The Radical Policy School
The Radical Policy School offers non-accredited educational programming through the Yellowhead School. This innovative program offers a decolonial model of education grounded by theoretical learning and practical application for Indigenous leaders involved in local, community- and land-based initiatives, but might not see themselves as welcome in university spaces or who have been marginalized from post-secondary education.
Rigorous, intentional, and sustained, the Radical Policy School is devoted to transformation and revitalization.
2023/2024 Focus
The focus for the Radical Policy School 2023/2024 is on historic and contemporary Indigenous economics in a settler colonial context. Offered through Yellowhead School, this innovative program provides students from diverse personal and professional backgrounds a radically different perspective on the study of economics through a decolonial lens backed by research and led by leading Indigenous practitioners and scholars.
Learn More! Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
The Radical Policy School is an ideal program for emerging and established Indigenous leaders involved in local, community- and land-based initiatives who are interested in expanding and deepening their knowledge on historic and contemporary Indigenous economics through intensive learning. The Radical Policy School is not a ‘how-to’ course, but the lessons can be applied to the learner’s professional and personal activities and pursuits.
The program runs throughout May 2024 with weekly synchronous online lectures, continuous access to the course website, and an in-person learning component. The virtual sessions will be 2 hours in length with four sessions in total. An additional 2-3 hours of preparation / homework time will be required.
The program will conclude with a mandatory three-day intensive in-person gathering in Toronto, Ontario.
There is no financial cost to be a student in this program. Yellowhead Institute will cover the cost of all required reading materials, and travel and accommodations for the in-person gathering. If there are additional barriers that hinder your ability to take part in the program, we would like to know and will try to ensure that every admitted student can participate fully. However, students must have reliable, consistent access to a computer and Internet connection to attend virtual seminars and office appointments.
The Radical Policy School is for emerging and established Indigenous leaders. Yellowhead Fire and Yellowhead Online offerings are/will be available for non-Indigenous folks.
If you have read through the information on this site and are still unsure if you should apply or not, please email Lillian Smallboy at lsmallboy@torontomu.ca.
Students will have input into the full suite of topics that will be covered. Potential topics include:
- Installing capitalist economic framework in a settler colonial society
- Extractive capitalism
- Indian Act Impact on Economic Development of First Nations reserves
- Indigenous economics – Indigenomics
- Northern economies
- Land-based economies
- Arts and Creative economies
Instructors will be announced in late 2024!
We will be opening the application process in October! Stay tuned for an exact date, or follow us on our social media accounts. Please note that this year’s cohort will be small, so we’ll be accepting a limited number of students.
