Workshops

Workshop 1a: Bookmaking/Body Re-Narration with Dr. Darian Goldin Stahl and Marion Erickson

This workshop challenges participants to think beyond the clinical function of the body and into its purpose and meaning. We will use a variety of writing prompts, drawing techniques, and examples of the Dakelh worldview to reimagine bodily concern and wellbeing. By the end of the workshop, participants will create a small book that archives their reflexive responses on what it means to live well within imperfect bodies.
Participants will need to bring a sheet of printer paper, scissors, and a pen to this workshop.

Presenters

Dr. Darian Goldhin Stahl

Dr. Darian Goldin Stahl is an interdisciplinary printmaker, bookmaker, and health humanities researcher. Darian defended her research-creation PhD in Humanities (with distinction) in March of 2021, entitled, Book as Body: The Meaning-Making of Artists’ Books in the Health Humanities. In the Fall of 2021, Darian commenced a SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Northern British Columbia’s Northern Medical Program and Health Arts Research Centre. Her project, Embodied Books, facilitates the creation of artists’ books by patient community members, with the aim of forming a pedagogical archive of primary resources on the topics of health and illness. 

Marion Erickson

Marion Erickson is the Manager here at the Health Arts Research Centre. Marion Erickson is a Dakelh woman from the community of Nak’azdli and is a member of the Lhts’umusyoo (Beaver) Clan. Marion is a Masters of Education Candidate at Thompson Rivers University. Marion completed a Bachelors of Public Administration and Community Development from UNBC as well as the Applied Business Technology Certificate program at the College of New Caledonia.

Marion has worked as a Researcher for a variety of projects including the Aboriginal Business Development Center, the National Center for Excellence in Indigenous Education, the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance, Nakazdli Band and the Castlemain Group. Throughout Marion’s research experiences, Marion has recognized that the health and well-being of Indigenous people are connected to the health and well-being of the land. Marion also recognizes art as a way of storytelling and that this storytelling is a way to build relationships within our northern communities. This relationship building is necessary to work collectively towards actively addressing health inequalities in Northern BC. 

Workshop 1b: Journey into Health Humanities and Graphic Medicine with Dr. Savita Rani

This session will be a talk-workshop hybrid. 

It can often be healing and grounding to hear others’ stories when you are in need of support. In this spirit, the first part of the session will hear Savita discuss her journey into health humanities and graphic medicine, which stemmed from a need for support in facing challenge and frustration within her early medical training. The second part of this session will be a micro-introduction to graphic medicine – what it is, what it can do – and a short interactive exercise. Please bring a pen and a few sheets of paper (or a notebook with some empty pages) to this workshop!

Presenter

Dr. Savita Rani

Savita Rani is a physician by training and artist by spirit. She is a Desi woman and a first-generation immigrant settler in Canada. Savita is a resident physician in Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. She has a Master of Public Health from Queen’s University and has previously trained as a family physician. Savita has a special interest in bringing arts and humanities into medical education as tools for teaching, learning and reflection. Her poetry, writing and artwork have been published in international health humanities journals including Ars Medica and Intima: a Journal of Narrative Medicine. Pre-pandemic, Savita was an avid traveler for fun and work. She has been involved in research and education initiatives in a range of geographic and cultural contexts – Palestine, Israel, Switzerland, United States, and across Canada. In her leisure time she enjoys practicing visual arts in multiple media, watching documentaries, swimming and paddling sports.

Workshop 2a: The Role of the Arts in Health Professions Education with Dr. Joyce Zazulak and Nicole Knibb

Over the past several years much has been written about the importance of developing reflective healthcare professionals who are able to provide compassionate, caring, and sustainable healthcare. This workshop will draw on components of The Art of Seeing Program, a visual literacy course designed for Family Medicine residents.  Through facilitated discussion, evidence-based looking, and narrative writing, participants will learn how to look at visual art. This workshop is an interactive way to learn together to observe, describe and interpret selected works of art. Whether you’re a practitioner, educator or a student, learning to “look and look again” to find deeper meaning in the arts can help to better understand ourselves and others – skills translatable to healthcare practice.

Presenters

Dr. Joyce Zazulak

Joyce Zazulak, MSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University. She is also the Family Medicine Faculty Development Director as well as the Faculty Lead for Academic Support and Remediation. Dr Zazulak’s academic areas of interest include patient-centred care, narrative medicine, and health humanities. She is particularly interested in arts-based training for health care professionals. Collaborating with the McMaster Museum of Art, Dr Zazulak has developed a visual literacy program for family medicine residents, called The Art of Seeing™. 

Nicole Knibb

Nicole Knibb, BA, Art History (McMaster University), MDes, Strategic Foresight and Innovation (Ontario College of Art and Design University) is the Senior Education Officer at the McMaster Museum of Art and Assistant Professor in McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine. Nicole designs education programs that provide visual art and art gallery experiences to complement academic, personal, and professional learning. She is responsible for developing innovative programs for McMaster University’s academic community, most notably The Art of Seeing™ art-based visual literacy course in partnership with the Department of Family Medicine. Nicole has been bringing art to people and people to art for almost two decades as an art gallery educator. When not in the art gallery, Nicole is building her hockey literacy as an Assistant Coach with the Ancaster Avalanche Girls’ Hockey Association.

Workshop 2b: Music with Richard Tyo

In this fun and interactive workshop, participants will learn practical ways to bring music into their lives in a more mindful way. This includes techniques and frameworks for understanding health in novel ways that can be utilized for personal self-care and with patients in any setting. Rich will also discuss and demonstrate some of the models and activities developed for the CBT-based music group that he co-developed.

Presenter

Richard Tyo

Rich Tyo is a psychotherapist, poet, father, and musician. He has developed and ran numerous music groups in various setting to teach self-regulation skills and mental health awareness over the past 10 years. He has received grants to do songwriting with early intervention psychosis patients as well as members of Hospice Kingston. He co-developed a CBT-Based music program for adults with anxiety and depression and is also a leader in the field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic harm reduction and education. 

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