The purpose of this workshop is to have a space available for BIPOC students to learn, share and strengthen their social positionality; resulting in dismantling the white, patriarchal, eurocentric structure imposed by academic institutions.

We firmly believe that the only way to change such a white institution is by unpacking and dismantling it, putting BIPOCs’ knowledge, race, historical trauma, and differences at the center of the dismantling process. But before we are able to do that, we need to support BIPOC people to share, learn, unpack, and strengthen their own social positionality, unpacking and deconstructing centuries of receiving white and western education.

Workshop titles:

1. What is Race? In this workshop, we provide a brief introduction to the concept of race and its history. In doing so, we examine present-day racism and how it bears similarities to its roots.

2. The Many Forms of Racism. In this workshop, we explore the many ways racism manifests itself. We look at the differences between systemic, systematic, explicit, and implicit racism.

3. Decolonizing Education. Drawing on the works of BIPOC scholars, we highlight the importance of their contributions. Moreover, we examine the need for decolonized education.

4. Introduction to Intersectionality. Intersectionality has become one of the latest buzzwords, but what does it mean? In this workshop, we introduce the concept of intersectionality and review the scholars that first advocated for it.

5. Environmental Racism. In our final workshop, we take a sociological and anthropological approach to explore how communities of people of colour are impacted disproportionately by environmental concerns like pollution and water scarceness. Using present day examples, we analyze and discuss the reasons behind this phenomenon.

This workshop has been developed and will be facilitated by Karine Coen-Sanchez-PhD Candidate and a certification will be offered at the end of the workshop by Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG)

Dates and Times

Wednesday, 15 February 2023 9:30 AM
Friday, 17 February 2023 9:30 AM
Wednesday, 1 March 2023 9:30 AM
Wednesday, 8 March 2023 9:30 AM
Friday, 10 March 2023 5:00 PM

Register here

 

Resources for the Workshops

General Readings

Week 1: What is Race?

 

Presentation: What is Race?

Books:

Fanon, F. (2008[1968]). Black skin, white masks (New ed.). Pluto.

Hall, S., Gilroy, P., & Gilmore, R. W. (2021). Selected writings on race and difference (P. Gilroy & R. W.

Gilmore, Eds.). Duke University Press.

Strings, S. (2019). Fearing the black body: The racial origins of fat phobia. New York University Press.

Articles:

Taiwo, O. O., Fehrenbacher, A. E., & Cooke, A. (2021). Material Insecurity, Racial Capitalism, and Public

Health. The Hastings Center Report51(6), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.1293

Audio/Video:

“What is Race?” – podcast episode from The Malcolm Effect, hosted by Momodou Taal in conversation with Professor Alana Lentin.

“Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore” – an Antipode Foundation film directed by Kenton Card

Introduction to Intersectionality

Books:

Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought : Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central

Articles:

The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977)

Audio/Video:

“The Urgency of Intersectionality” – TED talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw

“Angela Davis. Revolution Today.” – 2017 lecture to the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (CCCB), note portion on ‘Mainstream Feminism’ at 46:00.

Angela Davis. Revolution Today

“Sometimes You’re A Caterpillar” – animated video by chescaleigh on YouTube

Week 2: The Many Forms of Racism

 

Presentation: The Many Forms of Racism 

 

SisterSong. (2021). Reproductive Justice. SisterSOng Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.

Coen-Sanchez, K., Idriss-Wheeler, D., Bancroft, X. et al. Reproductive justice in patient care: tackling systemic racism and health inequities in sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada. Reprod Health 19, 44 (2022).

 

Week 3: Decolonizing Education

 

Readings:

Decolonizing Education and Educators’ Decolonizing

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0QInPzOpCc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Kpekzypg0

Week 4: Introduction to Intersectionality

 

Readings:

Books:

Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought : Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of

Empowerment, Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ottawa/detail.action?docID=178421.

Articles:

The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977)

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/

 

Audio/Video:

“The Urgency of Intersectionality” – TED talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o&t=151s

“Angela Davis. Revolution Today.” – 2017 lecture to the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (CCCB), note portion on ‘Mainstream Feminism’ at 46:00.

https://www.cccb.org/en/multimedia/videos/angela-davis/227656

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGic6xd-BVQ

“Sometimes You’re A Caterpillar” – animated video by chescaleigh on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRiWgx4sHGg