UArctic Chairs and Indigenous Fellow Labrador Workshop on Culture and Post-secondary Education
From March 8–11, 2026, the UArctic Chairs and Indigenous Fellow Labrador Workshop in Goose Bay brought together academic, cultural, and community participants to explore Indigenous and Northern education through collaborative dialogue, site visits, and interdisciplinary discussions, strengthening partnerships and highlighting diverse approaches to Arctic and Subarctic research and knowledge.
From March 8 to March 11, 2026, the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies at the Labrador Campus (Memorial University) in Goose Bay hosted the UArctic Chairs and Indigenous Fellow Labrador Workshop on Culture and Post-secondary Education. This event was initiated and co-organized by the UArctic Chair in Indigenous and Northern Education (Sylvia Moore), the UArctic Chair in Images, Perceptions and Mediations of the Arctic (Daniel Chartier), the UArctic Chair in Arctic Humanities (Jan Borm), as well as UArctic Indigenous Fellow Heather Angnatok. Participants included graduated students from the Labrador Campus and from the International Laboratory for Research on Images of the North, Winter, and the Arctic at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Held in parallel with the Labrador Winter Games, the workshop fostered dialogue between academic, cultural, and community perspectives. On Monday, March 9, participants visited the Them Days archives, guided by Aimee Chaulk. This visit provided insight into the preservation and transmission of Labrador’s historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing the role of community-based archives in Northern research. On Tuesday, March 10, the group visited the Labrador Campus before taking part in a roundtable workshop coordinated by Damian Oscar Castro. This session brought together a wide range of contributions addressing current issues in Arctic and Subarctic education and cultural initiatives. Presentations explored themes such as economic empowerment through education, relational practices rooted in care and land, cultural continuity through food practices, sustainability, Indigenous language revitalization, Inuit perspectives on health, intergovernmental relations in Nunatsiavut, Northern defense, land-based education, research methodologies, archaeology, literature, translation, and digital tools for disseminating Inuit literary heritage.
The workshop concluded with a dogsledding activity around Goose Bay, offering participants an opportunity to experience the Northern environment directly and to extend discussions in an informal setting.
Overall, the event contributed to strengthening collaborations between institutions and communities, while highlighting the diversity and vitality of current research and initiatives in Arctic and Subarctic contexts. The co-organizers hope to continue this collaboration, which enriches their perspectives on teaching and cultural research, particularly by organizing another workshop—this time in Montréal—and then working with Inuit and Innu communities.
https://nord.uqam.ca/en-gb/evenement/Labradorcampus
