CTLI, JIBC Library, The Writing Centre, and Student Services Hosts AI Week at the JIBC!

What’s World AI Week?

As you know, there is a lot going on in the world of AI. This new and growing technology is spreading like wildfire and upending many of our current educational practices, among other major disruptions. October 6-10 is World AI Week, led by an organization called Inspired Minds, who have organized an international conference on AI during this week.
 
At JIBC, we are planning our own events for World AI week, and we’d like you to be part of the action! We would like to use this week as an opportunity to gather and discuss how AI is affecting our work as educators.
 
Our hope is that we can engage with a range of members of our JIBC community to talk about how AI is affecting our practices as educators while considering effective responses to this new technology.
 
 

Faculty Panel: Exploring AI in Education and Public Safety

Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 | 10:00am – 11:30am | Virtual (Teams)
What happens when AI moves from headlines into classrooms, labs, and public safety settings? Join us for a lively panel discussion with JIBC faculty who are already exploring these questions in their teaching and research.
 
Our panel will share their perspectives on:

• Opportunities and challenges of AI in education.
• How AI tools are being tested in public safety contexts, from emergency response to conflict resolution.
• Real-world examples of AI in action and what they mean for our work.

 
This session is a chance to hear directly from colleagues who are grappling with the realities of AI — not just the hype. Bring your questions, spark new ideas, and join a thoughtful conversation about where AI is taking us next.
 
 
Register here!
 
 
For more information email facultydevelopment@jibc.ca.
 

About Our Panel

Dr. Lisa Richlen
Lead Instructor, Centre for Conflict Resolution
 
Lisa Richlen holds the role of Lead Instructor in the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. She was first trained as a mediator in high school and subsequently trained peer mediators, volunteered for a community mediation centre and was a small claims court mediator. Experience in classroom teaching and a commitment to emotional intelligence led her to complete an M.A. in Social and Emotional Learning. She lived in Israel from 2000-2021 and worked as an employee of and a consultant for tens of social change and human rights organizations. Simultaneously, she was actively engaged in Arab/Jewish and Israeli/Palestinian dialogue on the personal level and worked as a group process facilitator, a Jewish advisor of an interfaith program and, briefly, as coordinator for an Israeli-Palestinian mediation program. In 2021, Richlen completed a PhD at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel where her research focused on refugee-led organizations. Since moving to Vancouver in 2021, she has taught courses on human rights, ethnicity and ethnic relations, non-violent social change, race and ethnicity and social inequality in Canada at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Langara College. She currently is a member of a refugee sponsorship committee and involved in welcoming newcomers to Canada more generally.

 
 
Dr. Firoz Verjee
Faculty, School of Public Safety
 
Dr. Firoz Verjee is a systems engineer with over 30 years of expertise in geospatial technologies and emergency management. He has held senior technical positions at George Washington University, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Demining, and the Aga Khan Development Network. He now serves as a full-time instructor in the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s School of Public Safety.
 
In Fall 2024, Firoz introduced Artificial Intelligence as a key theme in his course ESMS 3330: Technologies in Emergency Management, adding modules on the history, ethics, and practical applications of AI.

Dr. Sunny Mangat
Lead Faculty, Law Enforcement Studies Program
 
Dr. Sunny Mangat is a sociologist with a PhD from the University of Roehampton. As lead faculty in the Law Enforcement Studies Program and a researcher, she brings her curiosity and critical lens into the classroom—always asking how tools like ChatGPT can both support student learning and challenge us to think about ethics, creativity, and the future of higher education.
 
Her curiosity drives her to explore big questions: why students (and people in general) are drawn to using AI, how it is reshaping the classroom and research, and what its long-term implications might be for society. True to form, Sunny doesn’t just teach about AI—she experiments with it in real time. Case in point: she asked ChatGPT to help re-write this very bio, making her both the researcher and the research subject.

Melanie Meyers and Dave Smulders– Co-Moderators
 
Melanie and Dave bring extensive experience and a shared passion for education to their work at the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI), where they support excellence in teaching and learning.
 
Melanie has a background in Instructional Design and since joining JIBC in 2008, she has led award-winning projects in open educational resources, emerging technologies, and blended learning. As Program Director, she oversees curriculum development and represents CTLI across the institution and beyond.
 
Dave is an adult educator with nearly 30 years of experience in instructional design and faculty development. As Senior Manager of Faculty Development, he helps instructors improve their teaching through inclusive, engaging practices and leads professional development events throughout the year.
 
Together, Mel and Dave ensure CTLI is a trusted resource for instructional design, curriculum development, educational technology, and educator support—championing innovation across JIBC and the wider educational community.