Events

2023 Welcome Back Event

Thursday, Sept. 14 from 4-6 pm 

A welcome back reception to meet, greet, and catch up with other disability studies faculty and students from across the three campuses. Brief announcements & updates to celebrate will be shared.

For questions, access or RSVPs contact cgds.utsc@utoronto.ca

Fall Core Lab Meetings

learn more about CGDS Core Lab

Core Lab #1: Thursday, September 21, 3-5pm (Zoom)- Reading & Discussion with Dr. Aparna Nair  [Please read in advance: Ngyuen chapter (and any other chapters of interest) in Crip Authorship] 

(October 3 Co-sponsored Event – details below)

Core Lab #2: Thursday, October 5, 5-7pm (Zoom) – Summer Research Fellow Presentation- Migrant Worker Justice with Tania Ruiz-Chapman (NOTE: evening time for this event only)

(October 18 Co-sponsored Event – details below)

Core Lab #3: Wednesday, October 25, 3-5pm (Zoom)– Summer Research Fellow Presentation- Beyond Diagnosis: Familial Shame and Crip Kinship in Asian Canadian Experiences of Madness with Walter Rafael Villanueva 

Core Lab #4: Monday, October 30, 3-5pm  (Zoom)– Small Grant Project Presentation & Discussion- Disability Justice and Design Speaker Series with Adrian Petterson & Dr. Priyank Chandra  

Core Lab #5: Thursday, November 9, 3-5pm (Zoom)– Reading & Discussion with Dr. Aparna Nair 

Please read in advance:

Core Lab #6: Thursday, November 23, 3-5pm (Zoom)– Small Grant Project Presentation & Discussion- Images of Resistance: An art expose between childhood disability and race with Dr. Fiona Moola, Dr. Tim Ross & Zehra Kamani.

Core Lab #7: Thursday, December 7, 3-5pm (Zoom)– Reading & Discussion with Dr. Aparna Nair [Please read in advance: Introduction to Black Disability Politics by Sami Schalk]  

End of Term Event

Thursday, Dec. 14th 2023, 3-5pm – In person & Online

Ongoing Groups

learn more about Ongoing Groups

CGDSxQTRL Writing Circle -Tuesdays 10am-noon beginning September 26th 2023, via Zoom or in-person. Join faculty and graduate students for a drop-in co-writing group. Hosted by QTRL 2023-2024 Faculty Fellow & CGDS Director Cassandra Hartblay. Email Cassandra (cassandra.hartblay@utoronto.ca) to join or for more information.

Working Group – Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying Policy: A Disability Studies Perspective – Convened by Prof. Marlene Goldman – email Prof. Goldman (mgoldman@chass.utoronto.ca to join for the next meeting on Friday, Nov. 17th from 1-3 pm.

Co-Sponsored Campus Events

Feel (in) the gaps. (In)visible disabilities
A Virtual Tour of Transnational Contemporary Art Exhibition and Panel Discussion

Tuesday Oct. 3, 1-3pm (EST)
Hybrid event

Featuring artists Letícia Barreto, Cinzia Greco, Maica Gugolati, Jaime Lee Loy, and Gabrielle Le Roux. Presented by The Program for Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity and The Program for the Study of the United States in collaboration with transnational colleagues, and cosponsored by Centre for Global Disability Studies, among others.

In person at U of T (email for Info) or online.

Organizing for Survival: Disability Advocacy during Russia’s War Against Ukraine, from
refugees to veterans
Wednesday Oct. 18, 12-1:30pm (EST)
Online

Presented by the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine and the Centre for Global Disability Studies at the University of Toronto

Disability advocacy is an often-overlooked arena of human rights civic organizing. This roundtable brings together three researchers with new and on-the-ground knowledge of the impacts of the war on disability advocacy and policy, and on disabled people and their families. Drawing on expertise, research, and activism, panelists will discuss experiences of wounded Ukrainian soldiers; the impact of the war on disabled civilians; and how disability advocacy networks and organizations led by disabled people have responded, in both Ukraine and in neighboring Poland to support disabled refugees. Taken together, a new picture of disability experience in war time begins to emerge, as well as a deeply changed political landscape for disability advocacy. What are the lived experiences of living with or acquiring disability in Ukraine (or of fleeing Ukraine) in war time? How are disability advocacy leaders understanding the task at hand? What is needed now? What global networks or historical examples are useful in a situation like this one?

Participants:

Dr. Magdalena Szarota, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University

Expert and activist in Polish disability advocacy movements, responding to Ukrainian refugee crisis since 2022

Hanna Zaremba, Department of Social Anthropology, Ethnology Institute of Ukraine, and Activist with OPD Fight for Right

Research studying Ukrainian disability activism in the context of the 2022 invasion

Ivan Shmatko, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta

Researcher conducting a project on experiences of wounded Ukrainian soldiers as part of the veteran human rights organization Pryntsyp

Chair:

Dr. Cassandra Hartblay, CERES and Centre for Global Disability Studies, University of Toronto

Access: AI captioning, ASL intepretation, and Ukrainian intrepretation provided. Email with access requests (cassandra.hartblay@utoronto.ca).


Core Lab Meetings

Biweekly meetings that cement the core of the CGDS community: join us to catch up and have a coffee, discuss an article, or share work in progress. It’s okay if you can only attend part of the meeting. Core Lab meetings are held during the UofT fall and winter term season. Core Lab meetings always have AI captioning; other access elements will be arranged upon request. New folks welcome – please email cgds.utsc@utoronto.ca so that we can help to welcome you to your first core lab meeting.

Note: Core Lab is currently only open to members of the U of T community (graduate students, undergraduate students by invitation, faculty, post-docs, recent alumni and researchers with a current U of T affiliation).

Critical Conversations

Our flagship event series brings together scholars, activists, and researchers to discuss timely issues that impact global disability justice. These are public-facing events, and registration information will be posted as the event approaches.

Ongoing Groups

In a given year, CGDS faculty or graduate students may convene a working group or writing group on a particular topic and invite members to join.