The Program Learning Outcomes for the MA in Human Rights and Social Justice are listed below:
- Articulate and apply advanced, interdisciplinary theories and practices of human rights and social justice, from legal, academic, and experiential perspectives.
- Demonstrate a critical awareness and understanding of the past and present debates that have shaped human rights and social justice issues.
- Demonstrate advanced critical thinking in relation to established techniques and methods of research and inquiry that are used to create and interpret knowledge in the field of human rights and social justice.
- Demonstrate knowledge, through experiential learning, of key human rights and social justice issues locally, nationally, and/or globally.
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of and competence in the application of research methods and techniques.
- Articulate original ideas, arguments and observations through group work and presentations, and high-quality writing or artistic works.
- Demonstrate a critical awareness and understanding of ethical and intercultural frameworks appropriate to research planning and communication skills to a range of audiences and social contexts.
- Challenge and critique social and political structures and legalistic definitions based on a knowledgeable, socially responsible, and sustainable perspective.
- Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of and respect for the values of a range of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.
- Creatively engage in finding solutions to issues of justice and fairness in contemporary society at a community, provincial, national, and/or global level.
- Demonstrate leadership in recognizing, respecting, and advancing the value of intercultural understanding and worldviews regarding human and environmental diversity.
Demonstrate knowledge, through experiential learning, of key human rights and social justice issues locally, nationally, and/or globally.
I didn’t realize how close to home I could get while learning about human rights and social justice issues. I discovered a local issue that gained national attention. While researching for an assignment in my Settler Colonialism class (HRSJ 5120 – Settler Colonialism: Decolonization and Responsibility), I discovered the Swelkwek’welt protest at Sun Peaks in the early 2000s. The protest was initiated to prevent expansion of the Sun Peaks Resort into traditional Indigenous territory, which was historically used for ceremony, hunting, medicine gathering, and other uses. As an uninvited settler to these lands, I was deeply ashamed of my ignorance to the issue. The assignment to which I applied this knowledge was a mapping assignment. I was asked to produce a non-cartography map of a place that is important to me. I enjoy skiing and I spend a considerable amount of time in Sun Peaks and at the resort. I experience the resort differently now that I have knowledge of its history, social justice movements around its expansion, and the ongoing colonial effect of the resort’s expansion.
Another way I have learned experientially about human rights and social justice is right here at Thompson Rivers University and the Arts Department. My practicum took place at the university within the new Arts Cohort program. I was asked to do research on sense of belonging and inclusion in education. This research was applied to planning and implementing orientation day activities for the incoming students. I have always known that I posses an enormous amount of privilege. By viewing education as fragile and as something worth tremendous effort to maintain, I came to understand its place as a human right. My practicum experience led me to accept a teaching assistant position with the cohort at the start of the next semester. Later, I also accepted a research assistant position with the cohort. I followed these students through their first year of university and was able to witness the life-altering effects of post-secondary education on their lives. They were different people at the end of the year than they were when they started. They have confidence; they have relationships; they have powerful knowledge.
Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of and respect for the values of a range of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.
Some of the best learning I experienced came from an assignment I worked on for HRSJ 5020 – Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Resurgence of Land Based Pedagogies and Practices. I chose a topic for my final paper that is personal; it is close to my heart. I naively thought that because I was aware of many Indigenous people who benefited from a proposed solution that my paper presented that it was valued by Indigenous culture. When I submitted my proposal, the feedback I was given suggested that my paper presented colonial, white-dominant culture that was imposed on Indigenous people. I was shocked and felt a little lost. After a meeting with my professor, and doing a lot more research, I was able to reconcile the difference. While the final paper may not have contained the argument I had originally intended, the growth I experienced regarding Indigenous values was tremendous. I now can see how many Indigenous people participate in colonially dominated programs, structures, and institutions and that does not also reflect the values of their culture.
While attending a workshop on campus, outside of my formal studies, I came across a piece of literature that caught my attention. It is a book written by an Indigenous scientist. The author spends the entirety of the book braiding together Indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants (the author is an environmental biologist). The story-telling narrative drew me in. The scientific teachings I remember. The wisdom of plants I will forever be on the lookout for. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that no other piece of literature, whether fiction or non-fiction, has had such a profound impact on my world view. Perhaps it came to me at the most opportune time, such that I was primed to receive it exactly as I did. Maybe the author is so remarkable at expressing exactly what she wanted to convey that the words landed perfectly. Or potentially, the message itself—that Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants can coexist—is not revolutionary and is simply a logical form of social justice itself and rings true.
Articulate original ideas, arguments and observations through group work and presentations, and high-quality writing or artistic works.
Because I had found the book described above, my group presentation for HRSJ 5260 – Moral Economies and Social Movements in Contemporary Capitalism was effortless, due to the right approach. We chose the topic of mass/overconsumption and were asked to present social movements addressing the issue and their potential negative/positive impact to addressing the issue. The presentation included a comparison of modern social movements and Indigenous wisdom. The conclusion was that of the book’s—by braiding Indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge (we left out the teachings of plants), a more powerful solution arises.
Working on this group project in the final semester of my degree was an evolution for me in my learning journey. The group was cohesive, worked well together, and we were on the same page the whole time. I’m not sure that was the case for my group project in HRSJ 5010 – Foundations of Human Rights and Social Justice in my first semester of classes. That project turned out to be a veery successful project, but it did not function in the same integrated manner as the one previously mentioned. We did our work individually, we stitched it together, and handed it in. While there was no presentation aspect to this group project, I don’t see it being as successful as the other. I grew as a learner; I learned how to work in a group, I discovered how to communicate better, and I became aware that there are different ways to get to the end than the one I had in my mind at the beginning.