Indigenizing
Scholarship
M/W
4:00 – 5:20 PM
Winter 2015
Instructor: Robert Budde Tel: 960-6693
Office: ADMIN 3016 email: rbudde@unbc.ca
Course
Description
“research
exists within a system of power”
Linda Tuhiwai Smith
This
course will be an opportunity for graduate students to explore issues around
First Nations’ traditional knowledges as they relates to postsecondary
scholarship. What we will be considering are such topics as settler
identity/culture, “autoethnography” (Kovach, 33), decolonization, postcolonial
theory, First Nations’ identity, indigenous pedagogy/methodologies, protocol,
consent, consultation, Canadian/BC/Prince George identity, cultural studies,
posthumanism, privilege, appropriation, place theory, Ecocriticism, local human
geography, TEKW, land, institutional cultural, and the ways these systems of
thought collide and cooperate. The course will emphasize cooperation, sharing,
openness to alternative worldviews, and community relations rather than paper
writing. There will be no large essay due. Instead, we will be engaged in
self-reflection, collective inquiry, cross-cultural consultation, alternative
methodologies, and institutional/societal critique.
In my
teaching of the course, I will be inviting a variety of speakers into the
class: elders, First Nations Studies scholars, representatives from the Lheidli
T’enneh Band Council, and other guests.
While I
will be asking students to step out of their comfort zone, I will also be
taking those steps with you. Institutions across Canada (and the planet) are
addressing these issues with new vigour and Canadian society is going through
tremendous upheaval in its engagement with First Nations’ sovereignty. I can
think of no other area of inquiry that will prepare you for future challenges
inside or outside the academy. The goal will be to make us all better, more
grounded scholars and stronger citizens.
Texts
Margaret
Kovach, Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts
Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing
Methodologies
Assignments/Evaluation
Seminar
Presentation---------------------------------------------------------20%
Participation
-------------------------------------------------------------------40%
Self-Analysis/Autoethnography (2 x 10%)--------------------------------20%
Theory responses (2 x 10%)
-------------------------------------------------20%
Seminar
Presentations 20%
You will sign up
for a seminar topic and conduct your seminar on a scheduled day. The seminar will be focused on 1)
a literary text, 2) a theoretical text or 3) a praxis issue. The seminar is a
demonstration of your research, analytical skills, and pedagogical method. The
presentation will be 20 – 30 minutes in length. A summary of your presentation
will be due at the end of class.
The presentation will be evaluated on: content; research; level of
analysis and comprehension; organization; presentation (speed, audibility,
accessibility, visual aids etc.); generation and moderation of discussion.
Participation 40%
At this level of
scholarship we will be participating in an exchange of ideas and will be
communicating as scholarly peers. I have made participation a much larger part
of evaluation in order to accommodate a more indigenous pedagogy in class.
Participation in this class will consist of the following: coming to class
having read and carefully considered all materials; responding to questions;
asking questions; offering thoughtful analysis, close reading, context and
interpretation of the primary and secondary materials on the course; listening
and being responsive to your peers; and engaging in extra research to inform
your reading of the primary texts. As well, specific tasks having to do with
community outreach and consultation will contribute to 2 x 10% grades. We will
be drafting a consultation protocol for the UNBC Department of English and
curating a Lheidli story for a 25th anniversary installation on
campus.
Self-Analysis/Autoethnography 20%
These will be two
5 page documents that will be careful introductions to yourself as your
identity relates to such concepts as colonialism, race, culture, and academia.
These can be in any form (essay, story, poem, song. . . ). One introduction
will be due early in the course, the other at the end of the course. These will
be opportunities for you to be self-reflexive and position yourself in your
work. For more information on the process of autoethnography see:
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095
Theory
Responses 20%
These will be two
5-page responses to the Smith and Kovach books we will be reading together.
This will be an opportunity to engage in some traditional scholarly writing. J
Strict
enforcement of plagiarism policies applies to this course. See the UNBC
calendar or speak to me if you are unsure as to what plagiarism entails.
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