All master’s students in the collaborative program will take ONE of the following core course(s):

 

Course Number	Course Name
CHL 5421H	Aboriginal Health
Synopsis:	The objective of this course is for the students to obtain a broader, critical understanding of the pressing health challenges faced by Aboriginal people in Canada, including historical perspectives, the current burden of infectious and non-infectious disease, and the need for culturally appropriate research and intervention strategies for addressing these challenges. The long-term goal is the development of skills to design projects which are conscious of community perspectives as well as being scientifically unique and innovative. Lecture topics include: Social, Political and Historical Context; Epidemiologic Transition; Historical Demography and Epidemiology; Health Care; Aboriginal Health Systems/Health Governance; Environmental Contaminants; Women's and Children’s Mental Health; Indigenous Knowledge; Urban Aboriginal Health (3 hours/week)
NUR 1014H	Politics of Aboriginal Health
Synopsis:	Examine the impact of policies and practices on the health of Aboriginal People in Canada. Film, videos and guests from the Faculty of Medicine Visiting Lectureship on aboriginal health perspectives encourage sharing experience and critical analysis. Readings and seminars contribute to a research and culture based approach.  A social determinants approach avoids blaming victims or reducing problems to psychological or behavioural causes, and instead looks at policies and social practices as resourceful and determinative. Reflect on how realities might be reconstructed, beginning with our own perceptions and strategies. The group assignment will begin to socialize students into collectivist ways of relating and organizing, valued in Aboriginal cultures. (3 hours/week)
SES 2999H	Aboriginal Peoples and the Politics of Decolonizing
Synopsis:	[Note: this course is currently under a “Special Topics” listing. A separate course number has been applied for] This course examines the intersections of Aboriginal and Indigenous perspectives and knowledges focusing on the voices of Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples.  Through de-colonizing we examine two sources of colonizing - that from outside that is directed at Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples and that which is from within. The focus of the course is on decolonizing the mind by understanding the politics of colonization, de-universalizing language and language politics, examining politics and traditions and the practice of speaking out, exploring Indigenous approaches to healing, and challenging colonized culture and suppression agencies. Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples from around the world inform the examining of the everyday practices of resistance.  Indigenous peoples globally experience colonization, its organization, maintenance structures, and practices, as well as its mindset or way of seeing the world which enable the continuation of oppression.  Resistance to oppression is conceptualized and reconceptualized in changing contexts by Indigenous peoples.  Resources for decolonizing the mind include revitalization of traditional worldviews, honoring Indigenous knowledges, sustaining Indigenous languages, and challenging and reconceptualizing research practices.

 

In home graduate programs where a thesis is required, the thesis must deal with an Aboriginal health topic. Thesis work will be supervised, evaluated and approved according to the practices of the home graduate department. At least one member of the student’s thesis committee should be a core faculty member of the Collaborative Program.

 

In home graduate programs that do not have a thesis requirement (MHSc in Public Health Sciences, MN in Nursing, MEd in Adult Education and Counselling Psychology, and MEd in Sociology and Equity Studies), students must undertake a practicum or equivalent in an Aboriginal health topic, supervised by a core faculty member of the Collaborative Program.

 

Common learning experience for both Master’s and Doctoral programs:

 

During the course of their Master’s or Doctoral program, students must participate in BOTH of the following educational activities:

 

·         Research Seminar Series – held monthly during the academic year, non-credit, but required attendance for at least the equivalent of one academic year within the duration of the graduate program. This will feature faculty members, invited speakers, and students presenting results of completed projects, progress reports of on-going projects, plans for future research, and overviews, current concepts and controversies in selected topics. Attendance may be via teleconferencing where such facilities exist.

 

·         National/regional Workshops – also non-credit, but required attendance for at least one workshop within the duration of the graduate program. Each summer one or more of the ACADRE centres funded by CIHR will host a summer institute devoted to particular topics and issues in Aboriginal health. Past institutes include Research Ethics Workshop, International Indigenous Elders’ Summit, Health Policy and Health Services Research, and National Conference of Graduate Students in Aboriginal Health. Such workshops provide opportunities for students to create and maintain their own networks with their counterparts in other universities. Travel subsidies for participation in one workshop per student is provided for all students. Students are welcome to participate in more than one workshop, subject to available funding.