This year's theme is the Paradox of Inclusion. Our line-up includes 14 events, 12 of which are being led by various individuals, organizations, and offices from all across the YU community. This year, we welcome our Markham partners who will be leading 2 Inclusion Week events on campus.
Description
The Paradox of Inclusion is that it involves boundary-setting but also risk-taking.
Within Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (DEDI), the term inclusion can be simultaneously so broad it becomes meaningless, and so narrow its practice becomes yet another form of exclusion. Much like the term diversity, inclusion can ring hollow, performative, and corporatized when social and political contexts and power dynamics are ignored.
This Inclusion Week 2025, we invite the community to reflect on the paradoxes of inclusion, what we think we know, what we need to unlearn, and what we need to build fresh. Join us along with our partner organizations and offices across the YU community for activities that aim to build a robust and engaged practice of inclusion. View the reflection questions here.
Check back often for updated events.
Registration helps us plan accessible events and workshops better, however, drop-ins are welcome at most events, unless otherwise marked.
Events overview
Click on the following links to view a description of the event and to book your spot.
Centering youth cultural identities through participatory research: Lessons from Asian-Canadian youth-engagement through Readers Theatre
Join an interactive virtual event discussing the impact of the recent pandemic on the identities of Asian-Canadian youths and inclusion using arts-based methods. At this event, you will engage in a discussion with project youth leaders and researchers on youth identity, agency, resilience, and sense of belonging, learn about the benefits of using ABR in identity research, and share ideas that create youth-centered inclusive policy and practices.
This event is organized in partnership with the Office of Women's Health Research Chair in Mental Health (OWHC) and is moderated by Nazilla Khanlou, Professor and Women's Health Research Chair in Mental Health, School of Nursing, Faculty of health.
Fidget and Focus: Exploring Neurodiversity Through DIY Fidget Toys
An interactive event where we discuss the importance of neurodiversity while creating personalized fidget toys. As we explore the different ways people think and process the world, we'll make sensory tools that can help with focus, calm, and comfort. Join us for a fun and informative session where creativity meets mindfulness in support of neurodivergent individuals. This event will be in person.
This event is offered in partnership with The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education.
Orienting Towards Allyship I (Part 1 of a two-part workshop)
Through a series of engaging activities and reflection exercises participants who take part in this workshop will be able to: Contextualize their social location based on their identity; Deepen their understanding of allyship in a personal and institutional setting, and; Practice active allyship and develop strategies to have brave conversations.
This session is part of the core REDDI certificate and part 1 of 2 workshops being offered during Inclusion Week. Register for Part II.
4pm-5pm. Hybrid: Online and The Sensorium Loft, CFA M333, Keele Campus.
The Great Tit is a Bird and Unsafe Space
“The Great Tit is a Bird” is a sci-fi arthouse animation series exploring issues of race- and gender-based harassment, research misconduct, and institutional betrayal. “The Great Tit is a Bird” is created by a team of Black and Brown women and gender-expansive technologists, artists, recovering scientists, designers and engineers.
Join Ar Ducao, director of “The Great Tit is a Bird” and Connected Minds/Sensorium Artist-in-Residence, to give feedback on the animated work in progress, share your own experience of unsafe institutional space, talk to the show’s panel of creators, and discuss what this might mean in the context of York University in the post-pandemic era.
This event is hosted in partnership with Sensorium (AMPD).
Decolonizing Notions of Empathy: Redefining Empathy - Decolonizing Care and Challenging the Paradox of Inclusion in Academic Spaces
This workshop explores how we can decolonize "empathy" in academic settings. Using anti-oppressive and critical pedagogy frameworks, we will challenge current notions of empathy, encouraging a deeper reflection on what it means to be empathetic in helping professions and to lead with empathy. We will employ a methodology designed to understand the subjective experiences of students, incorporating mindfulness and narrative-based practices. By fostering a space of genuine human connection, we can rethink how we offer care and support, and reconfigure our current understandings of empathy.
In the paradox of inclusion, the more we attempt to "include" others by assuming we understand their experiences, the more we may unintentionally exclude their true needs and realities. To truly support others, we must create space for them to express what they need and be open to learning how we can best help them flourish.
Registration is not required for this event.
This event is offered in partnership with Residence Life (Markham & Keele Campus).
12pm-1:30pm. Keele Campus.
Blackness at York University - A Guided Tour of Resources for Black Students at York University
Please join us on this guided tour by Clifton Grant (4th Year Black Mature Student) as he provides reflection and insight on the places and spaces at YORKU that predominantly focus on supporting the Black community for the empowerment of Black Excellence at York University's Keele Campus.
Starting location is at the Black EUC Space in HNES 248 and will conclude for Q & A and light refreshments at the Black Student Lounge at McLaughlin College, MC 051.
This event is offered in partnership with the Black Inclusion and Advocacy Committee.
What Does Inclusion Look Like to You? A community arts-making event
Drop in and join us for a creative celebration of diversity! We will have supplies for you to create your own masterpiece that expresses your vision of inclusion through art.
This event is hosted in partnership with Student Accessibility Services, Markham. No registration is required—just bring your creativity!
Location 100 University Blvd, Markham in the North Atrium.
10am-11:30am. Online.
The Ecology of Allyship 2, (Part II of a two-part workshop)
In this follow up to our session Orienting Yourself to Allyship, this workshop explores the multiple roles people can play in building solidarity across lines of difference, examples of solidarity movements, and personal reflections on how to find your own stake in movements.
Please note, this is not an introductory or beginners workshop. You must attend Orienting to Allyship Part 1 to join this session, or have previous organizing experience across lines of shared identities. Register for Part 1.
This session is part of the core REDDI certificate.
3pm-5pm. Nat Taylor Cinema, Ross N102 Keele Campus.
Well Rounded: A movie screening and panel
Join us for the screening of Well Rounded (2020), a documentary that shares personal stories from a diverse, captivating cast whose horrors, triumphs and commitment to dreaming large offer big inspiration. Each story preaches a central understanding: that being fat is okay. Following the film, we will be hosting a post-screening conversation with special guests.
This event is offered in partnership with Student Counselling, Health and Well-being
The Paradox of Dis/Ableism and Access: A Conversation (live recorded podcast)
This discussion and podcast recording will explore the contradictions, controversies and challenges of the dis/ableist systems in which we work, study, and live. Join us for a conversation aimed at bridging the gap between our dis/ableist biases and systems, and explore allyship and the expansive possibilities of a truly inclusive co-existence.
This session is organized in partnership with The Teaching Commons and Student Accessibility Services.
The Call-In-Cards for Anti-Black Racism Action: Beyond Anti-Black Racism Training to Transformational Action
This interactive workshop presents The Kit for Centering Black Youth Wellbeing, an online hub that takes a multi-faceted approach to addressing anti-Black racism and centering the wellbeing of Black youth, families, and communities. The Kit focuses on three areas: education (a bi-lingual comprehensive online anti-Black racism certificate), action (the interactive Call-In-Cards for Anti-Black Racism Action), and community engagement (a Community of Practice on the Virtual Café by YouthREX).
The Call-In-Cards foster dialogue by encouraging the identification of deep-seated assumptions, and the understanding of attitudes and values, without being ‘called out’. When we ‘call-in’, we invite ourselves and others into a genuine dialogue that draws attention to bias, prejudice, microaggressions, and other forms of discrimination to facilitate learning, growth, and change. These conversations require gracious spaces that are supportive and nonjudgmental – recognizing discomfort and accepting failure in the practice of inclusion. Most importantly, critical self-reflexivity is always an action-focused project, never still and only useful when followed by thoughtful, transformative action.
This session is offered in partnership with YouthREX.
Navigating the Paradox of Inclusion in Dialogue: Creating Boundaries So Conversations Can Go Anywhere
When we are stuck in our own worldview during a conflict or a challenging conversation, we can slip into a debate rather than a dialogue. Dialogue is a useful and powerful tool to navigate challenging conversations, repair relationships, and foster a space where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued in healthy workplace culture. The paradox is that the efforts to create inclusive dialogue may unintentionally developboundaries that leave others feeling excluded (or silencing their perspective). In this workshop, we explore the paradoxes of inclusion in dialogue and learn skills such as expanding our window of tolerance, creating boundaries, activelistening and techniques for meaningful dialogue.
The Paradox of Accommodation in a Disabled and Disabling World
Accommodating disability is vital to removing barriers in everyday life for disabled people/ people with disabilities. However, there are many paradoxes within the accommodation process including how disability is conceptualized, how systemic barriers are reinforced or dismantled, and how accommodation can bring about in/exclusion. In this fireside chat, Enable York will host Marian McGregor and Roberto Lattanzio in conversation to explore the nuances, strengths, and flaws in our legal and policy frameworks that seek to uphold our right to disability accommodation.
This session is offered in partnership with Enable York.
What the F(emme)?! A Playful Guide to Sex, Gender & Pronouns
A seminar designed to foster awareness and respect for diverse gender identities. We’ll explore the differences between sex, gender, and gender expression, as well as the importance of using correct pronouns in creating inclusive environments. Join us for an informative discussion on building empathy and understanding in our communities.
This event is offered in partnership with The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education.
