The Courses that I completed as part of the Master of Arts in Human Rights and Social Justice are as follow:

Fall 2024

• HRSJ 5010 – Foundation of Human Rights and Social Justice
• HRSJ 5020- Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Resurgence of Land Based Pedagogies and Practice
• HRSJ 5150 -Truth to Power

Winter 2025

• HRSJ 5030- Problem Solving in the Field
• HRSJ 5120 – Settler Colonialism: Decolonization and Responsibility
• HRSJ 5260 – Moral Economies and Social Movements in Contemporary Capitalism.

Summer 2025

• Practicum

Fall 2025

• HRSJ 5110 – Genocide in the 20^th Century
• HRSJ 5250 – Risk, Place, and Social Justice in a Turbulent World.

Reflection on Assignment

I have completed assignments on various human rights and social justice matters, among them the notable assignment I submitted for the course ‘Problem Solving in the Field’. I wrote a ‘Final Grant Research Proposal’ for HRSJ 5030  (Problem solving in the field) and my research was about awareness of Restorative Justice in Kamloops, Canada. The task of this assignment was to prepare a feasible grant proposal within a certain budget, so that awareness of Restorative justice can be assessed, barriers to awareness can be identified, and a community-based framework can be proposed to raise awareness. Apart from being involved with theoretical aspects, this assignment also led me to think and imagine how, in real life, human rights and social justice issues can be dealt with practically in a community-based framework.  

In my proposal, I argued that the Restorative justice system is officially accepted by the Canadian judicial system; however, it is not widely accessed by parties. Main reasons are that victims, offenders and others related to the justice system are not aware enough about this unique system. Often, this system is seen as an alternative to the punitive system for lesser offences. Apart from this, people have misconceptions about it which also limit its use. I argued that, to advance the criminal justice system, the communities need to understand the actual philosophy of Restorative justice, which is based on accountability and the dignity of the parties. I argued that since the prevention of crime in society increases by using the Restorative Justice system, awareness should be raised as well. To use it widely, therefore, communities should know, understand and accept the concept of the Restorative Justice system positively, where accountability and healing are the main goals, rather than punishing offenders irrespectively.

For this proposal purpose, I developed a Research model, named Community-Based Participatory Research model, where representatives from various community organizations were incorporated as co-researchers, such as Indigenous elders, RCMP, victim service providers, former victims, offenders, and representatives from schools. The methodology was based on surveys as well as interviews. I also focused on Indigenous storytelling circles as well as on workshops. While writing my proposal, I also focused on realistic budget and timeline so that it becomes practically achievable.

This particular assignment I found very impactful, because it taught me firstly, how to write a grant proposal in real life. Writing a grant proposal is very relevant in practical life. Expertise in writing grant proposals is an asset in NGO jobs as well. I have already worked previously in an NGO and experienced how important it is to write a grant proposal. A properly written grant proposal may secure the required budget for an NGO so that it can eventually function. Therefore, I found this assignment helped me to get introduced and understand it which I may apply at my real-life NGO job in the future. Secondly, this assignment also helped me to think about the problems of the existing Criminal justice system, which is only being used to punish offenders. In this process, the crime prevention rate is not decreasing. The goal of the Criminal justice system should be preventive which can be increased by proper utilization of the Restorative Justice system.   

My work :

 

Reflection on Reading

In this MA program I read various reading materials which shaped my mind to be critical and widened my vision on many issues. The history of Indigenous communities, their struggle against settler colonialism and their continuous resilience are prolific inspiration and examples for human rights and social justice studies. Coming from Bangladesh, this resilience, and their fight for decolonization were unknown to me. Canada’s this side was unseen and unheard to me. Therefore, when I read Unsettling Canada: A national Wake-Up Call, by Manuel,A., & Derrickson, R. M. (2015) for the course HRSJ 5120, ‘Settler Colonialism, Decolonization, and Responsibility’, I was amazed and felt challenged because it questioned my own understanding of colonialism. As a citizen of Bangladesh, I learnt about colonialism as part of our history and I was informed as such that, the era of colonialism has been ended completely. After reading this book, I was surprised to know that it has not ended, in fact in the perspective of Canada, Indigenous communities are still fighting for decolonization and for their sovereignty which were stolen from them by European settlers. I learnt from this book that colonialism is still ongoing through state’s various organizations and legal system that impact the life of Indigenous communities, the relationship with their land, their economic condition, and on the power dynamics of politics.

The authors emphasize that the aggressions of settlers against grabbing Indigenous resources, lands, cultures, language should be protected. The authors also stated that if the Indigenous communities are united, they can resist the aggression effectively. They described that it is important to learn about colonial tools, such as their legal and political system, so that these tactics can be utilized against their systemic and structural injustice as well. The authors said for the purpose of decolonization, it is important to unite against any kind of bully and to build resilience against colonial aggression (chapter 7).

The authors discussed extensively in this book that today’s prosperity of Canada is built upon the price paid by Indigenous communities as settlers grabbed their lands by dispossessing them. The existing legal system is still denying the ‘Aboriginal title’ which the authors called as deeply unsettling. As an International student of Canada, and as a beneficiary of the system, I faced this reality with utmost shock and felt my solidarity for Indigenous communities.

This book also taught me to see the close relationship between resource extraction and profit making by state and capitalists which caused the Indigenous communities to be marginalized economically. The authors also argues that the reflection of reconciliation should be seen through the structural change rather than symbol of gestures only. The process of reconciliation often is utilized by settlers to go ‘innocent’ and thus should be conscious about it.   

This reading is impactful for me because it helped me to rethink about settler colonialism and how this system allows outsiders to be part of the system ignoring completely the land-based relationship that Indigenous communities have with this place. I understand deeply as an international student the true meaning of solidarity. It is not enough to just acknowledge Indigenous territory, but to support Indigenous resilience against settlers’ resource extortion, dispossession from land, systemic destruction of their culture and language.