Since 1888, the Estate of Owen Connolly has funded approximately $3 million to help thousands of Prince Edward island students of Irish Catholic heritage gain a higher education, many of them at SDU or UPEI. Leonard Cusack (SDU ’69) has written the rags-to-riches story of the remarkable man behind the money, Owen Connolly, and we invite you to celebrate this new book at a book launch. Soft cover and souvenir copies will be available for sale and signing. Owen Connolly: The Making of a Legacy is published by Island Studies Press and the Estate of Owen Connolly.

Simulations & Student Learning: Building an interdisciplinary community of practice in Atlantic Canada In June 2017, Dalhousie University hosted the Simulations & Student Learning Symposium. This event brought three internationally renowned experts to Halifax for an intensive workshop on expanding and enriching simulation-based learning. Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers and instructors is travelling across Atlantic Canada to continue this conversation and help instructors effectively design, execute, and evaluate simulations. All faculty members and graduate students interested in using simulation-based learning in their teaching are welcome to attend this event! Presenter Dr. Anna MacLeod, Associate Professor and Director of Education Research, is a medical educator who uses case-based learning to deliver undergraduate curriculum, which involves students working collaboratively to explore a clinical scenario that simulates real-life medical practice. Anna developed the guidelines and case writing template that are used throughout the undergraduate medical education program. The event will take place on November 23 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm in Room 104 of the K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre. For more information, contact Gerald Wandio at fdo@upei.ca or 902-620-5217.

As an instructor, you’ve set up a syllabus that clearly explains your expectations of where students will end up. Then you set them on the journey to that destination. However, some will get off track along the way. The information you provide, how you provide it and when you provide it will be key to getting them back on the right path or in keeping them on the right path. In this workshop, offered by the E-Learning Office, instructors will learn strategies for the use of feedback and rubrics that they can use to accompany student assessments. The workshop will take place on Thursday, November 30 from 10:00 to 11:00 am in the Robertson Library, Rm 265.  REGISTER.

Departments of Biomedical Sciences & Pathology and Microbiology Seminar will take place on November 22 from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm in Leacture Theare A, AVC. Logan Bigelow, Biomedical Sciences, will give a presentation entitled, "Assessment of Cognitive Function and Associated Bio-Markers in a Novel Progressive Model of Parkinson's Disease".  Contact Suzette Acorn at sacorn@upei.ca or more information. All are welcome!

UPEI Synapse and Mitacs Training Team is holding a Networking Skills Workshop on November 29 taught by professional industry consultants for the professional development of graduate and postdoctoral students at University of Prince Edward Island. Please arrive at 8:45 sharp in order to register for this free worshop.  

Everyone is welcome to attend the first in a series of Department of Philosophy talks on November 24 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm in SDU Main Building. JoAnna Howlett, “The Erotic, Aesthetic, and the Ethical” The connection between the erotic, the aesthetic, and the ethical is obscured but ever present. The interplay between these concepts can be demonstrated in diverse fields. JoAnna will focus on personal identity, eroticism, and art as they relate to tattooing. Dr. Daniel Harris, “Nietzsche, Atheism, and Desiring Life” Friedrich Nietzsche is infamous for his claim that “God is dead”. Nietzsche, however, is not interested in entering debates about whether or not God exists. Instead, his question is: what is it like for a culture to lose its religious faith? His answer is that it becomes important to create new aesthetic interpretations of existence that make us desire life. Nietzsche argues that science is an important, but ultimately failed, attempt to do so.

A special seminar will be given by Dr. John Sorensen, Biomedical Sciences, entitled “The Annotation and Heterologous Expression of Secondary Metabolite Biosynthetic Gene Clusters from the Lichen Cladonia uncialis”. All are welcome! Bio: Dr. Sorensen received his PhD at the University of Alberta under Professor John Vederas and did his post doctoral fellow at the University of Oxford under Professor Chris Scholfield. He worked on a project that looked at the biosynthesis of beta-lactam antibiotics. The structure and biochemical function of the individual enzymes that are involved in the production of these clinically important drugs was examined in detail. He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manitoba in 2006. His research lab has on-going projects in all aspects of natural products that are produced by microorganisms including lichen and fungi. A mix of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology is used to probe the key chemical steps that are involved in small molecule biosynthesis.

The Robertson Library is offering a presentation, with hands-on tutorial time, on Tuesday, November 21 at 3:00 pm and again in the LINC classroom (Rm 265) in the Library. Faculty, staff, and students that use Google Scholar, this is a chance to learn some useful time-saving tips! If you are unable to make this time but would like to learn these tips, please contact Melissa Belvadi, mbelvadi@upei.ca to arrange another time.

The Robertson Library is offering a presentation, with hands-on tutorial time, on Thursday, November 23 at 2:00 pm and again in the LINC classroom (Rm 265) in the Library. Faculty, staff, and students that use Google Scholar, this is a chance to learn some useful time-saving tips! If you are unable to make this time but would like to learn these tips, please contact Melissa Belvadi, mbelvadi@upei.ca to arrange another time.

The Robertson Library is offering an intro 30-minute presentation with further hands-on time on the RefWorks citation management system on Tuesday, November 21 at 12:00 pm in the LINC classroom of the Robertson Library. This will be useful for students and faculty, whether you used the old RefWorks or are learning RefWorks for the first time. If you bring your laptop, we can help you set up the Word or Google Docs plugin following the main presentation. If you are unable to make these times but would like to learn about RefWorks, please contact Melissa Belvadi, mbelvadi@upei.ca. Faculty are encouraged to share this announcement with their classes!