Recent & Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
6th CIRFS Conference: Racialization, Institutions and Movements
The Racialized Students Academic Network (RSAN) presents the sixth Critical Indigenous, Race, and Feminist Studies Student Conference (CIRFS) on Saturday, April 27th, 2024. The focus of this conference is on racialization, institutions, and movements. Specifically, the conference will be a site for the examination, engagement, and interrogation of the multiple effects of racialization within diverse institutions and movements (ie. public and private sectors, non-profit, academia, grassroots). The conference is being held in person at Mount Saint Vincent University (McCain Centre Room 105/106).
Keynote Plenary
Lynn Jones is African-Nova Scotian and was born and raised in Truro. Lynn, who currently lives in Halifax, has been a life-long civil and human rights activist, an educator, a community archivist, community and labour organizer, and currently a reparation activist.
Michelle Paul is a mother, treaty rightsholder, water protector, land defender, advocate, and activist. Her rights-based advocacy work is within Indigenous communities in solidarity with allies to resist colonial infringements on Mi’kmaw sovereignty. She was a key water defender within the Alton Gas Resistance movement in Mi’kmaki.
Fatima Jaffer is of Kenyan South Asian origin, and a longtime activist in Vancouver, the traditional unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples. She is a former editor of Kinesis, Canada's national feminist newspaper, and has written for various national and international newspapers, magazines, and academic journals.
Panel 1: Contesting Racialization within Non-profits & InstitutionsPanel 2: Challenging Racism to Promote Health and Well-BeingPanel 3: Negotiations & Responses to Processes of Racialization in Institutions
Admission for this conference is on a sliding scale from $0-$50. No one will be turned away. The sliding scale concept is an anti-capitalist collective approach where those who have more pay more and those who have less pay less (or $0). After registration, please make payment by e-transfer to cirfsconference@gmail.com but cash payment will be accepted at the conference. Your contribution will support future CIRFS conferences.
For more information, contact: cirfsconference@gmail.com. Childcare will be provided and a shuttle from SMU to MSVU will be available (see registration).
CIRFS is organized by Racialized Students Academic Network (RSAN) which is an independent autonomous network of/for Indigenous and Black students/alumni and students/alumni of colour in Kjipuktuk, Mi'kmaki.
Recent Events
Topic: ACADEMIC ABLEISM AND ITS ALTERNATIVES:
A Virtual Presentation by Jay Dolmage, Professor at the University of Waterloo and Founding Editor of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies.
When: Dec 1, 2023 12:00 PM Halifax
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://smu-ca.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aainc66YTUuxhuExZMMpyA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining.
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE WEBINAR:
We have a crisis of help-seeking around disability on our college and University campuses. The vast majority of disabled students will leave our campuses without ever seeking help.
This could be because higher education has built and enforced definitions of disability that are primarily medical: We see disability all over our campuses, in all kinds of different departments, but it is understood as a series of unwanted symptoms, a problem to be solved – not as the positive identity and culture most disabled people understand it to be. Or it could be because, in the history of disability in higher education, a rights-based approach has often meant that disabled students are invited in the door, they are counted and added to diversity statistics, but then the culture of the University makes no changes to account for their presence, participation, and thriving. Or it could be because, most often, the only time disability is spoken or written about in class is in the final line of the syllabus, when students are referred to the Fred Smithers Centre should they desire assistance. The message to students is that disability is at the back door of the syllabus – and then there are just a limited range of accommodations offered. More than three quarters of the accommodations granted are the same exact, very minimal accommodation: extended time on tests and exams.
On the other hand, we have had an opportunity, over the last three years, to redesign higher education in ways we never have before. Yet few people were talking about accessibility as part of this process. For example, we spent much more time investing in surveillant test-proctoring software than we spent developing alternatives to outdated teaching models that rely on testing. Still, we learned that there are accommodations that can really help students in the classroom, including asynchronous access to course materials, alternatives to outdated forms of assessment, and flexibility around forms of attendance and participation. Of course, if we planned for more disabled students in our classrooms, we could really change the shape of higher education. What if we allocated all of the energy we spend on adapting to an old educational regime based on timing and testing into building a new one, one in which disabled students don’t always need to ask for accommodations but instead their needs are expected?
In this presentation and discussion, some of these possibilities for building a more accessible classroom and campus will be suggested and explored. Come and share your own experiences, ideas, challenges and questions.
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Jay Dolmage is committed to disability rights in his scholarship, service, and teaching. His work brings together rhetoric, writing, disability studies, and critical pedagogy. His first book, entitled Disability Rhetoric, was published with Syracuse University Press in 2014. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education was published with Michigan University Press in 2017 and is available in an open-access version online. Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability was published in 2018 with Ohio State University Press. He is the Founding Editor of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies.
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Facebook event. here.
We invite you to join us for a conversation with Gabriel Allahdua, author of the recently published memoir "Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada."
Gabriel Allahdua is a former migrant farm worker from St Lucia, an island in the Eastern Caribbean. He has been an organizer with the collective, Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) for almost a decade. He is currently an Outreach Worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. He was Activist in Residence (AIR) at the University of Guelph, the first person to hold that position, which brought activists and researchers together.
Light refreshments will be provided by the Loaded Ladle & copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event!
The event brought to you by No one is illegal – Nova Scotia with support from the Atlantic Region Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (ARAISA), Social Justice & Community Studies (SMU) and KAIROS Halifax.
On Africville & Hogan’s Alley
September 27, 2023 from 6-8 pm
ATRIUM 101, Saint Mary’s University, Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki
Films:
- Secret Vancouver: A Return to Hogan’s Alley
- Stolen from Africville
Special guests: Carm Robertson (Africville Museum) and Modupe Bankole-Longe, Siobhan Barker, Djaka Blais (Hogan’s Alley Society)
Organized by the Racialized Students Academic Network
In collaboration with Africville Museum, Hogan’s Alley Society, SMU African Society, Tenancy Rights of International Students, and Social Justice & Community Studies
All are welcome!
NEW SJCS Special Topics 3810 / 4810 Migrant Justice Field School
The Migrant Justice Field School (MJFS) offers students a 6.0 credit course (3000 or 4000 level), through student-instructor-community collaborative work—in Halifax, and field work in the Pisticci region of Italy—on global to local colonial, racial and capitalist inequities, and resistance, that shape migration, border and citizenship policing, and the exclusion and labour exploitation of migrants. With unique opportunities to develop community-engaged local to transnational understandings, alliances, and advocacy on migrant well-being and rights, and related intersectional inequities, the MJFS will be delivered under the dual Field School umbrella, “Colonialism and Migration: Ancient and Modern,” in partnership with The Metaponto Archaeological Field School.
Dates: May 8-June 19 (May 8-19 Hybrid Synchronous; May 21-June 4 Italy field work). Prerequisites: SJCS 1211, 2000, and 2100 or permission of instructor.
Apply for the MJFS here - For more details contact Dr. Val Marie Johnson.
What: Conference
When: August 26-27, 2022
Where: Saint Mary's University
What: Online Book Launch
When: August 30, 2022, 6-7:30 pm (PST)
Where: Virtual
Special Offer: Fernwood is offering 20% off on all formats of this book - valid now until Oct 31st 2022. Here is the code: AWRS20 - Order from www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
What: Online Book Launch
When: April 22, 2022, 1-3pm (AST)
Where: Virtual
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What: Race, Space, and Environment Conference
When: April 23, 2022, 9:30 am- 4:30 pm
Where: Virtual- Via Zoom
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What: Indigenous Knowledges and Relations
When: Winter 2022, Mondays 4:00- 6:30pm
Who: Dr. Benita Bunjun
For those who missed the pre-book launch webinar Under Siege: Islamophobia & the 9/11 Generation, with Drs. Jasmin Zine & Syedadnan Hussain, moderated and organized by Punam Khosla, the event recording can be accessed here: Dr. Jasmin Zine_March 23 2022.mp4
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What: Online Book Talk& Pre- Launch
When: March 23rd, 4:30- 6:30pm
Where: Virtual Event- Please register on Event Brite
What: Film Screening and Discussion
When: March 21, 2022, 10:30am- 12:30pm
Where: SMU Sobey Unilever Lounge 4th Floor
What: Panel + discussion, Contingency Base Canada
When: Tuesday, January 25, 4:00- 6:00pm AST
Where: Burke Building, theatre B OR Virtual ( registeration required)
What: Land Talks
When: December 4, 10:00 AM- 4:00 PM
Where: Canadian Museum of Immigration @Pier 21
What: panel discussion with contributions
When: November 26, 2021, 6:00- 7:30pm via zoom
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Organized by NSPIRG & TRIS
What: Self Advocacy & Tenancy Rights
When: November 12, 2021, 1:00-3:00pm- Zoom
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What: Intersectionality: Theories, Methods & Praxis
When: Fall 2021, Tuesdays: 4:00- 6:30p.m.
Who: Dr. Benita Bunjun
The 4th Annual Critical Indigenous, Race and Feminist Studies Student Conference
Precarity of Racialized Students' Labour
Saturday May 1, 2021 from 1pm to 5:30pm AST
Conference Keynote
Harsha Walia is a South Asian activist and writer based in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories. She is the Executive Director of The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. Walia has been involved in community-based grassroots migrant justice, feminist, anti-racist, Indigenous solidarity, anti-capitalist, Palestinian liberation, and anti-imperialist movements for over a decade. She is formally trained in law, and is the author of Undoing Border Imperialism (2013), and Border and Rule (2021).
Panel: Labour Precarity on Racialized Students' Well-Being (Panelists: Tina Renier, Shreetee Appadu, Fallen Matthews and Sahana Kanabar)
Conference Registration required by April 28 2021: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/148423774505
Unceded Mi'kmaq Territory
Free Conference!
Conference Organizers: Racialized Students Academic Network
Conference Sponsors: Saint Mary's University, Social Justice & Community Studies, Women & Gender Studies, Anthropology, Atlantic Canada Studies, International Development Studies, NSPIRG
For more information: cirfsconference@gmail.com
Join us for the Pre-Book Launch (Editor Dr. Benita Bunjun) of the Academic Well-Being of Racialized Students on February 26th 2021 @ 6:30 pm (AST) / 2:30 pm (PST)!!! In collaboration with Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equity (R.A.C.E.) Network, Department of Social Justice and Community Studies, and Racialized Students Academic Network. Congratulations to all the students and alumni involved in this powerful book project.
Register here! https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/academic-well-being-of-racialized-students-pre-book-launch-tickets-141816907187
What unique contributions to history and community building have African Nova Scotians created in the Maritimes since the 17th century? Examine these issues in SJCS 4739: The African Nova Scotian Experience, a Winter 2021 course with Dr. Rachel Zellars, Thursdays 4-6 pm.
What: Panel Discussion on Interrogating Whiteness
Who: Dr. Benita Bunjun, Dr. Vincent Simedoh, Patricia Doyle- Bedwell, Tonya Hoddinott, Brad Richards, and moderator Dr. Kevin Hewitt
When: Wednesday, October 21, 2020, 5:30-8:00 PM
What: Solidarity Teach-in
When: September 10, 2020, 2-4 PM
What: Solidarity Teach In For WET'SUWET'EN
Who: Department of Social Justice & Community Studies
When: February 13, 2020, 12:00 noon
Where: Saint Mary's University, Atrium 
What: A discussion of local history, archival material
Who: Dr. Rachel Zellars, Dr. Lynn Jones
When: February 5, 2020, 6:30- 9:00 p.m.
Where: North Branch Memorial Library (Community Room)
2285 Gottingen Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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What: Public Panel: "Strategies for Dismantling Racial Fragility within Public Institutions"
Who: The Panelists:
- Ajay Parasram (Chair), Dalhousie University, International Development Studies and MacEachen Institute Fellow
- Cristina Rojas, Carleton University, Political Science
- Rachel Zellars, Saint Mary's University, Social Justice and Community Studies
- Gaynor Watson-Creed, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health
When: Monday January 27th, 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
Where: Dalhousie Student Union, Council Chambers, 6136 University Ave, second floor
What: A discussion about what it means to create a space for peace and justice in a time of trouble
Who: Dr. Ashs Jeffers, Dr. Rachel Zellars, Dr. Tari Ajadi
When: Monday, January 20, 2020, 6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Where: DSU Council Chambers, Student Union Building, 2nd floor
6136 University avenue, Halifax, NS
What: Investigating White Women's Colonizing Care in Residential Schools and the Potential of Community Collaboration
Who: Dr. Val Marie Johnson
When: Friday, November 22, 2019, Noon-1:00 pm.
Where: Room 2016 McCain Building, Dal Housie University 6135 University
K'jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki
What: A Discussion of Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity
When: Thursday, October 24, 2019, 12- 1pm
Where: Patrick Power Library, Library Classroom (LI 135)
What: Why Diversity, Decolonization and Intersectional Equity Matter in Canadian Universities
Who: Dr. Malinda Smith
When: Thursday, October 24, 2019, 6:30- 8:30pm
Where: Burke Theatre B
Saint Mary's University, K'jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki
What: Book Launch, Darryl's leroux's Distorted Descent
When: Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 6:30pm
Where: Paul O'Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library
(5440 Spring Garden Rd)
SJCS released its new Department Poster, centering the inspiring work of artist Bria Miller & our students.
What: Where are the Black female faculty?
When: Friday, March 29th, 2019. 2:00pm—3:30pm
Where: Atrium 101
Saint Mary’s University
K’jipuktuk, Halifax
What: International Students in the Universities
When: Saturday, March 16, 2019- 9:00 am.- 4:30 pm
Where: Dalhousie University, Marion McCain, Arts and Social Sciences Building (Auditorium)
What: Treaty TEACH- IN Mi'Kma'ki
When: Monday, March 11, 2019 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.
Where: Saint Mary's University Sobey Building, Scotiabank, Halifax, K'jipuktuk, Nova Scotia - Mi'kma'ki
When: Wednesday, February 6, 2019, 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Where: Saint Mary's University, Scotiabank Theatre (Sobey Building)
What: Film Screening about a group of black students who face racism in their high school
What: An exhibit of Nova Scotian and South African materials
When: February 4th-28th, 2019
Where: Patrick Power Library, 1st floor
Saint Mary’s University, 923 Robie St., Halifax
When: Monday, October 29, 2018, 4:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.
Where:Loyola Academic(LA) 186, Saint Mary's University
What: Film Screening about the People of Kattawapiskak River
When: Monday, November 5@ 7 p.m.
Where: Weldon Law Building, 204 6061 University Ave. Dalhousie University
What: Indigenous Land in Guatemala Event
What: Call For Abstracts
Deadline: Monday, February 17, 2020