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Welcome to Social Justice Studies
Nelson Mandela
UVic is situated on the territory of the Coast and Straits Salish people.
Social Justice Studies presents:
The Campaign to End the Blockade of Gaza - Canada's Role • 19 February, 2012
Ehab Lotayef
Sunday, 19 February, 7:00 pm • Harry Hickman Building 105 • University of Victoria
You are invited to attend a public forum and audio/visual presentation on the Israeli blockade of Gaza with Ehab Lotayef, who will share his account of the Freedom Waves to Gaza aid flotilla which took place in November, when Irish and Canadian boats tried to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Mr. Lotayef is a Montreal-based poet and long-time solidarity activist, who was on board the Canadian humanitarian aid boat, the Tahrir, which was heading to Gaza when it was hijacked by the Israeli navy in international waters. Freedom Waves is part of an ongoing Global solidarity movement challenging the blockade of Gaza and working for freedom for Palestine, which Ehab describes as, "a group of unarmed civilians peacefully confronting Israel's blockade and occupation."
Admission is by donation. Pay parking at the UVic Centennial Stadium lot.
Sponsored by: UVic Social Justice Studies.
View the poster, and for more information visit www.tahrir.ca or call 250 595-3991.
Conversations with Activists • 21 February, 2012
Community-Based Research as Community Organizing, with VIPIRG
Cheryl Bryce and Mark Willson
Tuesday, 21 February, 7:30 pm • Harry Hickman Building 105 • University of Victoria
Community-Based Research can mean a lot of things, but within the university it too often means more of the same social scientific research with limited benefits for the communities being studied. Cheryl Bryce (VIPIRG interim Indigenous Research Coordinator) and Mark Willson (VIPIRG interim Research Coordinator) will introduce VIPIRG's approach to CBR through a community organizing lens, with emphasis on current projects engaging with local indigenous sovereignty and anti-poverty struggles. Cheryl's work on indigenous food sovereignty and Mark's work on local harm reduction and policing issues will be presented as a basis for reflecting on the benefits and challenges of community organizing work through community-university alliances.
View the poster and visit VIPIRG's website.
Lansdowne Lecture Series • 22 February, 2012
How Can You Tell if We Are Living in a 'Post-war' Era? Some Feminist Warnings
Dr. Cynthia Enloe
Wednesday, 22 February, 7:00 pm • Harry Hickman Building 105 • University of Victoria
Dr. Cynthia Enloe is a world renowned expert on the gendered politics of militarization and globalization. Her talk will address the gendered implications of Canada's "post-war" eras of World War II and the war in Somalia, and the soon to be "post-war" era of the Afghanistan war. Why do these periods last so long? Do they ever end? Paying close attention to how women experience long "post-wars" will reveal important insights about the actual costs and consequences of war.
Co-Sponsored by: Department of Women's Studies • Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost • Department of Political Science • Social Justice Studies Program • Dean of Social Sciences • Centre for Cooperative and Community Based Economy
View the poster.
A Commemorative Symposium • 24 February, 2012
70th Anniversary of Japanese Canadian Uprooting: Reconciling a Difficult Past
Friday, 24 February, 2:30-6:00pm • Senate Chambers, UC A180 • University of Victoria
On February 24, 1942, the Mackenzie King cabinet passed Order-in-Council 1486. Two days later, the government ordered all people of Japanese heritage out of their homes and sent them into camps in the BC interior or further east. This was followed by the seizure and selling of their properties, and an attempt to prohibit them from ever returning to British Columbia. Japanese Canadians survived this adversity, re-established communities, and in 1988 won the first redress settlement with the Canadian government.
Join this commemorative event to discuss the difficult past and to honour elders from the Japanese Canadian community.
Sponsored by: Department of History • Social Justice Studies Program • Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives • UVic Asian Canadian Working Group • Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost.
View the poster.
Social Justice and the Law Conference • 3 March, 2012
A day long exploration of Social Justice and the Law
Keynote Address: David Eby, Executive Director, BC Civil Liberties Association
"Skunks at the Picnic: The Disruptive But Essential Role of Social Justice Lawyers, Advocates and Law Students in British Columbia"
Saturday, 3 March, 2012 • 8:30am-4:30pm, followed by a reception 4:30pm–6:00pm • Fraser Building, Room 159 • University of Victoria
Fee (sliding scale): $20 waged, free to unwaged people, including students
This important conference aims to build on and stimulate growing discussion and concerns about whether and how law can be used to gain greater social justice in our community and in the world. It is in response to widespread and intense interest in these issues that Social Justice Studies, the Faculty of Law and Together Against Poverty Society decided to co-host a conference. In order to make this event accessible to activists, students, scholars and concerned citizens panels will include a variety of speakers from a range of backgrounds. After a full day of dialogue we invite all attendees to join us for a reception.
Panels will include: Poverty Law & Criminalizaton of the Poor • Indigenous Issues & the Law • Environmental Justice & the Law • Legal Aid & Advocacy.
Presented by: UVic Faculty of Law • UVic Social Justice Studies • Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS) • With financial support from: The Law Foundation of British Columbia
To register visit: uvicjusticeconference.wordpress.com
View the poster.
Conversations with Activists • 13 March, 2012
Resisting Political Violence, Torture & the Death Penalty: Connections and Discernments in Anti-Violence Activism and Work
Vikki Reynolds
Tuesday, 13 March, 7:30 pm • Harry Hickman Building 105 • University of Victoria
Vikki Reynolds is a community activists, instructor and therapeutic supervisor whose experience includes clinical supervision and therapy with refugees and survivors of torture, mental health and substance abuse counsellors, community activists, anti-violence counsellors, and working alongside transgendered and queer communities. Vikki's published work addresses social justice, resisting "burnout", supervision, ethics, group work, substance abuse and resisting trauma. She is an instructor with VCC, UBC, and City University where she received the Dean's Award for Distinguished Instruction.
Sponsored by: UVic Social Justice Studies and UVic School of Child and Youth Care.
View the poster and visit Vikki's website.
SJS 200, Introduction to the Practice of Social Justice
Offered January-April, 2012, Tuesdays 5:00-7:50 pm in DSB C112.
Social Justice Studies Annual Lecture, 27 October 2011
"Exit Environmentalism: Reflections on the past and future of a (failing) social movement"
Dr Michael M'Gonigle
View the lecture.
Social Justice Studies Annual Lecture, 21 October 2010
"Is the Global Justice Movement Colonial? A Troubling Tale of Indigenous Peoples at the World Social Forum"
Dr Janet Conway
View the lecture.
Social Justice Studies Inaugural Lecture, 1 October 2009
"Changing the World: What Works?"
Dr Mary-Wynne Ashford
View the lecture.
For details on the SJS program and how to apply for it, see the pages on this site.