The Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (REI) has announced the details of its annual Inclusion Week, for which this year’s theme is “Reclaiming the Social Justice Roots of EDI.”
Inclusion Week 2023 runs from March 6 to 10 and features a host of engaging activities, such as keynote addresses, fireside chats, multimedia interactive events and a variety of workshops. These events are presented in collaboration with: Amnesty International YU; Athletics & Recreation; Schulich School of Business; Student Community and Leadership Development (SCLD); The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education; and Assistant Professor Jessica Vostermans’ graduate class in critical disability studies.
Throughout the week, keynote speakers Kike Ojo-Thompson and York honourary degree recipient Mark Tewksbury will address topics of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the university context. Fireside chats will engage panelists such as Susan Dion, associate vice-president, Indigenous initiatives; Remi Warner, director, Human Rights Services at Toronto Metropolitan University; Rania El Mugammar, artist and anti-oppression activist; and Vostermans, on the challenges and opportunities of EDI work and social justice imperatives.
Melissa Theodore, EDI institutional initiatives advisor in REI, says, “We hope to offer a variety of opportunities to learn and reflect about equity and inclusion and its ties to social justice throughout the week.
“It’s important to remember that even when universities commit to DEDI or EDI, we must be mindful that universities embody contradictions because they are embedded in broader society,” she adds. “Our hope is that having earnest conversations about the valuable work of pushing for decolonization, equity, diversity and inclusion, can help us ensure that the work we do in furthering equity and inclusion continues to be relevant, meaningful, thoughtful and always intentional.”
Other events throughout the week include an alternative campus tour, REDDI workshops, a community of practice, an art installation and more.
“We’re hoping to use a walking tour of the campus to highlight some of the ways universities can manifest the physical inclusion/exclusion of certain community members – especially during the current housing and cost of living crisis,” says Terrence Hamilton, an organizer of the alternative campus tour.
Inclusion Week offers the chance for all staff, students and faculty at York to reflect upon systemic and organizational anti-racist change.
For more information and event registration, click here.