Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Workshop Series
The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Workshop Series is a compilation of workshops focusing on key issues related to EDI within the post-secondary context. A key aim of the series is to highlight how systemic inequities manifest in post-secondary environments and ways in which educators can move towards inclusive and equitable teaching practices, while catering to the learning needs of all their students.
Topics include microaggressions, ableism, intersectionality, power dynamics and anti-racism. Workshops will be offered monthly, and participants will be required to register to attend. Participants are encouraged to attend as many workshops as they can to gain new knowledge and further their understanding of EDI.
In this series, participants will have the opportunity to:
- Recognize how instructional practices can create barriers to learners and challenge those practices
- Explore best practices to combat microaggressions within their own teaching practices
- Define intersectionality and explain the relationship of this concept to equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Reflect on personal beliefs and how it impacts their pedagogical practices
Confronting and Dismantling Anti-Black Racism at the University of Calgary
The Black Lives Matter movement sparked unprecedented global protests of the horrific killings of Black women and men by the police and subpar attempts of the criminal justice system to hold the police accountable. The social and political climate saturated academic domains where activists and scholars demanded institutional responses that forefront discussions of overt and covert forms of anti-Black racism.
In response to increased demands for change, some Canadian universities have started to create spaces and platforms to stimulate dialogue and develop strategies to address anti-Black racism.
Drawing on research conducted at the university of Calgary, this presentation will discuss Black students, staff, instructors, and faculty’s experiences of anti-Black racism; highlight concrete strategies to debunk pejorative stereotypes, and confront, disrupt, and combat anti-Black racism at the University of Calgary.
Facilitators: Dr. Patrina Duhaney, PhD
Date: Nov. 17, 2022
Time: 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Location: Online
Past workshops
Fall 2022
The UCalgary Experiential Learning (EL) Plan (2020-25), outlines three priorities derived through extensive cross-campus consultation. One of these priorities, to reduce barriers and expand capacity, seeks in part to address access and inclusion for students in experiential learning activities. Drawing on the university’s strategic equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) directions established by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (OEDI), a research project was designed to better understand student perspectives in participation, access and engagement with experiential learning. This research project, known as ‘Equitable Pathways to Experiential Learning’ garnered more than 2,000 student respondents across a survey and series of focus groups. The engagement and respondents in this project is attributed in part to the collaborative and consultative approach, working with units and individuals serving students and addressing equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility and engaging Students as Partners throughout the project.
In this workshop, participants will gain an understanding of the process and context behind this project, and deeply explore the perspectives of approximately 2,000 students across program types. The student perspectives and trends on barriers and solutions will be shared and accessible for all participants. Through the exploration of student quotes, and thematically organized barriers and solutions, participants will reflect and discuss what we heard from students. This participatory session will focus on application of the student perspectives to the participant’s context. Participants will leave the session with insights and a depth of information to apply to their work, supporting their students and colleagues in student experiential learning opportunities.
Learning outcomes:
- Explore barriers to experiential learning and proposed interventions as identified by UCalgary students
- Develop recommendation(s) for increasing student accessibility and inclusion in Experiential & Work-Integrated Learning in your own context.
- Review one process to engage expertise from students, staff and faculty in the design of a large research project exploring accessibility and inclusion in experiential learning
Facilitators: Jessica O’Connell, Suzanne Chew
Date: Sept. 15, 2022
Time: 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Spring 2022
From Theory to Action: Practical Strategies for Designing Accessible, Diverse, and Inclusive Teaching and Learning
This interactive workshop invites participants to begin or to continue to consider how to create (more) accessible, diverse, and inclusive teaching and learning spaces. Building upon existing tools and resources informed by equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) principles, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) educational framework, and best practices in teaching and learning online, this participatory workshop will offer and invite others to share practical strategies for motivated educators to incorporate in their learning and instructional designs.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify at least three strategies to create accessible, diverse, and inclusive teaching and learning spaces
- Defend learning design choices based on benefits to students and educators
- Reflect on the strengths of learner-centered design
Facilitators: Dr. Kiara Mikita, PhD, Kenna Kelly-Turner
Academic Integrity and Student Conduct: Considerations for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusio
Join us to learn more about how equity, diversity, and inclusion are considerations for academic integrity and student conduct. We will consider questions such as over-representation in student misconduct reporting; bias in misconduct investigation and case management; and the impact of misconduct decisions on students from equity-seeking groups. We will disentangle questions related to who gets reported for misconduct versus who commits acts of misconduct. The session concludes with concrete calls to action to improve how student conduct matters are addressed equitably and fairly.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify how equity, diversity, and inclusion impact academic integrity and student conduct
- Understand how historical patterns of discrimination can be perpetuated through a lack of student data
- Reflect on how student conduct matters can be addressed equitably and fairly
Facilitator: Dr. Sarah Eaton, PhD
Winter 2022
Through this workshop, participants will gain an introductory understanding of microaggressions, the ways in which they may present within the classroom and how they can be addressed in a teaching and learning environment. This interactive session will explore the complexity of microaggressions in the classroom through case studies and share practical strategies to mitigate these difficult situations to create a more inclusive teaching and learning environment.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify the language of microaggressions
- Reflect on the complexity of microaggressions in various contexts
- Gain an understanding of best practices to combat microaggressions within their own teaching practices
Facilitators: Dr. Fouzia Usman, PhD, Lorelei Anselmo
In the post-secondary context, disability is defined through the needs of an individual and resolved by providing accommodations. However, this approach overlooks the role of instructors and how their choices create learning environments – either accessible or inaccessible. This workshop challenges participants to think about how learning environments are disabling. Through reflecting on assumptions about successful learners, instructors can challenge ableism in their teaching practice.
By the end of this session, participants will
- Differentiate between medical and social models of disability
- Recognize how instructional practices can create barriers to learners
- Reflect on personal beliefs about learner qualities
- Challenge instructional practices based on these assumed learner qualities
Facilitator: Dr. Brenda McDermott, PhD
This workshop will explore equity, diversity and inclusion as they relate to teaching and learning in the context of health professions education, with a focus on intersectionality. This will be a participatory workshop.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Define intersectionality and explain the relationship of this concept to equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Describe the components of their own identity, including professional identity and its relationship to teaching, learning and professional practice
- Consider the importance of professional identity formation in health professions education
- Explain the role of participatory praxis in supporting learners to develop identity and empowering learners to drive change
Facilitators: Dr. Heather Jamniczky, PhD, Dr. Aliya Kassam, PhD
In her 2016 TED Talk, The Urgency of Intersectionality, Kimberlé Crenshaw, the African American law professor who coined the term “intersectionality” observed: "We all know that when there's no name for a problem, you can't see a problem, and when you can't see a problem you pretty much can't solve it.” I will define what it means to take an intersectional approach when supporting the learning needs of students enrolled in contentious courses that actively address equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) issues. The Werklund School of Education’s undergraduate course, Diversity in Learning, has been held up as an EDI exemplar and I will be drawing from my experience leading this course to talk about ways we all can move towards inclusive and equitable teaching practices. I will conclude by overtly addressing the toll such work can take on those of us who actively teach EDI topics and what allies can do to support us.
By the end of this session, participants will
- Define intersectionality and why it is so urgent for EDI in post-secondary contexts
- Consider ways to support the learning needs of students in EDI focussed courses
- Identify ways to support scholars who actively teach or research EDI topics
Facilitator: Dr. Tonya D. Callaghan, PhD