A team of engineering students from the University of Prince Edward Island is off to the Canadian Engineering Competition from March 5 to 8 after placing second in the junior design division of the recent Atlantic Engineering Competition. This marks the fifth year in a row that UPEI students have won the right to compete at the national engineering competition.

William E. "Bill" Andrew, a 1973 Engineering graduate of UPEI, has been reappointed as the Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) for the next four years.

"I am honoured to be reappointed as Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island,' says Andrew. 'Denise and I have been fortunate in our lives and believe that by sharing and working with the university, we can give something back to Prince Edward Island.'

The UPEI Aboriginal Student Association, in partnership with the Native Council of PEI, will hold an event called Cultural Connections: Building Our Future Through Education on Friday, March 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the W. A Murphy Student Centre on campus.

During the event, members of the local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities will share their cultures through dancing, drumming, singing, talking circles, traditional teachings, crafts and more.

'This is a wonderful opportunity for artists, leaders, and Elders to share their spirit and wisdom,' says coordinator Julie Bull. 'It will also convey the message that UPEI welcomes all individuals, regardless of culture, ethnicity, or background. Diversity and education are the keys to change and to the future of our province.'

A fundraising event for the UPEI Aboriginal Student Association, Cultural Connections will include singers, dancers, drummers, prayers, discussion circle and storytelling by Elders, native games, craft making and selling, traditional food and clothing, and information booths set up by the Mi'kmaq Confederacy, Native Council, Hep'ed up on Life, NCPEI youth, Native Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program and the Aboriginal Women's Association. Children can have fun in the kids' corner, with a small teepee and NCPEI youth color and activity books.

The UPEI Aboriginal Student Association has been established to celebrate and share with others the cultural diversity of Aboriginal peoples on campus and throughout the community. Recently the association opened the Maoi Omi Aboriginal Student Centre on campus where aboriginal students can study, relax, share with one another, host events, have talking circles, and access support services while attending UPEI.

For more information or draft schedule, please contact Ashley Jadis or Stephanie Jadis at 620-5126 or email sjadis@upei.ca or ajadis@upei.ca.

Imagine spending four weeks this summer in Cairo, Egypt. Imagine visiting the Pyramids, riding a camel, and exploring some of the world's most renowned sites, while earning credits towards your degree.

Misr International University (MIU) in Cairo is offering a number of $5,000 scholarships to UPEI students for its Middle East Studies Program, an interdisciplinary program consisting of a number of courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Through this program, students gain a greater insight into the overall understanding of the Middle East, particularly its potential and its challenges.

From July 12 to August 6, 2009, students will have the opportunity to participate in an intensive study of the region's history and culture. They will take a maximum of two courses, which, upon successful completion, will be transferred back to UPEI. Possible choices include Ancient Egyptian History, Middle East Politics, Contemporary Arabic Literature, and Arabic Language for Foreigners. Course work includes classroom study and field trips.

The scholarships cover the cost of tuition, field trips, and transportation costs to and from accommodations and the airport. Students pay for their flight and living expenses.

Students are invited to attend an information session about the program on March 30, at 4 p.m., in Room 243 of McDougall Hall. The deadline for application is April 6, 2009. For more information and to obtain an application form, contact Sherilyn Acorn-LeClair, International Mobility Coordinator at 894-2837, sdacorn@upei.ca.

Dr. James Taylor, of the University of Waterloo, will give a public seminar called What is dark matter? And why should we care? in the KC Irving Chemistry Centre, Room 104, at UPEI on Friday, March 20, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Taylor is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo. His research interests include dark matter, cosmological structure formation, galaxy formation, galaxy dynamics, galaxy clusters, massive black holes, cosmology, computational & theoretical astrophysics.

'Many independent strands of evidence from astronomical observations indicate that roughly 85% of the matter in the universe is ‘dark matter', a gas of weakly interacting particles undetected in current particle accelerators and unaccounted for in the ‘standard model' of particle physics,' says Taylor. 'The detection and identification of dark matter in the lab has proven impossibly difficult in the past. Now, after many decades of diligent work, we may be on the verge of a revolution in this field.'

During his presentation, he will review the astrophysical evidence for dark matter, the theoretical candidates for this strange substance, and the instruments and experiments poised to reveal its true nature, opening a new chapter in fundamental physics.

Taylor's seminar is part of a lecture tour of the Maritime provinces, sponsored by the Canadian Association of Physicists.

P.E.I. poet David Hickey, whose collection In the Lights of a Midnight Plow was a finalist for the Lampert Award for best first Canadian poetry book, will read from his work on Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery.

The reading is co-sponsored by the UPEI English Department and Art Gallery, with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Hickey, now a Ph.D. student in English literature at the University of Western Ontario, spent part of his childhood in Labrador and the north shore of Quebec, but identifies most strongly with his Island home. Showing his literary gifts early, as an Honours English and Creative Writing student at UPEI, he won the Milton Acorn Poetry Competition in the Island Literary Awards, and represented P.E.I. as a young artist at the Canada Winter Games in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland.

Many of his poems vividly evoke the P.E.I. landscape and heritage, and poignantly share his experience of growing up on an Island poised between its traditions and inexorable change. In 'Evening at the Charlottetown Airport,' he shows us his aging grandfather, perplexed by the lights and tarmac 'seeded' where his farm used to. A poem about Elephant Rock chronicles the mythology and erosion of that landmark. His poetry also ventures into other legends, such as that of Ted Williams, the great baseball hitter who spent summers fishing on the Miramichi River, and whose body was cryogenically frozen for future DNA access.

Also reading that evening will be Jeffery Donaldson, poet, critic, and professor of English literature at McMaster University. Donaldson's books include Once Out of Nature, Waterglass, and his recent Palilalia (the repetition or echoing of one's own spoken words). Toronto-born, Donaldson lives on the Niagara Escarpment near Grimsby, Ontario.

A multi-faceted research project based at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) has been awarded $2.5 million by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to create significant new knowledge about a basic human activity that crosses and connects generations, cultures and disciplines.

Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS) is headed by UPEI's Dr. Annabel Cohen, a pioneer in the growing field of music psychology. She is leading an international, multidisciplinary research team in the exploration of the continuum between speech and song. AIRS is one of just four projects in Canada supported under the Major Collaborative Research Initiatives fund this year, and the only one in the Atlantic region.

'The superb and innovative research initiatives launched this year illustrate how the social sciences and humanities build understanding of complex issues that affect our society,' says Dr. Chad Gaffield, President of SSHRC.

The seven-year initiative will co-ordinate the work of more than 70 researchers from every province in Canada, and numerous countries on every continent except Antarctica. It will focus on three areas: the development of singing ability; the connections between singing and learning; and the enhancement of health and well-being through singing. AIRS researchers will contribute and share knowledge and expertise from the perspectives of numerous fields of study, including social psychology, musicology, education and medicine. They will present and develop their work audiovisually, using a digital library and virtual research environment (VRE) already established at UPEI.

'The collaborative research environment at UPEI is an important factor in our ability to host a major initiative with such broad participation from scholars around the world,' says UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan. 'Moreover, a project of this scale requires special inspiration and leadership, and for that we can thank Dr. Annabel Cohen.'

"This is such an exciting development for Annabel and her team and this university,' says Dr. Richard Kurial, Dean of Arts. 'This grant is one of only four approved by the federal government. Not only that, it's the first time ever that a SSHRC MCRI has been awarded to a university in Atlantic Canada. This is a singular achievement."

The UPEI-based research team underwent a world-class peer-review process before being selected. Various strengths of the team and the proposal were recognized, including their international and interdisciplinary scope.

'Our AIRS team represents an extraordinary collection of the best minds worldwide,' says Dr. Cohen. 'Our commitment to promoting opportunities for student research was singled out for special mention, as well as our plans to disseminate our findings in non-traditional ways that are directly useful to the general community.'

Approximately half of the funding will be used to support graduate students in the three major research fields under investigation. In addition to using traditional methods of disseminating the results of their research through scholarly articles, journals and conferences, AIRS researchers will share their findings through guidelines and handbooks, and singing festivals. The research will provide resources and best practices for teaching singing across cultures and generations, and will provide a means for enhancing quality of life through improved intercultural and intergenerational understanding.

For further information contact: Dr. Annabel Cohen, Department of Psychology, (902) 628-4325 or acohen@upei.ca, or go to vre.upei.ca/AIRS.

Photo: UPEI psychology professor Annabelle Cohen, PhD (seated), director of the AIRS project; Nicolas Germain (left), program officer, SSHRC's research grant division; Corrine Hendricken-Eldershaw, CEO, Alzheimer's Society of PEI, a partner in the project; and Jean-Francois Fortin, PhD (right), team leader, SSHRC's research grant division, at a recent start-up meeting held for the UPEI AIRS team.

Backgrounder

Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing: AIRS

WHY IS THIS RESEARCH IMPORTANT?
Singing, like speaking, is a natural human expressive ability. Yet, in comparison to speaking, less scholarly inquiry has been directed to it. Linked to social, cultural, and biological development, singing draws on many disciplines and submits to many forms of analysis and specific explorations.

WHO IS INVOLVED?

An international collaboration of more than 70 scholars is integrating new multidisciplinary knowledge about singing from the perspectives of psychology, music, linguistics, sociology, anthropology and education, assisted by computer science and audio engineering.

WHAT ARE THE AREAS OF FOCUS?

AIRS will address the following three main themes from the perspective of individual, cultural, and universal influences:

Singing and Well-being

Cultural Understanding through Singing: Examining the role of teaching songs of foreign cultures to children to promote lifelong cultural understanding of others and themselves. This entails acquiring information about the songs of various cultures.

Intergenerational Singing: Determining how singing increases individual physical and psychological well-being and community well-being, with a special focus on intergenerational singing where elder members of a society teach children songs of their culture.

Singing and Health: Specific health benefits of singing as in breathing exercise compliance in lung disease through singing

Education

Teaching Singing and Educating through Singing: Assessing and improving instructional methods for teaching and learning, and using singing to teach and learn the curricula of other disciplines.

Development of Singing

Acquisition of Singing: Determining through cross-cultural and longitudinal research, the universal, culture specific and idiosyncratic aspects of the development of singing.

Singing and Speaking Comparisons: Defining the features that distinguish singing and speech acquisition so as to advance linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, music and education.

HOW WILL KNOWLEDGE BE SHARED?

An interactive web-based virtual research environment, already in development (vre.upei.ca/AIRS) is supporting the research team, enabling discussion forums and information sharing across Canada and throughout the world. The site is hosting a one-of-a-kind comprehensive digital library database of singing that will accelerate progress on each research theme. Internet access to the AIRS database will enable multidisciplinary teams of experts and students to address the five related research themes.

WHAT IS THE EXPECTED IMPACT?

The research program will heighten the value of singing as an effective source of well-being for individuals, communities, and societies.

The digital multimedia resources will furnish cultural contexts for education and enhancing learning in general through singing.

Through broad and varied means of dissemination of the AIRS findings, the research will benefit universal education, language training, peaceful co-existence, intergenerational understanding, personal well-being, societal cohesion, and the preservation of cultural diversity.

More than 40 university students will receive training opportunities through involvement in all intellectual aspects of the work and through participation in videoconferences, workshops, and annual meetings.

AIRS will revolutionize research in singing resulting in growth of basic knowledge and advances on practical issues that will benefit the human condition.

Access to the vast new AIRS data repository of singing will advance basic knowledge by:

• Identifying universals and particulars of singing development and defining the distinctions between singing and speaking and between song and speech
• Producing pedagogy protocols for teaching singing in general, teaching songs of foreign cultures, and using singing to teach other knowledge while providing benefit of the arts,
• Improving intercultural understanding within communities and across nations
• Developing guidelines for intergenerational singing, aimed at enhancing quality of life for older adults, inspiring children, and benefiting general health for all who sing.

For further information contact:

Dr. Annabel Cohen, Department of Psychology, University of Prince Edward Island

902 628-4325 or acohen@upei.ca, or go to vre.upei.ca/AIRS

AIRS Director and Theme Leaders

PROJECT DIRECTOR

Annabel J. Cohen, Professor of Psychology, University of Prince Edward Island, and Project Leader of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Culture, Multimedia, Technology and Cognition

RESEARCH THEME LEADERS/CO-LEADERS

Acquisition of Singing

Laurel Trainor, Dept. of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour; Director McMaster Institute for Music & the Mind

Steven Brown, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser (moving to the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind)

Comparison of Singing and Speaking

Sandra Trehub, Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto

Frank Russo, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University

Singing and Education

Andrea Rose, Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Darryl Edwards, Director of Voice Program, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

Singing and Intercultural Understanding

Godfrey Baldacchino, Canada Research Chair in Island Studies, UPEI

Singing and Intergenerational Understanding

Rachel Heydon, Associate Professor Education, U. Western Ontario

Music & Health

Jennifer Nicol, Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, U. Saskatchewan,

AIRS Digital Library of Singing

Mark Leggott, University Librarian, UPEI

For the first time, the University of Prince Edward Island will send two teams to this year's Canadian Interuniversity Sport/Canadian Curling Association Curling Championship in Montreal from March 25 to 29.

The mens's team includes three members of this year's Canadian Junior championship and World Junior silver medallist rink. The women's team, skipped by Sarah Clow, curls regularly out of the Cornwall Curling Club and finished in the top three in this year's provincial juniors.

"UPEI Athletics is proud to send two teams to compete at the 2009 CIS/CCA Curling Championship,' says Ron Annear, director of athletics at UPEI. 'Both teams will represent the university and province very well. The emergence of university curling across Canada provides curling student athletes an exciting level of competition between the junior and open divisions."

Canadian junior champ Adam Casey will skip the men's team, with his regular teammates Anson Carmody at third, and Jamie Danbrook throwing lead stones. Business student Brett Gallant, who normally skips the rink, is sitting out this event. Nick van Ouwerkerk joins the team at second, with Jeff Wilson coaching. The Clow foursome includes Brielle Quilty at third, Christina Hennessey at second stone, and lead Courtney Moore. Angela Hodgson is head coach, assisted by Nancy Yeo.

For fans who want to see the weekend action rinkside on March 28 and 29, UPEI is offering a great travel package, including transportation on the eye-catching Trius Panther fan bus leaving on March 27 and returning on March 29. The cost is $100 per person for the bus, based on a minimum of 40 people; accommodation is available for $90 per room per night (double occupancy). To sign up, please contact Carol Heartz, UPEI Athletics Department, at 566-0432.

Now in its second year, the championship, sponsored by The Dominion General Insurance Company (The Dominion), will be held at the Royal Montreal and the Montreal West curling clubs.

Round robin play gets underway at 8 am Wednesday morning, March 25, and wraps up with a noon draw on Saturday. Twelve teams, from the ten provinces, plus two additional Ontario teams, are taking part in both the men's and women's divisions. The top teams from each of two men's and women's round robin pools will then play the second-place team of the opposite pool in the semi-finals, which go Saturday at 4 p.m. (men's) and Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. (women's). The semi-final winners will then square off in the gold medal games on Sunday at 2 p.m. All times are Eastern.

The winning teams will advance to the 2010 Karuizawa International Curling Championships, which take place late February in Japan. The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, skipped by Mike Anderson and Holly Nicol, are the defending champions, winning both the men's and women's titles respectively last year.

Live results will be available at universitysport.ca and PEICurling.com.

Photo: UPEI men's CIS Championship team (left to right): Jeff Wilson (Coach), Jamie Danbrook, Nick van Ouwerkerk, Anson
Carmody, Adam Casey. Submitted photo.