The Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO) and the University of Toronto are committed to supporting faculty, staff, and students in the tri-campus community and responding to the needs of campus communities experiencing racism and religious discrimination through diverse programming and resources. We are aware of the complexities and nuances in discussions surrounding faith, discrimination, and racial equity. However, we recognize the equal importance of providing an opportunity for the U of T community to hold these important dialogues.

Through this event, ARCDO hopes to deepen knowledge and advance the ongoing institutional work around faith, anti-racism, and educational strategies that is aligned with (but not limited to) the work of the Anti-Racism Strategic Tables.

Referred to as the world’s “longest hatred” by historian Robert Wistrich, antisemitism is a potent and dangerous form of racism, prejudice, and hate that has persisted over millennia. Often regarded as a problem of the past in North America, antisemitism has never really gone away, and contemporary expressions of it are becoming increasingly more prevalent and worrisome. This workshop will deepen participants’ understanding of antisemitism, demonstrate the connections between historical and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism, and provide participants with tools to identify and address antisemitic discourses in order to promote more inclusive learning and work environments.

The UTM Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office, Centre for Student Engagement, and Career Centre present “Celebrating Black Excellence: Addressing Wellness and Finance.” Join us as Asante Haughton and Jamie Sodhi share their stories and their lived experience to provide critical advice to students. They will share real-life challenges and implications that one faces in the workplace and academia because of one’s skin colour, ethnicity, country of origin, cultural or religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, and accents—offering tools and strategies to navigate those challenges. As a participant, you will have the opportunity learn and reflect on strategies to manage your wellness and finance. Lunch will be provided.

No one experiences Islamophobia in the same way, but its existence is undeniable. Islamophobia presents itself in innumerable ways as it intersects across ethnicity, sexuality, gender, race, etc. Deepening our learning about the various manifestations of Islamophobia is an important step to building our tools to addressing experiences in our environments.

Join us for a conversation about neurodiversity, disability and racial justice with youth from the Youth Alliance for Intersectional Justice (YAIJ). At this event you will hear and learn from youth who are “intimately knowledgeable about life at the intersections” (YAIJ) of disability and racialization. You will learn more about how to meaningfully cultivate spaces that welcome neurodiverse and racialized youth in a way that reaches beyond accommodation and is grounded in intentional inclusion and relational accountability.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss and learn about the historical context of racism and its present-day impacts for Black communities in Canada;
• Understand and discuss the fluidity of anti-Black racism and its manifestations (within systems, institutions and individual experiences);
• Identify and unpack organizational and systemic barriers that can impact Black communities from being included in post-secondary environments;
• Share strategies and tools to break the cycle of anti-Black racism and create more inclusive working and learning environments.

Please join us for an evening of film, fellowship, and learning. This event will showcase the 2021 documentary, Subjects of Desire, followed by a conversation with the writer, producer, and director Jennifer Holness.

Synopsis

“Subjects of Desire explores the cultural shift in North American beauty standards towards embracing Black female aesthetics and features while exposing the deliberate and often dangerous portrayals of Black women in the media. From society’s new fixation on the ‘booty,’ fuller lips, the dramatic rise of spray tanned skin, ethnic hairstyles, and athletic bodies, some argue that Black women are having a beauty moment. But others, primarily Black women, argue that traditional Black features and attributes are seen as more desirable when they are on white women.

Told from the point of view of women who aren’t afraid to challenge conventional beauty standards, the film is partially set at the 50th Anniversary of the Miss Black America Pageant, a beauty pageant that was created as a political protest.

Subjects of Desire is a culturally significant, provocative film that deconstructs what we understand about race and the power behind beauty.”