The fifth annual Inclusion Day Conference at York – EVERY_BODY: Rethinking the Bodies that Belong – will offer a host of speakers, including San Francisco State University Professor and spoken word poet Javon Johnson.
The Inclusion Day Conference will take place Thursday, Jan. 23 at York’s Keele campus, hosted by the Centre for Human Rights. It will kick off with the help of President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and Aboriginal Elder Laureen Waters at an opening presentation, from 10:30 to 11am, at 280N York Lanes.
There will be 16 sessions in total that attendees can choose from throughout the day. Topics include, “Trans 201 – Life After Transition”, “Africentric Schooling as Academic Option” and “Virtual Activism: How Different Bodies Negotiate Inclusion”. This year presenters are coming from far and wide, including Nafisa Tanjeem of Rutgers University, Janelle Joseph of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Bobby Siu of York University. There will also be several of York’s graduate and undergraduate students.
From 12:15 to 1pm, the lunchtime speaker, The Real Sun, an educator, Jane and Finch community leader and York alumnus, will discuss “York and its Neighbours: The state of the Relationship between York University and the Jane & Finch Community”. There will also be a drama presentation by the group Nomanzland.
To close the program, a reception will take place at the Underground Restaurant in The Student Centre at 5pm, followed by the evening’s keynote address, “And your Kids will be Painted Black”, presented by Johnson. Johnson is known for “merging race and gender theory with comedy, lyricism, and rhyme schemes”.
Registration is required. To register for this free conference visit the Centre for Human Rights website and to view a snapshot of the program, visit the Inclusion Day conference program.