Communities and Collections

Visual Arts Student Association

VASA, The Visual Arts Student Association, is a student group at the
University of Alberta managed and run by students in the Bachelor of
Fine Arts program. It was first established as a means to raise funds
for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Graduation Exhibitions, but has since evolved to also include other exhibitions and community events.
Its current mandate is to advocate for students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program and to create opportunities through which the research they undertake in their studios can be brought forward to the community. VASA strives to promote the visual arts within the university and the greater Edmonton community.

Western Centre for Economic Research

Established in 1985, the WCER is a University of Alberta based research centre sponsored by the Alberta School of Business and the Faculties of Arts (Department of Economics) and Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences. The Centre's objective is to undertake research projects that contribute to evidence based government policy development, can be used for practical business planning purposes at the firm or industry level, and are capable of furthering academic research.

WILU 2017

The Workshop for Instruction in Library Use, commonly known as WILU, is an annual Canadian conference where delegates meet to discuss timely topics related to information literacy. The 46th annual WILU conference, took place in Edmonton, Alberta from May 23 – May 25, 2017 and the theme was Engage | Expand | Explore. The WILU 2017 conference organizing committee would like to thank the presenters who have contributed their work to this collection.

WISEST Summer Research Program

Sponsored by WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology), this program provides an opportunity for young women and young men who have completed Grade 11 to gain firsthand information about diverse fields in Science, Engineering and Technology disciplines. Participants work as paid research assistants on a project in an area that is less-traditional for their gender for six weeks during the summer. Participation in this program helps students broaden their awareness of career opportunities and encourages them to explore a future in a variety of fields.

Women and Children's Health Research Institute

The Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) supports research excellence dedicated to improving the health and lives of women and children. WCHRI is the only research institute in Canada to focus on both women’s and children’s health, including perinatal health.

WCHRI was founded in 2006 as the shared vision of the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, with core funding from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. Through the generous contributions of both foundations, WCHRI has been able to support the research excellence, training and development activities of investigators from a wide range of clinical and academic disciplines, all focusing their efforts on improving health outcomes for women and children in our province.

WCHRI is a cross-faculty and cross-disciplinary institute with over 500 academic members. WCHRI members span discovery, clinical, and applied health research fields from 13 faculties.

Women's and Gender Studies (WGS), Department of

WorkSpace Canada Project

The WorkSpace Canada Project is a long-term photo documentary by Martin Weinhold. Since 2006 Weinhold constantly explores the country on his mission to produce a multifaceted portrait of a nation at work. The artistic idea is to capture the relationship between person and workplace in visual narratives. It is a threefold approach, introducing work environment, work activity and the performing person. Closeness and depth in the portraits and a modern image of Canada is what matters most to the project’s author. The ambitious goal is to combine a mosaic of contemporary Canada with a complex inventory of the current western world of work. As of 2020 the collection consists of photographs from all Canadian provinces and one territory. In 2021 the nationwide endeavor shall be completed.
The WorkSpace Canada Project was and is inspired by political theorist Hannah Arendt. In her book The Human Condition she distinguishes between labour, work and action as important elements for the realization of our human capacities. Arendt is discussing the subject of “work” with regard to men’s and women’s limited life time. This is why Martin Weinhold wants to shed light onto the choices people make for their career, as these choices determine how a large portion of the given years will be spent.
The WorkSpace Canada Project is entirely produced on black and white medium format film. Currently approx. 4,000 photographs are available as digital files in high resolution. The project’s main collaborators are Ryerson University (Toronto), Library and Archives Canada and the John-F-Kennedy Institute for North American Studies (Berlin). Subset collections were published and exhibited in Canada and abroad. At present Library and Archives Canada keeps a compilation of 112 original gelatin silver prints.

Writing Stick 2017

The Writing Stick fosters conversations on editing and publishing Indigenous stories and writers.