Faculty of Education Archives - Global Engagement

From research to rights: 91��ɫ project supports self-determination in Central America, Caribbean

amaav — Sat, 17 May 2025 00:58:00 +0000

By Alex Huls

A research initiative led by 91��ɫ is building lasting partnerships and resources to support community-driven autonomy strategies across Central America and the Caribbean.

In 2024, Prilly Bicknell-Hersco sat on the shaded porch of a house on Colombia’s San Andrés Archipelago, surrounded by seven Raizal women, an Afro-Caribbean ethnic group native to the region.

A PhD student in the��Faculty of Education, Bicknell-Hersco was there as the senior research assistant for a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)-funded project led by��Miguel González, professor in 91��ɫ’s Department of Social Science,��Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
The project – titled “Emancipatory Horizons for Self-Determination of Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples in Central America” – is focused on exploring the different forms of autonomous self-governance systems developed by these communities to assert their rights, while strengthening their autonomy strategies and legal capacities throughout the region.

While Bicknell-Hersco was on that porch in her capacity as a researcher, there were no surveys or structured interviews. Just a circle of women – all mothers – talking about their hopes for their children, including maintaining their cultural identity and self-determination.

The coast of San Andrés Island, within the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina

For her, it was a powerful reminder of how the project differs from conventional research – both in intention, method and planned outcome. “That was very memorable for me: to not just read about a community or assume what I think of a community, but to sit down on their porch and talk,” she says.

That emphasis on collaborative, respectful engagement has shaped the initiative from its outset. The research builds on work González and his team began in 2021 with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS). At the OAS’s request, the 91��ɫ team coordinated with regional consultations to support a thematic report on the right to self-determination for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the western hemisphere. Through consultations with several organizations across Central America and the Caribbean, they heard a consistent message about research projects that involved the communities.

“They told us that they didn't want to see universities or researchers just showing up for research or consultations, but they wanted to see something being done – something concrete, something tangible,” says González.

In response, González and his collaborators co-designed “Emancipatory Horizons.”

Its research goal was to examine how communities assert territorial rights, preserve languages, maintain governance systems and mobilize international law. It would pursue that goal by involving and benefiting the involved communities, focusing on three case study regions – the Brunca and Bribri Peoples of Costa Rica, the Guna Peoples of Panama and the Raizal Peoples of Colombia.

González and his team established three priorities for the project to focus on: self-governance; territorial and maritime tenure rights; and legal capacity building.

González, Bicknell-Hersco and their team advanced the project in collaboration with those groups and more than a dozen Indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations. “We wanted to make sure that the research question, the ideas, the actions of the project, gain the input of these communities and their aspirations,” González says.

Drawing from what community leaders shared while González worked on the OAS report, a key part of “Emancipatory Horizons” includes the development of lasting community resources.

A cornerstone of the initiative is the creation of an Indigenous Data Repository (IDR), which will hold maps, governance documents, demographic data and cultural records – all accessible to participating communities. Another key component is a series of legal training workshops developed in partnership with community organizations. These sessions are designed to support advocacy in national courts and international human rights forums.

“We want to give them the tools to use even after this project is done,” says Bicknell-Hersco.

From left to right, at the recent CALACS conference: project collaborator Anexa Cunningham, co-investigator Ana Isabel, Miguel González, Prilly Bicknell-Hersco and co-investigator Ritsuko Funako.

González and Bicknell-Hersco recently highlighted the project’s methodologies, early outcomes and community engagement strategies at the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS), hosted at 91��ɫ. The presentation emphasized the participatory methods and contextual realities at the heart of "Emancipatory Horizons," as well as the knowledge gained during consultations across the region.

Raising awareness of the project and its ambitions has become more urgent as, González notes, threats to democratic freedoms and land rights are growing across Central America and the Caribbean. In this volatile context, the project’s commitment to ethical, community-driven research is more than academic – it’s a vital act of solidarity and empowerment.

Looking ahead, the research team hopes to equip Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities with the tools and knowledge to claim their rights and safeguard their futures long after the project ends. By building accessible data repositories, delivering legal training and fostering regional collaboration, the project's goal is to turn knowledge into real political power. Centering community voices and lived experiences, this initiative challenges traditional research models and redefines what supporting self-determination means in practice.

Originally published in YFile.

The post From research to rights: 91��ɫ project supports self-determination in Central America, Caribbean appeared first on Global Engagement.

Las Nubes trip inspires 91��ɫ U’s future educators��

amaav — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:42:00 +0000

Maya and Nayha Gill are budding teachers and are already planning how they will shape their future classrooms.

The identical twins may be a few years away from leading a classroom, but on a recent trip to Las Nubes, 91��ɫ’s EcoCampus in Costa Rica that stresses care of the environment and sustainability, they began to imagine future classrooms. The trip to the campus was life-changing for the third-year educational studies students who will begin the Bachelor of Education teaching certification program upon completion of their undergraduate degree program.

In Costa Rica, the sisters stayed with a family who made a major impact. “Marianella, our homestay mom, the absolute best woman I've ever met in my life. She loved us like family,” says Nayha. They visited local classrooms, hiked the forest, painted Indigenous masks and baked cookies at a women’s co-operative bakery, all activities that stress education as a process of self-understanding, gathering resolve and forging deep respectful connections in the world, aligning with the vision of Las Nubes EcoCampus. ��

Sisters Maya and Nayha with Marianella

“It's an experience of a lifetime,” says Maya. “Hands-on activities resonate with you. You retain so much more … (The trip) added to our own personal pedagogies, the way we would be teaching. We will definitely be integrating hands-on activities, field trips, experiential learning. We have seen first-hand that you just remember everything so clearly.”

The Gill twins – nicknamed Los Gemelos by their homestay family, the Spanish word for twins – were students of Steve Alsop, a professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education. Alsop taught Education for a Sustainable Future in the summer at the Las Nubes EcoCampus. Unusually, the classes he leads there have a mix of undergraduate and graduate students (master’s and doctorate students) from many disciplines. The classes focus on: ecology and sustainability themes; feeling powers of local ecology and community and practicing reciprocity; respect and gratitude in learning environments set within farms, forests, mountains, schools, women’s co-operatives; and Indigenous communities.

“I have had the privilege of teaching there for the last few years. In summer courses, I go down there, and a group of students come and join me. We work together in a series of activities and thoughts and readings on place and land-based education,” Alsop says. “It's a beautiful, energizing and rewarding experience.”

He explains that at a time of great awareness of climate change, biodiversity breakdown and increasing social inequality, people are seeking ways to respond to and support one another. His Las Nubes courses offer that in a beautiful setting, celebrating ways in which all life is related and the responsibility to understand and support each other in life journeys. The setting and lessons offer “a clear advocacy agenda,” he says.

“It's quite a moving and humbling experience. At the end of the course, students come to me and say it was a profound and motivating experience. And often they say, it's a special life experience. It's really a moment of transformation.”

Nana Adu-Poku, a second-year PhD candidate in the class, felt that transformation.

“Dr. Alsop curated a great environment. We could feel the connections he had with the people in the town, the staff at Las Nubes,” says Adu-Poku. “He put thought into where he was taking us and what he wanted us to take away from it, the text he selected for us to analyze each day. It all connected to what we were doing. I appreciated that he took the time to make it a meaningful experience.”

Adu-Poku also stayed with a family – learning a little Spanish from watching Blue’s Clues with the family’s children – and took part in the field trips and cultural activities, including making chocolate at an organic cocoa farm.

The day and night hikes remain a particularly vivid memory for him.

“The hikes were really fun because it's like we got to see the same forest, but it was different from day to night. We saw different wildlife, and the views were different too,” Adu-Poku says. “There was a point in the night hike where we turned off all our phones, turned off all the flashlights, and just stood in the darkness. It was slightly terrifying, but at the same time, it was an experience to remember … Growing up where I grew up (Jane and Finch) that's not really something I was normally exposed to.”

Students and educators at the Las Nubes EcoCampus.

Plants used to tie dye during an activity at the Las Nubes EcoCampus.

91��ɫ students with local children from Santa Elena Public School.

All three students commented on the local community’s awareness of and care for the environment. The twins recalled walking with some children who picked up litter they saw along the way and put it in a garbage can without being asked to.

“What was really interesting was how conscious they were of the environment. Environmental studies is mandatory in their lessons so it's very normalized and near and dear to their hearts,” says Nayha.

Adu-Poku noticed how local perceptions of sustainability differed from a North American view. “In different parts of the world, different things are valued. A lot of that community is engaged with efforts to sustain the environment and the forest.”

Alsop emphasizes the importance of the students’ full experience in providing a comprehensive understanding of ecological conservation and community revitalization and our need to move beyond familiar doomism and techno-fixes (often central to reduce-reuse-recycle approaches.)

“I think the students really begin to understand and value those words differently: education; sustainability; future. They suddenly find themselves thinking, appraising and questioning Western modernity and associated assumptions. They find themselves reflecting on their own life, regarding what they know, need to know, what they desire and how they can contribute,” he says.

“And all of that, for me, are values which open and reframe education, sustainability and the future in potentially more generous and generative ways.”

With files from Julie Carl

Originally published in YFile.

The post Las Nubes trip inspires 91��ɫ U’s future educators�� appeared first on Global Engagement.

President Rhonda Lenton welcomes international students to 91��ɫ

amaav — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 15:41:00 +0000

By Gloria Suhasini

New and returning students enjoy a meet and greet with the University president, foreign diplomats and peers

“From the very first day I stepped on the 91��ɫ campus, what I found most appealing was the mix of students from all over the world! This led to new friendships and connections which continue to make my university experience even more rewarding.” said Damor McQueen, a fourth-year political science student from Jamaica, speaking at the President’s International Student Reception on September 25.

The Student Success Mentor Lead in the Black Excellence at 91��ɫ program urged his peers to build new connections and get involved in academic and extracurricular activities to make the be best of “this once in a lifetime opportunity being presented to you.” He cited his own experience volunteering last year at the��Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences��hosted by 91��ɫ that led to his current work/study student opportunity.��

President Rhonda Lenton with recipients of the President’s International Scholarship of Excellence, awarded to high school applicants around the world, who are entering their first year of a four-year undergraduate degree at the university

91��ɫ continues to attract students like McQueen from around the world, who join the community with great enthusiasm to receive worldclass education — often work-integrated — in their chosen field, be that in the arts, science, technology or engineering.

To make high quality university education accessible, 91��ɫ offers several . One such scholarship is the President’s International Scholarship of Excellence, awarded to high school applicants around the world, who are entering their first year of a four-year undergraduate degree at the university. Another scholarship popular among international students is the Tentanda Via Award. Named after 91��ɫ’s motto “The Way Must Be Tried,” it assists undergraduate students who have demonstrated resilience in overcoming significant personal barriers in the pursuit of a university education and progressive changemakers committed to sustainable development.

Other scholarships available for international students include Daughters for Life, the Global Leader of Tomorrow Award, and Mitacs Internships and Awards. Several��attended the president's reception. For additional information, students are encouraged to visit 91��ɫ’s��Global Engagement��ɱ��ٱ�.

“While it is our intention to support you in your academic journey, you also bring a wealth of insights and strengths to 91��ɫ," President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton told the student audiences. “We are thrilled that you chose us, and we look forward to what we will accomplish together. Please remember that nothing is more important than your well-being and health and we have many student services to support you.”

The event organized by was also attended by China’s Education Counsels Renzhu Li and Wenjin Han; India’s Consul (Commerce & Political) Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh; and the Philippine Deputy Consul General Kerwin Orville Tate and Consul Rodney Jonas Sumague.

These diplomatic representatives to Canada were not only present to celebrate their respective country’s highly talented students, but also to assure support in their new country of temporary residence. “We wish them the very best in their courses of study,” said Singh. “The Indian Consulate remains at disposal for welfare and well-being of all Indian international students in Canada.”

Philippine Deputy Consul General Kerwin Orville Tate, second from left, and Consul Rodney Jonas Sumague, right, were among the foreign diplomats in attendance

Diplomats were also on hand to speak to the students during the networking hour, a rare opportunity for these outstanding future leaders of the world.

By the end of the event, it was evident that many students had forged enriching new friendships that could last a lifetime, while advancing their education and career aspirations.

Originally published in News@91��ɫ.

The post President Rhonda Lenton welcomes international students to 91��ɫ appeared first on Global Engagement.

Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, diplomats meet 91��ɫ U leadership and researchers

amaav — Tue, 21 May 2024 19:19:00 +0000

Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo (centre), and his country’s top diplomats to Canada, met with Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps (to his right) and other leadership members and researchers during his visit to 91��ɫ before heading back to the Philippines, May 10.

Manalo noted academic connections between 91��ɫ and Philippine educational and government institutions that strengthen bilateral relations

91��ɫ and the Philippines have developed a deep-rooted relationship that’s “mutually beneficial,” the Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo said during his visit to the University’s Keele campus on Friday, May 10, 2024.

Manalo stopped by 91��ɫ on the last day of his Canadian trip, to meet with members of 91��ɫ’s leadership and faculty researchers with a strong interest in the Philippines and its diaspora. He was accompanied by the country’s top diplomats to Canada, including Ambassador Maria Andrelita Austria; Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga, Office of American Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs; and Toronto Consul General Angelica Escalona.

Coinciding with the Asian Heritage Month events held at 91��ɫ, the meeting was facilitated by 91��ɫ International’s Helen Balderama, director of global engagement and partnership.

“Academic linkages facilitate cooperation that strengthens the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Canada,” Manalo told the attendees, including academics who are part of the Philippine Studies Group (PSG) at 91��ɫ Centre for Asian Research.

“We note the active engagements between 91��ɫ and Philippine educational and government institutions,” said Manalo, highlighting his country’s appreciation for PSG’s research programs and projects, conducted with funding support from the Philippines government.

“91��ɫ is committed to further developing strategic partnerships in the Philippines and the Filipino community in Canada that are multi-layered and multi-disciplinary,” Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps said. Philipps noted that her recent visit to the Philippines, as part of the Universities Canada Partnership Mission, offered an insight into the opportunities available for research collaborations and partnerships.

From left: Ambassador Maria Andrelita Austria; Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo; and Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga, Office of American Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs

In fact, the discussions Philipps had with government officials around 91��ɫ’s leadership in disaster and emergency management (DEM) research led to Professors and visiting the Pacific nation – ranked among the most disaster-prone countries in the world — with its Civil Defense Training Institute.

Kennedy and Asgary, who are the associate directors of 91��ɫ Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, & Governance Institute, shared their experience interacting with researchers at the University of the Philippines as well as visiting active volcano sites during their recent visit to the Pacific nation.

Kennedy said the Philippines Office of Civil Defense personnel have been invited to 91��ɫ for training and collaboration, as well as to explore experiential education opportunities for students in DEM programs, including internships and placements in the Philippines.

Dance Professor who had accompanied Philipps on the trip, highlighted his positive experience engaging in partnership meetings to launch the course, “Philippine Folk Dance and Culture.” He said nearly a dozen students have enrolled in his innovative that begins later this month in the Philippines. The course is offered by 91��ɫ’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design in partnership with the University of the Philippines and other Philippine institutions. Alcedo said the course will be a window into the rich culture and traditions of the Philippines through immersive experience and will be offered to external participants in the future.

Visual art and art history Professor said her upcoming book, funded by the PSG, will be first of its kind on Filipino Canadian contemporary art published in Canada. The book, currently in manuscript stage, examines the practices and oral histories of four Filipino Canadian visual artists and their decolonial diaspora esthetics, while analyzing what it means to be a diasporic person amid a Eurocentric society.

Equity studies Professor , whose research focus includes post-disaster recovery, climate change adaptation and climate change-induced mobility in the Philippines and the Filipino community in Canada, was among the researchers present at the meeting. She told the group that more than $500,000 of a new grant for an international research study in Africa and Asia will be allocated to research in the Philippines. Su, who is a co-principal investigator on the grant noted that the fund will be used to hire researchers, invest in local communities and build capacity for research and climate change adaptation.

Professor , interim dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change who is credited with establishing 91��ɫ’s earliest research partnership with the Philippines, in 2007, highlighted that a large number of 91��ɫ students are drawn from recent immigrant communities, including the Filipino community, which is also one of the fastest growing diasporas in the country. He said 91��ɫ also has attracted many faculty members of Philippine origin and that led to the creation of the PSG at 91��ɫ.

Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo of the Philippines, second left, Ambassador Maria Andrelita Austria, left, and other members of the the Philippine delegation listen to Professor Philip Kelley, right, interim dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, as he highlights some of the work by 91��ɫ’s Philippine Studies Group.

Kelly offered an overview of the group’s work, highlighting current projects of a few Philippine researchers – both faculty and students— fostering cultural understanding through the arts and humanities. He noted that the research spans disciplines across the University, including history Professor��’s research on the commonalities between Indigenous cultures and communities of Canada and the Philippines; and politics Professor��’s research studying labour activism in the Filipino diaspora.��

At the end of the presentation, Philipps thanked Manalo and his colleagues for making the stop at 91��ɫ to meet in person with 91��ɫ researchers. “We are excited to participate in the 75th anniversary celebrations of Philippines-Canada diplomatic relations, hosting several related events at 91��ɫ this year.”

Among the 91��ɫ events planned around the 75th anniversary’s theme “Building Bridges, Celebrating Connections,” are a panel discussion of Filipino-Canadian community and thought leaders concerning Filipino immigrant successes and barriers in Canadian labour markets, and a diaspora film festival, both planned for Fall 2024.

The post Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, diplomats meet 91��ɫ U leadership and researchers appeared first on Global Engagement.

Visionary global educator, 91��ɫ U prof emerita given one of Canada’s highest honours

amaav — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 20:28:00 +0000

Retired��Professor����who broke borders to bring higher education to refugees in Dadaab, Kenya, one of the world’s largest refugee camps, is recognized with Order of Canada����
“I am both delighted and astonished,” said Senior Scholar and retired Professor Wenona Giles at 91��ɫ, after she was recently appointed as an Officer to the Order of Canada — a designation that recognizes achievement and merit of a high degree, especially service to Canada or to humanity at large.

This good news wouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone who has known the internationally renowned social anthropologist as a changemaker. Or those familiar with Giles’s positive impact on humanity through her research in refugee migration studies and applying evidence-based solutions to social issues facing the world.

Global scholar��Professor Emerita Wenona Giles is actively engaged with 91��ɫ’s Research Commons where she supports faculty applying for research and partnership grants.

“Professor Giles sets a high bar on establishing and delivering on research partnerships that can evolve into global teaching engagements,” says Amir Asif, vice president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “Among the many great examples of her partnership initiatives, the ambitious Borderless Higher Education for Refugees project delivering university education for refugees in camps, stands out. I am grateful that she continues to be part of 91��ɫ after retirement.”

Giles retired in 2018, more than three decades after teaching in the��Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. Still associated with 91��ɫ’s Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), Giles is also actively engaged with the University’s��Research Commons��where she supports faculty applying for research and partnership grants.

As someone who studied, researched and co-authored with Giles, Professor Jennifer Hyndman adds, “Professor Giles tirelessly worked to forge partnerships with faculty at universities in the global South and Canada and NGOs in both Kenya and Canada, and fundraising with foundations and governments, before embarking on the pedagogy of delivering post-secondary curriculum to displaced people living in camps and the surrounding communities in which they lived. This honor recognizes this enormous and vital, but often invisible work.”

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Giles is truly a global scholar. Her scholarship is enriched by both lived experiences and through extensive research knowledge. Being drawn to social anthropology as a scholarly discipline came naturally to Giles, who has lived, studied and worked in Iran where she was born, and in the United Kingdom (her first citizenship), Canada (her second citizenship), France, Italy, the United States, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

“As an anthropologist, I thought I might be able to ask and possibly begin to answer questions about the poverty and other social inequalities that I had witnessed in Africa and the Middle East and the tenacious neo-colonial and unequal gender relations that persist to this day in international development, and in the politics of migration in Europe and Canada,” says Giles.

She sought to find answers to those pressing questions collaborating with researchers both here at 91��ɫ and on the ground elsewhere in the world. For example, she co-authored with Hyndman books that provide insight into the vulnerable status of refugees. Their joint research topics included the role gender plays in militarized conflict, from war zones to refugee camps, and across regions as diverse as Africa, Europe, Central America and South Asia, and how refugees across the globe live in conditions that extend from years to decades, without legal status that allows them to work and establish a home.

Giles also co-wrote with Laurie Miller (UBC), and counterparts in Kenya, Somalia, and the U.S., and NGO workers in and students from the camps, proving how global collaborations are possible and productive. The book was awarded the Jackie Kirk Award which recognizes literature committed to gender and education (particularly of girls and teachers) and/or education in conflict zones, and that works to identify, globalization as a context for local practice, and visual participatory research methodologies. The award funds, along with all book royalties, have been contributed to the support of university students in refugee camps in Kenya.

The book published in late 2021 is based on��, the project that she launched and then co-led until her retirement in 2018, with education Professor Emeritus Don Dippo. The project was hosted by the��CRS, which Giles and Dippo were part of, and Global Affairs Canada funded it to improve access to education for refugees where they live.

Professor Emerita Wenona Giles sought to find answers to those pressing questions collaborating with researchers both here at 91��ɫ and on the ground elsewhere in the world, on topics including the role gender plays in militarized conflict, from war zones to refugee camps.

The aim of the project was to create equity in higher education, prepare local uncertified refugee teachers, improve teaching practices for better student achievement at elementary and secondary levels, and provide university degree programs in Dadaab – one of the world’s largest refugee settlement in Kenya. The project is a development partnership between 91��ɫ; Kenyatta and Moi universities in Kenya; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, University of British Columbia; and Windle International Kenya.

Giles is a believer in life-long learning and continues to be affiliated to CRS. And as a life-long scholar and researcher, she is currently writing a historical novel,��Pursued��— دنبال. The story spans the early decades of the 20th century in England and Persia (Iran) and examines the unquenchable imperial thirst for what lay beneath the ground in southwest Persia – both oil and archaeological treasures – and how this�� thirst threatened to destroy the lives of more than one of the novel’s multigenerational characters.

Originally published in News@91��ɫ.

The post Visionary global educator, 91��ɫ U prof emerita given one of Canada’s highest honours appeared first on Global Engagement.