Schedule

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What can a physical object tell us about the past or present of Indigenous peoples and people of colour?

In this dynamic opening event of the 3rd annual Humanities Literacy Week, six scholars will share an everyday object that has its own story to tell.

Audience members will be invited to engage with these objects and the panelists who have chosen them, in an event that promises to inspire and provoke critical reflection about culture, history, inter-connection and the ethical consequences of human actions.

Host: Alexandra D’Arcy, Associate Dean Research, Humanities

Panelists:

Sikata Banerjee (Gender Studies)

I will focus on a specific form of folk scroll art from eastern India, known as pata (Sanskrit word for cloth) and chitra (painting). Artists slowly unroll the scrolls while they sing the story being unraveled. Pata artists represent the cultural perspective of marginalized rural folk; many of these artists are rural women.

Patrick Lozar (History)

The milepost from the land and water protector camps at Standing Rock in 2016 marks the distances allies from Native nations traveled to support #NoDAPL. This object illustrates the historically grounded and growing global reach of Indigenous political consciousness and solidarity in the face of extractive regimes and settler colonialism.

Sada Niang (French)

The object I am focusing on is a monument in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Starting in the late 1950s, African filmmakers decided to use the technology of film to describe themselves, their societies, and the challenges faced by their newly minted nations. In the last 50 years, films have been crafted in English and French but more often in the local African languages. Today, these films have come to symbolize the resilience and the constantly renewed creativity of these filmmakers.

Charlotte Schallié (Germanic and Slavic Studies)

I will present an object from the Collections of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) that demonstrates the importance of cultural and spiritual resistance during the Holocaust: a handmade book of recipes (1944 or 1945) that was secretly compiled by Rebecca Teitelbaum and other women at the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp (Fürstenberg/Havel; Germany).

Jordan Stanger-Ross (History)

At a party years ago, I felt dispossession in my hands. Discussion had turned to my research on Japanese Canadians in the 1940s: the loss of home. Our host disappeared into her basement and re-emerged with a box of fine china. Her parents’ neighbours had left it in their care in 1942 but never returned. Had the dispossession not occurred, I would never have held those lost heirlooms in my hands or, indeed, shared this story with you. I’ll present one piece of that china and reflect on the legacies of injustice.

waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy (Gender Studies)

zii-gaa-mi-day is an Anishinaabe “object” whose various forms represents an entire lifeworld. Translated to English, it exists in national and international consciousness as a symbol of proud Canadian identity and produces a multi-million-dollar economy in Canada. Largely expropriated from Anishinaabeg, this is maple syrup; mostly forgotten, this is Anishinaabeg womxn’s jurisdiction.

Inquiries: humsassistant@uvic.ca

American Sign Language (ASL) for the 2021 Humanities Literacy Week events is made possible by the generous support of The Office of the Vice-President Research.

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An “unessay” is a creative expression of research or scholarship that departs from the traditional academic essay in favour of painting, sculpture, film, embroidery, poetry, music, dance, or any other innovative media. In the “unessay” competition, up to 10 Humanities students will compete for three prizes as they present work that relates to humanities topics. This fast-paced and engaging event will feature a panel of judges from the Faculty of Humanities, and will rely on audience engagement to assess an Audience Favourite from amongst the finalists.

Prizes:

• Excellence in Humanistic Creative Expression $300
• Courageous Creativity $150
• Audience Favourite $150

Hosts:

Lisa Surridge, Associate Dean Academic, Humanities

Event judges:

• Angie Chau (Pacific and Asian Studies)
• Rachel Hope Cleves (History)
• Lisa Kahaleole Hall (Indigenous Studies)
• Chase Joynt (Gender Studies)
• Sage Lacerte (BA 2020, Gender Studies and Indigenous Studies)
• Lucky Budd (BA 2000 & MA 2005, History, Distinguished Alumnus 2020)

American Sign Language (ASL) for the 2021 Humanities Literacy Week events is made possible by the generous support of The Office of the Vice-President Research.

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This culminating event of Humanities Literacy Week 2021 focuses directly on systemic racism, state-sanctioned violence and social injustice. Humanities Reads features a reading and fireside chat with the Toronto-based Black feminist writer, activist, and educator Robyn Maynard.

Hosted by Acting Dean of Humanities Annalee Lepp and moderated by Assistant Teaching Professor Moustapha Fall, this event centres on Maynard’s 2017 award-winning national best-seller Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present. Maynard will read select excerpts from her book and engage in conversation with Lepp and Fall, after which she will take questions from the audience. There will also be copies of Policing Black Lives on hand to give away as door prizes; the book can also be purchased directly from the publisher, Fernwood Publishing.

American Sign Language (ASL) for the 2021 Humanities Literacy Week events is made possible by the generous support of The Office of the Vice-President Research.