⏰💤 Pitches to save your daylight 💤⏰

Daylight savings is out to get me — it’s exacerbated my caffeine addiction, made me late to my commitments and compromised my long distance friendships (I almost missed a called with my bestie in Bangkok cause she forgot we’re one hour behind now). One day when I’m retired, old, agitated and have all the time in the world, I’ll started advocating to get rid of this charade. But for now, I hope everyone’s being productive and getting enough rest as we wrap up the term.

A few announcements:

• As usual, we have a general meeting tomorrow at 4:00 in our office in room 2208 in the Nest. Come say hi!

• The creative non-fiction supplement Nocturne comes out next week! Get a copy somewhere on campus!

• I’m doing back to back pitch emails today and next Thursday — stayed tuned at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, November 28 if you’re interested in picking up a winter break features project.

All the best,

— Fiona

Some things to keep in mind:

• To secure a pitch, respond to this email.

• Are you a first-time writer? Please let me know in your email response.

• Once I confirm your pitch request, you can expect a follow-up email from me within 24 hours with more details on the piece.

• Consider conflict of interest implications when picking up a piece and ask me about this if you’re unsure.

• I LOVE COMMUNICATION! I will check in with you throughout the writing process but it’s also on YOU to tell ME if you’re feeling stressed about deadlines or unsure about how to proceed with anything. I gotcha <3

Our Campus: Dr. Ilsa Cooke

Dr. Ilsa Cooke is an assistant professor at UBC’s department of chemistry and is the principal investigator of the UBC Astrochem Lab. She was recently featured in the media for co-researching and discovering a new space molecule, the largest ever detected using radioastronomy. Talk to Cooke about how she approaches her research, within her lab and beyond, and what she hopes to contribute to the field and our understanding of space.

800-1000 words

Due Friday, December 6 by 5pm

Our Campus: Alice Te Punga Somerville

Dr. Alice Te Punga Somerville is a writer, professor and the UBC English department’s head, having overtaken the position this past July. Te Punga Somerville holds a joint appointment with the UBC Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. Her research and teaching engages texts in order to centre Indigenous expansiveness and de-centre colonialism. Talk to Te Punga Somerville about how the context and approach she takes to research and teaching varies locally in comparison to other cultural and social contexts she has taught in in New Zealand, Australia and the US.

800-1000 words

Due Friday, December 6 by 5pm

Repitch: AI in the Classroom

At the May 15 UBC Senate meeting, the Generative AI in Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee presented draft guidelines outlining the use of generative AI in the classroom. This long-form feature aims to look into how students are using generative AI to enhance their studies and how AI is changing the implications of academic misconduct. Talk to the Generative AI in Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee to see how they are considering the benefits of AI in their guidelines while navigating evolving definitions of academic misconduct, as well as students who are using AI to better their learning.

1000-1200 words

Due Friday, December 6 by 5pm