By Tanya Cronin

Indigenizing universities the focus of TRU talk

Apr 9, 2018 | 4:59 PM

KAMLOOPS — Teaching younger generations about Indigenous history will be the focus of an event at Thompson Rivers University tonight. (Monday) 

Dr. Jacqueline Romanow, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Winnipeg, will hold a talk responding to calls from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to address the backlog of First Nations students seeking university education, and to weave Indigenous peoples, cultures and knowledge into the fabric of their campuses.

“A glimpse of Indigenous perspective of history, of what happened, why today looks this way, why Indigenous communities are disadvantaged economically, why there’s social issues, problems with residential schools and the generational impacts of residential schools, says Dr. Jacqueline Romanow.” These courses have to be vetted through a process at the university to ensure we include Indigenous authors, Indigenous perspectives, Indigenous petagogy, just to bring a small piece of that information to our non-Indigenous students.”

The University of Winnipeg has taken the TRC’s call seriously, and has launched an Indigenous Course Requirement that applies to every undergraduate. Through what’s called the ‘Coyote’ initiative, faculty members at TRU are also taking steps to embed Indigenous content in the curriculum.   

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“All Canadians need to know the truth about our history, about Indigenous history, who the Indigenous people were before the arrival of Europeans, that we were not uncivilized or savage, there were no wars won, we’re not conquered people, that we have a history together, a relationship and part of that relationship there were a lot of not so good moments, and understanding those not so good moments help us understand the world we live in today,” says Dr. Romanow.

Tonight’s presentation (Monday) featuring Dr. Jacqueline Romanow, will be held in the House of Learning building at TRU – from 7pm to 9pm.