Over the Edge ° October 10th 2012 FLYNN IN SCOTLAND DEVON FLYNN CONTRIBUTOR So I've been gone for a month now. It’s gone by pretty fast, but that tends to be the case when you're experiencing school abroad. The transition from one school to another abroad can be a bumpy process, but an exciting one as well. In case you missed the last issue of OTE, | am a UNBC student on an international exchange through a recognized post-sec- ondary institutional partner. Technically, | am still a UNBC student, I’m just taking classes in another country. There are other opportunities to study abroad, such as the Erasmus program, which seeks to bring students to Europe. If you are interested, | suggest talking to the exchange office at UNBC or students who have studied abroad, or just going online to look for yourself. This is the first time | am living off resi- dence; I’ve traded living quarters and op- portunities to meet people, make friends, and be close to the school for saving money - residence was expensive and the ex- change rate was not too friendly. I'm con- tent with that decision as | feel I’ve learned enough previously living with people to know how to interact and socialize under GRAD-STUDENT SPOTLIG LEILA MAHEIDDINIBONAB my own means, not by any forced living conditions. While some may see a larger campus as intimidating, | see it as offering more op- portunities to make connections and get involved. For one, there are way more clubs (which they call “societies”) and a lot more members in them. Much to my dismay and even the societies themselves, | had to re- strain myself from joining too many. | have a problem with joining too many societies and only being able to genuinely commit and contribute to a few. This, compounded with my out-of-town living situation made me weary of signing up for a lot of things, particularly sports societies. For those that use the campus sports institute you must matriculate (enrol) as membership and in- surance is not included in your tuition fees. Fortunately my frugal attitude has not excluded my social well being. One day | found the Free Shop, a room designed with a similar concept as our reciprocity shelf. | was able to procure note books, paper, and some extra clothes (I packed very light to get here). | met the woman who organizes the room and she was very helpful. She pointed out where my classes were on my STUDENT LIFE EDITOR Name: Barbra Willmer Age: 27 Program: Interdisciplinary Studies 1. Who is Barbra Willmer? | was born in Vancouver and grew up in Gibsons, so I’m very fond of the ocean. | love playing my fiddle and try to play as often as possible. | tend to get addicted to licorice when | get the chance. I’m also very interested in environmental issues in the news because what happens to our environment will ultimately affect us. school map, spots to check out, and even cheap places to eat! The woman mentioned needing volunteers for the room and | of- fered. I’ve met some other volunteers who are very engaging on environmental topics and skill building, just like PGPIRG. Making those connections to familiar places and people, like the Free Shop/ reciprocity shelf, can help you get a better 2. What researching? | am studying forensic anthropology. I'm working on my _ Interdisciplinary Studies MA. That means I'll need to cover aspects of geography and history as well. “Interdisciplinary” means the work is between any two or more disciplines. My topic is a comparison of testimonio and skeletal trauma analyses. | am trying to reconstruct the events that happened during a massacre in Peru. | will do that by examining written reports on bone trauma of individuals in a mass grave related to the massacre. | will apply what | have read about forces that cause skeletal trauma to see what happened to the individuals at the time of their death. | will then compare the forensic information with testimonio (recorded oral testimony) accounts of the massacre. My goal is to examine the two types of information, note the overlaps and gaps, and lead into why these gaps exist. are you studying/ 3. Why did you choose this topic? | chose this topic because UNBC has a working relationship with the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Foundation (EPAF) and this research will give me an Opportunity to learn more about forensic anthropology’s use in a human rights context. 4. How was the research conducted? The research will be conducted through analysis of testimonio — transcripts/ documents and skeletal analysis reports. | also hope to go to Peru this coming summer, but | am still developing ideas PHOTO SOURCE DEVON FLYNN grasp on a new place. “Oh, it’s just like back home” can be a comforting phrase to run through your mind. For other times when you can't find yourself in a similar element, be bold and adventurous and try some- thing new. Have questions for Devon about his life abroad? Send them to us at ote-life@unbc. ca about what research-related activities | will do there. Testimonio is, in nutshell, the oral accounts from marginalized and repressed people, usually recorded by an interlocutor. Testimonio can also include performative elements like dance, drama or song, and can incorporate areas of memory over the landscape and on the body itself. Testimonio is autobiographical, but also collective - the person sharing their testimonio will also tell of other people's experiences as well. 5. Where would your research be implemented? What are some applications for this research? My research could be implemented in exploring the comparability of different types of evidence in the context of forensic anthropology. | also hope to learn more about how skeletal trauma can be used to reconstruct events occurring around the time of death. 6. When will you be graduating? | hope to graduate winter or spring of 2014. 7. If you could give one piece of advice to the new grad students this year, what would it be? | would tell new grad students to go for a topic that they are passionate about, and to not get discouraged when studies and research get tough. Nearly every grad | spoke to in my first year reassured me that the first year was really tough for them too. ANTH/POLS FIELD- SCHOOL LEILA MAHEIDDINIBONAB STUDENT LIFE EDITOR The upcoming joint Anthropology and Political Science field school to Ireland and the Isle of Man gives students in Anthropology and Political Science the chance to apply what they have learned in the classroom to the real world. In its second run this May, Dr. Gary Wilson and Dr. Angele Smith will be taking a pro- jected group of 16 students to the islands in order to study globalization, culture and the politics of Celtic Europe. “| hope students will get hands on experi- ential learning where they can be within the context of the area they are studying and be able to get first-hand informa- tion from key informants, so the ideas of globalization and multiculturalism come to life for them. We want students to get a good sense of what research especially field research is all about,’ said Angele Smith, co-runner of the field school. Students will start the month-long adventure with a week of preparatory school work in Prince George before trav- eling to Dublin, Ireland for ten days, then heading to the Isle of Man for another week. While in Dublin, the students can look forward to an informational visit with the Irish Refugee Council, where they will get a first-hand account of the NGO, and an afternoon at the Guinness Brewery Museum before heading to the Isle of Man, where they can look forward to a tour of Tynwald (the Parliament of the Isle of Man) and the Niarbyl Nature Preserve. When asked what she thought of the field school in its first run, Brianna Stef- anik was filled with praise: “| found it very interesting and educational. The student group was dynamic so everyone got something out of it. It’s a joint field school so we looked at different views on everything and when we shared in group | learned a wide range of perspectives on an issue. It was a lot of fun.” This year’s field school promises to be just as diverse, if anything can be said of the eclectic range of prospective students present at the information meeting. Pre- vious participants got to share their ex- periences, as well as words of advice for anyone who was serious about the field school: “Bring shoes, you walk a lot.” To learn more about the joint Anthropol- ogy and Political Science field school to Ireland and the Isle of Man, including ex- tended itinerary, projected costs, and ap- plication deadlines, please contact Gary Wilson at wilsong@unbc.ca or Angele Smith at smithal@unbc.ca.