Red River College Polytechnic is a diverse student and employee community, with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as one of three commitments in our new Strategic Plan. However, as human beings, we all have hardwired unconscious biases that can affect our learning and working relationships and our actions can then affect our efforts towards diversity, equity and inclusion.

What is Immersive Stories?

In the context of March 21, International Day against Discrimination, the new Immersive Stories Program will present a series of five one-hour lunchtime sessions.

The Immersive Stories Program is designed to give students, faculty, and staff a first-hand opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding about multi-layered socio-cultural identities and lived experiences. As outlined in our new Strategic Plan, this program is part of the College’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, and the pursuit of equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.

Participants will develop skills that will allow them to regularly check their personal, social, and cultural assumptions so that they can avoid making quick conclusions and judgments. This in turn will help to foster a diverse and inclusive College environment for students and faculty.  

Featured Guests

Each session in the Immersive Stories Program will involve a discussion with a member of our RRC Polytech community, during which they will share their unique lived experiences, and invite participant questions and dialogue. These conversations will provide participants an opportunity to gain insights into the lived experiences of our diverse community and will assist in becoming aware of our own biases.

Join us for the following meaningful conversations which will be held on Webex. Participants are welcome to register for up to five sessions in March and April 2022.

Wednesday, March 2 | 12 noon

GUEST: Vassan Aruljothi
HOST: Kaleigh Quinn

Conversation topics: Racism, Discrimination in Malaysia, Deodorant and international students, Racism among people of colour, Effects of colonialism.

Wednesday, March 9 | 12 noon

GUEST: Jocelyne Olson
HOST: Rebecca Hiebert

Conversation topics: Barriers to participation, Neurodivergent change management, Teaching with ADHD, Navigating the workplace, Inaccessible accessibility.

Wednesday, March 23 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Anahita Aminian
HOST: Nora Sobel

Conversation topics: My Ethnicity, My Family, My Religious Journey, My Education and my Approach to Early Childhood Education, My Language and Communication Skills.

Wednesday, March 30 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Ebony Novakowski
HOST: Sarah Lee

Conversation topics: My Sexual Orientation, Morbid Obesity and experienced perceptions, Chronic Illness and Polycystic Kidney Disease, My gender and sexual orientation in relation to work experience, My Family and Religion.

Wednesday, April 6 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Marshall Richard
HOST: Rebecca Hiebert

Conversation topics: Intergenerational trauma, Effects of Colonization, Social Inequities, Racism, Reclaiming Indigenous identities.

Please note that in order to create a safe and brave space for presenters and participants, only the introductions of the presentations will be recorded.

This program is brought to you by the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group within Library and Academic Services, with the support of the Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Human Resources Services, and Education Technology Vision (eTV).

On Monday, January 17 at 12pm, we look forward to our conversation with Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch), author of The Trail of Nenaboozhoo and Other Creation Stories.

You are invited! To learn more and to register for this event, visit Conversations with Authors.

About the author

Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch) is from Serpent River First Nation and is of the Fish Clan. He currently resides at Nimkii Aazhibikoong, an Ojibwe language and cultural community located in northern Ontario. He loves how the people are rekindling the old ways of his people. His children are Waabigwan, Elaine, Nanook, and Preston.

To learn more, visit his website at IsaacMurdoch.com.

About his book

The Trail of Nenaboozhoo and Other Creation Stories

“Nanaboozhoo, the creator spirit-being of Ojibway legend, gave the people many gifts. This collection of oral stories presents legends of Nanaboozhoo along with other creation stories that tell of the adventures of numerous beloved animal spirits. The Trail of Nanaboozhoo is a book of art and storytelling that preserves the legends of the Anishinaabe people. Each story is accompanied by strikingly beautiful illustrations by revered Indigenous artists Isaac Murdoch and Christi Belcourt.” (Published by Kegedonce Press, 2020)

This title is available to borrow from the RRC Polytech Library >> Trail of Nenaboozhoo.

About the series

Conversations with Authors, hosted by Indigenous Education and Library and Academic Services, is offering a series of live conversations with Indigenous authors to further the conversation and our understanding of truth and reconciliation. 

Written by Linda Fox – Library Technician, Program Support and Promotion

The Academic Success Centre (Library and Academic Services) will be delivering a series of “Motivation Mondays” online workshops throughout the month of January. Starting January 10th – bright and early – we’ve scheduled four 30-minute workshops to support students during their first month of Winter term. 

Our facilitators will provide students with active learning strategies and tools to enhance their academic success and pose discussion questions to encourage self-reflection and goal setting for the term.  

If you would like to encourage your students to attend these sessions, please instruct them to pre-register using the links below:

• Join the Quest to be an Effective Learner (January 10, 8:30-9am) 
• What CAN Studying Look Like? (January 17, 8:30-9am) 
• Less Procrastination, More Focus! (January 24, 8:30-9am) 
• Tips for Managing Test Anxiety (January 31, 8:30am-9am) 

Questions? Please connect with us at tutoring@rrc.ca.  

Welcome to Red River College Polytech!

You are invited to attend our upcoming new student orientation event: Red River Ready. This virtual event is hosted over 3 days (Dec 14-16th) offering a variety of optional sessions to help prepare you for success as you embark on your academic journey at RRC Polytech.

You can customize your own orientation experience based on your needs and interests. You’ll have the opportunity to socialize with other peers in your program and learn about parking, ordering textbooks, student support services, studying in Canada, finding balance at college and more!

To register and view the full schedule, please visit our Red River Ready website.

If you have any questions or need any assistance registering for the event, please visit the Connect With Us page on the Red River Ready website.

We can’t wait to see you there!

We respectfully acknowledge that Red River College campuses are located on the original Lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

In June 2021 the Federal Government of Canada passed legislation to make September 30^th a federal statuary holiday as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day provides the opportunity to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Residential School Systems. Undoubtedly before this federal legislation, September 30^th has been recognized and observed as Orange Shirt Day or as Every Child Matters throughout Canada to recognize the victims of the Canadian Residential School System, and in support of Truth and Reconciliation. Library and Academic Services staff are honoured and eager to show our continued support for Truth and Reconciliation.

This past year has ignited national attention towards Truth and Reconciliation after the unmarked graves of 215 children were found near a former Residential School in Kamloops, BC. This number soon increased to over 1300 across Canada as more former Residential School sites across Canada were investigated. With these discoveries, it seemed Residential Schools and Truth and Reconciliation became pertinent conversations in our households and global environment. However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRCC) was formed in June 2008, releasing its final reports and the 94 Calls to Action in 2015, and has been a pertinent conversation for a long time.

The unsettling news from Summer 2021 was a reminder that the past cannot be forgotten and that education about the truth is the way forward.

Library Resources: Helpful Starting Points to Build Your Understanding of Truth and Reconciliation

Our library contains many resources about Truth and Reconciliation, Residential Schools, and Indigenous Experiences throughout its’ collections. These resources are helpful starting points towards building understanding of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. We invite you to look at some of these resources to acquaint yourself with Truth and Reconciliation.

Guides

Guides like Residential Schools and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls highlight books, videos, articles, and websites that help build understanding and educate about these issues.

Books

Books that are available from the library include:  

• Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Volume one: summary: honouring the truth, reconciling for the future
• Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors by Larry Loyie with Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden
• The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation by David B. MacDonald
• A knock on the door: the essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
• Picking up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman; Kristie Hudson
• 21 things you may not know about the Indian Act by Robert P. C. Joseph.
• Pathways of reconciliation: Indigenous and settler approaches to implementing the TRC’s calls to action

Videos

We also have streaming videos available through our collections. Video Databases like Curio have collections like Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and Residential Schools: A Sad Chapter in Canadian History.

Videos you might consider to learn more about Canadian Truth and Reconciliation include:

• We Were Children available from the Nation Film Board of Canada
• Holy Angels available from the Nation Film Board of Canada
• A Residential Schools reckoning, again available from Curio
• The fallen feather Indian industrial residential schools Canadian Confederation available from the library collection.

Truth and Reconciliation at Red River College

Red River College is hosting its third annual Truth and Reconciliation Week virtually from September 27 to October 1, 2021. The week is dedicated to deepening our understanding of Canada’s history, Indigenous cultures, and sparking a conversation around Truth and Reconciliation.

We also encourage visiting Indigenous Education’s Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement to learn more about Indigenous Events and Initiatives at Red River College and its communities.

Written by Sarah Lee, Library Resource Management Technician

At Red River College, we know that every student is different, with unique strengths and challenges. We are dedicated to providing supports that are diverse and inclusive to help students to succeed in their academic goals.

As we get closer to the beginning of the term, we are now planning the upcoming Red River Ready, a variety of orientation sessions to help students get ready for their time at the college, taking place August 23 – September 3.

During the Red River Ready orientation, students will have the chance to join sessions where they will learn about:

• Specialized support for different programs, including math and science tutoring and library research instruction
• Academic supports and accessibility services available to students with disabilities
• English as an Additional Language (EAL) and International Education supports
• Student supports including financial aid, scholarships and awards

What is great about Red River Ready is that it allows students to customize their orientation experience and attend sessions that are most valuable to them.

Also, the Getting Ready for College webpage is also a resource to help students prepare for their Red River College education.

For more information, feel free to connect with us!

Academic Success Centre Staff (Library and Academic Services)

Feeling connected to the College is key for student success, and during a time where course delivery is mostly online, having regular and accessible communication with other students, tutors, and academic coaches fosters a feeling of connectivity and softens the pandemic phrase “being alone together.”

As we get closer to the beginning of the term, we are now planning the upcoming Red River Ready, a variety of orientation sessions to help students get ready for their time at the college, taking place August 23 – September 3.

During the Red River Ready orientation, students will have the chance to join sessions where they will:

• Meet peer tutors and ask them about their student life experiences at College
• Find out about the supports and events from the Students’ Association and ways to participate in Students Clubs
• Hear about opportunities to engage with the Indigenous Cultural Centre, the Global Connections Centre, and The Spectrum Room
• Learn about how you can contribute to our diverse college community and how we can all work towards Truth and Reconciliation

What is great about Red River Ready is that it allows students to customize their orientation experience and attend sessions that are most valuable to them.

Also, the Getting Ready for College webpage is also a resource to help students prepare for their Red River College education.

For more information, feel free to connect with us!

Academic Success Centre Staff (Library and Academic Services)

We understand that new students may be feeling uncertain about the move to online learning for most of the classes, and wonder how they could be prepared and organized to make the most of their studies at the College during the pandemic.

As we get closer to the beginning of the term, we are now planning the upcoming Red River Ready, a variety of orientation sessions to help students get ready for their time at the college, taking place August 23 – September 3.

During the Red River Ready orientation, students will have the chance to join sessions where they will learn:

• Learning technologies that we use for learning at the College
• Strategies for adapting to online learning and how to get your study space ready for success
• Ideas for managing your time and planning your study schedule
• Study skills that will help you identify how you learn best

What is great about Red River Ready is that it allows students to customize their orientation experience and attend sessions that are most valuable to them.

Also, the Getting Ready for College webpage is also a resource to help students prepare for their Red River College education.

For more information, feel free to connect with us!

Academic Success Centre Staff (Library and Academic Services)

Pride Month is a celebration and a remembrance of LGBTQ2+ accomplishments. It’s also a reflection on how much further to go before the world recognizes that ‘love is love.  To supplement the college’s  Pride Week Activities, including self-guided courses, the library has several resources depending on the format or looking at one aspect of the community.

Start Here

One place to start is the Gender & Sexual Diversity section of the Intercultural Competency & Diversity Guide for resources about the Transgender community or coming out in general. Place a request for a title or head to the website section for various websites devoted to organizations like Winnipeg’s own Rainbow Resource Centre or a media arts collective known as Love Intersections bringing an intersectional lens to the community.

Streaming Videos

A film can provide an intimate look into the lives of individuals within the community with titles looking back on history or looking at present concerns. The National Film Board features many documentaries as part of its LGBTQ2+ channel. Below are three of the many titles making up the channel:

First Stories-Two Spirit 

From the summary:
This short documentary presents the empowering story of Rodney “Geeyo” Poucette’s struggle against prejudice in the Indigenous community as a two spirited person (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender). Geeyo registers as a dancer in the Kamloopa Powwow under the Jingle Dress category (normally reserved for women). Deeply humiliated by a misguided elder, Geeyo is reminded by his grandmother that two spirited people were once respected and honoured for their spiritual gifts. Geeyo eventually makes a triumphant return to the powwow arena, realizing that the only way to change people’s minds is to walk proudly while being true to one’s spirit. 

Reviving the Roost

From the summary:
Filmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya’s ode to a popular Edmonton gay bar that closed in 2007. With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is a story about community complexity and longing, and an elegy to a lost space.

Standing on the Line

From the summary:
TRIGGER WARNING: This film contains the following subject matter: Suicide and self harm.

In both amateur and professional sports, being gay remains taboo. Few dare to come out of the closet for fear of being stigmatized, and for many, the pressure to perform is compounded by a further strain: whether or not to affirm their sexual orientation.

Breaking the code of silence that prevails on the field, on the ice and in the locker room, this film takes a fresh and often moving look at some of our gay and lesbian athletes, who share their experiences with the camera. They’ve set out to overcome prejudice in the hopes of changing things for the athletes of tomorrow.

What is Mental Health Week?  Why do we need a week to focus on this?  I don’t have mental health problems, so why make a big deal out of it?

All good questions with some very important answers.

Mental Health Week helps to break a long-standing veil of secrecy about this important part of our lives.  Talking about mental health destigmatizes it and brings awareness to the fact that no one is immune to mental health issues, be they short or long term, mild or debilitating and that yes, there are resources and treatments available.  In short, this week endeavors to provide information, increase awareness, end stigma and promote treatment.

The Canadian Mental Health Association’s 2021 theme is “#GetReal about how you feel. Name it, don’t numb it”, and in this time of Covid-19, mental health is increasingly being talked about.  We are more anxious, isolated and lonely, and more unsure of the future.  It’s important to give names to our feelings and emotions; the good ones and the difficult and challenging ones too.  Naming your emotions is the first step in dealing with them and recognizing they are normal and we all deal with them.

Mental Health Supports at RRC

Red River College has supports available.  These include the Healthy Minds Healthy College initiative, Mindfulness training through the MindWell platform, Counselling Services, College Athletics programs, an Employee and Family Assistance Program, Mental Health Workshops for students, and more.

RRC Library has many valuable resources also, such as a guide about the Healthy Minds, Healthy College initiative which contains links to print and electronic books, videos and relevant external websites. We also have Light Therapy lamps available to borrow, to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Selected Resources

Below are just two of our many print and electronic resources; please email library@rrc.ca for more resources, or contact us via our Online Chat Service available on our Library Homepage.

Everyday self-care for educators : tools and strategies for well-being

Tantillo Philibert, C., Soto, C., & Veon, L. (2020). Everyday self-care for educators : tools and strategies for well-being. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

What to do when college is not the best time of your life

How is your mental health? If you have concerns remember, help is available and you are not alone.