Lakehead University series prepares individuals to participate in reconciliation
February 17, 2022 – Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.
Lakehead University is launching a community-based education series to support those seeking to understand and respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
Featuring Indigenous Elders and knowledge keepers, the five-week series, Truth and Reconciliation: Community Dialogues, will focus on learning truths related to Indigenous histories and contemporary experiences in Canada, and discussing how reconciliation can be enacted in meaningful ways in our communities.
“Our responsibility lies in dismantling the biases and beliefs in and around us,” said Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Lakehead’s Chair on Truth and Reconciliation and one of the speakers in the series.
“The truth is buried beneath inaccessible advantages and lurks in the darkness of denial where it will not allow change. Shining a light on truth allows us all to move forward together, heal injustice, and ensure an inclusive and equitable future.”
Developed through a partnership between Wesley-Esquimaux and Lakehead’s Office of Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning, the series is geared toward youth and adults who are ready to engage with truth and participate in reconciliation.
“People want to be allies, but there is still uncertainty about how to start, sustain, and further work through these processes,” explained Dr. Linda Rodenburg, Director of Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning. “We hope that this series helps them answer the question ‘what can I do?’.”
Supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, this free series will be held over five weeks from March 1 to 29 on Tuesdays via Zoom. Register at www.lakeheadu.ca/cell.
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Media: Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications & Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean’s 2021 University Rankings; as well as included in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2022 World Universities Rankings for the third consecutive year, and in the top 100 of 1,115 universities from around the world in THE's 2021 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.