Based on “social imagination,” a concept coined by Maxine Greene that identifies future possibilities in the midst of a contemporary “deficit society,” this session launches our critical writing workshop series WriteON 2020: Rooted: Togetherness in the built environment. 

With the understanding that listening is foundational to open perspective and therefore thinking (and writing) critically, we feel it essential to begin the workshop series with a listening session that builds awareness.

Join us for a virtual listening session led by Métis scholar and associate professor, Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. This session is an opportunity to develop an awareness of the narratives and histories that are often untold.

There is no fee to participate in this session, but due to limited virtual capacity, RSVP is required. You will receive a reading list and a Zoom link upon registration.

Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt is a Métis scholar whose family ancestry traces to the historic Red River Settlement and, more recently, to the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in northeastern Alberta. She is an Associate Professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, and has previously served as Associate Director, Métis Education at the Rupertsland Institute, a Métis Centre of Excellence.  She led the creation and development of the “Indigenous Education: A Call to Action” graduate program in 2016 and she continues to explore the potential of reconciliatory pedagogy through her scholarship and ongoing teaching in this program. Dr. Poitras Pratt’s research concentrates on experiential learning and creative imaginings. She ethnographically explores the potential of digital storytelling to revitalize oral traditions in her book, Digital Storytelling in Indigenous Education: A Decolonizing Journey for a Métis Community (Routledge Press, 2019). Her scholarship builds on the use of media, and other aesthetic expressions, as catalysts for transformative learning within difficult learning environments. Dr. Poitras Pratt publishes in the area of reconciliatory pedagogy, critical service-learning, Indigenous education, anti-racism and social justice studies, with a special interest in the integration of arts in a variety of learning environments.