8:45 – 9:15 am
Social with coffee and snacks
9:15 – 9:30 am
Welcome from President Arini
9:30 – 10:30 am
Radical Relationism and Its Emancipatory and Decolonial Promise
The etymological source of “radical” refers to forming the root and radical relationism is committed to seeing relations as the root of all reality. For us humans, this means that each actor is seen as a cluster of dynamic relations with other human and non-human “entities,” at the same time as they are embedded in and dependent on their natural environment qua embodied organisms who are entangled with other human and non-human relations. Applying this perspective to knowledge production considers that human actors and their attributes constitute each other through their exchanges with each other and their social/political and natural environment. Radical relationism resists seeing reality in terms of abstract binaries and considers that seeing “nature” as separate from us, is colonial thinking par excellence. Instead of “nature” I use the expression “more-than-human” which intends to express that humans are embodied, embedded, and entangled with the natural environment and each other. I will explain how radical relational thought emerged from thinking the world in a way that aligns more with quantum rather than Newtonian physics, and has been seen as congenial with Indigenous and ancestral ways of knowing with decolonial potential. Radical relationism also has emancipatory potential as a way of thinking that avoids seeing freedom as individual independence or autonomy—an illusory type of freedom. Rather, it embraces human and more-than-human relationality as the basis for freedom that can only come to fruition in loving and caring relations. I will discuss why genuine freedom must be based on a clear awareness of loving and caring relationality, and will provide an example of such genuine freedom as “racial healing” (see Sanchez-Flores 2026). The latter entails embodied processes that involve active engagement with one’s own biases and vulnerability, supports us in shedding such biases (forever work), and in lovingly embracing the “pluriverse,” or a “world where many worlds fit.”
Speaker
Dr. Mónica J. Sánchez-Flores
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dr. Mónica J. Sánchez-Flores is the faculty Coordinator of the MA in Human Rights and Social Justice and Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Environment, Culture and Society (ECS) in Thompson Rivers University (TRU). She was Chair of the ECS department in the 2022-2023 academic year and interim Associate Dean of Arts in 2023-2024. Dr. Sánchez-Flores received the 2025-2026 TRU Award for Excellence in Interculturalization. She is Co-Leader with Christopher Powell of the International School of Radical Relationism (ISRR) and the Relational Sociology research cluster of the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA). Her research focuses on the social construction of processes of racialization, radical relational social theory, decolonial theory, political theory, multiculturalism and settlement, mindfulness, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training, globalization, and cosmopolitanism. She is the author of the books Political Philosophy for the Global Age (2005), Cosmopolitan Liberalism: Expanding the Boundaries of the Individual (2010), and Decolonizing Bodies; a Radical Relational Approach to Racial Healing and Worlding Shared Humanity (2026). She is co-author of the open-access recent articles “Global solidarity as a non-anthropocentric, radical relational self-interest; the COVAX facility and governance of wicked problems in late global capitalism” and “The Case for a Radically Relational (Non-Anthropocentric) Democracy.”
10:30 – 10:45 am
Break
10:45 – 12:00 pm
Poster and Roundtable Sessions
Poster Presenter: Amy Tucker (Open Learning Faculty Member)
Description: This poster presents findings from a completed doctoral photovoice study exploring how international students at a Canadian post-secondary institution experience belonging, precarity, and possibility during their studies. Four participants used photography and narrative reflection to document their daily encounters with institutional systems, social relationships, and personal growth over the course of an academic term. The study asked what it means to belong within an institution that simultaneously depends on international enrolment and offers uneven support to the students it recruits.
Findings identified recurring tensions between formal welcome and lived precarity. Participants described moments of genuine connection alongside encounters with bureaucratic systems that left them navigating alone. Photographs surfaced experiences that interview questions alone often miss, including the visual texture of waiting, of unfamiliar space becoming familiar, and of small acts of possibility within constrained circumstances.
The poster will present the methodological approach of photovoice paired with scholarly personal narrative, selected images and participant reflections (with consent-based permissions respected throughout), and the study’s core findings on belonging, precarity, and possibility. It will close with implications for institutional practice, specifically the kinds of support structures that would meaningfully ease the transition and daily experience of international students.
This work speaks directly to SIP Goal 2, Objective 1 by identifying concrete gaps between the support services international learners are meant to receive and what they describe experiencing. It offers a participant-grounded, visual account of where academic and personal success is supported well and where it remains precarious, intended to inform ongoing institutional reflection on international student support.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 2: To continue providing exceptional support services that ensure academic and personal
success of international learners and contribute to the local region and global community.
Objective 1: Instill global competencies in learners through the institutional learning outcomes to foster a deep sense of social responsibility
Poster Presenters: Ben Lovely, Gerry Sherk (School of Trades and Technology – Electrical)
Description: This poster will highlight the work of trades students installing basic solar power systems in rural areas of Oaxaca, Mexico. These rudimentary power systems provide basic light and cell phone charging capability to people who would likely never have any form of electrical service. This volunteer work is in service to extremely impoverished individuals, many of whom are indigenous, elderly, and/or single mothers. This annual trip involves 2 electrical instructors and up to 8 trades students over the course of 2 weeks, performing 10 solar installations. Students stay in an area outside the hotel zones. This provides an opportunity to practice speaking and understanding Spanish, interact with locals, and see how every day Mexican people live their daily lives. Host families provide a home cooked meal to the team as they work to install their solar power system.
The field school trip is designed to provide a rich cultural experience while also giving students hands on skills in wiring a basic solar power system in a residential setting. The trip provides a rare opportunity for trades students to participate in an international field school offered at TRU. This is in support of TRU’s goals of educating students to be global citizens while providing learners with valuable experiences and meaningful international connection.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 1: To empower members of the TRU community through curricula and support systems to become community-minded and globally conscious through international engagement.
Objective 2: Lead in the development and dissemination of innovative teaching and learning practices in higher education to strengthen the reputation of TRU as a hub for global engagement
Objective 3: Collaborate with faculty, staff and learners to reduce barriers to advance participation in internationalization opportunities
Poster Presenter: Christie Fraser (Faculty of Education and Social Work)
Description: I am committed to integrating global perspectives and Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing into all aspects of the learning and teaching experiences I create for teacher candidates in the Bachelor of Education Elementary program. In my work toward Truth and Reconciliation, I am also committed to sharing that work on national and international stages so that worldwide audiences can learn about Canada and the work we do at TRU.
I presented a talk entitled “Valuing Indigenous Pedagogies in the Canadian Classroom” at the FELA biennial conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The talk focused on showcasing how Indigenous pedagogies and oral traditions strengthen literacy teaching in BC classrooms, by making connections with the Science of Reading and the First Peoples Principles of Learning, BC’s Professional Standards for BC Educators, the BC English Language Arts curriculum, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action for education. My message was that Indigenous oral traditions and storytelling (stsptékwll), and place-based learning are not only additions to literacy instruction that we engage in our efforts to decolonize and Indigenize practice. They also align with what the science of reading tells us about how children build language comprehension, and directly map onto theoretical models of reading development like the Simple View of Reading. Attendees were presented with how these pedagogies support the oral language foundation that print literacy is built on, and how this integrated approach supports reconciliation work in Canadian classrooms.
Presenting this work abroad allowed me to have the conversations I typically have locally or within the BC or Canadian context, with folks who might not otherwise know about what it means to support teacher educators through an Indigenous lens or that Indigenous pedagogies support all learners, everywhere.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 1: To empower members of the TRU community through curricula and support systems to become community-minded and globally conscious through international engagement.
Objective 2: Lead in the development and dissemination of innovative teaching and learning practices in higher education to strengthen the reputation of TRU as a hub for global engagement
Poster Presenters: Anzoa Madelene Kajusa (Student, Faculty of Education and Social Work), Tom Waldichuck (Faculty of Arts)
Description: This presentation highlights the emergence of South Sudan as a distinct space through the organizing concepts of regional geography, human geography, cultural geography, feminist geography, the sociological perspective, and cross-cultural interaction. It introduces the Ma’di people of South Sudan to Canada’s youth and thereby fills the gap of a lack of education on South Sudan in the Canadian school system. Since there is a large population of South Sudanese people in Canada, having this course will let our voices be heard and be represented in a positive light.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 5: To lead the way in cultivating a culture of community mindedness with a global conscience by sharing educational practices, exchanging knowledge worldwide and taking a proactive role in addressing, regional, national and global challenges through education and scholarship.
Objective 1: Instill global competencies in learners through the institutional learning outcomes to foster a deep sense of social responsibility
Objective 2: Develop and implement strategies that strengthen local and global partnerships and deepen global perspectives in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the TRU Vision Statement
Roundtable Presenters: Tanya Pawliuk (Faculty of Education and Social Work), Chelsea Corsi (Senior Wellness Coordinator)
Description: In 2020 we developed the Consent Café, an innovative, activity-based consent education, communication, relationship, and sexualized violence prevention and response program for youth and young adults. University students are employed as Consent Café Mentors and are the very heart of the program. One of these mentors, now a registered social worker, was so inspired by the program and her mentor experience that she proposed making it international by bringing it to her home community in India. With this invitation, our international field school collaboration was conceived. Our 2026 field school provided a culturally grounded learning experience by:
- acknowledging positionality and attending to experiences of power and privilege as we established and built cross-country/cross-cultural learning relationships;
- disrupting “typical” discourses and practices about gender based violence (GBV) and consent education that privilege white, cis, heteronormative perspectives and practices;
- centering relational pedagogy and reciprocity to engage diverse voices, understandings, and experiences of GBV and sexualized violence (SV) experiences in Gurdaspur and Amritsar, India, thus deepening our cultural humility and the safety of our work, critical since 48% of international students at TRU are from India (TRU 2025); and
- embracing a student-led process of learning and collaboration and looking for signals of welcome and impact from global communities. We did not simply replicate our Canadian Consent Café curriculum.
Through partnership and collaboration, we centered acts of care, reciprocal knowledge exchanges, and meaningful dialogue between Canadian and Indian students, educators, and professionals, to prioritize understanding of the experiences of those living in both countries and contexts. We will explore how relational field school curriculum designs create opportunities for courageous collective care and reciprocal learning across international campuses and communities; engage diverse voices, understandings, and experiences; and deepen cultural humility and the safety of our work.
The roundtable presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 1: To empower members of the TRU community through curricula and support systems to become community-minded and globally conscious through international engagement.
Objective 2: Lead in the development and dissemination of innovative teaching and learning practices in higher education to strengthen the reputation of TRU as a hub for global engagement
Poster Presenter: Norah van der Haas (TRU World)
Description: International research mobility at TRU supports faculty-led initiatives that invite students to participate in projects with real-world implications. By creating these experiential learning opportunities, TRU students, faculty, and the institution experience multiple layers of impact.
Our poster will show the impacts of international research on all three levels. Students gain real-world research experience, as well as many soft skills such as communication, independence, and problem- solving skills developed through working in a new culture. Faculty members benefit from eager students with diverse perspectives and report an increase in research productivity. As an institution, these experiences foster partnerships, deepen connections with existing partners, and forge new relationships with potential for future initiatives and opportunities.
Using case studies and quotes from students and faculty, our poster will follow the successes of international research mobility participants. We will explore how a TRU student who participated in Research Abroad credits her experience with helping her become more competitive when applying to veterinary school. We will also examine how one faculty member’s experience working with students and faculty from Brazil has led to student and faculty mobility opportunities, as well as institutional partnerships. We will introduce different funding options to support these initiatives and inspire others to explore potential collaborations.
Our work with international research programs directly contributes to TRU’s SIP goals, specifically Goal 1, Objectives 1 and 4. Through international mobility for research purposes, students and faculty deepen their intercultural understanding, gain confidence in working and communicating in an increasingly globalized world, and foster institutional collaboration and partnerships.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 1: To empower members of the TRU community through curricula and support systems to become community-minded and globally conscious through international engagement.
Objective 1: Instill global competencies in learners through the institutional learning outcomes to foster a deep sense of social responsibility
Objective 4: Expand global research opportunities to promote collaborative, research-driven solutions to provide learners with valuable experiences and meaningful international connection
Poster Presenters: Tom Waldichuk, Cara Cadre (Faculty of Arts)
Description: Kamloops and Uji, Japan have been sister cities since the 1980s. However, due to financial constraints the City of Kamloops has temporarily halted the hosting of delegations from Uji, which normally includes junior high school students.
In 2025 at the request of Uji City Hall, two faculty of Arts instructors and Uji City staff met in person and online to plan out a cultural exchange between Uji junior high school students and students enrolled in Modern Languages (MLAN) 2700 who were planning to visit Uji in May 2026.
The online exchange took place on Saturday, November 29 (Kamloops time) 2025, and involved each group of students introducing themselves and then teaching the other group about their respective cities. Both the Kamloops and Uji students were divided into two groups, each with their own classrooms. The session lasted approximately two hours and — thanks to some tricky camera-work — ended with a group photo of the all the Japanese and Canadian students together!
During the MLAN 2700 visit to Uji in May, the Uji students met the Kamloops students in person and were able to spend time with them, exchanging Japanese and English phrases while the Japanese students led the TRU around the sites of downtown Uji. This activity ended with more group photos and the sense of a continuing friendship as the students said good-bye.
This past summer, we started planning for the next online cultural exchange between the junior high school students from Uji and TRU students enrolled in Geography 3700-1 who are planning to visit Uji in May 2027!
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 4: To enhance environments and opportunities to find enriching connections that inspire diverse cultural expressions, individual growth and foster life-long relationships.
Objective 1: Promote community vitality by recognizing cultural well-being and supporting the opportunity for members to retain and express their cultural practices, learning and embracing others, while learning and respecting local cultural protocols
Objective 2: Strengthen cultural infrastructure and community participation by creating environments and opportunities where students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members share stories to cultivate intercultural interactions and strengthen cultural infrastructure and community participation
Objective 3: Broaden connections and foster engagement with the wider community in Williams Lake, Kamloops and the surrounding region, with a focus on promoting global engagement and creating more opportunities for connection for all participants
Roundtable Presenters: Amber Archibald (School of Nursing), Bala Nikku (Faculty of Education and Social Work)
Description: Over the past several years, meaningful partnerships have been developed between Canadian and Nepali institutions through Nursing and Social Work initiatives. These collaborations have created opportunities for students and faculty to engage in intercultural learning, global health education, community engagement, and reciprocal knowledge exchange.
This roundtable will explore how international partnerships contribute to student learning by fostering cultural humility, global citizenship, adaptability, and understanding of diverse health and social care systems. Discussion will highlight faculty experiences related to interdisciplinary collaboration, and relationship-building with international colleagues.
Participants will examine examples of experiential learning and community engagement emerging from Nepal-based initiatives and consider how community-centered and equity-oriented approaches strengthen international learning experiences. The session will also explore opportunities for shared learning related to
disaster resilience, and population health, recognizing common environmental and social challenges across different regions.
The roundtable will conclude with discussion of future directions for collaboration, including student mobility opportunities, faculty exchanges, collaborative research, interprofessional learning, and strategies for maintaining sustainable and reciprocal partnerships. Participants will be invited to share experiences and ideas related to internationalization and community-engaged global learning.
The roundtable presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 5: To lead the way in cultivating a culture of community mindedness with a global conscience by sharing educational practices, exchanging knowledge worldwide and taking a proactive role in addressing, regional, national and global challenges through education and scholarship.
Objective 2: Develop and implement strategies that strengthen local and global partnerships and deepen global perspectives in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the TRU Vision Statement
Objective 5: Strengthen TRU’s leadership in the post-secondary internationalization environment by sharing best practices, contributing to the global discourse, and leveraging our internal expertise for broader impact
Poster Presenters: Emily Stewart, Kenji Kimura Lopez (Students, Study Abroad Ambassadors)
Description: The Global Horizons poster project is a project designed to share knowledge, to celebrate experience and success, and to work together to carry out Thompson Rivers University’s 10 year Strategic Internationalization Plan (2025-2035). The TRU Study Abroad Office, faculty, and students believe that the program enriches TRU’s internationalization efforts, meeting many of the goals outlined in the plan through encouraging student international mobility.
This proposal is for a poster that will be presented by some of the current 2026 Student Ambassadors at an event highlighting internationalization efforts at TRU, and celebrating our successes. The poster will highlight one of the goals within the TRU Strategic Internationalization Plan that we believe the Study Abroad Exchange Program meets and exceeds. We will do this through story telling, highlighting personal experience in the Study Abroad Program and what we have learned through our time studying abroad. The poster will discuss what the program is, why the program is important, and how the program can be further used to achieve TRU’s internationalization goals.
Some insight into what kind of testimonies people will share can be seen through some example quotes from ambassadors talking about the study abroad exchange and how it “helped them[me] to know more cultures as well as understanding the importance of language learning in its original country,” and “truly changed their[my] life in more ways than one.” The study abroad exchange may have started out as a way to expand personal goals and interests, but many come back “with so much more: another place to call home, lifelong friendships, meaningful cultural connections, and experiences that helped students grow in ways they never imagined.”
The Study Abroad Poster will contribute to this event by sharing experiences, celebrating success, and highlighting goals for the future within the program. Testimonies will be shared about learning challenges, but also immense personal and community growth across borders, reaffirming that TRU’s Study Abroad Exchange Program plays a crucial role in achieving internationalization goals and in taking us to new global horizons.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 4: To enhance environments and opportunities to find enriching connections that inspire diverse cultural expressions, individual growth and foster life-long relationships.
Objective 3: Broaden connections and foster engagement with the wider community in Williams Lake, Kamloops and the surrounding region, with a focus on promoting global engagement and creating more opportunities for connection for all participants
Poster Presenter: Peter Tsigaris (Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics)
Description: Future Earth is an open-access student journal on sustainability that uses faculty reviewers to support scholarly quality. It provides undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to develop, communicate, and publish research exploring the environmental, economic, social, cultural, and technological dimensions of sustainability.
Since its inception, the journal has recorded more than 30,000 interactions, including over 17,000 file views, with geographically identified activity from 157 countries. The articles address both Canadian and global sustainability challenges while sharing student knowledge and perspectives with readers beyond the university.
This poster presents the journal’s development, student contributions, publication process, and international readership. It considers the journal’s potential to support TRU’s international visibility. It demonstrates how an open-access student journal can connect TRU students and faculty with partner institutions, communities, and global audiences through sustainability research.
The poster presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 5: To lead the way in cultivating a culture of community mindedness with a global conscience by sharing educational practices, exchanging knowledge worldwide and taking a proactive role in addressing, regional, national and global challenges through education and scholarship.
Objective 5: Strengthen TRU’s leadership in the post-secondary internationalization environment by sharing best practices, contributing to the global discourse, and leveraging our internal expertise for broader impact
Roundtable Presenter: Gloria Ramirez, Tory Handford (Faculty of Education and Social Work)
Description: In this roundtable I will share a pilot course developed by Graduate Programs in Education and my research connected to this initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to familiarize internationally experienced teachers (IETs) in the M.Ed. program to BC schools through an elective M.Ed. course. The course includes
an introduction to BC curriculum, professional teaching standards, teaching expectations, and pedagogical approaches. It also includes a 3-week placement at a BC school to facilitate understanding of K-12 BC education, knowledge exchange with local teachers, and the development of professional trust. My research examines the experiences of IETs, host teachers, and school and district leaders participating in this initiative.
Following a brief introduction to the initiative and emerging findings, I will lead a roundtable conversation around the following three questions:
- How can university–school partnerships recognize internationally educated teachers’ existing knowledge while supporting their learning about local contexts?
- What enables reciprocal intercultural learning among internationally educated teachers, host teachers, and educational leaders?
- How might lessons from this initiative inform partnerships and support for internationally educated professionals across disciplines?
The roundtable presented at the event supported the following goals and objectives of the SIP.
Goal 5: To lead the way in cultivating a culture of community mindedness with a global conscience by sharing educational practices, exchanging knowledge worldwide and taking a proactive role in addressing, regional, national and global challenges through education and scholarship.
Objective 2: Develop and implement strategies that strengthen local and global partnerships and deepen global perspectives in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the TRU Vision Statement