Documentation:CTLT programs/Indigenous Initiatives/Projects

Projects

Indigenous Programs works to promote and support research projects that demonstrate an accurate and developed understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures, and perspectives.

• What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Class http://www.whatilearnedinclasstoday.com

  Classrooms, especially classrooms at major institutions like UBC, are becoming increasingly diverse and require attention in order to have effective cross-cultural discussions. This project works to improve the conversations around politically and culturally sensitive issues in a classroom by asking: how does cultural communication happen in a classroom, and how can it be improved?

  This project examines the classroom experiences of students, instructors, and administrators at UBC in order to make these problems visible, to better understand how difficulties arise, and to find ways for more professional and productive classroom discussions. The project clearly identified the complexities and challenges of classroom conversations involving contentious cross-cultural discussions, and in specific discourse around Indigenous curriculum.

• Indigenous Foundations
 http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca

  Students enter university with differing levels of knowledge about Aboriginal issues. This makes it difficult to have meaningful discussions on Indigenous topics beyond an introductory level. Indigenous Foundations is a website project developed by the First Nations Studies Program. It provides an accessible starting point for instructors, researchers, and students in any discipline who want to learn more about Indigenous cultures, politics, and histories. The information presented is concise and easily digestible, while still conveying the depth and complexities of the topics. Indigenous Foundations incorporates learning tools such as video interviews and other multimedia outlets to create an engaging resource.