Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2024 - CMNS 487 D200

Special Topics in Communication (4)

Colonialism & Identity

Class Number: 4447

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2024: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

  • Prerequisites:

    Depends on topic; published before enrollment.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Intensive analysis of a particular topic in communication and/or attention to the work of a particular writer or school of thought. This course can be repeated for credit up to a maximum of three times, if topic studied is different.

COURSE DETAILS:

Topic for Fall 2024:  Colonialism & Identity  (Instructor consent required for enrollment -- email  kcrey@sfu.ca)

Indigenous peoples possess epistemologies, philosophies, and critical perspectives that orient and shape Indigenous theory, historical consciousness, and cultural production. Scholarly and popular debates have only recently begun to understand these areas of thought as pivotal to conceiving of humanity’s relationships to the nonhuman world, to understanding politics and political formations that exceed and resist those associated with the capitalist neoliberal state, and to imagining realities beyond the damaging conditions that have shaped our immediate social and environmental crises.

This course will focus on key concepts and theoretical frameworks that emerge from Indigenous thought, which is inclusive of scholarship and creative production. We will examine articulations of Indigenous sovereignty, epistemologies, relationality, being and “identity,” and anti-colonial resistance through the work of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Nishnaabeg), Glen Coulthard (Yellowknives Dene), Audra Simpson (Mohawk), Jodi Byrd (Chickasaw), Billy-Ray Belcourt (Cree-Métis), Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi), among others. We will examine media production and the visual arts, taking as our starting point the understanding art and visual culture are sites of theorization in their own right, where artists engage, critique, and transform theoretical orientations to and understandings of Indigeneity and Indigenous experience.

Through intensive reading, discussions, and screenings/viewings, students will investigate Indigenous theory and scholarship that forms the core of contemporary Indigenous studies and critical thought. Course content will prepare students to build on this material in the development of their own research projects. Please note: this is a reading intensive class with advanced theory that is suitable for graduate students and senior undergraduate students. Please see the course prerequisites before inquiring about enrollment.

Grading

  • Participation 20%
  • Class facilitation 15%
  • Project Presentation 15%
  • Final Paper 50%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

All readings will be available on Canvas.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.