Writing inspired by Human Library Pedagogy

Reflections on Representations of Indigeneity

Abstract

In 2016, the University of Winnipeg implemented an Indigenous course requirement (ICR) that all students need to fulfill to be able to graduate. During their degree program, they can choose any approved ICR course to fulfill this requirement. Most departments offer at least one course that has the ICR designation. I developed a course called Representations of Indigeneity in the department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications and have facilitated this course since then using a human library method, where we learn from real live humans that are knowledgeable about the topic. We look at a variety of themes, such as Indigenous representations in politics, business, music, art, media, land based learning, food, and research methods. To address these various topics, we had speakers into the classroom or went on fieldtrips in the area to learn more about the topic.

One of the assignments in the class was for students to respond to the speakers and fieldtrips in their reflection journals where they were encouraged to be creative in their responses. This article is a collection of student responses about their interactions with the guest speakers, the fieldtrips we went on, and the class discussions we had.