Right to the City

Concordia students highlight community and collaboration with Pointe-Sainte-Charles in their Third Annual Research and Creation Showcase

On December 3rd, the neighbourhood of Pointe-Sainte-Charles will bustle with an afternoon gathering of students, teachers, and community members in a showcase of their creative collaborations and continued research efforts. Over course of the fall semester, students from Concordia University have returned to “the Point” for the third year to continue their community work in Pointe-Saint-Charles. The December 3rd event is open to the public and features exhibitions, research projects, and short performances.

Schedule for the day

2pm-3pm: Performances at Share the Warmth (625 rue Fortune)
3pm-4pm: Curated walk through the neighbourhood
4pm-5pm: Vernissage at Salon Laurette (1950 rue du Centre)

Events are free and all are welcome!

Under the banner of The Right to the City, three classes are discovering how learning with the city, and across disciplines, can enrich education while giving back to the community at large. Students in Art History, Theatre, and Art Education return to study in and with “the Point”, a traditionally working-class neighbourhood with a long history of community mobilization. Students have partnered with local organizations including the Atwater Library, the Pointe-St-Charles YMCA, St-Columba House, and Share the Warmth, among others. The project host is Share the Warmth/Partageons l’espoir, a citizen-led resource founded on the principles of social economy, education as a right, food justice, and community self-determination.

This unique platform for community-engaged learning allows Concordia’s students to better understand real issues facing Montrealers. The Right to the City offers an educational opportunity that is unique to Concordia; in learning from one another and with the community, students develop their critical thinking processes alongside their collaboration skills and sense of how to be engaged citizens.

“We are pleased and grateful to return to Pointe-Saint-Charles for the final year of this project and to have a group of students who have been true ambassadors for Concordia,” says Dr Cynthia Hammond, the project leader. “It has been a pleasure to deepen our partnerships with these vital organizations, and to reconnect with the neighbourhood. Our students’ research and creative work help to show how learning can be reciprocal, a bridge between university and community.”

The Right to the City project was made possible through a Curriculum Innovation grant from Concordia University. Dr Hammond, Associate Professor in Art History, has worked closely with co-instructors, Dr Edward Little, Chair of the Department of Theatre and founder of The Neighbourhood Theatre project, and Dr Kathleen Vaughan, Associate Professor in Art Education. The participants would like to thank Concordia University, the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, Share the Warmth, the Atwater Library Digital Literacy Program, Salon Laurette, and Sur la Well for their support of this pedagogical initiative.

For more information please check out the Facebook event page!