Tidings Summer 2025

TIDINGS

AHEAD BY A CENTURY King’s and Dalhousie celebrate 100 years of partnership with two new academic Chairs

Editor Karen Eull

Contributors

Paul Adams, Elissa Barnard, Kelly Clark, Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, Jeremy Freed, Serra Hamilton, Beth Hitchcock, MFA’15, Erin Inglis, BA(Hons)’25, Kaija Jussinoja, BJ(Hons)’22, Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25, Andrea MacDonald, BJ(Hons)’91, Elena Neufeld, BJ(Hons)’25, Katherine O’Brien, BJ’87, Nicola Pulling, Kate Rae, Marilyn Smulders

Design Co. & Co. www.coandco.ca

Postal Address

Tidings

c/o Advancement Office

University of King’s College 6350 Coburg Road

Halifax NS B3H 2A1

Tidings is produced on behalf of the University of King’s College Alumni Association. The views expressed in Tidings are expressly those of the individual contributors or sources. We welcome and encourage feedback on each issue.

Cover photo by Kelly Clark, Kelly Clark Fotography

Welcoming: The Future King’s

Learn about our campaign to pave the way to a more inclusive and diverse King’s.

& Travel

Travellers from the King’s community share stories that inspired journeys and destinations that sparked ideas for writing.

Public Trust in Journalism in Dark Times

Four leaders in Canadian journalism joined the King’s community at a roundtable to discuss the future of journalism and how to regain public trust in a world of misinformation and disinformation.

Advancing Medical Humanities

King’s and Dalhousie cap off 100 years of collaboration with a new Chair in medical humanities.

Ocean Views

Meet three alumni working to protect our oceans through reporting, research and conservation leadership.

Q&A with Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield

Meet the inaugural Centennial Carnegie Chair in the History of Slavery in Canada.

Learning Through Experience

Leigh Gillis on how experiential learning helps students transition into the workforce and realize the many skills they have to offer.

These entrepreneurs turned to fellow alumni to help realize their dream projects, proving it always helps to have a King’s grad in your corner.

WILLIAM LAHEY

AS I READ THROUGH THE PAGES of this issue of Tidings, I’m struck by the fact that these stories illustrate how all our efforts are coalescing—it truly is an unbelievably exciting time for King’s.

We are in a year of change in our leadership and governance. For the past seven years we have enjoyed exceptional guidance and leadership from outgoing Board of Governors Chair Doug Ruck, BA’72, KC, who joins me in welcoming Stephanie McGrath, BJ(Hons)’99, to this role. On July 1, Associate Professor of Humanities Dr. Sarah Clift finished her consequential term as Vice President supporting many positive academic initiatives to be succeeded by Associate Professor of Journalism Tim Currie, BJ’92. I’d also like to offer a warm welcome to Jenn Thornhill Verma, BJ(Hons)’02, MFA’19, our next Alumni Association President.

The past year has been one in which King’s alumni have been taking a growing role in supporting our current students and recent graduates by participating in King’s experiential learning programs (see page 48), and the Alumni Association’s King’s in Conversation and Ask an Alum programs (see page 8)—it’s wonderful to watch these connections flourish. It is fun and encouraging to celebrate the growing role of alumni in opening the eyes of the prospective students they know to the transformative experience awaiting them at King’s.

I’ve also had the pleasure over the past two years of working with Dalhousie President Dr. Kim Brooks, including to commemorate 100 years of association between King’s and Dalhousie with the creation of two new academic chairs (see pages 34 and 40). We look forward to how holding these Chairs will enrich research and teaching, strengthening both institutions and the bonds between them.

A true highlight of my time at King’s was to be joined in November by so many from the King’s and Halifax communities as we launched The Future King’s campaign, our $15-million dollar fundraising campaign that builds on so many of the initiatives and new relationships of recent years and the Strategic Academic Plan developed by King’s faculty. I look forward to continuing this work with the King’s community to ensure the remaining goals of the campaign are achieved in the coming months. You can read more about those goals on page 29. This campaign is for current and future students and also all of us, because the overarching goal of making a King’s education accessible to all who want it can make the world better for everyone.

My tenure has been defined by the abundant opportunities I have had to get to know King’s faculty, staff, students and alumni—they are the bedrock of my belief in the importance of King’s and my motivation for the exciting work ahead of us. As we approach the new academic year, there are no signs of slowing down! In times that seem “out of joint” in many directions, the mission of King’s in the humanities, journalism, creative writing and in living and learning

in community, becomes even more crucial to the formation of the thinking, engaged citizens the world needs. I hope you’ll be as uplifted as I am by the accomplishments of the King’s community recorded in this issue of Tidings

The convergence of leadership and faculty renewal, strengthened partnerships and expanded relationships, fundraising momentum and increased alumni engagement provides a solid foundation for what’s ahead. We are well-positioned in challenging times to persevere in our mission and to expand our impact.

It’s an honour to be a part of this mission to help support and celebrate this bright and motivated community of readers, writers, scholars, creators and thinkers—and of the kind, generous and purposeful human beings that I have come to know are what makes King’s special.

Photo by Paul Adams

STEPHANIE MCGRATH

AND THAT’S A WRAP on my term as Alumni Association President. It’s been a privilege to connect with the King’s community across the globe and work alongside the dedicated people who make up the Alumni Association Executive.

Jenn Thornhill Verma, BJ(Hons)’02, MFA’19, is next in line for the role. A Pulitzer Ocean Reporting Fellow, Jenn earned both a Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at King’s. After working with her on the alumni executive, I can also confirm she’s collaborative, insightful and truly dedicated to both King’s and deepening the connection between the university and its wider community. Read more about Jenn on page 44.

When I began my work as President, my goal was to focus on more doing than talking. Together with my colleagues, we were able to put words to action by staging events and opportunities for alumni to meet with one another and provide support and encouragement to students as they prepared to enter the world and leave the Quad. There is more to do, and I know Jenn is the person who can help make it happen as I move into a new role as Chair of the Board of Governors.

If you’re reading this and feel inspired to play a more active role within the alumni, you can. Sign up to receive the alumni newsletter, follow King’s on social media to stay in the loop and frequent the official King’s website: ukings.ca/alumni. I promise there is a myriad of ways you can participate, support and provide new ideas.

Most importantly, please remember you can always come home to King’s.

Sincerely,

Stephanie McGrath, BJ(Hons)’99

Stephanie McGrath, BJ(Hons)’99

Jenn Thornhill Verma, BJ(Hons)’02, MFA’19. Photo by Chris LeDrew

TALES FROM THE QUAD

Catch up on news, events and accomplishments in the King’s community

by E mma Kuzmy K, m Fa’25

Wren Jarek-Simard as Dionysus and Tara Coulter as Euripides along with their castmates from the King’s Theatrical Society in 2024’s Classics in the Quad performance of Aristophanes’ The Frogs

PHOTO:

Photo by Serra Hamilton

PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES FEATURED LECTURES, FILM, ART AND DANCE TO EXPLORE REPRESENTATIONS OF DISABILITY

“TOGETHER WE ARE NOT JUST imagining a more inclusive world. We are building it,” said Accessibility Officer Michelle Mahoney at the art showcase that wrapped up the Public Lecture Series: Representations of Disability in Historical, Scientific and Artistic Perspectives.

Offered jointly by the Contemporary Studies, History of Science and Technology and Early Modern Studies programs in collaboration with King’s Office of Accessibility and organized by Director of Contemporary Studies Dr. Dorota Glowacka, the series brought in accomplished scholars and artists to examine how ideas of “disability” and “normality” take shape in different cultures and contexts. Presenters included author and poet Kenny Fries, Professors Dr. Elizabeth Bearden, Dr. Nicole Ineese-Nash and Dr. Mara Mills, and film

ALUM GABRIEL O’BRIEN WELCOMED BACK TO KING’S AS DIRECTOR OF MUSIC

Gabriel O’Brien, BMus’23, has long been involved in music at King’s. As a child, he sang weekly Evensong services in the King’s Chapel. As a teen, he served as the Sunday morning organist in the chapel. During his undergraduate, he served as Organ Scholar and later Assistant Director of the King’s Chorus. Now, after serving as Director of Music at two churches in England, he is returning to the university.

“He brings back to King’s many gifts, in-

cluding a robust vision for music not only in the chapel, but in the university more broadly and in the wider Halifax community,” says the Reverend Dr. Ranall Ingalls. As Director of Music, O’Brien directs the King’s College Chapel Choir and the King’s Chorus and oversees other musical activities on campus. “I’m most looking forward to giving King’s students those same opportunities that I had: to learn and grow as a musician and leader in a tight-knit community,” says O’Brien.

director Josh Dunn, ’05.

The final event, an Art Showcase and Celebration with Presentations by Artists from L’Arche Communities, generously sponsored by Air Canada, featured storytelling, visual art and dance by artists Gordon Mills (The Angel’s Loft, L’Arche Cape Breton) and Kelly Farrell, Megan Maginley and Lisa Leuschner (Hearts & Hands, L’Arche Antigonish).

Students, faculty and community members filled the KTS Lecture Hall for this joyful celebration of creativity. It was a beautiful conclusion to the lecture series that fostered meaningful conversations and challenged participants to think beyond ableist understandings about bodies and minds.

Visit ukings.ca/news/representations-ofdisability-a-public-lecture-series to watch recorded lectures from the series.

BADMINTON TEAM SET THEIR SIGHTS ON EXCELLENCE—AND DELIVERED

THE UKC BLUE DEVILS badminton team built on their legacy of success, securing their seventh consecutive ACAA title and cementing their reputation as a powerhouse in the conference. This season saw five players qualify for the CCAA National Championships, hosted by The King’s University in Edmonton, Alta., and all five players returned home with a medal. Ritu Shah claimed gold in women’s singles, while Akshaya Jayakeerthi earned bronze in the same category. In doubles, Anna Gillies, BSc(Hons)’25, and Rachel Gillies secured silver in women’s play, while Thomas Ashton added another silver in men’s singles, rounding out another incredible season. Shah has also been named to Team Canada for the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games, this year hosted in Germany.

Accessibility Officer Michelle Mahoney at the Art Showcase and Celebration with Presentations by Artists from L’Arche Communities.

Photo by Paul Adams

Thomas Ashton competing at CCAA Nationals. Photo from CCAA SmugMug

JOURNALISM STUDENT’S PROFILE OF HER GRANDFATHER RECOGNIZED AT THE LARGEST DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS PROGRAM IN CANADA

“I WAS MOST EXCITED to tell my grandad about the silver medal,” says journalism student Ainslie Nicholl-Penman, whose first-person piece was awarded a silver medal in the Media category at the 2024 Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPA). Her piece, “For farmer Doug Nicholl, my Grandad, it’s the end of an era,” published in The Signal, was also named to the COPA

their lives— including myself—get involved through Infringement,” says KTS Secretary Sarah Ryan. Originally called the Fringe Festival, the KTS cheekily renamed the event in 2012 after receiving a letter from the Atlantic Fringe Festival for copyright violation.

STUDENT EDUCATORS WORK TOGETHER TO HELP PREVENT SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE

THROUGHOUT THE ACADEMIC year, Student Educators Bee Mallory and Eva Eusanio, BA’25, worked on initiatives geared to increase awareness of King’s Sexualized Violence Awareness, Prevention and Response Policy. “I began this role in my third year at King’s because I wanted to get more involved on campus,” says Eusanio, who has been in the role since 2023 and won the King’s Award for leadership and contribution to campus life at the 2025 Dalhousie IMPACT Awards. “The role involves a lot of transforming

complex, awkward topics and social experiences into accessible information and it has been super fulfilling to see how my fellow students engage with it in different ways.”

Together, Mallory and Eusanio created content and hosted events around consent, bystander intervention, healthy relationships and sexual health. “They are passionate and bright students who bring a lot of creativity to these roles,” said King’s former Sexual Health and Safety Officer Jordan Roberts, who supported their work.

top 10 list. “I knew the minute I typed out the last word on my story that my grandad would be proud, and that’s all that really mattered to me at that moment.”

King’s alumni, staff, faculty and students were recognized as finalists in several categories at the 2024 Canadian Online Publishing Awards, and Ainslie’s medal adds to a tally of one gold and two silvers.

THIRD ANNUAL QUEERING THE QUAD EVENT BROUGHT 2SLGBTQIA+ SUPPORTS AND FESTIVITIES TO CAMPUS

STARTED IN 2022 by Assistant Dean of Residence Life Ashley Nixon, Queering the Quad is a 2SLGBTQIA+ resource fair and celebration where students can engage with support and resources on campus and in the Halifax community. This year’s resource tables included Venus Envy, the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, King’s Peer Support and more. Chartwells came with treats, and Residence Life provided Pride items for students to decorate their rooms, speakers to play music by 2SLGBTQIA+ artists during the event, and lawn games for all. “It has been heart-warming to see the positive response from our campus community, so much so that it’s become a new tradition,” says Nixon. “My hope is that it continues to grow and help connect our queer and gender-diverse students to community both on campus and within the city!”

Programming & Community Engagement Coordinator Ash Jansen at Queering the Quad.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Preet Dhaliwal, Tomas Schwichtenburg and Siya Ajay in One More Summer Day, written by Sofia Moon and directed by Moon and Amelia Penny-Crocker at the Infringement Festival. Produced by the King’s Theatrical Society (KTS), the festival features performances written, created and produced by students. “So many people who have never done anything in drama before in

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Ainslie Nicholl-Penman with her grandfather, Doug Nicholl, and her father, Calvin Nicholl, on Marakai Farm in Kaiapoi, New Zealand. Photo by Connor Nicholl-Penman

LECTURE ON TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION TO BE ADDED TO FOUNDATION YEAR PROGRAM (FYP)

The creation of a FYP lecture on the Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada “marks an important milestone, not just in the program’s ongoing efforts to diversify its curriculum but in the university’s broader commitment to the long work of reconciliation,” says Assistant Professor in the Foundation Year Program, Dr. Tim Clarke. “As a program that studies the development of the idea of ‘the West’ through texts, we have an obligation to ourselves and our students to reckon with even the most difficult implications of that idea and this lecture will give us an opportunity to conduct the kind of vigorous, critically minded inquiry that FYP does best.” The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Naiomi Metallic, Associate Professor of Law, the Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy and the Aboriginal Law Certificate Coordinator at Dalhousie.

YUAN WANG AWARDED PETER MANSBRIDGE INVESTIGATIVE WRITING AWARD

Yuan Wang’s, MJ’25, latest investigation dives deep into the complicated and tense world of elver (baby eel) fishing in Nova Scotia. She explores evolving regulations, fights over quotas and how illegal harvesting jeopardizes sustainability and complicates the lives of those who rely on the industry. This work has earned her this year’s Peter Mansbridge Investigative Writing Award, which comes with a $4,000 prize to support the investigation.

WRITER AND HISTORIAN DR. GREGORY RADICK EXPLORES ALTERNATIVE PASTS IN THE 7TH ANNUAL MACLENNAN LECTURE

Historian and philosopher of biology Dr. Gregory Radick invit ed audience members to ask, “What if?” and consider alterna tive pasts for science and technology at this year’s MacLennan Lecture. Visiting King’s from the University of Leeds, Radick explored how introducing hypothetical alternatives to established science can improve the field. Through the generosity of its benefactor, Oriel MacLennan, the MacLennan Lecture series has been bringing visiting scholars to King’s since 2017 to present an annual public lecture in the field of science and technology studies or in history and philosophy of science.

Photo by Alan Iturriaga Coutino, BA(Hons)’25

Visit ukings.ca/2025-mansbridge to read more about Wang’s winning submission.

PROFESSOR BRIAN DALY DISCUSSES FUTURE OF JOURNALISM AT OTTAWA PANEL

Last November, Assistant Professor in Journalism Brian Daly travelled to Ottawa to participate in “Reimagining Political Journalism: Perils, Possibilities & What Comes Next,” a conference hosted and organized by the Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication. The conference brought together journalists, faculty, students and community members to discuss the future of political journalism and how to best prepare students for careers as political journalists. Daly spoke at the panel discussion “What is the current state of political journalism in Canada?” moderated by CBC’s Amanda Pfeffer. The panel discussed how Canadians view the media and how journalists might work to foster trust in their audiences. Photo by Tamara Merritt

MEN’S SOCCER RETURNS TO NATIONALS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON

The UKC Blue Devils men’s soccer team had big expectations to fulfill this year as defending ACAA champions, and their second-place finish and qualification for CCAA Nationals solidified them as a consistent and formidable presence in the league. Arriving at nationals for the second year in a row, this season hosted by St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., the team proved they were ready to compete with the best in the country. Third-year player, Luke Kotaska, described their win against Les Rouges de Saint-Boniface as “a good building block for next year to hopefully win a few more.”

A group of hikers on the eighth annual President’s Wilderness Hike. This year’s hike was in Blue Mountain—Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area and led by Dr. Chris Miller of the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society. Photo provided by President William Lahey

DALHOUSIEKING’S READING CLUB CELEBRATES CENTENNIAL

The Dalhousie-King’s Reading Club, despite how the title may seem, is not a book club, insists President and Chair Mary Barker, BA’67, HF’97. Founded in 1925, the club is mainly comprised of faculty spouses from Dalhousie and King’s who come together for presentations, which are always followed by lively conversation and refreshments.

Barker joined the club 15 years ago, and recalls how impressed she was with the membership, “bright, intelligent and articulate women, who researched and presented and spoke on topics ranging from Canadian literature to eugenics … I joined immediately and have never looked back.”

To celebrate their centennial, this year’s presentations centred on the history of Dalhousie and King’s, with presenters and hosts including former King’s Librarian and Archivist Janet Hathaway, BJ’86, HF’22, and Dalhousie President Dr. Kim Brooks.

A student holds a camera to record a story of Mi’kmaw Elder Joe Francis from Sipekne’katik First Nation as part of the journalism course, Reporting in Mi’kma’ki. This photo was taken by Assistant Professor in Journalism Trina Roache, BJ’00, who teaches the immersive course. “Doing journalism is an essential part of the course,” says Roache, “but not everything is in pursuit of a news story. It’s also about engaging with Elders and community members to learn about their perspectives, culture, history and experiences…. This work is challenging, emotional and fulfilling. It’s a highlight of my teaching year.” Since its first delivery in 2021, Reporting in Mi’kma’ki has been made possible through a generous gift, that continues to support the course, from Kathy Pratt LeGrow, BA’70.

ZADIE SMITH VISITS KING’S

Acclaimed writer Zadie Smith received a standing ovation in Alumni Hall last November for her lecture, “Conscience and Consciousness: A Craft Talk for the People and the Person.” She explored what it means to be a writer, how language may be wielded as a tool of love or hatred and the responsibilities one has when they pick up a pen. The Alex Fountain Memorial Lecture was established in 2011 by Fred and Elizabeth Fountain, DCnL’12, and their daughter, Katharine, to honour the memory of their son, brother and King’s alum, Alex Fountain, BA’10. The series has been bringing award-winning authors, philosophers, poets and artists, including Smith, to campus for over a decade.

“There are as many versions of a novel as there are readers to read it—what a terrifying thought!”

—Zadie

Smith at the 11th Alex Fountain

Memorial Lecture

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Margie James, Carol Sinclair, Mary Barker, BA’67, HF’97, Elizabeth Ryan, BA’69, Rachel Martin and Joanne Pronych. Photo provided by the Dalhousie-King’s Reading Club

Photo by Paul Adams

ASK AN ALUM

“My objective is to pursue a PhD in English Literature in the United Kingdom. I am wondering if there are any alumni who have gone on to pursue graduate studies abroad … and what that experience has been like”

by Marilyn Smulders

GRADE 12 STUDENT CAPRICE STRGAR envisions her future, and it goes something like this: finish the International Baccalaureate program, complete the Foundation Year Program at King’s, finish an honours degree in English, and then attend graduate studies at a school in the United Kingdom, such as Oxford—possibly as a Rhodes Scholar.

While she can picture it, Strgar isn’t quite sure how to make it happen. Looking for guidance, she contacted the King’s Advancement Office, which, through the Ask an Alum program, put her in touch with Nick Harris, BA(Hons)’22, a Rhodes Scholar who recently completed his master of philosophy in international relations at Oxford and is working in public service in Ottawa.

One of the first things Strgar learned from Harris is that he also attended her Windsor, Ont., high school. That helped her feel like maybe she’s already on the right path.

Strgar didn’t need Harris to tell her to study and maintain a high grade point average or to do volunteer work—she already led an experiential learning project called “Maintaining Memories,” which connected teenagers from her high school with seniors for conversation and to make art together. Harris never mentioned volunteering or studying in their conversations; he was

thinking much bigger. “Whatever your dream may be, finding your purpose—and working hard to pursue it—is what will propel you forward, open doors you never expected, and shape the impact you leave on the world,” he told Strgar.

To steer Strgar in the right direction, Harris suggested available scholarships, grants and bursaries, and encouraged her to apply for as many as possible. He also introduced her to his own mentor, King’s President William Lahey, a former Rhodes Scholar himself. “He took me seriously and I really appreciated that,” says Strgar about her conversation with President Lahey.

The heart of Harris’ advice for Strgar? “Discover what sets your soul on fire—the idea, the question or the cause that makes you want to fly—and pursue it with unwavering passion, deep curiosity and a bold sense of purpose.”

“Each conversation with Nick and everyone I’ve spoken to in the King’s community is inspiring, genuine and uplifting,” says Strgar. “Ask an Alum sparked connections and opportunities for me … that ultimately affirmed—and continue to reaffirm—my decision that King’s is, with certainty, the right place to begin these next steps towards my future.”

Whether with study, interests or career, or even something as ephemeral as travel advice, King’s alumni are willing to help students and each other. Do you know a student who could benefit from guidance from the alumni community? Are you an alum who wonders if there is a fellow alum who could assist you with something? Submit your query to ukings.ca/alumni/ask-an-alum and we’ll help you tap into our diverse, dynamic and global alumni network to get answers, information or advice.

TOP: Caprice Stgar: Photo by Heather Taylor, HT Photography

BOTTOM: Nick Harris, BA(Hons)’22

KING’S ATHLETICS: A “LABORATORY” FOR STUDENT ATHLETES

“We want King’s to be the home of well-rounded student athletes,” says James Wise— and whether it’s on the court, in the classroom or behind a camera, Blue Devils are rising to the mission

by E mma Kuzmy K, m Fa’25

IT WAS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR THE BLUE DEVILS. Badminton secured their seventh consecutive ACAA title, men’s soccer returned to nationals for the second season in a row, and individual athletes were recognized nationally, including Ritu Shah and Victoria Iatrou, who received All-Canadian honours. The success that can be gleaned from awards and results is only a portion of what makes King’s athletics so unique. Just as transformational as the experiences athletes gain on the national stage are the ones they have within the Quad.

“We aim for a holistic approach,” says Athletics Administrator James Wise, BA’19. “Obviously, competitive success is an incredibly important part of our mission, but academic achievement and personal growth are equally pivotal.” Rather than confine university athletics to a field or court, Wise uses the word ‘laboratory.’ “Students can test and strengthen their time management skills, teamwork, communication and many other valuable assets that will help them thrive academically and in their careers beyond our doors.”

Athletes representing each of King’s eight sports teams pose for a department photo. Photo by Elena Neufeld, BJ(Hons),’25

CAMPUS ROLES AND CAREER GOALS: HOW STUDENTS ARE GAINING WORK EXPERIENCE WITHIN ATHLETICS

ONE OF THE WAYS the department provides this laboratory environment is through employment opportunities for students—from statisticians, clock operators and scorekeepers to media roles covering photography, social media, graphic design and broadcasting. In the last year alone, the department employed 52 students, 75 per cent of whom were student athletes, with representation from all eight teams. “The Athletics Department is a colossal operation and would be impossible to function without the tremendous contributions made by our student staff,” Wise says.

Tia Lovegrove, a women’s soccer team member, works within athletics as a social media coordinator, front desk staff and gameday staff. “It’s a really great pathway for opportunities for student work, especially for athletes who are super busy,” says Lovegrove. For her, being part of athletics

means “being part of a community that extends from sport into school. A lot of people connect here, at the front desk and at the gym.”

Journalism students Callum Watson and Ethan Hunt work as broadcasters for athletics and host a radio show on CKDU titled Injury Reserve, where they delve into sports on campus and beyond. These experiences have been avenues for growth that enhance their educational experiences and benefit their career goals. “Every opportunity the school has allowed us to have, and I’ve been able to do, I feel like it’s helped me leaps and bounds for when I get out of here,” says Watson. “I came in not knowing if I wanted to do regular journalism or sports journalism and just trying to take as many opportunities as I could. It really all started with that broadcast. And then I saw a future in it.”

Broadcasting Blue Devils games has

allowed Watson and Hunt to practice and develop skills in various production areas— from learning software to building confidence in doing play-by-play commentary. The Athletics Department has recently renovated its broadcasting setup, adding a second camera and additional monitors and staff. “The improvement from last year to this year is unfathomable,” says Watson. “And we’re looking to do more. There’s a bunch of different things we’re going to try and do for next year, which I’m thrilled about.”

Some improvements the pair hope to see include post-game interviews with athletes, the broadcasting of soccer and rugby games, and sport-centered journalism courses. “If we can continue to build our reputation and build programs, the sky is the limit,” says Hunt. Fortunately, some of these improvements are already on the way.

Callum Watson in the broadcast booth. Photo by Elena Neufeld

KING’S FIRST SPORTSCASTING ELECTIVE BEGINS IN THE FALL OF 2025

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of Journalism Brian Daly has established King’s first-ever sportscasting elective: Sportscasting 101. The course will teach students how to interview athletes, cover local and campus sporting events and produce video content. The interest of students couldn’t have been more apparent: the course was full on the first day of registration. “I hope it will just be the beginning,” says Daly. “If there’s enough demand, we could add different courses, more advanced courses.”

Developing a course in this area felt natural to Daly. “A lot of young people are interested in getting into sports and entertainment,” he says. “A lot of the skills that a person would need if they wanted to get into sports content creation fields, we teach those at King’s.… We’re really just expanding now to the point where we’re giving students in the future the opportunity to more directly apply those core, important journalism skills to the sports area.”

“We’re very excited about the emerging synergy and linkages forming between our broadcasting operations and the journalism program,” says Wise. “Sports media has evolved radically in the last decade, and we feel primed to be on the forefront of that evolution for universities in Atlantic Canada.” Through the renovation of their broadcasting setup and the opportunities athletics provides journalism students like Watson and Hunt, it’s clear this evolution has already begun.

“Everything that we do at King’s, we do at a high level,” says Daly. “We’re at the cusp of a very major growth time in the history of King’s.”

DEBRA DEANE LITTLE AND ROBERT LITTLE ACADEMIC ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS: SUPPORTING STUDENT SUCCESS FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COURT

WORTH $5,000 PER YEAR and renewable for up to four years, the Debra Deane Little and Robert Little Academic Athletic Scholarships play a pivotal role in supporting the well-rounded experience of so many of our scholar athletes. Established in 2019, the scholarship is awarded to students who have taken or are undertaking the Foundation Year Program and demonstrate scholastic excellence and athletic dedication.

Claire Davis, on the women’s volleyball team, is completing her Bachelor of Science, with double majors in physics and neuroscience. She’s been a Deane Little Scholar for the past four years. “It has had a great impact on my life in allowing me to focus on my education and athletics career at King’s,” Davis says about the scholarship. “I’m incredibly grateful for all the ways I’ve grown as a person over the past four years.”

Callie Jurmain is on the women’s soccer team and is also the Co-President of the Contemporary Studies Society and the Communications Coordinator for the Undergraduate History Society, enriching her academic experience in the Contemporary Studies program. She has been a Deane Little Scholar for three years. “I’ve appreciated the way King’s has challenged my assumptions and made me into a better critical thinker,” she says, thanking the scholarship for allowing her to be part of this community.

Jane McLean, who just completed FYP and is on the women’s volleyball team, says: “The scholarship provided me with the financial flexibility to dedicate time and energy to both my academics and athletics, allowing me to pursue excellence in both areas.” McLean expressed gratitude for experiences on the court and in the classroom. “I feel lucky that I am able to continue on with both and am looking forward to what the next school year and volleyball season holds for me.”

Cairo Smolar, on the men’s soccer team, is looking forward to pursuing a double major in political science and sustainability in his second year at King’s. “As a student athlete, balancing academics and on-field performance has always been a top priority for me, and being able to continue both at the university level is a goal I’m proud to achieve.”

Photos by Elena Neufeld

ON BEING A BLUE DEVIL

Athletic achievement, employment experience and academic excellence only begin to capture what makes King’s athletics such a unique student experience. When asked what being a Blue Devil means to our athletes, the overwhelming sentiment was one of ‘community.’

“It means showing up— not just for your own team, but for all other teams as well which goes a long way in making everyone feel valued and supported. The Athletics staff—Trish, James and Jack—are always there to help. Having such incredible people by your side makes every challenge that much easier to take on, and makes every win feel that much more special.”

—Ritu Shah, badminton

“It means community, connection and commitment. I love the group of guys that I go through a season with, I hate missing any time, game or practice, and the balance between my school routine gives me satisfaction. Being a student athlete gives me a direct way to express my school spirit. I love repping King’s.”

—Maxwell Solano, men’s rugby

“We have a very tightknit community. You sort of know all the athletes [and] all the athletes on the other teams.”

—Kalon

MacDonald-Wood,

men’s basketball

“Being a student athlete at King’s is a truly unique experience. Our president, William Lahey, or as we call him, Bill, is really involved and has shown tremendous support for us. He regularly attends our games and even hosts athletes at his home for dinners, fostering a strong sense of community across all teams.”

—Clara Schumph, women’s rugby

“We honestly feel like a family and over my five years here I really felt like I’ve found a home. I just love it here so much.”

Norah Quinlan, BSc’25, women’s basketball

Men’s rugby huddle.

Photo by Emma Breton

CLASSICALLY TRAINED

Carrie and Ralph Wright Memorial Scholar and recent graduate Maggie Fyfe is headed overseas for her next adventure. Here’s why she thinks Oxford will feel a lot like home

by Kate Rae

EVEN BEFORE Maggie Fyfe, BA(Hons)’25, enrolled in the Foundation Year Program (FYP) in 2021, her love of classics had already taken hold. The Ottawa-based student won the very first King’s Essay Writing Contest for High School Students, with her thoughts on Sophocles’ Antigone. “Classic texts,” she wrote, “have served as our ‘counsel’ for centuries.”

Fyfe was also the 2021 recipient of the Carrie and Ralph Wright Memorial Scholarship, established by their daughter, King’s alum Judith Kaye Wright, BA’64. The $39,000 scholarship granted to FYP students allowed Fyfe to further explore her love of classics. “It gave me the freedom to pursue what I was really genuinely interested in and helped me focus on my studies,” she says.

Having graduated this spring, Fyfe is now preparing to head to Oxford to pursue her master of philosophy in Greek and Roman history. This plan was seeded on a family trip to Cambridge and Oxford. “We weren’t there because I was going to apply, but because we really like visiting university towns,” she says. Enraptured by the trip, she figured she had nothing to lose by applying to Oxford. She found out over reading week that she was accepted.

Fyfe is not only excited to continue studying classics, but also to continue traditions she loved so much at King’s, like formal meals and Latin matriculation. “At King’s, there are so many traditions that come from the Oxford model. I really appreciated them and want to do more of that.”

Who is your favourite classical author?

Virgil—in particular, Book 4 of his Aeneid for his absolutely beautiful dactylic hexameter!

The Roman Republic or the Roman Empire?

I would say that the Roman Empire is my “Roman Empire,” if that saying isn’t too cliché by now.

What’s your favourite classical trick to pull out at parties?

I have tried to teach my roommates Latin versions of Christmas carols. Deck the Halls

works surprisingly well in Latin if you make it about Saturnalia (a Roman festival honouring the god Saturn from which we actually derive many of our Christmas traditions today)!

What is your Achilles’ heel?

BLTs and iced lattes from Tart and Soul— going to this café was a staple of my time at King’s.

What’s something you’re looking forward to at Oxford?

Punting… and Pimm’s cups!

CURATING CONNECTION

A student discovers an unexpected link to her family history through the artworks in the President’s Lodge

by Elissa Barnard

WHILE RESEARCHING ART on display in the President’s Lodge, second-year student Olive Graham expected to see some familiar names in Canadian art history—but she didn’t expect to find her grandmother’s name in documentation about the collection.

As she was creating descriptive labels for the 20 paintings, prints and sculptures on display in the Lodge, the painter and art history student in the Contemporary Studies program kept running into mentions of her late grandmother, Dr. Marie Elwood, DCnL’87, or “Grandmarie” as she knew her.

Elwood was chief curator of the Nova Scotia Museum, an international ceramics expert and one of the 10 inaugural recipients of the Order of Nova Scotia. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from King’s in 1987 and catalogued and curated the Weldon Collection of Loyalist ceramics now on view at the King’s Library. Graham didn’t know about the curatorial work Elwood had done for the college until embarking on a project she was hired to do after striking up a conversation with President William Lahey.

“Every fall, I invite students from Alex Hall floors and The Bays to a dinner in the Lodge,” recalls President Lahey. “I met Olive in October of 2023 when she and more than 20 students from her Alex Hall floor came for dinner on a Friday night.”

Graham was curious about Earthworks at Annapolis, a Tom Forrestall painting, Blue Owl by Kenojuak Ashevak and Shaman’s Dream by Kingmeata Etidlooie.

“We started chatting,” says President Lahey, “and I learned her mother was a conservator and that she had worked in galleries herself. I explained how I had long wished we had labels on the wall beside each painting to help guests enjoy the art. I asked her if she would be interested in taking on that project as a student employment opportunity. As I recall, without hesitation, Olive said ‘Yes.’”

Under the supervision of Assistant to the President Susan MacDonald, Graham combed through the files to research the artworks. That’s when she noticed her grandmother’s name on the pages. “She had originally catalogued these artworks in 2003 when there were few online resources,” she says.

“I never knew my grandmother very well, but being at King’s I have been slowly realizing how involved she was in the school. In a way, I am getting to know her better through it.”

Elwood died when Graham was 10, and doing this project has made her feel closer to this remarkable woman, also known for repatriating Canadian works of art by John E. Woolford, John Singleton Copley, and an archive from George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie. Her love of art lives on in the family.

Graham grew up in Lethbridge, Alta., surrounded by art. Her grandfather, Colin Graham, was a painter and curator. Her mother, Juliet Graham, ’87, studied art conservation and worked as a conservator and gallery registrar. Her father studied sculpture and was a professor in new media. Her sister is an artist. Graham first started teaching art to kids when she was 12, and today, she works at ArtWorks, an all-ages art studio across from the President’s Lodge on Coburg Road.

To rebel against the “family business,” Graham pursued science and math in high school—and eventually followed in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, Anne Hayward, ’81, by enrolling in FYP at King’s. Now, she’s considering a career in art conservation to combine her love of art and science.

“I never knew my grandmother very well, but being at King’s I have been slowly realizing how involved she was in the school. In a way, I am getting to know her better through it,” says Graham. “I am not trying to follow her tracks, but I keep happening upon them.”

LEFT: Olive Graham with one of her favourite artworks in the President’s Lodge, Blue Owl by Kenojuak Ashevak.

RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Olive Graham adds a descriptive label to Earthworks at Annapolis by Tom Forrestall. Descriptive labels are matched to their respective artworks.

Photos by Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25

CELEBRATING A DECADE OF MFA ALUMNI

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the first graduating class in creative nonfiction and the graduation of the first MFA in Fiction class. See how the creative writing program has grown

by BEth h itchcocK, m Fa’15

LEFT: MFA Fiction Classes of 2025 and 2026.

All photos by Michael Creagen

IT WAS A CANADIAN FIRST, and I felt fortunate to be part of it: when King’s launched the MFA in Creative Nonfiction in 2013, the program was the only one of its kind in the country to offer a limited-residency program—and that remains true today. In the 12 years since, the program has welcomed accomplished writers and industry experts, championed writers across Canada and beyond, and celebrated a bookcase-worth of publishing deals.

“We have almost 80 books published, and our graduates know how to stride right into that world and make it happen,” says Dr. Gillian Turnbull, MFA’17, Director of Writing and Publishing. “We’re deeply connected to key editors, agents and publicists in the industry. That, plus the strong community component of the program, is what makes it such a success.”

Here are some program highlights and exciting chapters yet to come.

TOP LEFT: MFA Creative Nonfiction Class of 2015.

TOP RIGHT: MFA Creative Nonfiction Classes of 2025 and 2026.

FACT AND FICTION

In 2023, the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing expanded the MFA program to include Fiction; the first 20 graduates received their degrees at this year’s Encaenia. What makes the program unique is its embrace of genre fiction, according to Charlotte Gill, Cohort Director, MFA in Fiction. “The existence of our program—and the diversity of writers within it, all working together—demonstrates that genre fiction can be as beautifully and powerfully written as any blue-ribbon literary title,” she says. “A good story is a good story, and readers have always known that.”

“‘I want to be an author,’ let alone a science fiction author, is one of those sentences that can feel too big to say aloud,” says Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25, part of the first Fiction cohort to graduate from King’s. “Being among students with the same ambition, and the support of the professors and mentors, made my dreams feel closer than I thought possible.”

A WARM WELCOME AND FOND FAREWELL

In April of this year, Wanda Taylor, BJ’08, joined King’s as a Cohort Director for the MFA in Fiction program. Taylor, a mentor in the MFA programs since 2018, is the award-winning author of 11 fiction and nonfiction books. “Wanda is one of the most brilliant teachers I’ve ever met,” says Turnbull. “She brings to the classroom a real presence, charisma and determination to help her students.”

Taylor replaces award-winning journalist and author Stephen Kimber, who retired in June after a storied 40-year career at King’s. Kimber was a three-time Director of the School of Journalism, a co-founder of the MFA program in 2013, and the inaugural Cohort Director of the Fiction program. “The MFA program without Stephen? It’s like a hockey team losing its top scorer,” says Dean Jobb, Inglis Professor and Cohort Director of the Creative Nonfiction program

since 2016. “Despite his busy writing career, Stephen is always incredibly generous with his time and advice. We’ll miss his enthusiasm and wise counsel.”

KING’S FIRST CREATIVE WRITING & STORYTELLING CONFERENCE

Timed to coincide with Encaenia and Alumni Day, the MFA program’s inaugural three-day conference included a series of sessions and workshops on the theme of curation. “The goal was to create something special to mark the anniversary and give alumni yet another reason to come back,” says Turnbull, adding that she plans to make it an annual event.

COME TOGETHER, MFA-STYLE

This June, the program hosted its first joint in-person residency for the fiction and creative nonfiction MFA students. What began as a pragmatic scheduling decision evolved into an opportunity, says Turnbull. “How great for the energy of King’s to have a hundred or so students on campus working on books and learning from each other.”

STUDENTS BECOME TEACHERS

Several accomplished MFA graduates have returned to share their expertise as instructors and mentors. Lezlie Lowe, BA(Hons)’96, MFA’16, who’s been an instructor at King’s since 2003 and graduated from the second cohort of the MFA program, is now a mentor in the creative nonfiction stream. Recent alumni Taslim Jaffer, MFA’22, and Tamara Baluja, MFA’24, are both instructors in the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program. And other MFA alumni— namely RC Shaw, MFA’17, Bonny Reichert, MFA’22, and Brittany Foster, MFA’24 have taught workshops on travel writing, food writing and building an author platform, respectively.

“How great for the energy of King’s to have a hundred or so students on campus working on books and learning from each other.”

THE MFA RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP

ESTABLISHED IN 2018 by donors Mary Janigan, an award-winning journalist and nonfiction writer, and her husband, noted business leader Thomas Kierans, OC, the Master of Fine Arts Research Scholarship supports the research of students in the second year of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program. Here’s what this year’s recipients are writing:

Emma Quackenbush, MFA’25, is travelling to Baltimore, Boston and New York to interview three key figures in her book about gender inequality and labour conditions in the performing arts, specifically, classical orchestras. The performers and composer she’ll interview—Katherine Needleman, Elizabeth Rowe and Missy Mazzoli—have all successfully challenged the status quo on issues such as pay discrimination, harassment and racial discrimination.

Monica Kidd, MFA’25, is working on a project that examines coastal erosion in the Canadian North. The Beaufort Sea is among the world’s fastest warming places, with the Inuit communities who live there under existential threat from permafrost collapse and erosion. Kidd will travel to the Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, or ‘Tuk,’ as it’s known locally, to share underreported stories of how decisions made in Ottawa affect the North’s Indigenous communities—especially one at risk of being the first in Canada to face relocation due to sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

Artist Al Hansen, founder of the influential Fluxus art movement, is the subject of Rina Barone’s, MFA’25, book project. Hansen was a prominent fixture on the Manhattan art scene in the ’50s and ’60s, keeping company with the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Hansen was one of the first to arrive at the Factory after Andy Warhol was shot, likely saving his life. Barone will visit the Al Hansen Archives in Hudson, New York, where she’ll gain insight into Hansen’s life and creative process through unpublished memoirs, documents and memorabilia.

THIS YEAR, TO CELEBRATE the Early Modern Studies program’s 25th anniversary, the program’s director, Dr. Simon Kow, and I designed a booklet featuring reminiscences from current students, alumni and faculty. We were overwhelmed by the response and received more than we could possibly fit in one booklet. Shared here are some of the highlights.

In the booklet’s opening message, Dr. Kow reflects that, over the years, “we have been fortunate to attract some of the bravest, brightest and most creative students at King’s, who have been willing to take the plunge into the Miltonic abyss of an integrated, interdisciplinary humanities program.” Its faculty complement and honours cohort may be small, but Kow notes “its compact size is, as many of our alumni and current students attest to here, a chief strength: it punches, and puns, above its weight.”

Several alumni reflected that, be it due to the connections they made, the ideas they explored, or the topics they fell in love with, the Early Modern Studies program changed the trajectory of their entire life.

Dr. Lindsay Reid, BA(Hons)’03, shares her experience as an editor of the very first volume of Babel, the student-run Early Modern Studies Society undergraduate journal: “The atmosphere in those early years of EMSP was overwhelmingly collegial…. I can remember gathering in my apartment on Coburg Road—chosen for its proximity to the university—for a weekend marathon in the spring of 2002 to pull the issue together.”

25 YEARS OF EARLY MODERN STUDIES

Reminiscing on a quarter century of one of King’s most beloved programs

by E rin i nglis , Ba(hons)’25

TOP, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: FYP Director Dr. Neil Robertson, BA(Hons)’85, Assistant Professor of Humanities Dr. Kathryn Morris, Dr. Georgia Carley, BA(Hons)’08, Recruitment and Admissions Manager Dr. Yolana Wassersug, BA(Hons)’08, Sarah Toye, BA(Hons)’15, MFA’22, Hugo Kitching, BA(Hons)’09, Dr. Michael Sampson, BA(Hons)’01, Moira Donovan BA(Hons)’15, and Director of Early Modern Studies Dr. Simon Kow at the 2020 Conference of the Early Modern.

BOTTOM: EMSP students who participated in Dr. Jannette Vusich’s Florence Study Abroad program held in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Will Barton, BA(Hons)’13, reflects on hosting the first Conference of the Early Modern: “There was a snowstorm. Everything was a mess…. We got through the conference proceedings thanks to the goodwill of the many volunteers, faculty moderators, student participants and generous supporters who were on board. And Neil Robertson’s wise counsel and steady hand. And Tom Curran’s good humour.” He describes how the post-conference conversation extended into the “wee morning hours” and included the “first kiss with the girl who is now my wife,” Karis Tees, BA(Hons)’16.

For Sarah Toye, BA(Hons)’15, MFA’22, her participation in Simon Kow’s class, The Pirate and Piracy, was a source of many treasures. The history of piracy became the subject of her honours, MA and MFA theses. Now, she’s been a TA and/or guest lecturer for Dr. Kow’s class for almost a decade. “The respect and support Dr. Kow showed me while I was an uncertain young grad student did more than I can say to build up my self-confidence as an academic…”

John O’Brien, BA(Hons)’11, BJ’13, writes that making Early Modern Studies his primary focus was one of the best decisions of his life. “Before I came to King’s, my awareness of major philosophers came mostly from Monty Python. There were parts of FYP I struggled with very hard. And then, when we came to the 17th and 18th centuries, something clicked…. The Age of Enlightenment drew me in like nothing else we had covered so far. It was the first time I fell in love with ideas. There was no other option. It had to be Early Modern Studies.”

“Though you wouldn’t think I’d use my degree that often in my career as a comedy writer, I actually wouldn’t be where I am today without it,” writes Evany Rosen, BA(Hons)’10. “For one thing, it has made me a much better writer—and a far more humble one…. Secondly, it’s opened up a world of stories and ideas that I might never have known to explore in my work on screen.”

Dr. Yolana Wassersug, BA(Hons)’08, writes, “The program helped me tap into an ability to understand complex ideas (ahem, I’m looking at you, René Descartes). The program helped me express what I mean to say when writing or speaking…” Skills, she says, she relies on every day in her work at King’s as Recruitment and Admissions Manager.

Alongside glowing student and alumni reviews, the booklet features an elucidation of the program’s history at King’s. Dr. Neil Robertson, BA(Hons)’85, the Early Modern Studies program’s “founding architect,” recounts the tumultuous process of establishing an entire new degree: “I must say that in coming to a full quarter-century of its continuing life of fellowship, scholarship and now pirate ships, I can only feel a deep sense of gratitude to the faculty and students, alumni and administrators who have turned some vague thoughts and nervous aspirations into a vital and wonderful community of memory and hope, focused on the task of reflecting on the coming to be of that strange moment of human existence called the modern world.”

Visit issuu.com/ukings/docs/emsp_25th_ anniversary_booklet to read more.

“We have been fortunate to attract some of the bravest, brightest and most creative students at King’s, who have been willing to take the plunge into the Miltonic abyss of an integrated, interdisciplinary humanities program.”

TOP: Dr. Simon Kow at the helm.

LEFT: EMSP students in the spirit of Raphael’s The School of Athens. Photo provided by Dr. Chris Rice, BA(Hons)’07

FINDING HER VOICE

Eliza Rhinelander’s debut album The Precipice is inspired by her experience navigating the cusp of adulthood and by the deeply moving works she explored in the Foundation Year Program

by Kate Rae

WHEN STUDENT AND singer-songwriter

Eliza Rhinelander first learned of King’s Foundation Year Program (FYP) during her university search, she instantly knew she’d found her place. “I’ve always had trouble just picking one clear path and one clear avenue. Foundation Year was one of the only programs that really spoke to interdisciplinary connection, and learning about how they all intermingle and coexist and influence each other.”

Rhinelander was soon immersed in the FYP journey, exploring great books and ideas from the ancient to the contemporary world. One text, in particular, made a deep impact: The Princess of Cleves, by Madame de La Fayette. Published in 1678, the novel is a portrait of a young married woman whose strong moral compass is tested when she falls madly in love with another man.

Inspired, Rhinelander wrote Know Better, a wistful song with lyrics that harken back to the princess’ struggle: “Whenever they tell me a story/ Of affairs and romances, I laugh/ Why bring about your own ruin?/ I know better than that.”

“The book is about her trying to hold on to her virtue and not give in to the passion,” Rhinelander says. “But it’s also about every-

thing you lose when you refuse that whole side of things. If you go too far in the opposite direction, then you’re missing everything life has to offer.”

Know Better is included on The Precipice, Rhinelander’s debut album featuring 12 tracks she wrote over the last couple of years. It isn’t the only FYP-inspired song on the album: Sappho 31 was written after an impactful deep dive into the poem of the same name.

Rhinelander recently had the chance to introduce her album to a wider audience when she was featured on CBC’s Q with Tom Power, where she talked about reading The Princess of Cleves at King’s and how it inspired Know Better

Seeing FYP students create art exploring what they’ve been studying is something Faculty Fellow Dr. Matthew Vanderkwaak always enjoys. For the final contemporary art lecture each year, he asks students to bring something they’ve made—it was there that he first heard Rhinelander sing, performing a song she had arranged for a production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. “It was such a beautiful moment,” he says. “That’s when I most completely see who these students are, having gone through

this whole journey. It ends up being this celebration of the students and who they are and what they find beautiful.”

As she looks forward to her third year of a combined honours degree in Early Modern Studies at King’s and Theatre Studies at Dalhousie, Rhinelander still isn’t interested in pursuing just one path. “I want to be able to make music, make albums, make theatre,” she says. “My goal is to have my name be known enough that if I want to make a project, people can say, ‘Oh, I’ve heard that name. Someone said she was good. Let’s give her a shot.’”

by Rachel

Photo

Bass

MAKING THEIR MARK

From art exhibits to research grants, here are just a few examples of how King’s students are sharing their many skills beyond the Quad

by K aija jussinoja, B j(Hons)’22, and E mma Kuzmy K, m Fa’25

COLETON WALKER OFFERED A SEMI-PRO SPOT IN SOCCER

“It was definitely a dream-come-true type moment,” says arts student and Blue Devil Coleton Walker, who, after a week-long trial in Mendig, Germany, was offered a spot on SG Mendig. A centre midfielder, Walker was scouted while playing with Farias Soccer Academy in Bedford, N.S.

“The excitement really kicked in when I was back with my family,” says Walker, reflecting on how he and his brother, Grayson Walker, BSc’25, grew up playing soccer together—including at King’s. “It was really special to share a

moment with my brother like that.” Walker, who came to King’s in 2023 on a Debra Deane Little and Robert Little Academic Athletic Scholarship, has played two seasons at King’s, during which he and his brother helped the Blue Devils reach consecutive CCAA Nationals. Walker’s international success is both a milestone for the Blue Devils program and a testament to his training. “The coaching at King’s is probably the greatest I’ve ever had in my whole football career. And the team environment is like no other.”

GRIFFIN BJERKE-CLARKE’S DEBUT NOVEL IS PUBLISHED BY FERNWOOD

Contemporary Studies student Griffin BjerkeClarke calls his debut novel a “weird western.” He Who Would Walk the Earth is about a man who doesn’t remember anything about himself, wandering a world that is broken and neglected. What Bjerke-Clarke didn’t realize until late in the writing process was that his story was autobiographical. “Though it is a fiction narrative, much of the book centres around the texts I read during FYP and a critical dialogue with their philosophies.”

Bjerke-Clarke grew up detached from his Métis culture and is currently on the journey of reconnecting with his Indigenous roots. “And that’s kind of the journey in the book too, it’s this guy who has no idea who he is and is kind of gradually reconnecting to a culture that’s been incredibly marginalized, and later on meets a lot of people who represent the dangers of not returning to those roots,” he says.

Following the book’s April release, BjerkeClarke has been keeping busy with a series of book launches from Halifax to Saskatoon, including a launch in the President’s Lodge on May 3, where he was interviewed by Professor of Humanities and Director of Contemporary Studies Dr. Dorota Glowacka. “I’m hoping this is the first of many books,” says BjerkeClarke. “It’s been a great experience.”

Photo by Emma Breton

LOLA DREWERY’S PHOTOS DISPLAYED AT THIS YEAR’S CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

What started as a collection of photos for Dr. Justina Spencer’s Contemporary Studies course, The ‘Pictorial Turn’ in Recent Thought, Art and Theory, became an exhibit in one of the largest photo events in the world.

This May, in her home city of Toronto, journalism student Lola Drewery’s photography was on display at Rooster Coffee House as part of Contact, the annual city-wide festival that features the work of local and international photographers.

Titled Keep Cool, Drewery’s collection offers a window into the realities of tree planting, which Drewery describes as a “labour-intensive rite of passage.” Taken during her time planting trees in northern British Columbia and Alberta, “these images emphasize the intensity of a job rooted in gruelling, backbreaking labour. Yet, they also reveal the rugged beauty of the environment, and the unbreakable bonds forged within the camps.”

TOP: Emy Dunleavy Lachmann planting on a recently burned site near Fort St. James, British Columbia, part of Lola Drewery’s Keep Cool collection on display at Contact.

BOTTOM: Lola Drewery. Photo by Eva Carmichael

DEIRDRE BEAUMONT RECEIVES A GRANT TO LEARN WHY AND HOW THE GRASS MIGHT BE GREENER

To research grass technologies invented for golf courses, Deirdre Beaumont, BA(Hons)’25, travelled to New Jersey to study the archives at the United States Golf Association, a trip funded by a grant from the organization.

The research complements her honours thesis, “The Grass Roots of the Front Lawn Aesthetic: The Scientific Production of an American Cultural Icon,” which explores how the green grass lawn became ubiquitous across U.S. climates, and reveals that the standard was created through government agriculture projects in the 18th and 19th centuries. “The fact that it’s all one kind of grass, or it’s bright green all year round, and it’s smooth and flat, those all were kind of developed through experiments and research to get it to look that way,” she says.

While in New Jersey, Beaumont explored photo archives from the United States Department of Agriculture. “Some of them were pictures of weird technology, like handmade lawnmowers and stuff that they would use.” Then Beaumont adds with a laugh, “I also got to see a lot of presidential golf bags.”

COLLEEN SHARPE WRITES ABOUT LEARNING AS A LIFELONG PURSUIT

Defying her nervousness to start university later in life, Colleen Sharpe quickly found her place, and her people, at King’s. The 57-year-old from Fletcher’s Lake, N.S., shares that she has always loved learning, but with mental health and family struggles during high school, followed by work and family commitments, she wasn’t able to attend university.

For years, she longingly read stories of mature students going back to school, but it wasn’t until after her daughter was seriously injured from being struck by a car that Sharpe decided to make the leap. “The shock of nearly losing her imprinted upon me just how fleeting life is,” she writes. “I said to myself, if you don’t take this opportunity now, you’re just going to end up questioning yourself again next year.”

While Sharpe originally found it nerve-wracking to attend FYP lectures, she was captivated by the books she read and discussions she had. “I was inhaling all these new ideas, things I had never thought about before.” By the end of her first year, she had gained both confidence in her academic capabilities and new friends. “Even though I’m so much older than the rest of them, they’ve just kind of accepted me as one of their own,” she says.

To encourage others, Sharpe wrote about her experience for CBC’s First Person column. Her advice for those considering going back to school, or starting for the first time? “Just try it.”

GARRETT NIALL’S MUSICAL COMPOSITION IS FEATURED IN THE NUOVO CONTEMPORARY CONCERT SERIES

A third-year music student with a concentration in composition, Garrett Niall writes at least ten minutes of music per term—and now so many others will get to hear it. His music has been selected and performed by the Dalhousie Wind Ensemble, members of the Fifth Wind, DalTheatre’s Three Sisters and others. The musical accomplishment they’re most proud of, though, is the selection of their piece, Reflections, for the Nuovo Contemporary Concert Series: a composer-focused concert series in Halifax that features new works by emerging composers. The series hosts two concerts per year, and Reflections was selected for their Spring 2025 Concert.

Alongside his musical achievements, Niall has found success in the classroom and on the field for the Blue Devils men’s rugby team. “I have been able to hone my craft and pursue my passions in both performing music, writing music and being able to excel at sport,” he says. While the balance hasn’t always been easy, Niall was named a 2023/24 ACAA Atlantic All-Star and received the King’s Academic Excellence Award in all three of their years. He learned to focus on one task at a time and pick his battles. “There are times I need to focus on being an athlete only, performer only or composer only.”

Niall credits their success to the support of their family, teammates, coaches and professors. “They have nurtured me to believe in myself.”

Peer support worker Anika Panet-Carino in the Deane Little Community Support Centre. Photo by Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25

STRONGER TOGETHER

Connecting with understanding peers can offer insight, validation and a sense of belonging. Here’s how a program at King’s supports students’ mental health

by Kate Rae

ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS peer support worker Anika Panet-Carino does before her shift is fill the kettle in the Deane Little Community Support Centre in the Link. She is one of two student workers hired to offer free, non-judgmental, confidential and safe mental health support to any student who needs it.

The drop-in program offers a welcoming environment for students to sit with a peer who understands what they’re going through—usually over a cup of tea. “It’s similar to just being a friend for someone and listening. Not judging them, not evaluating them, not diagnosing them, but just having a safe space for people to feel connected to others,” she says.

Now in her third year, Panet-Carino knows the pressures her fellow students face and the benefits of seeking support, having struggled with her own mental health in her first year.

“Peer support is built on shared lived experience,” says Isaac Wright, the Student Support Advisor and Registered Social Worker who leads the program. “You don’t have to be a mental health clinician with graduate-level mental health training in order to be present with someone and connect on that shared lived experience. It comes from a very strength-based approach, where an experience of mental illness or a mental health challenge isn’t viewed as a deficit but something that can be really beneficial to creating a connection and to helping others.”

Sometimes, a visit means a bit of small talk and a friendly conversation. Other times, it’s more mental-health focused, with the support worker sharing strategies, resources and additional supports. If there is any kind of immediate safety risk, the work-

ers have been trained in what Wright calls “a warm hand-off” to either himself or a resource at the Dalhousie Student Health & Wellness Centre to get the student the care they need.

For some students, the loneliness, homesickness and the stresses of learning to navigate the world as an adult can be coupled with academic challenges. This bumpy time comes right as supports are crumbling beneath those aging out of the youth mental health system. “When you turn 19, you have to be transitioned into the adult system, and they often do have quite long wait times,” says Wright.

The benefits of peer support have been well documented, with the Mental Health Commission of Canada recommending it as an essential component of the mental health system.

And while the Peer Support program currently operates with no wait times, Wright says he often hears students worrying they shouldn’t be taking up resources someone else might need more.

“Students don’t need to prove that they’re in a certain amount of stress in order to reach out,” he says. “We don’t want them to wait until they are in a crisis and have to go sit in the emergency room because they don’t feel safe. It is so much more beneficial to get support at a lower intensity early on. The earlier we can support students, the sooner we’re going to be able to get them back on their feet.”

With gratitude, we acknowledge Drs. Fred and Elizabeth Fountain, DCnL’12, for their gift that permanently endowed a peer support position at King’s. The Fountains pioneered the Stay Connected Mental Health Project, established through the QEII Health Sciences Centre Foundation and its collaboration between five Halifax universities.

COMMON GROUND

In the winter term, King’s offered another option for students to connect with peers: a series of support groups made possible by a grant from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund. These support groups focused on building capacity for community connection among King’s students with, and across, diverse identities.

Neurodivergent Strategy/Support Group: Led by Occupational Therapist Becky Evans, this group focused on skills for life and academics for students who identify as neurodivergent or anyone wondering if they have ADHD or autism.

Gender Journeys: A group facilitated by Isaac Wright and Social Worker Margo Quinlan for students wanting to connect with other gender-expansive peers and explore aspects of social, legal and medical transition.

Racialized Student Group: Malik Adams, BA’95, MEd in Counselling, and Peer Supporter Anika Panet-Carino invited racialized students for dinner at this drop-in support group.

HERE’S WHAT I’M THINKING

At any given time, there are so many things happening at King’s, it can be hard to keep up. We asked a few members of faculty and administration to share what’s on their mind, including recent successes or exciting projects in the works

“I WAS INVITED to Montreal to speak at the Air Canada Senior Staff Summit in January 2024. I was there to talk about accessibility and travel—two things with a deep connection that is often overlooked. I was joined by Canada’s Chief Accessibility Officer Stephanie Cadieux, who shared one of her own travel experiences: arriving at a destination only to find her wheelchair had been left behind. It was a powerful reminder that, for many of us, accessibility isn’t a luxury or a convenience. It’s dignity, independence and autonomy. A wheelchair is not a set of golf clubs.

During my talk, I focused on something much smaller but just as vital: straws on

airplanes. It may seem like a small detail, but for someone with a physical disability, a straw can make or break the ability to stay hydrated or enjoy a meal. I use a straw for every drink—coffee, tea, beer, wine, water, milk, you name it. If you serve a meal on a flight, you provide a fork. If you serve a drink, there should be a straw. For me, a straw is as essential as a fork is for someone else.

That conversation led to something bigger: Air Canada invited me to participate in a pilot project to help them select accessible straws for in-flight service. They mailed me 21 individually wrapped straws in 21 separate envelopes, along with a spreadsheet to test and rank each one. I teamed up with a

King’s Accessibility Officer

colleague, and together we tested them with hot and cold beverages, left them in liquids to see how they held up and rated them on performance. After lots of sipping, soaking and spreadsheeting, I submitted our top five. Thanks to that work—and the dedication of people working behind the scenes on policies and protocols—I’m proud to share that as of November 19, 2024, straws are now available on Air Canada flights. It may seem small, but it means a lot. And I’m incredibly proud to have played a part in making that happen.”

—Michelle Mahoney, Accessibility Officer

Michelle Mahoney is seated between Stephanie Cadieux, Canada’s first Chief Accessibility Officer, and Craig Landry, Executive Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer and President of Aeroplan at the 2024 Air Canada Senior Staff Summit.

UPDATING THE JOURNALISM CURRICULUM IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

“JOURNALISM IS CHANGING , and the King’s journalism programs are changing along with it.

In 2023, we launched King’s Journalism at 50, a faculty-driven process to revamp the four-year undergraduate degree in time for the start of our second half-century in 2028. A review of the one-year degree will follow. Since then, we’ve held two faculty

“SOME PUBLICATIONS brew for a long time. This one commenced almost two decades ago, in late 2005. Benjamin Whatley, BSc’07, then a neuroscience and HOST student, told me he had a science professor whose family owned Isaac Newton’s beer

retreats, struck a curriculum subcommittee, consulted with students, alumni and employers, and met countless times. We also asked the reviewers conducting our periodic undergraduate programs review to weigh in on draft changes, and we implemented a number of their recommendations before receiving King’s faculty and Board approval for the proposed revisions. The next step will

be a submission to the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission, the body that assures the quality of academic programs in the region.

I can’t get into the precise details yet because we still have to go through further internal and external approval processes, but we have been operating with two principles that we set at the first retreat: continue with exceptional journalism skills and knowledge instruction that responds to today’s complex environment; and widen the tent to ensure that students who may not plan careers in traditional journalism have great experiences in our programs.

In a time when it is so easy to find and spread misinformation, journalists play a hugely important role in providing the public with factually accurate information, and we will always train journalists. At the same time, many students come to us for the practical advantages of a degree that combines training in a wide range of academic disciplines with research, writing, podcasting and a myriad of other job-ready skills.

At King’s Journalism, we’re embracing the future.”

—Fred Vallance-Jones, Director of Journalism

mug. I was skeptical, but he insisted, and, in April 2006, I met Carmichael Wallace, his wife and the glorious wooden flagon. Thereupon, I became a believer. Now retired, Carmichael was at the time a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Dalhousie. The two of us then embarked on a journey of almost 20 years of on-again, offagain work documenting the transmission of Newton’s flagon to his chamber fellow John Wickins all the way down to the English Wallace family—who wound up in Halifax when Carmichael took his position at our sister institution. Along the way, we made a number of other discoveries, including the fact that the mug had been displayed at exhibitions in Salisbury in the Victorian period. What is more, we were able to show that Newton performed various experiments with beer and used it as a solvent for his homemade writing ink. This, we concluded, means that Newton’s famous Principia Mathematica (1687) was literally written in beer. The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science,

Notes and Records, published our paper in March 2025: “Isaac Newton’s Pint Flagon: Beer, Veneration and the History of Science.” That same month, the mug was exhibited at the Royal Society, and the story was picked up by the Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph and various other news organizations, including some as far away as India. Newton has a reputation as an austere and serious scholar. Perhaps the knowledge that he enjoyed the occasional pint will soften that image just a little.

In the meantime, lift a glass to the man who gave us gravity!”

—Dr. Stephen D. Snobelen, History of Science and Technology

Photo courtesy of The Royal Society

STREAMLINING ENROLMENT TO BETTER SERVE STUDENT NEEDS

“OVER THE PAST DECADE, I have seen first hand how rapid shifts in educational delivery models, access to enabling technology and financial realities have impacted students striving to achieve their educational goals. As financial and socio-economic conditions continue to evolve—particularly in Atlantic Canada—student interests and behaviors have also shifted in response.

Since the summer of 2024, we have taken significant steps to adapt, beginning with the reorganization of key departments into the Enrolment and Student Life Office (ESLO). At King’s, our ongoing Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) exercise outlines a clear vision for enrolment over the next five years, emphasizing recruitment, retention and student success. As we plan for 2030, we hope to create services and academic programming that will recognize the changing needs of our community, and create further opportunities for our students to receive a world-class education that enables them to thrive in every aspect of their lives.

Recent changes introduced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, including new limitations on study permits for international students, the rising cost of education and flat operational funding from the province have created a post-secondary environment defined by heightened competition for student enrolment.

Amid financial uncertainties shaped by both domestic and global geopolitical factors, our strategic enrolment plan provides a vital road map. It will guide how we allocate our limited resources and advance our academic mission, ensuring that we remain adaptive, resilient and well-positioned for the future.”

—Kutay Ulkuer, Chief Enrolment and Student Life Officer

CELEBRATING NEW PROJECTS AND A NEW ROLE AT KING’S

“I RECENTLY CAME OFF THE LAUNCH of my latest book, The Sky’s the Limit: Canadians Who Blazed a Trail in Aviation (Nimbus Publishing), a middle-grade nonfiction book spotlighting past and present aviators from underrepresented communities who broke barriers, including from BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, women and neurodiverse aviators. It’s my personal passion to ensure young people see themselves in the books they read.

My screenwriting chops were put to good use again, this time on the pilot episode of a TV series in development with 4 Directional Studios. It was a labour of absolute love and reminded me there are so many exciting Canadian stories to tell. Speaking of stories, I finally submitted a polished draft of my adult novel to the publisher.

After seven years as a Mentor in both the creative nonfiction and fiction programs, this spring I became a Cohort Director, replacing the irreplaceable Stephen Kimber. I can see buds on my indoor orange tree, a sign of renewal. Perhaps I will pick some to share with my King’s storytelling community.”

Wanda Taylor, BJ’08, MFA Cohort Director, Fiction

Photo by Elizabeth Foster, BJ(Hons)’22

the future welcoming:

“WELCOME” IS, in many respects, why we are here. Welcome is a word that marks an ushering in, a broadening of perspective to acknowledge and include others. I have always viewed undergraduate education as a welcome into adulthood and into a life infused with ideas and debate crucial to our role as citizens in a prosperous, equitable, democratic society.

Welcome is the word we chose to reflect our work on a new campaign for King’s. The future we envision is a King’s that welcomes students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds and celebrates individuality and the diversity of thinking and opinion that is the lifeblood of higher education.

Each time we create a new pathway into King’s, our community grows in strength, vibrancy and inclusiveness—and we’re all richer for it.”

—President William Lahey

View of the newly renovated accessible entrance to Alex Hall.

Photo by Elizabeth Foster, BJ(Hons)’22

ON NOVEMBER 21, 2024, the President’s Lodge was packed as President William Lahey publicly launched Welcoming: The Future King’s, a campaign to pave the way to a more inclusive and diverse future.

King’s goal is to raise $15 million to help the university advance its vision and offer space for underrepresented people, so they can see themselves reflected in the faces on campus and ideas in the classroom.

At the heart of this work, which builds on President Lahey’s mandate, is a new Academic Plan that outlines the educational priorities for King’s students with a vision that ensures equity, accessibility, inclusiveness and the university’s work toward reconciliation.

“Inclusion must be a focus and not an ancillary element of our educational mission. If we just focused on getting students in the door but did not embrace the goal of inclusion in the whole of their educational journey, inclusion would fall short of fostering a true sense of belonging,” says President Lahey.

At the launch events in Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto, President Lahey explained that to embark on this journey of transformation and include a range of voices and perspectives, the university has been working closely with partners and advisors from the

Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities, including the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia and the Mawaknutma’tnej, the Indigenous advisory circle at King’s. Support for the campaign has already reached $11 million.

Projects funded so far include the creation of the Deane Little Community Support Centre; restorations that protect and preserve our historic residences while improving them with modern amenities and building systems, and new common rooms; an endowed chair in the history of healthcare and health equity; and new scholarship and bursary initiatives to make King’s possible and attractive for students with a love of learning who may not have previously had access or felt welcome.

“This campaign is not just about the future of King’s, but our collective future,” said President Lahey at the Halifax launch, addressing the room guests, including donors, alumni, faculty, staff, the Board of Governors and students. “And we are buoyed by the vision of working with you to get there.”

Now, King’s is accelerating the pace of its progress to fund the remaining priority projects:

LEFT: Outgoing Board of Governors Chair Doug Ruck, BA’72, KC, Jane Smith, Dr. Kathryn R. Burton, BA’98, DCL’23, Chancellor Debra Deane Little, President William Lahey and Robert Little.

Photo by Paul Adams

MIDDLE, TOP TO BOTTOM: Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore, Board Chair of the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia Mervyn Broome, President William Lahey and Kathryn Lassaline. Photo by Paul Adams. Guests gathered for the Ottawa launch.

RIGHT: President William Lahey addresses guests at the Toronto campaign launch.

CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

WELCOME FUND

Goal: $500,000

General funds raised in previous King’s campaigns continue to steward the university today. Much of what has been accomplished at King’s in the past decade has been assisted by these unrestricted (internally restricted) legacy investments. Unrestricted funds are vital for King’s sustainability and provide direct student financial assistance and necessary seed funds for future program innovation. This campaign’s Welcome Fund builds on the tradition of collective campaign giving, where King’s alumni, parents and friends come together to continue the tradition of generosity from one generation to the next—the future King’s.

COCHRAN BAY RESTORATION

Goal: $1,400,000

Marked as urgent and placed as ‘top priority among priorities’ by our students, Cochran Bay needs loving attention. Known to graduates before 1960 as the ‘original’ Alex Hall (then a women’s residence), this 100-year-

old building is now the only King’s residence that is not restored and modernized. Above all, our students call for this work to be done so that all students in residence may enjoy comparable living spaces that combine their original charm (including the unique hybrid rooms) and important amenities (modernized washrooms). From our students’ perspective, this will be among the most impactful campaign priorities.

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

Goal: $250,000

King’s is a teaching-intensive university— providing excellent learning opportunities is our first and most important goal. Faculty renewal has advanced, including five new tenure-track professors, to make our faculty more reflective of the diverse community King’s aspires to be. Still, King’s falls short in the number of faculty members from equity-deserving groups. Programs also require additional expertise in key areas needed to diversify program content. To include a broader range of voices and perspectives,

this fund will allow us to welcome visiting scholars to King’s and support current faculty scholarship and professional development beyond the university.

MI’KMAW AND INDIGENIZATION INITIATIVES

Goal: $400,000

To build upon the $600,000 investment already made by King’s, this fund will continue to advance King’s specific and unique contribution to reconciliation by providing: direct financial support for Mi’kmaw and Indigenous students; programming at the Mawio’mio’kuom, King’s Indigenous Students Centre; expand activities offered by the full-time Indigenous Support and Outreach Coordinator; and maintain and expand our unique courses in journalism and the Indigenization initiatives underway or planned in other programs. As with all Indigenization efforts at King’s, advice is provided by the Mawaknutma’tnej, King’s Indigenous advisory circle.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING & HUMANITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (HYP)

Goal: $290,000

Particularly in our journalism program, King’s has long been a leader in “learning by doing.” This fund will build on that leadership and the accomplishments of recent years in creating highly successful pilot projects in co-curricular experiential learning by enabling King’s to both emphasize and develop the experiential element already present across our programs and add new for-credit and co-curricular opportunities in this growing field of learning in the liberal arts. This fund will provide program innovation for our work on experiential learning in journalism, creative writing and the humanities, including through our Undergraduate Fellowships in the Public Humanities, and other workintegrated learning programs. Similarly, we will expand Humanities for Young People (HYP), our highly successful summer program for high school students, to ensure more young students understand why education in the humanities and journalism has never been timelier and more salient.

TUTORING SUPPORTS

Goal: $100,000

This will provide dedicated tutoring support to assist students who may otherwise struggle in our programs, including those who may have been disadvantaged in their earlier education. All King’s students in need of academic support will benefit from advice and encouragement as they learn how to balance their academic and extracurricular commitments, which are essential to the enrichment of their college life.

LEARNING BEYOND THE QUAD

Goal: $500,000

King’s offers for-credit field courses in Europe (Florence and Berlin) and in Mi’kma’ki (Eskasoni) with aspirations to develop more. This fund will expand and enrich these offerings and ensure their accessibility by providing financial assistance to deserving students who could not otherwise participate. Additionally, the fund will support select class outings and, when needed, provide financial assistance for students to attend and present their papers

at national and international conferences. This fund will support an increased number of land-based programs and off-campus excursions and curb inequities in our students’ ability to experience the fullness of what King’s has to offer.

MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN SCRIPT WRITING

Goal: $200,000

King’s is developing an MFA in Script Writing program that builds on the success of the two existing MFA programs in creative nonfiction and fiction. Created in partnership with the local film industry, this program will facilitate the growth of a body of creative writers who wish to create for television, film, online productions or games. With this seed funding in place, the script writing program would welcome its first cohort of graduate students in June 2027. By 2028, enrolment will include two full cohorts, with a cohort size of approximately 20 to 25 students, and will then be self-sustaining.

PODCASTING CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

Goal: $160,000

Podcasting has become an important platform for journalistic and creative storytelling, including for voices from communities that have been underrepresented in the media. As the podcasting industry matures, producers focus on improving creative and production standards, putting pressure on podcasters to elevate and upgrade their skills or partner with people who have audio expertise. This need for expertise creates a unique opportunity for King’s journalism program. This fund will provide the necessary lift to enhance our existing podcasting offerings by launching a Centre of Excellence in Podcasting that will become self-funding in its second year.

FIRST GENERATION RENEWABLE BURSARY

Goal: $300,000

This fund will create a fully endowed bursary to support students who are the first in their family to attend university. It will create an annual, renewable bursary valued at $3,000 per year. The bursary will give preference to Nova Scotia students from rural communities.

GORDON EARLE SCHOLARSHIP FOR AFRICAN NOVA SCOTIAN STUDENTS

Goal: $450,000

Trailblazing African Nova Scotian Dr. Gordon Sinclair Earle, BA’63, DCL’22, was the first recipient of the Prince Scholarship, originally named for pioneering sociologist Dr. Samuel L. Prince. When it was first established in 1959, it was the only scholarship dedicated to African Nova Scotian students offered by any university in the province. Discontinued in the 1970s due to a lack of funding, it was reinstated by King’s in 2018 and renamed in Dr. Earle’s honour in 2023. It is now an annual, renewable scholarship valued at $6,000 per year. Today, $150,000 has been raised to support this award, and our goal is to fully endow it to ensure a scholarship can be awarded annually for perpetuity.

RESTORED A&A FOYER

Goal: $350,000

Our welcome to everyone includes rejuvenating the foyer of the Arts and Administration Building into the grand ‘entranceway’ to our Collegii Regalis and into higher learning that Architect Andrew Cobb intended it to be.

ARTWORKS

Goal: $100,000

The ambiance of King’s has an important role in our welcome to everyone, as it helps to convey an embracing sense of place and belonging. To complement our beautiful architectural heritage, particularly in our foyer and dining hall, we will purchase and commission new works of art that provide a contemporary visual representation of the diversity of perspectives within our community.

If you are looking to support the campaign and do not see your interests reflected in these projects, there are additional ways to contribute. The three campaign pillars— Empowering Student Success & Access, Expanding and Diversifying the Educational Experience, and Enhancing Excellence and the Cultural Life of King’s—leave ample room for conversation.

TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: Dr. Gordon Earle, BA’63, DCL’22, and guests in Halifax. President William Lahey in Ottawa. BOTTOM: Guests at the Toronto launch.

“Through this campaign, with the help of donors and partners, the living and learning community at King’s will be strengthened and enriched in all its dimensions. The King’s that emerges will provide an even more transformational education to its students that better prepares them for fulfilling consequential lives beyond King’s, giving them a long view of the complexities of the twentyfirst century—a gift to the students and, in turn, a gift from our students to the world.”

—President William Lahey

For more information about the campaign, its priorities and ways to give, contact Adriane Abbott, Director of Advancement at adriane.abbott@ukings.ca or visit ukings.ca/future-kingscampaign.

ADVANCING MEDICAL HUMANITIES

King’s and Dalhousie cap off 100 years of association with a new Chair in the history of healthcare

ON MARCH 11, DALHOUSIE President Dr. Kim Brooks and King’s President William Lahey gathered guests in the President’s Lodge at a capstone event for the 100th anniversary of the association between the two universities—and an exciting announcement about the creation of the Roper-Hannah Chair in the History of Healthcare and Health Equity. This celebration was also an opportunity to acknowledge the generous donors, AMS Healthcare and the J & W Murphy Foundation, which each endowed $1,750,000 to create the Chair.

“This Chair is a powerful testament to the enduring partnership between Dalhousie and King’s, and to the importance of understanding healthcare through a historical lens,” says President Brooks. “The history of healthcare is not just about medical advances—it’s about the choices we’ve made, the voices we’ve elevated or ignored, and the systems we’ve built. This initiative will ensure that future generations of scholars and practitioners learn from that history to shape a more equitable and compassionate healthcare system.”

Positioned at the forefront of advancing medical humanities at King’s and Dalhousie, this new Chair was created to address questions of health equity from a criticalhistorical perspective. It will build on King’s and Dalhousie’s undergraduate Certificate in Medical Humanities and Combined Honours program in History of Science and Technology (HOST) and afford many generations of King’s and Dalhousie students further exposure to this important field of research. This tenured or tenure-track

Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, Associate Dean, Serving and Engaging Society, Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, Lisa Murphy and Karen Spaulding of the J & W Murphy Foundation, Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, King’s President William Lahey and Dalhousie President Dr. Kim Brooks.

BOTTOM: Guests gathered in the President’s Lodge for the announcement of the Roper-Hannah Chair in the History of Healthcare and Health Equity.

“This Chair is a powerful testament to the enduring partnership between Dalhousie and King’s, and to the importance of understanding healthcare through a historical lens.”

TOP: LEFT TO RIGHT:

All photos by Kelly Clark

appointment will be held by a historian who contributes significantly through teaching and research to the body of scholarship on the history of healthcare and health equity. The holder of this Chair will be appointed to the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Dalhousie, and will teach in King’s History of Science and Technology Honours program. They will also be cross-appointed to the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie. The anticipated first appointment for the Chair will be in the 2026/27 academic year.

“The history of healthcare documents our past to see where we have stumbled before, especially in the areas of health equity,” says President Lahey. “Equity is an essential part of health and well-being. The Canada Health Act commits Canada to equity in the financing and delivery of core healthcare services, but we know we have much to do to make equity a wider reality for everyone, in and beyond those core services. Historical analysis helps us understand our past and present to imagine the better and more equitable systems of the future.”

Using the indispensable tools of critical-historical analysis, the appointed Chair will conduct, promote and disseminate research at the intersection of the

critical history of medicine/healthcare, medical ethics and health equity. Scholarly touchpoints of the Chair might include: complicity of medical systems in colonial structures; history of health equity framing in the healthcare system; critical global history of science and medicine, before, during and after the colonial period; medicine and healthcare beyond Eurocentric understandings and borders; critical and historically-informed interrogation of a still-largely Eurocentric understanding of bioethics and their value propositions around health and well-being.

Upon extending sincere gratitude to both AMS Healthcare and the J & W Murphy Foundation for their vision and generosity in making this initiative possible, President Brooks turned to the collaboration between King’s and Dalhousie and her relationship with President Lahey, remarking, “We’ve had the great opportunity to work together as presidents of two extraordinary institutions in this province.… It is always exciting to work with Bill, every project he brings for conversation is one that I am enthusiastic about embracing. It is a mutual partnership, and he has my great admiration. I very much look forward to this Chair being something that we are able to say we did together.”

“The history of healthcare documents our past to see where we have stumbled before, especially in the areas of health equity. Equity is an essential part of health and well-being.”

LEFT: Professor Dr. Roberta Barker, BA(Hons)’96, and Director of HOST Dr. Mélanie Frappier.

MIDDLE, TOP TO BOTTOM: Lisa Murphy, J & W Murphy Foundation and members of the Roper family. President William Lahey greets Karen Spaulding, J & W Murphy Foundation.

RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Chief Executive Officer of AMS Healthcare Helen Angus. Professor Kyle Fraser and guests gathered in the President’s Lodge for the announcement of the Roper-Hannah Chair in the History of Healthcare and Health Equity.

All photos by Kelly Clark

AMS HEALTHCARE: CREATORS OF THE HANNAH CHAIRS

Since the 1970s, AMS Healthcare has helped to turn the history of healthcare into a thriving discipline, supporting a community of scholars to advance a robust understanding of how medical ethics and bioethics change over time. The community includes eight other Hannah Chairs at universities across the country—this is the first in Atlantic Canada. “We are delighted to join the J & W Murphy Foundation to add the Roper-Hannah Chair to the community of Hannah Scholars across Canada,” says Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare. “With the addition of this new Chair, we continue this legacy—strengthening our national network of healthcare historians and further embedding history into medical and healthcare education. This Chair will support research, mentorship, teaching and community development, helping future generations of healthcare professionals appreciate the historical forces that have shaped modern medicine and the ethical challenges that lie ahead.”

J & W MURPHY FOUNDATION: A RICH LEGACY AT KING’S AND DALHOUSIE

With their gift, the J & W Murphy Foundation continues its investment in compassionate care through its charitable endeavours. This is the second Chair at Dalhousie made possible by their generosity—the first being the J & W Murphy Foundation Endowed Chair in Palliative Care. “We value this new Chair for the way it brings humanities and healthcare together,” says Lisa Murphy, who, with her sister Karen Spaulding, carries on the Foundation created by their parents, the late Janet and Bill Murphy. “It reflects our commitment to understanding medicine not just through the narrative lens of those in power, but also the lived experiences of those affected by historical decision-making as we strive to improve health equity. Helping name this Chair was also deeply personal— we do it to honour our mother, Janet Roper Murphy, our Roper family’s deep Halifax roots and our uncle Henry Roper’s lifelong dedication to history and the University of King’s College.”

The Roper-Hannah Chair in the History of Healthcare and Health Equity is a beautiful bookend to this anniversary celebration that began in 2023 when King’s and Dalhousie appointed Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield as the inaugural Centennial Carnegie Chair in the History of Slavery in Canada—turn to page 40 to read more about Dr. Whitfield’s work.

CULTIVATING COMPASSION IN HEALTHCARE

These alumni are exploring the connections between healthcare and the humanities in three very different areas of research

by a ndr E a m acdonald, BJ(hons)’91

USING DATA SCIENCE to help improve maternal health outcomes. Exploring critical medical histories to inform culturally safe healthcare. Studying how the brain reacts to AI images. Alumni engaged in these vastly different areas of research share a common foundation—interdisciplinary studies at King’s and Dalhousie that explored the complex relationships between medicine, health, science, history and culture.

RAFAEL FECURY BRAGA

RECENT GRADUATE Rafael Fecury Braga, BSc(Hons)’25, finds the complex relationship between humanity and technology fascinating.

He just wrapped up the fifth year of his BSc (Honours) in psychology with a minor in contemporary studies. He also graduated with a Certificate in Medical Humanities— open to Dalhousie and King’s students from all faculties who wish to combine courses from both universities to learn more about how human societies have engaged with health, wellness, illness and the body, in the past and present.

As part of a Dalhousie research team, Braga completed a project on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications in the social and political domain. Specifically, the team studied whether labelling AI-generated content on social media affects how we process those images at a neuro-physiological level. The hope is that this labelling can combat misinformation.

“With the rise of AI-generated images

recently—and especially with the most recent United States presidential election— we’ve seen the power those images can have,” says Braga. His group hopes to publish their findings so they can reach a broader audience.

Braga’s honours thesis also focused on a human–tech connection. Sexting in youth is extremely common but comes with risks and can damage self-esteem, so Braga looked at ways to make it safer.

“More and more of our identity—especially sexuality—is being expressed online,” he explains. “That’s never happened before in history, so it’s interesting to understand the politics of that.”

His interdisciplinary research at Dalhousie helped him explore how technology mediates both culture and communications in the ways we interact—an area of study he’s considering pursuing as a graduate student in either medicine or clinical psychology.

“That’s very reminiscent of a lot of King’s courses that analyze science and technology from a very critical perspective.”

JESSICA CASEY

“WHAT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE do we get when we start from the margins?” asks Jessica Casey, BA(Hons)’24, as she reflects on the King’s experiences that led to her graduate studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Casey’s interdisciplinary research in science and technology studies explores the connections between science, medicine and colonial systems—particularly in the contested spaces where different knowledge traditions meet.

While at King’s, Casey was a Dr. Carrie Best Scholar and received the University Medal in Contemporary Studies. Her undergraduate thesis explored the history of Canada’s mass medical evacuations of Inuit from their home communities to southern tuberculosis sanatoriums in the mid-20th century. She noticed that while public narratives of these forced, assimilatory interventions may acknowledge harms to Inuit

bodies or culture, they rarely discussed Inuit knowledge. To address this gap, philosophies of knowledge became her lens to explore how the state’s socio-political goals conflicted with the ability of Inuit to mobilize their own knowledge about well-being and endof-life care.

Casey was awarded a 2024 Scotia Scholars Research Award for her project, “Contextualizing Culturally Relevant Endof-Life Care Through the Legacy of Mass Inuit Tuberculosis Evacuation,” an extension of her thesis that involved the creation of educational materials for healthcare professionals working with Indigenous peoples.

“The core reasons I wanted to pick up that project in the first place haven’t left,” she says. She continues pursuing this passion project through her SSHRC-funded master’s thesis, while also working at UBC on professional projects relating to anticolonial science, collaborative research and Indigenous health.

JOSH FELDMAN

ALTHOUGH HE KNEW he eventually wanted to study sciences and math, Josh Feldman, ’14, enrolled in the Foundation Year Program to improve his reading and writing skills—but found that he got so much more from what he describes as “the best year of education” he has received.

Feldman credits the program with helping him become a better communicator, and for fostering in him an appreciation for the humanities that continues to enrich his scientific work. “So much of what King’s teaches is in the background of all the decisions I made in life,” he says, “and it’s shaped how I see things.”

After graduating from Dalhousie in 2017 with a BSc in mathematics and a minor in contemporary studies from King’s, Feldman was hired as a data scientist at a Toronto start-up, which helped build a pandemic early-warning system by cross-referencing news about infectious outbreaks with air-travel patterns to determine regions most at risk of spread.

This work led him to pursue his MSc

in data science at Harvard University as a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow. There, he worked as a research assistant on a white paper for Harvard Law School exploring ethical and rights-based approaches to AI.

In 2021, Feldman set up the data infrastructure for a public health project in Philadelphia called Cayaba Care that leverages community-based care to improve maternal health outcomes in the U.S. The project connects expectant parents with “maternity navigators” to provide social supports and reach underserved and highrisk populations.

From there, Feldman decided to pursue medical school at the University of Toronto, where he contributed to the Upstream Lab, a leader in integrating health and social care that uses data science, links initiatives and develops innovations that address the social determinants of health.

Feldman’s combined expertise in data science, healthcare and the humanities fosters the kind of compassion and skill we all seek in a family doctor, which is what he’s now working to become.

Q&A WITH DR. HARVEY AMANI WHITFIELD

Meet the inaugural Centennial Carnegie

Chair in the History of Slavery in Canada

by

K ath E rin E o’Bri E n, BJ’87

Photo by Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25

LAST SEPTEMBER, Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield was appointed the inaugural Centennial Carnegie Chair at Dalhousie and King’s, a Chair created in 2023 to mark the 100th anniversary of King’s and Dalhousie’s association. The Centennial Carnegie appointment addresses recommendations and commitments from the inquiry and conference that both universities have made to advance important scholarship worldwide, redress historical exclusions and chart a course for a more inclusive and diverse future.

Prior to being appointed Chair, and while part of the faculty of the University of Calgary, Whitfield contributed to King’s and Slavery: A Scholarly Inquiry and was a keynote speaker at the 2023 Universities Studying Slavery Conference co-hosted by King’s and Dalhousie in partnership with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.

Although Whitfield was born in the U.S. and spent much of his life in Michigan, Maryland, D.C., Colorado, Chicago and Vermont—he has become an expert in early Canadian history and slavery.

Whitfield has written several books about slavery in the Maritimes and teaches Black North American history and the history of slavery at Dalhousie. He has also given King’s students a lecture on the slave trade which includes the experience of Boston King, a former slave who came to Nova Scotia, and will soon be offering more lectures for the Foundation Year Program. Here, he shares a little about his areas of scholarship and what he hopes to inspire in students.

What sparked your interest in Black migration to the Maritimes?

When I came to Dalhousie in 1997 to do graduate work in British Empire and African history, I was grossly ignorant of the Black Canadian population. I lived in the South End and there would be days when I didn’t see a Black person. Later, when I moved to Gottingen Street [in the North End], I realized there was a Black population in Halifax, and I became curious about their history. I ultimately decided to focus on a North American topic, writing a dissertation about the War of 1812 Black refugees, which became my first book, Blacks on the Border: The Black Refugees in British North America, 1815-1860.

“I want my students to ask why certain things happen in history, like why a normal person would think it was okay to own enslaved people.”

Why is the study of slavery in the Maritimes important?

You don’t have to own 100 slaves or even 10 to be involved in the business of slavery. It’s much broader than that. The Maritimes was absolutely a part of a wider plantation complex and a slave economy. Maritimers traded timber and fish for rum, sugar and molasses from the Caribbean and, in doing that, they sustained slavery in the British Caribbean— that’s why it matters.

What is your most important contribution to the research around slavery in Canada?

I think it shows the extent to which it existed in colonial Canada and its importance in this wider British world of slavery. Another huge takeaway is that the labels of Black Loyalists or Black slave or free Black person or indentured servant changed all the time. You really have to check the individual stories, which is why I wrote the Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes [which recovers the lives of over 1,400 enslaved Black people].

We can’t assume that all Black persons were free just because they served on the British lines during the American Revolution before coming to Nova Scotia with a freedom paper. Some Black people came as slaves with their Loyalist owners, a number of whom later escaped and migrated to Sierra Leone. In other cases, free Black Loyalists were re-enslaved and sent down to the Caribbean. We used to talk about going from slavery to freedom—I started saying, well, what about from slavery to slavery.

What was the reality for Black enslaved people in the Maritimes?

Slavery in the Maritimes is very similar to slavery in New England in that slaveowners

usually only owned a few people and they either worked on a farm or in a trade or did domestic work. If you were an enslaved person in Boston or Halifax, chances are your labour wasn’t going to kill you. But if you had a sadistic owner and you were that person’s only slave, you were probably living in the same house, they were around you 24/7, and they could beat you or perpetrate sexual violence.

What do you hope students will take away from your courses and lectures?

I want my students to ask why certain things happen in history, like why a normal person would think it was okay to own enslaved people. People had become so accustomed to owning humans and relying on slavery economically that abusing a slave was absolutely normalized. In one example, a wealthy Virginian planter who kept a diary wrote about going about his normal daily routine after whipping a boy for wetting his bed.

I also tell students that even though enslaved people were at a distinct disadvantage, they still had cards they could play. Within this paternalistic framework, both masters and slaves had obligations to one another. In some cases, slaves probably ran away, not because they were seeking freedom, but because their owner had gone too far and they were trying to negotiate better terms. At the bottom of one ad for a runaway slave in Nova Scotia it says, “If the said JAMES, (sic) will return to his Master he shall be forgiven.”

What do you plan to write next?

If I can find enough documentation, I would like to write a book that tells the stories of enslaved people in the Maritimes within the wider patterns of slavery in the British empire.

BOOKS & TRAVEL

Travellers from the King’s community share stories that inspired journeys and destinations that sparked ideas for writing

by Nicola Pulling

“THE WORLD IS A BOOK,” Saint Augustine is credited with saying, “and those who do not travel read only one page.”

The King’s community has its share of explorers who have read from the world’s many pages. They know that discovering the world is about more than just seeing the Eiffel Tower, trekking to Everest Base Camp or scaling Machu Picchu. Here, they share how travel—and stories discovered along the way—opened them up to new ideas and themselves.

ADMISSIONS AND RECRUITMENT OFFICER LAURA HILLYARD ON A MEMOIR THAT GAVE HER THE COURAGE TO TRAVEL SOLO

THE BOOK THAT sparked my interest in solo travel was Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks (not the famous skateboarder). I picked up the book as an angst-ridden high school student in my I’d-rather-be-anywhere-but-here phase. Hawks scooped me up on an adventure involving a ridiculous drunken bet where a friend bet him £100 to hitchhike with a fridge around the circumference of Ireland in a month (the fridge cost £120).

Descriptions of the places and the colourful characters he met along the way made me want to get out and see the world for myself. I took my first solo trip at 18 and never looked back. Now, I have my own stories, including experiencing the Christchurch earthquake in 2010, entering a haggis-eating competition and an accidental encounter with the most polite Czech thugs (I do not recommend hanging out by the Vltava River late at night). Travelling alone has opened me up to opportunities I never could have imagined, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

ART HISTORIAN &

ASSISTANT

PROFESSOR DR. JUSTINA SPENCER ON A TETRALOGY THAT HELPED HER RELIVE SUNNY DAYS IN ITALY

AS A GRADUATE STUDENT, I had the great fortune to live in Florence for three months on a doctoral fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Art History. I was collecting materials for my PhD thesis on the art of optical illusions and spent time perusing the collections of the Museo Galileo and the Uffizi. Once I returned to dreary England, I sought out novels set in Italy to re-immerse myself in the Italian sun. A year after my fellowship ended, Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels were translated into English, and I quickly scooped up a copy of My Brilliant Friend, the first in the series. Ferrante chronicles the close and oft-times intensely competitive relationship between two young girls, Elena and Lila, beginning at age six, and follows them through adolescence and adulthood. The setting of 1950s Naples, while distinct from contemporary Florence, nonetheless spoke to me. I had spent a fair bit of time along the Tuscan coast and was able to connect, in a small but meaningful way, to Elena’s experiences on the island of Ischia. Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels have become some of my all-time favourite books, and I plan to re-read them in situ once again when I return to Florence to teach my King’s course next May.

PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES DR. SIMON KOW ON A NOVEL DISCOVERED IN PRAGUE THAT HAS STAYED WITH HIM FOR LIFE

IN JUNE 2010, I was co-teaching the Advanced Seminar in Baroque Culture, offered by Dalhousie’s Fountain School [of Performing Arts] on-site in a small town in the Czech Republic. The course includes a short field trip to Prague, a city that never ceases to dazzle me with its elegant beauty and deep history. Wandering around the Vltava River in an ecstatic haze one sweltering afternoon, I came upon the English bookshop Shakespeare & Sons. It sells several books by Karel Čapek (1890-1938), famous for the play RUR, which coined the word ‘robot’ (‘forced labourer’ in Czech). On the shelf was another monster-piece of his, the 1936 novel War with the Newts—a hilarious satire about a race of superintelligent newts discovered by a Czech captain in Indonesia. The newts are then exploited for land reclamation by the world’s nations. They breed like salamanders and, unsurprisingly, turn on their human masters, who cannot exterminate the newts in their watery element. It became one of my favourite novels and a beloved staple in my King’s course, Ideas of the Sea & Seafaring, as a successor to other classics of oceanic science fiction: Gulliver’s Travels and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Děkujeme vám, Praha!

JOURNALISM STUDENT AND DEANE LITTLE SCHOLAR AINSLIE

NICHOLL-PENMAN ON A BOOK THAT HELPED HER EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN

THE ONLY THING I HOPE for at the end of my life is that I can look back on everything I’ve done and be truly happy. Happiness to me is telling stories, travelling, immersing myself in cultures and giving underrepresented people/communities the spotlight they deserve. Suleika Jaouad taught me, in her memoir Between Two Kingdoms, that life will not always go as we plan it to. There will be unexpected illnesses, near-death experiences and people we love who let us down. Jaouad also taught me that those moments do not define us. If we spend our lives being afraid of the unknown, we will never see what comes out on the other end. My “unknown” gave me an acceptance letter to study for a semester at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and the chance to spend time there with family I didn’t grow up with. My “unknown” taught me that home can be more than one place.

AUTHOR AND DIRECTOR OF WRITING & PUBLISHING DR. GILLIAN TURNBULL, MFA’17, ON A JOURNEY TO KICK OFF HER NEXT BOOK

IN 1964 , during a trip to Oahu, my grandfather asked my grandmother for a divorce. Even though she refused, with seven children to look after, that was a clear turning point for the family. My grandfather became increasingly mysterious. He continued to travel to Hawai‘i for the next 25 years, developing friendships and studying steel guitar with Jerry Byrd (Hank Williams’ steel player), crafting a new life for himself.

Fifty years later, I started playing steel guitar myself, learning under Burke Carroll, a venerated steel guitarist. As Burke continued his own study of the Hawaiian tradition, we travelled together to Honolulu, uncovering the mystery of my grandfather’s life by interviewing local guitarists who knew him.

This trip was the start of a book I am writing on my grandfather’s second, secret life as a steel guitar player. A man who grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, went on to train pilots in the Second World War, and spent his remaining professional life as a high school car mechanics teacher, my grandfather always nurtured a love of Hawaiian and country music, most clearly manifested in his steel guitar mastery.

This was a journey of self- and family discovery, propelled by our common, if tenuous, connection as musicians.

Photo of Gillian Turnbull and her grandfather by Susan Turnbull.

OCEAN VIEWS

Three

alumni working to protect our oceans through reporting, research and conservation leadership

by K ath E rin E o’Bri E n, BJ’87

BACK IN 2016–17, when her father received a palliative cancer diagnosis, Jenn Thornhill Verma, BJ(Hons)’02, MFA’19, had a moment of self-reflection in which she asked herself whether she was really doing what she loved. “Some might define that as a mid-life crisis, others might say it’s a mid-life awakening,” says Thornhill Verma, whose revelation led her to apply to King’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction program. While in the program, she wrote Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys, a book that delved into her family’s past and helped change the future of her career.

This blend of historical nonfiction and memoir opens in a fishing village, where her paternal grandmother and grandfather, the last generation of fishers in her family, lived. “My dad grew up in a fishing community…. If I didn’t take an opportunity then to dig into those stories about my family’s connection to the fishery and the cod fishery, then I wouldn’t have an opportunity to do so.”

Becoming an author wasn’t Thornhill Verma’s first big career change. After graduating from King’s with an undergraduate degree in journalism, she worked in radio

TO RIGHT: Dr. Dan Boyce, MFA’24. Louie Porta, BA(Hons)’06. Photo courtesy of ASF. Jenn Thornhill Verma, BJ(Hons)’02, MFA’19, in Quidi Vidi in St. John’s, N.L. Photo by Chris LeDrew

before pursuing a master of science in medicine and embarking on a career in healthcare quality improvement. The publication of Cod Collapse shifted Thornhill Verma back into journalism. “Both of those degrees [from King’s] served me incredibly well. And I don’t know that I could be doing what I’m doing now if not having had that King’s experience twice over.”

She’s retained close ties to the King’s community as a member of the Board of Governors and has served as Vice-President of the Alumni Association. And, in July she took on the role of President of the Alumni Association.

Now a go-to source on the cod fishery decline, Thornhill Verma has written critically about the government’s decision to reopen the commercial cod fishery in 2024 when the fishery was still “halfway to collapse.” The drop in cod is not an isolated incident, says Thornhill Verma, whose 2022 article for The Narwhal examined fish species at risk in Canada, showing that the greater predictor of whether a fish species at risk is protected is not its risk status but its commercial value. “I think we need now, more than ever, stories that hold corporations and govern-

ments to account,” she says.

Thornhill Verma is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Explorers Club and an Oxford Climate Journalism Network alum. Last year, her dream came true when she began a reporting fellowship with the Globe and Mail as one of 10 fellows—and the first Canadian—chosen for the second cohort of the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. As a fellow, she is writing a series about Canada–U.S. protections for North Atlantic right whales. The work she is most proud of, which also received Pulitzer funding, was a threepart series exploring climate change and Inuit-led adaptations in Nunatsiavut. It also includes a sea ice glossary, as knowledge of sea ice terminology is crucial for Inuit living in Labrador, she adds.

Several of Thornhill Verma’s articles feature fellow King’s grad Dr. Dan Boyce, MFA’24, a writer, fisheries researcher and marine ecologist. The two collaborated on an article for the Globe and Mail on the Atlantic mackerel collapse. Boyce is currently working on a book he began at King’s about mackerel and the other forage fish that play a crucial role in rearing livestock, chickens

“I think we need now, more than ever, stories that hold corporations and governments to account.”

and farmed fish, but don’t typically get a lot of attention. “If you look back through history, they’ve really been instrumental in driving how our societies and our species have developed over time,” he says, adding that he wants his writing to reveal the “hidden things that we don’t know about or we’ve forgotten about and why we should care about the oceans.”

Boyce says the creative nonfiction program pushed his writing forward in

LEFT

“Now when we work on the biggest environmental problems facing our planet … if we aren’t matching the same kind of energy, vigor, inventiveness and creativity that is being used to destroy our planet, we will lose.”

marine conservation team of scientists, activists, policy experts, Indigenous leaders and field technicians, which has helped secure some of the world’s largest ocean conservation areas. Oceans North partners with Indigenous and coastal communities that rely on an abundant Arctic ecosystem.

many ways. In particular, his mentors, Harry Thurston and Charlotte Gill, were remarkable. “The little gems that I was able to extract from them … I feel that alone was worth the cost of tuition.”

He grew up landlocked in northern Ontario and didn’t see the ocean until he was seven, when his family took a trip to Newfoundland, but it made a big impression. “Nowadays, I get a little twitchy when I’m too far from the ocean for too long,” says Boyce, who has held a variety of ocean-related jobs, all of which helped inform his work as a marine scientist and writer.

While studying marine biology at Dalhousie University, he worked as a fisheries observer that he describes as “basically partscientist and a data collector and partpoliceman.” Before that, he was a deckhand aboard scuba diving and deep-sea fishing boats, helping anglers catch 100-pound tunas off the Californian and Mexican coasts. Later, he worked on industrial longline fishing boats in Indonesia and the Cook Islands. There, he heard similar stories from fishermen from different parts of the world that made it clear things were changing. “It was getting harder to find fish, fishermen were having to travel further, the fish were getting smaller. So, it really clued me in that something big was happening in the oceans.”

When Boyce began his grad work in marine ecology, he hypothesized that the overfishing of tuna and billfish led to a “trophic cascade,” where the loss of top predators causes a ripple effect in the food chain, in this case, creating an increase in phytoplankton at the bottom of the food web. Instead, he and his fellow researchers were surprised to discover the opposite—a drastic

worldwide decline in phytoplankton linked to ocean warming. Their findings, published in Nature, sparked intense debate within the scientific community. To prove critics wrong, Boyce shifted his graduate research from large fish to microscopic phytoplankton. He has since won two awards for his thesis and received the Early Career Ocean Scientist Award from the Canadian National Committee for the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research for outstanding contribution to the marine sciences.

While he could have made a career studying phytoplankton, Boyce switched gears. “I’ve never made the decisions that would have given me the easiest path to success or wealth in my career … I’m proud of the fact that I try to follow my convictions, and I try to do what’s right and I [try] to follow my passions.”

In 2024, Boyce left his job as a research scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to launch Wild Ocean Research, a scientific consulting practice that supports clients in academia, conservation, industry, government and international organizations. His first client was the United Nations, which tapped him for expert advice to help strengthen the climate resilience of North Atlantic fisheries. Through another contract, Boyce created the Climate Risk Index for Biodiversity—a groundbreaking tool that “grades” marine species’ vulnerability to climate change. While working on this research, which was eventually published in the journal Nature, he worked with the Ocean Frontier Institute and Oceans North, the latter of which was founded by fellow King’s graduate Louie Porta, BA(Hons)’06. Porta co-founded Oceans North, a

Like Thornhill Verma, Maine-native Porta grew up in a coastal area, where he fished, surfed, swam in the sea and explored mountains and lakes, inspiring an environmental career that focuses on the relationship between conservation and communities, especially Indigenous communities. As part of a master’s degree in resource and environmental management, he researched a fisheries project for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. He later worked at the Fisheries Joint Management Committee in Inuvik, N.W.T., which co-manages all fish, fish habitat and marine mammals within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Developing meaningful alliances with Indigenous people continued to be of prime importance to Porta, who, in 2024, took on the role of CEO of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), a science and advocacy organization made up of more than 25,000 members and volunteers working to conserve and restore wild Atlantic salmon populations.

Most coastal Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada have a historical relationship with Atlantic salmon, a species that struggles in some parts and is under pressure from aquaculture and forestry in others, says Porta. He adds that in the northern part of the salmon’s range, Nunatsiavut and Nunavik, the populations are still strong and healthy. Since he has been at the ASF, he has been trying to broaden relationships with people he’s worked with in the past because the future of Atlantic salmon requires Inuit homelands to continue to be strongholds.

“There’s no future for Atlantic salmon without deep and complete partnerships with Indigenous peoples,” says Porta, who has also been a long-time advisor to the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General.

In March of this year, Porta was recruited by the prestigious Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in California to be the Program Director for the Marine Conservation Initiative and lead their new Arctic Ocean Initiative. Over the next 10 years, Porta will give away $270 million to support a healthy Arctic and the well-being of those who call

the region home.

Porta believes environmentalists need to develop an entrepreneurial spirit, say, by creating ocean conservation projects that also offer economic opportunities for coastal communities. “Now when we work on the biggest environmental problems facing our planet … if we aren’t matching the same kind of energy, vigor, inventiveness and creativity that is being used to destroy our planet, we will lose.”

He says a King’s History of Science and Technology course he took while pursuing his BA in environmental sociology and history helped him understand the past so he could do better in the future. The wellbeing of people and their relationship to the environment remains a guiding principle for Porta, who is concerned that as we lose our connection to nature we will start to lose “our ability to activate our spirit to take care of the places that take care of us.”

“I’ve never made the decisions that would have given me the easiest path to success or wealth in my career … I’m proud of the fact that I try to follow my convictions, and I [try] to do what’s right and I try to follow my passions.”

TOP: Jenn Thornhill Verma interviewing Ron Webb in Nain, N.L. Photo by Johnny CY Lam

MIDDLE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Louie Porta. Jenn Thornhill

Verma interviewing Rex Holwell in Nain, N.L. Photo by Johnny CY Lam

BOTTOM: Dr. Dan Boyce. Photo by Tyler Eddy

LEARNING THROUGH EXPERIENCE

Leigh Gillis on how experiential learning helps students transition into the workforce and realize the many skills they have to offer

by Nicola Pulling

Photo by Emma Kuzmyk, MFA’25

HUMANITIES STUDENTS BRING VITAL SKILL SETS to any job they take on—and King’s experiential learning programs offer students employment, volunteer and research opportunities to discover the value of their education to themselves and employers.

We asked Leigh Gillis, Interim Manager of Public Humanities and Experiential Learning, to share how the programs promote student success through initiatives such as the Undergraduate Fellowships in Public Humanities and the Microcredentials program.

What is experiential learning?

To me, it’s learning that comes from any experience that you have taken the time to think about, process into your own being and then use and build on. So, it can come from travel, a course, an experience you have in a job, a hobby, research or volunteering.

In the academic environment, experiential learning is often referred to as WorkIntegrated Learning (WIL) and takes on specific forms, like study abroad programs, co-ops, service-learning opportunities and internships.

Why is King’s focused on experiential learning?

So that we can be leaders in developing a broader understanding that all learning matters if it is understood as experiential. We give students a way to understand and articulate how the skills they are learning through the humanities are infinitely applicable to labour market needs.

And a higher-order goal is promoting the humanities as a viable source of incredible, contributing members of society who gain great jobs, who feel fulfilled and who are strong in their abilities to think and operate in the world.

What do humanities students give the world?

What don’t they give the world? With each individual humanities student who comes out of King’s, you get a different take on what they’ve learned and how that is expressed. And so, you don’t get a prescription, you don’t get a formula.

You’re going to have students who come out knowing how to analyze a primary source text, so they’ve gained analytical thinking skills. That could be any primary source text—a mission statement from your organization or a rough draft of a government policy—and they know how to read and peruse it. They understand the tenets and value of civil discourse, learned through

tutorials. They have learned how to write and edit through trial and error.

People want to understand what you know how to do. And it’s hard to explain knowing how to analyze a primary source text. This is the challenge humanities faces in its messaging to the world.

What are employers looking for in students?

Employers need students who can self-direct and engage in self-learning. The workplace is shifting so much. It needs people who can think on their feet, find the answers when they don’t know how to do something, know how to relate to and interact with people, are coachable and willing to take a perspective and consider it even if it doesn’t align with their own.

And how do King’s students fit in that bucket?

All indications from the employers I’ve encountered are that they fit very well into that bucket. We’re turning out students who want to be learning something. You give them a place to begin, off they go. They’ve got the figure-it-out gene.

King’s students are keenly aware of the world around them, and so they know their actions have consequences, and they consider what those might be.

What are the advantages students in these programs offer to industry, business and the province?

Innovation. The ability to be to be creative—to look at something that exists now and think about how it could be shifted; or something that doesn’t exist and figure out how to make it. So, what they have to offer government sector councils like fishery, forestry, agriculture, retail, hospitality, tourism, is innovative thinking and problem solving. I think humanities students see solutions that others are either stumped by or didn’t recognize as problems that needed solutions.

Two years out of graduation, are humanities students making the same amount of money as a student who graduated from a science program? Probably not—but employment statistics show that five years out, it starts to get a little more even. Ten years on, earning potential evens out.

You oversee the Undergraduate Fellowships in Public Humanities— what are they?

The purpose is to connect students who attend a program at King’s with an employer who has a summer job available. We call them ‘fellowships,’ and it could be working for a nonprofit, a community justice group, a marketing firm, a film company, a health-care agency, a government unit. The purpose is to help them discover what they know, what they can do and what they didn’t know they could do.

What has been the response from students?

There’s a clear theme that comes through again and again: confidence. Many fellows have spent years in an academic environment and understandably wonder how their skills will translate into the workplace—often with a bit of anxiety. The fellowship gives them a chance to see, in a real and tangible way, that the versatile skills they’ve built through their studies absolutely apply in professional settings. It’s a turning point where they start to believe in their own abilities—not just as students, but as professionals.

How do organizations react to working with King’s students in the fellowships? King’s students have consistently delivered— to the point where we’ve had a hundred per cent employer satisfaction across all years of the fellowships. In 2025, two employers reached out proactively to explore ways to keep their students on. And every single employer said they would have retained their student if they had the resources to do so.

How can experiential learning help King’s students find careers and placement opportunities in unexpected industries?

It gives students the chance to see how their critical thinking, analysis, storytelling and communication skills are valuable across a wide range of fields. Our students bring insight and perspective that can reshape how a problem is understood. So yes, someone trained in philosophy or literature might end up working in agri-tech, rural innovation or policy development—and make a real impact.

I have a great example. Wolpin Enterprises is a tech company focused on agriinnovation. The founder, David Wolpin, BA’10, approached us last summer looking for someone who could tell the human stories behind the data—the ones that matter to farmers and food producers. We were able to support the beginning stages of that work. It’s a great example of how King’s students bring real value and different perspectives to sectors that aren’t traditionally seen as liberal arts destinations.

What is King’s doing to expand the breadth of industries students go into?

We’re intentionally building relationships with employers beyond the traditional arts pipeline—in sectors like tech, healthcare, environmental sustainability, government and small business. Through partnerships with organizations like Mitacs and TECHNATION, we’re able to subsidize placements and lower the barrier for employers who may be hiring a humanities student for the first time. We love to hear from employers who want to work with our students—so get in touch!

But we can’t do it alone. King’s is a small college, and our alumni network is a vital part of expanding these opportunities. Whether it’s through mentorship, hosting a student or simply opening a door, alumni have the power to help us show just how far a King’s degree can go.

Speaking of alumni, what is the Microcredentials Program for recent graduates and what is it designed to achieve?

The program aims to help arts and liberal arts graduates formally recognize the versatile skills they’ve developed through work, education, volunteerism and lived experience—particularly in business communications.

The program uses a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) approach to provide a way

to validate and articulate existing competencies, increase professional confidence and strengthen career portfolios. It also serves as a pilot for how work-based learning can be acknowledged in accessible, scalable ways.

This opportunity is designed for graduates of any Nova Scotia university who hold an arts or liberal arts degree, have graduated within the past five years and are currently living and working in Nova Scotia. It’s ideal for individuals who are early in their careers and looking to translate their existing skills so they can showcase them in a way that is easily understood.

Why is it needed?

Many arts graduates bring strong, adaptable skills to the workplace—communication, collaboration, problem-solving—but these aren’t always formally acknowledged or easily demonstrated in traditional hiring or promotion processes. This initiative helps bridge that gap, offering a structured yet flexible way to recognize and validate what graduates already know.

Why must we continue to foster the humanities to benefit our culture, workforce and economy?

How do I put this? You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Humanities influence every sector and every job. They have the capacity to influence changes, innovations, decisions, policies. The humanities mind is doing that everywhere.

The types of considerations that humanities students bring include everybody’s well-being. I think what we’re at risk of is a deterioration of our society. That sounds like a really big statement, and people don’t think you’re serious, but it’s the long game. It’s always that with humanities.

And we will lose the perspective of questioning, of improvement. You know, in business, we talk about continuous improvement all the time.

So, if we prescribe out of existence humanities or arts courses, because people don’t think they’re contributing to the bottom line, we’re going to start to experience that five to 10 years from now, and we’re going to wonder how the hell did we get here?

What we have to lose is something that’s hard to wrap our minds around, because we should never consider a world where we could lose it.

Visit ukings.ca/programs/experientiallearning to read more.

STUDENTS AT WORK

These students participated in fulfilling work that helped them shape future research and career opportunities through King’s Experiential Learning Programs.

Thanks to the Fellowships in Public Humanities Program, Emily Gilbert, BA(Hons)’23, found herself at sea in the summer of 2022 as a videographer for Ocean School, a partnership of Dalhousie’s Ocean Frontier Institute and the National Film Board of Canada that creates immersive multimedia lessons for classrooms and at home. “My film experience and my academic experience have merged,” she said. “I never would have expected this. I wouldn’t have considered documentary or educational filmmaking or that I could enter the film world through the academic side.”

Social anthropology student Ruth McGill spent a summer at the Black Planning Project, led by Abigail Moriah, ’97, who signed on to employ a student through the Fellowships in Public Humanities Program. As research coordinator, McGill assisted with an ongoing

project focused on removing barriers faced by Black professionals in the urban planning industry. The project, funded by the Government of Canada (Canadian Heritage) was called “Building the Profile of Black Planners.” She transcribed interviews, set up the framework of the report and wrote it with her co-researcher, a PhD student. Once the report was finished, she helped the team present its findings to a general audience. “I had learned the theories, I had learned the methods,” she said, “... but this [was] my first real experience of actually applying it every step of the way.”

The Books by Heart study led by cardiologist Dr. Gabrielle Horne, MFA’19, is starting its second year. The study looks at the impact of bringing books to cardiology inpatients. It assesses their mental health and clinical outcomes after they go home. Dr. Horne turned to the Experiential Learning Program to recruit King’s students to coordinate the study and collect the data.

Nicole Ponto, BSc’23, analyzed the quantitative data to understand how mental

health tracks from admission to discharge and beyond, including “the silent patient” who withdraws from the study. Ponto recently won the best cardiology poster at Dalhousie’s Cardiac Sciences Research Day.

Zoe Schacter-Beiles, a contemporary studies student, completed a qualitative data analysis, learning about the patient experience on a post-pandemic cardiology ward.

In a related project, fourth-year student Morag Brown is working on a study for the Connective Tissue Clinic funded by Research Nova Scotia. The data showed that among aortic aneurysm patients, 30 per cent of family members are also at risk. Brown designed a study to learn more about how and why aortic aneurysm patients have been successful or not in convincing family members to be screened. She hopes to create an online toolbox to help, and a national patient advocacy group has already offered to host it. “Morag is showing us all how humanities students can bring new perspectives to big clinical problems ... and help save lives,” says Dr. Horne.

LEFT: Ruth McGill.

MIDDLE, TOP TO BOTTOM: Zoe SchacterBeiles. Emily Gilbert, BA(Hons)’23. RIGHT: Morag Brown.

PUBLIC TRUST IN JOURNALISM IN DARK TIMES

Leaders in Canadian journalism joined

the King’s

community at a roundtable to discuss the future of journalism and how to regain public trust in a world of misinformation and disinformation

by Serra Hamilton

“HOW DID WE GET HERE? To this place where [journalists] are feeling under attack and mistrusted?” This was the opening question, asked by moderator Professor Pauline Dakin, MFA’15, that kicked off the Public Trust in Journalism in Dark Times panel before a packed audience at Alumni Hall in March.

The panel, hosted by the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing and supported by King’s Facilities, brought leaders in Canadian journalism together alongside students, professors and the extended community, to discuss an issue that can feel overwhelming.

“This is not about journalists sitting here, crying boo-hoo [because] things are hard…. This is really about exploring what’s happening and the implications for us, for the public, for our society,” said Dakin, a member of the King’s journalism faculty.

“Journalism can make big changes in society, and there are people at this table

who have had a hand in that kind of work over the years.”

Panellists included the General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of CBC News Brodie Fenlon, the Editor-in-Chief of the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun Nicole Feriancek, BJ(Hons)’12, the Ottawa Correspondent at APTN Karyn Pugliese, and the founder and Director of the Investigative Journalism Bureau, Robert Cribb, BA(Hons)’89.

Cribb highlighted the industry’s lack of response to a world rapidly going digital as one of the main contributors to its downfall.

“We crumbled because we blew it. We were very slow to understand the world and what was happening in it…. We should have been leaders, and we were followers because we were fine for so many generations,” said Cribb. “The organizations that all of us worked for were rich. We were too big to fail.”

Cribb reflected that newsrooms were ill-

equipped for the rise of online forms of news consumption and did not keep up with a rapidly evolving world. “We gave it away for too long, and we created an expectation that the work we do has no value. Then, by the time we figured it out, it was too late.”

Another issue the panel discussed was the rise of disinformation websites masquerading as news organizations. Algorithms used by X, Meta and other platforms create vast amounts of distortion and anger that distract readers and journalists from important stories—and add a lot of noise that makes it harder to stand out.

“We started chasing algorithms,” said Pugliese. “What that means is sometimes feeling pressured to be more of an influencer than a journalist. Doing things that are popular instead of eating your broccoli.”

News organizations turned to digital storytelling methods, hoping those would be the salvation, said Feriancek, only to

encounter issues with changing platforms.

“I built Instagram video platforms and tried to innovate and get news to young people, and then we watched things like the Meta ban [happen], and those audiences completely evaporated in a day.”

The rise of multiple media platforms and cable news led to a need to fill vast amounts of airtime. This bombardment of news can overwhelm viewers. “Suddenly, the news wasn’t just at six and 11; it was 24 hours a day,” said Fenlon. Broadcasts were bolstered with opinions and panels, adding to the confusion around the difference between fact and opinion.

This global phenomenon of more voices and channels means journalists are no longer the exclusive gatekeepers on distribution and production, which has pros and cons.

“Let’s be clear, news media also missed a lot of voices and perspectives in their coverage,” notes Fenlon.

Cribb commented on how the constant availability of media changed what people look for from news organizations. Instead of turning to the newspaper to form an opinion, as they did when print dominated the news industry, people visit news websites to validate or reinforce existing opinions and ideologies.

“We don’t have grey anymore,” said Cribb. “It’s good guys, it’s bad guys. There are no issues that are really that black and white; it’s always complicated. We’re still trying to represent the complexity and the nuance because it’s important. But it’s not as satisfying to the human instinct as simple answers.”

Despite the panel’s often sombre tone, the panellists remained hopeful. More opportunities to bring journalists and the public together, such as the one provided by this panel, can help journalists work collectively to find solutions. Feriancek emphasized how communicating directly with readers

“We gave it away for too long, and we created an expectation that the work we do has no value. Then, by the time we figured it out, it was too late.”

LEFT TO RIGHT: Robert Cribb, BA(Hons)’89, Karyn Pugliese, Brodie Fenlon and Nicole Feriancek, BA(Hons)’12. Photos by Paul Adams

“There’s no substitute for doing good quality journalism. And people respond to that.”

through social media or newsletters can make a difference in readership. Transparency between viewers and journalists is one of the best tools for overcoming distrust in the media. “There’s no substitute for doing good quality journalism. And people respond to that,” she said.

Pugliese pointed out that good storytelling doesn’t necessarily require deep pockets.

“APTN has never had much money. It’s always been starving,” she said.

Pugliese discussed how APTN established its reputation with Indigenous communities by showing up, taking the time to understand a community and caring for the individuals behind the story. Investigative teams always need more resources, but a talented team can pull off great things with a small amount of money, she said, noting an

inspiring rise in smaller publications.

“We are in a world where everybody is re-evaluating everything right now,” said Fenlon. “What does it mean to be Canadian? What is fact, what are lies, where do I go for trust and information?”

This changing climate is an important moment for news organizations to reassert their commitment to independent, factbased journalism to reclaim public trust. “There is still and always will be a need for the basics of journalism,” added Fenlon in his closing statement. “Someone has to go and bear witness. That’s the core job of journalism. And that’s not going away.”

Visit ukings.ca/events/a-publicjournalism-roundtable to watch a recording of this event.

“I took FYP, and this, right here, is like a classic Greek tragedy. What we live with today is a completely crumbled economic model from which we will probably never recover…. There is no return to that, so all we can do is try and reinvent, and that’s starting … those reinventions are starting to happen with new models.”

Robert Cribb, Investigative Journalist, Toronto Star

“Something I found hopeful … is that the things readers want from us, the things they want a trusted news source to do, are the same things we want to do ourselves. It’s commitment to storytelling, commitment to fairness, honesty, high quality, low bias…. What people want from media and what we want from it ourselves is very close; we just need to have a better conversation.”

Nicole Feriancek, Editor-in-Chief, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun

“We’ve got to be able to have these conversations about things like objectivity, racism, sexism, fairness, polarization without getting down each other’s throats. We’ve got to … treat each other like human beings when we’re having them and not just get up on a moral high ground and say, ‘You’re wrong,’ and walk away…. Nothing gets better if we’re not talking to each other.”

—Karyn Pugliese, Ottawa Correspondent, APTN

“None of us are robots, and [the definition of impartiality] has been kind of badly misunderstood and misconstrued. It is about the process, the things you do to try to get to facts as best you can with all the flaws we bring to that process, which include bias and our own views and our own opinions…. In the end, you start with a fresh page. What are you seeing? What are the facts? What do people think about those facts? And then hand it to the audience to make up their own mind.”

—Brodie Fenlon Editor-in-Chief, CBC News

LIKEMINDED

These entrepreneurs turned to their fellow alumni to help realize their dream projects, proving it’s always good to have a King’s grad in your corner

by Jeremy Freed

THE ADAGE MAY BE, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” but an education from King’s can provide a solid foundation for both. That was certainly the case for independent filmmaker Rebeccah Love, ’10, musician Andrew Killawee, BJ(Hons)’98, as well as Natalie Childs, BA(Hons)’10, and her co-founders at Ferme Agricola. They all looked to the King’s community to find the talent, passion and skills they needed to bring their visions to life—whether that vision was filmmaking, farming or folk music.

Before Love was a rising star on the Canadian indie filmmaking scene, she was a Foundation Year Program (FYP) student roaming campus with a camcorder. “When I was at King’s, I was filming all the time,” says Love, whose debut feature film, Fortescue, premiered at the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ont. last fall. “I would film my classmates performing at open mics at the Wardroom and edit all of my content back in my res room at Alex Hall. That’s how I started as a filmmaker.”

In addition to providing the locations, talent and creative atmosphere she needed to hone her craft, King’s also connected Love to other artists who would help launch her career as a filmmaker. “Through my time at King’s, I ended up meeting some of my main collaborators who have stuck with me for almost 10 years,” she says. Love met Mitchell Cushman, BA(Hons)’08, before

she had even enrolled at King’s when the two worked together at a summer theatre camp. In addition to convincing her to attend the school by talking up its artistic bona fides, he remains a source of creative mentorship and guidance.

For Fortescue, she continued to draw from the King’s creative community, working closely with composer Thomas Hoy, BMus’14, film editor Rick Bartram, BA’14, and production designer Celina Clarke, who was enrolled in FYP in the same year. The film is inspired by many of the creative conversations Love held at King’s, revolving around ideas of performance, creative decision-making and autobiographical expression.

In March, Love had a chance to reunite with a crowd of King’s alumni at the Halifax premiere of Fortescue at the Dalhousie Arts Centre. “I live with a ton of gratitude for all the people I met at King’s,” says Love. “There’s a thoughtfulness, a kindness and a gentleness born out of this culture of curiosity that’s unique to any other school.”

TOP: Co-founders of Ferme Agricola Heather Syposz, BSc’10, Hannah Hunter, BA(Hons)’10, Natalie Childs, BA(Hons)’10, and Caleb Langille, BA(Hons)’10. Photo by Sue Mills

BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: Andrew Killawee, BJ(Hons)’98. Photo by Pete Johnston. Rebeccah Love, ’10, and crew on the set of Fortescue. Photo by Eli Meadow Ramraj

“There’s a thoughtfulness, a kindness and a gentleness born out of this culture of curiosity that’s unique to any other school.”

King’s doesn’t offer an organic farming program, but Childs and her Ferme Agricola Cofounders Heather Syposz, BSc’10, Caleb Langille, BA(Hons)’10 and Hannah Hunter, BA(Hons)’10, nonetheless credit their time here for setting them on their current course. Now in its seventh season, Ferme Agricola is a 160-acre co-operatively owned organic farm located in Papineauville, Que. Part-agri-business, part-social enterprise, Ferme Agricola sells its certified organic produce via farmer’s markets, CSA boxes and a roadside farm stand while providing free or reduced-cost vegetable baskets to more than 50 low-income families each week. “Agricola is farmer in Latin, but it also was really nice to have that connection to Halifax,” says Childs. “In a lot of ways, I think we see the work that we’re doing now as rooted in our time there.”

Whether it’s Syposz’s skill with math and bookkeeping, Langille’s love of learning and teaching, or Hunter’s passion for international development, each member of the team brings their own strengths to the complex and multi-faceted work of running a farm. Childs, who befriended her co-founders during Orientation Week at King’s, says each of them relies on the broadbased skills gained during their studies; from grant writing and community outreach to training each season’s team of field hands. “We do the work of producing vegetables, but we’re also running a business,” she says. “That kind of grounding that we all have in theory, philosophy and communication skills has really come in handy. I’m really glad to have the education that I’ve had at King’s.”

For Killawee, his years in the King’s College Chapel Choir instilled in him a love of music that he continues to pursue as the organist, pianist and ensemble director at the historic St. Paul’s Church in Halifax. The experience also connected him to musician Charles Austin, BA’92, AMC’93, founding member of The Super Friendz, and Pete Johnston, a Dalhousie music grad and fellow founding member of the Johnny Favourite

Swing Orchestra, with whom he recently collaborated on Remembered in Exile: Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (Drag City Records). A collection of folk music gathered by legendary folklorist Helen Creighton, the album features traditional Scottish songs in English and Gaelic performed by a transatlantic ensemble of players.

With Scottish musicians Alasdair Roberts (vocals and guitar) and Màiri Morrison (vocals), Remembered in Exile was engineered by Austin, with Killawee on harmonium and Johnston on bass and arrangement. “Pete and I have collaborated for a long time, and he was the brains behind the project, and Charles was wonderful to learn from,” Killawee says. “When things get really complicated, he can identify what’s working, what’s not working and the direction that the artist should be taking.”

In addition to connecting him to a network of potential collaborators, Killawee’s experience in the King’s journalism program and the chapel choir helped set him on the course toward a dual career as a freelance musician and a documentary film producer. “What I took from King’s was the realization that just studying one thing, to do one thing, is not necessarily the path you have to take,” Killawee says. “You can combine your passions, your talents and the realities of life to create an interesting day-to-day life that involves all of those things.”

Education takes many forms at King’s and each student has unique experiences. What unites King’s alumni are the bonds formed during their time on campus, and the knowledge that education—and collaboration—doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom.

TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: Charles Austin, BA’92, AMC’93. Photo by Kyle Boudreau. Andrew Killawee. Photo by Shannon Macintyre. Remembered in Exile album cover.

BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: Fortescue movie poster. Rebeccah Love. Photo by Justine McCloskey

ALUMNI PUBLISH

King’s has a long tradition of producing and nurturing storytellers from our programs. Here is a sampling of the many books published by some of our alumni this year

by E mma Kuzmy K, m Fa’25

OUR CRUMBLING FOUNDATION: HOW WE SOLVE CANADA’S HOUSING CRISIS

Gregor Craigie, MFA’19 Random House Canada, March 2024

An urgent and illuminating examination of the housing crisis in Canada. This award-winning national bestseller offers real-life solutions from around the world and hope for new housing innovation in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles. Craigie has been a journalist for over 25 years. He is also the author of On Borrowed Time: North America’s Next Big Quake and Radio Jet Lag.

EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC

Michelle Hébert, BA’91, BJ’92, MFA’24 Nimbus Publishing, May 2024

A darkly humorous family saga set in Nova Scotia about a young woman coming of age in a family that believes it’s cursed. Hébert grew up in Cumberland County, N.S. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction and degrees in journalism and social work.

BLACK CAKE, TURTLE SOUP, AND OTHER DILEMMAS

Gloria Blizzard, MFA’21

Dundurn Press, June 2024

A collection of essays on music, memory and motion that moves between Canada, Trinidad and Brazil, back and forth in time, and negotiates the complexities of culture, geography, race and language. Blizzard is an award-winning writer and poet, and a Black Canadian woman of multiple heritages. She lives in Toronto.

WINDOW OF TOLERANCE

Susanna Cupido, BA(Hons)’23

Tidewater Press, July 2024

When an acquaintance from her therapy group goes missing, Marta embarks on a quest to find him that takes her to doctors’ offices, psychiatric institutions and the darker side of Halifax. Cupido is from Sackville, N.B. She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Cornell University.

THE WORST SONGS IN THE WORLD: THE TERRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT NATIONAL ANTHEMS

David Pate, MFA’23

Dundurn Press, August 2024

The best-known songs in the world are violent, sexist and religious—so why do we celebrate national anthems when we should be rewriting them? This story begins in a London theatre in 1745, where the modern idea of anthems started out as triumphant expressions of national superiority. Pate was a veteran journalist who worked for numerous media outlets. He died unexpectedly prior to his book’s release.

Read how the King’s MFA community gathered to ensure Pate, and his book, were not forgotten: ukings.ca/david-pate

OIL PEOPLE

David Huebert, BA(Hons)’08

McClelland & Stewart, August 2024

Part generational saga, part eco-gothic fable, Oil People is the story of Jade Armbruster’s quest to confront her family’s murky past. Huebert is also the author of Peninsula Sinking and Chemical Valley His work has won the CBC Short Story Prize, The Walrus Poetry Prize and the Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction. He is a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Mentor.

BAD ARTIST: CREATING IN A PRODUCTIVITY-OBSESSED WORLD

Nellwyn Lampert, MFA’17, Pamela Oakley, MFA’17, Christian Smith, MFA’17, Gillian Turnbull, MFA’17 TouchWood Editions, October 2024

The perfect antidote to the toxicity of the current productivity narrative, this collection of essays on creativity features 21 Canadian and international writers, providing warmth, support, camaraderie and empathy. Lampert, Oakley, Smith and Turnbull met in 2015 through King’s Master of Fine Arts program and have stayed connected ever since.

Learn more about the backstory of the book from Turnbull, Director of Writing & Publishing: ukings.ca/bad-artist

LIVING DISABILITY: BUILDING ACCESSIBLE FUTURES FOR EVERYBODY

Emily Macrae, BA(Hons)’13 Coach House Books, October 2024

Covering topics from sidewalks to the climate crisis, Living Disability brings together the perspectives of 35 disabled writers from across Canada. They explore disability justice, analyze urban systems and propose more equitable approaches to city building. Macrae is a disabled writer and organizer. Her work combines policy analysis with lived experience to build accessible urban and digital environments.

THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT: REFLECTIONS ON THE POSTWAR JAPANESE CANADIAN COMMUNITY

Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann, MFA’21

Dundurn Press, October 2024

This hybrid memoir and fourth-generation narrative of the Japanese Canadian experience celebrates family, places and traditions. It includes portraits of family and community members, who, in rebuilding their lives, made lasting contributions to the Toronto landscape and triumphed over adversity. Hartmann lives in Toronto. Her work explores cultural memories, meaningful coincidences, community and identity.

SEARCHING FOR MAYFLOWERS: THE TRUE STORY OF CANADA’S FIRST QUINTUPLETS

Lori McKay, BJ(Hons)’97, MFA’20

Nimbus Publishing, October 2024

A true story following one woman’s quest to unravel the 140-plusyear-old mystery of the first set of quintuplets born in Canada, weaving together history, intrigue and a complicated family legacy. McKay worked as a magazine and newspaper editor for more than 20 years. She lives in Dartmouth, N.S., with her husband, two young adult children, a few cats and a friendly black lab.

BACK WHERE I CAME FROM: ON CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND HOME

Taslim Jaffer, MFA’22, and Omar Mouallem Book*hug Press, November 2024

A collection of essays from 26 writers from across North America who share journeys back to their motherlands as visitors. These narratives weave socio-political commentary with writers’ reflections on who they are, where they belong and what “home” means to them. Jaffer is a writer, editor and writing instructor. She lives in Surrey, B.C., with her husband and three children.

I DON’T DO DISABILITY AND OTHER LIES I’VE TOLD MYSELF

Adelle Purdham, MFA’22

Dundurn Press, November 2024

A raw and intimate portrait of family, love, life, relationships and disability parenting through the eyes of a mother of a daughter with Down syndrome. This collection of essays explores ideas of motherhood, disability and worth. Purdham is a writer, educator and parent disability advocate. She lives with her family in her hometown of Nogojiwanong (Peterborough), Ont.

HOW TO SHARE AN EGG: A TRUE STORY OF HUNGER, LOVE, AND PLENTY

Bonny Reichert, MFA’22

Appetite by Random House, January 2025

A journey of deep flavours and surprising contrasts, this culinary memoir is one woman’s search to find her voice as a writer, chef, mother and daughter. This Globe and Mail bestseller by the daughter of a Holocaust survivor is a moving exploration of heritage and self-discovery. Reichert is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and an instructor at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

STORM THE BALLOT BOX: AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO A VOTING REVOLUTION

Jo-Ann Roberts, MFA’23

Nimbus Publishing, March 2025

In Storm the Ballot Box, Roberts uses her experience from broadcast newsrooms and political backrooms to lay out 20 concrete steps for how to kickstart a voting revolution. Roberts is an award-winning journalist who is passionate about democracy, public broadcasting and fighting climate change. She is the former interim leader of the Green Party of Canada.

LOWFIELD

Mark Sampson, BJ(Hons)’97

Now or Never Publishing, April 2025

A police officer sidelined by the loss of three colleagues seeks solace in rural Prince Edward Island as he lays claim to his family’s ancestral property, Applegarth. Soon, he realizes Applegarth is a harbinger of something sinister. Sampson was raised in Prince Edward Island and is the author of four previous novels and a short story collection.

EVERY LITTLE THING: HOW SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS MAKE A BIG IMPACT

Janice Landry, BJ(Hons)’87

Pottersfield Press, April 2025

Landry was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2023 and has turned her health scare into a positive message for readers. Through heartwarming stories of acts of kindness and connection, she proves that the little things really are the big things. Landry has won four national awards for her books and mental health advocacy. She has been a journalist for 38 years.

THE ILLOGICAL ADVENTURE, A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND FATE

James MacDuff, MFA’24, and Mirriam Mweemba

Pottersfield Press, April 2025

A story of a cross-continental romance between two independent-minded travellers—from their brief first meeting in Cape Town, through to a dowry ceremony in rural Africa during the Covid pandemic and beyond. MacDuff works as a regulatory lawyer in Atlantic Canada’s electricity and natural resources sector. He lives in Cole Harbour, N.S., with his wife, Mirriam Mweemba, and their sons.

THE KELOWNA STORY: AN OKANAGAN HISTORY, SECOND EDITION

Sharron J. Simpson, MFA’21

Harbour Publishing, May 2025

A comprehensive history of the largest metropolitan centre outside B.C.’s Lower Mainland by a leading local historian whose family roots have been entwined with Kelowna’s for five generations. Simpson is a historian and former city councillor. She is an advocate for preserving community and family stories and has published numerous articles and local histories.

FAT CAMP SUMMER: ADVICE I WOULD HAVE GIVEN MY PARENTS

Moira Dann, MFA’16 Sutherland House Books, May 2025

A funny/not funny memoir of the author’s experience of a forced makeover at age 13. Dann is a writer and speaker who recently completed King’s new Teaching Creative Writing Workshop. Her presentation about curating obituaries was featured at King’s inaugural Creative Writing & Storytelling Conference.

WATER BORNE: A 1200-MILE PADDLEBOARDING PILGRIMAGE

Dan Rubinstein, BJ’95 ECW Press, June 2025

Weaving together research, interviews and adventure, Water Borne shows us that we don’t need an epic journey to find solutions to so many modern challenges. Repair and renewal may be close at hand: just add water. Rubinstein is an Ottawa-based writer, editor and paddleboarder. His first book, Born to Walk, was a finalist for the Ottawa Book Awards and Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. He’s also a National Magazine Award–winning journalist.

ALUMNOTES

Highlights from the lives of fellow King’s alumni

60s

Mary Barker, BA’67, HF’97, was presented with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Public Relations Society-Nova Scotia (CPRS-NS) for her outstanding contributions to advancing the public relations profession in Nova Scotia and her remarkable service and volunteerism both locally and nationally for more than 25 years.

70s

Ian Deakin, BA’70, returned to the stage after a six-year absence to play Arthur Beech in Norm Foster’s Doris and Ivy in the Home at the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover, Ont. His wife, Bonnie Deakin, is Head of Wardrobe at the Charlottetown Festival for the 2025 season.

Robert Craig, BA(Hons)’78, retired in October 2024 from the Library of Parliament in Ottawa. Upon retiring, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his 17-year service with the library. The medal was awarded by the Parliamentary Librarian, Heather Lank, who was acting on behalf of Canada’s Governor General, Mary Simon.

Retired Major Harold Skaarup, ’74, wrote four books to engage in the preservation of Canada’s aviation history in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Published with Gotham Books, the books are Bastions near Bases, Canadian Warplanes II, Sic Itur Ad Astra Volume I and Sic Itur Ad Astra Volume II. He was also invited to Cyprus to lay a wreath at the UN Peacekeeping memorial on behalf of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association.

80s

Martine Jacquot, BJ’84, was invited to participate in poetry festivals in Trois-Rivières and Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. She also delivered presentations at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, Aliança Francesa in Brazil and at Government House in Halifax. Martine’s work was featured in La Langue française au féminin (éditions Magellan), Colette et ses chats (éditions du Regroupement des Auteurs francophones), Touroumbouroum and Feux Follets (éditions Tintamarre).

Janice Landry, BJ(Hons)’87, was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Government of Canada in March. Janice was nominated and presented with the medal by Halifax West MP Lena Metlege Diab. The award recognized Janice’s body of work, books and mental health advocacy in Canada.

90s

Scott Andrew Christensen, BA’90, wrote and directed The Draft, a one-act play that debuted at Neptune Theatre’s Imperial Room as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival. To continue The Draft’s development, Scott is expanding the story to two acts with the goal of having it produced on a local stage.

Mark Davidson, BA’91, was granted Majority in August 2024. Major Davidson has been the Brigade Surgeon for the 38 Canadian Brigade Group since November 2020, and the Acting Wing Surgeon for 17 Wing at the 23 CF Health Services Clinic for the past year.

Jane Doucet, BJ(Hons)’93, will launch her fourth novel, Blood Typed, a contemporary murder mystery, in spring 2026. Published by Vagrant Press, the darkly humorous novel follows an eclectic group of Nova Scotia authors shortlisted for a prestigious prize and the intrepid reporter determined to get to the bottom of the strangely literary murders plaguing the awards gala.

Stacey Miller (née McGaghey), BJ(Hons)’99, and her family recently moved from Victoria, B.C. to Charlottetown, P.E.I. She is the Senior Communications Officer for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Government of P.E.I.

Chris MacNeil, BA’94, has returned to his roots in British history and is now a qualified Green Badge City of London walking tour guide following a 30-year tech career. He’s led more than 400 private and corporate event tours. His repertoire includes the last 2,000 years of London’s history: Roman, Medieval, Great Fire, Victorian, Wren churches, royal London, art, architecture, food tours and much more. Chris’s specialty is the mid-17th century, especially the birth and development of London coffee shops.

Eden Kaill, BA’99, who was a founding member of the King’s College Dance Collective in 1995, is finishing her third year as Creative Director of the Only Human Dance Collective (OHDC), the University of Toronto’s longest-running student-run dance company. With an all-inclusive, hybrid mandate, OHDC introduces many to the world of dance, reacquaints seasoned dancers with their first love and creates a home for those who have moved away from their original studios.

Christian McCuaig, BJ’15, and Mark Henderson, BJ’15, were married on October 25, 2024. They met in a classroom at King’s in 2014.

John O’Brien, BA’11, BJ’13, released his fifth album as Hawkes River in February. Titled Vultures of Darkness, this album mixes ambient music with electronica and draws on themes of anxiety, paranoia, superstition, dystopia and a tiny bit of hope.

William Tilleczek, BA(Hons)’14, was awarded the 2024 Leo Strauss Award by the American Political Science Association

Dr. Afua Cooper, MFA’25, was invested into the Order of Nova Scotia, the highest honour in the province. It’s an honour well deserved by Dr. Cooper, who was one of five Nova Scotians appointed to the Order this year to recognize her study of Black Canadian life and role as a mentor and academic. She is the author of 13 books ranging from history, poetry and fiction to children’s literature, and is a former Dalhousie Professor in the departments of history and sociology and social anthropology. She held a Killam Research Chair in Black Canadian and African Diaspora Studies. “I appreciate the distinction because it recognizes the work I have done in education, history and the arts, to elevate the province,” says Cooper.

(APSA) for Best Dissertation in a Topic of Political Philosophy for “Powers of Practice: Michel Foucault and the Politics of Asceticism” for his dissertation at Harvard University. According to the award committee, the dissertation is “a meticulously crafted, exceptionally creative, deeply erudite and beautifully written study of Foucault’s thought that recasts his contributions to contemporary analyses of neoliberalism and a politics of freedom.”

20s

Megan Krempa, BA(Hons)’22, completed a month-long practicum with the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 2024, as part of Dalhousie’s Master of Information program. She worked on developing an exhibit on the history of scientific biographies and wrote scientific biographies for educators and students. She was also the conference manager for the “Circulating Knowledge: 20 Years On” conference, which took place at King’s last August. She is returning to King’s in September to pursue the Master of Journalism program.

Dulcie McCallum, MFA’22, released her first book, The Audacity of Inclusion: Fighting for the Equality of Persons Labelled Intellectually Disabled, which evolved from her master’s project into a collection of true stories. After over 40 years as a human rights lawyer for people labelled with an intellectual disability, she narrates stories about laws that have disenfranchised, discriminated against and failed to include people labelled intellectually disabled. Dulcie elected to publish with FriesenPress because its process was fully inclusive of her companions.

Have news to share? Please send it to Interim Alumni Relations Manager Candice MacDonald at candice.macdonald@ukings.ca.

Dr. Afua Cooper, MFA’25, stands with Lieutenant Governor Mike Savage at the Order of Nova Scotia investiture. Photo by Michael Creagen

IN MEMORIAM

Joan (Caines) Anthony, BA(Hons)’56, December 21, 2024

Christopher Bell, (friend of the college), May 15, 2024

Eric Beresford, DCL’06, December 31, 2024

Robert Blennerhassett, BA’73, September 17, 2023

Ben Brennan, (student), April 5, 2023

William Burchell, BA’69, July 24, 2024

James Burchill, BA’58, June 8, 2024

Nancy (Ellis) Burchill, ’49, October 28, 2024

Steven Burns, (former faculty member), September 19, 2024

Mary Campbell, BJ(Hons)’87, April 24, 2024

Natalie Clifford, (friend of the college), May 13, 2024

Eldon Colley, (friend of the college), February 26, 2025

Stephen Cook, BA(Hons)’67, June 7, 2024

Clay Coveyduck, (friend of the college), May 23, 2024

Harrington “Harry” Critchley, BA(Hons)’15, February 21, 2025

Nancy (Brown) Davies, ’63, May 6, 2024

Elizabeth Day, (friend of the college), December 5, 2024

Terry Doherty, (friend of the college), March 6, 2024

Thomas Forrestall, DCL’80, November 15, 2024

Gregor Fraser, (friend of the college), March 3, 2024

Peter Godsoe, DCL’93, December 13, 2023

Elizabeth (Stayner) Gruchy, BA’55, MSW’57, August 22, 2024

Kevin Harris, ’84, March 3, 2024

Lorrie Hayden, ’81, April 17, 2024

Annette Hayward, BA(Hons)’66, May 12, 2024

Rachael Hencher, BA(Hons)’14, April 19, 2024

Erik Hillgard, (King’s staff member), July 28, 2024

James Ibbott, BSc’54, December 20, 2023

Rodney Ives, BA’65, LTh’65, April 29, 2025

William Johnston, BA’66, August 7, 2024

Allison (Lynch) Kearley, BA’00, October 6, 2024

Danford Kelley, ’48, February 6, 2025

Bonnie Kirby, (friend of the college), March 1, 2024

David MacDonald, ’54, February 17, 2025

John Ian MacKenzie, BA’57, LTh’59, BDiv’60, April 8, 2025

Robert MacNeil, DCL’83, April 12, 2024

Patricia Martinson, (friend of the college), October 18, 2024

Ian McKee, (friend of the college), December 10, 2024

Fannie Nathanson, (friend of the college), February 19, 2024

Jacqueline Nicholl, BA’66, May 9, 2024

Kenneth Niles, (friend of the college), January 10, 2024

David Pate, MFA’23, February 9, 2024

Chris Pilichos, (friend of the college), June 1, 2024

Michael Redmond, BA(Hons)’97, August 13, 2023

Susan (McCulloch) Richardson, BA’68, November 9, 2024

Anna Ruth (Harris) Rogers, BA’52, January 18, 2025

Alexander Ross, BA(Hons)’87, May 19, 2025

Andy Sherwood, BSc’70, December 12, 2024

Darcy (Puddington) Strickland, BA’54, January 18, 2024

Valerie (Bowditch) Teed, BA’65, July 25, 2023

Alister Thomas, MFA’24, January 9, 2025

Ian Urquhart, (friend of the college), September 8, 2024

James Walker, (friend of the college), January 8, 2025

Chantal Walsh, ’03, September 20, 2024

Mary Wilcox, (friend of the college), August 15, 2024

Alexandria Wortman, ’23, January 27, 2025

Gretchen (Pierce) Ziegler, ’66, July 18, 2024

DR. STEVEN A. M. BURNS, 1941-2024

Inglis Professor Dr. Elizabeth Edwards thanks Dr. Burns, a champion of Canadian philosophy, for his significant contributions to King’s and Dalhousie

I FIRST ENCOUNTERED Steven Burns when, as an undergraduate student, I took his class on philosophy and literature, and he demonstrated two important things to me: a commitment to undergraduate teaching, and the possibility of combining the two subjects I loved most. It was a great pleasure, then, to find him later as a colleague and to share those subjects again.

Steven was a born and bred Nova Scotian who completed a PhD dissertation entitled “Self-Deception” at the University of London and, in 1969, took up a position in the Dalhousie Philosophy Department, where he taught for over 35 years. He was a central figure in that department, and at the national and regional associations for philosophy; he promoted Canadian philosophy and the study of philosophy in Canada. He wrote widely in his discipline and on literary figures such as Alice Munro and Leonard Cohen. His greatest love may have been music; he was a talented singer, a constant in the choir at St. George’s Round Church and teacher of the philosophy of music. In 1972, Steven married Janet Ross, a

fellow musician and singer, and a scholar of German who prompted his love of the language, and together they spent months and some years in Vienna. They had three children and now grandchildren. Their home, by the testimony of many colleagues and friends, gave a welcome to conversation, music and conviviality. His intellectual generosity and thoughtfulness were apparent in all the walks of his life. The results of his talent for friendship were strikingly on display at the wonderful Memorial Concert last October.

Steven was a great friend to King’s and especially to the Contemporary Studies program (CSP). As a Dalhousie professor, he was instrumental in establishing upper-year studies at King’s; the combined honours program in conjunction with Dalhousie was his idea and made possible all our academic programs as collaborative ventures. Always interdisciplinary in his own thinking, he made important contributions to the inauguration of CSP as a teacher, mentor and even administrator. He taught popular and important classes in the program, including

his seminars on Ludwig Wittgenstein and Simone Weil; he designed and taught the Lecture Series on Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. Above and beyond the call of collaboration, he served a term as Director of the program from 2001 to 2003. Much of what made King’s as it is now would not have been possible without Steven Burns. We honour his name.

HARRINGTON “HARRY” CRITCHLEY, 1993–2025

President Lahey shares his memories of a beloved alum whose legacy and service to the community will live on

IN

HIS SHORT AND BRILLIANT LIFE

Harry Critchley, BA(Hons)’15, once said, “if you have the ability to do something you have a responsibility to do it.” He lived that motto to the very fullest.

I first met Harry in 2016, after he had graduated from King’s and Dalhousie. He worked for me, developing ideas for incorporating more experiential learning at King’s. I came to appreciate how inspired I was by every conversation with him. Eventually, I wrote references for his graduate studies in philosophy and his law school applications. We spoke often as he shifted his aspirations from studies in philosophy to putting philosophy and humanism to work in helping others.

This shift was, in part, inspired by his time volunteering as a student assistant with the Halifax Humanities Society, a program that offers university level non-credit courses to people on low incomes living in social marginalization. Of this experience, Dr. Mary Lu Redden, DCL’17, then the program’s director, wrote in the most recent FYP News:

“What I think Harry took away from his time volunteering with Halifax Humanities was a powerful appreciation for the way a text offers a welcome to those willing to engage its words and thoughts with care and attention…. Harry experienced a profound instance of that welcoming when he took the core idea of FYP and Halifax Humanities and its focus on deeply engaging texts and dialogue to the Burnside Prison in Dartmouth.”

Harry created the Burnside Prison Education Program with others while still an undergraduate student. It offered free courses in the arts and social sciences to individuals in the Burnside Correctional Facility. As Harry described it, it was about recognizing the dignity of the incarcerated by taking their opinions seriously and joining them in the circle of love and wisdom that comes, as in FYP and Halifax Humanities, from genuine dialogue on our common humanity. It was the beginning of a career dedicated to reestablishing the truth that “even a god finds it difficult to love and be wise … as something shared between people who both do harm and are harmed, but never lose the ability to start anew.”

During his legal studies, Harry worked to abolish the “drunk tank” for those apprehended for being intoxicated and then went on to work for the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission. Rather than say he chose to work for legal aid after graduating, it is truer to say he went to law school so he could work for legal aid.

I was proud to learn of his service, starting in September 2021, on the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners. He and I often spoke of the tensions between the satisfactions of being the vocal critic on the outside and the opportunities and risks of accepting the responsibility of making things better from within.

Harry was extraordinary, and, at the same time, deeply humble. He was a brilliant student, an inspiring graduate and a

courageous and decent human being.

I cried hard when I learned of Harry’s untimely death in the wilderness beauty of the province he loved, like I had lost a loved one. Indeed, I had. To know him was to love him and be loved by him.

I last saw Harry at this year’s holiday reception in the Lodge, with his beautiful baby girl, Wren. Our deepest condolences to his wife, Erin, their daughter, and to all his family, colleagues and many friends.

May Harry’s memory be a blessing for all of us who knew and loved him.

Visit ukings.ca/stories/harry-critchley to read more about his life and career.