2024
Do you have a community project in need of funding? Are you interested in applying for a non-research grant but don't know how to find them? Do you wonder how to make yourself a strong applicant as a graduate student?
Non-research grants will typically fund projects such as community partnerships or arts and culture initiatives that are not part of one's academic research or program requirements. These projects can be rewarding and professionalizing experiences that can strengthen any resumé or CV, regardless of whether you choose to pursue a tenure-track job.
This presentation will introduce non-research grants and discuss application strategies for Arts graduate students. Well cover topics like:
- Identifying grants available to graduate students
- Demonstrating capability and feasibility in a proposal
- Grants and the future of graduate professionalization
- Writing tips for crafting a compelling project description.
All Arts graduate students are welcome to attend.
The Career Design Conversations is a monthly session for Arts graduate students to meet over a caffeinated beverage and reflect on your career values, brainstorm job interests, and consider next steps in building your career. Expanding on our two-day Career Design Studio, the sessions introduce concepts from life design and tools for career exploration and invite you to use these to shape meaningful conversations with your peers.
These sessions will take in the Arts Student Engagement Hub, Room 3001 in Brock Commons South, from 3:00-4:00pm. While not mandatory, we encourage students attend all four sessions.
The 2024 cohort of our Career Design Studio for Arts Graduate Students will take place from 9am-4:30pm on August 27 & 28, 2024 on the UBC Vancouver campus.
Do budgets fill you with dread? Are you more comfortable with crafting words than crunching numbers?
Designed for Arts graduate students, this exercise-based workshop will provide strategies for developing and writing budgets in non-research grant applications. We will cover topics such as:
- Understanding the purpose of the budget in a grant application
- Types of grant funding models
- In-kind vs. cash contributions
- Budget justifications
- Aligning budget with values
This workshop will include exercises, examples of non-research grants, and a Q&A period. If you have a specific grant or budget topic you would like to be covered, please indicate so in the registration form to be considered for inclusion.
This session will be facilitated by Heidi Rennert, (Grants Editor, Arts Amplifier). Sign up for an online consultation if you would like 1:1 support on your grant application or project idea.
In this second installment of our grants workshop series, you will learn some tricks to create a compelling proposal for a non-research grant application. We will cover topics such as:
- Interpreting grant criteria
- Turning your project into a narrative
- Formatting and style guides
- Polishing your writing
- Resources you can access on campus for support
You may bring a copy of your proposal or a sample grant application you’d like to work with. We will also workshop some examples together during the session.
This session will be facilitated by Heidi Rennert, (Grants Editor, Arts Amplifier). Sign up for an online consultation if you would like 1:1 support on your grant application or project idea.
Do you have a community project in need of funding? Are you interested in applying for a non-research grant, but don't know how to find them? Do you wonder how to make yourself a strong applicant as a graduate student?
Non-research grants will typically fund projects such as community partnerships or arts and culture initiatives that are not related to academic research. These projects can be rewarding experiences and strengthen any resumé or CV, regardless of whether you choose to pursue a tenure-track job. As a graduate student, you're already skilled at crafting compelling arguments, but non-research grants differ from academic writing and require time, coordination, and knowledge of the grant genre.
This presentation will discuss strategies for applying for non-research grants as a graduate student. Topics will include: identifying grants available to graduate students; demonstrating capability and feasibility in a proposal; coordinating and managing a grant application; and writing tips for crafting a compelling project description.
All graduate students in the Arts are welcome to attend.
2023
Interested in starting your own venture? Curious about whether entrepreneurship is a good fit for you? Don't know where to start but want to learn more?
Amplify Your Product or Service is an annual workshop series created by the Arts Amplifier and entrepreneurship@UBC and facilitated by e@UBC to make entrepreneurship more accessible to Arts graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Over a series of workshops (January-April semester) and one-on-one mentorship meetings (May-August semester), you will develop the skills to translate your interests into a profitable initiative.
Join our info session to learn more!
Are you curious about what research careers can look like for humanists and social scientists working outside the university or off the tenure-track?
Please join us for this moderated virtual panel discussion with professionals with Humanities and Social Science graduate degrees who work as researchers in a wide range of capacities.
Our panelists will be:
Mel Carroll (she/they)
PhD, Cultural Studies
A freelancer who works in research and development for television and film
Rachel Olson (she/her)
PhD, Social Anthropology
President of The Firelight Group, the largest Indigenous-owned consulting group working with Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island
Julie Peters (she/her)
PhD, Sociology
Vice President Research for Academica Group, a research and consulting firm specializing in higher education
Joey Takeda (he/him)
MA, English Literature
Developer with the Digital Humanities Innovation Lab at Simon Fraser University
Can a PhD set you up for success in starting a business? Do you need an MBA to succeed in entrepreneurship? Do the humanities really have no business with business?
Studies show that only about 6% of people with doctorate degrees are self-employed, even when graduate students possess skills that highly qualify them for independent ventures.
This panel discussion will feature UBC alumni who hold graduate Arts degrees and are now pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Panelists will share their entrepreneurial pathways after graduation and reflect on the relationship between Arts education and business, changing perceptions of entrepreneurship, and the challenges and rewards of self-employment after graduation.
Panelists:
Priya Bala-Miller (PhD, Political Science) – Founder & CEO of Palmyra Partners
Dr. Bala-Miller has worked on sustainable development for two decades across three continents, in collaboration with NGOs, UN Agencies, the private sector, academia and trade unions. Dr. Bala-Miller is a respected senior executive and strategic planner, with technical expertise on natural resource governance, sustainable finance and human rights. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about people, platforms and ideas that advance social justice outcomes and meaningful inclusion in the field of sustainability.
Amelia Cole (PhD, Information Science) – Senior UX Researcher with Microsoft
Amelia Cole is a Senior User Experience Researcher who straddles industry and academia. At Microsoft, she led research projects for Azure AI Studio that helped shape the way humans build solutions using AI tools. She uses a mix of desk, generative, and evaluative research methods to create actionable insights for product teams.
Eric Franzo (MA, Public Policy) – Founder of Purposely
Purposely is an employee experience platform that helps companies build strong and resilient workplace culture through employee volunteer initiatives.
Natalie Hill (MA, Gender Studies) – Principal & Co-Founder of Spur Communication
Natalie co-founded Spur Communication, a strategic communication and engagement firm, which is now experiencing over 100% growth in revenues and client roster, year over year. She completed her master’s in gender studies at UBC in 2012, after a bachelor’s in journalism from Carleton University in 2009.
Moderators:
Andrea Lloyd is entrepreneurship@UBC’s Associate Director, Engagement. As a member of the e@UBC team since 2015, Andrea brings her wide knowledge of the UBC community to support e@UBC collaborations and partnerships across campus. She manages the e@UBC Mentor Network and the internship program, which bring e@UBC entrepreneurs expert guidance and additional capacity to help accelerate their ventures.
Smruti Savkur is the Engagement Specialist at entrepreneurship@UBC. She builds partnerships across campus to democratize entrepreneurship, and supports the Mentor Network and internship program to build capacity for UBC founders.
Do you have a community project in need of funding? Are you interested in applying for a non-research grant, but don't know how to find them? Do you wonder how to make yourself a strong applicant as a graduate student?
Non-research grants will typically fund projects such as community partnerships or arts and culture initiatives that are not related to academic research. These projects can be rewarding experiences and strengthen any resumé or CV, regardless of whether you choose to pursue a tenure-track job. As a graduate student, you're already skilled at crafting compelling arguments, but non-research grants differ from academic writing and require time, coordination, and knowledge of the grant genre.
This presentation will discuss strategies for applying for non-research grants as a graduate student. Topics will include: identifying grants available to graduate students; demonstrating capability and feasibility in a proposal; coordinating and managing a grant application; and writing tips for crafting a compelling project description.
All graduate students in the Arts are welcome to attend.
2022
Please find the link to recording here.
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Please join us for this moderated virtual panel discussion and Q&A with professionals who work in the publishing sector. We will be speaking about their career journey, what opportunities they accessed, and the range of opportunities on offer in publishing. You will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the panelists. The panelists will be:
- John Estabillo (Publisher at Nelson educational publishing)
- Morgan Tunzelmann (Market and Business Development Manager at RavenSpace, a digital publishing platform for multi-media publications in Indigenous Studies, founded by UBC Press)
- Kevin Williams (President and Publisher at Talonbooks, an independent publisher of Canadian literature)
Please find the link to recording here.
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Please join us for a moderated panel and Q&A with as Arts alumni who work in the tech sector. We will be asking about their career journey, what opportunities they accessed, and how they strategized to do so. We will also be talking about which attributes of your graduate degree can help you transition towards a tech related role, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions directly from the panelists.
Panelists:
- Laurel Eckhouse, Ph.D. – Staff Quantitative Criminal Justice Researcher, Code for America
- Alyssa McLeod, M.A. – Technical Project Manager, Wattpad
- Erin Piotrowski, Ph.D. – Curriculum Developer, SV Academy
What career options are available to people with masters or doctoral degrees in the social sciences and humanities? How should you go about investigating these options? What steps can you take to secure a job before its description is ever posted online?
This event was facilitated by Dr. Danielle Barkley, who is the Graduate Career Educator at UBC's Centre for Student Involvement and Careers. See the CSI&C's Career Resources for Graduate Students.
Please find the link to recording here.
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2021
Please find the link to recording here.
Password: @ZEZe1ph
Led by the Arts Amplifier’s Grants Coordinator, Carolyn Veldstra, this webinar will introduce Arts graduate students to funding opportunities that could support a collaborative project with a community partner.
The session will cover:
- How to think about your academic interests in terms of collaborative, project-based work
- The value of doing collaborative work for your career
- Some specific funding opportunities, most with deadlines this fall
- The kinds of projects that might suit each funding opportunity
The objective of this webinar is to get you thinking about how you might leverage your values, skills, and expertise in a self-directed, collaborative project with a community partner.
The grants we’ll be talking about will include:
- Mitacs + Scotiabank Economic Resilience Research Fund
- The BC Campus Research Fellows program
- Innovate BC’s Innovator Skills Initiative
- The BC Arts Council’s Co-op/WIL program and Early Career Development grant
- The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions’ internship program
- Max Bell Foundation Development grants
- Deux Mille Foundation grants
This webinar complements our upcoming Build Your Own Collaborative Project module, which will guide students through the process of developing and scoping a publicly engaged project -- whether or not it fits with one of these funding opportunities.
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
Please find the link to recording here.
View our FAQs (pdf) answered by the Arts Amplifier team.
Panelists:
- Kim Duff
Independent Consultant & Business Owner
- Heather Ladd
Freelancer Editor, Creative Consultant and Guest Lecturer
- Rachel Olson
President and Founding Director of Firelight Group
Sign up for our training hub to access the "How to Start Consulting or Freelancing" module. You will learn how to create a business plan, get tips on how to set the right strategy, and find project management tools and resources to put your consulting or freelancing plan into practice.
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
Please find the link to recording here.
Links mentioned in webinar:
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
Please find the link to recording here.
View our FAQs (pdf) answered by Dr. Carolyn Veldstra.
Links mentioned in webinar:
- Canada Council for the Arts
- BC Arts Council
- Creative Spark grants
- Access Copyright, Marian Hebb grant
- Inspirit Foundation
- BC Alliance for Arts Culture
- CARFAC sets professional rates for artists in Canada
- Plain Language Association: — recommended Plain Language resource
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
2020
Please find the link to recording here.
Resources and additional information mentioned in the session:
Keynote Address
- Meg Kunde, PhD – Assistant Professor, Communication Studies, Augustana College
- Meg received the ALCS/Mellon postdoctoral fellowship, which you can read more about on the Arts Amplifier postdoctoral fellowships page
Speakers:
- Sean Ashley, PhD – Instructor, Sociology & Criminology, Capilano University (Vancouver, BC)
- Sean's students collaborated with CityStudio North Vancouver, Arts & Sciences
- CityStudio Vancouver is an Arts Amplifier project partner, and we'd be happy to connect you with municipal research projects if you're interested in working with the City of Vancouver
- Claudia Diaz, PhD – Educational Consultant, Indigenous Initiatives, Centre for Teaching and Learning Technology, UBC (Vancouver, BC)
- Caitlin Hartnett, EdD – Faculty, English, North Island College (Port Hardy, BC)
- Article about the Awi'nakola program at NIC
- Michael Jacobs, PhD – Dean, Humanities & Social Sciences, Monroe Community College (Rochester, NY)
- Monroe Community College Service Learning
- Monroe Community College Institute for the Humanities
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
Career Development and Public Engagement for MAs, PhDs, and Postdocs in the Social Sciences & Humanities
Please find the link to recording here.
Resources and additional information mentioned in the session:
Speakers:
- Éric Bastien– Director, Research Partnerships Portfolio, SSHRC,
- Slides about SSHRC and opportunities available to you are available here: Éric Bastien - Presentation UBC - November 2020
- Loleen Berdahl, PhD– Professor, Political Studies and Executive Director, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan; author of Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD
- This report about the changing nature of work in Canada might interest people: https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/futurelaunch/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Future-Skills-Report-FINAL-Singles.pdf
- Katina Rogers, PhD– Co-Director, The Futures Initiative at The Graduate Center, City University of New York; author of Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving In and Beyond the Classroom
- Naben Ruthnum, MA – Author, Curry: Eating, Reading & Race; as Nathan Ripley, Your Life is Mine and Find You in the Dark
- Jaspreet Sandhu, MA– Loyalty and Engagement Leader, Toronto International Film Festival
Closing Remarks:
- Paul Yachnin, PhD – Tomlinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies, McGill University; Director, TRaCE McGill
Special guests:
- Allison Brennan, PhD– Director, Business Development, Vancouver, Mitacs
- Ileana Costrut– Project Coordinator, CityStudio Vancouver
- Vidya Crawley– CEO & Lead Educator, Groundswell
- Miriam Esquitín, MA– Director of Vancouver Program & General Manager of CityStudio Vancouver
- Eva Reddington, MBA– Senior Advisor, Program Partnerships and Skills Development, Toronto, Mitacs
- Brian Train– Education Officer, Post Secondary Education Division, BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills, and Training
Moderator:
- Danielle Barkley, PhD – Educator, Career & Professional Development (Graduate Students), UBC Centre for Student Involvement & Careers
- Make an appointment with Danielle, or watch her "finding and applying for a job" presentation
- Read about the opportunities available to you via the Graduate Pathways to Success and the Arts Amplifier's on- and off-campus resources pages
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter
This one-hour webinar featured an interview with RJ Jose, the Arts Co-op Business Development Manager, who has 15+ years of client-centric marketing experience.
He helps you to figure out how to network--and sustain your network--without feeling skeezy or fake. His approach to networking comes from a place of generosity and collaboration.
Please find the link to recording here.
Arts Amplifier links:
- Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Get in touch by filling out our "Get Support" form
- Learn more about our our paid internship program
- RSVP for our upcoming events
- Sign up for our newsletter