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Indigenous Education

Dr. Lauren Jerke

A portrait of Lauren

Assistant Professor

Department of Indigenous Education

Accepting graduate students

Contact:
Office: MAC A256 250-472-5285
Area(s) of expertise:
Indigenous education, Indigenous pedagogy, drama education, applied theatre, arts-based research, drama to address social justice, drama to support decolonization, drama with gatekeepers

Biography

Lauren Jerke is a Métis artist, educator, and researcher. Her work is grounded in theatre-based, community-centered methods, where story and lived experiences are central. Lauren’s artistry is deeply intertwined with her commitment to address social and ecological justice. 

Through the use of drama, she works with individuals and communities to engage in understanding the root causes of injustice, using theatre as a means to confront contradictions between reality and political and economic interest in powerful, creative ways. 

She has worked in a diverse array of communities, including psychiatric hospitals, elder care homes, medical and law schools, judiciary, urban Indigenous populations, and Métis and First Nation communities. 

Publications

Jerke, L. (in press, anticipated 2026). “Nan McKay: Finding Strength”. In L. Forsythe, L. Fowler, & J. Markides (Eds.), Métis education for K-12: Centering Métis voices. Canadian Scholars Inc.

Jerke, L., Arcand, R., & Ward, R. (2023). “We Can Speak for Ourselves”: An Applied Theatre Workshop About Decolonization for Judges. Percées, 9. https://doi.org/10.7202/1112847ar 

Jerke, L., & Dobson, W. (2020). Theatre to address social justice issues with gatekeepers in Canada. In The routledge companion to Applied Performance Volume 1: Mainland Europe, North and Latin America, Southern Africa, and Australia and New Zealand. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351120142 

Dobson, W., Duchene, P., Jerke, L., & Donnelly-Rheaume, F. (2019). ‘No stepping back: The story of a Canadian truth and reconciliation play for children. In U.K. National Drama Magazine 25(1).

Jerke, L., Prendergast, M., & Dobson, W. (2017). Smoking Cessation in Mental Health Communities: A Living Newspaper Applied Theatre Project. In Creating Social Change Through Creativity (pp. 171–186). Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52129-9_10 

Wise, J., & Jerke, L. (2015). Liz Gorrie and the Kaleidoscope Alternative. Theatre Research in Canada, 36(1), 7–32. https://doi.org/10.3138/tric.36.1.7 

Jerke, L. (2011). "Balancing analytic discipline and artistic intuition during the devising process for No Particular Place to Go." Canadian Journal of Practice-based Research in Theatre 2(1). http://cjprt.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/cjprt/index. 

Doolittle, L., & Jerke, L. (2010). "Talking global, performing local: Something to declare." In Salverson, J, (Ed.) (2010). Popular Political Theatre and Performance. Toronto: Playwrights Canada Press (pp. 153-60).