Webinar | Internationalization and Indigenization: Tensions and Collaborations

Audience: Post-secondary, Languages.

Join BCCIE for the eighth webinar of our intercultural series: Intercultural Intersections in International Education: Reflective Practices through Dialogue.

Following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), BC released the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019) reaffirming the Province’s commitment to work towards reconciliation. It is our responsibility as international education practitioners to ensure that we are, and continue to be, dedicated to reconciliation in all aspects of the work that we do. In this session speakers will explore points of collaboration and tensions between internationalization and indigenization and provide suggestions on how we can continue along this path towards reconciliation.

Presenters:

Dr. Sonja Knutson, Director, Internationalization Office, ESL Programs and the Writing Centre  at Memorial University of Newfoundland

As an internationalization and student affairs professional and scholar, Sonja currently has a complex university-wide mandate to implement the Strategic Internationalization Plan (SIP) 2020 at Memorial University. She enjoys participating in international conferences, learning, and sharing best practice in international education. Her current role encompasses the full spectrum of campus internationalization: enrollment management, academic development and success, pastoral care, budget development and income generation, community engagement and support, and external relations with government, industry and non-governmental organizations from the local to the international level. Sonja’s research examines the internationalization leadership role in post-secondary education.

Kory Wilson, BSc. JD, is the Executive Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships for British Columbia Institute of Technology

Kory is Chair of the National Indigenous Education Committee of Colleges and Institutions Canada and augural Chair of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics Indigenous Affinity Group. She has over 20 years of experience in post-secondary education, community development, and the legal profession. Kory has a deep commitment to education and has dedicated her working life to ensuring that under-represented learners succeed, both within learning institutions and the larger community. Good governance and supporting communities to move towards self-government is a specialty and passion. Innovative and creative solutions are needed to move reconciliation into reconciliACTION.  Education is the key and access to knowledge is vital to move everyone forward. She is Kwakwaka’wakw. 

Moderator:

Todd Odgers, Associate Dean International at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)

Todd is Associate Dean International at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the and the former Principal of NorQuest Centre for Intercultural Education (CIE) in Edmonton. Todd has spent his career working in many intercultural intersections in Canada and abroad as a consultant, teacher, faculty trainer, and applied researcher. The eight member CIE team he directed for nine years completed almost five million dollars in funded research and educational projects for vulnerable communities, immigrants, educational institutions, businesses and industry. He facilitates and speaks widely to groups nationally and internationally on how they can effectively create inclusive campuses and workplaces. His experience as a corporate trainer overseas informed his approach to engaging across cultural similarities and differences. Back in Canada, his early research and work in higher education contributed to the emerging practice of interculturalization. In his role at BCIT, Todd brings the experience and resources learned and earned from his work with students, faculty, leaders and service staff to move the Institute’s interculturalization initiative forward.

To register for this event, please click here.

Registration deadline: 9:00 a.m., April 27, 2021

For more information, please contact events@bccie.bc.ca.