Avery Letendre

EXNS 2801 - Indigenous Peoples as Subjects/Objects

This course provides foundational lessons about historical scientific relationships between Indigenous communities and colonial science fields in North America. Students will be introduced to key terms, nuances, and concepts to identify what decolonization means and how it can be pursued in science and research today. This class informs learners about impacts on Indigenous nations and non-humans from science practices, how they have taken place, and how to build ethical practices in varying contexts and advance Indigenous governance.

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EXNS 2803 - Tackling Structural Racism

Grounded in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action, this micro-course introduces key anti-racism concepts that are applied to various sectors (education, social services, and the policing and legal system). By using real world case studies and Indigenous led content to provide learners with Indigenous perspectives and experiences, this micro-course points to successful efforts to tackle issues related to structural racism in Canada.

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EXNS 2804 - Indigenous Peoples and Canada

Learn about Indigenous historical and contemporary experiences to understand the legacy of settler colonialism and affirm Indigenous self-determination. Topics covered include worldview, resources and relations, governance and treaty, institutionalization, contemporary communities, and resistance and resiliency. Sharpen your critical thinking skills to strengthen personal and professional ethics, and deepen Indigenous/non-Indigenous collaboration through building literacy about Indigenous societies, enhancing intercultural awareness, and obtaining balanced facts about Canadian history and current realities

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EXNS 2805 - Foundations of Stereotypes: Systems Thinking

This microcredential introduces anti-Indigenous stereotypes in North America, outlines how the brain develops and perpetuates stereotypes within North America's settler colonial context, and covers how to interrupt stereotypes when they arise. Including some foundational stereotypes and concepts that are essential to understand, this microcredential outlines the social and political functions of stereotypes and concludes by deconstructing two significant stereotypes - that the Canadian State is a benevolent entity and that Indigenous peoples get everything for free and are largely unemployed. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships to stereotyping are presented.

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EXNS 2806 - Representations: Application and Collaboration

This microcredential examines representations of Indigenous peoples in mainstream media, pop culture, and social discourse. These lectures connect how settlers have portrayed Indigenous peoples: as exotic, savage, noble, disappearing, etc. with the real world impacts of those portrayals - including violence against Indigenous women, psychological harm, appropriation, and the justification of ongoing settler colonialism. Each lecture further explores how Indigenous creators, scholars, and activists are pushing back against stereotypical representations, and how students can support this work and/or make interventions of their own. Prerequisite: EXNS 2805.

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EXNS 2807 - Systems: Leadership and Institutional Change

This microcredential takes a closer look at the relationship between anti-Indigenous stereotypes and socio-political-economic systems in North America. We examine how stereotypes are mobilized to maintain settler systems of power, which suppress Indigenous resistance and lifeways and naturalize the dispossession and subordination of Indigenous peoples. Lectures address stereotypes of criminality, dysfunction, angry protestors, and the assumption that Indigenous people should get over colonialism. Students are provided with tools needed to analyze, intervene on, and reframe these narratives to support the work and actions Indigenous people are already undertaking. Prerequisite: EXNS 2805.

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EXNS 2808 - Indigenous Peoples as Collaborators

This course introduces students to principles for collaborating well with Indigenous communities. Course content provides learners with tools to ethically conduct community-based research with Indigenous communities by gaining deeper awareness of the historical context and becoming familiar with current guidelines and standards. Students will gain appreciation for the importance of data sovereignty, co-design, structural barriers and dialogue-based approaches to engagement. The course highlights leading Indigenous scientists and successful case studies to provide real life examples and expose students to the exciting work being done in Indigenous technoscience. Prerequisite: EXNS 2801.

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EXNS 2809 - Indigenous Peoples as Scientists

This course brings learners into deeper awareness of how Indigenous scientists are undertaking work in the field, including their goals, practices, mentorship approaches and decolonizing methods. Learners will be exposed to relational frameworks and nation-specific concepts that are guiding principles for producing, applying and governing knowledge. Case studies that are introduced include the Indigenous STS research and teaching hub at the University of Alberta, Indigenous astronomy, and contextual factors, such as Indigenous citizenship policies, epidemics and immunizations, in the field of medicine. Prerequisite: EXNS 2801.

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Browse more courses taught by Avery Letendre

Kirsten Lindquist, Shalene Jobin and Avery Letendre

University of Manitoba Press. 2024 March; Forsythe, Laura, and Jennifer Markides, eds. Around the Kitchen Table: Métis Aunties' Scholarship

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Shalene Jobin, Avery Letendre, and Kirsten Lindquist

aboriginal policy studies. 2022 March; 10 (1):2-32 10.5663/aps.v10i1.29389

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Avery Letendre

University of Alberta. 2018 September;