Where Are We in the World? (WAWW) is a collaboration between St. John’s College and the Aboriginal Initiatives team at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology at UBC.
The focus of this new initiative is to provide a strong foundation experientially to answer the question of “where” we are in terms of UBC and Vancouver as places on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. At the core of this film series, viewers are invited to (re)engage with sites around the Lower Mainland shaped by often ignored or hidden histories of struggle and agency through the stories of local community members, elders, educators, activists, and historians.
The first two films are short documentaries (approximately 10-13 minutes each) that feature an array of perspectives that introduce us to Vancouver’s Chinatown and the Komagata Maru incident of 1914. These stories provide us all an opportunity to critically reflect on themes of place, historical consciousness, and reciprocity.
The next film in the series will explore UBC’s location on the unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
WAWW builds upon existing initiatives that revitalize stories and foster dialogues regarding local Indigenous and Asian Canadian histories and issues. As it continues to develop and is integrated into a variety of teaching and learning spaces, the films will become the backbone of a program of site visits, dialogues, and virtual introductions, to both the campus and the city, that engage the UBC community and communities around the city into a sustained conversation about where they live.
To access our films, please visit this playlist on UBC’s YouTube channel.
To learn about and access relevant resources developed by members of our project development team, please visit the CTLT Aboriginal Initiatives website and the St. John’s College website.
A list of further resources developed by our partners is available here.
Thank you to all the film participants for sharing their stories, values, and visions.
A special thank you as well to UBC’s Equity and Inclusion Office for sponsoring Where Are We in the World? through the 2014-15 Equity Enhancement Fund.
About the partners
St. John’s College
St. John’s College is a UBC graduate residential college. Two-thirds of the students are from outside Canada, creating a unique community dedicated to intercultural understanding and engagement. The College is committed to enriching the intellectual and cultural life of the University through dialogues, lectures, workshops, and other activities, as well as welcoming and engaging with off-campus communities.
Aboriginal Initiatives
Aboriginal Initiatives at UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) provides expertise and support for faculty, staff, and students to develop their capacity to conduct effective discussions on Aboriginal and other socially contentious issues. The unit also initiates and supports curriculum and academic resource development to foster an accurate and developed understanding of Aboriginal histories, cultures, and worldviews.
WAWW Development Team
Denise Fong
Johannean Ambassador, St. John’s College; Program Manager, Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program
Sarah Ling
Graduate Academic Assistant, Aboriginal Initiatives, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology; Project Co-Lead, “Knowing the Land Beneath Our Feet”
Amy Perreault
Strategist, Aboriginal Initiatives, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Sandra Shepard
Assistant Principal, Administration and Development, St. John’s College
Alejandro Yoshizawa
Filmmaker; Adjunct Professor, Department of Theatre and Film/Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program
Henry Yu
Associate Professor, Department of History; Principal, St. John’s College
Al Yoshizawa and Sarah Ling interviewing Larry Wong