This course explores the relationships between colonialism, the growth of digital networks and applications, and community development. It re-frames problems like the ‘digital divide’ by illustrating how people and communities are taking ownership and control of solving them.

It recognizes that this work faces significant challenges. Historic and ongoing inequalities restrict the abilities of individuals and communities to effectively use digital technologies. However, people are also undertaking many projects of self-determination, including in the area of technology development. This course explores these initiatives, focusing on how they represent expressions of Indigenous resurgence and innovation in the emerging network society.

The course was initially developed in 2013-2014 as SOCI 2804, a for-credit course in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). It is part of the First Nations Innovation project, which is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The project is a partnership between UNB, Atlantic Canada's First Nations Help Desk, the First Nations Education Council in Quebec, and Keewaytinook Okimakanak K-Net Services in Ontario.
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Topic outline

3
TOPIC 3 – Aboriginal media development in Canada
Our second example of indigenous resilience and resurgence comes through an examination of Aboriginal media in Canada. Both in the past and continuing today, mainstream media can exclude the voices of indigenous peoples, and portray their communities and experiences in negative ways. Media content was often generated in urban centres far from the lived realities of people in remote and rural communities. At the same time, indigenous peoples have always created their own radio, newspapers, and TV shows, while also becoming involved in mainstream media. The energy of these storytellers continues today, through an explosion of ‘new media’ and digital content. This includes social media and user-generated platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

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First Mile Connectivity Consortium
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Supported by the SSHRC-funded
First Nations Innovation Project
This course came about through discussions among the project partners, who wanted to generate freely available online resources to support community-based ICT development.

Please email the course developer Rob McMahon with any suggestions, or if you have additional material you'd like to see here.

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