” For your project, begin thinking about the approach you want to take to your topic after reading these two Toronto Globe and Mail editorials:
– the first is by Alicia Elliott (2018) entitled “A memo to Canada: Indigenous people are not your incompetent children”; and
– the second is by Jeffrey Simpson (2013) entitled “Too many First Nations people live in a dream palace”.
Both editorials have been combined here into one .pdf document.
…and there is one more requirement(?) for the prospects of sustainability in the North!
During the course we will be discussing the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental geographies of the North. A major focus will be on the First Nations (FN) peoples in Canada who live and work and play in the North, FN and Western knowledge systems, historical and modern land claims processes in Canada, and the (changing) characteristics of Northern Canadian lifestyles and resource dependencies. And all of these challenges within the context and consequences of imminent climate disruption!
With the above in mind and specifically referring to elements of the combined Elliot/Simpson editorials, you must also relate your discussion to the 2015 Conference Board of Canada report “Building a Resilient and Prosperous North” to support your examination of sustainability in Canada’s North.
Students should adopt any ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE perspectives for your individual or small group project (for a small group report there should be no more than 3 students working together):
1. create a response to Simpson’s editoral, arguing for or against his perspective, during which you will develop, through course concepts, materials and your own research efforts, definitions and scenario(s) of Northern sustainability. While you must include in your analysis relevant elements of an ecologically-sustainable system (that is environmental, social and economic factors), you can place more emphasize on one element over the others given the focus of your project;
OR
2. create a response to Elliot’s editorial, arguing for or against her perspective, during which you will develop, through course concepts, materials and your own research efforts, definitions and scenario(s) of Northern sustainability. While you must include in your analysis relevant elements of an ecologically-sustainable system (that is environmental, social and economic factors), you can focus more on one element over the others given the focus of your project;
OR
3. focus on the implications of one or the other or both of the editorials and design an actual model of a Northern remote community that you can argue could be ecologically sustainable, that is environmentally, socially and economically self-sufficient and politically doable. This can be from the First Nations perspective living in either a non-wage or wage-based economy or a blend of both, or you can take a more back-to-the-land eco-sphere approach to creating a sustainable community. Either way, cultural and spiritual as well as ‘western’ pragmatic factors must be included in your discussion.
The major course project, making up 40% of the total course grade, must include the following elements:
…..a title page with student name(s) and ID number(s), course number and the title of your project;.
– the report or project cmay be submitted in any of the following formats: a powerpoint presentation with NOTHING in the ‘notes’ section; a website; or a written report;
– all content must be properly sourced to a correctly formatted bibliography.
…..it is very important to attend the project workshop tutorials in order to develop an understanding of the instructor’s expectations concerning the length and substantive nature of your research and writing efforts depending on your topic, the number of people contributing to the project, and the particular format with which you want to use to present your findings.
AND IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT YOUR REPORTS:
The final submission MUST include a complete and well formatted bibliography that reflects both your individual or combined research efforts and the approach or combination of perspectives you have chosen. Reports must reference all secondary information adequately and appropriately to a well formatted bibliography or risk a grade of ‘0’.
And please edit your final submission. You could also lose marks for grammatical errors and these will be deducted after the final tallying of the rubric listed above.
Each student or small student group (no more than three people per report) can select whatever topic they want to explore from the above choices.
Possible formats and suggested lengths of the major report should include…
– report-style – individual approx. 2000 to 2500 words; 2 students approx. 2500 to 3000 words; 3 students approx. 3000 to 3500 words;
– powerpoint or keynote – individual approx. 20 slides; 2 students approx. 25 to 30 slides; 3 students approx. 30 to 35 slides;
– website – individual approx. 1500 to 2000 words; 2 students approx. 2500 words; 3 students approx. 3000 words with an easily navigable and well illustrated design.
The method of submission is through the D2L course shell —> assessments —> assignments —> GEO 605 Term Project and submit! Once graded, you will be able to see your evaluation via D2L as well.
…for websites upload to the D2L course shell a .docx title page with the course name, your name(s), student number(s) and the website address to the D2L course shell —> assessments —> assignments —> GEO 605 Term Project and submit! Once graded, you will be able to see your evaluation on the title page document via D2L as well. “
