Upcoming Events
Confessions of an “EDI Killjoy”: Just Acronyms...Or Academic Justice?
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
(1 PM - 2:15 PM)
Online
Building off – and riffing on – critical race theorist and postcolonialist scholar Sara Ahmed and her figure of the “feminist killjoy,” this talk situates and presents CTL's Executive Director, Dr. Tommy Mayberry, and their work across equity and inclusivity as an “EDI killjoy”…as someone whose “failure to be happy [in this work] is [often] read as sabotaging the happiness of others.”1 While there are victories, yes, and there are increments of powerful progress, there is still much to be done, and this work is and remains incredibly difficult, demanding, and intimidating work to do and to keep doing.
How do we, then, as post-secondary instructors incorporate principles of “EDI,” “DE&I,” “JEDIA,” etc. into our classes, curricula, and pedagogies toward building – and sustaining – more inclusive teaching and learning environments for us and for our students? Join Dr. Tommy as they critically, but still caringly, share how these terms as acronyms can (and often do) forget and leave behind important aspects of each respective letter as they become homogenized, totalized, and monolithic in their nounifications.
At the heart of these nounified acronyms is the larger, critical project of academic justice. And it is through academic justice as a more truthful umbrella term for the hard, hard work of decolonization, anti-racism, Indigenization, and equity, diversity, inclusivity and belonging, as well as access and accessibility, that we can unlock and active real change into our teaching practices.
1Sara Ahmed, The Promise of Happiness, Duke UP, 2010: 66.
Indigenizing Our Scholarly Teaching Citations: A Path towards Reconciliation
Thursday, April 20, 2023
(Noon - 1:30 PM)
Online
Join CTL's Andrea Menard (Lead Educational Developer, Indigenizing Curricula and Pedagogies) for a thought-provoking discussion on the importance of Indigenizing citations in academia and specifically in our scholarly teaching practices. This presentation explores how traditional citation practices perpetuate colonial ideologies, and how Indigenizing citations can contribute to reconciliation and decolonization efforts. Andrea will delve into practical examples, challenges, and steps to decolonize citations, highlighting the need to recognize and centre Indigenous voices, knowledge systems, teachings, and cultural protocols. Together, let's foster a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable academic landscape for teaching and learning.
Essays are Awesome!
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
(Noon - 12:50 PM)
Online
Essay is one word that strikes fear in the hearts of students, prompting students to plead: when will I ever use these skills in real life? Essay aficionado Dr. Dalbir Sehmby (Educational Developer, Writing and Multimodal Communication Pedagogies), shares how you can explain the value of crafting essays and can design different types of essays. The next time students (or professors) plead why, be ready with some rock solid answers--or just make your students write more essays.