Deception, conspiracy theories, and misleading information topics of UBCO event

Misinformation isn’t hard to find.

It’s polluting news feeds on social media, fills the pages of numerous websites—and it’s even alive and well on some cable television channels.

But how can we combat the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories while preserving free speech?

Dr. Dan Ryder is an associate professor of philosophy in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and organizer of this year’s Roger Gale Symposium. He's organizing a virtual event, called the Misinformation Age, on Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5.

You’ve expressed growing concern over how authoritarian regimes are using mass media to misinform the public. Can you explain what you mean?

When I think about authoritarian regimes in relation to misinformation, two very different things come to mind. First, we have regimes like those in Russia and China who exert careful control over social media content, and spread misinformation within their own countries and abroad.

Second, we have these partial democracies—or democracies with authoritarian leanings—using the problem of misinformation as an excuse to interfere with free speech.

For example, the free press was already quite restricted in Singapore, but now they’re forced to operate within new laws created to stop the spread of ’false statements of fact,’ with rule-breakers facing stiff penalties and government powers in place that can require retractions and corrections.

This means the Singapore government has added a new tool to its arsenal to control the media. It’s part of a worrisome worldwide trend.

As you mentioned, social media platforms are tools increasingly used to spread misinformation. Do owners of these platforms have a moral obligation to monitor and remove this type of content?

This is a tricky issue. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg quite plausibly says that it isn’t his company’s place to decide what’s true, and that their role is only to provide an unfettered venue for the free exchange of ideas.

But on the other hand, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others aren’t just allowing people to post their ideas online without interference. Their opaque newsfeeds and search algorithms determine what users see; and they want us to keep reading, watching or scrolling so they can collect our data and use it to sell advertising.

A consequence of this business model is that their algorithms often serve us extreme content that arouses emotion, whether or not the content is based in fact. It’s Facebook that’s suggesting we join this group, or YouTube recommending this video. And there’s research to suggest these algorithms have pulled people down rabbit holes of falsehood, conspiracy and hatred. So it’s hard to argue the tech companies are blameless.

That said, they seem to have taken more responsibility lately. For example, Twitter removed Donald Trump’s account after ample evidence he was communicating in bad faith. But the question of how to fix the problem without harming free speech remains to be answered.

In your opinion, is it possible to combat misinformation while preserving free speech?

There are three different places to take action against misinformation: production, distribution and consumption. We’ve talked a bit about the first two—but it’s actually the third one, information consumption, where I think intervening is least likely to harm free speech.

The idea is to make sure people are resistant to misinformation—that they are media literate and have good critical thinking skills.

If people are more media literate it’s harder for misinformation to grow and spread. For example, good thinkers rightly scoff at QAnon nonsense and don’t share it.

Finland has been a bit of a poster child for this strategy. Their efforts to integrate media literacy and critical thinking beginning from the earliest ages are much lauded.

Is it enough? I’m not sure. And since it’s a pretty long-term solution, does it leave our short-term problems unaddressed? I’m hoping the panellists at this week’s event can cast some light on these questions.

Dr. Ryder hosts a panel of well-known experts on Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5 for presentations and in-depth discussions on misinformation. For more information or to register for this free event, visit: epp.ok.ubc.ca/about/misinformation-age

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Economically speaking, these systems only benefit a certain segment of society

New research has determined the prevalence of private security systems may be robbing the general public of the police services they need.

Dr. Ross Hickey is an economist in UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Management and the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Along with a team of researchers, Hickey examined data from a social survey of Canada victimization, where people answered whether they had added security measures to their homes to protect themselves from crime.

“We are seeing more expenditures on private security systems installed in homes and, as economists, we have to ask why. We know that crime rates are down and expenditure on police is up,” says Hickey. “But private security purchases are at an all-time high.”

Hickey says the research team first thought about the classic supply and demand equations. The government provides the supply, or resources, for policing and there is a demand for public protection. However, when you combine a supply of private security products, then add criminals to the mix, Hickey says the basic supply and demand equation doesn’t add up.

There are many different types of security measures people can take—anything from putting bars on windows to getting a dog, or adding motion-detection lights, house alarms and security cameras. And while they may make people feel more secure, it’s also been proven that a barking dog may deter a thief more effectively than cameras and alarms. Hickey says security systems that automatically alert police, even though it may be a false alarm, can divert police from other duties.

“All of these innovations in private security don’t prevent the crime, they increase the chances of the person getting caught. When the police are called to homes using these technologies, we see the police being taken away from responding to another, perhaps, more urgent call,” says Hickey.

Hickey says their research demonstrates a classic case of inequity between segments of society.

“This is a dimension of inequity that doesn’t show up directly,” he says. “The inequity is in how some people are accessing this public good. It is available for everybody but some people are getting more of it, because they have chosen to install these private systems. And police are responding to those systems.”

The research, says Hickey, means that municipalities should consider police budgets differently than they currently do. Right now, just adding more money to the system does not change the inequity that will continue with the prevalence of home security systems.

“We need to think more carefully about this. In a world where private security investments are happening, we may need to look at different methods of funding the police,” he says.

Hickey says just adding extra funding into the mix is not the solution. Currently, people are not being uniformly protected by police services. And the police are being drawn toward particular segments of society who have privately invested in their own home protective measures.

“Are the people with lower incomes, or those living on the street, getting the same service from police? And we have to ask—if the city adds more police services next year, is that really going to make downtown much safer?”

The research was published recently in the Journal of Public Economic Theory.

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Experts discuss dangers of misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories

What: Roger W. Gale Symposium: The Misinformation Age
Who: Expert panel including Timothy Caulfield, Daniel Levitin, Heidi Tworek, Laura Helmuth, Jamal Greene, Gordon Pennycook, Dan Gillmor and Renée DiResta
When: Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5 from 1 to 5 p.m. each day
Venue: Online event via zoom

The misinformation age is upon us.

According to a recent study from Statistics Canada, the majority of Canadians have seen what they believe to be false, inaccurate or misleading information related to COVID-19 circulating online.

Only one in five Canadians say they always investigate the suspicious information they encounter, which raises the question—how are the other four reacting to news they’re consuming online, and could they unknowingly be super-misinformation-spreaders?

Over two days next week, the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ Department of Economics, Philosophy and Political Science presents The Misinformation Age. The event will feature talks from highly respected experts in the areas of law, internet, psychology, journalism, history and science to discuss the role of misinformation in everything from the pandemic and the 2020 American presidential election to the tools authoritarian regimes use to disseminate falsehoods.

Dr. Dan Ryder, event organizer and associate professor of philosophy, says the symposium is an opportunity to learn about what’s driving the global surge in information pollution.

“To stave off the negative impacts of misinformation, we need to first understand it and then find a way to combat it while preserving free speech,” he explains. “It’s a complex topic, but the good news is that researchers from across disciplines have begun to make real progress in exploring the ‘why’ behind it. This is a battle that belongs to all of us, so I hope the community can join us next week to become a more effective part of it.”

The Roger W. Gale Symposium is a series of events focusing on current issues that overlap multiple disciplines. Its goal is to bring together the academic and public worlds for a fruitful dialogue with subject-matter experts.

This virtual event is free and open to all and online pre-registration is required. To register, or learn more about the lineup of speakers, visit: epp.ok.ubc.ca/about/misinformation-age

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Event will focus on COVID-19, substance misuse and more

What: Bell Let’s Talk Day virtual mental health panel
Who: UBCO Psychology Professor Lesley Lutes and other clinical psychologists
When: Wednesday, January 27, beginning at 6 p.m.
Venue: Online, virtual event

UBC Okanagan’s Centre for Obesity and Well-being Research Excellence (CORE) and the department of psychology has partnered with the Mind of Mine Foundation to host a community-focused virtual mental health panel.

The event takes place on the eve of Bell Let’s Talk Day—a mental health awareness initiative launched by the company to reduce the stigma around mental illness.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 38 per cent of Canadians say their mental health has declined due to COVID-19—indicating that now, more than ever, people need to feel empowered and comfortable asking for help.

“Every person has been affected in some way by COVID-19,” says Lesley Lutes, a psychology professor in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and director of CORE. “Our new normal isn’t normal, and it’s okay to not be feeling like our usual selves today or any day.”

Lutes, alongside her UBC and community colleagues, have joined the conversation by organizing a panel event to provide a safe space for community members to learn about mental health, and this year, ask anonymous questions to clinical psychologists from the comfort of their homes.

The 90-minute virtual session will cover a number of topics including COVID-19, social media, substance misuse and prioritizing self-care. Advice will also be given on how to become more comfortable with mental health dialogue.

Lutes says attendees can expect an open, honest, meaningful discussion on what stress, burnout and risk looks and feels like, effective coping strategies, how to improve mental wellness and services that are available locally to support BC residents.

“We, as a society, have been through so much this past year. But sadly, suffering, loss, trauma, abuse and tragedy are not new—we just see and feel it more because of what’s been happening,” says Lutes. “What if it took all of this to finally realize that everyone deserves to feel loved, supported, and valued and that nobody should suffer any longer?”

Those interested in attending the event are invited to register and submit their questions anonymously at: eventbrite.com/e/bell-lets-talk-day-virtual-mental-health-panel-2021-tickets-135775388843

Lutes will also be announcing, in partnership with Simon Fraser University’s Scott Lear, the launch of a social media competition aimed to encourage British Columbians to share the ways they are staying socially connected, reaching out and providing support for people’s mental health and well-being during the current challenges of COVID-19.

“Let’s make all of this matter. Let’s make the events of the past year be the reason to finally make that call or reach out for help. And remember, no matter how insurmountable something may seem, just know that you are not alone. Everyone needs support. Everyone.”

On January 28, Bell Let’s Talk Day, Bell Canada will donate five cents to Canadian mental health programs for every applicable text, local or long-distance call, tweet or TikTok video using the hashtag #BellLetsTalk. It will also donate five cents for every Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video, and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Day Facebook frame or Snapchat filter.

For more information on the initiative, visit: letstalk.bell.ca

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Unlike opioids, long-term cannabis use does not increase sensitivity to pain

A recent study examining pain among cannabis users suggests that—unlike long-term opioid use—regular cannabis use does not appear to increase pain sensitivity. Doctoral student Michelle St. Pierre, who conducts research in the psychology department at UBC Okanagan, recently published a study looking for differences in pain tolerance of people who frequently use cannabis compared to those who don’t. “Recent years have seen an increase in the adoption of cannabinoid medicines, which have demonstrated effectiveness for the treatment of chronic pain,” says St. Pierre. “However, the extent to which frequent cannabis use influences sensitivity to acute pain has not been systematically examined.” Interest in the use of cannabinoids to help with chronic pain relief has accelerated over the past decade, St. Pierre explains, noting that a recent survey of medical cannabis patients reported that more than half used cannabis for pain relief. That’s despite recent reviews which suggest the effectiveness of cannabinoid therapies for chronic pain is mixed. “This study should come as good news to patients who are already using cannabis to treat pain,” says co-author Zach Walsh, who leads the UBC Therapeutic Recreational and Problematic Substance Use Lab which hosted the study. “Increases in pain sensitivity with opioids can really complicate an already tough situation; given increasing uptake of cannabis-based pain medications it’s a relief that we didn’t identify a similar pattern with cannabinoids.” St. Pierre’s study explored differences in measures of pain intensity and tolerance. The authors speculated that people who report frequent cannabis use would demonstrate greater experimental pain sensitivity but instead found no differences. “There is a different effect from opioid users; sustained use of opioids can make people more reactive to pain. We wanted to determine if there was a similar trend for people who use cannabis frequently,” says St. Pierre. “Cannabis and opioids share some of the same pain-relief pathways and have both been associated with increases in pain sensitivity following acute use.” The risk of addiction, overdose and opioid-induced hyperalgesia—where someone becomes more sensitive to pain—are major issues when it comes to using opioids to manage chronic pain, St. Pierre says. A patient with hyperalgesia might then increase their dosage of the opioid to manage the pain, further increasing the risk of addiction. The analgesic effects of cannabis have been proposed to engage some of the similar brainstem circuitry to those of opioids. However, the extent to which cannabinoids induce hyperalgesia has not been determined. For her study, St. Pierre recruited volunteers who used cannabis more than three times a week and people who didn’t use it at all. Study participants were subjected to a cold-pressor task test, where they submerged a hand and forearm in icy water for a sustained amount of time. What they determined was that cannabis use doesn’t carry the same risk for hyperalgesia that opioid use does, she adds. “Our results suggest frequent cannabis use did not seem to be associated with elevated sensitivity to experimental pain in a manner that can occur in opioid therapy,” she says. “This is an important distinction that care providers and patients should consider when selecting options for pain management. These findings are particularly relevant in light of recent reports of opioid overprescribing and high rates of pain in the population, as it suggests that cannabis may not carry the same risk of hyperalgesia as opioids.” St. Pierre’s study was recently published in the Clinical Journal of Pain.

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Food insecurity has long been an issue in Canada

As COVID-19 looms into the summer, international borders remain closed, a number of meatpacking and food processing plants are shut, and local farmers face a shortage of migrant workers to harvest crops. Indeed, prices have increased in grocery stores and the stark reality of supply and demand is hitting Canadians in the wallet.

Joanne Taylor is currently a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council postdoctoral fellow in the department of economics, philosophy, and political science at UBC’s Okanagan campus. Her work explores the obstacles and challenges the agriculture industry and producers face while accessing a sustainable water supply for food production during impactful climate change scenarios. Taylor shares her opinion and philosophical approach towards food security, examining what COVID-19 has done to food supply and the real concern of food security across the continent

What is the best way to explain food security?

As defined by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UNFAO) food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. I suggest we use the term food insecurity, however, as social justice and food sovereignty issues such as ecological damage and greenhouse gasses are largely ignored when it comes to food production and supply. And disproportionate impacts of food insecurity are experienced by those who are most socially marginalized.

In the early stages of the pandemic Canadians experienced a shortage of yeast and flour and a limit on eggs. Is there more to come?

Yes. Since 2008 the global food crisis was identified by skyrocketing food prices, food riots and displacement of the impoverished, indicating that the current food system was not succeeding in eliminating poverty and food insecurity. Other challenges to our food supply include diminishing farmland lost to urban development, loss of healthy soils, forest fires—not to mention climate change-induced drought and flooding on agricultural land right here in the Okanagan.

There is also a dependence on western diets rich in meat and dairy, which rely on animal feed crops. In fact, the current COVID-19 crisis has most affected meat and migrant workers. Canada imports about 45 per cent of its domestic food supply while being the fifth-largest food exporter in the world. Some BC communities export 95 per cent of its produce creating a reliance on California for its fruit and vegetables where drought and forest fires are also prevalent.

How concerned should people be?

We should be genuinely concerned since the ability to be food secure is tied to personal financial ability to purchase food. As we are seeing, many social and environmental calamities are currently affecting not only our food supply but job security in the time of COVID-19—resulting in a decreased ability to purchase food. Increased food prices necessarily place further pressure on our personal or family budgets, creating scenarios where families may be in food-deprived situations.

What can the average household do to protect themselves in the future?

I believe that we should support our local farmers right here in our communities where an abundance of local, fresh, nutritious foods are grown. Shopping at farmers markets and grocery stores that support local producers builds resilient communities and decreases the impact on climate change-induced flooding and drought. Local food is also fresher and therefore more nutritious.

Should we all be growing our own fruit and vegetables?

Learning how to grow food either in your front yard or patio, in community garden plots, or even on borrowed land creates an understanding of how vitally important our food system is, especially when it comes under socioeconomic and environmental stressors.

We’re all thinking this will eventually be over, but will COVID-19 permanently affect Canadians’ food supply?

No one knows how long the current COVID-19 situation will continue or if international farm workers will be able to travel to our agricultural communities. It is therefore critical that we all learn the basics of how to procure local, nutritious foods with an understanding that we must be able to adapt to future climate change-related social and economic disruptions. It has never been more important to buy locally-produced food to support farmers and our communities. And as Canadians, we should never take fresh food and water for granted.

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca

Aspiring pediatrician wins top student award

Teagan MacDougall reminds herself of one thing when the going gets tough—how worthwhile this will all be when she’s able to help sick children as a pediatrician.

Today, MacDougall graduates with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology (honours), celebrating not only the end of her undergraduate career, but also being awarded the Pushor Mitchell LLP Gold Medal Leadership Prize.

The $10,000 prize, now in its 11th year, is the highest honour available for an Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences student and recognizes a graduating student who has excelled academically and shown leadership while earning their degree.

Andrew Brunton, managing partner at Pushor Mitchell LLP, says the firm is proud to recognize the accomplishments of another exceptional student at UBC Okanagan.

“We are happy to support Teagan and hope she continues to chase her dream of becoming a pediatrician and is able to continue her great work in the community,” says Brunton. “We are proud to be a supporter of UBC Okanagan and to be able to add Teagan to the distinguished list of Pushor Mitchell LLP Gold Medal Leadership Prize winners.”

MacDougall grew up a short drive from the UBC campus in Lake Country, BC. After graduating high school, she relocated to Whistler to spend her days on the slopes and evenings working in the hospitality industry—before returning to the Okanagan and enrolling at UBCO in 2016.

Having enjoyed biology in high school, and knowing her end-goal was medical school—microbiology was a natural choice.

Though thrilled to be back in the classroom—bad study habits started to haunt her. She struggled during her first semester, trying to learn weeks of course material for an upcoming midterm in one night.

“I was up all-night studying, drank six red bulls, and I got 20 per cent,” she says. “It made me wonder whether or not I was cut out for university—I asked myself what I wanted to do. I could either walk away or try harder and I decided to try harder.”

MacDougall registered for a summer physics course—this time committing to give it her all.

She did just that—and completed the course with 97 per cent. From that moment forward, she never received a grade lower than an A.

Aside from academic achievements, MacDougall was deeply involved in research during her time at UBCO, volunteering in a biomedical research lab, and working as an undergraduate research assistant.

An honours student, MacDougall also produced original research investigating the persistency and viability of a fungal probiotic in the human gastrointestinal tract—winning first-place poster presentation at UBCO’s Undergraduate Research Conference.

In her sparse spare time, MacDougall founded Heroes for Little Heroes, a registered Canadian non-profit where volunteers wear princess and superhero costumes to visit medically-vulnerable children at local hospitals and disadvantaged children at social service institutions.

“The smile on their faces when they see a princess or superhero walk into the room—it’s so heartwarming,” says MacDougall.

“We do crafts, read books and just talk and keep them company—but, honestly, they’re the real heroes. They overcome huge adversities at a young age and still come out smiling—they’re so brave and inspire me to be resilient every day.”

Aside from pediatrics visits, MacDougall is also a volunteer at Kelowna General Hospital, doing patient visitations and providing information in the emergency department. She also serves as a youth mental health ambassador with the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre at BC Children’s Hospital, a position that piqued her interest for personal reasons.

“During my teenage years, I suffered from an eating disorder,” she explains. “Although it was horrible—I try to think of it as a silver lining. That experience helps me to better understand and empathize with youth suffering from similar disorders.”

Over the next few months, MacDougall will work with the early detection research group at the BC Cancer Agency—while studying to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) this fall.

Though her medical school of choice is UBC’s Southern Medical Program on the Okanagan campus, MacDougall says she’s open to the idea of relocating if necessary.

“Wherever my journey takes me, the financial flexibility that comes with winning this award will allow me to further my education and continue growing my foundation with the goal of helping as many people as possible,” she says, thanking Pushor Mitchell and her professors for their support.

As she graduates today, she shares one final lesson not learned in a textbook.

“Hard work does pay off and I want my fellow students to know they are capable of much more than they know. No one should sell themselves short. Anything worth having is worth working for—it’s so simple, yet so true.”

Silver Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation

Shortly after high school, Dominica Patterson boarded a plane to volunteer in Benin, West Africa. While she knew an adventure was waiting, she had no idea how that journey would light a spark that would eventually lead to law school.

Now, as she graduates from UBC Okanagan and studies for her Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Patterson has been named the winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation. It’s an honour reserved for a student with a strong academic standing and who has also made a difference in this world.

Patterson admits she didn’t take high school seriously enough and had no idea what her future would bring. She signed up for the cultural exchange and left the rest up to fate.

“I assumed I was going on a big ‘save the planet’ project and I’d come back feeling like a great person,” she says. “To my benefit, it was not that type of program and it certainly opened my eyes. I quickly learned a lot about integrating into a new society, and the conflicts between foreign affairs, international aid and the lack of human rights many people struggle with.”

In Benin, she lived in a small rural village, worked on a community farm and also shadowed health care professionals in a nearby maternity clinic. The experience lit a fire in Patterson. She became passionate about global affairs and human rights. Back in Canada, after completing an associate degree in criminal justice she transferred to UBC Okanagan, bridging her credits towards a bachelor’s degree in international relations.

She quickly became involved in a number of organizations, most notably the non-profit group Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (RAMA).

“Working alongside human rights lawyers and executive organizers of the organization, I joined the fight to stand with temporary migrant workers in Canada against the structural racism, violence, isolation, discrimination and poor living and working conditions they often face while working here,” she explains.

She also began a fundraising campaign, helping support a person while he was waiting for the ruling of the Canadian BC Human Rights Tribunal. Not only did she start a Go Fund Me campaign, but she also created a business selling succulents in vintage teapots to raise money to support his family.

All this, while working on her degree. She admits there were some long nights poring over textbooks, and endless papers to write. But her work with RAMA inspired her to make a difference. The spark that had been lit in Benin, continued to burn.

“I took each moment in each course as it came along. Then I made the dean’s list and suddenly I knew I had the possibility of getting where I wanted to go. I knew there was no giving up.”

By then Patterson, and her passion for justice, was noticed by some of her professors.

“She has all of the hallmarks of being an outstanding scholar and someone who will be a practical change-maker around issues of inequality, inclusion and social justice,” says Economics, Philosophy and Political Science Department Head, Professor Helen Yanacopulos. “Teaching Dominica has been not only inspiring, but also intellectually stimulating and an absolute pleasure.”

And in 2019, Associate Professor of History Jessica Stites Mor invited Patterson to help coordinate a conference on International Solidarity Movement New York City.

“Dominica is an outstanding student and promises to contribute great things in the future. Her research on labour issues between Latin America and Canada has involved a deep reading of hemispheric labour conflict and activism with RAMA,” she adds. “Her family’s experience coming to Canada from Chile in the aftermath of Pinochet’s military coup has inspired her to consider the connections between everyday acts of exploitation and the foundations of citizenship and democracy.”

And the spark for human rights continues to burn. She takes her LSAT in July and has applied for law school, with a focus on international affairs. It’s daunting, she says, thinking of the years of course work ahead. But hearing about the Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal only sparks the flame for justice.

“At certain points, you find yourself on the floor, exhausted. You wonder how you’re going to get through this. But you can’t quit, because you want to make a difference,” she says. “To have this recognition is something I never expected. I can now look back at those moments when I was on my knees—done and ready to give up. I wish I could have told myself then it was going to be worth it. This is an amazing end to my time at UBCO and I couldn’t be more humbled or more grateful. I am truly thankful.”

Virtual ceremony takes place Wednesday as more than 1,900 students graduate

UBC Okanagan’s Convocation of 2020 will go down in history as a unique event. Instead of students, parents and faculty joining together on campus, the celebrations will be held virtually.

“The context of 2020 has made necessary a very different approach to our graduation ceremony this year,” says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus. “While the ceremony will be virtual, the remarkable achievements of our students are very real and worthy of recognition. I invite everyone to join me in celebrating the Class of 2020.”

This year, 1,925 students have qualified for convocation from UBC Okanagan—that includes 1,600 undergraduates, more than 270 students who have earned a master’s degree and 45 newly-conferred doctorate degrees.

While convocation is a time of celebration, it’s also a time of long-kept traditions. The program will begin with Chancellor Lindsay Gordon presiding over the virtual ceremony. UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Santa J. Ono and Buszard will both address the Class of 2020 live, dressed in full academic regalia. And graduates will have an opportunity to take a virtual selfie with President Ono.

UBC has arranged for Canadian icon and comedian Rick Mercer to deliver the 2020 keynote address. Mercer was a 2010 UBC honorary degree recipient.

Students have had the opportunity to purchase graduation regalia, special graduation gifts, create a personalized commemorative graduation video clip, download congratulatory signs and sign a guest book with congratulatory messages.

The virtual ceremony will last 45 minutes and it will be livestreamed on June 17, with a pre-show beginning at 2:30 p.m. The ceremony begins at 3 p.m. and a 20-minute virtual alumni reception takes place at 3:55 p.m. The ceremony can also be watched on YouTube, Facebook or Panopto, a platform that is accessible from many countries. To find out more, visit: virtualgraduation.ok.ubc.ca

“These are, indeed, unusual times, and UBC students have shown once again their resilience and ability to cope and thrive in the face of change,” says Buszard. “With everything they have accomplished over these past months and over the course of their studies, I couldn’t be more proud of the extraordinary UBC Okanagan Class of 2020. Congratulations.”

This year’s medal recipients

• Governor General’s Gold Medal: Mike Tymko
• Lieutenant Governor’s Medal Program for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation: Dominica Patterson
• UBC Medal in Fine Arts: Aiden de Vin
• UBC Medal in Arts: Ellie Jane Fedec
• UBC Medal in Science: Nicholas Kayban
• UBC Medal in Education: Alyssa Pembleton
• UBC Medal in Nursing: Christopher Popel
• UBC Medal in Management: Amanda Campbell
• UBC Medal in Human Kinetics: Madison Powls
• UBC Medal in Engineering: Tyler Ho

UBCO researcher explores the science behind imagination

A new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus is shedding light into how human creativity works and how novel ideas are formed—something the study’s researchers say is becoming increasingly important.

“The more the world changes, the more we need creative ideas,” says Liane Gabora, a UBC Okanagan psychology professor and creativity researcher.

But how do people come up with these innovative solutions?

“Most creativity research is done on the final products of creativity—the finished work of art, or novel or technological invention,” says Gabora. “Yet when people talk about the ‘magic’ of creativity, by the time the final product exists, that ‘magic’ is over.”

The creative process has long been believed to involve searching memory and generating multiple independent ‘candidate’ ideas, followed by selection and refinement of the most promising. But Gabora suspects something else is happening during the creative process.

She proposes that the mental representation of an unborn idea may take different outward forms when looked at from different perspectives. What appears to be discrete, separate ideas can be described mathematically as different projections of the same underlying mental representation. As creative thought proceeds, this representation loses the potential to be viewed from different perspectives and manifest as different outcomes.

This theory, referred to as honing theory, grew out of the neuroscience of how memories are encoded and retrieved, and by studying mathematical models of concept combinations and interactions.

“We are constantly re-organizing our internal webs of knowledge and memory,” explains Gabora. “When we retrieve an item in a new context, it can generate emergent properties that are neither properties of the memory, nor of the context; they emerge as something totally new when the two combine.”

Gabora points to the invention of the kitchen island as an example.

“An island, we all agree, has the defining property of being surrounded by water,” she says. “However, we effortlessly accept that this is not a property of the compound concept kitchen island—because if your kitchen island is surrounded by water, you’re in trouble. But the property emerges when island appears in the concept kitchen.”

Gabora says to truly understand how the creative process works, one has to study the states of creative ideas midway through the creative process. She and four undergraduate researchers at UBCO recently conducted studies that did just that—publishing their results in Acta Psychologica.

Gabora and her team conducted two studies to test her theory. In the first, participants were interrupted midway through solving an analogy problem, writing down what they were thinking in terms of a solution. In the second, participants were instructed to create a painting that expressed their true essence and describe how they conceived of it.

For both studies, unbiased judges categorized responses as supportive of either the conventional or honing theory view.

To Gabora’s delight, the results were most consistent with honing theory, providing further evidence that her research is on the right track.

“This is exciting because having a deeper understanding of how the creative process works psychologically can greatly benefit society moving forward,” she says.

“If we can understand the mental progressions occurring during the creative process, we can better understand the steps involved in the generation of the world’s greatest masterpieces, and potentially pave the way to the next masterpieces,” she says.

Gabora adds that during times of rapid change such as a pandemic, understanding the creative process is more important than ever.

“A key step is appreciating how each person’s uniqueness gives them a potential to create in ways that are uniquely theirs. Whether it’s creating a new kind of robot, making a new delicious kind of sourdough bread or writing country music’s next big hit—our potential is endless.”