HARC-Facilitated Workshop at the Calgary Health Humanities Symposium

Members of the HARC team successfully submitted the following abstract for the Calgary Health Humanities Symposium to deliver and arts-based, anticolonial, reflective workshop:

“In November 2020, the “In Plain Sight” report was released in what is now called British Columbia. The report documents what communities have long stated: a persistent and systemic anti-Indigenous racism exists across BC’s healthcare system. Critically Humane is facilitated by a diverse group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, learners, artists, and activists. The panel presentation and workshop presents stories about how critical health humanities (understood slightly differently than prevalent, less critical, health humanities definitions) might be put to service, conceptually and in practice, in efforts to address recommendations of the “In Plain Sight” report and other long-standing evidences (e.g. the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples; the 2015 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the 2015 report entitled “First Peoples, Second Class Treatment”) about coloniality and racism as determinants of Indigenous Peoples health. Beginning with an orientation to the present state of coloniality in Canada, followed by an overview of critical health humanities, we present various stories about more than a decade of critical health humanities work in the Northern Health Authority (British Columbia). The projects and work discussed include anti-colonial narrative medicine workshops, music composition with Indigenous youth, physicians in northern art galleries, community building improv theater, poetic field notes about racism and resource extraction, storytelling about Indigenous midwifery knowledge, and arts-based cultural competency training. The workshop and panel discussion incorporates hands-on arts-based activities alongside facilitated conversation and will be of interest to scholars, learners, clinicians, educators, and artists.”

The workshop, titled: A Panel Presentation and Arts-based Workshop about Putting Health Humanities to Work in the Service of Anticolonialism was a huge success. A special thanks to Marion, Laura, Lisa, Darian, and Sarah for delivering this wonderful workshop. Excerpts from the presentation and a photo from the event can be seen below.