In response to Villeneuve’s film Arrival, Cindy Charleyboy’s talk on “Acknowledging the Sacred” and Linda Smiths “Research Through Imperial Eyes” I have come to new conclusions about where strengths will lie in my grad project. Present schooling in North America is a structured westernized model that has built upon Plato’s idea of academy and progressed through means of western expansion and in such has strong colonial undertones that for a long time have gone unacknowledged. This is partly because they are subtly ingrained in our world views and unless you start engaging with how you individually see the world you will remain ignorant. Part of the reason I am in the Liberal Studies program at Capilano University is because of the new way that interdisciplinary studies approaches the idea of academy.

The social side of research: perception, approach, viewpoint, these concepts are patrolled by our own biases, our world view, the way we conceptualize experience. Personalization in our project can be a strength but we must also be aware of how to present our work respectfully. As a researcher, or rather as a human, we think about how others will perceive of our work, what comments people will make and how thoughts produced by other’s opinions may poison conclusions and lead research astray as we attempt to fit a norm. Are we doing our research for ourselves? For others? For whom?

In our present world the data that we present is immortal. Papers we write, posts we make, the selves we project (or prefect) has created a digital rendering of our being so any part of it can be retrievable. In the LBST program at CapU we are required to log and maintain our own blog sites, where much of this course work will be posted. Because of the everlasting nature of digital presence, the value of integrity within an assignment is vital. For me, climate change and environmental issues are the topic of my research. My grad project will be a podcast where I convene social issue with my own exploration (via the scientific method) and assemble research that contributes to the field in a meaningful way.

Deep analysis of communication presented in the film Arrival made me think of how the formation of my own projects content will be perceived. This is highly relevant to a podcast as I am limited by my mode of media. Clarity and understanding will need to be formulated into the interview process I construct through carefully worded questioning where each word in my questions will need to be considered. Much like in Arrival where linguist Louise Banks breaks down the individual words in a question and explains the concepts they contain and possible misinterpretations that can be had.  The point of my podcast will be to convey knowledge as such correct communication and surprisingly watching Arrival led me to begin to think of just how vital true understanding is to conveying perception.

However, historical context has a restructuring mechanism that makes me think of the ‘othering’ that occurs when relating my world to the already exiting presence of culture upon the lands that we now occupy. By ‘othering’ or the ‘other’ I refer to another culture of person who is different from your own and thus unknown. The acquirement of knowledge by western thinkers concerning the over riding of indigenous culture and institutionalized ‘othering’ results in a restructuring of culture. Historical conceptualizations of indigenous led to an anthropological discourse for dominance and westernized projection of ideals.

In terms of my project, I think…. How do I own this? Make this apparent? Make my audience believe and aware of the issue at hand?!

My answer is: being honest and listening with intent. I need to showcase and allow for every voice to be heard on my topics for my podcast. I need to acknowledge my biases’ and any perceived biases of my interviewees and allow for the views of the ‘other’ to be allowed to circumvent my narrations. Awareness of my project limitations will allow me to fill gaps within knowledge and through drafts hopefully I will be able to isolate and construct a deeper understanding of topic debate. Awareness and being alert for the ingrained ideals of colonialism are the best way I can think of to combat these terrible truths.

In one of the tutorials this term I am looking into travel writing and the ‘othering’ of cultures that colonialism created. It highlights differences and the lack of acknowledgement of the real ‘other’, through the westernized image of it and the occident. The acquirement of knowledge by Europeans concerning the ‘other’ is constructed through means of a domination over it, homogenization of the ‘other’, and post-colonial ideals of his own role within the culture. Perception is determinant of the ‘other’. As a student of psychology, I know that our reality is constructed by perception, but perception is influenced by education, experience, values, culture and friends and family. In such this course and the analysis done in this paper is a means of indigenizing my academic goals.

The presence of colonial ideals is more apparent then not when you start to look deeper and listen more intently. This is one of the reasons why Reconciliation and Indigenizing the Academy is so important at Cap. Speakers like Cindy Charleyboy open connection barriers that you may not even know were present. And that’s ok, it’s the process of learning. Understanding that different cultures have completely different world views then your own is one step towards understanding another world view without imposing yours against it.

In the tragic case of competing world views history shows that the westernized colonialism has steamrolled their world onto others. The terrible ramifications of this are now understood and unfortunately a lot of culture is already lost, and damages done. Reconciliation of the Academy, to me, is a means of opening a dialogue with the ‘other’ and coming to understand, with resolved intent, the means of communication and perception that are so very different then possibly my own. In my current project that is so rich in interviews my intent is just that, to listen, to engage, and to allow for intellectual space of conversation where the ideas of ‘other’ are more important then the already known.