Tag Archives: Higher education

Post 4 – Regions differ in Indigenous acknowledgement at Canadian universities – David Loti

https://news.ubc.ca/2017/03/01/regions-differ-in-indigenous-acknowledgement-at-canadian-universities/

Visited 20 November 2018

 

This article summarizes Linc Kesler, Rima Wilkes, Aaron Duong, and Howard Ramos’s academic study, a first of its kind, “Canadian University Acknowledgement of Indigenous Lands, Treaties and Peoples”, published in Canadian Review of Sociology in February 2017. The study investigates land acknowledgements at Canadian universities. The article quotes UBC Professor Linc Kesler, “Acknowledgements indicate respect for Indigenous communities and bring attention to an often ignored history.” He continues, “It sets a context for present relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples that can be thought of in a more deliberate way.” The summary also indicates that, “The researchers also question whether or not acknowledgement helps promote reconciliation or merely acts as a ‘tokenistic practice of checking the box.’”

(Entry 4) Book: An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

Book: An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

Sean Morris and Jesse Stommel’s new book, An Urgency of Teachers, urges teachers and instructors at all levels of academe to consider shifting the focus of teaching and learning back toward the student, that is, to become more student/human-centered.  Though the book does not specifically address Indigeneity, the authors’ intent is to create a space for dialogue on how learning can occur through less “mainstream” means (more akin to tribalism:  spatial, spiritual, experiential and social).  Like Brown, the authors stress the importance of the humanity of teaching and learning and the importance of emotions and values.

Sean Morris, & Stommel, J. (2018). An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy. Hybrid Pedagogy Inc.

URL:  Summary:  An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital

POST 4 – Musqueam & UBC – Aboriginal Portal – David Loti

http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/community-youth/%20musqueam-and-ubc/?login

Visited 6 September 2018

Speaking on the land acknowledgement of the Musqueam Territory, Linc Kessler says, “People don’t always understand why we do this and some have indicated a concern that this acknowledgement may be more nominal than indicative of a deeper commitment.” Who are the parties expressing this concern?

 

POST 3 – What is a land acknowledgement? – David Loti

https://students.ubc.ca/ubclife/what-land-acknowledgement

Visited 6 September 2018

This site introduces the land acknowledgement at UBC, stating that “this land acknowledgement has become common practice at University events, business meetings, and in official documents” but it is not “just a formality.” The site defines traditional, ancestral, and unceded, and what most strikes me about this statement is the acknowledgement of unceded—that UBC is built on “land that was not turned over to the Crown by a treaty or other agreement”—and the silence of anything else. It feels like a person standing before a judge saying, “Your Honour, I admit that the $2,000,000 piece of land on which I built my house I acquired from Bob without asking Bob for it.” There is no apology. There is no offer to give the land back or purchase it at a fair price. It is simply an acknowledgement of guilt: “Yep. I took it.” Is unceded a legal euphemism for stolen?