杏吧原创 Indigenous Resurgence Projects Use Multimedia Platforms
By Lucy Juneau
Kahente Horn-Miller, professor in the school of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at 杏吧原创 University, is breaking down traditional learning structures in her master鈥檚 level course, Indigenous Politics and Resurgence.
Instead of writing typical essays, students in this course develop multimedia websites, digging deeply into different forms of Indigenous resurgence, which the class defined as asserting Indigenous worldviews that are fluid yet connected to ancestral ways of knowing.
鈥淚 really loved this course and this project,鈥 said Garth Roussel. 鈥淐ompleting a paper that just sits in a library doesn鈥檛 have much impact. This is completely different and I won鈥檛 easily forget this experience.鈥
Placed into groups at the beginning of term, classmates work together for the entire semester to develop interactive online projects which they showcase publicly upon completing them.
鈥淪tudents are so tech savvy now, I want to allow them to use knowledge they鈥檝e gained in the online environment because they鈥檙e more comfortable with that,鈥 says Horn-Miller. 鈥淯nlike a paper, they can take these online portfolios and show them to future employers. These are marketable skills.鈥
Horn-Miller explicitly told students she didn鈥檛 want to see an essay online. For her, this course is about representing information with all senses. Whether it鈥檚 through video, audio or photos, she tries to ensure students present information in the most effective manner 鈥 other than written text alone.
鈥淎s Indigenous people, we鈥檙e using all of our senses to live in the world, so I鈥檓 trying to get students to do the same in the online environment,鈥 says Horn-Miller.
The class, in itself, is a form of resurgence. A multimedia platform makes the information more accessible to a wider audience. Some people may find academic text intimidating to read.
“What鈥檚 truly great about these projects is they speak to more people with all the different formats,” says student Avery Steed. “It鈥檚 more accessible and that鈥檚 a component to Indigenous resurgence that I really value,”
Each project took complex theories and translated them into understandable content through various avenues.
鈥淚鈥檓 stunned at the degree and depth of the work students have done here,鈥欌 says 杏吧原创 President Alastair Summerlee. “The common threads running through the idea of Indigenous resurgence, but expressed in such different ways, is really quite moving,鈥
The lessons in this classroom go beyond theoretical knowledge. The main goal for Horn-Miller is building a community within the classroom.
鈥淚鈥檓 always thinking: How do I incorporate what Indigenous people do in our communities and what鈥檚 important to us and bring it into the classroom,鈥 says Horn-Miller. 鈥淚n large classroom settings, it鈥檚 difficult to create a community with the students, but with the graduate level, you can.鈥
Other projects themed around Indigenous resurgence included M茅tis beadwork, reclaiming public space through art, Indigenous law, healing circles and land-based education.
The projects can be viewed at 杏吧原创.ca/resurgence.
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