Sketchnote Explainer

Angelique introduced a new change growth chart that I really liked based on the work of Dr. Andrew M. Ibrahim. It was adapted a bit and in the session we did a really short online quiz to see where we were in the change process.

They shared different listening lenses that reflected unconscious bias to be aware of when listening to someone’s story, which include vulnerability, courage, letting go, and your own narratives. Angelique also emphasized situational awareness and by practicing and developing our own, we will increase our problem-solving skills.

Then, Julian Wilson shared his experience and a moving poem about his identity formation and how that relates to being anti-racist. We reflected on his work with breakout rooms – but there was a twist – Angelique said, “We have a variety of rooms to reflect that we all have a choice and we can create dialogues that are trauma-informed.” This was fantastic.

At the end, the group created their own list of ways to encourage anti-racism in the workplace and Angelique shared her ideas under the themes of

• Unpack Together – create space for you, staff, and leadership to discuss anti-racism.
• Educate Everyone – do not settle for standardized policies. Have a budget to train all.
• Empower Staff – support staff in leading change. Have EDI paid positions in your organization.

I learned so much in this 60 minute session and would recommend Angelique and Julian’s session to any organization.

Links:

• Angelique Bulosan’s website
• Grown to Growth Zones visual based on Dr. Andrew M. Ibrahim (Twitter)
• UAlberta Event page
• My previous sketchnotes

There were 5 panelists with varied backgrounds in the arts and science. You can check out the story on the MacEwan University website for a recap. I created a graphic for each panelist and then a few more for conversation that unfolded among them.

I enjoy this type of work and hope to do more in the future. It’s very fun and challenging to collaborate with researchers and academics who are looking to share their knowledge with the public.

You can rewatch the talk on their link and there’s a fun Spotify playlist too!

Here are some highlights of the sketchnotes I took. You can see the rest on the UAlberta link I shared.

I motivated myself by pretending I was on Star Trek and I needed this knowledge to run my sweet experiments in space and gain the respect of the crew. It helped because this was a bit out of my comfort zone.

Here are my notes!

Next week is my last week. I have definitely noticed a difference in my critical thinking skills at home and at work.

Science Literacy Sketchnotes

• Week 1: A Difference of Opinion
• Week 2: Pseudoscience
• Week 3: Critical Thinking Pt. 1
• Week 3 : Pt. 2

And then, slowly begin to recollect all the conspiracy theories I have seen in Instagram Stories… the little video I’ve included at the end is worth a watch for some clarity on falsifiability and how that concept is not used in conspiracy theories.

This is a great little video that was shared in my class.

Science Literacy MOOC Sketchnotes

• Week 1: A Difference of Opinion
• Week 2: Pseudoscience
• Week 3: Critical Thinking Pt. 1

I’m still dreaming about science and it’s a real trip my friends. I haven’t had this experience since university.

So here are the notes for Pt. 1 of Critical Thinking. This is an area that my brain needs some exercising. A really big, helpful takeaway for me is “Slow down to the speed of science.”

Science Literacy MOOC Sketchnotes

• Week 1: A Difference of Opinion
• Week 2: Pseudoscience

A Good Companion Book for Science Literacy

Speaking of large societal issues, by coincidence, I’m reading Steven Pinker’s book Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. I find it to be a really good companion book with my lessons in science literacy.

At the start, it felt like “the right book, at the right time” and gave me some hope that all is not lost (opposed to the feeling induced by the news and other media outlets these days). It looks at big data and how we can make better decisions as a society by embracing the complexities and not falling for the political polarities that we are struggling with at the moment.

I noticed that my reading shifted to be more critically minded. For example, I found Pinker’s personal biases and worldview are quite apparent. Some of them I disagree with and they felt unnecessary to include. But, he has also discussed scientific literacy and the tools to identify such biases, so I admire that he was able to write the book to teach critical reading while also giving the reader the tools to identify his own biases.

I hope I’ll be able to put together a review of the book but I still require some more thinking and reflecting on it. Over to the sketchnotes from SciLit: Week 2.

I’m starting to have dreams about this stuff! Who knew I would find science literacy so engaging?

Science Literacy Sketchnotes – Week One

This course is free on Coursera and was created by the Dr. Claire Scavuzzo at the University of Alberta. Please sign up if this interests you :)

These sketchnotes were designed with Instagram in mind as the sharing platform. Here’s the overview of what I learned in Week One. It has turned into a wake-up call that I had been avoiding science, math, and related learning ever since my first year of college and my science literacy needs tuning up.

Here’s where I really started leaning in and recognizing my own decision-making patterns. I’m heavy on the instinctual sometimes because of time pressure but now I’m going to work on taking some time to be more deliberate (hence, me as the driver of this trolley).

Back when I was a student in university, I recall feeling mystified about metaphysical arguments. Now I know why (har har!).

One of the most electrifying parts of the first week was the discussion of the role of Indigenous Science and Traditional Knowledge in the pursuit of science. This really gets me excited as I am very relationship motivated and that’s my super power of understanding. When I hear “Everything is a living being”, “experiential learning”, “start a friendship”, and “knowledge belonging to the collective”… I’m like “YAAAASSSS!”

I am way into this approach which Elder Elmer Ghostkeeper calls “Wisescience”.

Stay tuned for Sketchnotes from week 2 on PSEUDOSCIENCE!

If you like history, science, geology, geography, art, philosophy, nature, adventure … It’s all here. 

Robert MacFarlane’s book Underland: A Deep Time Journey is great introduction to incorporating geology and nature to your big picture thinking. The beauty of this book is that MacFarlane equally values the science and the arts while exploring exploring the mysteries of the planet and our place in it.

I also found this book to be a good read that didn’t leave me depressed and overwhelmed about climate change. Rather, it taught me new ways to appreciate Earth.

Below I’m sharing some of my favourite quotes from the book that I think I will carry with me for a long time. These quotes are in my sketchnotes but I’m also sharing here in case its hard to read and for accessibility.

We have proved to be good historians but poor futurologists. We have “BP” for Before Present and we have “MYA” for Millions Years Ago. We have no abbreviations for marking deep time in the future. No one speaks of “AP” for After Presents or “MYA” for Millions Years Ahead.

Robert MacFarlane, Underland: A Deep Time Journey.

I also did not know the debate among scientists around marking a new epoch – the Anthropocene. Humans current relationship with the planet has brought about some dark (and quite upsetting) concepts that highlight the imbalance that we are experiencing now that began in 1950 with the start of the Atomic Age.

Words are world makers and language is one of the great geological forces. This has generated some hopeless words for the epoch: geotraumatics, planetary dysphoria, apex-guilt.

Robert MacFarlane, Underland: A Deep Time Journey

And it taught me about the term Solastaligia, which is a form of psychic or existential distress from environmental change. I can identify with this term on a range of intensity. Level 10 when I read “On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal” by Naomi Klein… level 5 when I’m experiencing +4C in January during an Edmonton winter.

Despite what I just wrote, this book ‘keeps it real’ without overwhelming. MacFarlane writes beautiful passages of his travels in search of geological wonders and intertwines societal history with planetary history. It is completely engrossing and fascinating – I highly recommend it!

I learned all about:

• History of WWII and how it intertwined with geography in present-day Slovenia.
• Disposal plans for nuclear waste.
• Why particle research happens deep in mining caves in England.
• Melting of glaciers in Greenland and the scientific information found in ice that tells the story of deep time.
• The mycorrhizal network (or otherwise known as the “wood wide web”) in forests.
• Prehistoric Cave Art in France and Norway (PS – new cave art was just discovered in the Indonesia!)

Let’s end on a hopeful quote…

What might save us is a focus on collaboration: “symbiosis”, “mutualism”, and inclusive human work of collective decision making extended to more-than-human communities.

Robert MacFarlane, Underland: A Deep Time Journey.

This session from Jad Abumrad was inspiring and a class in engaging presentations in the time of Zoom.

Tara McCarthy from CBC also had a wonderful session. A lesson from her that has stuck with me since the event was that we shouldn’t worry if our voice sounds annoying – you’re voice is fine and we need more diversity in podcasts. Go forth with confidence!