Decolonizing Academic Writing

This event is part of the CTLT Winter Institute, taking place from December 11-15, 2023.

This panel session invites faculty, students, and staff from across UBC to discuss what it means to decolonize and Indigenize academic writing and scholarly communication. Efforts towards UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) goal #4, “Indigenizing Our Curriculum,” are being made in a range of programs and classrooms at UBC. This includes the decolonization and Indigenization of how we teach and assess student writing. But what does this mean in our diverse programs and disciplinary classrooms? What do we, from our own positions and experiences, understand as the problems and the needs and how to address them? What are others doing and how might we share and learn from one another? Most importantly, how can we engage in this work without perpetuating colonial harms and extractive approaches to learning including from Indigenous colleagues and communities.

The goal of this panel session is to create space for the exchange of diverse perspectives between panelists and attendees on what it means to decolonize and Indigenize academic writing and to foster ongoing relationships and communities of practice across the university.

Facilitators:

• Laila Ferreira, Assistant Professor of Teaching, WRDS/JWAM
• Evan Mauro, Lecturer, CAP
• Amanda Engen, Academic Advisor, Indigenous Studies, UBC

Faculty panelists:

• Lou Maraj, Assistant Professor School of Journalism, Writing and Media
• Lindsay Cuff, Assistant Professor of Teaching Land and Food Systems and Forestry