Past Events

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:

Please find the link to recording here.

Password: C0W@k@vR

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:

  1. Laurel Eckhouse, Ph.D. – Staff Quantitative Criminal Justice Researcher, Code for America
  2. Alyssa McLeod, M.A. – Technical Project Manager, Wattpad
  3. 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.

Password: 5@Zzfjv8

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:

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:

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:

Please find the link to recording here.

Links mentioned in webinar:

Arts Amplifier links:

Please find the link to recording here.

View our FAQs (pdf) answered by Dr. Carolyn Veldstra.

Links mentioned in webinar:

Arts Amplifier links:

2020

Please find the link to recording here.


Resources and additional information mentioned in the session:

Keynote Address

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)
  • Michael Jacobs, PhD – Dean, Humanities & Social Sciences, Monroe Community College (Rochester, NY)


Arts Amplifier links:

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:


Closing Remarks:


Special guests:


Moderator: 


Arts Amplifier links:

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: