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New course showcases Indigenous storytelling traditions
by Linda Warley
What does Indigenous literature have to do with current issues that impact Indigenous peoples? How can reading Indigenous literature help us—all of us—understand the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls, or the power of the Idle No More movement, or the importance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or the meaning of the protests currently taking place at Standing Rock Sioux nation against the building of an oil pipeline?
English 211: First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literatures introduces students to the storytelling traditions of Indigenous people in Canada and links those traditions to contemporary literature produced by some of Canada’s most exciting writers including Jeannette C. Armstrong (Okanagan), Richard Wagamese (Anishinaabe), Eden Robinson (Haisla/Heiltsuk), Tomson Highway (Cree), Marilyn Dumont (Métis) Alootook Ipellie (Inuit) and many others.
The course also provides a context for learning about Indigenous worldviews, histories, themes and modes. From oratory to drama, from creation story to poetry, from autobiography to fiction the works we study in this course are grounded in Indigenous knowledge and affirm the resilience of Indigenous people despite 500 years of colonization.
The writing is also full of humour, surprise, and inventiveness — and this class will be full of these things as well. The course is open to anyone.
From ARWU to THE, ranking season is in full swing
Organizations have begun publishing their annual rankings of international universities.
A key theme of the University’s performance among Canadian universities in these global rankings is consistency: Waterloo is placed 7th in the QS ranking and the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking, and is tied for the 7-13th band in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
What makes Waterloo’s performance when compared to research-intensive peer institutions especially noteworthy is the fact that the University ranks so well in the U15 despite not having a medical school. Institutions with medical schools, like the rest of the U15 universities, typically produce a larger volume of research outputs, including publications and citations, than those without. In the case of the QS and THE rankings, Waterloo ranks above just over half its Canadian peers in the U15, and about half of the institutions in Canada with medical schools place further down the rankings than Waterloo does.
The University of Waterloo’s results are as follows:
The annual QS ranking has placed Waterloo at 152nd in the world and 7th in Canada, the same positions as last year. Waterloo improved in a number of indicators, including citations per faculty members (#1 in Canada) and employer reputation (from 115th in 2015 to 104th this year).
The Times Higher Education (THE) ranking places Waterloo at 173rd in the world, up from 179th in 2015, and 7th in Canada, in the same position as last year. Waterloo improved in the teaching category, which contains elements such as reputation, PhDs per academic, income per academic, and ratio of PhDs to Bachelor’s awarded. Waterloo also improved in the research category, which includes indicators on reputation and papers per academic.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) places Waterloo in the 201-300 band, similar to 2015 and tied for the 7th spot in Canada (in the 7-13 band). Waterloo’s score has improved in per capita performance and number of articles indexed in the Science Citation Index.
In the PitchBook rankings of the world’s top 50 universities producing venture capitalist-backed entrepreneurs, the University of Waterloo is ranked 20th in the world, up from 21st last year, and is the top Canadian institution in the rankings. This measure refers to universities that are most prolific producers of entrepreneurs with venture capital backing and includes companies that received a first round of venture funding between Jan 1, 2006 and Aug 15, 2016.
In the ranking for top universities featuring unicorns, or those entrepreneurs founding companies that are valued privately at $1B or more, the University of Waterloo is tied for 6th internationally and is the #1 Canadian institution, up from 7th place last year.
In the ranking of top universities for exits, which refers to a situation when a company is sold, acquired, or goes public, the University of Waterloo is tied for 18th globally and is first in Canada. This is a new measure this year that ranks universities by the number of entrepreneurs founding companies that had an exit between January 1, 2010 and August 15, 2016.
Ranking organizations made several changes to the methodologies used to calculate their ranking results this year and these changes often contribute to the movement of universities either up or down in the rankings. For more detailed information, contact Institutional Analysis and Planning.
Wednesday's notes
Bearinger Road, University Avenue, and Seagram Drive have all reopened, and now it's Columbia Street's turn for an ION-related construction closure.
Columbia Street is closed at the railway tracks for approximately four days.
A detour directing vehicles to Phillip to University to Westmount will be in place.
Check the ION-related travel disruption page for further updates.
Do you have ideas about how our community can be more supportive of newcomers? The Immigration Partnership is looking for input on how create successful settlement, integration and community involvement for immigrants and refugees in Waterloo Region. Share your thoughts by Friday, September 30.
Retail Services is pleased to announce the opening of its newest Media.Doc location in the Science Teaching Complex. This Media.Doc was designed with Science students, faculty, and staff in mind, offering 3D printing on both Maker Bot and 3D Systems printers. Our Science Faculty focused merchandise includes essential lab supplies, lab coats, and Science-branded unique items. Retail Services' newest print equipment provides high-quality large format printing, scanning and laminating, and colour output for course assignments, presentations, and other innovative educational or research projects.
Please join Retail Services for the Grand Opening of the Media.Doc Science in STC on Monday, October 3 at 10:00 a.m.
Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include: Pure Storage, Redfin, Bank of Montreal, Ernst & Young, LinkedIn, Arista Networks, Rogers Communications, Yelp, Yahoo, Rackspace, Canon Innovation Labs, Infusion, Capital One Canada, RBC, DRW, Meraki, A9, Isaac Operations, CGI, WSP Canada, and TribalScale. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.