Academic Events

Events this Week

Monday, March 15th

Chemistry Research Seminar
Dr. Peter Wilson, SFU - "Natural Product Targets and New Methods for Total and Asymmetric Synthesis"

Time: 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Location: Block Hall (Room 148), Neufeld Science Centre

Dr. Peter Wilson is Assoc. Professor of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University. His research interests lie in the area of synthetic organic chemistry, including the total synthesis of natural products that are of biological significance. Dr. Wilson received a B.Sc. from University of Newcastle on Tyne and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. from University of Manchester.

For more information contact Dr. Craig Montgomery at montgome@twu.ca.

Tuesday, March 16th

Earthweek - Café Scientifique
"Faith and Our Environment - Help or Hindrance" - Paul Kariya (Pacific Salmon Foundation), Fred Bunnell (Professor of Biology Emeritus, UBC and member of the International Panel on Climate Change), Markku Kostamo (Executive Director of A Rocha Canada/Christians in Conservation)

Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Fraser Hall Lounge

An intimate discussion of how different faiths affect the way we interact with the environment.

During the Week of March 15th to the 20th, TWU will be holding a multitude of ECO friendly events to celebrate the planet that sustains us all. For more information contact Kim Heuring at kimdvg@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 16th - Saturday, March 20th

Theatre at TWU presents "As You Like It," by William Shakespeare
Directed by Aaron Caleb

Time: 8:00 pm Tuesday - Saturday, 2:00 pm Saturday Matinee
Location: Freedom Hall, Robert N. Thompson Centre
Tickets: Adults $8-16, Seniors $7-14, Students $7-14; Matinees (2 for 1) and Preview (the first Tuesday only, 2 for 1); available at www.twu.ca/theatre, 604.513.2121 ext. 3872.

Theatre at TWU invites you to take a trip into the psychedelic Forest of Arden in our spring presentation of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy, As You Like It. We’re going back to grass roots as we put the Bard through the rose-colored glasses of Woodstock, and promise a far-out evening of making love, not war.

Also running from Tuesday, March 23rd to Saturday, March 27th.

Wednesday, March 17th

CIHR Café Scientifique - "Access to Healthcare - A Gendered Perspective"
Dr. John Oliffe (UBC), Dr. Joan Anderson (UBC), and Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham (TWU)
Moderator: Dr. Allyson Jule (TWU)

Time: 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Location: Ban Chok Dee Thai Cuisine Restaurant, 5499 203rd St, Langley
RSVP: by March 12th to Guelda Redman at guelda.redman@twu.ca

Access to appropriate health care services and navigation within the health system are two concerns shared by many citizens of Canada. These concerns are often amplified for new Canadians, those who do not speak English, or those from Aboriginal ancestry. Women and men also experience access issues differently.

This Café Scientifique is open to the community who will have opportunity to engage with and hear stories from Aboriginal, Karen resettlement, IndoCanadian, and Euro-Canadian communities.

Funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Café Scientifique Program. Hosted by the TWU School of Nursing and the TWU Gender Studies Institute.

Thursday, March 18th

CRC in Developmental Genetics and Disease Seminar Series
Dr. Scott Alper, University of Colorado, Denver - "Identification of Novel Genes Involved in Innate Immunity Using Comparative Genomics"

Time: 8:00 - 9:15 am
Location: Room 41, Neufeld Science Centre

Diseases of the immune system affect millions of people worldwide, and the incidence of many of these diseases is rising. Dr. Alper's research is focused on understanding the regulation of the innate immune response using a comparative genomics approach.

Sponsored by the Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease. For more information contact Eve Stringham at stringha@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 3204.

Earthweek - Guest Lecture
Barbara Wernick, MSc, Senior Environmental Consultant, Golder Associates, Vancouver - "The remediation of the Britannia Mine pollution site in Howe Sound"

Time: 1:10 pm
Location: Room 30, Neufeld Science Centre

Ms. Wernick is a graduate of TWU who went on to earn her MSc at University of British Columbia and her RPBio certification. She has worked as an environmental consultant all over the world, from the oil sands of Alberta to the coral reefs of the Red Sea, dealing primarily with water pollution issues, and has published numerous scientific papers and reports. She has also been a frequent guest lecturer at TWU.

Spring 2010 Science & Christianity Lecture 1
Dr. Don Page, Department of Physics, University of Alberta - "Religious and Scientific Faith in Simplicity"

Time: 1:10 - 2:25 pm
Location: Room 121, Robert N. Thompson Centre

Abstract: Both religion and science start with basic assumptions that cannot be proved but are taken on faith. Here I note that one basic assumption that is rather common in both enterprises is the assumption that in comparing different hypotheses that all equally explain the observations, the simpler hypotheses are more probable (Occam's razor or the law of parsimony). That is, explanations should be made as simple at possible (though no simpler, since then they would not explain what is observed).

Brief Bio: Don Nelson Page was born Dec. 31, 1948, in Alaska, where he grew up before studying at William Jewell College, Caltech (under Kip Thorne), and the University of Cambridge (under Stephen Hawking). He taught physics at Penn State University and now at the University of Alberta, where he does research in theoretical gravitational physics. He and his wife Cathy have three biological children, born 1987, 1989, and 1995, and two daughters born in 1993 or 1994 and in 1997 that they adopted in 2000 from Haiti.

Sponsored by the Vancouver Area Science and Religion Forum. For more information contact Dr. Arnold Sikkema at Arnold.Sikkema@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 3185.

Earthweek - TWU Community Garden Instruction and Work Session - "Come Grow With Us"
Led by Karen Steensma (Biology/Environmental Studies professor) and Melissa Oakes (Field Resources Coordinator)

Time: 2:00 pm
Location: Meet at Neufeld Science Centre main entrance

We will start by planting vegetable seedlings in the TWU greenhouse, and then move to the community garden for some work there by 3:00 pm. Co-sponsored by TWU Biology Club and A Rocha TWU.

Spring 2010 Science & Christianity Lecture 2
Dr. Don Page, Department of Physics, University of Alberta - "Philosophical and Theological Implications of a Multiverse"

Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Location: Block Hall (Room 148), Neufeld Science Centre

Abstract: We observe that certain quantities take the same values everywhere in the part of the universe visible to us, such as the charge and mass of the electron and proton. Scientists have calculated that if these 'constants of physics' had significantly different values, life might be difficult or impossible. Some theists have proposed that these constants have been fine-tuned by a Creator and that the evidence of this fine tuning is an argument for a Creator. However, recent ideas from quantum theory, inflationary cosmology, and superstring theory suggest that physical reality is a multiverse with very many different parts having different values of the constants of physics. Then the fine tuning could be explained by the selection effect that we can only live in a part where the constants permit our existence.
Just as some theists opposed Darwinian evolution because it undercut certain design arguments for the existence of God, so today some theists oppose the multiverse for similarly undercutting the fine-tuning argument for the existence of God. However, undercutting an argument does not disprove its conclusion. Here I argue that multiverse ideas, though not automatically a solution to the problems of physics, deserve serious consideration and are not in conflict with Christian theology as I see it.

BRIEF BIO: Don Nelson Page grew up in Alaska and studied at William Jewell College, Caltech, and the University of Cambridge (under Stephen Hawking). He taught physics at Penn State University and now the University of Alberta. He and his wife Cathy have three biological children and two adopted daughters from Haiti.

Sponsored by the Vancouver Area Science and Religion Forum. For more information contact Dr. Arnold Sikkema at Arnold.Sikkema@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 3185.

Friday, March 19th

Earthweek - Tree Planting and Restoration Project
Christopher Hall, Ecosystem Study Area Manager

Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Low Ropes Course (behind rugby field)

This event includes instruction on native species and restoration techniques by Christopher Hall, Ecosystem Study Area Manager.

Friday, March 19th - Saturday, March 20th

Two Day Marriage Counselling Conference
Dr. Douglas Snyder - "Marriage Counselling: Working with Difficult Couples & Issues of Infidelity"

Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak St. (at West 37th Ave.), Vancouver
Registration: Click here for registration information

ACTS MA Marriage and Family Therapy, and The Wishing Well Counselling Service are sponsoring the "Two-Day Marriage & Infidelity Counselling Conference." Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training at Texas A&M University, Dr. Snyder is recognized nationally for his research on couple assessment and therapy. He has two books that address working with couples recovering from an affair, including Getting Past the Affair: A Program to Help You Cope, Heal, and Move On and Helping Couples Get Past the Affair: A Clinician’s Guide, published by Guilford Press. Dr. Snyder is also co-editor of Treating Difficult Couples published by Guilford Press, and co-editor of Emotion Regulation in Couples and Families published by the American Psychological Association.

Topics and Schedule:
Day #1: Emotion Regulation in Couples Therapy: An Integrative Approach.
Day #2: Rebuilding Intimacy After An Affair.
For more information on the workshops click here.

For more information on the conference, email Workshop@WishingWellsCounselling.com or call 604-568-6556.

Coming Events in March

Sunday, March 21st

Soli Deo Gloria Concert

Time: 2:00 pm
Location: Instrumental Music Hall, Music Building

Dr. David Squires, Dean of FPSPA (Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts), has written a new piece to celebrate and honour the recent gift of a Casavant pipe organ to TWU’s Music Dept. Psalm for a Bride is his setting of a poem by English Department colleague Lynn Szabo, and will be performed by soprano Alison Nystrom and organist Ellen Wang, both faculty colleagues. The concert, Soli Deo Gloria, also features a variety of student and faculty instrumental and vocal soloists, Chamber Choir and Chamber Singers.

Tuesday, March 23rd - Saturday, March 27th

Theatre at TWU presents "As You Like It," by William Shakespeare
Directed by Aaron Caleb

Also running from Tuesday, March 16th to Saturday, March 20th.

Wednesday, March 24th

Gender Café
Dr. Christopher Morrissey, Redeemer Pacific College - "Mad Men and the Eternal Husband: From Dostoevsky to Don Draper"

Time: 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Location: Graduate Collegium
RSPV: gender@twu.ca
Cost: Free, except for coffee and dessert

Dr. Morrissey will discuss examples from the T.V. series Mad Men, from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Eternal Husband, and from the work of René Girard, in order to explore these recent remarks of Pope Benedict XVI: "Faced with cultural and political trends that seek to eliminate, or at least cloud and confuse, the sexual differences inscribed in human nature, considering them a cultural construct, it is necessary to recall God's design that created the human being masculine and feminine, with a unity and at the same time an original and complimentary difference. Human nature and the cultural dimension are integrated in an ample and complex process that constitutes the formation of one's own identity, where both dimensions, that of the feminine and that of the masculine, correspond to and complete each other.

For more information contact Robynne Healey at robynne.healey@twu.ca or 604-53-2121 ext. 3168.

Thursday, March 25th

New TWU Authors Reception

Time: 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Location: TWU Bookstore, Reimer Student Centre

Come meet and congratulate our faculty authors! (Or just come for the refreshments.) We're celebrating new books by Grant Havers, Joel Lohr, Isao Ebihara, Jens Zimmermann, Don Page, and Deane Downey.

Hosted by the TWU Bookstore. For more information contact Bryan Thiessen at Bryan.Thiessen@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 3444.

CRC in Developmental Genetics and Disease Seminar Series
Dr. Michael Silverman, Simon Fraser University - "Live-Cell Imaging of Organelle Transport in Neurons"

Time: 1:10 - 2:00 pm
Location: TBA

Abstract: Transport of membrane bound organelles is essential for neuronal function and survival. A critical cellular cargo, called dense-core vesicles (DCVs), is responsible for the transport and secretion of a large group of neuropeptides, which are required for development, learning and memory, and neuronal survival. These molecules are packaged into DCVs in the Golgi apparatus then delivered to distal release sites via microtubule-based transport. Importantly, disruption of neuronal transport, including DCV transport, is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Despite the importance of DCVs in neuronal function, little is known about the mechanisms mediating their transport. The focus of my lab is to characterize DCV transport and identify the motor proteins required for their transport to distal sites of release. Additionally, recent work aims to characterize how axonal transport is disrupted by soluble Aβ oligomers, a neurotoxin responsible in part for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. To address these questions we employ live-cell imaging to directly observe organelle transport in primary cultured hippocampal neurons.

Sponsored by the Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease. For more information contact Eve Stringham at stringha@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 3204.

MAIH Colloquium - Revisioning the Past through Interdisciplinarity

Time: 1:10 - 2:25 pm
Location: Room 125, Robert N. Thompson Centre

Three MAIH students will present their conference papers (from the Qualicum History Conference held in January 2010):
"Heroine Mothers’ and Patriotic Mothers’: the Engendering of Female Sexuality in Romania and the former Yugoslavia" by Kristen Alm
"Can History Do Justice?: Historical Idealism and the Meta History of the Poor" by Joel Mason
"The Legacy of a King: William Lyon Mackenzie King and Canadian Foreign Policy" by Romalie Murphy

Light refreshments will be provided. For more information contact Jayne Cummins at jayne.cummins@twu.ca or 604-513-2121 ext. 2169.