Innovative Features of the Program

Indigenous knowledge is at the core of the Ph.D. program. Understanding is gained through experience and reflection on aspects of culture through coursework and by participation in activities in Aboriginal/Indigenous communities.

Students are exposed to Indigenous knowledge and thought through the involvement of Aboriginal people in the teaching of courses, as guest speakers, through sponsored symposia and other events. Students are encouraged to participate in Aboriginal cultural and social events held at Trent and off campus.

There are also opportunities for students to establish relationships with Aboriginal people, especially Elders and traditional people, during their studies. The program takes a holistic perspective involving both the intellectual and emotional aspects of students' lives.

The goal of the program is to produce individuals capable of advanced intellectual scholarship in both Indigenous and Western traditions, who are sensitive to and knowledgeable of, Aboriginal/Indigenous cultural expressions and who are able to function in both cultural contexts.

There are two innovative components of the program, in particular, which help to encourage these goals: the practicum field placement and the Bimaadiziwin/Atonhetseri:io Option.

Through a practicum field placement (INDS 700) students are required to work full-time or carry out research in an Aboriginal/Indigenous community or organization. In fulfilling the practicum requirements, the Ph.D. students have assisted Aboriginal organizations to conduct research in areas of priority to them, helped with fundraising, planned educational events, conducted surveys, organized workshops, and developed evaluation models. This placement is unpaid.

Students have worked with a wide range of Aboriginal organizations, for example, the Union of Ontario Indians and the Anishnawbek Health Commission, the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, the Tree of Peace Society, the St. John's Friendship Centre, Curve Lake First Nation, Native Women's Resource Centre and Native Child and Family Services of Toronto and Niijkiwendidaa Nishnaabe Kwewag Services Circle.

Trent's Department of Indigenous Studies has extensive contacts with Aboriginal/Indigenous communities and organizations that are willing to take a student on placement. The community based placements are approximately five weeks full-time or three months in duration part-time and normally take place during the first term of the student's second year or the summer between first and second years. Details of the particular project are negotiated between the program and the Aboriginal community or organization. In this way, students receive first-hand experience working in an Aboriginal setting which will contribute to the development of a greater awareness of Aboriginal perspective among the students and inform their later graduate work.

Another innovative feature is the Bimaadiziwin/Atonhetseri:io Option (INDS 715H). This course recognizes the unique place of Indigenous/Traditional knowledge in the Ph.D. program. Students experience the oral tradition through which Indigenous knowledge is conveyed and Aboriginal pedagogical approaches which include apprenticeship, face-to-face interaction, modelling, and the personal journey.

The student has an opportunity to work directly with an Elder or Traditional person in an apprenticeship-type arrangement, focussed on particular learning objectives that are negotiated for this opportunity. This option allows the student to deepen her/his knowledge and learning in ways that are beyond the capacity of a structured classroom to provide.