Contributing to Defining Moments Canada
DMC is committed to justice-oriented hiring and work practices. We welcome applicants of all identities, and are especially eager to welcome Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+, and disabled collaborators. We will support disabled candidates through the application process and disabled contributors through our working relationship as per individual needs as best we can. Please let us know in your initial email if there are specific ways we can ensure this experience is welcoming for you. We also welcome applicants who are emerging in their fields and applicants who have come to their fields in non-traditional ways.
How to Apply
Stage One: Statement of Interest
If interested in collaborating on either educational or historical content, please send:
- A brief introduction to/description of yourself, where you are located, and what communities you’re connected to (if you would like to disclose);
- A brief statement of interest explaining why you would like to participate in this particular project and a short summary of your proposed work (approx. 250-300 words);
- A CV that includes professional and educational backgrounds and experiences.
If you are interested in developing historical content, email this statement to Anna England (she/her) at anna@canhist.ca.
If you are interested in developing educational content, email this statement to Amanda Merpaw (she/her) at amanda@canhist.ca.
Applications are considered on a rolling basis while projects are active.
Stage Two: Digital Conversation
If your proposal and experience aligns with our project goals, we will schedule an initial meeting for approximately 30-45 minutes to take place via Zoom or the phone. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce ourselves, chat further about your proposed work and our project, and for both DMC and the applicant to determine whether we would like to move forward with the collaboration.
Stage Three: Scope of Work Agreement
If both DMC and the applicant choose to move forward with the proposed work, DMC will send a Scope of Work Agreement to the applicant, which includes responsibilities, timelines, and remuneration details. The applicant will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the Scope of Work Agreement. Once the Agreement is revised and approved by both DMC and the applicant, both parties will sign.
Stage Four: Creating Exciting Work Together!
The best part! At this stage, we work together as collaboratively as feels best for you to support the development of the historical and/or educational content.
This stage includes ongoing conversation with your respective manager and, upon submission of drafts, also includes copy and content editing as necessary.When your contribution is finalized, where possible, it will be translated into French and will appear in both languages on our website and shared via our social media platforms.
Projects Currently Seeking Contributors
Realizing the Pledge: Canada & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Historical Content Developers
We are seeking writers, historians, and community experts to collaborate with us on developing historical or analytical content for Realizing the Pledge: Canada & the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The audience for this content is educators and students from K-12 and into post-secondary; contributors should be comfortable writing for a diverse youth audience on the overarching topic of human rights in Canada, but more specifically on ‘moments’ in which Canada has embodied the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Topics include (but are not limited to):
- The history of John Humphreys and the drafting of the UDHR;
- commitments to the rights of children (e.g. Vancouver Principles, Rwanda, etc.);
- commitments to the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants;
commitments to peacekeeping (e.g. Haiti, Somalia, Palestine, Suez, Syria, etc.)FULL;- commitments to climate change (e.g. Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, etc.);
- commitments to education and heritage (e.g. UNESCO);
- commitments to people with disabilities;
- commitments to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities (e.g. UN Resolutions on SOGI);
- commitments to Indigenous populations (e.g. UNDRIP, TRC, and the National Inquiry into MMIWG, etc.).
We prioritize telling stories that are typically underrepresented, silenced, or otherwise untold as part of larger historical narratives. We also support the development of historical content that is shared in a variety of digital formats, such as (but not limited to): historical article (example 1, example 2), blog (example), video (example), podcast (example), illustrated series (example), or StoryMap (example).
If you are interested in collaborating with us on historical content for Realizing the Pledge, please contact Anna (she/her), Projects Manager and Digital Curator, at anna@canhist.ca. Applications are considered on a rolling basis while the project is active through March 2024.
Educational Content Developers
We are seeking educators from a variety of formal and informal environments, including but not limited to classroom teachers, artists, museum and historical site educators, archivists, and knowledge keepers, to collaborate with us on developing educational content and resources for Realizing the Pledge: Canada & Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The audience for this content is educators and students from K-12/Sec V and into post-secondary; contributors should be comfortable with creating material for this diverse educational audience on the topic of human rights in Canada within an anti-oppressive, justice-focused framework.
We welcome the creation of a range of educational resources, including but not limited to: unit plans, lesson plans, case studies, handouts, slide decks, conversation protocols, blogs about pedagogical approaches and processes, book and/or film studies, and multimedia tools (audio, video, etc.).
Defining Moments Canada prioritizes the development of curatorial thinking in young people: the capacity to make sense of and organize information in an information-rich world, and to curate, develop, and tell stories about that world in ways that promote authentic agency and voice.
Our overarching guiding questions for Realizing the Pledge are:
- How did the promotion and defense of universal human rights help shape Canada’s identity at home and abroad in the second half of the 20th century?
- What key defining moments in our shared histories have demonstrated Canada’s commitment to human rights?
And our enduring understandings are:
- The same rights should inherently belong to all humans and, while all humans are entitled to the same rights, there are circumstances that prevent some people and groups from accessing the equal application of these rights.
- Humans have a responsibility to protect not only their own but also each other’s rights in ways that support the development of a just and compassionate world. This sense of responsibility—or what Lester B. Pearson called a “devotion to peace” when accepting the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize—drove much of Canada’s foreign policy during the Cold War and beyond, including Pearson’s own work to create the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) and bring an end to the 1956 Suez Crisis.
- Canada’s involvement in restoring peace to the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War was a milestone moment in shaping Canada’s relationship to collective security and international peacekeeping.
- The UDHR has been a pivotal document influencing Canada’s approach to human rights both abroad and at home, and served as a precursor to Canada’s own Bill of Rights (1960) and Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).
- The UDHR paved the way for additional legislation in defense of individual and community rights, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which have been influential in Canada’s understanding and defense of human rights. UNDRIP was instrumental in both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008-2015) and the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Peoples (2016-2019).
We also invite educators to consider addressing one of the following historical topics:
- commitments to the rights of children (e.g. Vancouver Principles, Rwanda, etc.);
- commitments to the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants;
- commitments to peacekeeping (e.g. Haiti, Somalia, Palestine, Suez, Syria, etc.);
- commitments to climate change (e.g. Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, etc.);
- commitments to education and heritage (e.g. UNESCO);
- commitments to people with disabilities;
- commitments to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities (e.g. UN Resolutions on SOGI);
- commitments to Indigenous populations (e.g. UNDRIP, TRC, and the National Inquiry into MMIWG, etc.).
We welcome resources that draw entirely on the above questions, understandings, and topics, as well as resources that use the above lists as a springboard or catalyst for new and additional ideas. We prioritize telling stories that are typically underrepresented, silenced, or otherwise untold as part of larger historical narratives, and we encourage nuance and complexity in engaging with these foundational project elements.
If you are interested in collaborating with us on educational content for Realizing the Pledge, please contact Amanda (she/her), Education Manager, at amanda@canhist.ca. Applications are considered on a rolling basis while the project is active through March 2024.