Statement regarding report of anti-Black racism incident during Congress 2019

Please see our revised statement.

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences received a complaint on June 2 from a student attending Congress 2019, for which UBC is the host venue. The student reported being racially profiled and harassed by another Congress participant.

UBC unequivocally opposes and denounces anti-Black racism, racial profiling, harassment and discrimination of any kind. This allegation of anti-Black racism and racial profiling is deeply concerning to the University, not only for its impact on a valued guest but also for its impact on racialized people at our campuses who deserve to experience a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment.

UBC Human Resources is supporting the Federation in its investigation of this incident. UBC will continue to assist in whatever way we can.

We are committed to ensuring that equity and inclusion are embedded in all areas of academic, work and campus life, and that the dignity of all community members is respected.

We stand firmly against all forms of racial discrimination and harassment as we strive to provide an inclusive experience for students, faculty, staff and visitors. Institutionally and individually, we all share in the responsibility of creating and maintaining that environment.

Sara-Jane Finlay
Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion

This year, UBC is hosting the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, an annual convergence of over 70 scholarly associations – and there’s no shortage of amazing sessions covering equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) topics.

Thanks to our colleagues at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology who compiled the following list of EDI related events taking place during Congress.

Of course, we’re biased to highlight these three events that we’ve helped support directly.

• Indigenous Storytelling Traditions: Performance, Pedagogy, and Research
  Sat June 1, 3:00-5:30; First Nations Longhouse – FNLH 100 STY-WET-TAN GREAT HALL
• Picture ‘Perfect’: Blind Ambitions
  various dates and times; AMS Nest – NEST 2126 Hatch Gallery
• Round table: Indigenous Voices in Translation
  Sun June 2, 3:30-5:00; West Mall Swing Space Building – SWNG 207
• Locating our Pedagogies: Using Digital Tools in Asian Canadian Studies and Beyond
  Sun June 2, 1:00-5:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2311
• Locating our Pedagogies: Asian Canadian Studies Now
  Sun June 2, 1:00-5:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2314
• Book Launch: Amplify
  Sun June 2, 10:30-11:30; AMS Nest – NEST 2301 Expo Event Space
• Authority under Attack: Managing Risks in the Classroom
  Sun June 2, 1-:30-12:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2306
• Women, Transnational Mobilities, and Medico-Scientific Innovation
  Sun Jun 2, 1:30-3:00; West Mall Swing Space – SWNG 222
• Metaphor and Meaning-Making in Indigenous Research Methodology
  Sun June 2, 3:00-4:15; First Nations Longhouse – FNLH 100 STY-WET-TAN GREAT HALL
• In conversation with Esi Edugyan
  Sun June 2, 12:15-1:15; Frederic Wood Theatre – FRWO 102 THEATRE
• Pedagogical Practice of Learning From History and Place: Indigenous Erasure, Reclamation and Resurgence in Campus Spaces
  from June 2-June 5, 9:00-5:00; Neville Scarfe Building – SCRF Education Foyer
• Land Acknowledgement workshop
  Sun June 2, 8:30-10:00; Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre – RLAC Jack Poole Hall
• 33 years after the Employment Equity Act: Why are we still having this conversation?
  Mon June 3 3:30-5:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2301 Expo Event Space
• At the Root of Reconciliation is Language: The BC Indigenous Language Proficiency/Fluency Degree Framework
  Mon June 3, 9:00-2:00; First Nations Longhouse – FNLH 100 STY-WET-TAN GREAT HALL
• Strengthening Indigenous research capacity
  Mon June 3, 3:30-5:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2309
• Queer Lives on Display: In the Archives of The Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin
  Mon June 3, 9:00-10:30; Irving K. Barber Learning Centre – IBLC 301 LILLOOET
• Disability Performance Conversations: Circles, Pools, Flows
  Mon June 3, 10:30-11:45; Dorothy Somerset Studios – DSOM 101 THEATRE
• Nurturance Culture: “On Nurturance and Vulnerability in Academic Life”
  Mon June 3, 3:30-5:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2306
• Sovereignty and Hypocrisy Impeding Reconciliation on Campuses in Canada
  Mon June 3, 7:00-8:30; AMS Nest – NEST 2309
• Interdisciplinary Panel: CSSHE/CASIE Academic Leaders Panel: Indigenous and Settler Scholars
  Tues June 4, 8:30-10:00; Leonard S. Klinck Building – LSK 200
• All events in the Roundtable Series: Teaching and Learning After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (search for “Roundtable series”; there are 8 different panels)
  Tues-Thurs in West Mall Swing Space, various rooms and times
• “Re-Matriating Indigenous Theatre Through Our Minds, Bodies, and Spirits”
  Tues June 4; 10:30-11:45; Dorothy Somerset Studios – DSOM 101 THEATRE
• Responding to Truth and Reconciliation through Indigenous Literatures: A Conversation between Maria Campbell and Nicola Campbell
  Tues June 4, 10:30-11:30; First Nations Longhouse – FNLH 100 STY-WET-TAN GREAT HALL
• Asserting Indigenous Title and Rights in 2019
  Tues June 4, 10:30-12:00; Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability – CIRS 1250
• Indigenous (Un)History Month: RavenSpace: Digital Publishing In Indigenous Studies Exhibit Launch and Reception
  Wed June 5, 5:30-7:00; Irving K. Barber Learning Centre – IBLC Level 2 Foyer
• 2 Years Later: Responses to the Equity Myth
  Wed June 5, 8:30-10:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2601
• How Do We Measure Equity?
  Wed June 5, 1:30-3:00, AMS Nest 2306
• Equity Work, Care, & Compensation in the Neoliberal University
  Wed June 5, AMS Nest – NEST 2306
• Circles of Conversations: Indigenous Knowledges and the Academy
  Thurs June 6, 1:30-3:00; West Mall Swing Space Building – SWNG 222
• Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Violence on Campuses
  Thurs June 6, 8:30-10:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2306
• Can Big Data Help Fix the Gender Gap in Canadian Media?
  Thurs June 6, 9:00-10:00; AMS Nest – NEST 2301 Expo Event Space
• Genocide, Residential Schools and the Challenge of [Re]Conciliation: Dialogue and Panel Discussion
  Thurs June 6, 6:00-10:00; Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre – IRSHDC Main Room

Join the conversation at #congressh.