This Saturday, June 27 at 11 a.m., the First Nations House of Learning is hosting a virtual graduation celebration to honour and recognize the educational achievements of participating Indigenous graduates. This year’s virtual offering replaces the usual in-person event held at the First Nations Longhouse, which cannot be held due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies would like to congratulate to all Indigenous graduate students who graduated in 2020, and in particular those participating at the virtual graduation celebration this weekend:
| Name | Degree | Faculty |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Cardinal | Master of Community and Regional Planning | Applied Science |
| Nicole Cardinal | Master of Community and Regional Planning | Applied Science |
| Ashley Lessard | Master of Public Health | Medicine |
| Karen Thomas | Master of Arts in Anthropology | Arts |
| Natasha Wawrykow | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology | Education |
A special congratulations to Dr. Natasha Wawrykow, whose research investigated Indigenous students' sources of and access to self-worth. She modified an analysis method to fit with Indigenous oral storytelling traditions. Her findings highlight Indigenous ways of healing and fostering self-worth and contribute to culturally sensitive delivery of clinical service and conducting research.
Dr. Wawrykow, who identifies as an Interior Salish Indigenous person from the Skuppah Band, grew up in Nanoose Bay and is now set to start teaching at the University of Victoria in the fall in the psychology department. She has been working on two new courses for the faculty. One is a narrative therapy course at the graduate level, the other is about reconciliation within psychology at the undergraduate level.