Meet the KlÖ-Ha-Nah Research Team:

Chloë Parkin

Hi everyone! I am a fourth year Arts student majoring in English literature. I have lived in Richmond, BC for the majority of my life. I am taking English 470 because it is a requirement for my degree, but I also wanted to learn more about Native American cultures and the significance of storytelling. I have learned so much more than I thought I would over this past semester and I am excited for this conference project to teach me even more through open discussions and interactions with my team members as well as other teams. I am interested in exploring how specific places have been pushed aside in Indigenous literature while generalization has taken over. For this conference project, I hope to find possible solutions to this problem of generalization and ignorance in regards to the silencing and grouping of diverse Indigenous cultures.

Hannah Westerman

Hello! I am in my final year of my undergrad, majoring in Art History with a minor in History. Currently I plan on continuing my education after graduation; the aim is to get into Early Childhood Education, which is in the same realm of where I currently work, and which I love. Fun fact: I am also a huge travel and tea enthusiast. Throughout my five years here at UBC I have dabbled in various English courses, but this is the first class that I have taken which focuses on First Nations studies – and I’m really loving it! I have been very interested in the different ways of understanding which are associated with First Nations teachings, and the themes surrounding ‘stories’ in this course. For this conference project, I would like to discuss the origins of our generalization of First Nations cultures and discover ways in which we can initiate a discussion in order to target society’s pre-conceived ideas on First Nations teachings. I want to understand the ways in which regionalism shapes our thinking and examine the ways in which literature connects to place.

Hannah Wagner

I am a four year Interdisciplinary Studies major, who up until this point has been primarily studying history, 
philosophy and political science. Through this course I have become very interested in how
colonizing narratives have eclipsed the diversity of the true Canadian voice. Regionalism and place play a huge role in our interpretation and understanding of the stories we are told. And I am concerned that distancing literature from its place of origin, also detaches it from the personality and diversity of its voice; allowing that voice to muffled under the homogenizing effects of globalization.