Unsettling the Great White North: Re/Viewing, Re/Visioning, and Re/Imagining Black Canada

“Unsettling the Great White North” is a collaborative two-day symposium (February 2-3, 2023) jointly hosted by the University of Toronto and York University. It builds on the recent publication of the co-edited volume, Unsettling the Great White North: Black Canadian History (University of Toronto Press, 2022). Invited scholars from across both Canadian and American universities will present on themes highlighted in the collection to engage symposium participants and audiences in the latest debates, research and theories informing Black Canadian history/studies.
Speakers range from graduate students to early career and established scholars who engage in the most cutting-edge research and analytical frameworks around Black Canadian History and Black Studies in Canada.
Participants are drawn from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including Sociology, Gender and Women’s Studies, Political Science, Education, English Language and Literature, History, as well as scholars whose work considers Black geographies, Black Studies, and Critical Race Theory. A goal of the symposium is to understand the ways in which scholars of Black Canada have spearheaded the development of the historiography, shaped the field, expanded its conceptual framings, and responded to some of the limitations of earlier work, to offer more expansive and nuanced stories of Black Canadian experiences. We aim to foster research opportunities to bring established and emerging scholars into conversation with one another. The event will be held in person on both campuses and will be open to students, educators, researchers, and the general public.