Program

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Meric Gertler, President, University of Toronto

Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture, University of Toronto

Session 1: Ableism and the Canadian Academy – Interrogating the Culture and Systems of Exclusion

This session examines how ableism (encompassing structures, beliefs and/or practices) privileges non-disabled people and defines all aspects of life and work in the Canadian academy. Panelists will identify and interrogate ways in which students, faculty, staff, teaching and research assistants experience structures and systems of “compulsory able-bodiedness”. They will also explore actions related to policy, accommodation, culture, and personal attitudes that interrupt ableist marginalization and exclusion, and advance systemic change.

Panelists:

Jay Dolmage, University of Waterloo

Olga Dosis, George Brown College

Esther Ignagni, Toronto Metropolitan University

Bonnie Lashewicz, University of Calgary

Moderator:

Cassandra Hartblay, University of Toronto Scarborough

Session 2: Inclusive (Co/Extra) Curriculum and Learning Design, Work Facilitation, and Research Supports

This session examines strategies and actions that promote movement away from a pedagogical and research environment in which people with disabilities seek individual accommodations, to one that builds and sustains classrooms and research environments which are anti-ableist and inclusive from the outset. Drawing on the concepts of the duty to anticipate accommodation and intentional inclusion, areas to be covered will include pedagogical approaches; design of (co/extra) curricula; format of assignments; and research funding structures, protocols, processes, and assumptions. Panelists will address pathways to genuine engagement with people with disabilities, with the goal of building institutions which recognize and embrace learners and scholars who function in, and investigate, disabling learning and research contexts.

Panelists:

Erin Anderson, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Darla Benton Kearney, Mohawk College

Frederic Fovet, Thompson Rivers University

Anne McGuire, University of Toronto

Moderator:

Chloë Atkins, University of Toronto Scarborough

Session 3: Inclusive Infrastructure Design and Planning: From Procurement to Technology Systems and the Built Environment

This session examines the nature of the built environment, the kinds of technological systems that are in use in institutions, the assumptions and procurement practices that shape them, and their impact on work, learning, scholarship, and community engagement.  Panelists will examine the benefits of inclusive design principles, systems, and practices; address resistance to change; and explore effective ways to advance institutional commitments to inclusion that correct inequities and create a supportive and healthy living, learning and working environment for all.

Panelists:

Kate Clark, Dalhousie University

Catherine Fichten, McGill University and Dawson College

Mahadeo Sukhai, Canadian National Institute for the Blind

Moderator:

Ben Poynton, University of Toronto

Closing Session: Wrap Up and Next Steps

Panelists:

Liza Arnason, ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities

Sarah Gauen, Algonquin College and Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education (CAPDHHE) Board

Jodie Glean-Mitchell, University of Toronto

Karima Hashmani, Metrolinx

Moderators:

Cherilyn Scobie Edwards, University of Toronto Scarborough

 

Closing Remarks

Wisdom Tettey, Vice-President, University of Toronto and Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough