Watch this video
Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story
Chimamanda Adichie speaks of her personal search for her culture. She points to how media defines a culture with a single story… a single story that narrowly defines cultures. For Chimamanda, a single story does not define a culture. She warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
Aboriginals also need to tell their stories. They need to find global voices so they don’t become one story… the story the media creates.

If you haven’t experienced TED.com then you really must visit. It several videos with diverse topics presented by our leaders/innovators.

Learn more about TED.com

The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association was founded in 2008 as a professional organization dedicated to supporting those who work inside and outside the academic world in the scholarly field of Native American/American Indian/ First Nations/ Aboriginal and Indigenous studies. On this website you will find information about the association’s annual meetings, governing council, and announcements. The website also provides online membership signup, documents, and links to a forum that members and others can use to discuss issues regarding Native and Indigenous studies.

The above description was taken directly from their homepage.  The most useful resource this website has to offer ETEC521 students is the forum although the documents could be useful as well.  As this is a new website, they assure visitors that it will grow.

E-Pustakalaya is a digital library produced by OLE (Open Learning Exchange) Nepal.  The bilingual (English and Nepali) library is categorized into the following seven areas: literature, are, course related materials, reference materials, other educational materials, teaching support materials, and newspaper and magazines.  Most of the downloadable material is in English and in .pdf format.  Although all the material in English is useful for students of ETEC521, that material in the teaching support section are more relevant to this class.  As subcategories, there are journals, articles on educational theory, professional development, etc.

There is also a highlights section offering further resources such as maps, videos, a Nepali dictionaly, etc.  At the bottom of the home page, they have included the logos of their contributing partners which are actually links to the corresponding organization’s website.

“Reconciliation Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organization… building and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians for the well being of the nation.”  This is taken from their description in “Who is RA” under “About RA.”  If you are interested in anything to do with Indigenous Australian issues, this site will surely not disappoint.

As there is simply too much information available on the website to mention here, some of the highlights are: reconciliation resources and action plans, their current projects, facts and figures, films and music, learning tools for schools, and what might be the most useful for research, their publications.  In their links section, they have divided them into nine different categories including media, documentaries, government, and stats & facts.

“The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI), housed at The University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, serves as a self-determination, governance, and development resource for Indigenous nations in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.”   This is the short description on their homepage of who they are.  Most of the content on the website is organized into the following three pages.

• “What We Do” includes their programs such as policy analysis and research, executive education and curriculum development.
• “Resources” included publications, curricular resources, their own TV/Radio program, research reports, etc.  These resources would be very useful for research of Indigenous issues.
• “Who We Are” includes an overview of the organization, staff, international advisory council, collaborators, their logo, etc.

Finally, on their links page, they categorize many helpful links into three sections: academic departments and research centers, nonprofit organizations and other resources.

The Indigenous Research Center of the Americas (IRCA) is housed in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Based on a hemispheric perspective, IRCA seeks to understand and express both the local and global dimensions of indigenous peoples in the American hemisphere. IRCA is an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research program established with an interest in and commitment to the demographic, social, economic, political and cultural importance of indigenous peoples and the issues of self-determinatation, sovereignty and self-development. The Center has a particular interest in the global and transnational connections of indigenous peoples as well as their growing participation in the reshaping of local, regional and national identities and communities. IRCA provides an open forum for indigenous scholars, indigenous community, spiritual and political leaders and non-Indigenous researchers who are concerned with developing a hemispheric and interdisciplinary approach to the past, present and future realities of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The previous description was taken in its entirety from their homepage, as I would not be able to succinctly paraphrase it without leaving out meaningful details. The information presented on the site is indeed limited, but potentially very useful and will most likely grow.  There are currently six research publications available, which are posted in one of the following categories:

• Culture and identity
• Health and food
• International agreements
• Technology and communication
• Territoriality