Pop Goes the Hammer

Published in HMag: October 2008

Adam Kuhn can’t believe he just said “it’s cool to care,” but it’s true.

Kuhn, the manager of McMaster University’s Office of Community Service Leaning and Civic Engagement (OCSLCE), elaborates. “There’s a real push toward hiring ‘the Global Citizen,’” he says. Companies and organizations of all kinds want employees who have the skills to communicate, to explore, to engage and interact with the environment that surrounds them. That’s why Kuhn is heading up OCSLCE’s Pop the Bubble; a new initiative that aims to create global citizens at McMaster University. Pop hopes to develop a sense of lifelong civic engagement by introducing Mac students to the Hamilton that lies off-campus.

In 2005, Mohawk College took similar a step when the Language Studies faculty introduced an Active Citizenship elective that eventually became mandatory for all Mohawk students. “My hope is that it makes them aware of issues in their communities and the importance of being involved in addressing those issues,” says Active Citizenship coordinator Geoff Ondercin-Bourne. “I also hope it gives them the opportunity to network with people in the community who might be of assistance to them in their careers.” The syllabus focusses on media analysis, persuasive writing, community destination visits and community-based speakers.

The difference between Mohawk’s Active Citizenship class and McMaster’s Pop program is that Pop started with the students.

One of these students is Chryslyn Pais, a 5^th year McMaster student and volunteer coordinator with Pop. She says the campaign is something students have been asking for. The University provides them with so many amenities that they don’t ever need to leave the campus, let alone Westdale. Pop wants to break the barrier between students’ west Hamilton homebase and the rest of the city.

“We want students to realize that when they’re leaving for school, they’re not just coming to McMaster,” says Kuhn. “We want them to realize they’re coming to Hamilton.”

In Kuhn’s mind, one of the biggest barriers to this is the 403. “It’s a psychological thing, but it’s this dividing line between Westdale and downtown Hamilton,” he says.

One of the ways Pop is trying to eliminate this line is by helping students create a mental map of the entire city as soon as they arrive. During Welcome Week, Kuhn and Pais partnered with the McMaster Student Union (MSU) and the HSR to offer a short downtown bus tour to students and their parents. The fully guided tour took riders through the GO Station, around Gore Park, up King and back to campus.

“A lot of the parents were really appreciative of that,” says Pais. “Something as little as knowing that the two main streets downtown are one-way is a huge thing for someone who doesn’t know the city,” she says. “Hopefully the next time they visit Hamilton to take their kids out to dinner, they’ll feel more comfortable considering a restaurant downtown.”

Since Welcome Week, Pais and Kuhn have promoted the program in a few different ways. Flashy Pop promotional cards, featuring Ten Things to do Before you Graduate (hit the Farmers’ Market, attend Doors Open, or visit at least three of Hamilton’s 60 waterfalls) are circulating the campus. The plasma screens at Mac residence buildings, which rotate ads and events, feature Pop-sponsored Hamilton trivia questions to pique students’ interest in the city. Pop has a relationship with Volunteer Hamilton that allows them to access a database of volunteer opportunities for interested students. In late October, they hope to host a Pop the Bubble showcase in the atrium of the student centre. Potential invitees include the City of Hamilton, numerous BIA spokespeople and Tourism Hamilton.

Pais says they’re really excited to work with Tourism Hamilton and she thinks the feeling is mutual. Both stand to gain from the partnership. Pop gets expert, up-to-the-minute advice on events and attractions; Tourism Hamilton gets free of word-of-mouth advertising. “A lot of people only see Hamilton’s smokestacks as they drive over the Skyway,” says Pais. “There’s so much more than that...we want students to go home for the summer and tell people about it.”

Check www.macpopthebubble.wordpress.com for updated information on Pop-run events, ideas and interactive components including a post-your-own top ten to-do’s in Hamilton.