CENES Alumni Night, 2022. Photo by Elizabeth Nolan.
Join CENES for an evening of conversation about your CENES degree and future careers, featuring a panel with alumni from the UBC Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies Department.
The UBC Central, Eastern & Northern European Studies (CENES) Department is pleased to invite undergraduate students to our fourth annual Careers Night on January 21st, 2026. A yearly tradition, this event welcomes UBC students, CENES alumni and faculty to get together.
CENES will be inviting alumni from each of our programs (German, Nordic, Slavic and Eastern European, and Modern European Studies) to speak to the full CENES experience. Current students can hear about our alumni’s undergraduate journey first hand, what skills they took away from their degree, and ask questions about what careers and opportunities are possible with a CENES major or minor. This is also a great opportunity for alumni to engage and build connections with the faculty, alumni and students in the department they majored and/or minored in.
Event Programming
5:30pm – Doors open
5:45pm – 6:45pm – There will be a student-moderated panel featuring a graduate from each of the CENES programs talking about their careers. This panel will conclude with a Q&A portion where audience members can ask their own questions
6:45pm – Students are invited to mingle with CENES faculty and alumni.
Light appetizers and refreshments will be served.
How to Attend
For event planning purposes, kindly RSVP here by January 19, 2026.
This event will take place on January 21st, 2026, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the Peña Room (Room 301) located in the Chapman Commons, Irving K. Barber Centre at 1961 East Mall. Those who are unable to RSVP prior to the event will still be able to attend.
Featured Alumni Panel
Gabrielle Bonifacio
BA’17 Media Studies / minor in German
Gabrielle graduated UBC with a BA in Media Studies and a minor in German in 2017. She recently finished an MA in Literary, Cultural and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS University of London. Outside of academia, she is interested in the intersections between arts, culture and community organizing, as well as creative forms of anti-colonial, anti-imperialist solidarity.
Cicely Belle Blain
BA’16, Modern European Studies / Russian Minor
Cicely Belle is an instructor in Executive Leadership at SFU, the Editorial Director of Ripple of Change Magazine and the author of Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020). They are noted for founding Black Lives Matter Vancouver and being listed as one Vancouver’s 50 most powerful people by Vancouver Magazine in 2018 and 2020, BC Business‘s 30 under 30 and one of Refinery29’s Powerhouses.
Matt Clarke
BA’14, English Literature / Scandinavian (Nordic) Studies
Matt is a performer, director, writer, producer, researcher and teacher of Theatre for Young People with special focuses on Improvisation and Adaptation. He received his BA from UBC in English Literature and Nordic Studies, and is currently in the MA in Children’s Literature (MACL) program at UBC studying youth agency in adapted Theatre for Young People.
Colby Payne
BA’23, Honours English Literature/Russian Minor
Colby Payne is a second-year MA student in English literature at the University of British Columbia; her research focuses on affect theory and fanfiction. She also works as a freelance writer and fact-checker for publications in Canada and abroad.
