What was your thesis/practicum placement and major research paper on and who was your advisor?
For my practicum, I was placed at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where I focused on the right to health, empathy, storytelling and information disorder. I also worked at the Manitoba Human Rights Commission through the STEP program, where I participated in investigations. My major research paper, advised by Professor Dr. Kjell Anderson, examined Indigenous genocide in Brazil during the pandemic, with a particular focus on state policies, structural violence, and accountability. The paper examined how conventional frameworks of transitional justice frequently fail to adequately address the unique and ongoing harms experienced by Indigenous communities.

Why did you choose that thesis topic or practicum placement?
As a Brazilian physician who worked on the front lines of the pandemic, I witnessed firsthand how public health was politicized and how marginalized communities were disproportionately affected. My transition into human rights advocacy emerged from that experience. The practicum at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights enabled me to integrate my medical background with critical human rights reflection. My major research paper was an extension of my commitment to amplify voices often silenced by dominant narratives and legal frameworks. 

What inspired you to pursue an MHR degree at the University of Manitoba?
After becoming politically engaged in Brazil during a period of democratic backsliding and misinformation, I realized the need to expand my understanding of justice and advocacy beyond clinical care. The University of Manitoba’s interdisciplinary MHR program was one of the few that offered both academic depth and practical experience. It was the perfect bridge between my medical training and my growing commitment to human rights, particularly in the areas of public health, Indigenous rights, and transitional justice.

What was your favourite / most memorable moment or experience while taking this degree?
There were many meaningful moments, but one that stands out was being part of the international partnership project between the University of Manitoba and the University of Brasília. Facilitating knowledge exchange between institutions in Canada and Brazil, especially on Indigenous justice and reconciliation, felt like a full-circle moment, bringing together my roots, my research, and my hopes for collective change. 

What advice would you give to anyone considering taking an MHR at UM as to the benefits the degree will have to your career?
The MHR program at UM opens space for bold, interdisciplinary thinking and action. Whether you come from a law, social sciences, healthcare, or activist background, this program will challenge you to connect theory to practice in a deeply personal and impactful way. For me, it reshaped my career path by blending medicine, research, and advocacy, and provided me with the tools and network to pursue meaningful work at the intersection of human rights and public health.

Applications for the next cohort of the University of Manitoba’s Master of Human Rights program are due December 1.

The Just Waters project is a research initiative, funded by UM’s Ignite program and supported by the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR). It brings together researchers from seven faculties and 10 departments, spanning the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities.

Jaimie Isaac, an accomplished artist, curator and scholar, is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation on Treaty 1 Territory with mixed Anishinaabe and British heritage. Currently serving as an artist-in-residence with the “Just Waters” project, Isaac pursues her creative work while offering workshops and research participation.

Led by Dr. Adele Perry, Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Arts, the project focuses on three key areas:

• Climate change and water
• Indigenous peoples and water (in)justice
• Histories and futures of water

In collaboration with various research centers and organizations, “Just Waters” is advancing water research through advocacy, knowledge mobilization, policy recommendations and nurturing related interdisciplinary projects.

Jaimie Isaac, Artist-in-residence, Just Waters project

Art as a tool for understanding water justice

As artist-in-residence, Isaac’s goal is to explore the question “What if the river was a person?” through her creative project “Nibi”. By using existing film, audio and projection, her work proposes the concept of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg gaining personhood, amplifying the efforts of those who have long advocated for these waterways. At its core, the project reflects a collective belief that water is sacred.

Her interdisciplinary approach also includes screen printing film stills onto nautical cloth, capturing various forms of water and waterways—bringing a unique artistic approach that invites reflection on our relationship with water.

Curatorial expertise and global impact

Isaac’s extensive curatorial experience includes leadership roles at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. She holds a degree in Art History from the University of Winnipeg and a Master of Arts from the University of British Columbia, where her studies focused on decolonizing gallery and museum practices.

Isaac’s expertise as a curator and lecturer has taken her around the world, including Norway, Finland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Chicago and New York. Through mediums including film and public art to installations and mixed media, her work focuses on areas of Reconciliation, decolonization, Indigenous feminism, environmental justice and cultural resurgence.

Creative ways to engage with water research

On March 26, Isaac is hosting an Action through Artwork workshop on the Fort Garry campus, where participants will learn about the Lake Winnipeg watershed and screen print images onto silk canvases. The canvases will be sewn together to create a larger art piece. You can secure your spot in the workshop and learn more on the workshop registration page.

The dialogue continues March 27—Join CHRR’s Critical Conversations Speaker Series for a free evening event at WAG-Qaumajuq. Dr. Jeffrey Ansloos, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and citizen of Fisher River Cree Nation, will join Media Indigena’s Rick Harp to discuss the mental health implications for communities whose connections to water are disrupted.

To learn more about Isaac’s work and how to get involved with the Just Waters project, visit the CHRR website and follow them on Instagram for updates on upcoming events and workshops.

On Jan. 15, 2023, Justin Flett arrived at the emergency room at St. Anthony’s Hospital, in The Pas, Manitoba.

According to Flett’s statement of claim, submitted to the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba in December and as reported by CBC News and APTN, he told the triage nurse he was experiencing distressing abdominal pain.

Flett was assigned a triage score of five, which is intended for non-urgent low-priority cases. The statement of claim alleges that the physician who finally saw Flett insinuated that he was hungover, saying something to the effect of: “I don’t know what to tell you, we don’t treat you here for hangovers.”. Flett was not given diagnostic tests, imaging, a physical examination or pain medication.

Read the whole article here. 

The six graduates represent diverse educational backgrounds and life experiences with practicum placements and thesis topics covering a wide range including Gender and Human Rights, Indigenous and Minority Rights, New Horizons in Human Rights, and Migration, Displacement and Human Rights. Students in the Practicum program, students participate in work placements with leading local and international human rights organizations to gain practical, hands-on experience doing human rights work.  Students and their topics are as follows:

Erin Gobert (Thesis) Human rights and reproductive healthcare in rural, remote, and northern Manitoba

Nabil Iqbal (Thesis) Refining legal frameworks for cross-border climate-induced displacement: a comprehensive analysis of provisions, definitions, and new arrangements under international law

Claire (Xiaoxia) Li (Practicum) Understanding the right to education under the Hukou system in China: from a human rights perspective

Ana Martin (Practicum) The international right to health and Jordan’s Principle: a comparative analysis of the substantive and procedural differences to Indigenous children’s right to health in Canada

Trixie Maybituin (Thesis) A preliminary human rights-based analysis of Winnipeg’s municipal budget

Fatemeh Shabani (Thesis) Power and paradigms in accounts of Iran’s human rights situation: a case of epistemic injustice

The University of Manitoba launched its Master of Human Rights (MHR) program in September 2019. The program is the first of its kind in Canada and prepares students for careers in human rights advocacy. The program is a collaboration of the faculties of Arts, Law, Education, and Social Work. It also cooperates with the Centre for Human Rights Research, the Arthur V. Mauro Institute for Peace and Justice in St. Paul’s College, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

The MHR program is currently accepting applications for the 2025 Fall Term. The deadline for applications is December 1^st, 2024. Visit the Explore page to apply.

Detailed information about the University of Manitoba’s Master of Human Rights program can be found on the Faculty of Law website.

Over the past years, activists have made important gains in the effort to provide people who menstruate with adequate and free supplies.

In Canada, all washrooms in federally regulated workplaces must have period supplies. In Manitoba, period supplies are offered to students in all public schools in a three-year initiative through a corporate partnership and charitable donation.

Further from home, Scotland became the first country to make period products free to all in 2020, and more recently, to our south, Minnesota’s initiative to make menstrual products free in schools has made headlines.

Yet, despite these advances, menstruation continues to shape lives in negative ways and diminish opportunities for many of those who experience it. Providing free supplies in some places — while necessary in the movement towards equity — is only part of the story.

Shifting the conversation from period poverty to menstrual justice is an important step. Menstrual justice is about ensuring that all people who menstruate be provided with the resources and infrastructure to do so safely and with dignity.

To read more of Adele Perry’s article, visit The Conversation. 

Over the past years, activists have made important gains in the effort to provide people who menstruate with adequate and free supplies.

In Canada, all washrooms in federally regulated workplaces must have period supplies. In Manitoba, period supplies are offered to students in all public schools in a three-year initiative through a corporate partnership and charitable donation.

Further from home, Scotland became the first country to make period products free to all in 2020, and more recently, to our south, Minnesota’s initiative to make menstrual products free in schools has made headlines.

Yet, despite these advances, menstruation continues to shape lives in negative ways and diminish opportunities for many of those who experience it. Providing free supplies in some places — while necessary in the movement towards equity — is only part of the story.

To read the full story, visit The Conversation Canada. 

This project, funded by the University of Manitoba’s Ignite Program at the Centre for Human Rights Research, brings together researchers from seven faculties and ten departments, including social sciences, natural sciences, education, engineering, the humanities, and social work. The project is housed at the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR), where Adele is Director. The CHRR has a longstanding interest in issues of water rights and justice.

In speaking with Adele Perry, she emphasizes the importance of continuously growing knowledge through collaboration.

“Working in this kind of interdisciplinary way requires us to not just learn new material or information but to relearn how and why we do the kind of learning we do. The Just Waters project is about creating new knowledge and teaching ourselves and each other.”

Similarly, Kiersten Sanderson, the project’s first research assistant and a participant in the Indigenous Summer Student Internship Program, has also seen positive impacts from this campus-wide collaboration.

“I’ve learned over the past few months that water justice requires us to remember that all living beings are affected by ongoing water crises in various forms. That’s why the diversity of faculties and departments is important.”

As Adele Perry and her team focus on this water justice, it’s hard to miss the connections between human life and water in a place like Winnipeg. In bridging this connection, the project will look at the juncture between society in three ways: climate justice and water, Indigenous people, water, justice and injustice, and the pasts and futures of water. 

With the project underway, the impact Adele hopes to see in this project is a shift in how research around water and what people, including the general public, know about water research.

The Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Director of the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture, and Senior Fellow at St John’s College focuses on the relationships between people and territories and how we might live in ways that support Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.

With her goal of helping to make the world a more just place, Jocelyn currently works on two projects that shine a light on personal experiences and Indigenous filmmaking.

In her long-term collaboration with Kaila Johnston of the NCTR, Jocelyn co-curates the film series “Decolonizing Lens,” which showcases Indigenous filmmakers and their films. The events will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm in the Winnipeg Art Gallery where different films will be on display. 

“The film series allows us to amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives, highlight the talent and hard work of Indigenous filmmakers, and bring people together for shared learning experiences.”

Available for viewing this September and October in the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Decolonizing Lens provides an opportunity for everyone to gain insight into Indigenous perspectives and storytelling in film.

Tying into her film series collaboration, Thorpe continues her work on an exciting book that connects social justice and everyday life, showing how everyone can help to make the world a kinder, more just place.

The next Decolonizing Lens event is Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and features “Kanàtenhs: When the Pine Needles Fall”, a film by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel.

To learn more about the Decolonizing Lens event dates and details, visit the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s website. 

“We were once again excited to see tremendous enthusiasm for this initiative,” says Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Provost and Vice-President (Academic). “We received over 60 applications from a variety of academic and administrative units. The quality of ideas put forward and the collaborative nature of the projects reflect our stated vision to boldly lead change together.”

SISF targets small-scale short-term projects, ranging in cost between $10,000 and $100,000 which could be completed by March 31, 2025. A complete list of funded projects is available on the Strategic Initiatives Support Fund intranet page. We look forward to sharing more with the community on the outcomes of these projects as they move us forward in creating knowledge that matters, empowering learners, and reimagining engagement.

Celebrating our progress: Project outcomes from SISF 2023-24

As the newly funded projects get underway, many projects from last year’s SISF fund have been completed. While their strategic goals were aligned to UM’s previous strategic plan, the project outcomes nonetheless drive us forward toward many common priorities. Here are three examples of impact from the SISF 2023-24.

Project: Inclusive Hiring and Hiring in Good Ways

Lead unit: Human Resources

UM aspires to create belonging rooted in human rights and dignity of all. This vision is reflected in our current and previous strategic plans, as well as other guiding documents such as the President’s Task Force on EDI report and the Indigenous Senior Leadership Report. This project contributed to those efforts to build an outstanding learning and working environment for all, and specifically, to create pathways for Indigenous achievement.

The Human Resources department partnered with CultureAlly to enhance Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) and Indigenization and De-colonization in its hiring and retention processes. The EDI consultant provided an external perspective on UM hiring practices, identifying gaps and highlighting strategies to engage, hire and retain diverse talent.

The project led to the development of two workshops relating to hiring staff, “Inclusive Hiring Practices” and “Hiring in Good Ways.”  The “Inclusive Hiring Practices” workshop was rolled out this spring, with six sessions offered. The training leads participants in exploring their implicit bias and how it can impact decision making, as well as teaching mitigating tactics and strategies to address bias in the hiring process.

“Many of the workshop attendees commented on the importance of this opportunity to learn about practical steps and the resources available to support those involved in hiring to follow inclusive practices,” says Sandra Woloschuk, associate director, Learning & Organizational Development. Additional in-person sessions will be offered this Fall term and an on-line self-directed version of the workshop is being developed. Watch for upcoming offerings of the workshop on the Learning and Organizational Development intranet page.

The second workshop, “Hiring in Good Ways,” currently in development, will emphasize the importance of addressing discriminatory practices in hiring that specifically impact Indigenous candidates. Together, these trainings will provide a foundation of knowledge that supports UM’s institutional efforts for consistent and widespread integration of inclusive hiring practices.

Project: Period Poverty and Equity, on Campus and Beyond

Lead units: Faculty of Arts and the Centre for Human Rights Research

The “Period Poverty and Equity” project brought together a collaborative team of faculty and staff to address the issue of period poverty, period equity and menstrual stigma. The research team describes the experience of menstruation as an issue of discrimination due to the financial burden posed by the need for menstrual supplies.

The project, involving members from the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Social Work and the Office of Sustainability, set out to identify barriers and advocate for equitable solutions for period equity. It aligned with strategic goals to create an outstanding learning and working environment and to forge connections for high-impact community engagement.

The research team conducted a physical audit of all sources of menstrual supplies on UM campuses and an online survey to understand the menstruation experience of UM students, staff and faculty. They also hosted several on-campus events, such as a panel featuring renowned experts on menstrual justice. Their final report outlined several recommendations, including that the University of Manitoba offer free menstrual supplies throughout its campuses. At this time the University is reviewing the recommendations.

Find the full report Period Poverty and Equity on Campus and Beyond.

Menstrual product dispenser in washroom. Photo credit: The Manitoban

Project: A Framework for Experiential Learning with-and-for UM Faculties

Lead unit: The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning 

Building on previous commitments to build capacity and infrastructure for Experiential Learning (EL), this project worked to develop a framework to guide the development, integration and enhancement of EL across the university. Increasing EL experiences at UM is a central pillar of our strategic goal to inspire minds through innovative and quality teaching.

The Office of Experiential Learning held consultations with faculty and instructors aimed at creating a collective vision for Experiential Learning at UM. These consultations resulted in important dialogue across faculties and helped identify the barriers to integrating EL in academic courses from the faculty perspective. Though not yet fully developed, the consultations led to greater understanding of the systems, policies and supports required to implement an Experiential Learning Framework at UM.

In addition, the project led to the development of an EL Faculty Advisory Committee to increase faculty involvement in institutional-level EL initiatives, as well as membership growth in the EL Community of Practice.

Example of Experiential Learning. Project: Art, Community and Resistance 2019, Chiloe, Chile.

These projects are examples of the significant impact of our faculty and staff working together to advance our strategic priorities. Together, UM is making meaningful change in our province and the wider world.

The St John’s College fellow and distinguished professor in the Faculty of Arts continues to focus on clean water at the heart of her research, including her work as Director for the Centre for Human Rights Research.

The historian in gender and colonialism has been interested in how researchers can connect the past and the present and influence the future with their work.

Publishing her book with ARP Books in 2016, Adele’s work focuses on Winnipeg and how the Annishinnabeg community of Kekekoziibii or Shoal Lake 40 First National, lost crucial reserve land to supply the City of Winnipeg with clean drinking water. Between 1913 and 1919, the City of Winnipeg had problems, including poor drinking water.

“The particular mechanism that disposed of Shoal Lake 40 was a particular heavy-handed of that heavy-handed instrument of the Indian Act. The loss of Shoal Lake 40’s land through Section 46 of the Indian Act led to knock-on effects, including “long-term drinking water advisory for Shoal Lake 40, that lasted from 1998 until 2023.”

In continuing her research around gender and colonialism, Adele Perry continues her work through upcoming events at the Centre for Human Rights Research held at St John’s College.

To learn more about Adele’s book or upcoming events with CHRR, visit their website.