Presentation Schedule
Seeking the Welfare of the City: How a University in Winnipeg (Canada) Practices Postsecondary Learning as an Act of Reconciliation (110453)
Session Chair: Fahimeh Darchinian
Sunday, 12 July 2026 15:40
Session: Session 4
Room: UCL Torrington, G10 (Ground Floor)
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
Booth University College, a liberal arts university in Winnipeg (Manitoba/Canada) is situated in the downtown core of this prairie city of 850,000. The only postsecondary institution of the Salvation Army worldwide, BoothUC launched ShelterU in partnership with the Salvation Army's Centre of Hope--the largest shelter in Winnipeg, offering long-term residence with medical/social service supports--providing free access to university courses in humanities/social sciences and studying immediate and long-term effects of educational reconciliation with participants. ShelterU is a hybrid of several best practice models that provide safe learning spaces for immersive study of the liberal arts/sciences within a population that is both precarious and transient. In collaboration with Bard College's Clemente Course in the Humanities and modelled loosely on the Walls-to-Bridges program, ShelterU provides a safe approach to intellectual inquiry "without borders" that follows learners to their spaces of knowing. In keeping with the spirit of Canada's Truth/Reconciliation Commission, classes are mixed: "shelter-based"/Indigenous, refugee and "campus-based"/university students read, talk and wrestle with ideas in a sharing circle, guided by learning facilitators who gently prompt conversation that challenges primary cultural narratives in arts/sciences. Diverse perspectives emerge, producing integrated, high-level approaches to problem-solving. Students learn the art of respectful exchange, practice team-building skills, explore research practices and engage inquiry through reading/writing. Next phases of programming, designed to ladder learners toward brave postsecondary spaces, are in development. What have we learned so far? Evidence suggests that ShelterU will continue developing learning strategies that positively impact community in Treaty1 Territory--the largest urban Indigenous population in Canada.
Authors:
Linda Schwartz-Trivett, Booth University College, Canada
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Linda Schwartz is a Independent Scholar at Ambrose University in Canada
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