Faculty

Showcasing reconciliation in our curriculum

February 14, 2025

by Ash Tanasiychuk

El Chenier, History professor, presents their Reconciling Curriculum grant-funded project at the FASS showcase

Guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and B.C.'s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIPA) Action Plan to ensure that universities work with Indigenous communities to develop culturally relevant and safe educational settings, FASS faculty members are upholding these along with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to redress the harms done to Indigenous communities.

The FASS Reconciliation Working Group (RWG) administers the Reconciling Curriculum Grant Program as part of FASS' ongoing commitment to reconciliation. These grants support small- and large-scale initiatives to Indigenize FASS curricula, as well as support cultural awareness training, professional development, and assist in strengthening partnerships with Indigenous knowledge holders in the community.

The program looks to support individual faculty members and academic units to take “constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism and the work of reconciliation” in their teaching. Applications to the program have increased year upon year, resulting in several promising projects.

Seven of these projects were highlighted in the recent FASS Reconciling Curriculum Grant showcase event.

Reconciling Curriculum grantees are the best ambassadors for these grants

Melek Ortabasi, FASS Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programming and RWG co-chair

FASS Reconciling Curriculum Grant showcase presenters

Kamala Todd and Annika Airas (Urban Studies) spoke about language and land in a relational as opposed to an extractive approach.

Community-based Partner Grant (2023/24): Workshop for development project in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (Squamish language)
New Upper Division (Graduate) Courses Grant (2019/20): Wednesday seminars on Indigenous issues

Bryan Myles (Bill Reid Centre) shared how the centre handled its digital pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how their display in Saywell Hall continues to attract visitors, tours from the child care centre among many others.

Lower Division Courses Grants (2020/21): Curation of cultural programming for the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Community-based Partner Grants (2023/24): Bill Reid Centre Visiting Fellow

Martin Santamaria (Economics) spoke about his lecture series on land and water rights from Indigenous perspectives—how resources are there not for us to take, but to take care of.

Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training and Professional Development Grant (2023/24): A three-part lecture series on "Land and Water Rights, Indigenous Perspectives"
Micro Teaching and Research Development Grant (2023/24): Course on Indigenous views on Economic Development and Land and Water Rights

Leith Davis (Scottish Studies), Dana Lai (PhD student, English), Michelle Patton (undergraduate student, English/History), and Abigail Streifel (undergraduate student) spoke about the ambitions and complexities of their Unsettling Scottish Studies series of events.

Micro Research and Teaching Development Grant (2023/24): Identify and acquire materials related to the encounters between Indigenous peoples and Scottish explorers, settlers, and sojourners in British Columbia from 1778 to the present
Community-based Partner Grant (2019/20): Identify and gather resources for a new course, “Two-eyed Seeing”: Reading Eighteenth-Century British Literature from an Indigenous Perspective

El Chenier (History) spoke about how we hinder the rights of Indigenous people by expecting them to prove the past; Chenier's project shifted focus from lecturing to facilitation.

New Upper Division (Graduate) Courses Grant (2019/20): Teaching module for first-year public policy graduate students on the colonization of Indigenous peoples

Rachel Fouladi and Michael Schmitt (Psychology) spoke about introducing psychology students to UNDRIP and BC's DRIPPA.

Micro Teaching and Research Development Grant (2020/21): Workshop for faculty and staff on decolonizing practices
Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training and Professional Development Grant (2023/24): Workshop by Dr. Karlee Fellner called “Indigenous Wisdoms for Psychology: Shifting towards Survivance-Based Pedagogy and Practices"
Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training and Professional Development Grant (2023/24) : Host a cultural awareness listening series on Indigenous identity and the impact of filling out questionnaires/application forms

Melek Ortabasi, FASS Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programming and RWG co-chair, says, "Reconciling Curriculum grantees are the best ambassadors for these grants to encourage colleagues within their units to apply." She looks forward to more submissions to the grants in the future.

The next round for FASS Reconciling Curriculum Grant applications open March 1, 2025.