It has been a busy Spring and as summer slowly drifts into view, I thought it would be appropriate to share a bit of the work I’ve been up to over the past few months. I am just going to be sharing high level updates but please feel free to reach out if you want more details about any of the projects mentioned.
Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre Projects
- The Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibit space won the 2018-2019 Ontario History Society award for Indigenous history. I am delighted to see the work of the Survivor community being acknowledged by this award.
- Along the same lines, the next phase of the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall space will be opening this summer. The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) team is working on putting together the final touches as we speak.
- And in the last of the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall news, the SRSC has received $169,500 to complete the centerpiece gallery of this space. This gallery will be a community driven art space that looks at the arts in the healing movement.
- In other exciting news, the SRSC has also received Virtual Museum of Canada funding to create an immersive tour of the Shingwauk site. We’re just starting to work on this project and I am really looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.
Open Education Fellows Work
- At the end of May I had the opportunity to participate in a GRASAC workshop that brought together a range of thinkers, scholars, and community members working at the intersection of Indigenous culture, heritage, and memory keeping. This workshop helped me think a bit about the research project I’m undertaking for my Fellowship and the different approaches Indigenous communities take to access.
- At the Canadian Historical Association annual meeting I had the chance to chair a session on OER and Canadian history. I also participated in a workshop dedicated to crafting part of an OER. A more detailed writeup of this is coming soon.
- All the reading. I’m continuing to look at how Indigenous voices have been previously implemented in OER projects in Canada – so if you know of any examples of this please let me know.
- Likewise, I’ve been looking at community based frameworks for sharing Indigenous knowledge in educational contexts.
Image credit: Darwin Vegher on Unsplash