Consientia 2015

T A K I N G P A T I E N T- R E P O R T E D C O N C E R N S S E R I O U S LY

T H E R E S E A R C H P U B L I C AT I O N O F T R I N I T Y W E S T E R N UN I V E R S I T Y

i n s i d e : CHEMISTRY LAB GETS AN UPGRADE // CREATING INCLUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS // T HE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INKLINGS

TRINITY WESTERN UN I V ERSITY ’S

2015 I S S U E

conscientia:

LATIN, NOUN; CONSCIENTIA f (GENITIVE: CONSCIENTIAE).

ETYMOLOGY: FROM SCIRE, TO KNOW. KNOWLEDGE SHARED WITH OTHERS, BEING IN THE KNOW, JOINT KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE WITHIN ONESELF, CONSCIOUSNESS (ESPECIALLY OF RIGHT AND WRONG)

Welcome to Trinity Western University’s research magazine, Conscientia, the medium through which knowledge generated by TWU researchers is shared broadly with the community. Research generates new insights about the natural world, quality of life, and culture.

At Trinity Western, we champion the particular value of research within the educational experience: developing curiosity, imagination, and creativity; advancing disciplinary knowledge; transforming culture; and serving people. This issue of Conscientia highlights the achievements of our faculty and students in a diverse range of disciplines. From Rick Sawatsky, Ph.D., whose research will help health care workers to provide better patient care (p.10), to the work of

P UR P OS E STAT E ME N T

To communicate to its audience of academic peers the contributions of Trinity Western University’s faculty to knowledge and understanding in the sciences, liberal arts, and professions.

Myron Penner, Ph.D., and Dennis Venema, Ph.D. (p.13)— who are working to bridge the gap between science and faith—TWU’s community is engaged in innovative research that both inspires and seeks to make a difference. It is our pleasure to share their research with you.

Eve Stringham, Ph.D. Vice Provost, Research & Graduate Studies Trinity Western University

V I C E P R O V O S T, R E S E A R C H & G R A D U A T E S T U D I E S

PU B LISH ER

ED ITOR

Trinity Western University Office of Research & Graduate Studies

Shara Lee

A RT D IR EC TOR

C ON TR IB UTORS

Katrina Grabowski Richard Bergen, Laura Jensen, Wendy Delamont Lees, Adam Ratcliffe, Derek Scott

C ON TAC T

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2 conscientia | 2015

Eve Stringham, Ph.D.

office of research & graduate studies Trinity Western University 7600 Glover Rd., Langley, British Columbia v2y 1y1 Ph: 604 888 7511 (ext. 3615) Fx: 604 513 2010 Email the Editor conscientia@twu.ca twu.ca/academics/research

the art of making

samc’s annual conference explores art and the environment

E

ach year in the music building at Trinity Western University, a different kind of music is made: the intellectual music of voices in conversation during The Verge, twu’s lively conference on the arts. According to conference organizer, Professor of Music and Dean of twu’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (samc) David Squires, Ph.D., The Verge is a scholarly, international conference showcasing “what the arts can shed light on.” Conference planners send out an annual call for papers to invite scholars from all over the globe to present papers on the exciting subject at hand. The Verge also launched an academic journal in 2010 entitled Verge: Journal of the Arts and Faith.

“the aim of the conference is to facilitate conversations in the conference hall and over lunches and dinners.”

Previous years have featured topics such as “the arts and knowing,” “ethics and the arts,” and “re/search and the artist.” For the 10th annual conference, speakers converged in dialogue about the topic of arts and the environment. Keynote speakers included Liz Ingram, mva, Distinguished University Professor from the University of Alberta department of Art & Design, and Tim Lilburn, Ph.D., Professor and Governor General’s Award winner from the University of Victoria.

While drawing international presenters, The Verge is relatively small and intimate in scale. This is largely because the aim of the conference is to facilitate conversations in the conference hall and over lunches and dinners: overall, to learn from one another as artists, researchers, and human beings. At two days in length, the

conference is relatively brief. “People have loved that it’s small and short—it has good momentum,” said samc’s Erica Grimm, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Art + Design.

“Many conferences are for the esoteric in-club, and exclude students from participation,” said Squires. “The Verge is different. samc professors often invite and/or require whole classes to attend certain presentations; first, to inspire them, and second, to give them a taste of something beyond the undergraduate world.”

Paired with this year’s conference was the Sea Change Colloquium, with presentations and conversations amongst artists, scholars, and scientists concerned with ocean change. It examined how and why the global oceans are changing, and how this change is connected to global climate change. “In my view, there is no more urgent issue than the global ocean change facing us today,” said Grimm.

Accompanying the Sea Change Colloquium was the President’s Gallery exhibition, Sea Change: Art on the Environment, which featured work by Grimm and other twu faculty including Doris Auxier, mfa; Edith Krause, mfa; and Helma Sawatzky, ma; as well as the University of British Columbia’s Barbara Zeigler, mfa; and Ingram.

Squires concluded, “The Verge is paper-oriented, which is often vital and thought-provoking, but for most of us who contribute, it is not our primary venue. We make art.”

The Verge has been supported by two sshrc Institutional Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2010 + 2012).

David Squires, Ph.D. Dean, School of the Arts, Media + Culture

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Chad Friesen, Ph.D. writes out a chemistry formula

a little goes a long way

How the expansion of one science lab has led to new discoveries 4 conscientia | 2015 | 2015

Friesen and T WU chemistry students discuss the progress of their current research

O

ver the last 35 years, the study of science at Trinity the equipment, while others managed the building and the shell,” Western University has grown from a small program, with Friesen said. But the challenge to generate the funds remained. a handful of students, to a thriving faculty that offers “Everything had to land at the same time,” he continued, “and we majors in seven different disciplines. had a short time frame. Then, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Seeing growth, faculty members began to envision an expansion decided to invest in this remarkable Christian university.” of the home of the science programs at twu, the Neufeld Science In 2010, things really started to roll. The shell of the two Centre. For a long time, it had been difficult to get research done, floors of the new wing to the Neufeld Science Centre was under particularly for the chemists and chemistry students across the construction. The next missing piece was the equipment.

Fraser Valley. Higher-level research required the facilities at Simon twu was awarded funds from the Canadian Foundation for Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.

Innovation, as well as from the Western Diversification Program, a Discussions of the expansion took place during the economic federal program that helps small businesses to make use of research downturn of 2009. Despite the Canadian government’s temptation facilities. Significant contributions also came from industrial to develop a policy of austerity during uncertain times, it decided partners Brooker, Thermal Fischer, and a sizeable estate donation to be pro-active and invest in post-secondary institutions where from the Dunnell family. scientific research was occurring. They did this in order to The new science wing includes an analytical chemistry lab with promote innovation and spur economic activity. Any university 3,800 square feet of research space. There is also a new major cell could apply, with the stipulation that they had to supply 50 per cent biology lab and a smaller tissue culture lab. There are several new matching funds. offices for nursing faculty, as well as an office for graduate student researchers from other institutions using twu’s facilities. “Several twu faculty have adjunct appointments at Simon Fraser University and have supervised sfu graduate students who conducted almost all of their research in twu’s labs,” noted Friesen.

Some of the cutting edge technology includes a maldi-tof ms, which can weigh polymers and can generate a fingerprint for pathogens. twu hosts the only one of these machines on the Canadian West Coast. Another key piece of equipment is a 400 The vision of expansion already existed in the mind of twu MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer with a fluorineprofessor Chad Friesen, Ph.D., and the time was ripe to make the observed probe, which enables scientists to perform a structural improvement. “I worked on the design of the labs, and on resourcing determination of molecules.

the new science wing includes an analytical chemistry lab with 3,800 square feet of research space. there is also a new major biology lab and a tissue culture lab.

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Friesen has particular interest and application for such equipment. He is one of a handful of fluorine chemists in Canada who has done internationally-recognized work. Recently, he and graduate student Benson Jelier ('07) who is researching at twu, submitted a patent through a Fortune 500 corporation for a new way to make Perfluorinated Alkoxides (pfa).

“There has never been a good way to make this compound that did not require high chemical expertise,” Friesen said. “However, I found a simple but elegant method to make them, which any chemist can use. We were so successful that my five-year-old can make it, and it uses benign materials rather than pollutants.”

Furthermore, Friesen spent last year on sabbatical in Montpellier, France, with fellow fluoro-polymer expert Bruno Ameduri, where they worked at a national research lab, published an article in Polymer Chemistry, and developed a new surfactant that has a more effective and more environmentally-friendly application than the typically used pfoa.

The equipment in the new twu labs has a great deal of applicability for other faculty researchers, including biologist Ka Yin Leung, Ph.D., geneticists Dennis Venema, Ph.D., and Eve Stringham, Ph.D., and even for tree-ring geologist David Jordan, ma.

And, of course, students will benefit immensely. “Now, twu students will have hands-on

the equipment in the new twu labs has a great deal of applicability for other faculty researchers. training with state-of-the-art machines,” said Friesen. “At larger institutions, undergraduate students in particular rarely get to have first-hand experience with this kind of expensive equipment. twu students who are researching in our labs and wish to get into dentistry, medical school, or grad school will have a great leg up.” Friesen also observed that these laboratories could enable expansion for offering more MSc programs at twu.

Friesen was recently awarded a $100,000 Discovery Grant from the federal government's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (nserc) to build on his previous work on perfluorinated alkoxides (pfas), or fluorinated salts. Fellow Professor Eve Stringham, Ph.D., who serves as the University’s Vice Provost, Research and Graduate Studies, received a five-year, $150,000 grant from nserc for her research—aimed at determining how the cytoskeleton, an intracellular network that supports cell structure and function, orchestrates a variety of cellular shape changes and movements.

MANY TWU SCIENCE GRADUATES HAVE GONE ON TO PURSUE HIGHER DEGREES INCLUDING: william sikkema ('14) ,

who used the maldi -tof ms , and is now enrolled in a doctoral program at Rice University. fraser parlane ('15) and

are pursuing masters programs in chemistry at the University of British Columbia. Parlane worked with Friesen in Montpellier, France for 12 weeks. chris voth ('15)

caitlyn grypma de jong ('11)

is pursuing doctoral studies at ubc. completed an internship at Harvard University in partial fulfillment of requirements for his Ph.D. benson jelier ('07)

Over a dozen students who have used the new facilities have entered into medicine and dentistry schools, and several others have gone to graduate schools around the globe.

Analyzing samples in the new 400 MHz NMR.

Chad Friesen, Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry

6 conscientia | 2015

That’s precisely why the Larsons gifted the artifact to Trinity Western University. “When people study Hebrew in an academic environment, there is a much deeper appreciation and excitement,” Kenneth said. “The ancient scribes copied the Torah with such care to maintain its accuracy—and to make sure that God’s word was not only honoured and preserved, but used.”

A trip to the Holy Land with their family was the impetus that inspired the Larsons to consider how they might mark their 50th wedding anniversary in a significant, meaningful way. “We were looking for something unique to gift in honour of that milestone,” Barbara said. “We thought this would be a wonderful way to do that.”

originating from 16th century morocco, the scroll contains the complete torah—the first five books of the bible—and consists of 65 panels of carefully prepared and refined calfskin.

A gift to the University, this 450 -year-old scroll contains the complete Torah—the first five books of the Bible.

people of the book

twu receives late 16th century Torah scroll

I

n January of 2015, Trinity Western University received a 450-year-old Torah scroll. The ancient Hebrew manuscript was presented to the University courtesy of donors Kenneth and Barbara Larson.

“For twu’s Religious Studies department, receiving this gift is the same as the biology department receiving an expensive electron microscope,” said Religious Studies Chair Kent Clarke, Ph.D. “It gives our students access to the real thing, rather than exposure to images alone.”

Added Kenneth, “Instead of giving something to ourselves, we decided to give something to our Lord.”

Originating from 16th century Morocco, the scroll contains the complete Torah—the first five books of the Bible—and consists of 65 panels of carefully prepared and refined calfskin.

“Our vision or dream is that the Torah will be used, not just sit on a shelf,” Barbara said. “When people, whether scholars or not, see a Torah, there is an awe there, a love of God’s word.” Part of the Larsons’ donation includes the installment of a special Torah Room, designed by their son Christopher, which will allow for the Torah to be on display in twu’s Alloway Library.

The generous donation isn’t the Larsons’ first; they also gifted scrolls to Trinity International University and four other institutions in North America in 2014 and plan to donate several more in 2015. “The scrolls are significant in that they give us a glimpse of the Jewish people,” said Kenneth. “As Christians, we’re grafted in. So preserving these ancient manuscripts ensures we protect and honour God’s word.”

Clarke agrees. “We’re people of the Book,” he said, “just as the Jews were, and are.”

Kent Clarke, Ph.D. Chair, T WU's Religious Studies Department

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creating inclusive learning communities

twu launches Master of Arts in Educational Studies, Special Education

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rinity Western University’s School of Education has launched a new graduate degree, the first of its kind: a Master of Arts in Educational Studies, Special Education (maes-sped). It is a two-year, 35-credit program designed to develop the understanding and competence of educators in the k-12 system in dealing with exceptional and special needs students. This new program is aimed especially at teachers already in the school system who wish to increase their qualifications. It began with a cohort of over a dozen students in August 2014, and is expected to grow to an enrolment of 25 students per year by 2016.

Developed by long-time twu Professor of Education Ken Pudlas, Ed.D.—in collaboration with Elsie Froment, Ph.D., from twu's Office of Research—the new Master’s program is based on a cohort model, in which students form a cooperative learning community. By sharing challenges and solutions, cohort members will enhance their own abilities to meet students’ diverse needs. “Our hope is that the program will bring together the confluence of head, heart, and hands into inclusive praxis,” said Pudlas.

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Although many of the courses offered in the program focus on caring for students’ diverse emotional, behavioural and physical needs, there are also courses that explore their spiritual needs. These include a review of the literature ascertaining the differences that a Christian world view might make in perceptions and education of persons with disabilities or other unique learning challenges.

“There have always been kids with special needs; they have always been in the school system,” observed Pudlas. “During the 1950s and 1960s, these children were often segregated from their peers. However, in 1975, the United States Congress passed laws stating all children were entitled to a good education.

That’s when this idea entered into the North American mainstream.” Pudlas notes that the dissemination of this idea was not upheld by teacher training programs that concomitantly prepare teachers to serve special needs children.

Eventually, teachers began to protest about classroom composition, threatening their professional efficacy. Thus, universities began to add special-needs training into their teacher training programs.

trinity western university was one of the first universities in canada to make a special education course mandatory.

Trinity Western University was one of the first universities in Canada to make a special education course mandatory. In 1990, the School of Education did so, and later added a second optional course, as well as a special education minor.

Much of the fascinating story behind the formation of this program has to do with the past experiences Pudlas has had in working with children with diverse needs. “My 2005 full professor inaugural lecture was entitled, ‘The Life and Times of Ken Pudlas.’ In it, I describe how a field trip with ‘regular kids’ and deaf children to the Pacific Coast helped me recognize that children are all social beings, and will all learn from one another.”

Another source of inspiration for the program was a statistic: the government’s own data stated that almost 25 per cent of students with special needs thought they were not accepted by their peers, whereas nine per cent of non-special-needs children reported that same perception.

“Much of my teaching life has been with kids that have a hearing impairment, and I want to see them included. Two basic elements of my philosophy are the critical confluence of head plus heart plus hands, as well as full inclusion.

Seeing as inclusion is a biblical principle, should it not be nurtured by the premier Christian university in Canada? And, if inclusion is a viable philosophy, community is the goal. The maes-sped is another way that twu can make a difference to this end.”

THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM PROPOSAL RECORDS 12 SUCCINCT AND NOBLY FORMULATED OBJECTIVES FOR MAESSPED, THAT STUDENTS WILL FURTHER DEVELOP: 1.

Familiarity with current trends and issues regarding diversity in education

2.

Knowledge of diverse cognitive needs

3.

Knowledge of diverse sensory and physical abilities

4.

Knowledge of diverse emotional and behavioural needs

5.

Ability to assess students with diverse learning needs

6.

Ability to apply the assessment data to the development of individual educational plans

7.

Knowledge of counselling issues for students with diverse needs

8.

Educational strategies for students with diverse learning needs

9.

New professional skills and resulting confidence to provide leadership in educating diverse learners

10.

Experience in implementing educational strategies through field work

11.

Understanding of research design and evaluation

12.

Thoughtful biblically informed perspectives on diversity theory and practice

Ken Pudlas, Ed.D.

Director of MAES-SPED Professor, School of Education

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Rick Sawatzky, Ph.D., and his team in the Palliative Care unit of the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre

left to right : james voth (intogrey founder and director ), amanjit pasricha (palliative social worker ), rick sawatzky, steve mitchinson (medical

director thpcu), christie walmsley (patient care coordinator ), katarina gigovic (registered nurse ), charlene neufeld (spiritual health practitioner )

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moving towards a model of patient-centred care twu professor’s research aims to better the patient experience

“H

ow do we ensure that the care we provide is both informed by and makes a difference to what really matters to people?” This is one of the poignant opening questions that Rick Sawatzky, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Patient-Reported Outcomes, and Associate Professor of Nursing at Trinity Western University, posed to his audience on March 11, 2014, during his inaugural lecture. The Canada Research Chair Program is a federal granting program motivated by the desire to support and retain some of the world’s leading scholars in their respective fields. Sawatzky has been described as a “consummate nurse-scholar” by School of Nursing Dean Sonja Grypma, Ph.D. In his research, Sawatzky notes the increasing concern in health care scholarship with taking patient-reported concerns seriously, particularly as it relates to an overall measurement of quality of life. His work on Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (proms) aims to help health care workers understand the multidimensional facets of human experience including symptoms, functional status, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being so that they can move closer towards a model of patient-centred care.

In the work Sawatsky conducts, patients are asked a series of questions on a survey, providing written assessments not mediated by the interpretation of a physician. The results from these surveys are then analyzed to help health care professionals make better point-of-care treatment decisions, examine the effectiveness of treatments and the impact of healthcare interventions, and to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of health care services and programs. All of this helps patients better communicate with their health care providers.

Some of the major difficulties and opportunities that Sawatzky will address in his program of research are about the diversity of patients (not all will interpret questions in the same way), response shift (how people may change their frame of reference over time), patient burden (with long lists of questions), and utilization (selection of appropriate instruments for routine integration).

Patient diversity in the interpretation of questions, and the response shift of a single patient, influenced by personality, cultural contexts, health events, and life circumstances, can threaten the comparability of scores. Therefore, Sawatzky’s

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research is devising methods to account for the ways in which these variables can be factored into the statistical analyses.

Sawatzky is also collaborating with other professionals, determining ways to reduce patient burden for survey-taking: by accommodating appropriate reading difficulty, use of short forms

sawatzky’s appointment as twu’s fourth canada research chair is an excellent enhancement to the research life of the university. of surveys, and importantly, computerized adaptive tests (cats) that can factor in the answer to a previous question in order to shape future questions (if a patient cannot perform a basic motor activity, questions about moderate and vigorous motor activities will be omitted). The utilization of handheld electronic devices is being progressively implemented and adapted.

Along with being a Canada Research Chair representing twu, Sawatzky is also a research scientist at the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. He participates in ongoing national and international partnerships with other researchers at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, McGill University, the University of Manitoba, the University of Gothenburg, and the University of Manchester. Important funding sources of

Sawatsky’s research include the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and Technology Evaluation for the Elderly Network. Of course, implementing and administrating the tools developed and evaluated by Sawatzky and colleagues heavily involves bc Health Authorities, and healthcare professionals at every level.

In addition to bringing funding and prestige to the nursing department, Sawatzky brings many research opportunities to numerous students. Undergraduate and graduate student trainees from the School of Nursing are already being employed and mentored in nursing scholarship during summer internships and the academic school year. Sawatzky’s research team includes postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate trainees. His appointment as twu’s fourth Canada Research Chair is an excellent enhancement to the research life of the University.

As further proof of the clinical value of his research, Sawatzky, and collaborators at the Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences in Vancouver, were recently awarded a three-year operating grant of $309,765 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (cihr) to develop statistical methods for patientreported outcomes measures.

Rick Sawatzky, Ph.D. Canada Research Chair in Patient-Reported Outcomes Associate Professor of Nursing

Sawatzky consults with the medical professionals who will be putting his research into practice

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Myron A. Penner, Ph.D., and Dennis Venema, Ph.D.

bridging beliefs

twu professors named to prestigious Oxford seminar

T

wo Trinity Western University professors have been named to the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford’s (scio) Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and Humanities seminars. Dennis Venema, Ph.D., and Myron A. Penner, Ph.D., are among 25 scholars from around the world who will take part.

The project, which aims to develop interdisciplinary skills and understanding central to science and religion, will take place at Wycliffe Hall, one of six permanent private halls at the University of Oxford. Theologians, historians, philosophers, and social and natural scientists will explore established and emerging science and religion issues.

“Many Christians from conservative backgrounds are afraid of science—more specifically, of coming to a point where their long-held beliefs are challenged,” said Penner, an Associate

as part of his research, penner will be exploring the studies that show that people are more open to new ideas when they try and take another person’s perspective.

Professor of Philosophy who was recently named Dean of twu’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. “My particular focus within the Bridging Two Cultures project is focused on helping overcome religion-based fear of scientific method in general, and evolution in particular.”

As part of his research, Penner will be exploring the studies that show that people are more open to new ideas when they try and take another person’s perspective.

“We all have natural biases towards one way of thinking or another, and when we encounter people with different views than us, it is easy to put them in boxes and not be forced to engage with the content of what they are thinking,” said Penner.

“However, if a person is able to try and—to the degree they can— assume the other person’s perspective, they may not change their mind, but what tends to result is less hostility towards the other person. This has a lot of relevance to science-religion issues.”

Venema, a Professor of Biology who has served at twu for the past 10 years, is no stranger to the tension between faith and science. A Senior Fellow with the BioLogos Foundation, he had to reconcile his own beliefs as a Christian with his chosen field. “There aren’t very many Christian geneticists engaging directly with evangelicals,” Venema said. “But if we truly believe all truth belongs to God, then we don’t have to be afraid of anything scientific.”

“My scio project is to write a short book to help faculty in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities who are not biologists understand evolution better for themselves,” said Venema of his work. He hopes that the book will give an overview of things like the history of the interaction between evangelicals and evolution, the evidence for evolution, and advice on how to handle evolution in the cccu context.

Not only does the grant provide an opportunity for Penner and Venema to be part of this group of scholars, but it also provides funding for them to develop a Science & Religion Club on campus to help students and other faculty members engage in scholarly dialogue.

The scio supports scholarship from Christian universities and colleges around the world. The 25 scholars were chosen from among over 70 applicants. twu is the only university that received grants for two of its professors. “That speaks to the quality of Trinity Western,” Venema said, “that two professors from this institution would be chosen to participate.”

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a timely new institute at trinity western

Studying art, culture, and faith through the lens of the Inklings

Whatever is not eternal is eternally out of date – C. S. Lewis

W

ho are the Inklings?

They were a group of Oxford scholars, who gathered together in university rooms and British pubs during the earlier part of the 20th century, meeting as friends to discuss literature and life. Two of these scholar-friends, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, have become household names for their great imaginative stories; Lewis’ writings on Christian apologetics have also been enshrined as classics. Their friends, Charles Williams and Owen Barfield, as well as a few others, were also important contributors to this intellectual group. The Inklings also acknowledged literary mentors: earlier writers George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton.

The Inklings Institute of Canada (iic) is an interdisciplinary research effort that formalizes, strengthens, and advances twu’s contribution to international research on the works of the Oxford Inklings group, and their friends and mentors. The Institute is led

by Trinity Western University English Professors Stephen Dunning,

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Ph.D., and Monika Hilder, Ph.D., who bring more than 40 years of research to these authors. The iic is a great resource for the many twu students who are already interested in Tolkien and Lewis and

to those who come to the inklings from the movies, we offer a resource for them to deepen their understanding. we do, still, want to watch the movies—but we also want to reflect on them critically. who want to deepen their knowledge of them. Still in its nascent stage, the iic nevertheless boasts a membership of internationallyfamed scholars and authors.

What do you see as the mandate of the Inklings Institute? dunning: First, our intention in creating this institute is to follow in the footsteps of the Inklings, and do the kinds of things that they would do. This means that we want to facilitate a space at twu where engaging and intelligent conversations about the things that the Inklings thought were important—art, culture, and faith—is generated and encouraged. Second, we intend to study them, and this, through conferences, symposia, forums, discussion groups, and so on.

THE INKLINGS INSTITUTE OF CANADA MANDATE:

The Inklings Institute of Canada encourages the advancement of Inklings scholarship through literary criticism and related collaborative research across the disciplines, aiming to investigate how these authors critiqued their own cultures and

Why are the Inklings important to Canadian society today?

therefore help us to respond to our own

hilder: The Inklings give people hope: hope in the ultimate redemption of things, in the efficacy of free will. Stories like The Lord of the Rings still show that the meek shall inherit the earth. Beyond this, the Inklings’ breadth and depth of thought is astounding, and they present a profoundly articulate corrective, or counterculture, to a reductive philosophical materialism. The Inklings attempt nothing short of a recovery of what is human, and they do this in intellectual and imaginative ways, always integrating their Christian faith.

publication of research and scholarship

dunning: Unlike many of their contemporaries, all of the Inklings had a high view of language. Because of their sensitivity and regard for language, they had a strong historical consciousness, and they understood ideological shifts. Every time period has its insights and its blindness, and the Inklings reveal our chronological snobbery and myopia.

public discourse—and does so within

The Inklings are current again because of the popularity of the films based on Lewis’ and Tolkien’s novels, as well as high-fantasy derivatives. How does the Inklings Institute situate itself in relation to this recent cultural trend? dunning: The movies are a double-edged sword; they introduce new people to Tolkien and Lewis, but they are not, strictly speaking, Tolkien’s and Lewis’s films. These movies miss or distort many of the themes and messages that Lewis and Tolkien present in their books. The danger is instead of being a corrective to culture, as Lewis and Tolkien wished their books to be, these movies feed into some of the worst aspects of culture. The way I see the iic’s role in relation to this cultural trend is that we point to a corrective. To those who come to the Inklings from the movies, we offer a resource for them to deepen their understanding. We do, still, want to watch the movies—but we also want to reflect on them critically.

historical/cultural context; promotes the in peer-reviewed journals, books, and other suitable venues appropriate to the various disciplines; fosters undergraduate and graduate student involvement in such research and scholarship; seeks funding for Inklings research; contributes to the current return of religious language to the campus, with associated members nationally and internationally, and with the general public. Learn more at twu.ca/iic

Stephen Dunning, Ph.D. Co-director, Inklings Institute of Canada

Monika Hilder, Ph.D. Co-director, Inklings Institute of Canada

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selected publications by twu faculty and students BOOKS

ALLYSON JULE, Ph.D. (TWU Professor of Education) Shifting Visions: Gender and Discourses, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholarly Press, 2015 MICHAEL WILKINSON, Ph.D. (TWU Professor of Sociology) and SAM REIMER, Ph.D. A Culture of Faith: Evangelical Congregations in Canada. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015, JAMES M. SCOTT, Ph.D. (TWU Professor of Religious Studies) BACCHIVS IVDAEVS: A Denarius Commemorating Pompey's Victory over Judea, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015

ARTICLES

FLAVIAN BEAUD (Ph.D. cand.); GWENN. E. FLOWERS, Ph.D.; and SAM PIMENTEL, Ph.D. (TWU Assistant Professor of Mathematics) Seasonal-scale abrasion and quarrying patterns from a two-dimensional ice-flow model coupled to distributed and channelized subglacial drainage. Geomorphology, 2014 MATTHEW ETHERINGTON, Ph.D. (TWU Associate Professor of Education) Aboriginal Perspectives and Issues in Teacher Education, Journal of American Indian Education, The University of Minnesota Press, Spring 2015 CHADRON M. FRIESEN, Ph.D. (TWU Professor of Chemistry); JON L. HOWELL, Ph.D.; BENSON J. JELIER ('07, Ph.D. cand.); DANIEL B. LEZNOFF, Ph.D.; and CRAIG D. MONTGOMERY, Ph.D. (TWU Professor of Chemistry) A Convenient Route to Tetraalkylammonium Perfluoroalkoxides from Hydrofluoroethers, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 2015 DERRICK W. KLAASSEN, Ph.D. (TWU Assistant Professor of Counselling Psychology); RICHARD A. YOUNG, Ph.D.; and SUSAN YOUNG, Ph.D. The Spiritual Lives of Bereaved Parents, Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2015 WILLIAM K.A. SIKKEMA ('14); AREND STRIKWERDA ('11); MANJU SHARMA; KIRAN ASSI; MICHAEL E. COX, Ph.D.; and JULIA MILLS, Ph.D. (TWU Associate Professor of Biology) Regulation of Mitotic Cytoskeleton Dynamics and Cytokinesis by Integrin-Linked Kinase in Retinoblastoma Cells. PLoS One. 2014

ART SHOW

DORIS AUXIER, MFA, TWU Associate Professor of Art and Design EDITH KRAUSE, MFA, TWU Instructor of Art and Design Lament of the Butterflies, Campbell River Art Gallery, 2014

O ff i c e o f Re s e a r ch & G r a d u a t e S tu d i e s

16 conscientia | 2015

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