Residential Schools - Enactment, Responses and Calls to Action

This course will explore the impacts of Residential Schools in Canada and how they shaped the current realities for many Indigenous communities and people (First Nations, Métis and Inuit); the role of Christian Churches in these schools; and the path(s) to relationship-building and “reconciliation”, as offered in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report. The goals of the course include: (1) introducing the ideology in developing residential schools and their relationship with colonization; (2) introducing the resources available that address the TRC; and (3) reflecting on strategies that encourage stable and trusting relationships with Indigenous communities. The course will examine the Calls to Action (CTA) (58-61), specifically focusing on CTA 59 and 60. This course will meet the requirement for the Designated Elective: Coloniality and Power. A variety of methods will be used to engage the course material: lectures, readings, film, guest lectures, and field tripsand/or participation in Indigenous community events (e.g. Indigenous Education Week at U of T). Evaluation will be implemented through a research paper on the TRC, class participation, online discussion boardsand/or journalsand an annotated bibliography.