‘Walk the Walk’ to Enact Decolonization and Reconciliation Efforts at SFU

Attention: Faculty, Staff, Students, and Residents on the three SFU Campuses You are invited to ‘walk the walk’ with us to enact decolonization and reconciliation efforts at SFU!

Are you committed to deepening your understanding and actions towards decolonization and reconciliation and participating in related research?  We would like to offer you the opportunity to engage with a film series titled “Critical Understandings of Land & Water: Unsettling Place at SFU”. The film series engages 16 films in total. There is an introductory film by Dr. Amy Parent, Noxs Ts’aawit to the series, and nine films with respected Coast Salish Elders and Knowledge Holders featuring oral stories on the ways local Nations have used the land and waterways that the three Simon Fraser University campuses now occupy. The film series also includes four SFU faculty members’ efforts at enacting decolonizing and land based pedagogical practices. The series finalizes with two short films by Dr. Parent engaging the complexities of “Reconciliation” in Canada, as well as considering the deeper learning opportunities of the film series.

As part of this project, we will also be conducting research to study the ways that people are able to learn from the teachings in this series. This part of the project is being carried out by Dr. Amy Parent, Noxs Ts’aawit, and Dr. Jeannie Kerr, Faculty of Education, SFU. You will be invited to complete pre- and post-surveys which are intended to help us gain a deeper understanding of participants' learning experiences with the film series. This will help us better plan future course offerings and professional development for faculty, staff and students of Simon Fraser University, and will also contribute to the literature on educational experiences in decolonization and reconciliation.

To honour your participation in this project you will be gifted with a digital Coast Salish Giveaway which you can use in continuing your learning.  You would also have the opportunity to be entered into a draw for a $25 Amazon gift card.

We welcome the chance to discuss any questions you may have about this film series and research project. Feel free to contact us at jkerr@sfu.ca.

We would also be grateful if you could forward this message to any colleagues, students, or members of the SFU community who you believe might be interested in this opportunity.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Ethics Protocol #30001411 V.1