Course Description
This course looks critically at how places and people are come to be labelled as indigenous and how this labelling is tied to political, social, economic and environmental systems that shape the spaces in which we all live. Furthermore, this course asks how spaces and places can be indigenized and what this means for social relations. We will study these processes at multiple scales — from international solidarity networks to nationalist claims on territory to an individual's sense of belonging. We will examine a wide range of topics related to these processes such as the geographies of education, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, resource conflicts, media representations, identity formation and well-being. While we will be focusing on indigenizing geographies within the context of Canada as a settler nation, we will also engage with how indigenous geographies shape and are shaped by nationalisms in other parts of the world. As part of this course, students may have the option of participating in an international learning experience that will have an additional cost and application process. This course fulfills one to five field day(s) (to be adjusted according to student activity).
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Lecture hours: 24
Tutorial hours: 12
Prerequisite: 9.0
Recommended Preparation: GGR111H5 and GGR210H5
Core Skills Developed
- understanding of Indigenous identities (for both people and places) as contemporary, relational and dynamic
- research and communication, including critical reading, effective writing and interpersonal communication