KPU Policy Studies

🎉 Get Ready for the Third Annual South Asian Arts Festival: Music & Dance Celebration! 🌸

Join us on Friday, April 11th from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the KPU Surrey Campus, Gymnasium (Room 1230) 🏫 for a vibrant celebration of South Asian culture! 🌟

Experience the Magic:
- Drumming🥁
- Dancing💃
- Singing🎶

Registration Details:
- Required: Use your KPU email address to register 📧
- Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-third-annual-south-asian-arts-festival-tickets-1301587827229?aff=oddtdtcreator

The South Asian Arts Festival is co-founded by Dr. Asma Sayed, Canada Research Chair (CRC) in South Asian Literary and Cultural Studies, and Gurp Sian, LANC instructor. The event is funded by the CRC grant.

🎉 Celebrating Collaboration: Policy Studies & IACP!
At KPU Policy Studies, we believe in breaking barriers and making education inclusive, impactful, and action-driven. That’s why we are proud to collaborate with Including All Citizens Pathway (IACP) 💫. IACP is a trailblazing program that ensures full inclusion for students with intellectual, developmental, and learning disabilities.

🤝 Together, we have offered:

📘 POST 1200: Inclusive Communities, Sustainable Futures
(Exploring how inclusive policies shape equitable and sustainable communities for all)

📗 POST 2200: Collective Power: Taking Action on Public Issues
(Equipping students with the skills to organize, advocate, and drive real change in their communities)

Through this partnership, we are making public policy education accessible to all 🌍, while fostering diverse perspectives, critical engagement, and hands-on learning 💡.

📣 Learn more about POST courses & IACP and be part of a movement that values inclusion, sustainability, and social change!
(We may tag their page as well or collaborate in cross-posting)

👥 Tag a friend who would love these courses & tell us—what does inclusion mean to you?

A huge thank you to the Worker Solidarity Network (WSN) team, especially Kristine Castanos and Ismail Askin, for the powerful and very informative KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: BC Employment Standards Workshop 📚👏!

Our students at KPU were truly blessed and engaged 🙌🎉. Your dedication to empowering workers is truly inspiring! 💪

Thank you again for your hard work and commitment to making a difference in our community 🌟. Keep shining! ✨

🌍The KPU Policy Studies Department is now on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram!

💬 Why follow us? Because staying connected helps you stay informed, and your engagement can make a real impact!

✅ Stay updated on events, guest speakers, and workshops
✅ Access helpful resources for your studies and career
✅ Join important policy conversations that shape our world
✅ Celebrate and support the amazing work of our students, alumni, and faculty

💫 By engaging with our posts, you’re not only showing support but also uplifting your peers and contributing to a stronger, more sustainable POST community at KPU.

🔗 Check out the Policy Studies Linktree for all the ways to connect.

🌿 Let’s stay connected, support one another, and create positive change together!

KPU’s Office of Equity and Inclusive Communities is hosting the Third Annual Symposium on Anti-Racism on March 21, 2025, to align with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The symposium aims to discuss and encourage confronting racism and to share internal and external research, scholarship, and creativity on racism/anti-racism.

📅 Friday, March 21
⏰ 9:00am – 4:)0pm
📍 KPU Surrey, Cedar Conference Centre
🔗 kpu.ca/anti-racism-symposium

Keynote Speaker: George Anderson
Title: Towards a Diversity of Voices
Abstract: MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Transit George Anderson will share his journey to public office, the challenges he faced along the way, and his hope and optimism for the future. He will explore the impact of representation, the role of community in breaking down barriers, and the steps we can take to create a political landscape that empowers a diversity of voices in the decision-making process.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: BC Employment Standards Workshop 💼⚖️

The Policy Studies Program at KPU is beyond excited to host “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS”, a must-attend BC Employment Standards Workshop! 🎉

We are thrilled to welcome incredible community and legal advocates from the Worker Solidarity Network (WSN) as they empower our future workforce with essential knowledge about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace, both now and in the future! 💪🌍

This workshop is part of the Labour and Employment Rights section of POST 1200: Inclusive Communities and Sustainable Futures, but it’s open to anyone who wants to build a stronger, fairer working world! 🌱

Thinking about your future career? This workshop is for YOU! 🚀

Whether you're planning to work in government, the private sector, launching your own business, or making a difference in the non-profit/NGO world, understanding your rights is crucial to your success. 🌟

Don’t miss out! Mark your calendar and be part of this empowering session! 🗓️

Workshop Details:

📅 Tuesday, March 18
⏰ 10:00am – 12:30pm
💻 Online Teams Event
🔗 bit.ly/policymarch18

✨Policy Studies Student Highlight✨
✨Josh Swanson✨

🌲When we continue managing Old Growth forests the same way, we not only cause huge environmental harm but also ignore Indigenous voices and miss out on major economic benefits. 🌿 But if we equip those who depend on this industry to transition toward diverse eco-services, we all win.

👨‍🎨 Josh Swanson is a 3rd-year Interior Design student and a father of three. Passionate about human- and planet-centered sustainable design, he aims to make a lasting impact in the architecture industry through design for deconstruction and advocacy for unbuilding over demolition. To deepen his understanding of the intersection of sustainability and social justice, Josh has also taken courses with the Policy Studies Program including POST 2200: Collective Power: Taking Action on Public Issues.

🏙️ Meet Brandon Fleming, a proud Policy Studies alum from KPU, now embarking on a Master of Urban Studies at Simon Fraser University! 🎓
With a passion for sustainability, social equity, and urban planning, Brandon focuses on transportation and densification, striving to create more walkable communities. 🌱
When not shaping the future of our cities, you can find Brandon exploring the great outdoors or perfecting the art of espresso ☕

🌍 POST/PSYC 4150 – Applied Sustainability & Psychology✨

📚 Taught by Cluny South
🔄 Blended Synchronous | Wednesdays, 1:00 – 3:50 PM

Ready to make a real impact? 💡 In this hands-on course, you'll design, implement, and test a sustainability project right on campus using McKenzie-Mohr’s community-based social marketing approach! 💚🌱 Work in multi-disciplinary teams and see if your strategies truly create change! 🚀

Which course are you most excited about? Drop a comment below! ⬇️

🌱 POST 1100 / PHIL 1111 – Sustainability & Ethics (ZTC)
Taught by Marc Champagne
💻 Online Synchronous | Mondays, 1:00 – 3:50 PM

No prior knowledge needed! 🚀 Jump into ethical theories in the first half of the term, then dive into real-world policy cases in the second—some even presented by student groups! 🌍✨ It’s the perfect course for anyone curious about policy and ethics.

We are an interdisciplinary, hands-on undergraduate program in the Faculty of Arts at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, with a focus on critical sustainability and social justice. Leaders grow here!