Are the winter doldrums starting to seep in? Are you feeling the mid-semester blues creeping up?
A solution is here: ALES Week runs from Jan. 24-31, and, as usual, this annual collaborative opportunity is packed full of social events and learning opportunities around the faculty.
"We have a remarkable diversity of programs and disciplines represented within the faculty," said Dean Stan Blade. "ALES Week provides a chance to have students come together and engage in a way that creates a melting pot from the ALES mosaic."
Beginning on the morning of Jan. 24, the newly refurbished atrium in the Ag-For building will be the site of a cleansing ceremony by Cree Elder Bernie Makokis. This public ceremony will build on the faculty's relationship with the land and earth in Treaty 6 upon which the university is built. The ceremony will also include a smudging and short presentation by Makokis on the importance of the interconnected relationship between ALES and local Indigenous communities.
On Jan. 25, the Macgregor Smith Public Speaking Competition allows students to share their opinions on a broad topic, which comes with bragging rights and a tidy cash reward.
"For me, providing solutions to global challenges involves …" is this year's thesis and students will chose their own topic related to the degree program or their personal experience. A panel of staff, faculty and students from ALES will judge the speeches, which take place in the ALES Atrium from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
"We support and encourage this speaking competition every year in part because we want these students to demonstrate to the rest of the campus the pride we all feel as a member of this faculty," says student organizer Shelby Feniak.
The week caps off on Jan. 31, with a new community-based initiative, Connect Café, which evolved from the annual world-café project held in Frank Robinson's Animal Science 200 class in 2015 and 2016. "One of my goals is to make sure students have a level of expertise that is developed from a level of inquiry, and that is often cultivated through conversations with subject-matter experts," says Robinson, a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, and a 3M National Teaching Fellow.
This evening will bring together expertise that includes government, industry, producers and the public and will allow participants to gather in intimate settings, asking pointed questions and rotate through almost four dozen subject-matter experts. Edmonton Journal columnist Paula Simons will be the keynote of the free event, and, while there are a limited number of seats, registration is still open.
"ALES address issues that are of importance to citizens in society. Connect Cafe is a way to create real conversations with real individuals which cut through the jargon and biases," says Dean Blade. "We want to encourage an exchange of ideas and information in a positive, engaging environment that will create new stories of, 'when I was talking to a dairy farmer she told me....'".
Other events during ALES week include An Evening to Discover - Pre-vet and animal health networking night at Lister Hall Jan 25; the ENCS Protect our Winter documentary presentation and a Lunar New Years Celebration in the Ag-For Pit. Watch the ALES social media channels, Facebook and Twitter for information on these events.