Looking at a complex concept in a settler-colonial nation

What is "reconciliation?"


Historical issues that must be acknowledged


  • Land Dispossession
  • Indian Act
  • Forced oppression of traditional governance systems
  • Outlawing cultural practices (ex. Potlatch)
  • Residential Schools
  • Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women
  • MMIW Final Report and conclusions of genocide
  • Systemic and disproportionate Incarceration
  • Generational Trauma

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

  • The TRC of Canada has a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the residential schools and to inform all Canadians about what happened in the schools. The TRC will document the truth of what happened by relying on records held by those who operated and funded the schools, testimony from officials of the institutions that operated the schools, and experiences reported by survivors, their families, communities and anyone personally affected by the residential school experience and its subsequent impacts.
  • The Commission hopes to guide and inspire First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples and Canadians in a process of truth and healing leading toward reconciliation and renewed relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.
  • The TRC views reconciliation as an ongoing individual and collective process that will require participation from all those affected by the residential school experience. This includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis former students, their families, communities, religious groups, former Indian Residential School employees, government, and the people of Canada.





REBUILDING vs 
RECONCILIATION?
What is needed?

  • What is holding back large scale change envisioned in the TRC calls to action? (Public opinion? Elites? Policy?)
  • What section or area of the TRC could have the most impact on revolutionizing Candian and Indigenous Nation relations?
  • Which areas will likely prove most challenging?

Research Proposal and Design
There are five core pillars to address for your first assignment:

  1. How or why is the issue RELEVANT to Canadian politics? How is this issue important or meaningful in a Canadian political context?
  2. Persuasiveness of the claims. Why is this issue interesting to you. Why should others care or be interested in this issue too?
  3. Clarity of research question about the issue presented. Clear, concise, focused but complex, and arguable. No yes or no questions!
  4. Credibility of the PLAN to answer the question. How are you going to operationalize the research to carry out the steps of the research to answer the research question?
  5. Professionalism. Edit your work. Proofread, catch typos, correct grammar use, reasonable/professional type formatting. For example, include the class name, your name, professor's name, date, title, etc.

Below are the slides from Jan 20-24 classes that expand on how to help build up a research proposal for the first assignment.





CLARIFICATION NOTE on articulating methodology: Since this is a research PROPOSAL, and you haven't done the research yet. You should talk about the methodology in the future tense,  something you WILL be doing, not the past tense:) 












What Is Credible Information? 


Today we face an onslaught of information. We must work to be savvy information consumers, so we do not fall victim to the pitfalls of disinformation and the spreading of misinformation. This means building up a tool-belt of habits and awareness that can help you to identify not only misinformation or disinformation but also what reliable and credible information looks like in comparison.

Here are a few tips and resources to help you build up this critical skill set moving forward so you can navigate the information matrix with a more thoughtful and discerning eye!

Identify the SOURCE of the information


  • Always ask yourself the who, what, when, where, why, about a source!
  • What type of source is it? (op-ed, investigative, satire, journal, endorsed report etc.)
  • When was it created? (check the date)
  • Where was it created? (check the location of origin)
  • Who created this information? (who's the author/publisher)
  • Is it a credible source? (what's the reputation of the source)
  • What sources do they cite? (are those reputable)
  • What are the economic or political affiliations? 
  • What are their interests in publishing this information? 
  • Why was it created, and who is the intended audience? 
  • Who does this information help or harm? 

If you are not sure of the answer, make Angela Lansbury proud and get sleuthing to find out!

    Does the evidence being used to make a claim actually back up the claim? 

    • What evidence is provided to support the claims? What is the source of the evidence? Is it trustworthy? That is to say, does it come from a source that has a history of being accurate, vetted, and well-researched? Does the evidence directly relate to the claim the source makes? Does this evidence hold up when looking at the full scope of information across reliable sources? Based on your answers to all these questions,  how strong is the evidence for the claim being made?

    Do your lateral investigation and reading!!

    • This means working to verify a claim. 
    • What are other reputable sources and outlets saying about this issue or claim? 
    • Seek out different sources beyond the original claim or source of information to see if the evidence is adding up across the literature. 
    • Are other credible sources confirming or rejecting the claim or information using reliable evidence? Think about how other evidence impacts and weighs against the original source's claim.

    Get familiar with reliable and credible information

    • Get familiar with how to find peer-reviewed, expert, academic sources, reliable news sources, databases, and expertise that have a strong track record of being accurate in how they articulate events and information using reliable evidence and sources in their reporting or tracking of data.
    The following links are to help expand your tool belt, so you don't perpetuate disinformation and misinformation in your own work or in society.



    UNESCO has put out a comprehensive handbook written by experts in the fight against disinformation


    Click on the link below to access the free handbook. English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Portuguese, and Russian versions are available.

    More About PEER-REVIEWED Sources


    As a student moving through university and the academic process, you will be engaging in research and writing that will require scholarly--academic--expert--peer-reviewed sources. Peer-reviewed sources mean there has been a vetting process of the claims, information, and evidence used in the research by other experts in the field. 

    This is not to say the peer-reviewed process is perfect. There are indeed some flaws. However, sources drawn from well established, scholarly, peer-reviewed journals are generally considered trustworthy, reliable, and hold merit based on meaningful evidence.

    When you are writing a paper for a class you are generally expected to utilize some peer-reviewed sources to help anchor and support the claims or argument you are seeking to make. To get a better understanding of the peer-review process, how it works, what it means, why it's important, and the strengths and weaknesses of the peer review process, please click on the following link.

    Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide

    How Do News Media Sources Differ?



    All news is not created equal. That is to say, some news sources are more reliable or credible than others. Never fail to ask yourself the who, what, when, where, why, how gauntlet of questions when interacting with media. Even though a news source is considered credible, there are still powerful implicit and explicit meanings and impacts depending on what information is included or excluded, on whose perspective it's being told from, and what type of language is being used to frame the issue(s). 

    This type of critical media and information assessment must become second nature when navigating all sources. Even reliable sources can make mistakes or have a deficient take on a critical issue. Here is a chart that provides one way of analyzing media bias and gives a bit of an oversight on how different news media can be seen to fall within the matrix of the news media landscape.  



    Critical media Review: Deconstructing media content, how does media FRAME an issue?


    Political Science seeks to understand the many nuances and aspects of power. Ipsa scientia potestas est" ('knowledge itself is power'). Building knowledge about how information is constructed, transmitted and consumed and how these processes wield power, is critical for helping one navigate and understand the complex multifaceted political, social, economic world we live in, and how different issues intersect and influence each other.

    What we think of as “reality” depends on the different frames we use to approach, analyze, and understand the world around us. How media chooses to frame certain topics and events influence the ways in which we see the world. This is to say, how information is framed can directly affect how we perceive to “know what we know” about the world. Take the image above. Who is the "attacker" who is the "victim" in the above scenario? What you see or come to understand about the situation depends on how it is being framed for consumption. Without further analysis or assessment of that framing, we may not fully understand the deeper nuances, meaning, or facts of the situation. Taking time to understand the full scope of information, evidence, and how issues are framed and the ways this can impact society, may help to deescalate some of the far-right populist polarization we are witnessing today.  

    Bernard Cohen famously stated that media “may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling people what to think about.” (1963). Given the radical evolution of media access through smartphones and internet platforms today than in the 60s, this old adage may no longer ring as true. We are now in an era where media is indeed trying to tell people what to think. For example, Russian influence in the US elections using social media disinformation campaigns and a growing understanding of the true aims and goals of Cambridge Analytica in weaponizing media content. There is value and insight to be gained by taking a more in-depth look at the ways in which media is used to shape public attitudes and responses towards political issues in Canada and around the world. 

    Much like Bernard Pras' work that uses junk to build up an image of a face when framed just right, it is important we learn how to step away from a frame to see a bigger picture and the different components being used to construct it. 




    Here is an in-depth resource from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. A research center at the Penn State College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, which is dedicated to the study and advancement of ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of public communication. 

    Please click on the link below for further reading on media framing.

    Media Framing

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