Biographies are below in alphabetical order by last name.
Conference Keynote:
Human Rights and the University
Renu Mandhane, Chief Commissioner, Ontario Human Rights Commission
Renu Mandhane is the former Executive Director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. She has an LL.M in international human rights law from New York University, and is a recognized expert. Renu sits on the Canada Committee of Human Rights Watch, and has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada and the United Nations. She has also trained Canadian and foreign judges through the National Judicial Institute of Canada. Renu has worked at several domestic and international organizations to advance women's human rights, and has represented survivors of domestic and sexual violence and federally sentenced prisoners. Renu was appointed Chief Commissioner of the OHRC in October 2015.
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Featured Panel:
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC): Reflections on the role of post-secondary institutions in implementing socially just public education
Dr. Ruth Koleszar‐Green
Dr. Ruth Koleszar‐Green is a Mohawk woman from the Turtle clan. She is legally registered to the Konadaha Seneca Nation under the Indian Act. She recognizes all of the privileges and oppressions that the previous two sentences hold. She is an Assistant Professor in the school of Social Work, York University. Her research and teach focuses on educating Guest people on their responsibilities as laid out on Guswhenta or the Two Row Wampum.
Dr. Deborah McGregor
Deborah McGregor, PhD is Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation, Ontario. She currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at Osgoode Law School and Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University. Her research focus is on Indigenous knowledge in relation to the environment. More specifically, she has focused Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and its various applications in diverse contexts including environmental governance, justice, forest policy and management, sustainable development and water governance. Her work has been published in an array of national and international journals and she has delivered numerous public and academic presentations relating to traditional knowledge and governance.
Kerry Potts
Kerry Potts, Temegami Anishnabai of mixed British heritage, is an educator and arts activist living in Toronto. Since 1999, Kerry has worked with numerous Aboriginal social service and arts organizations, including Native Women's Resource Centre, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Native Women in the Arts (current Chair), imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Images Festival (Chair), National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (Chair), and has worked for 3 time Juno Award winner Susan Aglukark. Her thesis, Music is the Weapon, focused on music as an anti-colonial tool, and her short film Love on the Street (2009) has screened at festivals across North America and may be viewed on the HotDocs Doc Library. She has taught at Seneca College, OISE/U of T, and is currently in the Liberal Studies Department at Humber College where she teaches Arts and Sciences, Sociology and a course she created called Indigenous Perspectives on Music, Film and Media. Her interests lie in how art can be a critical and transformative force for cultural articulation and transformation.
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Sessions:
Dr. Mauro Buccheri
Professor Buccheri received his Ph.D from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on Italo Svevo, one of the most important European writers of the Twentieth Century. He has edited, translated and contributed to several books on literary theory and the history of ideas. Professor Buccheri is currently engaged on research on Humanism, Cosmopolitanism and Dialectics.
Tristan Castro Pozo
Tristan Castro Pozo is a playwright and puppeteer, who have published three books on community theatre and theatre for social development. In 2015, Tristan received a TAC - Platform A award to produce this pilot project at Jumblies Theatre.
Dr. Eve Haque
Eve Haque is an Associate Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and Graduate Program Director of Social and Political Thought at York University. Her research and teaching interests include multiculturalism, white settler nationalism and language policy, with a focus on the regulation and representation of racialized im/migrants in white settler societies. She has published in such journals as Social Identities, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development andPedagogy, Culture and Society, among others. She is also the author of,Multiculturalism within a bilingual framework: Language, race and belonging in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2012).
Aerissa Roy-Dupuis
Aerissa Roy-Dupuis is a Bachelor of Social Work Student here at York University. She has worked with the School of Social Work, CWTP, CHR, and sat on numerous committees as a fierce advocate for social justice.
Alice MacLachlan
Alice MacLachlan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at York University, specializing in moral, political, and feminist philosophy. Her primary research interests lie in the aftermath of wrongdoing, and she has published and presented work on the philosophical issues surrounding apology, forgiveness, reconciliation and post-conflict civility. She teaches classes in historical and contemporary ethical theory and feminist philosophy, and on topics ranging from transitional justice to the role of negative emotions in political discourse. In 2011 she was awarded a President’s University-Wide Teaching award. As the current chair of SexGen York, Alice is committed supporting gender and sexual diversity on campus.
Tanya Marie Smith
Tanya Marie Smith is a MSW student at the Faculty of Social Work, Laurier University. She lives with Environmental Sensitivities and is currently completing her thesis on the experiences of the scent-free initiative at the Faculty of Social Work. Tanya has a deep passion for social and environmental justice, community-building through photography, empowerment and resistance through DIY, and growing organic food and medicinal plants.
Lorna Schwartzentruber
Lorna Schwartzentruber is the Manager of the York TD-Community Engagement Centre. Lorna has over 20 years of experience in community capacity building in various roles both locally and abroad.
Nathan Stern
Nathan Stern is the Community Projects Coordinator at the York-TD -Community Engagement Centre. Nathan has experience in the United States as well as in the local community in Community Development.
Rene Suarez
Rene Suarez spent four years living in a forested eco-village, learning sustainable living. He’s back with a non-profit organization, spreading DIY for social change.
Dr. Livy Visano
Livy Visano, Professor of Human Rights, and Undergraduate Program Director in the Department of Equity Studies. former Dean of Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, former Chair of Sociology (Atkinson) , former Coordinator of Social Sciences (Atkinson). He serves on numerous Boards of community - based organizations. He has written extensively on human rights, social justice and law.
deidre D-Lishus walton
deidre D-Lishus walton is an avid flower addict, with a particular propensity for those of the multi-petalled, purple-to-violet variety. She makes her way as a professional artist, activist and budding academic, agitating in the Southern Ontario/GTA region. Her life's work, to date, has focussed on advocating for rights and access for women and queer folks of colour, with a particular focus on those systems and spaces that impact on our abilities to engage in healthy positive relationships with our bodies, our selves and our communities. In future, she hopes to use her artistic practice as a vehicle for disseminating the findings of her research into links between spirituality and mental health, with a focus on how black women heal from the traumatic effects of racism and patriarchy. In the meantime, she can be found scavenging flowers from lawns, parks and the woods behind her apartment building.
More presenter biographies are coming...
