Dear CSSE delegates,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, held in conjunction with the Congress for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Regina. CSSE formally acknowledges that University of Regina is located in the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, and Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis. Today, these lands continue to be the shared territory of many diverse peoples from near and far. The nêhiyawak originally referred to Regina as oskana kā-asastēki which literally means “the place where bones are piled up.” This is why Regina’s nickname is “Pile O’Bones” and this is the origin of the name of the University’s current location in Wascana Park. I invite you to use this acknowledgment in all of your conference sessions, as a reminder that our conference is taking place on Indigenous lands.
This year, as part of CSSE’s ongoing commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, CSSE organized a tour of Fort Qu’Appelle, site of the signing of Treaty 4. CSSE respects and honours that Treaty 4 was signed in Fort Qu’Appelle on 15 September 1874, and CSSE is committed to honouring the spirit and intent of all treaties with the Indigenous peoples in this country. If you were not able to participate in the tour, I invite you to find out more about Treaty 4, Reconciliation, and how treaties are important to all Canadians, by visiting the website of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner: http://www.otc.ca/. I particularly recommend this informative video: We Are All Treaty People http://www.otc.ca/videos/video_category/we_are_all_treaty_people.html.
This year’s conference truly embodies the overall Congress theme of “Gathering Diversities.” I invite you to browse through the program to take in the breadth of scholarly work happening in CSSE and showcased during our conference. Please take particular note of our special events, including the CSSE plenary address featuring Dr. Marie Battiste, the ACDE-CSSE reception, ACDE’s inaugural Sherman Lecture featuring Dr. Vianne Timmons, the CSSE AGM, the CSSE Spotlight Sessions, and the numerous association-level special events.
The CSSE Board of Directors joins me in extending sincere thanks to Acting Dean Andrea Sterzuk, who has been a gracious host and mentor to CSSE throughout the process of conference planning. We also thank our tireless local arrangements coordinators, Wanneta Martin and Keith Adolph, and their colleagues at the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, who have worked diligently for over a year to manage the on-the-ground logistics of running a conference for almost 1,000 people. We also thank the Program Planning Committee, whose work began in September 2017. Creating a conference program requires judgement, diplomacy, and many, many hours of behind-the-scenes planning and organizing. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard work of Michael Holden, who created the conference program (and dealt with about a million change requests), Katy Ellsworth for conference management, communications and media outreach work, and Tim Howard, for holding the reins through the entire process.
The CSSE Board of Directors wishes you an excellent conference experience and a memorable stay in Regina.
Until,
Nicholas Ng-A-Fook
President, CSSE