Critical Collaborations

Critical Collaborations: Indigeneity, Diaspora, and Ecology in Canadian Literary Studies is the third volume of essays produced as part of the TransCanada conferences project. The essays gathered in Critical Collaborations constitute a call for collaboration and kinship across disciplinary, political, institutional, and community borders. They are tied together through a simultaneous call for resistance—to Eurocentrism, corporatization, rationalism, and the fantasy of total systems of knowledge—and a call for critical collaborations. These collaborations seek to forge connections without perceived identity—linking concepts and communities without violating the differences that constitute them, seeking epistemic kinships while maintaining a willingness to not-know. In this way, they form a critical conversation between seemingly distinct areas and demonstrate fundamental allegiances between diasporic and indigenous scholarship, transnational and local knowledges, legal and eco-critical methodologies. Links are forged between Indigenous knowledge and ecological and social justice, creative critical reading, and ambidextrous epistemologies, unmaking the nation through translocalism and unsettling histories of colonial complicity through a poetics of relation. Together, these essays reveal how the critical methodologies brought to bear on literary studies can both challenge and exceed disciplinary structures, presenting new forms of strategic transdisciplinarity that expand the possibilities of Canadian literary studies while also emphasizing humility, complicity, and the limits of knowledge.

Self-study is inherently collaborative. Such collaboration provides transparency, validity, rigor and trustworthiness in conducting self-study. However, the ways in which these collaborations are enacted have not been sufficiently addressed in the self-study literature. This book addresses these gaps in the literature by placing critical friendship, collaborative self-study and community of practice at the forefront of the self-study of teaching. It highlights these forms of collaboration, how the collaboration was developed and enacted, the challenges and tensions that existed in the collaboration, and how practice and identity developed through the use of these forms of collaboration. The chapters serve as exemplars of enacting these forms of collaboration and provide researchers with an additional base of literature to draw upon in their scholarly writing, teaching of self-study, and their enactment of collaborative self-study spaces.

This study examines partnerships between medieval women and scribes. Kimberly Benedict argues that medieval female visionaries often play prominent roles in collaboration while their male amanuenses serves as supports and foils.

Craft a culture of engaging, student-centered learning! With over 50 years of experience in education, Alisa H. Braddy and Denise White have compiled this essential toolkit for teachers of any subject or grade level to inject life into their instruction. Suitable for teachers, administrators, or instructional coaches, this resource creates engaging lessons that bring agency and critical thinking to students’ learning. Step-by-step procedures for implementing the various strategies are provided in each chapter as well as: Actual scenarios and vignettes of strategies in action A matrix highlighting the benefits of each strategy Reflection questions to challenge readers’ thinking and generate action

Collaborations responds to the growing pressure on the humanities and social sciences to justify their impact and utility after cuts in public spending, and the introduction of neoliberal values into academia. Arguing ‘in defense of’ anthropology, the editors demonstrate the continued importance of the discipline and reveal how it contributes towards solving major problems in contemporary society. They also illustrate how anthropology can not only survive but thrive under these conditions. Moreover, Collaborations shows that collaboration with other disciplines is the key to anthropology’s long-term sustainability and survival, and explores the challenges that interdisciplinary work presents. The book is divided into two parts: Anthropology and Academia, and Anthropology in Practice. The first part features examples from anthropologists working in academic settings which range from the life, behavioural and social sciences to the humanities, arts and business. The second part highlights detailed ethnographic contributions on topics such as peace negotiations, asylum seekers, prostitution and autism. Collaborations is an important read for students, scholars and professional and applied anthropologists as it explores how anthropology can remain relevant in the contemporary world and how to prevent it from becoming an increasingly isolated and marginalized discipline.

“Globally, emergency services are witnessing a period of unprecedented uncertainty and change caused by pressure on their budgets, reduced manpower and changing patterns of demand and service delivery. Such challenges are also having huge implications on the workforce health and wellbeing. This book is a timely, well-researched addition to improve our understanding of the governance and collaboration issues in the emergency services.”Steve McGuirk, Chairman, Warrington and Halton Hospitals Trust, Former Chief Fire Officer and CEO, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service “Good governance, collaboration and sound leadership are easy qualities to take for granted in the Emergency Services. However, given the increasing complexity of the challenging political and operational environments these organisations work in, it is not reasonable to assume these qualities will always emerge as a natural phenomenon. This book is a welcome addition that provides invaluable, evidence-based insights for leaders who are seeking to raise the quality of their services for both the public and their workforce alike.”Andy Newton, Immediate Past Chair, College of Paramedics and Former Paramedic Director, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb) This unique text provides fresh insights and understanding of the governance and collaboration issues between emergency services in a dynamic policy and organisational environment in a global world. The book offers critical insights into the theory and rationale behind the interoperability and collaboration between the emergency services and examines in detail, important themes around trust, leadership, workforce wellbeing and resilience and professional culture(s), each having great significance for the success of the interoperability and governance agenda. The chapters cover new materials, including the research conducted by the authors and are written in a style that is easily accessible. This book caters to a wide audience of researchers, academics, students, emergency services staff, leaders and public managers, both in the UK and internationally.

Although difficult, complicated, and sometimes discouraging, collaboration is recognized as a viable approach for addressing uncertain, complex and wicked problems. Collaborations can attract resources, increase efficiency, and facilitate visions of mutual benefit that can ignite common desires of partners to work across and within sectors. An important question remains: How to enable successful collaboration? Inter-Organizational Collaboration by Design examines how these types of collaborations can overcome barriers to innovate and rejuvenate communities outlining the factors and antecedents that influence successful collaboration. The book proposes a theoretical perspective for collaborators to adopt design science (a solution finding approach utilizing end-user-centered research, prototyping, and collective creativity to strengthen individuals, teams, and organizations), the language of designers, and a design attitude as an empirically informed pathway for better managing the complexities inherent in collaboration. Through an integrated framework, evidence-based tools and strategies for building successful collaboration is articulated where successful collaboration performance facilitates innovation and rejuvenation. This volume will be essential reading for academics, researchers, leaders and managers in nonprofit, private, and government sectors interested in building better collaborations.

The contributing authors explore their relationships and praxis in particular research collaborations that range from large interdisciplinary teams to intimate teams between university-based researchers who collaborate with teachers or students. Successes experienced by the contributors are discussed in terms of solidarity, emotional energy, trust, agency, power, and ethical praxis.