On March 13, the speaker series hosted presentation by Jon Corbett, instructor at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at SFU. The talk was titled, “Unveiling Indigenous Wisdom in Computer Software, Hardware and Theory”
Dr. Corbett received his BFA at the University of Alberta, and MFA and Ph.D., at UBC Okanagan. During his studies, he developed his career as an application developer, focussing on centralized and de-centralized large-scale data repository and logistics web portals for UPS. Through his Ph.D., he continued the exploration of viewing technology skills as an artistic practice, resulting in my creation of the “acimow/Cree#” programming language for nehiyaw (Plains Cree), a specialized application for nehiyawewin learning, a nehiyaw keyboard, and the development of an Indigenous Computing Framework that proposes Storywork as a scaffold for programming computers using Indigenous languages. Before joining SFU, he was also a sessional faculty member at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, teaching topics in Digital Media, Virtual Worlds, and Visual Communication.
You can watch the whole presentation below: