Robert Harding BA, BSW, MSW, PhD, RSW
Video Presentations:
Micro Lecture Series
Community Service (UFV) since 2008:
2010-present Library Advisory Committee
2008-present Indigenous Studies Advisory Committee
2010-present Curriculum Working Group for the BA in Indigenous Studies
2010-present Teaching and Learning Exchange Subcommittee of the Faculty Council
(Professional Studies)
Manuscript Reviewer:
» Canadian Social Work Review (Canadian Association of Social Work Educators, Ottawa)
» Canadian Journal of Communication (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver)
» American Indian Culture and Research Journal (University of California at Los Angeles)
» Social Movement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest
(Keele University, Staffs, United Kingdom)
Professional Affiliations, Memberships and Associations:
» Member, BC Association of Social Workers, Richmond/Delta/Burnaby Branch
» Member, Society for Cross Cultural Research
» Registered Social Worker, BC College of Social Workers
Current Project:
Aboriginal issues in the news: Old stereotypes and new opportunities (book)
Synthesis of the findings of various research projects.
Projects in Development:
The Media, Aboriginal People and Common Sense
This documentary film will explore how the news media frame Aboriginal issues such as
treaty negotiations and the devolution of responsibility for child welfare.
Comparative research into news media representations of Canadian Aboriginal peoples and indigenous peoples in Central America
The focus of this project is news discourse about land claims, treaty negotiations and
indigenous/Aboriginal self-governance initiatives. Coverage of these issues in the
Nicaraguan press will be compared with reportage of similar issues in Canada.
Previous Projects:
2008 Comparative analysis of news discourse about child welfare
This project examined political and social implications of news discourse for Aboriginal
people in the context of recent self-government initiatives. Research focussed on
similarities and differences in the ways Aboriginal child welfare agencies and their
non-Aboriginal counterparts are treated in the press. As written up in “News reporting
on Aboriginal child welfare: Discourses of white guilt, reverse racism and failed policy”
(see Peer-Reviewed Papers and Book Chapters).
2007 Comparative analysis of news discourse about critical incidents in the
field of child welfare
Techniques of content and discourse analysis are applied to news coverage of two
child welfare cases in BC. The first case involved a delegated Aboriginal agency,
while the second focused on BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development.
2004 Canadian print media coverage of Aboriginal child welfare issues in BC.
This study identified framing techniques used by major “dailies” such as the Victoria
Times-Colonist and The Vancouver Sun and smaller publications such as
The Chilliwack Progress and The Abbotsford Times. Supported by a SSHRC Small
Universities Grant (SUG) administered by the University of the Fraser Valley.
As written up in “Aboriginal child welfare: Symbolic battleground in the news media”
(see Peer-Reviewed Papers and Book Chapters).
Peer-Reviewed Papers and Book Chapters (since 2005):
2010 The demonization of Aboriginal child welfare authorities in the news.
Canadian Journal of Communication, 35(1),pp.85-108
2009 News reporting on Aboriginal child welfare: Discourses of white guilt, reverse
racism and failed policy. Canadian Social Work Review, 26(1), pp. 25-41.
2008 Aboriginal child welfare: Symbolic battleground in the news media. In K. Knopf
(ed.), Aboriginal Canada revisited: Politics and cultural expression in the 21st century.
(pp.290-329) Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
2006 Historical representations of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media.
Discourse and Society, 17(2), pp. 205-235, Sage Publications Ltd., London, England.
2005 The media, Aboriginal people and common sense. Canadian Journal of Native
Studies, 25(1), pp. 311-336, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba.
2005 Media discourse about Aboriginal self-governance in 1990s British Columbia.
First Nations, first thoughts conference (published on-line as part of the conference
proceedings), Centre for Canadian Studies, University of Edinburgh, May, 2005.
Available at: (www.cst.ed.ac.uk/conferences.html
)
Peer-Reviewed Presentations (since 2005)
2010 Cross-cultural differences in news reporting on critical incidents in
Aboriginal child welfare. 2010 Meeting of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research.
University of New Mexico. Albuquerque.
2007 Framing Aboriginal self-governance in Canadian news discourse. International
Media Conference: 20 Years of Propaganda? Critical Evidence and Discussion
Regarding the Ongoing Relevance of the Herman & Chomsky Propaganda Model.
Communication Studies, University of Windsor.
2007 Framing BC treaty issues in the news: Old stereotypes and new opportunities.
British Columbia: Inner and Outer Worlds Conference. University of the Fraser Valley
and the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre. Harrison Hot Springs, BC.
2005 The media, Aboriginal people and common sense: Discourse about Aboriginal
people in Canadian newspapers. Democratic Values: Past, Present and Future
Conference. Center for North American Studies. University of Tampere, Finland.
2005 Representations of Aboriginal self-governance issues in the News media. First
Nations, First Thoughts Conference. Centre for Canadian Studies. University of
Edinburgh.
2005 Media discourse about First Nations child welfare issues in Canada.
Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Symposium: Aboriginal Peoples in Canada in the
21st Century. Universitat Greifswald, Germany.
Invited Lectures
2010
At the invitation of UFV's Research and Graduate Studies Department, the following lecture was given during the UFV Mirco-lecture Series. Representations of Aboriginal People in the News (January 28).Audience:
Students and faculty, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford.
At the invitation of the Burnaby/Delta/Richmond Branch od the British Columbia Association of Social Workers
(BCASW), the following lecture was given. Indigenous People, the News Media and Social Justice. Audience: BCASW members and special guests from the Snowchange organization (Finland), Evergreen Community Medical Centre, Vancouver.
2009
At the invitation of the Canadian Embassy in San Jose, two lectures were given. (see: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/costa_rica/highlights-faits/Robert_Harding_2009.aspx )
» Comparative analysis of coverage of Canadian Aboriginal issues in mainstream
newspapers and the Aboriginal press. Audience: students and faculty members in the
Master of InternationalConflict Resolution program, United Nations University for
Peace, San Jose.
» Stereoyping of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media. Audience: Journalists’
Association of Costa Rica, Colegio de Periodistas, San Jose.
Speaking Tour – Germany, May 2007
At the invitation of the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, presentations were given in venues across Germany.
Racism, Aboriginal people and the news media. Audience: two Grade 11 classes, Carl-Zeiss-Gymnasium, Jena.
Historical representations of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media. Audience: students enrolled in The Writing and Rewriting of American History in Literature and Film, a graduate seminar taught by Professor Jutta Zimmermann, University of Jena.
Racism, Aboriginal people and the News media. Audience: two Grade 9 classes, Rudolf-Virchow-Oberschule, Berlin.
Images of Aboriginal people in the news: Mainstream Canadian press compared with the Aboriginal media. Audience: Greifswald Canadian Studies Conference ("Canada: Centers and Margins"), University of Greifswald.
Stereotyping. Audience: Grade 7 class, Hauptschule an der Situlistraße, München.
Images of Aboriginal People in the news: Mainstream Canadian press compared with the Aboriginal media. Audience: students enrolled in the degree program in journalism at the Deutsche Journalistenschule (German School of Journalism), München.
Modern representations of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media. Audience: High School Teachers enrolled in a teacher-training seminar ("Canada in the Classroom"), German American Institute, Tübingen.
Racism, Aboriginal people and the news media. Audience: Grade 11 and Grade 12 classes, Hans-Sachs-Gymnasium, Nürnberg
Racism, Aboriginal people and the news media. Audience:students who are apprenticing in trades, Staatliche Berufsoberschule Nürnberg.
Images of Aboriginal people in the news. Audience: members and guests of the Deutsch-Kanadische Gesellschaft (German-Canadian Association), Hamburg.
