Algonquin College hosting inaugural Lighting the Fire online session
Posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020
Algonquin College, in partnership with the Indigenous Peoples’ Education Circle (IPEC), is launching a knowledge-sharing and storytelling initiative, Lighting the Fire, that will connect college students and leaders from across Ontario over the next four weeks.
The sessions are being produced through the Burnt Water initiative, an Algonquin project devoted to providing a vision and curriculum for Indigenous leadership and entrepreneurship.
Indigenous leaders are inviting college students, and anyone with an interest, to join in the virtual sessions, that are hoped to inspire and stimulate different ways of thinking, including how the province, the country and the entire world considers the path forward from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inaugural session, Wednesday (June 24), will be led by Algonquin’s Vice President of Truth, Reconciliation and Indigenization, Ron (Deganadus) McLester. The concept arose from Algonquin’s Mamidosewin Centre, which empowers and supports Indigenous students at the college. It was looking for innovative ways to reach Indigenous students off campus. After the initial session on Wednesday hosted by Algonquin, the program rotates to Fanshawe College on July 8, and Sault College on July 29. The host for the August 12th online session is still to be determined. Along with featured speakers, the sessions will include breakout rooms where people can meet, expand on ideas and make connections.
McLester said the Lighting the Fire name is symbolic of coming together, gathering wood and having a conversation. His initial session will look at current, historical and future contexts to explore how the world can use the pandemic as an opportunity. It will challenge our ways of thinking, and apply Indigenous wisdom to healing, moving forward together and creating a more positive, productive and harmonious society.
“We will light ourselves a fire and have conversation. We are calling it Lighting the Fire, because it is a beginning,” said McLester, noting a main goal is to make the sessions as open and accessible as possible. “This is a moment in history when we remember there is an old way of thinking that we can leverage.”
The Lighting the Fire sessions will run live from 2 to 4 p.m., (the Zoom room will open early at 1:30 p.m.) with optional breakout sessions taking place from 4 to 5 p.m.
You can register for the sessions at the links below:
Register in advance for the June 24 session
Register in advance for the July 8 session
Register in advance for the July 29 session
Register in advance for the August 12 session
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Media Contact:
Bruce Hickey
Communications Officer
Algonquin College
About Algonquin College:
The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected, experiential learning in more than 185 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.
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