Cohort July 2023: Faculty of Arts – Kasim Husain, Evan Mauro, Nick Toney, Tashiya Mathuin
Project background
This proposal seeks funding for student and faculty partners to collaborate on Indigenizing Arts Studies (ASTU) 100, the cornerstone course in the Coordinated Arts Program (CAP). CAP is a gateway program that introduces students to different Arts degree pathways and comprises five cohorts of approx. 100 students each organized by theme (e.g. Media Studies, Law & Society, etc.). Split into seminars of 20-25, in ASTU 100 students learn to use peer-reviewed scholarly writing to analyze literary and cultural texts. ASTU 100 syllabi vary depending on stream focus and faculty expertise, but all sections have shared learning outcomes.
Project details
In 2022, co-facilitated by Drs. Husain and Mauro, CAP began the process of implementing UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP). As part of this work, CAP faculty identified Indigenizing ASTU 100’s curriculum as a priority and noted the need to include Indigenous students in this process to ensure that their perspectives shaped any revisioning.
Due to the impending shift to Workday Student, which cannot accommodate six-credit courses like ASTU 100, CAP currently plans to split the course into two single-term, three-credit courses. ASTU 100 will be the first-term course focused on academic writing and research methods, while second-term course ASTU 101 will focus on applying the research methods learned in ASTU 100 to an original research project.
Our partnership will give Indigenous students a pivotal role in creating the new curricula of ASTU 100 and 101. We want these new courses not only to align with Workday, but also meet the ISP goal of Indigenizing these courses’ curriculum, and further align ASTU 100/101 with the goals of the new “Place and Power” breadth requirement in the Faculty of Arts.
Student and faculty partners will collaborate on two areas to meet this overall goal.
Researching Indigenous student experiences of ASTU 100 by:
- Analyzing recent survey data collected by CAP on student experiences to find historical evidence of Indigenous student experience in ASTU 100.
- Conducting focus groups, surveys, and/or other methods (TBD in initial partnership meetings) with in-program students and alumni who self-identify as Indigenous.
Developing best practices for Indigenizing ASTU 100/101 curriculum by:
- Evaluating recent syllabi, content and assessments that are informed by Indigenous ways of knowing and decolonial pedagogy, for the purpose of developing shared course learning outcomes.
- Researching examples of Indigenized course curricula in arts programs at other universities.
- Assessing and expanding an existing departmental list of resources for Indigenized teaching.
We anticipate at least three outcomes from this work:
- A shared set of learning outcomes for ASTU 100 & 101 that reflects best practices for Indigenized teaching and learning.
- A guide to sample assignments and content that can be shared with returning and new faculty teaching the redesigned ASTU 100/101 for use in adjusting or creating syllabi.
- A process document and set of guidelines that details our work that can inform similar work in other Gateway programs in First-Year and Interdisciplinary Programs (FYIP) at UBC.”
Testimonials
Working in a partnership with faculty has been a fascinating exercise in reciprocity so far. Undergrad is typically characterized by a pretty rigid Prof-TA-student hierarchy, so the equal footing of partnership feels much more professional and teamwork-oriented. We’re all working towards the same goal together and because of that we’re all holding space for each other and really hearing each other. Brainstorming feels more like a conversation than an exercise in delegating tasks or splitting workload. I am really grateful for our team and for this experience.
— Nick Toney
As a response to the Coordinated Arts Program’s implementation of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, our partnership with Indigenous program alumni aspires to make good on the ISP’s commitment to outcomes that are “”reciprocal, community-led, legitimize Indigenous ways of knowing and promote Indigenous peoples’ self-determination.” What reciprocity has looked like in practice for us includes: meeting every two weeks, allowing student and faculty partners to build rapport, student partners feeling empowered to set goals and change the direction of our work, speaking up in meetings with Indigenous institutions on campus as we plan outreach with undergraduate students, and more. As a faculty partner, I know that the changes we as partners are recommending to Indigenize our core course’s learning outcomes is one way this partnership will affect my teaching practice; the other way is the invaluable experience of working collaboratively with student partners, which is already altering how I think about what’s possible in the classroom.
— Kasim Husain