Indigenous Initiatives Design Series: Fall 2025

Completion of the II-Design Series requires 13-15 hours total time commitment, including:

• Attendance and active participation in 3 half-day synchronous workshops (9 hours – Days 1, 2 & 3 will meet in-person), and
• Asynchronous (Canvas) learning activities, homework, and preparation before and between meetings (4-6 hours)

There are limited spaces in this workshop series. We invite you to fill out the application form. We will be in touch within a week about the status of your application.

Program Details

The Indigenous Initiatives Design Series (II-Design Series) is a 3-part workshop for instructors and members of the UBC teaching and learning community who come to Indigenous topics with varying levels of knowledge and expertise. Throughout the series, participants will be guided to share practices, re-think and redesign elements of their teaching practices, model and explore educational materials, and reframe common learning scenarios through classroom climate principles.

The II Design Series may be of particular interest to faculty and staff who are engaging with the Strategic Plan (ISP), as it lays the groundwork for important conversations around place-based pedagogies, classroom climate, positionality, as well as introduce foundational concepts related to decolonization efforts within teaching and learning contexts. The Design Series is currently offered as an interactive model, combining synchronous and asynchronous activities and peer-to-peer designed discussions.

The cohort is limited to 35 participants. Participants must be able to attend all 3 sessions in-person at UBCV.

Program Objectives

Through participating in this workshop series, you will:

• Identify and reflect on the mindset shift you need to engage with as you integrate and centre Indigenous knowledges, histories and content in your course and teaching practices
• Narrate your own experiences, histories with place, and what has influenced your learning of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives to begin crafting a positionality statement
• Consider some diverse experiences of Indigenous students at UBC and within the context of all learners in your classroom
• Identify and discuss different aspects of classroom climate as it relates to integrating Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in your course
• Locate points of connection within your course and teaching, set some actionable goals related to those points of connection, start “travelling the path” as an iterative process

Readings, modules, learning activities

Prior to the start of the course you will receive access to a Canvas course containing instructions and modules with asynchronous resources, learning materials, and activities to be completed before and between sessions. Completion of the Canvas modules is required for program completion. We also welcome you to share resources and peer-to-peer feedback with your co-learners using the Canvas course space.

Registration details

We invite you to submit an application before the deadline of October 17, 2025.

A member of the II-Design Series team will be in touch within a week with information about the status of your application.

Contact

Please direct any logistical questions to Janelle Kasperski at janelle.kasperski@ubc.ca.