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UVic Libraries

Kula Academy launch schedule

The Kula Academy will officially launch on September 15 and 16, 2025. Read the schedule of events below to learn more about the launch.

Register for the launch

Day 1: September 15

8–9 a.m.

Registration

9–9:30 a.m.

Opening

  • Indigenous Elder welcome
  • Welcome by Provost & Vice President, Academic, Elizabeth Croft
  • Plan for the day. Host: Matt Huculak, Director, Kula: Library Futures Academy

9:30–11 a.m.

First panel: Authors

  • Lawrence Hill (author)
  • Esi Edugyan (author)
  • Richard Van Camp (author & UVic Indigenous Storyteller-in-Residence)
  • Moderator: Shelagh Rogers (Canadian broadcast journalist and former Chancellor of UVic)

11–11:30 a.m.

Coffee break

11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Second panel: Librarians & Archivists

  • Leslie Weir (Librarian & Archivist of Canada)
  • Richard Ovenden (Bodley's Librarian, University of Oxford)
  • Michael Witmore (Director Emeritus, Folger Shakespeare Library and Principal, Witmore Consulting)
  • Moderator: Guy Berthiaume (Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus)

1–2 p.m.

Lunch (provided)

2–2:30 p.m.

Comments & formal launch of the Kula: Library Futures Academy with University Librarian, Jonathan Bengtson

2:30–4 p.m.

Third panel: Media & Film

  • Atom Egoyan (Armenian-Canadian filmmaker)
  • Dave Obee (Editor & publisher of the Times Colonist)
  • Sean Holman (Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism at the University of Victoria)
  • Moderator: Carol Linnett (journalist, editor, and co-founder of the Narwhal)

4–4:30 p.m.

Wrap up

4–6 p.m.

Reception (on site). Sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)

Day 2: September 16

8–8:30 a.m.

Registration

8:30–8:45 a.m.

Opening

  • Plan for the day. Host: Shahira Khair, Associate University Librarian, Advanced Research Services

8:45–9:30 a.m.

Richard Ovenden (Bodley's Librarian, University of Oxford), "Clinging to the truth: digital preservation in libraries and archives as a service to society"

9:30–10:15 a.m.

Michael Witmore (Director Emeritus, Folger Shakespeare Library and Principal, Witmore Consulting), “The Persistence of Memory: Digital Vellum and Long-Term Digital Access to Cultural Materials”

10:15–10:45 a.m.

Coffee break. Sponsored by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)

10:45–11:30 a.m.

Ry Moran (Associate University Librarian - Reconciliation, University of Victoria Libraries), "When Evidence Is Destroyed: the Independent Assessment Process Records"

11:30 a.m.–12:10 p.m.

Lightning talks

  • Corey Davis, Digital Preservation Librarian, University of Victoria Libraries: presentation on "Reframing Digital Preservation: Communication, Context, and Continuity"
  • Shauna Jean Doherty, New Media Art Curator & Critic, Victoria, BC: presentation on "Remember Tomorrow: A Telidon Story"
  • Chloë Farr, Graduate Student in Computer Science & Kula Academy Student Fellow, University of Victoria: presentation on "Digitize to Democratize: Archives, AI, and Access"

12:10–1 p.m.

Lunch (provided)

1–1:45 p.m.

Charles Henry (President, Council on Library and Information Resources), "The Last Stories We Tell. Digital Preservation and Climate’s Ruin."

1:45–2:40 p.m.

Lightning talks

2:40–3 p.m.

Coffee Break

3–3:45 p.m.

Susan Brown, Professor, School of Theatre, English, and Creative Writing, University of Guelph, "Deplatformed? The Future of Born-Digital Scholarship"

3:45–4:30 p.m.

Nathaniel Brunt (Aspirations 2030 Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Victoria Libraries), "'The Future Depends on What We Do in the Present': Archiving Histories of Armed Conflict and Mass Violence"

4:30–4:45 p.m.

Wrap up