There are many themes in my portfolio that reflect on the key topics that were discussed in class. Although I explored many different aspects of epistemic violence that occurs on this campus, there were a few that stood out to me. Something that was discussed largely in our classroom was UBC’s acts of decolonization and what that actually meant to Indigenous knowledges and histories. Due to this being a key theme in class, I decided to do my object presentation on The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. This centre is a key example of how the institution was widely publicized as a great gesture of reconciliation by UBC but in reality the centre itself has many limitations. Although the building is beautiful and was supposed to hold great significance, it barely has enough staff to keep it running. Millions of records were promised from residential schools but these records are nowhere to be found. The location of UBC is also important to look at. The centre’s location is not accessible to the Indigenous communities that would benefit from it. Much like the many different acts of reconciliation that were discussed this semester, this one is non-performative and simply sits as a trophy on the campus.
UBC is a place of power and knowledge that has many systems that reproduce violent and vulnerable spaces for people. A big portion of my portfolio is looking at how these systems are sites of masculine production. Collaborating with other classmates in this moving tour was an exploration of how these sites are grounded in the roots of the institution. Places such as the Panhellenic House, Fraternity Village and the RCMP are all a part of the institution’s privileged spaces that have a history of exploiting marginalized peoples. They all reinforce the traditional masculinity that oppresses people on the campus. I explore this in much more detail in my portfolio.
The academic setting of UBC is only a portion of how it functions, and it is crucial to analyze and discuss different aspects of the institution that create exclusion of marginalized people, especially Indigenous communities. Knowledge manifests, and reproduces injustices and oppression, in many ways.