Barry W. K. Joe

As the academic year nears its close, the Brock community must begin to contemplate what the University will be like without Prof. Barry W.K. Joe.

Joe, who has been a pillar of the Brock community for 35 years, will retire at the end of June. He looks forward to filling his days with baking, reading – Bleak House by Dickens and Der Nachsommer by Stifter are on his list – and spending time at the New Brunswick cabin he shares with his husband Jeff.

He will leave the Brock community with some parting remarks. Having established the Last Lecture as a Brock event in 2013, Joe now finds himself facing the ‘karma’ of having to speak at the very forum he envisioned for others.

Following the same tradition that takes place at many American universities, Joe will speak about the lessons he has learned in his time at the University. There should be no shortage of insight from a man who has spent time as a sessional lecturer, a clerk in the Registrar’s Office and as a professor in two Faculties. In 2003, he established the Centre for Digital Humanities and was appointed its founding director.

Joe’s talk will focus on the theme of ‘transformation.’ This is something that he has been particularly passionate about during his time at Brock. “I know first hand that he has been instrumental in transforming generations of students, really making a difference to how they think about the world,” said Jill Grose, Director of the Brock University Centre for Pedagogical Innovation.

Joe has transformed more than students, however. “He has also dedicated much of his career to transforming the culture of teaching at Brock, so this event will be a celebration of his legacy as well as a wonderful opportunity to discuss teaching and learning as we wrap up the term,” Grose noted.

As a 3M National Teaching Fellow, Joe follows in the footsteps of Lorne Adams and David DiBattista as the third ‘Final Lecture’ presenter.

Spring Perspectives: The Last Lecture event is hosted by the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation, and will take place April 28, at 1:30 p.m. in the Pond Inlet. The event is free and open to the entire Brock community. Please register online.