Students in the BC Studies course visited Burnaby’s Japanese Canadian National Museum in March where Mary Ohara (above, standing) described life in the camp where she and her family were intered during WWII. | Women and simplicity discussed at upcoming WomenSpeak presentation People involved in simplicity are finding ways to work less, spend less and rush less. This return to the simple life is many things: it is creating a life of high satisfaction and low environmental impact in a caring society. It is an effort to live better on less. It is the art of discernment, seeing more clearly _ what is important and what matters. Does simplicity hold a special allure for women? Why are so many women involved with this age-old philosophy? To explore these questions and learn how you can join in _ ongoing simplicity study circles, join Cecile Andrews at Women __ and Simplicity, the latest offering through WomenSpeak at - Douglas College. Andrews, author of The Circle of Simplicity: — _ Return to the Good Life is a visiting scholar at Stanford and a __ former community college administrator. She directs the 2 Serr Gs Project for the non-profit Seeds of Simplicity. | “This event takes place Monday June 24, 7-9pm room 2203 at ~ Douglas College’s New Westminster Campus, 700 Royal Avenue. Free admission (sponsored by the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation); limited space. Register by phone at “ 604-527-5440, or register on-line at . http: /Iwww.development.douglas.bc.ca/women/ ~ eontrolwomen.html. For more information, please call | 604-527-5503, Students taking BC Studies reported to their instructors that it was one of the most rewarding courses they've taken at Douglas College. “Our theme this year was the Japanese Canadian experience,” says History instructor Jaqueline Gresko. “We studied Joy Kogawa’s novel Obasan in English, and the history of the removal and relocation of Japanese Canadians in History and Geography.” Susan Briggs instructed the English class, while Earl Noah instructed the Geography class. BC Studies allows students to gain a greater understanding of the province's geography, history and literature. The nine-credit course, which consists of one course each from English (Major Themes in Literature), Geography (Geography of BC) and History (Canada after Confederation), included a field trip to the Japanese Canadian National Museum in Burnaby. “That visit really made the course for the students,” says Gresko. “It included a session with Mary Ohara, a survivor of the internment camps of 60 years ago. Mary told us how her family was evacuated from the Gulf Islands to the Interior of British Columbia and then how they returned to Japan after the war. Mary wanted to come back to British Columbia so she worked for eight years to pay her fare. For her, the Federal Government redress statement to Japanese Canadians in 1988 was the moment when she felt she had really become Canadian, that she had really come home.” Outcomes of the Spoken Communications Forum meeting On May 10, 12 instructors of Spoken Communications from five BC post-secondary institutions met at Douglas College. Spoken Communications courses are those which focus on any kind of face-to-face oral communication, including interpersonal, conflict resolution, group dynamics, oral presentation and intercultural communication skills. “The purposes of the meeting were to create an ongoing context where instructors might discuss shared interests and to examine prior learning assessment and recognition practice in the Spoken Communications field,” says Lin Langley, Communications instructor. The peer-based discussions included a morning presentation from Finola Finlay of the British Columbia Council on Articulation and Transfer, and an afternoon presentation on Prior learning Assessment and Recognition from Carol Howorth, former coordinator of the Prior Learning Assessment Service at Douglas College. Both sessions were well received. “One outcome of the meeting was a clear decision by the Spoken Communications Forum to seek formal articulation status as a co-committee of the BC Communications Articulation Committee (BCCAC),” says Langley. At the subsequent May 13 meeting of BCCAC, the co-committee structure was agreed upon. BCCAC now functions as two co-committees: the Written and the Spoken Communications Co- Committees. Kate Sangha and Lin Langley of the Communications Department at Douglas College, are co- chairs, with Kate representing Written and Lin representing Spoken Communications. The next meeting of BCCAC will be hosted at Douglas College on May 12 and 13 of 2003. Anyone wishing more information can contact Kate ( katesangha@msn.com ) or Lin (langleyl@douglas.bc.ca).