Women’s and Gender Studies 305: Counselling with Indigenous Women will engage students in issues and practices critical to working with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women in culturally appropriate ways that promote principles of human dignity, decolonization, and self-sovereignty.
Counselling is one of many processes Indigenous women may turn to for support or assistance in working with difficult issues. Traditionally, problem solving and healing took a broader community focus, where supports were found through relationships of interconnection, family, friends, and community. Ceremony was one way to acknowledge important life events and offer mutual support, spiritual connection, and possibilities for transformation; working with medicine healers and teachers, with nature, and with spirit offer other possibilities for problem solving and healing. Customs and cultural practices have offered community members ways to promote safety and well-being and to minimize conflict.
Outline
Unit 1: The Mental Health of Indigenous Peoples
Unit 2: Indigenous Women and Canada
Unit 3: Children and Aboriginal Mental Health
Unit 4: The Construction of Social Suffering and Aboriginal Mental Health
Unit 5: Women, Culture, and Healing
Unit 6: Aboriginal Perspectives and Mental Health
Unit 7: Healing Stories
Unit 8: Treatment Approaches
Unit 9: Cultural Competence and Counsellor Development
Evaluation
To receive credit for Women’s and Gender Studies 305: Counselling with Indigenous Women, you must complete all seven (7) assignments. For the final assignment you may choose to do the Photovoice project (Parts 1 and 2) or the invigilated exam. The weightings for each activity are as follows:
Activity
Weight
Complete by
Assignment 1: Reflection Essay
5%
Before beginning work in the course
Assignment 2: Oral Review
10%
After Unit 1
Assignment 3: Personal Location Essay
10%
After Unit 2
Assignment 4: First Short Essay
15%
After Unit 4
Assignment 5: Second Short Essay
15%
After Unit 6
Assignment 6: Oral Review
10%
After Unit 8
Final Assignment: Photovoice Project or Final Invigilated Exam
30%
After Unit 9
Online Participation
5%
After Unit 9
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Your final grade will be determined by a weighted average of the grades you received on the activities noted above. To receive credit for this course, in addition to completing all the assignments, you must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the final assignment (either the Photovoice project or the invigilated exam) and a minimum overall weighted grade of D (50 percent) or better for the entire course.
Up to 5 percent may be added for your participation in the online forums (your own postings as well as your responses to other students’ postings).
Materials
Kirmayer, J. L., & Valaskakis, G. G. (Eds.) (2009). Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. (Print)
Million, D. (2013). Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. (Print)
Other Material
All other materials for this course can be found online.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the WGST 305 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) or greater on the research essay to be eligible to write the challenge examination. A cumulative average of 50 percent on both activities is required. Credit is awarded on a pass/fail basis only.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.