Spaced out
January 22, 2026 9:37 PM
Have you ever been in a space that uplifts you? From a concert hall buzzing with anticipation to a church that exudes serenity, the manufactured spaces of our world have great power to influence both our individual state of mind and collective behaviour.
The personality of a space may not be at the forefront of our daily thinking. We don’t necessarily compare fighting the herd on a city sidewalk with running the quiet streets of Antigonish.
But to say that we are unconscious of the influence of our spaces is not to say that we do not seek out those with a certain allure. Isn’t this why we travel? We want to stand in awe of the looming Sistine Chapel, or to feel the pull of consumerism in Times Square.
What is tourism if not a search for a space that will make us feel some connectedness, or maybe some excitement?
Given the powerful pull of different spaces to affect how we feel and where we go, you would think that the decision makers that hold jurisdiction over a city, park, or campus would construct public areas that aim to instill a certain feeling.
Which brings me to StFX. As we all know, the marketing efforts of our institution take great pains to position the university as a community; a place of interconnectedness and collaboration.
We value the Coady International Institute and the people it brings. We love to get together honours students from different departments and hear about what they’re studying. We enthusiastically compile an O-Crew every year that unites varying departments and years of study into one goal: complete and delightful mayhem.
My point is simply this. StFX promotes itself as a loving community, and we students do love to intermingle, but the actual structure of our campus discourages this sort of interaction.
A few years ago I had a long chat with a visiting alumnus. He told me that he was disappointed in how the campus had been developed because Confusion Square had been decentralized.
Students used to pour out of their various classes into Confusion Square, meeting up with friends from other classes and departments, or just people who came to hang out in the space.
The more buildings that are renewed at StFX, the more isolationist the campus feels. The Physical Sciences Centre encourages physics and chemistry students to come and study.
The Coady Institute has beautiful facilities for a very specific segment of StFX students, who we just don’t get to see in Nicholson Hall. And the new School of Business even has a separate café in it, thus encouraging BBA students to stay within.
I’m obviously taking a bit of an extreme stance here, but doesn’t it seem like the more StFX develops, the more its facilities segregate us by department?
If the powers that be at our university wanted to put their money where their values are, they might develop a space that actually facilitated the interdisciplinary communication that they’re selling.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Physical Plant were torn down to make a grassy common area, or pavilion for live music? What if they made us a campus café that had enough seating and service to house any group that wanted to meet for coffee?
The reputation of any school grows from the experience of its people. I suggest that if this one takes social unity and open dialogue seriously, that it construct spaces that are not for studying, not for working out, but just for good old fashioned face to face conversation.