Crystal Fraser, PhD
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Contact
Sp.Adv to Dean, Indigenous, Faculty of Arts - Deans Office
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Native Studies
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Pembina Hall
8921 - 116 St NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H8
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts - History, Classics, & Religion Dept
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Tory (H.M.) Building
11211 Saskatchewan Drive NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H4
Overview
About
Crystal Gail Fraser is Gwichyà Gwich'in and originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gę̀hnjik, Northwest Territories. She also has connections to English and Scottish heritage. Crystal's PhD research focused on the history of student experiences at Indian Residential Schools in the Inuvik Region between 1959 and 1996. Her work makes a strong contribution to how scholars engage with Indigenous research methodologies and theoretical concepts, our understanding of Indigenous histories during the second half of the twentieth century, and how northern Canada was unique in relation to the rest of the settler nation. Crystal's doctoral dissertation was awarded the 2020 John Bullen Prize by the Canadian Historical Association for her thesis, titled T’aih k’ìighe’ tth’aih zhit dìidìch’ùh or By Strength We Are Still Here. The prize honours the outstanding PhD thesis on a historical topic submitted at a Canadian university. Crystal serves on national and international committees; she is a member of the Governing Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, a director at Gwich'in Council International, and was recently appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Residential School Missing Children and Unmarked Graves. In Fall 2022, Crystal was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Academic Early Career Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.
Announcements
History of Indian Residential Schools in Canada; the North; Gender and Sexuality; Healthcare; Sport and Recreation; Indigenous Methodologies; Oral Histories.
Courses
HIST 462 - Indian Residential Schooling in Canada
Histories of Indian Residential Schools in Canada, with attention to the roles of imperialism, colonialism, and racial ideologies in the implementation and eventual dismantling of the Residential Schools system. Prerequisite: *3 in HIST at the 300-level or consent of Department.
HIST 662 - Indian Residential Schooling in Canada
Histories of Indian Residential Schools in Canada, with attention to the roles of imperialism, colonialism, and racial ideologies in the implementation and eventual dismantling of the Residential Schools system.
HIST 699 - Research Seminar
NS 201 - Indigenous | Canada: Looking Forward/Looking Back
For students from faculties outside the Faculty of Native Studies with an interest in acquiring a basic familiarity with Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships. Consists of a survey of historical and contemporary relationships between Indigenous peoples and newcomers, with the aim of expanding the understandings held by many Canadians about these relationships. This course will be delivered online. Not open to students with credit in NS 200. Not designed for Native Studies majors. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.
NS 355 - Indigenous Knowledge and Oral Traditions
This course considers oral traditions as aspects of broader, culturally-defined systems of knowledge, in which stories are vehicles for encoding and transmitting knowledge about the people, their culture, and their history. It focuses on new academic and community-based approaches, as well as the complementarity of oral traditions/Indigenous knowledge and Western science. Students will explore the evolving roles of oral traditions for contemporary Indigenous peoples, including creative expression. Prerequisites: NS 110, 111 and 240 or 290 or consent of the Faculty.