Professor Venema’s ENGL 3180 Organizes “Community Conversation for Peace”
Thu. Apr. 27, 2017
ENGL-3180 "Making Peace and War in Literature," includes the traditional study of literary and cultural texts; a practicum component (students work two hours a week at a community organization, mostly literacy, after-school, newcomer, community development-related); and a collaborative "action" that the students design, with the goal of increasing peacefulness in the community.
This year, in the context of the American election and the increasing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the border into Manitoba, and catalyzed by the killings at the Quebec City mosque, students in ENGL-3180 determined that they wanted to host an event that would help them learn much more about newcomers to Canada and people seeking asylum. Their shared goals were to become stronger advocates for newcomers and more courageous as they challenge discourses of racism.
Recognizing that some of the circle-pedagogy techniques they've used throughout the year would be perfect for prompting low-risk and nevertheless deeply engaged conversation, the class worked on preparing strong exercises, pooled their money for (culturally-appropriate) snacks, designed a great poster, and went to town (literally) to make connections with community organizations serving newcomers. The event on Wednesday April 5th drew 26 community guests (almost twice the minimum 15 they’d set as their goal) and it was an extraordinary evening.
The event had several guests who'd only been in Canada for two weeks (brought by their contact person at Welcome Place, who also worked as a translator), and many people said at the end that the evening had been the first time they felt welcome in Canada.
There was a very strong wish expressed for future such events, so the students and Prof. Venema are considering how they might make that happen. Please see the brochure for more details about the event. And contact Professor Kathleen Venema at k.venema@uwinnipeg.ca if you would like to be informed about further events.