In the Community

Poets on Campus launches eighth season at VIU Oct. 1

September 17, 2012

Talented poets and writers with deep roots on Vancouver Island will share their inspiring stories during the eighth annual Poets on Campus series at Vancouver Island University. Author Maleea Acker opens the Fall 2012-Spring 2013 series Oct. 1 with readings from her first non-fiction book, Gardens Aflame: Garry Oak Meadows of BC’s South Coast, and a manuscript of poems, The Almonds in the Earth... Read more


VIU students share lessons from co-operative education experiences

September 17, 2012

Diane Awad spent the summer working toward her Hospitality Management degree at Vancouver Island University by keeping things magical for visitors to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café at Walt Disney World in Florida. Tourism Management student Alyssa Deggan took to the waters of the Salish Sea where she used her newly acquired skills to guide paddlers for Pender Island Kayak Adventures. Awad and... Read more


Hockey historian reflects on the memories and meanings of the 1972 Canada-Soviet Union Summit Series

September 13, 2012

“Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot! Henderson makes a wild stab for it and falls. Here’s another shot. Right in front. They score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” – Hockey broadcast legend Foster Hewitt, describing Paul Henderson’s historic goal against the Soviet Union in Moscow, Sept. 28, 1972 Forty years after Paul Henderson scored for Team Canada, his winning goal represents the... Read more


VIU in the News: National chief stresses need for aboriginal learning

September 11, 2012

By Ben Ingram Nanaimo Daily News Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo says that while educational institutions in Canada may have wronged indigenous peoples in the past, those wounds can be healed through learning. The twice-elected AFN chief, who was installed as chancellor of Vancouver Island University in 2008, stressed the importance of supporting First Nations education... Read more


Island-raised author to read at VIU and talk about success in Britain

September 10, 2012

Celebrated British literary sensation Craig Taylor returns to familiar territory on Sept. 14 when he gives a reading at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus where he studied in the theatre program. Taylor grew up in Lantzville and on Protection Island, but now lives in London where he has authored three books, the best-selling Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - as Told by... Read more


VIU in the News: Former VIU Dean Carol Matthews receives Order of BC

September 7, 2012

Longtime Nanaimo educator, community leader named to Order of British Columbia By Darrell Bellaart Nanaimo Daily News Nanaimo educator, writer and community leader Carol Matthews was given the province's highest honour this week. Matthews was named to the Order of British Columbia in a ceremony in Victoria Thursday. Each spring nominations are accepted for the order. Matthews was one of 14... Read more


VIU course on Modern Arabic Fiction promotes understanding and tolerance

August 24, 2012

English Professor Katharina Rout had little background in Arabic literature when she proposed it as the theme for a fourth-year Vancouver Island University comparative literature course. “Initially, I thought we needed a course on Modern Arabic Fiction because, collectively, we know too little about the Arab world and because Canadian students would benefit from the insights into Arab culture... Read more


VIU welcomes students/parents to “Rock the VIU” Aug. 30

August 24, 2012

Vancouver Island University is ready to welcome an impressive mix of new and returning students from all over Canada and around the world. VIU’s three campuses in Nanaimo, Cowichan and Powell River will welcome more than 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students for the fall semester which begins Sept. 4. More than 700 of those students, new to VIU, will attend “Rock the VIU”, a day of... Read more


Retiring visual art professor creates kelp installation for Deep Bay Marine Field Station

August 16, 2012

Visual Art Professor Fran Benton was quick to volunteer her talents when she heard that staff at Vancouver Island University’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station were interested in additional aquatic-themed art for the new facility on the shores of Baynes Sound. “I’m retiring and I thought this would be a nice way to say thank you to the institution for treating me so nicely over the past 18 years,”... Read more


Liberal Studies program excites students

August 1, 2012

Students in the Comox Valley and other north Island areas can expand their minds, study ancient classics and earn a university degree close to home. Vancouver Island University, in partnership with North Island College (NIC), is offering upper-level Liberal Studies courses at NIC’s Comox Valley campus in September, and seats are available. “Students can take the classes at NIC’s Comox Valley... Read more