[van-announce] Realities of Race 2007 @ UBC (updated)

[sumayya k]

in case you already got this message, this is the updated (and hopefully final) version :)
   
  *please forward widely*

  ANNOUNCING
UBC Realities of Race Week 2007 | March 19th – 23rd | www.ams.ubc.ca/ror
Articulating the Invisible: Power, Voice, and the Politics of Experience

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VOLUNTEER! GET INVOLVED! ubc.realities.of.race.week at gmail.com

In its fourth and largest year yet, Realities of Race at UBC (RoR)
brings you over 20 events, including a launch celebration filled with
art and music, keynote addresses by Afua Cooper and Patricia Monture,
the Anti-Racism Recognition Awards Ceremony, and the 4th Annual
Community Dialogue on Systemic Racism at UBC. Exploring the theme of
"Articulating the Invisible: Power, Voice, and the Politics of
Experience", the week is filled with many more exciting events,
workshops, and opportunities to learn and get involved. From a campus
located on unceded Musqueam territory, with a deep history of racism
and anti-racist struggle, and in a contemporary political climate of
globalized political insecurity and war, RoR seeks to heighten
awareness of racism – on the global as well as local fronts – and to
encourage members of our university community to take action for
positive change. Show your support for the largest anti-racist event
on a west coast campus in Canada by attending, spreading the word, and
visiting our website for more.

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REALITIES OF RACE Full Schedule of Events

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REALITIES OF RACE PREVIEW EVENTS:

The Race-Class Relation and Anti-Racism
THURSDAY, MARCH 15th
GEOG 212 | 12.30-2 pm
Geoff Mann of the Geography Department at SFU discusses the realities
of the political economy of racism by drawing from his publications:
Our Daily Bread: Wages, Interests, and the Critique of Political
Economy in the American West (UNC Press, Fall 2007); "Why Does Country
Music Sound White? Race and the Voice of Nostalgia", Ethnic and Racial
Studies (forthcoming 2007); and "The Social Production of Skill", in
Robert Fletcher (ed.) Beyond Resistance? The Future of Freedom
(Hauppage NY: Nova Science, 2006).

Speaking Thunder: Celebration, Resistance, and Transformation
Realities of Race Week Launch Event/Fundraiser for Vancouver Status of Women
SATURDAY, MARCH 17th
Rhizome Café | 7 pm
Fundraiser event for Vancouver Status of Women – An evening event of
film, spoken word, and poetry from local artists.
Sliding scale $0-$30 (suggested donation: $15). Food available for
purchase – check out Rhizome's tasty menu. For more info:
womenscentre at vsw.ca / www.vsw.ca

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REALITIES OF RACE WEEK, MARCH 19th – 23rd 2007:

ALL WEEK

Positive Graffiti | SUB Art Gallery
A photographic installation of graffiti found in university buildings,
which will be displayed and used as a departure point for public
dialogue on the harm of race-based graffiti and ways to stop it.
Organized by the Equity Ambassadors, this will be displayed in the SUB
Art Gallery throughout the week of events along with other student art
addressing themes of racism and anti-racism.

Ongoing Colonization and Gender Violence: A historical perspective on
sexual violence and racialized women | Women's and Gender Studies
Centre
A poster presentation at the Women's and Gender Studies Centre about
the connections between colonial and sexual violence, focusing on how
bodies of racialized women are depicted and represented in mainstream
discourses. We have heard a lot in the press about the crimes
committed towards racialized women, but are these random events or are
there deeper societal and systemic issues at play here? We offer a
feminist and anti-racist analysis of gender violence towards
racialized women in a language accesible for all students at UBC

MONDAY MARCH 19th

The Problems with Compassion: The Construction of Race in Student Initiatives
SUB 212 | 11 am – 12 pm
A discussion on international student development work and volunteer
opportunities focusing on issues of power and race/racialization,
facilitated by UBC students and members of Africa Awareness. As UBC
encourages international volunteerism and development programs through
initiatives such as Go Global, it is the perfect time to reflect on
the impact of these activities and provide critical and constructive
spaces within which to discuss their meanings and effects.

The R-Word: A dialogue on race and racism in three parts: Part I:
Performing Racialization
SUB 207/209 | 12 – 1 pm
Three performances/dialogues to take place on three consecutive days.
In each performance, two people will be seated on a stage and engage
in a conversation about their experiences around race and racism.
Regular Conversation? Staged Theatre? Education? You decide.

Researching Realities of Race: Constructing the 'Other'
SUB Council Chambers | 2 – 3.30 pm
UBC Educational Studies Associate Professor Shauna Butterwick will
chair a panel presentation by doctoral students in the Department of
Educational Studies. Participants will outline the various topics of
their research: the marginalization of Muslims in Canadian
Nation-building through anti-racist, anti-colonial, and feminist
reading of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the construction of immigrant youth
as pariahs of 'modern times' and 'undesirable aliens' in the
nation-state, labour market discrimination experienced by immigrants
completing Swedish higher education and 'mixed-race' students
processes of identity construction and their experiences of racial
discrimination. On a campus that prides itself on its research, it's
time to broaden our understanding of "important research" and build
awareness of the anti-racist work being produced by members of the UBC
community.

Racialization of Poverty: Legislated Exclusion
SUB Council Chambers | 4 – 5 pm
This presentation/dialogue is a consciousness raising exercise on the
legislated racism which results in lived experiences of poverty and
exclusion for Indigenous women and women of colour in Canada. It will
be conducted by Benita Bunjun and June Clearsky, co-coordinators of
Vancouver Status of Women's Racialization of Poverty project, and
seeks to connect the results of the research and programming being
done at VSW, a local women's organization, with systemic themes of
racism and poverty and their relevance to campuses such as UBC.

TUESDAY MARCH 20th

The R-Word: A dialogue on race and racism in three parts: Part II:
Performing Whiteness
SUB 214 | 12 – 1 pm
Three performances/dialogues to take place on three consecutive days.
In each performance, two people will be seated on a stage and engage
in a conversation about their experiences around race and racism.
Regular Conversation? Staged Theatre? Education? You decide.
   
  Basic Anti-racism Workshop
SUB 207 | 2 – 4 pm
This interactive workshop will explore racial identity (including 
racism and white privilege) and its relevance to the histories of 
Canada, contemporary politics, global economies, and our lived experiences.
Participants will be provided with the knowledge, analysis, and practical
tools to discuss race, varying forms of racism, anti-racism, identity,
privilege, and oppression in order to build representative and respectful
communities. Workshop faciliated by No One is Illegal-Vancouver 
collective members. No One is Illegal Vancouver is an active grassroots migrant
justice group.

Yeh Faasle (These Distances): Bollywood and the South Asian Diaspora
SUB 214 | 2 – 3.30 pm
A discussion on the politics of community within the South Asian
diaspora and the histories of migration that have brought a diverse
range of communities to this territory over the last hundred years,
focusing on Bollywood as a means by which to both imagine and analyze
diasporic positioning. This workshop is catered towards those who
identify themselves as members of the South Asian diaspora.

Excerpts from: Ali, Ali and the Axes of Evil
SUB 214 | 4 – 4.45 pm
An elaborate agitprop theatrical collaboration by Marcus Youssef,
Guillermo Verdecchia and Camyar Chai, where the internal
contradictions and duplicitous double-speak of the "war on terror" are
exposed as the propaganda vehicles for the neo-colonialism of the West
that they are. Ali, Ali and the Axes of Evil is a production of
neworld theatre, a local theatre company that has performed and
published the piece to much acclaim and, on tour since 2004, that will
be performed south of the border in the U.S. for the first time this
summer.
Excerpts performed by Marcus Youssef and Camyar Chai.
FOLLOWED BY
Islamophobia and the Academy: Analyzing the Heightening of Anti-Muslim
Sentiment post 9-11
SUB 214 | 5 – 6.30 pm
This panel seeks to address concerns of racism specifically directed
at Arab, South Asian, and Muslim peoples in the context of the
so-called "War on Terror". Speaking from both personal experience and
political analysis, the panel will discuss the recent increase of what
has been labeled 'Islamophobia' throughout Canada, from immigration
law to workplaces to the academy.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 21st

Negotiating Race in the Classroom: Setting the Context For a Real Discussion
SUB Council Chambers | 10 – 11.30 am
A presentation of an interview-based, video research project
undertaken by two senior undergraduate students in the First Nations
Studies Program (FNSP) at UBC, which asks students to speak about
experiences of ignorance and insensitivity around Aboriginal content
in the classroom and reflect on how it's affected how they function in
a classroom. Videos will be shown and discussion will be facilitated
by Dr. Linc Kesler, Director of the First Nations Studies Program.

March 21st Keynote Address: "Articulating the Invisible: Voice, Power,
and the Politics of Experience"
Afua Cooper and Patricia Monture-Angus
Followed by Responses from Yvonne Brown and Linc Kessler
GSS Ballroom | 12 – 2.30 pm

Afua Cooper is an eminent and award-winning poet, author, historian,
curator, performer, cultural worker, and recording artist. She has
published five books of poetry, including the award-winning Memories
Have Tongue. Her newest book of poetry is Copper Woman, a work in
which she attempts to bring together the personal and the political,
the exoteric and the esoteric. Her latest book, The hanging of
Angelique:  The untold story of Canadian slavery and the burning of
old Montreal, was nominated for the Governor General's Award in
Non-Fiction for 2006.

Patricia Monture-Angus is a Mohawk Woman, Grand River Territory. She
is a lawyer and anti-prison activist. She is also a university
professor and the author of
Thunder in my Soul:  A Mohawk Woman Speaks and Journey Forward:
Dreaming First Nations Independence, which won the Saskatchewan Book of
the Year Award in 2000.

Anti-Racism Recognition Awards Ceremony
GSS Ballroom | 3 – 4.30 pm
This ceremony seeks to recognize the inspiring work done by various
members of the campus community to combat racism at UBC. Nominations
will be available for anyone who has shown a dedicated commitment to
combating issues of racism through whatever means they choose, and the
ceremony will be a chance to highlight these efforts and honour the
work being done.


THURSDAY MARCH 22nd

Perspectives and Potential of Filmmaking in Marginalized Communities
SUB Council Chambers | 11 am – 12 pm
This event will entail the presentation of Jennifer Wolowic's (UBC
Anthropology Master's student) film Perspectives and Potentials
followed by a discussion on the possibilities, processes, and outcomes
created through collaborative research and community based projects.
Jennifer's work focuses on the Malcolm X Academy in Hunter's Point,
San Francisco; a safe zone for its 170 African American and Polynesian
students.

The R-Word: A dialogue on race and racism in three parts: Part III:
Performing Across Racialization and Whiteness
SUB 205 | 12 – 1 pm
Three performances/dialogues to take place on three consecutive days.
In each performance, two people will be seated on a stage and engage
in a conversation about their experiences around race and racism.
Regular Conversation? Staged Theatre? Education? You decide.

Underground UBC
SUB 205 | 2 – 3.30 pm
  An examination of various aspects of UBC's connection to a history of
racism and struggle. The panel is intended to draw out the broader,
systemic connections between issues of indigenous sovereignty, land,
migration, labour, (in)security, and racism.

In addition to a general overview of the the role of universities as an
institution within society, this panel will focus on 3 facets of the
often-invisible side of UBC:
* The unceded Musqueam land on which UBC is located and the ongoing
struggle of the Musqueam nation's right to its traditional territories
* The low-income and predominantly immigrant service provider/labourer
class evident from the construction sites to those who clean up after
others at UBC
* The relationship between the military-academic complex and the use of
UBC historically- such as during APEC- as a ground for surveillance
against students.

Organized by No One is Illegal-Vancouver.

The History of Racism and Anti-Racism at UBC
SUB Council Chambers | 4 – 6 pm
This will be a roundtable panel consisting of individuals who have
been involved in anti-racist organizing through Realities of Race and
other forums at UBC in the past number of years. Featuring students,
faculty, and staff, it will reflect on the often unspoken stories of
racism and resistance within UBC and seek to draw lessons and
inspiration from these histories. Speakers to include Benita Bunjun,
Parker Johnson, and other past students and staff at UBC.

UBC Mixed Club Presents: Realities of Mixed Race
SUB 207 | 4 – 5.30 pm
An event to spread awareness and open up discussion on issues of mixed
ethnic identity. Topics will include mixed identity in the media and
literature, interracial relationships, interracial families, racial
profiling, racism, white privilege and its relationship to mixed
people

FRIDAY MARCH 23rd

>From the Philippines to Canada (and Back): Gender, Race, Class and the
Oppression of Filipino Women in Global Trafficking.
SUB 205 | 10 – 11 am
This exciting presentation by Marilou Carrillo, Ph D Candidate in the
Centre for Women's and Gender Studies will focus on the history of
Filipino migrants/immigrants, particularly women, within the Canadian
context and seeks to propose actions that can empower this
marginalized community to actively participate in a multicultural
Canada in order to change unjust policies and practices.

Freedom of Speech versus Racism – A Media Workshop on the Danish
Cartoon Controversy
SUB Council Chambers | 12 – 2 pm
Sharmeen Khan, MA student in Communications and Culture at York
University, will be joining us for a media workshop focusing on the
Danish Muslim cartoon controversy. This workshop aims to analyze the
use of "freedom of speech" during reporting of the Danish Muslim
cartoon controversy. Looking through various news sources, this
workshop will assess how the process of "Othering" occurred that
posited the West as champions of "freedom of speech" and Muslims as a
draconian population.

4th Annual Community Dialogue: on The Realities of Race in Teaching
and Learning at UBC
SUB 214/216 | 3 – 5.30 pm
The cornerstone event of Realities of Race Week, this event provides a
crucial and critical space for institutional reflection on the
persisting existence of intersecting oppressions at UBC Pt. Grey
campus. This year's dialogue focuses on the theme of the Realites of
Race in Teaching and Learning at UBC, seeking to emphasize the issues
of curriculum, composition, and climate and opening with a powerful
presentation of collected statistics and personal accounts of racism
and anti-racism within the UBC learning community.



 		
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