Join Dr. Blye Frank, Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Education for his inaugural FRANKLY SPEAKING event, featuring Professor Santa J. Ono, President & Vice-Chancellor, UBC; Dr. Stan Kutcher, Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health, and Director, World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Mental Health Policy and Training; and Jessica La Rochelle, BA’06, Assistant Director, NITEP and Leader, NITEP Mental Health and Wellness Program. In the spirit of ideas worth advancing, the theme will be Mental Health Literacy. One in five Canadians will experience a mental health illness in their lifetime and mental health issues affect up to half the total student population at many universities. Mental health literacy encompasses the knowledge, beliefs and abilities that enable the recognition, management or prevention of mental health problems with a range of benefits including early recognition and intervention, and reduction of stigma associated with mental illness.

As Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, the world’s premier management consultancy, Dominic Barton, BA’84, LLD’12, is uniquely positioned to identify the qualities that make a great leader. In fact, throughout his 30-year career with the firm, he has made it his mission to meet and learn from top leaders worldwide. Join him for an intimate conversation as he shares experiences from his personal journey since graduating from UBC as well as some lessons he has learned about leadership and life. Recorded October 5, 2016, in Toronto, ON.

Learn about the implications and opportunities that the global economy presents, through Scotiabank’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault’s expert market knowledge. Presented by Scotiabank, in partnership with alumni UBC and UBC Sauder School of Business.

British Columbia has one of the world’s most diverse and interconnected coastal ecosystems. Pacific Salmon’s majestic migration from river to ocean is a cultural and ecological hallmark of the region. However, dramatic fluctuations in Salmon populations have raised alarming questions about human impact on the coast’s environment and the fragility of the entire ecosystem. Questions that can only be answered with long-term, collaborative and ambitious research partnerships. Join representatives from British Columbia’s Hakai Institute, UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and the UBC Centre for Aquaculture & Environmental Research as they discuss the interconnected web of changing seascapes, food webs, and ocean conditions impacting the BC coast, and its wild Pacific Salmon. Recorded September 29, 2016, in Victoria, BC.

If you could take a pill that would decrease your stress and anxiety while improving your physical health, focus, and happiness – with no side effects – wouldn’t you take it!? Mindfulness isn’t a pill, but an evidence-based approach to well-being that it is available to you anytime and anywhere. UBC alumna Anita Cheung, BSc’13, leads you through an exploration of how the practice of mindfulness can improve your mental health and pave the way to personal and professional vitality.

There’s a lot to love about Vancouver. From the mountains and the beaches, to the walkable neighbourhoods and abundant year-round leisure activities; it’s not surprising that the city regularly tops “most liveable city” lists. However, this global attention has contributed to a red-hot housing market that, combined with relatively low-paying career opportunities, has left many Vancouverites questioning whether their futures might look brighter elsewhere. A constant stream of news reports suggest that the Vancouver lifestyle is becoming out of reach for many people. Is this really the case or do we simply need to shift our expectations? Do families have any choices besides moving to the suburbs and beyond?

Recorded June 14, 2016, in Vancouver, BC.

For decades, Alberta’s fortunes have been closely tied to the global price of oil. With 15 per cent of the province’s employment being in the oil and gas sector and estimates that each of these jobs drives two indirect jobs, it is clear that when this sector is struggling, the entire economy feels the effects. In a world where fossil fuels are increasingly stigmatized and some are expensive to produce, should Alberta focus heavily on diversifying its economy in the months and years ahead? How can the province recover and find the opportunities in this transformation?

Recorded June 6, 2016, in Calgary, AB.

Curiosity propels both research and learning, the very things that UBC is known for. As students, we have the freedom to indulge our curiosity, but as we head off into the world, we often abandon it in favour of security. What does it mean to live with a spirit of curiosity?

Listen as iconic Canadian actor William Shatner shares stories about the fascinating places his curiosity has led him, and the possibilities that await us if we follow our own.

Moderated by Fiona Forbes, BA'93. This talk was recorded May 28, 2016 at UBC100: What’s Next? at UBC’s Vancouver campus.

The topic of ‘human-robot interaction’ will still be a hot one in 100 years. The tools may change but the problems, such as “How do people and robots get along?” will remain the same. Questions surrounding what robots should do; and how we can share, operate safely, communicate, take turns, teach robots, and generally get along together will continue to be problems requiring solutions. The efforts we make to establish the ‘rules of engagement’ now will certainly be foundational to our future relationships.

Moderated by Marc Parlange - Dean and Professor, UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science. This talk was recorded May 28, 2016 at UBC100: What's Next? at UBC's Vancouver campus.

We are living a turning point in history, the moment when we are re-envisioning industrial society. We now know that the cumulative impacts of our fossil fuel economy threaten the air we breathe, the water we drink and even a stable economy and climate. The good news is that major advances in technology and the dramatic drop in the price of renewable energy make the scale of change necessary within our grasp.

Moderated by Kathryn Harrison, PhD'93 - Senior Associate Dean, UBC’s Faculty of Arts; Professor of Political Science. This talk was recorded May 28, 2016 at UBC100: What’s Next? at UBC’s Vancouver campus.