| Title | International Indigenous Experiences of Colonization |
|---|---|
| Faculty/College/Unit | Medicine |
| Status | Completed |
| Duration | 2 Year |
| Initiation | 04/01/2007 |
| Completion | 03/31/2010 |
| Funding Details | |
| Year 1: Project Title | Is the Past Present? International Comparative Indigenous Experiences of Colonization |
| Year 1: Project Year | Year 1 |
| Year 1: Funding Year | 2007/2008 |
| Year 1: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 1: Principal Investigator | Leah May Walker |
| Year 1: Funded Amount | 44,204 |
| Year 1: Team Members | Leah May Walker, Associate Director, Aboriginal People's Health, Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine |
| Year 1: Summary | To develop an international, cross-institutional, university-credited course which provides students with the opportunity for comparative inquiry of Indigenous experiences of colonization and its manifestations in the current socio-cultural environment. Through the use of digital interactive technology, students will interact with colleagues from across the globe. The course will be informed and guided by a body of Indigenous knowledge and will draw upon a range of disciplines such as Public Health, History, Sociology and Public Policy. The proposed project will build upon and complement work undertaken at The University of Melbourne, where students, placed into 1860s Victorian Australia, re-create the mission experience. Based on the UBC "Ancient Spaces" virtual environment (funded through two previous TLEF cycles in 2004 and 2005) the role play seeks to immerse students into the early 1900s British Columbia and to participate in three-dimensional reconstructions of residential schools as experienced by Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. |
| Year 2: Project Year | Year 2 |
| Year 2: Funding Year | 2009/2010 |
| Year 2: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 2: Principal Investigator | Leah May Walker |
| Year 2: Funded Amount | 46,504 |
| Year 2: Team Members | Leah May Walker, Associate Director, Aboriginal People's Health, Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine |
| Year 2: Summary | To advance the "serious gaming" component of an international, cross-institutional, university-credited course which provides students the opportunity for comparative inquiry of Indigenous experiences of colonization and its manifestations in the current socio-cultural environment. Through the use of digital interactive technology, health sciences students will interact with colleagues from across the globe as the interprofessional course pilots in January 2009. The course has been informed and guided by a body of Indigenous knowledge and draws upon a range of disciplines such as Public Health, History, Sociology and Public Policy. The proposed project will build upon technology created for the pilot course, including 3D computer generated models of a residential school and immersive role plays created with flash technology. We are planning a more sophisticated role playing environment that will further integrate the models with an existing multi-user 3D engine where students can interact with each other as virtual characters. Students from the University of Melbourne and UBC can create their own scenarios in the environment which can be recorded and played back. They will then be able to critically analyze their experiences. |