Agricultural Campus. It will also be webcast so faculty, staff and students who can鈥檛 attend in person can be connected to the conversation.
The Senate Forum鈥檚 goal is to start a discussion about academic innovation at Dalhousie, with the goal of preparing Dal undergraduate education for the students of 2020 and beyond.
Read also: (Dal News, October 3)
Horwitz, a Dal alum herself (IDS and community design), is the founder and director of the Co*Lab, a social innovation and creative engagement collective. She and her colleague Greg Woolner 鈥� another Dal grad, in sociology and music 鈥� will be guiding faculty, staff and students in World Caf茅 and Open Space conversations throughout the day.
The other facilitator at DALVision 2020 is Sheila Brown, former president of Mount Saint Vincent University, who assists post-secondary institutions in discussions about educational issues, governance and best practices.
鈥淲e want a broad conversation, an inclusive conversation, where different perspectives are brought to the table,鈥� says Dr. Brown, who says that part of her role at the forum will be to contextualize the discussion within a large framework, one that takes into account similar conversations across the post-secondary sector.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e going to try and structure things in such a way that people don鈥檛 end up just focusing in on very narrow topics,鈥� she says. "We鈥檙e having a visionary conversation, a conversation that needs to break down boundaries, not be constrained by them.鈥�
Sparking conversations, sharing knowledge
The forum鈥檚 morning keynote speaker will be Nick Mount, nationally acclaimed scholar and Dal alum, with a lecture titled 鈥淭he Talk About Teachers Today: Why scholarship thinks we're ignorant, Margaret Wente hates us, and the world still needs us.鈥� The afternoon keynote will be by Shelagh Crooks, who has worked extensively in education policy in her role with Saint Mary鈥檚 University, speaking on 鈥淭eaching as Inquiry.鈥� DSU President Jamie Arron will also speak on the student experience, and there will be a panel discussion towards the end of the day.
See: Full schedule, DALVision 2020 Senate Forum: ,
But it鈥檚 between the keynotes that some of the most exciting talk will happen, as Hortwiz and Woolner lead attendees through World Caf茅 and Open Space conversations about the issues raised, in small groups of no more than four or five people.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l get to meet many people throughout the day and share those ideas,鈥� says Horowitz. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking for a few isolated stories, but the larger patterns and insights that are coming out of the whole group, and we鈥檒l have ways to cluster that information in the moment and feeding back to the group.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a rare opportunity to have people from students to faculty to admin all in the same room, from different departments,鈥� adds Woolner. 鈥淓veryone is going to be mixing and sitting with different people and we鈥檒l be harvesting ideas and themes from every discussion.鈥�
If you haven鈥檛 had the chance to sign up for the DALVision 2020 Senate Forum, do so soon.
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