UBCO Keynote – Hope Circuits: Re-membering and Renewal for Human Flourishing

To attend this event in-person, please register for the whole conference on the CTL Okanagan website.

To attend this event online, please register by clicking on the green “Register Now” button on this page.

This event is part of the 2024 Celebrate Learning Week, taking place from May 6–10, 2024. 

We now find ourselves at the precipice of a higher-education paradigm shift.

After many years of incremental change and deferral, we need substantial change. What we do now will inform how we, as individuals, institutions, and society, experience revolutionary change. It is an extraordinary time that challenges us to go back to the fundamentals and ask:

What is higher education?

What is the social contract we have with a broader society?

And, how can we fulfill this mandate at the systems- and sector-wide levels?

What the new paradigm looks like is not yet clear. We are in the early stages of emergence that will only come into focus in retrospect. Nevertheless, when we have adequate tools, mindset, and purpose to design better systems we can carve out agency to determine what this new paradigm looks like. To do so, we must be willing to surface the rot, stay with the trouble, and build our capacities for daring imagination: this is what a commitment to systemic flourishing looks like.

We are overdue for a new model: what shape will it take?

Hope Circuits offers a set of ten conceptual tools that moves us from moment to mindset as we re-centre human and ecological flourishing and re-member the human.

Bio

Dr. Jessica Riddell is a Full Professor of Early Modern Literature at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Canada, holding the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence. A prominent figure in discussions about reshaping higher education towards human flourishing, she actively engages in national and international dialogues on universities’ societal responsibilities. An accomplished scholar and educator, her work spans Shakespeare studies, institutional culture change, and inclusive high-impact practices. Her recent co-authored book, “Shakespeare’s Guide to Life, Hope, and Learning,” received acclaim, while her forthcoming publication, “Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and other Systems for Human Flourishing,” offers a comprehensive critique and vision for the future of higher education. Recognized for her teaching excellence and innovative approaches, she has garnered numerous awards, including the 3M National Teaching Fellowship and the inaugural award from Forces Avenir. With a robust leadership portfolio, she serves on various boards, including the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the Research Advisory Board for Future Skills Centre.

Note to Non-UBC Participants:

In order to register for this program, non-UBC faculty, staff, and students will need to create a UBC Basic CWL. To do this, please go to the CWL page and scroll down to the accordion tab that reads “Basic”. Follow the instructions there for creating and activating a Basic CWL, then please return to this page to register for the program.

This event will be hosted on Zoom.