Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) Audio + Video Archives
University of Calgary
OEDI Interview Archives
Black History Month radio interview - Virnetta Nelson
Interview of Vice Provost EDI Dr. Malinda S. Smith by Calgary Eyeopener with David Gray, Angela Knight on Virnetta Anderson (1920 - 2006) was an American-Canadian community activist and politician, who was elected to Calgary City Council in 1974 as the city's first Black Canadian municipal councillor.
Further reading by Sean Myers, Calgary Herald, February 2009
Black History Month radio interview on Violet King Henry
Interview of Vice Provost EDI Dr. Malinda S. Smith by Calgary Eyeopener with David Gray, Angela Knight on Violet Pauline King Henry (1929 -1982). Violet King was a lawyer and a descendant of Black settlers from the United States. Her life consisted of several important milestones. She was the first Black Canadian to obtain a law degree in Alberta, the first Black person admitted to the Alberta Bar and the first Black woman to become a lawyer in Canada.
Black History Month radio interview - Annie Saunders
Interview of Vice Provost EDI Dr. Malinda S. Smith by Calgary Eyeopener with David Gray, Angela Knight on Annie Saunder (1836 - 1898). Annie Saunders was an American, born in the States, and she met Mary Macleod — Colonel Macleod’s wife — on a Missouri riverboat as Mary Macleod was heading west. In 1877, Saunders decided to join Mary Macleod and arrived in Fort Macleod to begin work as a nanny or nurse to the Macleod children. This is how she was most often documented, but recent research suggests that Saunders was a pioneer in her own right, running multiple businesses in Fort Macleod and later in Pincher Creek.
Black History Month at UCalgary
Interview of Vice Provost EDI Dr. Malinda Smith about Black History Month by CBC Calgary News Rob Brown begins at 18:50.
Black on campus
Students, staff and faculty say universities are failing them
Students, staff and faculty at some of Canada's largest universities say they have experienced anti-Black racism on campus and that they were targeted if they spoke out about their treatment, an investigation by The Fifth Estate has found.
What's the point of university? CBC Ideas
In May 2023, IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed moderated a public discussion at the University of Regina focused on one question: What are universities for? with guests: Dr. Linda Tuhiwai Smith | Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Dr. Malinda S. Smith | University of Calgary, Dr. Joel Westheimer | University of Ottawa and Dr. Jonathan R. Cole | Columbia University.
Further reading by Magan Carty, CBC Radio, September 2023
OEDI Video Resources
The annual EDI Awards aim to recognize the knowledge, passion, dedication, and campus engagement of individuals and teams who are actively promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the living and working environments across our campus communities.
The EDI Awards recognize outstanding achievement in practice, events, applied research, policy, programs, or other activities that foster equitable, sustainable and measurable change, especially for those who traditionally have been under-represented (women, visible/racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+) on campus.
2024 EDI Awards recipients
- Ms. Annemarie Summers (she/her), Undergraduate Student Award
- Ms. Diana Changirwa (she/her), Graduate Student Award
- Dr. Brenda McDermott (she/her), Management and Professional Staff Award
- Dr. Bukola Salami (she/her), Leadership Award
- Dr. Carolyn Emery (she/her), Faculty Award
- Dr. Sharon Hou (she/her), Postdoctoral Fellows Award
- Ms. Rochelle Lamoureux (she/her), Non-Management Support Staff Award
- Vivienne Jones (they/them), Sessional Instructor Award
- Team Award: Ms. Breanna Fang (she/her), Ms. Jessica Morency (she/her) and Ms. Fatima Saleem (she/her).
2023 EDI Award recipients
- Student Award: Mr. Tanmoy Newaz, Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial biology student in the Faculty of Science
- Faculty Award: Dr. Patrina Duhaney, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work
- Team Award: Psychology Trans Affirming Care Team: Dr. Brae Anne McArthur, Ms. Michaela Paton, and Ms. Caroline Luszawski
2022 EDI Award recipients
- Student Award: Sarah Ride, Department of Geoscience
- Faculty Award: Dr. Gregor Wolbring, Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine
- Team Award: Faculty of Social Work Anti-Racism Research Team: Sheliza Ladhani, Dr. David Este, Dr. Kathleen Sitter, Kimberly Van Patten, Dr. Peter Gabor, Professor, Faculty of Social Work and Dr. Darren Lund (posthumously recognized)
- Staff Award: Alison Barrett, Manager, Community and Social Impact, Schulich School of Engineering
2021 EDI Award recipients
- Student Award: Keshia Holloman-Dawson, Faculty of Law
- Faculty Award: Dr. William Bridel, associate professor, Faculty of Kinesiology
- Team Award: Calgary Black Medical Student Association members of the Cumming School of Medicine: Ebdalla Aya, Nwawroh Chidera, Keri McNeil-Inyani, and Mohamud Mursal; and
- Staff Award: Renée Huntley, Indigenous health program coordinator, Cumming School of Medicine
EDI Data in the Research Ecosystem: Canada's Tri-Agency Experience
Date: April 8, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Malinda Smith, Vice-Provost And Associate Vice-President Research (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) | Professor of Political Science | Faculty of Arts | University of Calgary
- Ms. Marie-Lynne Boudreau, Director | Tri-Agency Institutional Program Secretariat | (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC)
- Dr. Danika Goosney, Vice-President | Research Grants And Scholarships Directorate | NSERC
- Dr. Dominique Bérubé, Vice-President | Research | SSHRC
Presentations:
- EDI Data in the Research Ecosystem: Canada's Tri-Agency Experience - Dr. Danika Goosney, Vice-President Research, NSERC
- EDI Data in the Research Ecosystem: Canada's Tri-Agency Experience - SSHRC - Dr. Dominique Berbube, Vice-President of Research, SSHRC
- EDI Data in the Canada Research Chair Program - Ms. Marie-Lynn Boudreau, Director, Tri-Agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS).
Measuring and Collecting Data on Diversity - National Statistical Standards
Date: April 8, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Tolulope T. Sajobi, Associate Professor, Biostatistics, Departments of Community Health Sciences and Clinical Neurosciences, Cumming School of Medicine, and Academic Director, EDI Data Research, Analysis and Strategy, OEDI
- Ms. Hélène Maheux, Senior Analyst | CGDIS | Statistics Canada
- Ms. Mireille Vézina, Analyst | CGDIS | Statistics Canada
- Ms. Karine Leclerc, Acting Chief Research | CGDIS | Statistics Canada
- Ms. Pauline Tuitoek, Assistant Director | CGDIS | Statistics Canada
Presentations:
- Measuring and Collecting Data on Diversity - National Statistical Standards - Ms. Karine Leclerc, Acting Chief of the Research, Analysis and Subject-matter Expertise, Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics (CGDIS) and Ms. Hélène Maheux, Senior Analyst - Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics (CGDIS)
- Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at Statistics Canada - Ms. Pauline Tuitoek, Assistant Director of Statistics Canada’s Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics (CGDIS) and Mireille Vézina, Analyst - Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics (CGDIS)
EDI Data Strategy and Indices in Research and The Workplace
Date: April 8, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Kristen Baetz, Dean | Faculty of Science | University of Calgary
- Ms. Koko Bate Agborsangaya, Program Director | CanCOGen | GENOME Canada
- Mr. Phil Crehan, Senior Advisor | Centre for Values in International Development
- Mr. Eddy Nason, Director | Strategic Impact and Evaluation | GENOME Canada
Presentations:
- A Global Examination of LGBT Workplace Equality Indices - Phil Crehan, Senior Advisor, Centre for Values in International Development
Systemic Inequities, Disaggregated Data and Racial Equity
Date: April 8, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Pallavi Banerjee, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary
- Dr. Evelyn Asiedu, EDI Data Analysis | Data Management and Policy Analysis and Postdoctoral Fellow, Thompson Rivers University
- Dr. Ninan Abraham, Associate Dean (Equity and Diversity ), University of British Columbia
- Dr. Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Professor, Political Science, Simon Fraser University
- Mr. Bashir Mohamed, Researcher, EDI Coordinator, University of British Columbia
Presentations:
- Gatekeeping in Hiring Racialized Faculty - Dr. Ninan Abraham, Associate Dean (Equity and Diversity), Faculty of Science and a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia
- "Whats in a value?" - Contextualizing Disaggregated Data Collection in Canadian Higher Education - Dr. Evelyn Asiedu, EDI Data Analysis and RDM Postdoctoral Fellow, Thompson Rivers University
- Whiteness, Power and Politics of Demographics in the Governance of the Canadian Academy: The Need for Good Data, Dr. Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Professor of Political Science, Simon Fraser University
- The Edmonton SRO Research Project, Bashir Mohamed, Researcher
Building a Data Collection Culture with Dimensions EDI and UCASS Data Modernization
Date: April 11, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. William Ghali, Vice President Research | University of Calgary
- Ms. Karine Morin, Director | Policy And Interagency Affairs | NSERC/CRSNG
- Ms. Nathalie Podeszfinski, Project Manager | Dimensions | NSERC
- Mr. André Lebel, Chief - Program Manager | Statistics Canada
Presentations
- Building a Data Collection Culture With Dimensions: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Canada - Karine Morin, Director, Policy and Interagency Affairs, NSERC and Nathalie Podeszfinski, Project Manager, Dimensions
- University and College Academic Staff System (UCASS) Modernization: Moving Forward - André Lebel, Program Manager, Canadian Centre for Education Statistics, Statistics Canada
Numbers and Nuances – Gender Equality and Gender Equity Indices
Date: April 11, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Laleh Behjat, Professor, NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering (Prairies) | Department of Electrical and Software Engineering | University of Calgary
- Dr. Anne Laure Humbert, Director | CDPRP | Oxford Brookes University
- Dr. Julie Cafley, Vice President | Digital Research Alliance of Canada
- Dr. Iain D. Macpherson, Department of Communication Studies | MacEwan University
Presentations:
- The Power of Data - Data for Action. Data for Impact. Data for Change - Dr. Julie Cafley, Vice-President, Digitial Research Alliance of Canada
- Numbers and Nuances: Gender Equality and Gender Equity Indices - Dr. Anne Laure Humbert, Professor, Oxford Brookes University
- Numbers and Needed Nuance: A Critical Analysis of the Gender Equity Index (GEI) - Dr. Iain D. Macpherson, Associate Professor and Professional Communication Major Program Head, MacEwan University
Why and How EDI Data Dashboards Important
Date: April 11, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. William Yimbo, Senior Advisor | EDI Literacy, Education and Training | Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion | University of Calgary
- Dr. Steffany Bennett, Advisor | Office of The President and Vice-Chancellor | University of Ottawa
- Mr. Adan Ahmed, Director | Office of Institutional Analysis | University of Calgary
- Mr. Bruce Evelyn, Vice-Provost (Planning and Resource Allocation) | University of Calgary
- Ms. Jacqueline Lambert, Senior Institutional Analyst | Office of Institutional Analysis | University of Calgary
Presentations:
- Why are Dashboards Important (the UOttawa Perspective)? - Dr. Steffany A.L. Bennett, Special Advisor, University of Ottawa
- Why Dashboards are Important - UCalgary EDI Dashboard - Mr. Bruce Evelyn, Vice Provost (Planning and Resource Allocation), University of Calgary, Mr. Adan Ahmed, Director, Office of Institutional Analysis, University of Calgary and Jacqueline Lambert, Senior Institutional Analyst, Office of Institutional Analysis, University of Calgary
COVID–19 Afterlives – Disaggregated Data Building Equitable Futures
Date: April 11, 2022
Location: Virtual
Speakers:
- Moderated by Dr. Malinda Smith, Vice-Provost And Associate Vice-President Research (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) | Professor of Political Science | Faculty of Arts | University of Calgary
- Mr. Irfan Chaudhry, Director | Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity | MacEwan University
- Dr. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Assistant Professor | Sociology | University of Toronto
- Dr. Melanee Thomas, Associate Professor | Political Science | University of Calgary
Presentations:
- Police Reported Hate Crime (2022) – Mr. Irfan Chaudhry, Director, Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity, MacEwan University
- Race-Based Criminal Justice Data in the Canadian Context: The Post-Covid Landscape – Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
Dr. Tonya D. Callaghan, University of Calgary
The Urgency of Intersectionality for Addressing Systemic Inequities in Higher Learning
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Tonya D. Callaghan, Associate Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary
Event: EDI Award Ceremony Keynote
Date: March 6, 2024
Description: The Werklund School of Education’s undergraduate course, Diversity in Learning, has been held up as an EDI exemplar. Drawing from experience as the lead of this course, this keynote discusses ways we can move towards inclusive and equitable teaching practices. The conclusion addresses the toll such work can take on those who actively teach EDI topics and what allies can do to support us.
Recorded session - Following the EDI Award Ceremony at time 44:04
Dr. Shawna Cunningham (EdD), University of Calgary, Dr. Rachel Zellars, JD, PhD, Saint Mary's University and Dr. Malinda S. Smith, University of Calgary
EDI Week Keynote Plenary to Commemorate International Women’s Day
Keynote speakers: Dr. Rachel Zellars, JD, PhD, Saint Mary's University, Dr. Shawna Cunningham, EdD, University of Calgary and Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, University of Calgary
Event: International Women's Day 2024 - Inspiring Inclusion
Date: March 5, 2024
Description: Four empowering Canadian renowned women academic leaders will help us inspire inclusion this year by exploring the dimensions of and challenges to meaningful inclusion in public service, organizational structures, and institutional leadership.
- Two Myths: Merit and Black Exceptionalism by Dr. Rachel Zellars, JD, PhD Associate Professor at Saint Mary's University
- Inclusion in Organizational Structures: An Indigenous Perspective by Dr. Shawna Cunningham, EdD, Acting (Vice Provost (Indigenous Engagement) and Director of the Indigenous Strategy, University of Calgary
- EnGendering Equity Beyond Tokenism and Symbolic Inclusion by Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Research (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion), University of Calgary
Dr. Wanda Costen, Dean, Smith School of Business, Queen's University
Not just allyship, but ACTION: Insights on how to implement the changes needed to address EDI
Keynote speaker: Dr. Wanda Costen, Dean, Smith School of Business, Queen's University
Event: EDI Week 2023
Date: February 6, 2023
Description: Dr. Wanda Costen will share her insights on solidarity across equity-deserving groups with the University of Calgary community. Dr. Costen’s extensive experience as an educator, researcher, and leader across various sectors, from the postsecondary to the private and public sectors, and active engagement with the community will be invaluable in learning about change through a collaborative spirit. In her talk, she will highlight how to be a leader in bringing change through EDI and anti-racist lenses and build solidarity across various issues for social change.
The talk will allow us to reflect and think through intersectional perspectives about how to take action toward equity, diversity and inclusion and be good allies and supporters. Through narratives and stories, Dr. Costen will give us ways of thinking through courage, safe spaces, solidarity in action, and anti-racism and EDI work on campus and beyond. To build on the conversations that have been occurring on campus on how to lead and support initiatives and calls for change to make the campus more diverse, inclusive and equitable, Dr. Costen will offer suggestions and ideas to advance change for everyone in their different roles and responsibilities towards EDI and anti-racism.
Dr. Kim Clark, Dr. Aruna Srivastava and Dr. Sonia Aujla-Bhullar
Solidarity through an Intersectional Lens: Equity in Action
Keynote panel: Dr. Kim Clark, Dr. Aruna Srivastava and Dr. Sonia Aujla-Bhullar
Event: EDI Week 2023
Date: February 7, 2023
Description: The three panellists presented, a board member of the World Sikh Organization (WSO) and co-chair their understanding of solidarity in action, how to think through intersectional lenses towards action and allyship, and how to take concrete steps and measures toward change (Equity in action). Dr. Clark, Assistant Dean in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization in the Faculty of Social Science at Western University, shared the recent research she has led with the students on accessibility and experiences with barriers on campus and solutions to think about. These great ways of thinking about accessibility on campus are essential to creating an inclusive, accessible and welcoming campus for students. Dr. Srivastava, Associate Dean of Arts in Pluralism and Inclusion, discussed their extensive research over the years and contributions on campus in equity, diversity and inclusion and ways of thinking collaboratively and through solidarity across the various equity-deserving groups based on lessons learned over the years of work on campus. Dr. Aujla-Bhullar discussed solidarity and what it means in her work through an intersectional lens, highlighting working with the community and within the UCalgary community to advance EDI initiatives. She is an active community member as a board member of the World Sikh Organization (WSO) and Co-Chair of the City of Calgary’s Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC).
Dr. Kalwant Bhopal, PhD, University of Birmingham
Black and Minority Ethnic Experiences in higher education: social justice, inclusion and white privilege Keynote
Speaker: Dr. Kalwant Bhopal, PhD, University of Birmingham
Event: EDI Week 2022
Date: February 2, 2022
Description: This lecture will examine how Black and minority ethnic staff and students remain marginalized in higher education. It will provide statistical data on the inequalities experienced by staff and students, followed by empirical research on Black and minority ethnic academics in the U.K. and U.S. higher education. The lecture will also explore how processes of whiteness and white privilege work to perpetuate the white space of higher education. The lecture will conclude by examining possible ways forward for higher education to engage with a socially just agenda for the inclusion of all groups.
Dr. Ann Lopez, PhD, University of Toronto
Embedding and Sustaining Equity and Decolonial Praxis in Higher Education: Actualizing ProLovePedagogy
Speaker: Dr. Ann Lopez, PhD, University of Toronto
Event: EDI Week keynote
Date: January 31, 2022
Description: These are challenging times marked not only by an ongoing pandemic that has impacted all aspects of life, laid bare structural inequities, but also marked by calls for greater equity in education and schooling. Students and communities who have traditionally not been served well in education systems in Canada and across the globe are calling for greater equity, not only in K-12 schools but also in higher education. They are calling for pedagogy, curricula, policies and practices that centre their lived experiences, support their educational advancement, and create teaching and learning spaces where they can thrive. Educators must attend to these ongoing challenges and complexities while carrying on their everyday work.
In this talk, Dr. Lopez explores ways that educators in higher education, drawing on both personal and collective agency, can embed and sustain equity and decolonizing praxis in their everyday work that will create lasting change. Drawing on her research and experience as an educator in public school and higher education, Lopez offers insights on navigating complexities educators face in implementing equity and decolonial practices in higher education and strategies to embed and sustain the work over time. She grounds this in what she describes as “ProLovePedagogy,,” which places love at the heart of equity and decolonizing praxis. As the late Bell Hooks wrote,e the moment we choose to love, we begin to move toward freedom toward and act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom.”
Dr. Verna St. Denis, University of Saskatchewan
An Indigenous Journey with Anti-Racist Education
Speaker: Dr. Verna St. Denis, University of Saskatchewan
Event: EDI Award Ceremony Keynote
Date: February 3, 2021
Description: Dr. St. Denis shared with us how anti-racist education is as necessary now as it has ever been and how racism against Indigenous people in Canada has inspired scholarly work for a better future.
Recorded session - Following the EDI Award Ceremony at time 38.49
The Violet King Engaged Scholar Award recognizes talented students with financial needs. Violet King was an exemplary student from a working-class background who paid for her education through loans and by teaching classical and jazz piano lessons. Her story exemplifies the reality of so many talented students who face barriers to and success within the university because of income limited access to scholarships, fellowships, and awards. This award recognizes and seeks to limit financial barriers that shape access and opportunity structures. It aims to facilitate access and embed equity, diversity, and inclusion in efforts to advance and enhance the student experience for those from historically underrepresented communities. The barriers to flourishing that are faced by Black, racialized, and Indigenous students informed the creation of the Award both to recognize talent and to enhance the affordability and accessibility of education for such students at the University of Calgary.
- The Award recognizes and celebrates underrepresented students' talents, contributions and needs at the University of Calgary.
- The Award recognizes the socioeconomic challenges underrepresented students face.
- The Award contributes to efforts to level the playing field by financially supporting students to succeed at the university.
The SU, the OEDI and the university promote accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusivity by offering various supports to members of equity-deserving groups.
Violet King Engaged Scholar Awards Ceremony 2024
Event: UCalgary Black History Month 2024
Date: February 15, 2024
Description: Named after Calgarian Violet King, Canada’s first Black woman lawyer, the UCalgary Students Union and Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion scholarship was created to recognize the intersections of excellence, leadership and unique barriers, challenges, victories, and lived experiences of Black, racialized and Indigenous students at the University of Calgary.
- Ms. Yvette Ysabel Yao, Cumming School of Medicine
- Ms. Victory Abraham, Cumming School of Medicine
- Ms. Misgana Abraha, Faculty of Science and Werklund School of Education
- Ms. Pelumi Adeosun, Faculty of Law
- Ms. Senait Yohannes, Faculty of Law
- Ms. Tolu Adewole, Faculty of Nursing
2023 Violet King Engaged Scholar Awards Ceremony Recorded session
Violet King Engaged Scholar Awards Ceremony 2024
Applications in the review process
The OEDI’s Courageous Conversation Speaker Series was launched in fall 2020, featuring discussions on racism, anti-racism, colonialism, and complaint.
Inspired by Maya Angelou and Violet King, the series engages the campus community and beyond in difficult conversations about systemic inequities. The series features locally and internationally renowned teachers, researchers, practitioners, and community-engaged scholars and activists by exploring critical questions about what needs to be done to effect sustainable change and ensure accountability.
Identifying, naming, discussing, and tackling historical and contemporary injustices can be profoundly unsettling. That’s where courage comes in – the courage to speak truth to power, to say things that the comfortable might not want to hear. Courageous Conversations are vital to advancing EDI in a university. It ensures that we are discussing EDI and modelling our expressed commitment to human rights, human dignity and cultivating equitable pathways that enable human flourishing.
All Courageous Conversations are hosted and moderated by Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, Associate Vice Provost and Vice President Research (EDI) | University of Calgary.
Intersectionality
Re-Imagining Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Academy with Kimberlé Crenshaw
Speakers: Kimberlé Crenshaw - hosted and moderated by Dr. Malinda Smith, PhD
Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Research and Welcome Remarks - Dr. Bukola Salami, PhD, RN, Scientific Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI). Also hosted by One Child Every Child, O'Brien Institute for Public Health, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute.
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: March 18, 2024
Description: This Courageous Conversation is an opportunity to explore intersectional justice and the importance of equity and racial justice to social inclusion and an inclusive higher education. It will explore the contested meanings, uses, and reactions to the concept of intersectionality – and the need for intersectional justice in our times.
Recording is not available
Inclusive and Diverse Leadership - Post-Secondary Sector
Speakers: Dr. Julie Cafley Catalyst Inc., Dr. Candace Brunette-Debassige UWO, Dr. Annette Henry UBC
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: November 23, 2023
Description: How inclusive are Canadian universities? Does the professoriate and leadership reflect the diversity of the Canadian population and student body? While more members of equity-deserving groups are being appointed into post-secondary leadership roles, underrepresentation and inequity remain and progress is still uneven. The conversation focuses on each speaker’s research, personal and professional experiences, and tangible actions to ensure inclusive university leadership.
EDI Trends in the post-secondary sector
Speakers: Dr. Moussa Magassa MRU, Martha Mathurin-Moe ULethbridge, Dr. Carrie Smith UAlberta
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: September 21, 2023
Description: Explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility trends in Canada and the US during this fall’s Courageous Conversations Speaker Series. Join the inaugural senior leaders in EDI from Alberta’s post-secondary institutions in discussion, for the first time, about challenges, opportunities, and innovations in EDI in the post-secondary sector.
The Problem of Caste in the North American University
Toward Making Caste-Based Discrimination a Protected Ground: A Virtual Panel Series II
Speakers: Ms. Shikha Diwakar, Dr. Shaista Aziz Patel, Aashadh (alias), and Mr. Prem Pariyar
Courageous Conversations, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2023
Date: March 21, 2023
Description: Description: A two-part collaboration hosted by the Offices of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. We were joined by four Dalit-Bahujan leaders who are instrumental in the struggle to make caste legible and a protected category in North American universities and other institutional contexts. Learn from their research and experiences, how caste-based discrimination and violence manifest in the North American academy.
Dalit-Bahujan Feminist Knowledges and Praxis
Toward Making Caste-Based Discrimination a Protected Ground: A Virtual Panel Series I
Speakers: Ms. Prachi Patankar, Ms. Nrithya Pillai, Ms. Esha Pillay and Dr. Swati Kamble
Event: International Women’s Day 2023
Date: March 8th, 2023
Description: A two-part collaboration hosted by the Offices of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Learn about caste; how Dalit-Bahujan women and non-binary peoples are affected by it; and how they have been organizing across educational, cultural, labour, land and other institutions, one step and space at a time.
OEDI Recording
Rehearsals for Living
Speakers: Dr. Robyn Maynard University of Toronto, Dr. Leanne Betasamosake-Simpson Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2023
Description: Rehearsals for Living, named one of the best Canadian nonfiction books of 2022 by CBC, is a revolutionary and inspiring collaboration and call to action between two of our most important contemporary thinkers, writers and activists about the world we are living in now.
Faith Matters
Why Engaging Religious Diversity Should be a Top Priority
Speakers: Dr. Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), Guest Moderators Dr. Aleem Bharwani, UCalgary and Dr. Aruna Srivastava UCalgary
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, UCalgary Pluralism Initiative.
Date: March 21, 2022
Description: Public institutions have an important role in cultivating respect for religious diversity and political pluralism and facilitating a shared understanding among diverse identities – for the public good, social well-being and social prosperity. How can a university help foster these possibilities – and with what positive social impact?
Decolonizing Disciplines and Structures of Inequality
Speakers: Dr. Gurminder Bhambra, University of Sussex and Dr. Yolande Bouka, Queen’s University
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: January 20, 2022
Description: “For a Reparatory Social Science” by Dr. Gurminder Bhambra: The social sciences are implicated in the reproduction of the very structures of inequality. This is a consequence of failure to acknowledge the 'connected histories' they abstracted for analysis.
“A Manifesto of Decolonial Justice in African Studies” by Dr. Yolande Bouka: The paradox of decolonizing institutions and disciplines whose function is to perpetuate hierarchies between ‘producers’ and "’objects’ of knowledge is one of the reasons why decolonizing the academy continues to be challenging.
Human Rights Day
Ableism, Disability Justice, and Accessible Futures in Post-Secondary Education
Speakers: Dr. Laverne Jacobs University of Windsor, Dr. Jay Dolmage
Event: International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Human Rights Day 2021
Date: December 10, 2021
Description: In this discussion, we addressed the ableist attitudes, policies, and practices built into higher education. We also interrogated the minimal and temporary means we have been given to address inequities and the cost such an approach has for disabled students, staff, and faculty.
Anti-Racism and Decolonization in the University
Speakers: Dr. Verna St. Denis, University of Saskatchewan and Dr. Shirley Anne Tate, University of Alberta
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: November 21, 2021
Description: Is it possible to decolonize and indigenize the university, a centuries-old colonial institution? When statements are made about indigenizing and transforming the university, what is meant by these claims? Are there examples of western knowledge systems and Indigenous knowledge systems providing opportunities for mutual understanding?
Decolonization
Speakers: Dr. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni University of Bayreuth, Dr. Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez, University of Alberta
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: October 21, 2021
Description: This second event in the “Decolonization and Questions of Justice in the University” series features Dr. Ndlovu-Gatsheni and Dr. Altamirano-Jiménez, who will explore theories and practices of decolonization, knowledge production in the contemporary university, and the rhetorics of liberation and freedom across time and space.
Courageous Conversations Recording
Decolonization, Disciplines & Indigenous Knowledge - Uni
Speakers: Dr. Marie Battiste, University of Saskatchewan and Dr. Catherine O’Dora-Hoppers, University of Gulu, Uganda
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: September 21, 2021
Description: Dr. Marie Battiste, University of Saskatchewan, focuses on how disciplinary colonialism and Indigenous knowledges form a split that has been created and continues to be reinforced within contemporary universities and in the K-12 education system
Dr. Catherine Odora-Hoppers focuses on the higher education system, especially the disciplines of law, science, and economics. It will focus on education with a small “e”, the discipline and subject-based western education.
Complaint, Diversity and Other Hostile Environments
Speaker: Dr. Sara Ahmed, PhD
Event: Courageous Conversations
Date: March 22, 2021
Description: Dr. Ahmed will bring together stories about making complaints by academics and students of colour to show how universities remain hostile environments despite or even through official policies on diversity and inclusion. She explains why doors keep coming up in stories of complaint with specific reference to the “diversity door.” People of colour are assumed to enter that door, which is often shut by appearing to be open. The lecture explores how those who complain become strangers or suspects, “persons to be interrogated.” Complaints about hostile environments are made in hostile environments.
Coloniality and Racial (In)Justice in the University
Speakers: Dr. Delia D. Douglas University of Manitoba, Dr. Enakshi Dua York University, dr. annie ross, Simon Fraser University, Dr. Sunera Thobani, University of British Columbia
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: January 27, 2021
Description: Examine how the politics of race and settler colonialism are presently negotiated by, and within, Canadian universities. The decades of privatization and deregulation in the 20th century initiated a far-reaching transformation of the public sector, including institutions of post-secondary education.
What, You’re Calling "Me" A Racist?
Speakers: Dr. Sarita Srivastava OCAD University and Dr. Fiona Nicoll, University of Alberta
Event: Courageous Conversations Speaker Series
Date: November 17, 2020
Description: Deeply divisive conflicts over racism have been among the strongest challenges facing organizations in North America and Europe over the last three decades, yet progress towards diversity and equality has been slow and uneven.
Sarita Srivastava’s forthcoming book, ‘You’re Calling Me a Racist?’, unpacks the emotional and moral preoccupations that lead us to greater conflict, drain our energy and divert our resources.
The Racist Violence of “Not Racism”
and The Role of “Contrarian” Academics
Speaker: Dr. Alana Lentin, Sydney University, Australia
Event: Courageous Conversations
Date: November 12, 2020
Description: This talk adds to the conversation on the relationship between ideas and practices of race-making and asks whether, today, the language of racism is fit for purpose. In a post-postracial age, public discourse on racism has gone beyond the four Ds of racism management: denial, debatability, distancing and deflection. Today, the defining struggle is over what racism is and who gets to define it, with those affected by racism cast as less capable of doing so.