Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Creative, critical ‘reading’ of the colonialism embedded within the stories, landscapes, and systems of the Canadian city, and the foundational place of Indigenous planning, laws, stories, and cultures in shaping sustainable decolonial futures. Focuses on Vancouver and its journey to being a “City of Reconciliation”, in the context of UNDRIP. Students with credit for URB 695 under the title "Storyscapes: Decolonizing the City Through Arts" may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

Within North American cities, colonialism has inscribed narratives and structures onto Indigenous lands, enforcing legal and governance systems designed to eradicate First Peoples and their planning traditions and ways of living. Concepts such as terra nullius and the Doctrine of Discovery underpinned the Crown’s claim to sovereignty, facilitating rapid urbanization and extraction, and the displacement of Indigenous laws, economies, governance systems, languages, etc.

This class looks at colonialism and Indigeneity at the urban scale. Focusing on Vancouver, unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories, we will trace the stories embedded in the city’s landscapes and planning frameworks, and consider the transformative possibilities that emerge as municipalities begin to acknowledge their responsibilities to the lands and the First Peoples whose territories they occupy.

How do Indigenous laws, stories, and cultural continuities reassert themselves within the life of the contemporary city? Learning from diverse sources and voices—including public art, film, planning documents, guest speakers, and poetry—we will critically examine how colonial worldviews are naturalized through urban planning and how Indigenous rights, knowledge, and governance are essential to creating sustainable and just urban futures. Through case studies such as Vancouver’s UNDRIP Strategy, renaming initiatives, co-management agreements, and cultural planning, we will explore how reconciliation is being interpreted and enacted at the municipal level. Ultimately, this course invites students to imagine what it means to decolonize the city—to live and plan in ways that reflect and restore Indigenous laws, relationships, and stewardship responsibilities to place, and which affirm the truth that every North American city is an Indigenous city.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Materials for in-class activities will be provided.

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: