By Kayla Perry, Editor-in-Chief

The University of Sudbury partnered with Trent University, in a collaborative effort to bridge the knowledge gap on urban Aboriginal issues.

The partnership centers on two new online courses that will be offered Canada-wide, which will aim to create a better understanding of the issues.

The two universities will alternate delivering the courses over the next five years.

Beginning in September 2015, the first course, titled Indigenous Peoples in Urban Centers (3 cr.), will be available online. This will be followed by Indigenous Peoples City as Home (3 cr.), which will be available in January 2016.

“There are very few courses in Canada that deal with urban Aboriginal issues and as the majority of Aboriginal people now live in cities it is very important that research and teaching now focus in this area.” said Dr. Kevin Fitzmaurice in a July press release.

Fitzmaurice, a faculty member at the University of Sudbury’s Indigenous Studies Department, said that the courses may be of special interest to students from Laurentian, Toronto, York and Ryerson, as the courses contain a noteworthy amount of Sudbury and Toronto content.