Nine new projects dedicated to increasing Indigenous scholarship and voice within teaching and learning at York University have earned grants through the Indigeneity in Teaching in Learning Fund.
Funded by the Office of the Vice-Provost Academic, these innovative projects selected in the 2023-24 academic year create new opportunities for Indigenous students to build knowledge and increase participation in cultural activities, while expanding meaningful connections with Indigenous communities.
“We are pleased to see the uptake and interest in this fund. We get more applicants than we can fund and this year was no different,” says Marcia Annisette, vice-provost academic. “This speaks to the great interest across the University to bring meaning and intention to the Indigenous Framework and to the University Academic Plan. These funds are catalysts for what we hope will lead to richer teaching, learning and relationship across the University.”
Projects are estimated to engage approximately 1,000 students, faculty and staff. Susan Dion, associate vice-president, Indigenous initiatives, says these projects “contribute to embedding Indigenous voices and perspectives in courses, student learning and partnership building with Indigenous leaders, advancing York’s commitment to integrating Indigenous thought and perspectives throughout the academy.”
In 2023, the University launched its Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, which includes a commitment to cultivating inclusive teaching and learning environments that nurture multiple and intersectional ways of knowing. The nine projects awarded with grants aim to advance this goal in concrete ways and demonstrate how the community is contributing to advancing positive change in 2023-24.
The projects, which will receive approximately $2,000 each, are:
- Bridging Indigenous Women’s and IndigiQueer Voices from Community to Indigenous Feminisms Class, by Angele Alook;
- Community Voices in Indigenous Spirituality in the Contemporary World, by Michael White;
- Creating a SAGE Nest: Collaborative Mentorship & Support for Indigenous Graduate Students, by Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing;
- Regeneration: All Our Relations Speaker and Performance, by Laura Levin, Brenda Longfellow, Archer Pechawis and Emilia White;
- Lunch and Learn: Connect, Educate, Enhance, by Sage Hartmann and Hannah Johnson, Osgoode Indigenous Student Association;
- Making Good Tracks Moccasin Project, by Kiera Brant-Birioukov;
- Reclaiming Aatisokaanan: Traditional Anishinaabe Stories, by Maya Chacaby;
- Exploring Toronto as a City of Solidarity and Alienation, by Soma Chatterjee; and
- Houdensosaunee Social Dance, by Jeremy Green.