The Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games provides an exciting opportunity for teaching and learning innovation at Brock University. There are a variety of ways to incorporate the Canada Games content into courses across Brock University’s Faculties and Departments and this creative implementation fosters unique learning opportunities for students.

In the lead up to the 2022 Canada Summer Games, we will be posting a series of articles, Q&As, profiles and other material on curricular innovation and student experiential education related to the Games. The series will highlight instructors campus-wide who are utilizing the Games to facilitate sustainable course innovation in a variety of ways. They hope to generate both further interest from students, as well as help generate ideas for colleagues to incorporate the Games in their courses.  We are excited to highlight the creative, innovative, and student-focused curricular offerings across many of Brock University’s faculties.

Elizabeth Vlossak

Associate Professor, History
Faculty of Humanities

Elizabeth Vlossak is an Associate Professor of History in Brock’s Faculty of Humanities. In her courses, she looks for ways to incorporate innovative techniques into students’ classroom experience. This includes encouraging students to engage with the Brock campus, St. Catharines and the wider Niagara region by thinking about how local sites are connected to global movements, and how students’ own lives have been shaped by world history.

Michael Naraine

Assistant Professor, Sport Management
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Michael Naraine is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management in Brock’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. His research is in the area of digital sport management and marketing, where he examines the strategy, fan engagement and analytics related to new developments in the sport business landscape. His teaching is closely aligned to these interests and centres around the subjects of Sport Marketing, Sport Sponsorship, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Sport.

Jean Ntakirutimana

Associate Professor, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Faculty of Humanities

Ntakirutimana, who has been teaching linguistics for more than three decades, is integrating the Games in his upcoming Documentation and Terminology course.

Naser Ezzati-Jivan

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Faculty of Mathematics and Science

Naser Ezzati-Jivan is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science. His research is in the area of software engineering, software debugging and performance evaluation. His teaching is closely linked to these subject areas and covers topics such as software engineering, software performance analysis, database management and operating systems.

Kelly Lockwood

Associate Professor, Kinesiology
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Through the disciplines of sport biomechanics, exercise physiology, training, and coaching education, Brock University Associate Professor of Kinesiology Kelly Lockwood’s research program investigates best practices in developing athletes. She concentrates primarily on on-ice sport, where she has played a critical role in contributing to the science of sport performance. More recently, her work has extended beyond understanding the human factors to include working with industry to assist in equipment engineering, material properties and design to explore how to best harness physical and technical preparedness through sport equipment.

YiFeng Li

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Faculty of Mathematics and Science

Yifeng Li is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science. His research and teaching interests include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning; data science and data analytics; optimization and computational intelligence; and computational biology and bioinformatics.

Rob Millington

Assistant Professor, Kinesiology
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Rob Millington is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Brock University who focuses on Sport and Social Change and Sport for Development and Peace. His research looks at how international non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee, mobilize sport for development in policy and practice in both historical and contemporary contexts. More recently, his work has focused on the environmental component and sustainable development, to consider what role, if any, sport can play in an environmental context and in meeting sustainable development objectives, including the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Brian de Ruiter

Part-Time Instructor
Centre for Canadian Studies and Digital Humanities

Brian de Ruiter has lectured in courses in various departments at Brock University and currently works in the Centre for Canadian Studies. He has instructed the first-year survey course CANA 1F91 as well as the second-year core courses CANA 2P91 and CANA 2P92. He has lectured on a variety of topics in Canadian Studies, including Canadian sports, multiculturalism, Canada in the digital age, Indigenous issues, media, the War of 1812 and the Canadian North.

Donna Pearce

Program Development and Quality Assurance Co-ordinator
Brock ESL Services

Donna Pearce (BA ’11, MA ’12) is one of the Program Development and Quality Assurance Co-ordinators for Brock ESL Services. Her recent projects have included the creation of a fully interactive e-textbook for the Advanced level, in collaboration with her colleague, Eldon Friesen. This e-textbook is now in use in the Intensive English Language Program. Donna also designed a Virtual Summer English Language Program that will be shared as an Open Educational Resource through eCampus Ontario. In addition to her duties in ESL, Donna also teaches Pronunciation for the Pre-Master’s Preparation Program in the Goodman School of Business.

Kyle Rich

Assistant Professor, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Kyle Rich’s research looks at the impact of policy, community, and inclusion and exclusion on experiences in sport, recreation and physical activity programming. His research has examined a variety of local, regional and national programs and how they are implemented in both urban and rural contexts. Rich is interested in using community-based and participatory research methodologies in order to help community organizers understand and address local issues in efforts to improve community health.

Interactive Arts and Science Student Team

Department of Digital Humanities
Faculty of Humanities

As part of an Interactive Arts and Science (IASC) experiential learning course, Brock students are creating a looping visual presentation that will highlight the evolution of Canada Games medals of the past while also setting the stage for the reveal of the new medal design for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games.

Laura Cousens

Associate Professor, Sport Management
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Cousens sees the Niagara 2022 Canada Games as a chance to expand the diversity of volunteer opportunities available for students and to volunteer with Canada Games staff to provide unique pre-game planning opportunities in the areas of spectator engagement and social media.

Kai-Yu Wang

Professor, Marketing
Goodman School of Business

Brock University Professor of Marketing Kai-Yu Wang has been actively integrating experiential education into all the undergraduate and graduate level courses he teaches in the Goodman School of Business. His students have completed service-learning projects with more than 80 local organizations.

Kate Cassidy

Assistant Professor, Communications, Popular Culture and Film
Faculty of Social Sciences

With the 2022 Canada Games set to be hosted in Niagara, Assistant Professor of Business Communication Kate Cassidy saw a unique opportunity to involve Business Communication students.

Math 1P98 Course Team

Math 1P98 Service Course Committee
Faculty of Mathematics & Science

The case study projects have been designed by Master of Statistics graduate Jenny Tieu (BEd ’17, BSc ’17, MSc ’19) under the supervision of Levay and will focus on athletes’ performance, and economic and community aspects of the Games.

Teresa Russo

Part-time Instructor, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Faculty of Humanities

Teresa Russo is enthusiastic about the many opportunities for students to engage with the community, regional councillors and other stakeholders during the Canada Summer Games next year in Niagara.

Dawn Zinga

Professor, Child and Youth Studies
Faculty of Social Sciences

Child and Youth Studies Professor Dawn Zinga teaches CHYS 2V91, Children and Youth in Sports Contexts, an online course paired with an experiential learning component.