This year, the Fall Institute will be taking place from October 25-28, 2021, with the support of funding from the Vice-Dean of Governance and Student Affairs, Dr. Francis Bangou's office. There are a series of four speakers, each speaking on a different evening (i.e., 6-7pm EST), to provide graduate students, teacher candidates, and teachers an opportunity to (un)learn. Our theme this year focuses on Bodies, Identities, and Intersections and we are proud to announce Dr. Keri Cheechoo as our keynote speaker. For more descriptions about each session and facilitator/speaker bios, please read below.
To register, please go to the following link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fall-institute-2021-tickets-190067606327
*We highly recommend using your uOttawa email or a professional email for community members.
**Also, the sessions/workshops in this series will not be recorded.
To register, please go to the following link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fall-institute-2021-tickets-190067606327
*We highly recommend using your uOttawa email or a professional email for community members.
**Also, the sessions/workshops in this series will not be recorded.
DAY 1 — OCTOBER 25, 2021: keynote Speaker, Dr. KERI CHEECHOO
Description: By provoking Pimatisiwin through protocol, Dr. Cheechoo will offer opportunities to both learn and unlearn as she examines the juxtaposition of existing embodied violence and absent ethical relationality. This conversation will make clear that though Indigenous women are inherently positioned to be a threat to settler colonialism (Anderson, 2011), we are not inherently vulnerable. Dr. Cheechoo will speak to linguistic considerations, paying special attention to the concept of “protocol/s” by honouring and modelling ethical relationality as an Iskwew, scholar and educator.
Facilitator Bio: Dr. Keri Cheechoo (she/her) is an Iskwew from Long Lake #58 First Nation which is in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. She is an Assistant Professor specializing in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education, at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Cheechoo is also the Director of the Indigenous Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cheechoo’s doctoral research reveals assimilationist policies upheld and maintained by the Canadian government, and offers linkages between colonialism, the continued oppression of First Nation, Inuit and Métis women, and their missing histories. Her research uses Cree Knowledge, arts-based methodologies, and poetic pedagogy in the form of poetic inquiry in a good way.
Facilitator Bio: Dr. Keri Cheechoo (she/her) is an Iskwew from Long Lake #58 First Nation which is in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. She is an Assistant Professor specializing in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education, at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Cheechoo is also the Director of the Indigenous Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cheechoo’s doctoral research reveals assimilationist policies upheld and maintained by the Canadian government, and offers linkages between colonialism, the continued oppression of First Nation, Inuit and Métis women, and their missing histories. Her research uses Cree Knowledge, arts-based methodologies, and poetic pedagogy in the form of poetic inquiry in a good way.
DAY 2 — OCTOBER 26, 2021: Comic books in the classroom
Description: Comics have been popular with children since their inception, and now more than ever, graphic novels, manga, and cartoons are proving to be a wonderful vehicle for education. For the unconvinced, this seminar will explain to you why this medium is so compelling to both students and teachers, and in what ways it might be applicable to subjects you never expected them to cover. For those who are curious but don't know where to start, we will introduce you to a curated selection of titles that can help begin your search. For those already initiated, Kim will run you through an example of a comics workshop that you can take into the classroom yourself. This seminar aims to show you how comics, with its low bar for entry and wide accessibility both for reading and creating, is a great equalizer for communicating ideas, and a powerful tool for marginalized students.
Facilitator Bio: Kim Hoang (she/her) is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She is a part of Canadian comics collective Love Love Hill which has toured at a variety of festivals and conventions in many cities, including Toronto, Montreal, and Tokyo. She has led classes and workshops about comics and games for various clients, including Concordia University and the Visual Arts Centre in Westmount. Kim also has a long history in event organizing, most notably serving as a programming coordinator for the Word Balloon Academy (Toronto Comic Arts Festival). Currently, Kim is working as a bookseller at Crossover Comics, and celebrating her love of the craft by creating Bed et Bédé, a comics-themed bed & breakfast.
Facilitator Bio: Kim Hoang (she/her) is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She is a part of Canadian comics collective Love Love Hill which has toured at a variety of festivals and conventions in many cities, including Toronto, Montreal, and Tokyo. She has led classes and workshops about comics and games for various clients, including Concordia University and the Visual Arts Centre in Westmount. Kim also has a long history in event organizing, most notably serving as a programming coordinator for the Word Balloon Academy (Toronto Comic Arts Festival). Currently, Kim is working as a bookseller at Crossover Comics, and celebrating her love of the craft by creating Bed et Bédé, a comics-themed bed & breakfast.
DAY 3 — OCTOBER 27, 2021: The Relationality of Community Voices and Creating a Safe Space in the Classroom and Beyond
Description: Within this session, it will be completely conversational. Before the session leads into a guided conversation, I will share my experience of being a Michif educator and the Métissage of experiences I have endured being who I am. Throughout the conversation, we will acknowledge how our voices can be impacted by our communities and how this can connect to our pedagogies and potentially, to research. For example, I may discuss my own journey to connect with my Indegigogy. Further, we will also talk about the importance of safe spaces. How do we envision these spaces? Are they fully possible?
I want to acknowledge that the conversation will be consensual. Therefore, folks can participate if they feel comfortable to speak, or folks can happily listen (cameras can be off/on). We will all be a part of this journey in the ways that are relational to our very own capacities and choices.
Facilitator Bio: Madelaine McCracken (she/her/elle) is Red River Métis with her families being Chartrand and Bruce from St. Laurent and Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty 1 territory). Madelaine is the Education and Public Engagement Coordinator at the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, Graduate Representative for the Indigenous Students’ Association at the University of Ottawa and is also a PhD Graduate Student and Curriculum Scholar within the Faculty of Education also at the University of Ottawa. Madelaine is always on the journey to offer connections of how Truth and Reconciliation and how First Nations, Métis, and Inuit rights, perspectives, and values can be appropriately and respectfully represented in curricula expectations, schools, and classrooms across Turtle Island. These relational understandings can help the development of professional learning opportunities and sessions for educators, general learning community members, and organizations. She is passionate about supporting community in many ways, all to uplift voices and make differences.
I want to acknowledge that the conversation will be consensual. Therefore, folks can participate if they feel comfortable to speak, or folks can happily listen (cameras can be off/on). We will all be a part of this journey in the ways that are relational to our very own capacities and choices.
Facilitator Bio: Madelaine McCracken (she/her/elle) is Red River Métis with her families being Chartrand and Bruce from St. Laurent and Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty 1 territory). Madelaine is the Education and Public Engagement Coordinator at the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, Graduate Representative for the Indigenous Students’ Association at the University of Ottawa and is also a PhD Graduate Student and Curriculum Scholar within the Faculty of Education also at the University of Ottawa. Madelaine is always on the journey to offer connections of how Truth and Reconciliation and how First Nations, Métis, and Inuit rights, perspectives, and values can be appropriately and respectfully represented in curricula expectations, schools, and classrooms across Turtle Island. These relational understandings can help the development of professional learning opportunities and sessions for educators, general learning community members, and organizations. She is passionate about supporting community in many ways, all to uplift voices and make differences.
DAY 4 — OCTOBER 28, 2021: Healing the "body" in education
Description: How do you navigate your identity, health and challenges from your experiences in teaching or academia? In this discussion session, Yeti and Fatemeh respond to this question by examining some of the challenges they have faced and how they navigated those experiences as teachers of colour. As they trace their narratives and share their stories, they hope to provide all educators with a sense of futurity that imagines all of us, especially marginalized peoples, through a sense of empowerment and healing.
Facilitator Bios: Fatemeh Anvari (she/her) is an M.A.Ed. student at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, working on her thesis on Stories of Growth through Educating a Child with Down Syndrome. She is also interested in identity, cultural aspects of education, anti-racism, and children's literature. She has previously worked as an English teacher in Iran and is currently a supply teacher in Québec. Yeti Mallavi (she/they) is a 2nd-year M.Ed student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests include children's popular culture, identity, and informal learning spaces, and taught ESL in Quebec and Japan for 5 years.
Facilitator Bios: Fatemeh Anvari (she/her) is an M.A.Ed. student at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, working on her thesis on Stories of Growth through Educating a Child with Down Syndrome. She is also interested in identity, cultural aspects of education, anti-racism, and children's literature. She has previously worked as an English teacher in Iran and is currently a supply teacher in Québec. Yeti Mallavi (she/they) is a 2nd-year M.Ed student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests include children's popular culture, identity, and informal learning spaces, and taught ESL in Quebec and Japan for 5 years.
