Teaching Place and Power in the Faculty of Arts

Recognizing that all places are formed through histories of encounter, contestation, and negotiation, Place and Power courses ask what it means to work, learn, and live with the colonial legacies that have and continue to shape BC. Drawing on the rich expertise available in the Faculty of Arts, these courses convey the breadth of our shared responsibilities as scholars who consciously learn from and study on unceded territories.

From a range of disciplinary and theoretical vantage points, all P&P courses anchor inquiry to the lands now called British Columbia. For instance, some P&P courses specifically focus on Musqueam territory and sovereignty along with the histories and processes that have formed UBC over the years. Others examine our presence on unceded Indigenous lands across what we now know as Metro Vancouver, its surrounding communities, and the Province of British Columbia. Other courses ask how studying on unceded Indigenous territories reconfigures the way we approach topics and methodologies that extend beyond BC.

Place and Power courses address the power imbalances faced by Indigenous Peoples and other historically marginalized communities who have and continue to inhabit this place. These courses emphasize how individuals and communities navigate complex power relations. Focusing on the lived realities of diverse groups, Place and Power courses draw on scholarship that centres sovereignties, strength, resilience, cultural renewal, survivance, revitalization, and innovation. Where appropriate and relevant, Place and Power courses feature Indigenous expertise, knowledge, and scholarship.

Complex and dynamic power imbalances permeate higher education, shaping what we learn, who we learn from, and who enters our classrooms. UBC is one of the largest public universities in Canada, with one of the most diverse student bodies anywhere in North America. By learning together in the same place, all students are implicated in the complex histories that have shaped this place, but may have very different experiences of, and relationships to, questions of place and power. P&P courses are designed to provide all students with tools to meaningfully and respectfully reflect on, investigate, and understand how inequitable structures of power inform the lived experiences of people who call this land home. Accordingly, instructors pay special attention to classroom climate, including how power dynamics shape our learning spaces, particularly as they affect students from Indigenous and/or other historically marginalized communities.

• Centering of Indigenous Lands and/or People: Positions Musqueam and/or other relevant Indigenous communities and lands in what is now BC as central to teaching and learning (e.g. considers the disciplinary implications of studying at a university situated on unceded land).
• Place and Land relationships: Frames notions of place and/or the local in relation to contested land and/or land relationships.
• Power analyses: Examines power imbalances faced by Indigenous and/or other historically, persistently, and systemically marginalized (HPSM) communities in BC.
• Strength-Based Frameworks: Uses approaches like survivance, revitalization, sovereignties, and innovation to ground discussions of how Indigenous and HPSM communities navigate power structures.
• Indigenous Expertise & Knowledge: Foregrounds Indigenous scholarship and perspectives relevant to the course topic (e.g. a geography course includes Indigenous knowledge producers whose research addresses relevant land relations).
• Classroom Climate: Ensures attentiveness to power relations in the learning space, particularly as these affect Indigenous and historically marginalized students.

The first step of the Place and Power course review process is to submit an Expression of Interest that briefly describes the course, how it aligns with P&P objectives and criteria, and the research and teaching experience of the proposed instructor(s). This step initiates an informal, collegial dialogue between the proponent and the Coordinating Committee, allowing idea exchange and early feedback before the full proposal stage.

• Course Overview and Summary: A high-level synopsis of your course
• Alignment with Place and Power: Responses to three questions on how the course meets P&P objectives
• Positionality and Pedagogical Statement: A reflection on teaching approach and perspectives

We encourage department heads, program chairs, and curriculum coordinators to be informed or involved in submissions from their unit(s) to ensure good coordination with all involved.

Upon the approval of your Expression of Interest, proponents will be invited to submit a full proposal for P&P course designation.

​​Full proposals must include:

• Updated Expression of Interest: With any relevant new information to help contextualize the review of your annotated syllabus and resource list.
• Annotated Syllabus: Clearly indicating how each of the six P&P inclusion criteria are met. Use footnotes or comment bubbles to tag specific parts of the syllabus with brief explanations.
• Comprehensive Resource/Reading List: Highlighting the integration of Indigenous scholarship, knowledge, and expertise.

Note: If you are proposing a new course, you must complete the Senate and ACC process before or alongside the full proposal stage. If you have questions related to ACC and P&P, please contact us.

Each full proposal will be reviewed by a trio of Coordinating Committee members for alignment with the inclusion criteria. At this stage, reviewers may suggest revisions for course development or initiate a conversation to seek clarity on questions that arose during review.

The focus of this stage is constructive and collegial feedback that supports course development and professional growth. Approved courses will be forwarded to the Dean’s Office and Arts Curriculum Committee for final inclusion in the P&P requirement.

To keep the Place and Power course list up to date, all designations will expire after four years. Instructors or departments wishing to maintain their designation will need to complete a re-designation process. The exact steps are still in development, but will likely require submitting an updated annotated syllabus.

The Place & Power Coordinating Committee (CorCom) guides the overall strategy and implementation of the Place & Power (P&P) requirement. The CorCom is a stand-alone entity that communicates and works closely with the Dean’s office, but is not supervised by them.

Through the Co-chairs, the CorCom will communicate with the Dean’s office, Heads and Directors, and the Arts Indigenous Advisory Council on a regular basis.
Co-chairs

• Juanita Sundberg (GEOG)
• Chris Lee (ENGL)

Core members

• Ayaka Yoshimizu (AISA)
• Camille Georgeson-Usher (AHVA)
• Coll Thrush (HIST)
• Dylan Robinson (MUSC)
• Henry Yu (HIST)
• Janelle Kaperski (CTLT)
• Janey Lew (CTLT)
• Karlene Harvey (AISA)
• Laura Ishiguro (HIST)
• Leslie Robertson (ANTH)
• Miranda Burgess (ENGL)
• Nathan Lauster (SOCI)
• PJ Rayner (Dean’s Office)
• Renisa Mawani (SOCI)
• Tim Frandy (CENES)
• Dennis Britton (ENGL) - served from 2023 to 2025