Manitoba Anthropology Students' Conference (MASC)
We're excited to be putting on the MASC 2021 jointly with the University of Winnipeg Anthropology Students' Association (UWASA). It will be taking place from Friday, April 30 to Saturday, May 1, 2021 over Zoom and the theme is "Decolonizing and Radicalizing Anthropology". We look forward to seeing you there!
Conference Schedule
Friday April 30th 2021
2:45 pm: Opening introductions
3:00 pm: First Presenter:
Dr. Jaime Cidro: This presentation will discuss the Winnipeg-based project She Walks with Me, which responds to the social and cultural challenges experienced by a project on Indigenous doulas as a cultural intervention for Manitoban First Nations women traveling for birth and is focused on the urban Indigenous population in Winnipeg. Our objectives are: (1) to develop a set of quantitative and qualitative research tools that are responsive to the partners’ needs for evidence and provides an opportunity for participants to share their experiences in a format that honours them as life givers; (2) to establish a model for urban Indigenous doula service delivery that places Indigenous communities and organizations at the centre and provides administrative, technical, cultural, and emotional support for Indigenous birth workers; (3) to develop an urban-focused Indigenous doula program that supports women currently residing in the city, as well as those temporarily relocating for birth; and (4) to develop and pilot a smartphone app for the delivery of ongoing education, inter-doula networking, and access to information to support the work of the doulas.
3:30 pm
Dr. Laura Kelvin: Unsettling Archaeology in Nunatsiavut: The Agvituk Digital Archive Project: Archaeology in North America is built on a settler colonial foundation that continues to be embedded in the discipline. In most cases, it ensures the separation of Indigenous people from their material culture, while telling Indigenous histories through a settler colonial lens. The Agvituk Digital Archive Project is a community-initiated project that aims to disrupt the settler colonial foundation of archaeology through the application of community-centered practices. Working with Nunatsiavummiut youth and knowledge holders, archaeologists, and museum professionals, the Agvituk DAP works to create a digital archive of oral histories and community knowledge of Agvituk, a large Inuit whaling site that was an important part of the Inuit-European coastal trade network during the 16th to 18th centuries, alongside photographs and 3D models of material previously excavated from Agvituk that are now kept in museums throughout the world.
4:00 pm- 5:00 pm
Supper Break between speakers
5:00pm- 5:30 pm
Katerina Mpelmpa: Anthropology is Everywhere: Anthropology is growing and it is being cultivated as long as the world changes. Anthropology has never been about “others” before it has been about our closest experiences and environment first. The anthropological research, starts with the familiar before it continues with the “other” or the “different “ and through this field of view, changes happen. Through “others” we understand ourselves and through ourselves we understand “others”. Technology is a field that has a huge impact in the anthropological community and in the science of Anthropology generally. New ways of working, applying anthropological knowledge, helping, sharing and promoting. The power of an equal human interaction is the core of the anthropological meaning & essence. In our times, anthropology is delving into almost everything, social media, business, marketing, filmmaking and many more, the form of the digital anthropology is more alive than ever. That means, that new methods and new designs are waiting for those who will create a whole new chapter in the market by using the knowledge of this science and the advantages of the new ways of interacting.
5:30pm- 6:00pm
Sydnye Berard: A Preliminary Analysis of the Presence of Non-metric traits in Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba.: Non-metric traits, also known as discrete traits, are anatomical anomalies within the human skeleton that are considered relatively simple to identify and score. Some research suggests that non-metric traits are genetic in nature and could provide insights into the ancestry of certain populations. For the purpose of this research, preliminary findings were scored from images of the skeletal remains excavated in Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba. Canímar Abajo is an archaeological site located on the banks of the Canímar River, near Matanzas City, Cuba. All information is based on a visual analysis of images taken of the bones in a laboratory. Each non-metric trait will be marked as either present/absent in the case of each individual for the purpose of this preliminary analysis. This method is preferred due to the limitations of only having access to the bones through images as we navigate the restrictions of doing research during a global pandemic. Many questions arise when researching non-metric traits, such as the prevalence of certain traits within a region, although I cannot answer many of those questions, I do aim to create a solid base fo r further research on the subject in the region.
6:00pm- 6:45pm: Panel Presentations begin:
Panel subject: How the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted anthropological research and study
6:45pm- 7:30pm
Panel subject open for general discussion
7:30pm
Our Gather virtual platform will be open for further networking and discussions between participants. The virtual platform will only be open to 25 people at a time.
Saturday May 1st 2021
9:45am
Opening introductions
10:00am
Keynote Speaker Warren Clarke speech & presentation
Mapping the experiences and struggles of un(der)employed Afro-Caribbean “Black” (ACB) young men in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa: Through intersectional and phenomenological research, I seek to explain the social and economic implications among marginalized Afro-Caribbean Black male youth and their utilization of youth employment programs. The work aims to unsettle colonial ideologies and the long history of anti-Black racism in Canada. This talk encourages further inquiry and engagement.
11:15am
Sardana Nikolaeva: Problematics of Western and Non-Western Collaboration and Co-Authorship: In their piece on “other anthropologies”, Aleksandar Boskovic and Thomas Hylland Eriksen (2008) note that there is an urgent need in increase and improvement of communication between western and non-western scholars (and scholarship) to remedy its still-lingering one-sidedness. One of their important suggestions is a radical ushering of the processes of decolonization with its critical interrogation of the dominant discourses, creating a greater visibility of non-western anthropological traditions as well as development of more active collaboration and co-authorship initiatives. In this presentation (and further discussion), I want to open up a space to probe how we can collaborate and co-author meaningfully with other scholars and communities. I will talk about my experiences with the scholars of the North-Eastern Federal University (Russia), and, following Mounia El Kotni, Lydia Z. Dixon, and Veronica Miranda (2020), argue that critical and reflexive collaboration can challenge unequal power dynamics between western and non-western scholarship, and promote representation of diverse perspectives and experiences. Yet, most importantly, I want to open a discussion to interrogate the problematics involved in western and non-western collaborative and co-authorship initiatives, including such factors as language issues, politics and ethics of research and writing, and a lack of long-term relationships.
11:30 am
Dr. Linda Larcombe & Chief Yassie: Land Based Learning and Health: Sayisi Dene First Nation and the University of Manitoba: The Sayisi Dene First Nation in northern Manitoba were relocated in the 1950’s from their traditional territory at Duck Lake to Churchill. This move caused generations of Dene to become disconnected from the environment and the resources that had sustained them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for thousands of years. A small group of Dene left Churchill in the 1970’s to re-establish themselves in their traditional territory. However, during those 20 years in Churchill the connection with the land was broken - knowledgeable Elders had passed away, opportunities to be on the land ceased, language was lost, and people needed to heal from the traumas experienced at Churchill. As part of the broader community healing process - the challenge now is to mobilize knowledge across generations by engaging Elders and youth in knowledge sharing activities. This project mobilized and shared knowledge about culturally significant recent and historical Dene Land-culture based practices with Dene youth using outreach activities to hear and document information from land and resources users. The community-led activities facilitated a discussion about how traditional sharing practices (story-telling, oral narratives), western research methods (mapping, archaeology, ethnography, and geographic information systems (QGIS)) can mobilize Indigenous knowledge as a way to counter the dispossession, enhance local knowledge, and support First Nations talents and research capacity. This project continues to strengthen the partnership between the Dene and the University of Manitoba and enhance opportunities for knowledge mobilization and training for youth in northern Manitoba and for researchers at the university.
12:00pm
Astara van der Jagt & Raghd Elgamal: When the public invades the private and the private invades the public: Narratives of Spatiality & Temporality: This paper explores the potentials and limitations of co-constructed autoethnography during Covid-19 through the gaze of two graduate students. Uncertainty is used as a methodology, which helps to navigate this Covid-19 pandemic, and its far-reaching implications. It explores both virtual and non-virtual worlds, specifically the invasion of the private sphere by the public sphere and vice-versa. The methodology provides a way for collaborating researchers to reflect on the intersections between spatiality and temporality, which draws on non-linear and dynamic lifeways that challenge objectivity. Photographs and audio recordings are used to navigate sonic experiences across space and time. Paintings and poems are used to define, navigate and assess lived experiences juxtaposed against the emotionally-charged uncertainties and anxieties of Covid-19. The primary objective of this research is to raise awareness about the complex webs of affect and praxis that together constitute reality. The secondary one is to question current streams of conventional anthropological approaches in research. This research contributes to alternative ways of engaging with invasive discontinuities in private and public spaces.
12:15pm
Taleea Tomlinson: BIPOC Social Solidarity: Ways to Increase BIPOC Retention in the Field of Anthropology: This presentation will discuss present social solidarity within the community of BIPOC anthropology students and ways to build a broader social network in the future. Social solidarity amongst BIPOC anthropology students can promote in-field retention and graduate success. Social solidarity is one of the many ways people of color can create a community in an isolating field. By creating communities, people of color can build strong unions against interdepartmental white supremacy. Social solidarity can come in a few forms, such as Facebook groups, campus clubs, media outlets (podcasting, youtube), and word of mouth. The lack of social solidarity, due to systemic racism, has caused department isolation amongst students of color, unaccounted microaggressions by anthropology staff, and the increase of mental illness amongst students of color. These issues affect BIPOC retention due to students of color not maintaining academic standing, department relations, and finances for educational bills. Lack of social solidarity, often causes students to drop out of undergraduate programs, graduate programs, and causes professionals to quit job opportunities. An intentional social solidarity network would allow students of color more agency to choose appropriate departments, professors, field schools, and graduate programs.
12:30pm
Maureen Mathews
12:45pm-1:00pm
15 minute break
1:00pm
Taylor Neustaeter: Mennonite Groups in Southern Manitoba: Contemporary Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mennonites’ history of persecution, and ensuing migration to Canada in seeking religious freedom, provides a frame for understanding contemporary responses to COVID-19. Attending to pandemic lifeworlds of Mennonite groups in Southern Manitoba reveals how they exist within a complex and interconnected system of history, politics, religion, self-perception, and group identity. Fostering understanding between culturally diverse groups can help break down barriers and encourage different groups to approach one another with respect and compassion. When we understand the motivation behind the behaviour of a cultural group, it can also increase our ability to communicate culturally and contextually appropriate messaging, ultimately leading to a better and more effective pandemic response. This is particularly significant as vaccine rollouts become a vital component of Canada’s pandemic response.
1:15pm
Callie Bouchard: The Importance of Self-Reflection in Decolonizing Anthropology: My presentation discusses a research paper I did on the intergenerational effects and human rights violations of residential schools. Shortly after I wrote the paper, I went through a process of self-reflection and questioning, where I acknowledged a lot of privilege, settler perspectivization, and unpacking some other questions associated with decolonizing anthropology.
1:30pm
Cinthia Campos: The Syllabus: A Roadmap For Decolonizing Anthropology: The syllabus design is perhaps one of the strongest tools available to decolonize academia. Courses are often taught using classic books and articles by well-known authors who are more than often cis-White men and women. Therefore, continuing to repeat many problematic and racist ideologies. Decolonizing work is seen as a part of service often relegated to BIPOC individuals predominantly women of color. In turn, this puts an added strain on marginalized individuals taking away valuable research time to advance to tenure. Decolonizing anthropology should be a concern for all staff, faculty, and students. A proposed solution is to make deconstructing racism an integral part of courses, discussions, by addressing these themes in course objectives and doing a thorough review of the literature. An equitable consideration and selection of readings would not only ensure works by BIPOC scholars are being read and cited but introduces perspectives and increases representation. Weaving in decolonizing anthropology into discussions and assignments will make it so that everyone in the class has to reflect on, critique, and discuss current practices regardless of their “race” or ethnicity. The syllabus is the roadmap for the class and faculty and students are the drivers in decolonizing anthropology.
1:45pm-2:00pm
15 minute break
2:00pm
Liz Hydesmith: COVID-19 S-word Conceptual Art Project Representing Public Health in Public Art, Public Anthropology & Public Wealth: To represent my COIVD-19 experience, I reflected on the various interconnectedness aspects of the communal experience of the COVID-19 to create conceptual art piece. The significance of the concept of “public” in anthropology is considered in this piece. Public health and public responsibility for disease control through social distancing is represented physically by papier mâché masks; Public Anthropology and ethnography represented by the S-words in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, written on papier mâché masks; Public Art represented by the installation represented by 19 mask units, having space and dimension. As a piece of conceptual art, the installation uses words beginning with the 19th letter of the alphabet, letter-‘S’ to represent COVID-19, and aspects of the sentiment of the pandemic experience. These words represent thoughts I, the artist, had about the pandemic and how they signify, for me, the experience. These 19 words were written on face masks, to represent the words that have been spoken during pandemic, but behind the masks of the public. The S-words are drawn from coursework challenge/blogs I created for Dr. Lara Rosenoff-Gauvin’s ANTH Anthropology Now COVID-19 weekly challenge course submissions. I linked the words to Winnipeg Free Press articles in which the words were used during the pandemic, making a connection between the words of a member of the public to the newspaper. At the end of 2020, a number of the masks were used by people to tell the story of that word in their 2020 experience, then committed to a bonfire.
2:15pm
Lauren Tisdale: Mancala to Merels: The Spread of Board Games Throughout the Roman Provinces: The Romans were fond of playing board games to pass time and were a significant contributor to the spread of specific board games across Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. This paper examines the channels through which the Romans spread their favourite games by looking at multiple archaeological sites across the Roman Empire, from military forts in Roman Britain to forts in Roman Egypt and Palymra, and argues that the Roman military was a leading factor in the popularization of certain board games in the Roman provinces.
2:30pm
Tatianna Balcaen: Food Insecurity, Human Rights and Poverty in Indigenous Communities in Winnipeg: Food insecurity is a major social, cultural, economic and health issue for the Indigenous communities in Winnipeg. Although the Canadian government has committed to upholding human rights by signing various declarations, structural violence still permeates in the country and causes many violations of these rights. The discussion will begin with the scope of food insecurity in Winnipeg, more specifically the history behind this issue, and today’s context. The multitude of current variables contributing to the prevalence of food insecurity, the implication of poverty and the persisting oppressive neoliberal policies in Winnipeg will also be explored. Last but not least, a discussion about food sovereignty will present recommendations for reducing the issue of food insecurity in Winnipeg moving forward.
2:45pm
Liz Hydesmith: Consent: Yes, I do.: As researchers, we have a human rights obligation to create the conditions for an ethical space in the research process and to ensure that participants at all levels are truly aware of what our request for their involvement in our research means In the context of decolonising research, this not only makes good sense, but is vital given that Indigenous peoples have a long history of being researched without consent. Let’s think about reversing that power dynamic for a moment. Conducting research is an ethical commitment, whether asking individuals or communities to participate. So, shouldn’t we be prepared to see consent from the participant perspective? Indigenous individuals are people of Indigenous communities. Shouldn’t we consent to the conditions outlined by an Indigenous community through their community lead consent process? Shouldn’t we approach this with months or years of time to cultivate respect and practices of reciprocity? Perhaps to do this we come together on Indigenous terms - as communities and researchers, agreeing to an Indigenous community lead agenda, honouring Indigenous community lead goals and common commitment to achieving those goals with Indigenous researchers. When we open space for a shift in power and truly collaboratively consent to an Indigenous lead research process, we researchers would be the ones saying “yes, we do”. With this, a step toward decolonising the research process may be reached.
3:00pm
Zoe Slusar: Let Them Play: Exploring How Playing Sport Impacts the Experience of Settlement for Newcomer Males: This study explores how participating in playing sports affects the lives of young newcomer men in Calgary, Alberta. Utilizing ethnographic research methods; including participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study explores how sites of play, based in sports, are crucial to newcomers developing a sense of belonging. This research explores the skills, cultural awareness, relationships and coping skills that newcomers develop through playing sport. Qualitative interviews, conducted with a core research group of 15 young men between the ages of 18-30, combines with participant observation to highlight newcomer males relationship with sport as a positive factor in their adjustment to life in Canada. Young men make up the majority of the newcomer population; and experience pressure to establish themselves as independent in Canadian society. This study explores how sites of play, linked to sport, are locations where barriers and restrictions faced by newcomers are removed or challenged. Exploring the question of what makes human beings feel they belong; and how feeling a sense of belonging links to positive engagement in society, can improve the experience of settlement for young newcomer males. This is meaningful for immigration policy and program development. This research highlights the validity of researching sites of play as a focus area for anthropology. An open exploration of sites of interaction that are deemed meaningful, and why this meaning making is significant, can lead us to an evolution of valuing play.
3:30pm
Prizes and closing remarks
2:45 pm: Opening introductions
3:00 pm: First Presenter:
Dr. Jaime Cidro: This presentation will discuss the Winnipeg-based project She Walks with Me, which responds to the social and cultural challenges experienced by a project on Indigenous doulas as a cultural intervention for Manitoban First Nations women traveling for birth and is focused on the urban Indigenous population in Winnipeg. Our objectives are: (1) to develop a set of quantitative and qualitative research tools that are responsive to the partners’ needs for evidence and provides an opportunity for participants to share their experiences in a format that honours them as life givers; (2) to establish a model for urban Indigenous doula service delivery that places Indigenous communities and organizations at the centre and provides administrative, technical, cultural, and emotional support for Indigenous birth workers; (3) to develop an urban-focused Indigenous doula program that supports women currently residing in the city, as well as those temporarily relocating for birth; and (4) to develop and pilot a smartphone app for the delivery of ongoing education, inter-doula networking, and access to information to support the work of the doulas.
3:30 pm
Dr. Laura Kelvin: Unsettling Archaeology in Nunatsiavut: The Agvituk Digital Archive Project: Archaeology in North America is built on a settler colonial foundation that continues to be embedded in the discipline. In most cases, it ensures the separation of Indigenous people from their material culture, while telling Indigenous histories through a settler colonial lens. The Agvituk Digital Archive Project is a community-initiated project that aims to disrupt the settler colonial foundation of archaeology through the application of community-centered practices. Working with Nunatsiavummiut youth and knowledge holders, archaeologists, and museum professionals, the Agvituk DAP works to create a digital archive of oral histories and community knowledge of Agvituk, a large Inuit whaling site that was an important part of the Inuit-European coastal trade network during the 16th to 18th centuries, alongside photographs and 3D models of material previously excavated from Agvituk that are now kept in museums throughout the world.
4:00 pm- 5:00 pm
Supper Break between speakers
5:00pm- 5:30 pm
Katerina Mpelmpa: Anthropology is Everywhere: Anthropology is growing and it is being cultivated as long as the world changes. Anthropology has never been about “others” before it has been about our closest experiences and environment first. The anthropological research, starts with the familiar before it continues with the “other” or the “different “ and through this field of view, changes happen. Through “others” we understand ourselves and through ourselves we understand “others”. Technology is a field that has a huge impact in the anthropological community and in the science of Anthropology generally. New ways of working, applying anthropological knowledge, helping, sharing and promoting. The power of an equal human interaction is the core of the anthropological meaning & essence. In our times, anthropology is delving into almost everything, social media, business, marketing, filmmaking and many more, the form of the digital anthropology is more alive than ever. That means, that new methods and new designs are waiting for those who will create a whole new chapter in the market by using the knowledge of this science and the advantages of the new ways of interacting.
5:30pm- 6:00pm
Sydnye Berard: A Preliminary Analysis of the Presence of Non-metric traits in Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba.: Non-metric traits, also known as discrete traits, are anatomical anomalies within the human skeleton that are considered relatively simple to identify and score. Some research suggests that non-metric traits are genetic in nature and could provide insights into the ancestry of certain populations. For the purpose of this research, preliminary findings were scored from images of the skeletal remains excavated in Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba. Canímar Abajo is an archaeological site located on the banks of the Canímar River, near Matanzas City, Cuba. All information is based on a visual analysis of images taken of the bones in a laboratory. Each non-metric trait will be marked as either present/absent in the case of each individual for the purpose of this preliminary analysis. This method is preferred due to the limitations of only having access to the bones through images as we navigate the restrictions of doing research during a global pandemic. Many questions arise when researching non-metric traits, such as the prevalence of certain traits within a region, although I cannot answer many of those questions, I do aim to create a solid base fo r further research on the subject in the region.
6:00pm- 6:45pm: Panel Presentations begin:
Panel subject: How the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted anthropological research and study
- Dr. Emily Holland
- Sardana Nikolaeva
- Tekla Cunningham
- Chenée Merchant
- Liz Hydesmith
6:45pm- 7:30pm
Panel subject open for general discussion
7:30pm
Our Gather virtual platform will be open for further networking and discussions between participants. The virtual platform will only be open to 25 people at a time.
Saturday May 1st 2021
9:45am
Opening introductions
10:00am
Keynote Speaker Warren Clarke speech & presentation
Mapping the experiences and struggles of un(der)employed Afro-Caribbean “Black” (ACB) young men in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa: Through intersectional and phenomenological research, I seek to explain the social and economic implications among marginalized Afro-Caribbean Black male youth and their utilization of youth employment programs. The work aims to unsettle colonial ideologies and the long history of anti-Black racism in Canada. This talk encourages further inquiry and engagement.
11:15am
Sardana Nikolaeva: Problematics of Western and Non-Western Collaboration and Co-Authorship: In their piece on “other anthropologies”, Aleksandar Boskovic and Thomas Hylland Eriksen (2008) note that there is an urgent need in increase and improvement of communication between western and non-western scholars (and scholarship) to remedy its still-lingering one-sidedness. One of their important suggestions is a radical ushering of the processes of decolonization with its critical interrogation of the dominant discourses, creating a greater visibility of non-western anthropological traditions as well as development of more active collaboration and co-authorship initiatives. In this presentation (and further discussion), I want to open up a space to probe how we can collaborate and co-author meaningfully with other scholars and communities. I will talk about my experiences with the scholars of the North-Eastern Federal University (Russia), and, following Mounia El Kotni, Lydia Z. Dixon, and Veronica Miranda (2020), argue that critical and reflexive collaboration can challenge unequal power dynamics between western and non-western scholarship, and promote representation of diverse perspectives and experiences. Yet, most importantly, I want to open a discussion to interrogate the problematics involved in western and non-western collaborative and co-authorship initiatives, including such factors as language issues, politics and ethics of research and writing, and a lack of long-term relationships.
11:30 am
Dr. Linda Larcombe & Chief Yassie: Land Based Learning and Health: Sayisi Dene First Nation and the University of Manitoba: The Sayisi Dene First Nation in northern Manitoba were relocated in the 1950’s from their traditional territory at Duck Lake to Churchill. This move caused generations of Dene to become disconnected from the environment and the resources that had sustained them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for thousands of years. A small group of Dene left Churchill in the 1970’s to re-establish themselves in their traditional territory. However, during those 20 years in Churchill the connection with the land was broken - knowledgeable Elders had passed away, opportunities to be on the land ceased, language was lost, and people needed to heal from the traumas experienced at Churchill. As part of the broader community healing process - the challenge now is to mobilize knowledge across generations by engaging Elders and youth in knowledge sharing activities. This project mobilized and shared knowledge about culturally significant recent and historical Dene Land-culture based practices with Dene youth using outreach activities to hear and document information from land and resources users. The community-led activities facilitated a discussion about how traditional sharing practices (story-telling, oral narratives), western research methods (mapping, archaeology, ethnography, and geographic information systems (QGIS)) can mobilize Indigenous knowledge as a way to counter the dispossession, enhance local knowledge, and support First Nations talents and research capacity. This project continues to strengthen the partnership between the Dene and the University of Manitoba and enhance opportunities for knowledge mobilization and training for youth in northern Manitoba and for researchers at the university.
12:00pm
Astara van der Jagt & Raghd Elgamal: When the public invades the private and the private invades the public: Narratives of Spatiality & Temporality: This paper explores the potentials and limitations of co-constructed autoethnography during Covid-19 through the gaze of two graduate students. Uncertainty is used as a methodology, which helps to navigate this Covid-19 pandemic, and its far-reaching implications. It explores both virtual and non-virtual worlds, specifically the invasion of the private sphere by the public sphere and vice-versa. The methodology provides a way for collaborating researchers to reflect on the intersections between spatiality and temporality, which draws on non-linear and dynamic lifeways that challenge objectivity. Photographs and audio recordings are used to navigate sonic experiences across space and time. Paintings and poems are used to define, navigate and assess lived experiences juxtaposed against the emotionally-charged uncertainties and anxieties of Covid-19. The primary objective of this research is to raise awareness about the complex webs of affect and praxis that together constitute reality. The secondary one is to question current streams of conventional anthropological approaches in research. This research contributes to alternative ways of engaging with invasive discontinuities in private and public spaces.
12:15pm
Taleea Tomlinson: BIPOC Social Solidarity: Ways to Increase BIPOC Retention in the Field of Anthropology: This presentation will discuss present social solidarity within the community of BIPOC anthropology students and ways to build a broader social network in the future. Social solidarity amongst BIPOC anthropology students can promote in-field retention and graduate success. Social solidarity is one of the many ways people of color can create a community in an isolating field. By creating communities, people of color can build strong unions against interdepartmental white supremacy. Social solidarity can come in a few forms, such as Facebook groups, campus clubs, media outlets (podcasting, youtube), and word of mouth. The lack of social solidarity, due to systemic racism, has caused department isolation amongst students of color, unaccounted microaggressions by anthropology staff, and the increase of mental illness amongst students of color. These issues affect BIPOC retention due to students of color not maintaining academic standing, department relations, and finances for educational bills. Lack of social solidarity, often causes students to drop out of undergraduate programs, graduate programs, and causes professionals to quit job opportunities. An intentional social solidarity network would allow students of color more agency to choose appropriate departments, professors, field schools, and graduate programs.
12:30pm
Maureen Mathews
12:45pm-1:00pm
15 minute break
1:00pm
Taylor Neustaeter: Mennonite Groups in Southern Manitoba: Contemporary Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mennonites’ history of persecution, and ensuing migration to Canada in seeking religious freedom, provides a frame for understanding contemporary responses to COVID-19. Attending to pandemic lifeworlds of Mennonite groups in Southern Manitoba reveals how they exist within a complex and interconnected system of history, politics, religion, self-perception, and group identity. Fostering understanding between culturally diverse groups can help break down barriers and encourage different groups to approach one another with respect and compassion. When we understand the motivation behind the behaviour of a cultural group, it can also increase our ability to communicate culturally and contextually appropriate messaging, ultimately leading to a better and more effective pandemic response. This is particularly significant as vaccine rollouts become a vital component of Canada’s pandemic response.
1:15pm
Callie Bouchard: The Importance of Self-Reflection in Decolonizing Anthropology: My presentation discusses a research paper I did on the intergenerational effects and human rights violations of residential schools. Shortly after I wrote the paper, I went through a process of self-reflection and questioning, where I acknowledged a lot of privilege, settler perspectivization, and unpacking some other questions associated with decolonizing anthropology.
1:30pm
Cinthia Campos: The Syllabus: A Roadmap For Decolonizing Anthropology: The syllabus design is perhaps one of the strongest tools available to decolonize academia. Courses are often taught using classic books and articles by well-known authors who are more than often cis-White men and women. Therefore, continuing to repeat many problematic and racist ideologies. Decolonizing work is seen as a part of service often relegated to BIPOC individuals predominantly women of color. In turn, this puts an added strain on marginalized individuals taking away valuable research time to advance to tenure. Decolonizing anthropology should be a concern for all staff, faculty, and students. A proposed solution is to make deconstructing racism an integral part of courses, discussions, by addressing these themes in course objectives and doing a thorough review of the literature. An equitable consideration and selection of readings would not only ensure works by BIPOC scholars are being read and cited but introduces perspectives and increases representation. Weaving in decolonizing anthropology into discussions and assignments will make it so that everyone in the class has to reflect on, critique, and discuss current practices regardless of their “race” or ethnicity. The syllabus is the roadmap for the class and faculty and students are the drivers in decolonizing anthropology.
1:45pm-2:00pm
15 minute break
2:00pm
Liz Hydesmith: COVID-19 S-word Conceptual Art Project Representing Public Health in Public Art, Public Anthropology & Public Wealth: To represent my COIVD-19 experience, I reflected on the various interconnectedness aspects of the communal experience of the COVID-19 to create conceptual art piece. The significance of the concept of “public” in anthropology is considered in this piece. Public health and public responsibility for disease control through social distancing is represented physically by papier mâché masks; Public Anthropology and ethnography represented by the S-words in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, written on papier mâché masks; Public Art represented by the installation represented by 19 mask units, having space and dimension. As a piece of conceptual art, the installation uses words beginning with the 19th letter of the alphabet, letter-‘S’ to represent COVID-19, and aspects of the sentiment of the pandemic experience. These words represent thoughts I, the artist, had about the pandemic and how they signify, for me, the experience. These 19 words were written on face masks, to represent the words that have been spoken during pandemic, but behind the masks of the public. The S-words are drawn from coursework challenge/blogs I created for Dr. Lara Rosenoff-Gauvin’s ANTH Anthropology Now COVID-19 weekly challenge course submissions. I linked the words to Winnipeg Free Press articles in which the words were used during the pandemic, making a connection between the words of a member of the public to the newspaper. At the end of 2020, a number of the masks were used by people to tell the story of that word in their 2020 experience, then committed to a bonfire.
2:15pm
Lauren Tisdale: Mancala to Merels: The Spread of Board Games Throughout the Roman Provinces: The Romans were fond of playing board games to pass time and were a significant contributor to the spread of specific board games across Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. This paper examines the channels through which the Romans spread their favourite games by looking at multiple archaeological sites across the Roman Empire, from military forts in Roman Britain to forts in Roman Egypt and Palymra, and argues that the Roman military was a leading factor in the popularization of certain board games in the Roman provinces.
2:30pm
Tatianna Balcaen: Food Insecurity, Human Rights and Poverty in Indigenous Communities in Winnipeg: Food insecurity is a major social, cultural, economic and health issue for the Indigenous communities in Winnipeg. Although the Canadian government has committed to upholding human rights by signing various declarations, structural violence still permeates in the country and causes many violations of these rights. The discussion will begin with the scope of food insecurity in Winnipeg, more specifically the history behind this issue, and today’s context. The multitude of current variables contributing to the prevalence of food insecurity, the implication of poverty and the persisting oppressive neoliberal policies in Winnipeg will also be explored. Last but not least, a discussion about food sovereignty will present recommendations for reducing the issue of food insecurity in Winnipeg moving forward.
2:45pm
Liz Hydesmith: Consent: Yes, I do.: As researchers, we have a human rights obligation to create the conditions for an ethical space in the research process and to ensure that participants at all levels are truly aware of what our request for their involvement in our research means In the context of decolonising research, this not only makes good sense, but is vital given that Indigenous peoples have a long history of being researched without consent. Let’s think about reversing that power dynamic for a moment. Conducting research is an ethical commitment, whether asking individuals or communities to participate. So, shouldn’t we be prepared to see consent from the participant perspective? Indigenous individuals are people of Indigenous communities. Shouldn’t we consent to the conditions outlined by an Indigenous community through their community lead consent process? Shouldn’t we approach this with months or years of time to cultivate respect and practices of reciprocity? Perhaps to do this we come together on Indigenous terms - as communities and researchers, agreeing to an Indigenous community lead agenda, honouring Indigenous community lead goals and common commitment to achieving those goals with Indigenous researchers. When we open space for a shift in power and truly collaboratively consent to an Indigenous lead research process, we researchers would be the ones saying “yes, we do”. With this, a step toward decolonising the research process may be reached.
3:00pm
Zoe Slusar: Let Them Play: Exploring How Playing Sport Impacts the Experience of Settlement for Newcomer Males: This study explores how participating in playing sports affects the lives of young newcomer men in Calgary, Alberta. Utilizing ethnographic research methods; including participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study explores how sites of play, based in sports, are crucial to newcomers developing a sense of belonging. This research explores the skills, cultural awareness, relationships and coping skills that newcomers develop through playing sport. Qualitative interviews, conducted with a core research group of 15 young men between the ages of 18-30, combines with participant observation to highlight newcomer males relationship with sport as a positive factor in their adjustment to life in Canada. Young men make up the majority of the newcomer population; and experience pressure to establish themselves as independent in Canadian society. This study explores how sites of play, linked to sport, are locations where barriers and restrictions faced by newcomers are removed or challenged. Exploring the question of what makes human beings feel they belong; and how feeling a sense of belonging links to positive engagement in society, can improve the experience of settlement for young newcomer males. This is meaningful for immigration policy and program development. This research highlights the validity of researching sites of play as a focus area for anthropology. An open exploration of sites of interaction that are deemed meaningful, and why this meaning making is significant, can lead us to an evolution of valuing play.
3:30pm
Prizes and closing remarks
Conference questions?
Email umasa@myumanitoba.ca or uwinnipegasa@gmail.com!
