Beginning in 2016, all undergraduate students at Lakehead University will be required to meet an Indigenous studies requirement of half a credit before graduating.
Lakehead is the first Canadian university to initiate an Indigenous studies requirement, although other schools have been considering it.
The requirement will include 18 hours of course work and will allow students to focus on an area in accordance with their area of study and interest. Lakehead offers around 30 undergraduate courses in Indigenous studies.
Peggy Smith, an associate professor at Lakehead University and chair to the committee overseeing the implementation of the commitment, said in an email, “We hope that students from across Canada will be attracted to attend our northern university in the heart of Indigenous territories [and] that they will graduate with a deeper knowledge of the history of Indigenous/settler history.”
Smith teaches a course on Aboriginal peoples and natural resources in the Faculty of Natural Resources. The learning outcome she provides for the course includes a description of “the nature of Aboriginal and treaty rights, including Supreme Court of Canada and Aboriginal interpretations, and explain their relevance to natural resource management, development and conservation.”
The university began the process for making the requirement in 2012 following the recommendation of their Ogimaawin Aboriginal Governance Council, which consists of members of the university and Aboriginal community members.
Smith said she hopes other universities will follow Lakehead’s lead in initiating similar requirements. The University of Winnipeg is also considering a similar Indigenous studies requirement for their undergraduate students.
“We are already receiving requests from other universities to share how we have developed this initiative,” Smith said.
Pitseolak Pfieifer, a third-year Canadian studies student at Carleton University, said he was excited to hear about Lakehead’s announcement.
“We are seeing some changes in the country,” Pfeifer said.
Pfeifer said due to the diversity of students at Carleton—particularly international students—and their varying fields, having an Indigenous studies course could lead to eventual policy changes, and that “the conversation has been started for Carleton.”
Carleton currently offers a minor in Indigenous studies through the Canadian Studies department which was introduced in 2006.
Pfeifer said Carleton initiating an Indigenous studies requirement could lead to a “better campus, better Canadians, and better global community.”
