My name is Anne Lin Arghirescu and I’m a first-year Cegep student at Marianopolis College, in Montreal.\u00a0I am writing to you to ask for your\u00a0help in an initiative, that I hope can foster a spirit of understanding and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous.<\/p>\n
In the fall, I started an\u00a0Intercollegiate Circles for Reconciliation<\/strong>\u00a0with an Indigenous friend from Marianopolis, Karonhianoron Curotte.<\/p>\n The Circles are a partnership with the Circles for Reconciliation Manitoba-based non-profit, which organizes\u00a0discussions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous, mediated by specially trained facilitators<\/strong>\u00a0(their website:\u00a0https:\/\/circlesforreconciliation.ca\/<\/strong><\/a>). The purpose of the Circles is to foster reconciliation and create meaningful and mutually respectful relationships.<\/p>\n The initiative consists of a\u00a0series of 10 Circles<\/strong>\u00a0(held virtually through Zoom), spread out over 10 weeks and bringing together 5 Indigenous participants and 5 non-Indigenous participants. The same 10 participants have to commit to all 10 meetings in order to complete the Circle.<\/p>\n Our first 2 Circles were organized in the Fall and Winter for students from anglophone Cegeps and universities in Montreal. They garnered significant interest, and so we have decided to bring the Circles back for a third intercollegiate student edition in the Winter, to start in April. Here is the link to a booklet that we have put together in collaboration with the Marianopolis literary magazine following the Fall Circles. It compiles articles, stories and comments shared by participants regarding their experience in the Circles:\u00a0https:\/\/issuu.com\/mari.litmag\/docs\/circles_booklet<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Because of the unbalance in demographics, we have more difficulty recruiting Indigenous participants for the Circles. Karonhianoron and I would be extremely grateful to you if you could\u00a0share the information about the Circles with students, teachers, parents and members of the Indigenous community, and help us recruit Indigenous participants who would be interested in taking part in our discussions.\u00a0The participants don’t have to be students, and can even come from anywhere in Canada.<\/p>\n Indeed, given the fact that a number of Cegep professors and staff members have expressed their interest in taking part in a Circle, I was hoping to organize a\u00a0faculty and staff Circle starting in late March or beginning of April<\/strong>. We would encourage professors teaching courses pertaining to Indigenous Studies or Third World studies to participate if they are interested.<\/p>\n Interested participants\u00a0for the student Circle <\/span><\/strong>would be invited to\u00a0register through this form:\u00a0https:\/\/forms.gle\/UbhkQymrkSKdST9w6<\/strong><\/a> Interested participants\u00a0for the faculty and staff Circle <\/span><\/strong>would be invited to\u00a0r<\/strong>egister through this form:\u00a0https:\/\/forms.gle\/WTh63JCekY2FASAb6<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Registration is currently open for both Indigenous participants and non-Indigenous faculty and staff who would be interested in taking part in a Circle.\u00a0Could you help me share these links around? Do you have any contact people suggestions I could reach out to?<\/p>\n
\nRegistration is currently open for both Indigenous participants and non-Indigenous students who would be interested in taking part in a Circle, although there is a significantly greater need for Indigenous sign-ups.<\/p>\n