Events
related to GET Lab and its members
Upcoming Events
Abolition. Feminism. Now’s Reading Group First Meeting
When/where: Monday, April 22, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in person. GET lab member and Ph.D. candidate Mirella Tranquille will facilitate the discussion.
In 2022, a group of intellectual activists who have collaborated for Incite and Critical Resistance for years released Abolition. Feminism. Now. As a critical genealogy, the book aims to bridge the gap between academia and activism by examining various abolitionist and feminist movements and identifying conceptual tools that could help in the fight to eliminate carceral systems.
The book’s primary assertion is that while the popularity of abolitionism is on the rise, as evidenced by the Defund the Police movement, the original feminist component of abolition as both a practice and analysis, as outlined in the Combahee Collective River Statement (1977), is often disregarded, particularly from the feminist perspective of queer community members. Instead of offering a rigid analytical framework, the authors hope their work will prompt much-needed dialogue.
Please email Mirella Tranquille (she/her) mtranqui[at]uoguelph.ca to know the location of the meeting.
Past Events
Heart Work Virtual Conference
When/where: Tuesday, March 19 to Thursday, March 21, from 12 PM to 4:30 PM online. The WomenatthecentrE’s Heart Work Conference is a pay-what-you-can and open-to-all event. Activist-in-Residence Nneka MacGregor, LL.B., Executive Director of Womenatthecentre, will be the keynote speaker.
The conference will focus on survivor-led expertise in practice
Attendees will hear from a number of incredible speakers, engage in workshops, experience unique presentations, and learn about groundbreaking updates in the gender-based violence sector.
Click here to register.
Call for expressions of interest – funded PhD position for project on Structural Exploitation
International Women’s Day Virtual Conference 2024 – Refocus and Recenter
When/where: Friday, March 8, from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm online. The event is free and open to all. Join us for an enlightening event featuring eight student research presentations, gift card draws, keynote addresses from Layla Staats and Activist-in-Residence Nneka MacGregor, LL.B., and access to a lunch-time panel focused on environmental justice through an intersectional lens.
Join the 7th annual FREE one-day online conference hosted by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) at the University of Guelph.
This year’s conference will highlight interdisciplinary and intersectional research addressing challenges faced by women*, girls, and genderfluid communities. Our theme, “Refocus and Recenter,” aims to amplify the voices, expertise, and achievements of women in research and beyond. It encourages a re-evaluation of traditional methodologies, urging participants to explore how diverse perspectives reshape our understanding.
Attendees are welcome to come and go throughout the day as it suits their schedule.
The Zoom link to attend will be sent to all registrants via email in advance of the event, as well as available on the online event page after registering.
To register for the virtual event (via Zoom), please click here.
Artful Eats
When/where: Thursday, February 8, at 4:30 pm at 10C (42 Carden Street), Guelph, ON. The event is free and open to all. Drop by to see the artist Farrah Miranda’s pop-up Speaking Fruit installation, which vivifies the situation of migrant farmworkers.
Activists-in-Residence fireside chat
When/where: Thursday, February 8, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Guelph Black Heritage Society, 83 Essex St., Guelph, ON. The event is free, hybrid (online and in person), open to all, and requires registration.
Join the GET lab’s Activists-in-Residence, Nneka MacGregor and Dr. Marsha Hinds Myrie, for a chat about Black women’s leadership in resisting gender-based violence, locally, globally, and transnationally, and the role of Black men as allies in this work.
The conversation, hosted by Don Mahleka, Equity Manager at the Guelph Community Health Centre, will explore how Black women and men practice everyday resistance, research & activism, and policy advocacy in service of advancing justice for Black women, girls and gender-diverse folks, and safety for all Black people.
To register for the in-person event, please click here. To register for the virtual event (via Zoom), please click here.
Drop by and meet the new Activists-in-Residence
When/where: Monday, January 22, from 3 pm to 5 pm at the Brass Taps (in the 74 Lounge). The event is free, in person, and open to all.
Nneka MacGregor and Dr. Marsha Hinds Myrie, who are working as GET lab Activists-in-Residence from December 2023 to June 2024, will highlight the work they intend to do whilst at Guelph. Gabriel Allahdua, last year’s AiR, will also attend.
Migrant Worker Exercise
When/where: Friday, January 19, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm at MCKN 103. The event is free, in person, and open to all (including non-members of the U of G community).
The GET lab is bringing the Migrant Worker Exercise to campus: https://www.cnee.ca/migrant-workers-exercise/ This is an exercise designed to concretize what temporary migrant workers experience in Canada. It was developed by the Collaborative Network to End Exploitation: https://www.cnee.ca/about/ and is loosely based on the KAIROS blanket exercise: https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org Varka Kalaydzhieva, whose organization (CSJ) co-ordinates the network, has kindly agreed to lead this role-playing exercise. It will take roughly 90 minutes (including a debriefing/discussion).
We are very pleased that Gabriel Allahdua – last year’s Activist-in-Residence at Guelph, whose activism on behalf of migrant workers is legend – will be joining us! Mahad Butt, a 4th year Guelph student who volunteers with migrant worker justice groups in the region, is assisting with the event.
If you’d like to participate, send an email to Dr. Monique Deveaux to sign up: mdeveaux@uoguelph.ca
Summer Field Course: Art and Organizing for Migrant Justice
When/where: June 19-30, 2023. Black Creek Community Farm – 4929 Jane St, North York. Course fee is $720.
This new summer field course taught by Activist-in-Residence Gabriel Allahdua, in collaboration with artist Farrah Miranda, will facilitate a space for learning and exchange between university students, migrant farm workers and activists. Miranda’s art installation ‘The Produce Party’ will serve as a gathering point for the course, engaging participants in critical questions about the politics of food, labour and the environment by centering the perspectives and lived experience of migrant workers and movement activists.
Through readings, screenings and arts engagement, course learners will be immersed in the issues impacting migrant farmworkers, starting from the push to migrate. Participants will also unpack various terms such as modern day slavery, work as violence, anti-human trafficking, food security, food sovereignty, extractive research, extractive agriculture, white supremacy, intersectionality and social reproduction.
The course will also include events and applied workshops with guest academics, activists, and artists, supporting participants to develop creative organizing tools to advocate and campaign for social justice. There will be time in the course, and guidance to work on final creative projects that strive to advance justice for migrant farm workers.
Conference held by GET lab member Marsha Hinds Myrie March 29, 2023
When/where: Wednesday, March 29, from 2 pm to 3:30 pm. The event is free, in person, and open to all.
Marsha Hinds Myrie will present a brief overview of literature about the plantation society and the presentation of social injustice as a remnant of plantation and post coloniality. She will be joined virtually by Barbadian film producer, Russell Watson, to discuss the question of using art as an advocacy tool. The presentation will conclude with a closer analysis of the activist theatre run by the National Organization of Women for its successes and possibilities.
This talk takes place in MacKinnon room 103, University of Guelph. Registration is required to attend. Register here.
GET Lab activist-in-residence Gabriel Allahdua’s book launch March 27, 2023
When/where: Monday, March 27, from 6 pm to 8 pm. The event is free, in person, and open to all, and dinner will be provided.
The author and GET Lab Activist-in-Residence, Gabriel Allahdua, is leading a movement fighting for the rights and respect of temporary foreign labourers in Canada. His deeply personal memoir, Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant worker in Canada, reveals how the disturbing system of exploitation at the heart of the country’s farm labour system connects to the history of the colonization and enslavement of Afro-Caribbean people.
Gabriel Allahdua will launch Harvesting Freedom at the Ivey Library, University of Toronto. You can purchase the book here and make a reservation for the event here.
Graduate Students as Actors of Change
When/where: Wednesday, March 15, from 12 pm to 1 pm. The event is hybrid (online and in person) and open to all. It is the last of the three meetings series “Researchers for Change: Engagement, Mobilization and Impact at the Graduate Level.” Don’t hesitate to contact Jemma Llewellyne from the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (jemma@uoguelph.ca) for more information.
Graduate students can be powerful actors of change on and off campus. From reflecting on why we are interested in the topics we are studying to discussing how we build skills to become engaged practitioners, this session asks graduate students to consider how we prepare ourselves for this work and what support we might need to develop and maintain relationships inside and outside of the academic community.
We will discuss questions such as:
- How do we bring our full self to this work?
- How might our own bias and positionality impact our research and relationships?
- What skills do we need to meaningfully engage and act?
- How can supervisors, colleagues and peers best support us?
Reserve a spot in person in room 120A of the McLaughlin Library or online via Zoom
Creative Knowledge Mobilization at the Graduate Level
When/where: Wednesday, February 15, from 12 pm to 1 pm. The event is hybrid (online and in person) and open to all. It is the first of the three meetings series “Researchers for Change: Engagement, Mobilization and Impact at the Graduate Level.” Don’t hesitate to contact Jemma Llewellyne from the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (jemma@uoguelph.ca) for more information.
In this roundtable, we push the boundaries of the ways in which we think about and produce outputs at various stages of graduate studies. Participants will be invited to reflect on what their role can be, as grad students, in creating and sharing knowledge that can be meaningful outside academia – and share examples of how they can do that concretely.
We will consider the following questions (and more!):
- What does “creating impact” mean and look like in your field of study?
- How can knowledge mobilization be meaningfully embedded into grad students’ research process?
- How might creative outputs and practices be used in academic settings?
- How can interdisciplinary perspectives/approaches benefit your audience?
Reserve a spot in person in room 120A of the McLaughlin library or online via Zoom https://zoom.us/j/93051663077?pwd=RHVLRkRybW9MTjBpd1EvYmYrQk9Kdz09
Second reading group meeting on Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s Reconsidering Reparations
When/where: Thursday, January 12, from 12 pm to 1:15 pm. Second meeting: chapters 4-6 to be discussed. The event is hybrid (online and in person), open to all. Please contact Mirella Tranquille (mtranqui@uoguelph.ca) for a TEAMS meeting invite or for the physical location.
First reading group meeting on Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s Reconsidering Reparations
When/where: Thursday, December 1, from 12 pm to 1:15 pm. First meeting: chapters 1-3 to be discussed. The event is in person, open to all. Lunch provided (Bullring wraps). Please contact Mirella Tranquille (mtranqui@uoguelph.ca) for the location.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Reconsidering Reparations (Oxford University Press, 2022).
Reconsidering Reparations is a critical contribution to transitional justice theories as it offers a nuanced account of the weaknesses of reparatory justice perspectives that call for merely monetary compensation or reconciliatory gestures for the descendants of enslaved people. Táíwò makes a compelling case for a constructive politics of reparation that he calls “worldmaking,” which demands climate justice reparations for racialized people who’re disproportionately harmed by climate change owing to colonialism, transatlantic slavery, and racism.
An online workshop on ethnography & political theory by King’s College London’s Department of Political Economy and Grounded Theory Network
When/where: Tuesday, October 4, from 4pm to 5:30pm BST (11am to 12:30pm EDT). The event is online, free and open to all, especially graduate students.
A serious consideration of the relationship between ethnography and political theory requires us to understand the ways in which ethnography might change and indeed, is changing, academic political theorizing. Panellists will reflect, in particular, on the value of ethnography in engaging subordinate group’s struggles and the potential to enrich political theory in the process. They also aim to work through some of the practical challenges of whether and how ethnography can contribute to decolonizing political theory, what that might mean for the norms of writing political theory, and what it might mean to theorise with rather than about marginalized groups.
Brief presentations by the panellists will be followed by a Q&A session.
Panellists:
Paul Apostolidis, London School of Economics, UK
Humeira Iqtidar, King’s College London, UK
Sagnik Dutta, O.P. Jindal University, India
Rebeccah Nelems, Royal Roads University/Mc Gill University, Canada
Banu Bargu, University of Santa Cruz, USA
Screening and discussion of the documentary Migrant Dreams, by director Min Sook Lee.
When/where: Thursday, September 29, at 7pm at the 10C community space, located at 42 Carden St. (opposite Guelph city hall). We’ll be meeting in the Community Classroom located on the 4th floor. The event is free, and open to all.
Join us, Min Sook Lee, and UofG’s Activist-in-Residence Gabriel Allahdua to watch and discuss this important film about the situation of migrant farmworkers in Ontario.
Activist in Residence at the University of Guelph – September 2022 to August 2023 (flexible) – Position filled
Description
The Activist in Residence (AiR) program at the University of Guelph is an initiative of the Grounded and Engaged Scholarship Lab (getlab.ca), which seeks to support and amplify research that aligns with the aims of justice-seeking communities. This is a paid, full-time position funded by the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI), and the Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Global Social Change at Guelph. The AiR program provides an opportunity for an activist to write, teach, learn, and engage with students, staff, and faculty within the university environment and beyond. We hope that the activist will be able to maximize the resources available at the U of G in order to amplify their activism and organizing work.
At the getlab we are committed to building community and sharing knowledge by engaging in critical and analytical research methods that center the voices of members of justice-seeking communities. We envision that the inaugural AiR will focus on one or more of the following areas: migrant justice, justice across borders, exploitation, or reproductive rights. The AiR will be currently or recently engaged in community or labour organizing and advocacy work. They could either continue this work in a way that engages members of the Guelph community, or use the time to work on a research, writing, or video project that advances their area of activism. While at the University of Guelph, the AiR will bring the expertise in activism and advocacy to the university community, introduce interested students to the fundamentals of organizing, and contribute to the development of innovative approaches to research and pedagogy while maintaining their own agenda on these fronts. There is considerable flexibility in the design of the position; the precise activities and responsibilities will be worked out in a collaborative manner in order to ensure that the arrangement is mutually beneficial.
The AiR will also receive office space, a modest travel/research budget, and administrative support.
We are in the process of finalizing the terms of the position, but welcome expressions of interest and queries from candidates.
If you think you would be a good fit for this, please contact Monique Deveaux (mdeveaux@uoguelph.ca) or Candace Johnson (cajohnso@uoguelph.ca)
Conference organized by GET Lab member, Cameron Fioret, June 8, 2022
The study of water ethics and justice is inherently without boundaries; it moves among various connected disciplines, such as philosophy, law, history, engineering, and geography. This event brings together academic professionals, policy experts, other practitioners, and the general public to discuss this most pressing issue. The transdisciplinary nature of water justice requires study that intersects ethical, scientific, cultural, and justice-related themes and concerns which are reflected in the presentations and discussions of this conference. Our opportune location at the US-Canada border lends itself to vibrant study of water ethics, justice, governance, and management in each respective country, as well as between them. Further, this event brings together professionals to discuss these water issues in the face of climate change and the implications for cross-border/ transboundary water governance; hence, the speakers are from Canada and the US (with the majority from the US-Canada border region in Michigan and southwestern Ontario).
Register here: https://graham.umich.edu/event/fluid-thinking-water-justice-changing-climate
On April 25th, 2022, we are hosting two launch events for a new website, engagedtheory.net, for the grounded and engaged political theory community.
The purpose of the website is to help scholars doing this work find each other and share events.
In each of two sessions, four scholars will launch our conversation and community by addressing three questions and then we will have an open discussion:
> Which calls for engaged political theory do you answer?
> Which methodological discussions have informed you?
> How do you use it in your own work?
Registration is required and you are welcome to forward the invitation widely.
The sessions will be recorded. Participation indicates consent to recording.
Session I
Brooke Ackerly (Vanderbilt University) [host]
Monique Deveaux (University of Guelph)
Catherine Lu (McGill University)
Deva Woodly (The New School for Social Research)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://vanderbilt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tleyqAxFRYuShT0QEzjwXw
Session II
In the second timeslot,
Brooke Ackerly (Vanderbilt University) [host]
Luis Cabrera (Griffith University)
Fonna Forman (University of California-San Diego)
Genevieve Fuji Johnson (Simon Fraser University)
Chris Tenove (University of British Columbia)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://vanderbilt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__7uQVKjGTbqSi4_Rl8Wc4w
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Looking forward to seeing you.
Brooke Ackerly (she) on behalf of Monique Deveaux, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Chris Tenove
Tuesday, February 8 at 12:30-1:30pm
Talk by Jacqueline Potvin, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph and GET Lab member. “From Reproductive Rights to the Girl Effect: Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy.” on Zoom.
The Zoom meeting link is https://zoom.us/s/92896017029
PhD Defences
Shannon Boss, PhD candidate in Philosophy, successfully defended their dissertation, “You Are What You Eat: Orthorexia, Purity, and Heath in the Digital Age,” September 13, 2022.
Supervisor: Monique Deveaux
External Examiner: Talia Welsh, University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Marie-Pier Lemay, PhD candidate in Philosophy and International Development, successfully defended her dissertation, “Grounding Feminist Solidarity,” November 23, 2021.
Supervisor: Monique Deveaux
External Examiner: Theresa Tobin, Marquette University
Gloria Novovic, PhD candidate in Political Science and International Development, successfully defended her dissertation, “Contextualizing Gender Equality: Gender Mainstreaming between Global Governance Frameworks and national and institutional Policy Agendas in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda,” September 14, 2021.
Supervisor: Candace Johnson
External Examiner: Susanne Zwingel, Florida International University
Christi Storfa, PhD candidate in Philosophy, successfully defended her dissertation, “Global Justice Unbounded: Social Connection Through Mutual Flourishing,” September 14, 2021.
Supervisor: Monique Deveaux
External Examiner: Fiona Robinson, Carleton University
Cameron Fioret, PhD candidate in Philosophy, successfully defended his dissertation, “The Ethics of Water: from Commodification to Common Ownership,” August 27, 2021.
Supervisor: Monique Deveaux
External Examiner: Dr. Avery Kolers, University of Tennessee