Honours Conference 2020

Speculative Futures, Recovered Pasts

Honours Instructor

Sarah Banting, PhD

"Welcome to the 2020 Honours Conference! What you see here is evidence of the the ingenuity and dedication of an extraordinary cohort of students. They would have far rather been presenting their work to you in person. But, as you'll see, they have gamely re-imagined the traditional academic conference, preserving the parts that mattered to them and finding ways to make a virtual meeting feel relevant, engaging, intellectually rich, and as live as possible. They have done all of this in painful separation from each other -- not to mention under the pressures of a pandemic. I applaud their accomplishments; you will too! Enjoy."

Keynote Speaker

Richard Harrison

Richard Harrison taught Creative Writing and English at Mount Royal for twenty-four years. He is an award-winning writer of poetry and essays, and was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry for his book On Not Losing My Father’s Ashes in the Flood. His most recent works, both on YouTube, are the poem “O, Canada: A Prelude” for the Calgary Musical Group Revv52’s version of the national anthem and the TEDx Talk “How I Live with my Mother’s Choice of Medical Assistance in Dying."

Richard's talk,“This is the Way the Empire Ends: Not with a Bang, but a Story”took place in the Live Q&A from 4:30-5:30PM on the 4th of December 2020.

Special Thanks

Shannon Barry for poster design and poster images.

Ashley-Rae Carter-Wells for photography services.

Devon Carter-Wells for video editing and for hosting advice.

Allie Mastin for Keynote Speaker coordination.

Scott McGregor for social media coordination.

Audrey Jamieson and Matteo Johnson for leading program organization.

James Welsh for building this website.

Land Acknowledgement

We, the 2020 Honours cohort, acknowledge that Mount Royal University is located on the ancestral and traditional lands of the Niitsitapi and the people of the Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut'ina and the Iyarhe Nakoda. This university, this city, and our lives within and around them are situated on land where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, and the traditional Blackfoot name of this place is "Mohkinstsis" which we now call the city of Calgary. Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation.

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