AV俱乐部

Ko'jua Okum: Meeting area.

Ko'jua Okuom: Sitting/reading area and cultural display.

To access the  from the Killam Library lobby, turn left and head into the Downie-Wenjack Legacy Space. The Ko'jua Okuom is located on the left, on the main floor.

Killam Library, Room B400 

The B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library.  We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

Location

Ko鈥檍ua Okuom

Speakers

Catherine Martin is the Director, Indigenous Community Engagement at AV俱乐部 and a member of the Millbrook First Nation, Truro, NS.  She is an independent international award winning film producer and director, a writer, facilitator, communications consultant, community activist, teacher, drummer, and the first Mi鈥檏maw filmmaker from the Atlantic region.

Rachelle McKay is a member of Little Saskachewan First Nation, Treaty 2 Territory and is the Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges at the AV俱乐部 Centre for Learning and Teaching.

Ko'jua Okuom

This session uses the AV俱乐部 School of Occupational therapy鈥檚 experience to engage in discussions about a range of ways university programs may engage in moving curricula toward decolonizing. We will ground our presentation in principles of respectful, reciprocal relationships and shared decision making with Indigenous Peoples. Presenters will be invited to share their experiences in a series of discussions related to content, pedagogy, and collaborations,  identifying where these may fit on a continuum from Indigenous inclusion to decolonizing. We will also ask what has been/would be helpful to build/grow/maintain respectful reciprocal relationships between university programs and Indigenous Peoples, communities, partners. Full group discussion will synthesize ideas for reflection, collaboration, and action.

Presenters

Brenda Beagan, PhD, is a settler of Irish and Scottish heritage, a sociologist with 24 years鈥� experience teaching in occupational therapy. (brenda.beagan@dal.ca)

Heidi Lauckner, PhD, OT Reg (NS), is a second-generation settler of German descent, an occupational therapy educator and scholar.

Niki Kiepek, PhD, LLM, OT Reg (NS), is a settler of Polish, Swedish, and Irish heritage. She is an occupational therapist and occupational scientist who has been teaching at AV俱乐部 for over 10 years.

Kaarina Valavaara, MScOT, OT Reg (NS), is a M茅tis occupational therapist with clinical and leadership experience in acute care and neurorehabilitation settings. She acts as an advocate to transform occupational therapy to promote Indigenous rights and equity.

Location

Ko鈥檍ua Okuom

Description

In this shared session, Linda Macdonald, will demonstrate how an open educational resource (OER), the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives, and a collaborative process can create meaningful student learning and community engagement. The process of creating the chapter 鈥淎cknowledging Indigenous People and Land鈥� for the Pressbooks textbook Building Relationships with Business Communication will be addressed. This chapter focuses on the purpose and meaning of a Land Acknowledgment and leads to an assignment in which students develop and present a personalized Land Acknowledgment to the class. The textbook and assignment prompt students to action toward Reconciliation. In parallel, Roger Mullin, AV俱乐部 Faculty of Architecture, reflects on collaborative research and Educational Design-Build coursework that utilized Etuaptmumk - Two-Eyed Seeing to develop and build temporary structures in high entropy environments during the North American Indigenous Games, Kjupuktuk, 2023. Working with community, faculty, students and traditional knowledge holders the structures aimed to provide safe spaces for Indigenous youth athletes from all over Turtle Island and to deepen impactful co-learning opportunities within the program at the Faculty of Architecture and Planning.

Facilitators

Dr. Linda Macdonald is a University Teaching Fellow specializing in Business Communication in the Department of Leadership and Organizations at AV俱乐部.

In 2023 Roger Mullin was a keynote speaker at Atmosphere15 LAND+, an international conference on Landscape and Architecture held at the University of Manitoba. Also, in 2023, Roger and students developed a series of tactical installations that supported youth athletes from across Turtle Island. This design-build work was in partnership with Indigenous community members and organizers of the North American Indigenous Games, Kjipuktuk / Halifax. During the winter of 2024, Roger was Visiting Professor of Architecture at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, where he coordinated a comprehensive studio that developed a passenger ferry network connecting the international airport to the capital city of Reykjavik; re-establishing cultural connections to the coastline and promoting sustainable transportation and public buildings. Roger Mullin has taught at AV俱乐部 since 2003. His awarded work has supported exhibitions, publications, fellowships, artist residencies as well as built projects in Canada, Norway and Iceland. 鈥�

Location

Killam Library, Room B400 (basement)

Description

This session is a conversation 鈥� an opportunity to share and listen. Presenters will engage participants in a discussion about the profound intersections of connection and decolonization, as a journey in their unique discipline of Child and Youth Study. They will share their approaches to teaching, learning, and living in ways that challenge traditional frameworks and center care and connection. Participants will be invited to engage in a conversation that bridges professional studies and educational practice, fostering a deeper understanding of how relational, caring approaches can transform educational landscapes. Presenters aim to reflect critically on their journeys, the challenges they are navigating, and the questions that continue to guide them in this ongoing process.

Presenters

Dr. Theunissen holds a PhD in International Development Studies. Shane is particularly interested in concepts of epistemology and ontology and enjoys teaching and learning about research methodologies. His interest in this subject area, and concurrent graduate work on Indigenous education, stem from his childhood and education in South Africa, and a six year teaching tenure in an isolated, fly-in, aboriginal community, where he initiated and implemented an Environmental Education program as a response to the acculturating influences of standardized curricula within the community-school鈥檚 classrooms.

Taylor Hansen is a mother to two young children who has worked directly with young people in a variety of capacities and contexts for over 20 years. Her professional work is driven by a desire to support others in relating to all children as complete people worthy of dignity and respect. Currently, she is a Lecturer in the Department of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University and in this role aims to create learning spaces with students that prioritize care and connection, and challenge colonial norms.

Location

Ko鈥檍ua Okuom

Description

This session will provide an overview of the collaborative work being done by the Kinu Tourism Project team and key Indigenous partners. The Kinu Tourism Project is based in the ancestral and unceded territory of Mi'kmaw people. The work is guided by an Indigenous, Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i-wide advisory committee. Kinu strives to create a sustainable Indigenous tourism student cohort and to ensure that the Tourism and Hospitality Management Program (THMT) at MSVU is Indigenous-informed. The project is underpinned by a dedication to help to grow the Indigenous tourism sector of Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i. Preserving Indigenous culture, traditions, and language are central to the work of the Kinu Project. As a result, all tourism students who graduate from THMT at MSVU will learn the true history of Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i, Turtle Island, and beyond. A few of the elements covered during this co-presented session are listed below.

• Application of Etuaptmunk (Two-Eyed Seeing) to create an Indigenous-informed MSVU Tourism and Hospitality Management Program.
• Creating a sustainable Indigenous Student Cohort
• Building and maintaining relationships with Indigenous Partners 

Presenters

Robert Bernard is the Executive Director for the Nova Scotia Indigenous Tourism Enterprise Network (N鈥橲ITE鈥橬), a not for profit organization incorporated in 2017 to help advance Indigenous tourism in Nova Scotia. More specifically NSITEN was developed to help strengthen Mi鈥檏maw cultural tourism approaches through the recognition, promotion and development of Mi鈥檏maw business owners, artists & high end crafters as well as providing cross cultural awareness opportunities for the tourism industry players. Mr. Bernard is a current board member for Destination Cape Breton (DCB), Cape Breton University鈥檚 World Tourism Institute (WTI), Sea Wall Trail BOD and was recently appointed to Inspiring Communities, a Provincial non-profit community development organization. He also recently sat on the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia from 2017-2022 and Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council (CNSLC) from 2017-2020. Mr. Bernard is one of the founding members of the NSITEN organization as well as a previous Indigenous Tourism Coordinator for the Atlantic Region and past Chairperson for the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada from 2016- 2017. He continues to find opportunities to get involved in many levels of tourism development at a community, regional, provincial and national basis. For his entire life he has lived in beautiful We鈥檏oqma鈥檘 (Way-go-qm-ahg) Mi鈥檏maw Nation in the traditional territory of Unam鈥檃ki (Oo-nah-mah-gee), Cape Breton and owns an Indigenous consulting firm called 鈥淚ndigenous Guide Consulting Services鈥�. He is married to his highschool sweetheart and beautiful wife Kelly and has four daughters (Jordynn, Kaylyn, Kassidy & Karmin), all business owners and two beautiful grandchildren, Rory & Zenaida, with another on the way!

Jennifer Guy, RD, M.Ed., Ph.D. (candidate) Assistant Professor, Tourism and Hospitality Management Program, Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) - Jennifer is an Assistant Professor who specializes in health regulations, food and beverage, cultural tourism and education. Jennifer spent two years working as a lab instructor in Vincent鈥檚 kitchen. Prior to joining the Department of Business Administration and Tourism and Hospitality, Jennifer taught part-time in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition and worked in the food and nutrition industry nationally and internationally. Jennifer has taught in China. Jennifer is a two-time graduate from the Mount Saint Vincent University, first graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Human Nutrition (2000) with internship and subsequently graduating with a Master of Education in Studies in Lifelong learning (2010). Jennifer is enrolled in the Nova Scotia Inter-University Doctoral Program. Jennifer has worked as a SSHRC Research Assistant. Her doctoral work received a 20,000-dollar SSHRC award. Currently, Jennifer is the Kinu Tourism Project co-lead which is a 1.9 million Sectorial Initiative Grant funded initiative aiming to grow the Indigenous Tourism sector through creation of a sustainable Indigenous student cohort and Indigenous-informed Tourism and Hospitality Management Program. Jennifer enjoys traveling as well as being active and outdoors. She lives in Kjipuktuk (Halifax) with her extremely supportive husband, Nathan, with whom she has four children: Jacob, Tori, Isabel and Ethan.

Intended to foster dialogue, encourage collaboration, and support relationship building among Forum participants, the Curiosity and Connection Space is an opportunity to connect with Forum participants, explore curiosities, and share about your work and/or interest in supporting or engaging in anti-colonial teaching and learning.

The suggested prompt to help guide discussion is: In Styres and Kempf鈥檚 (2022) analysis, 鈥渢he colonial is thus multifaceted, complex, and multidimensional鈥攐perating across space and time. So too, it should be noted, is resistance to settler colonialism, or what we may term anticolonialism.鈥� (149)

What forms might anti-colonialism take in your specific teaching & learning context?

Location

Online via Microsoft Teams

Description

Merging her background in community-based eco-cultural interpretation, oral storytelling and teaching previous Indigenous Studies courses at AV俱乐部, shalan coordinated the first Land-Based Indigenous Studies course for AV俱乐部 in August 2024. Together with the course Teaching Assistant Diane Obed, Elder Frank Meuse, and community cultural knowledge-holders, the course primarily took place at a retreat camp in Kespukwitk (southern NS). Land-based topics and activities ranged from spruce root digging and tea harvesting, to mindfulness; with group discussions and reflection time connecting to the eco-cultural political complexities of nature conservation, Etuaptmumk (two-eyed seeing), and our personal relationships to knowledge of and research of land. Join shalan in hearing the stories from that course, reviewing some of the challenges and successes in facilitating an Indigenous-led, land-based course through the university structure.

Presenter

shalan joudry is storyteller working in many mediums. She is a poet, playwright, podcast producer, oral storyteller, actor, filmmaker, as well as a cultural interpreter. For over two decades shalan has brought her eco-cultural stories to a new generation of listeners. She is L'nu (Mi'kmaw), a member of Bear River First Nation, Nova Scotia, with mixed settler heritage.

Location

Ko鈥檍ua Okuom

Description

Designing a course on inclusive computing is an evolving process that requires reflection, unlearning, action, and adaptability. It is not a 鈥渙ne and done鈥� activity but an iterative journey that begins with understanding the identities and unique needs of students in each cohort and adapting teaching practices to foster belonging and equity.

This session explores the process of bridging ideals with practice, with a focus on decolonizing curriculum, fostering belonging, and embedding well-being in education. Key themes include putting people first, incorporating student-centric ideas across courses, and translating reflections into actionable strategies for inclusive teaching.

Insights include lessons learned from updating teaching practices through a decolonization lens, the development of the READI Recommendations, and experiences designing a course on Inclusive Computing. My hope is that attendees leave with practical strategies and reflections to inspire their own journeys in creating inclusive, responsive, and student-centered learning environments.

Presenter

Dr. Raghav V. Sampangi (he/him) is currently based in K'jipuktuk (Halifax) within the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq. He is a Senior Instructor at the Faculty of Computer Science and a Faculty Associate at the AV俱乐部 Centre for Learning and Teaching at AV俱乐部. His interests include topics in teaching and learning including well-being and belonging, and aspects of usable security and privacy in web/mobile computing. He is a 3C (Cultural Competence in Computing) Fellow at Duke University. Raghav is deeply invested in fostering a supportive learning environment, particularly through initiatives that emphasize curiosity, critical thinking, and resilience. He actively collaborates with colleagues on innovative educational practices, including the integration of principles within computer science curricula that promote belonging. With certification in Mental Health First Aid from the Mental Health Commission of Canada and experience in well-being initiatives, Raghav actively contributes to campus mental health and well-being efforts, such as through serving on the steering group of AV俱乐部鈥檚 Be Well Campus Well-Being initiative, supporting mental health within academic communities.

In his teaching, he incorporates supports, such as the Life Happens clause, that empower students to take charge of their well-being. His pedagogical approach intertwines computing education with well-being, aiming to prepare students for both professional success and personal growth.

Location

TBD

Description

A few years ago, Joy Galloway-Jones decided to design a course for faculty of Agriculture that provided a platform and space for Mi鈥檏maw people to teach their culture, their ways of knowing, and knowledges. From this thought process, AGRI 2002 鈥� Mi鈥檏maw Natural Resources was born.  As this term is the first offering of this course, the learning curve is steep and challenging, but well worth the effort as she is learning as much or more than the students enrolled. In this brief session, Joy will share her thought process of creating the course and her experiences of teaching the course with the Forum participants.

Presenter

Joy Galloway-Jones has been actively involved with the Faculty of Agriculture since 2009 through a variety of roles, becoming a full-time instructor in 2019. She holds a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Life Science, Secondary Education, a Master鈥檚 in Education, and a Certificate in Adult Education as well as the Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning. She is a passionate ally, coached the 2023 Team Mi鈥檏maw NS Athletics Team for the North American Indigenous Games, and worked as a consultant for the Indigenous Fire Marshals Office designing educational programs to help lower the incidence of fatal fires in communities.

Location

Online via Microsoft Teams

Description

This workshop is offered for faculty who would like to examine decolonial principles and frameworks to explore their application within the context of their teaching. During the session, faculty will be invited to critically review their curricula and pedagogies through a decolonial lens, exploring how education鈥檚 colonial foundations currently influence higher education鈥檚 teaching and learning culture. This fosters an initiation into (re)designing pedagogies based on decolonial principles and practices. This session is not intended to provide a prescribed checklist of 鈥渢hings to do鈥� for decolonization in curricula or pedagogies; nor will it entail simply 鈥渋ncorporating鈥� Indigenous knowledge into your classes, as decolonization invites educators into deepened dialogues and processes of unlearning colonial patterns of sensing, relating, and imagining that requires ongoing consistent practice, re-learning, and commitment. This session will draw heavily from the freely available online workbook: (2021) by Stein et al.

Presenter

Diane Obed is an Inuk woman mixed with white settler ancestry originally from Arvetok (place of bowhead whales), Nunatsiavut, colonially known as Hopedale, Labrador. She is a mother, writer, and scholar currently living and studying in Kaqpese鈥檏aqnk (smelt fishing place), along the northern shore of Piktuk, Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i, colonially known as Nova Scotia. As part of her doctoral research in the Educational Foundations PhD program at Mount Saint Vincent University she is exploring the intersections between Indigenous land education and contemplative ecological studies to draw on ancient wisdom needed for modern day psycho-social issues such as cultivating inner resources to be able to face and engage in learning and dialogue about the current climate crisis. Diane recently co-taught the Indigenous Knowledges and Curriculum 5212 course in-person in MSVU鈥檚 B.Ed. program and the Indigenous Knowledges online graduate course at Viridis Graduate Institute, an institute for Ecopsychology and Environmental Humanities.

Location

Killam Library, Room B400

Description

Circle Discussion

• No virtual participation
• Limited to 10 participants.  A link to register for this event will be sent to participants separately. 
• Designed for those new to or unfamiliar with Indigenous-facilitated circle discussions & circle protocols (beginner friendly!)
• Smudging will be taking place during this session & might impact individuals with smoke and/or scent sensitivities

Join facilitator Kim Lickers and a small group of Forum participants in a circle discussion focused on anti-colonial course design and enhancing student support through an Indigenous lens. By sharing experiences and challenges, the aim of the circle is for participants to become familiar with Indigenous circle-discussion pedagogy and identify practical approaches for challenging colonial structures in education and promoting wholistic, student-centered learning that reflects Indigenous values of community, respect, and reciprocity.

Facilitator

She:kon my name is Kim Lickers, Seneca K from Six Nations in Ontario. My father is Dr. Henry Lickers, Seneca Indigenous scientist and my mother is Bev Lickers. I have two younger brothers and 3 wonderful nieces. My current role at AV俱乐部 is as the Medical Sciences Indigenous Cohort Advisor and I support Indigenous students in the Medical Sciences program. I'm also an instructor in the AV俱乐部 Indigenous Studies Program. I look forward to meeting you. Nia:wen

Intended to foster dialogue, encourage collaboration, and support relationship building among Forum participants, the Curiosity and Connection Space is an opportunity to connect with Forum participants, explore curiosities, and share about your work and/or interest in supporting or engaging in anti-colonial teaching and learning. The suggested prompt to help guide discussion is:

How can we sustain the momentum of anti-colonial practices and ensure ongoing collaboration and connection after this event concludes?