Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Education Series

This synchronous workshop is part of the Learning to Lead program and the Mentorship Foundations training. Creating an Inclusive Environment will encourage you to think about inclusion as a verb, as action in addressing systemic oppression. We take time to think about what exclusion and inclusion are and how they affect students. We reflect on some of the different ways exclusion takes place for U of T students in everyday life and we brainstorm practical strategies to create more inclusive environments in your communities and work.

We talk a lot about equity on campus but what do we really mean? Do we have the same understanding? How does it relate to our everyday lives here on campus? What is it missing? This workshop explores these questions while also creating a space for us to think about what commitments we can make around continuing to learn more while putting what we have learned into action.

Anti-Oppressive Practices (AOP) is a framework for being in action against systemic-oppression to create change. It has wide use in many professional areas. This workshop starts by considering how systemic-oppression works in everyday life specifically in the areas that we study and work. AOP is then introduced with space to reflect on how we can take it into our studies, professional practices and personal lives. Research and practice done in Canada is featured.

Being a student can mean juggling many roles, a lot of unpaid work, financial precarity and intersecting forms of discrimination. Based on student request, students and staff have co-created this workshop about what is commonly called self-care. But we want a conversation that moves beyond self-care and self-soothing, to talk about community and structural care too. Taking systemic inequality into account, we talk about how students can set boundaries, identify what is important for themselves, and take care of themselves and their communities. This workshop is a peer-learning space, and we hope to hear from your experiences.

Addressing systemic oppression exists both within and outside of ourselves. We often talk about “doing the personal work” but what work are we to do? How do we do it? This workshop will give you the opportunity to do some of this reflection in community with both the support and challenge of fellow students as we think about how to do that work within our personal lives.

This workshop encourages students to delve deeper into understanding the crucial role of self-awareness in communication and conflict resolution. By considering the fluidity of different situations, students will explore how our social contexts influence power dynamics and privilege within conflicts, and how these elements relate to individuals. Together, we will develop practical tools and strategies for navigating difficult conversations, using increased self-awareness as a means to mediate existing power dynamics.

This session will explore what microaggressions are and how understanding them can help us to create more inclusive environments. We will also learn ways to address them in everyday interpersonal situations.