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SHIFT Centre for Social TransformationNovember 2025 |
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Consider epistemic injustice... how it obliges us to frame a single knowledge as superior or as the truth itself. Consider it as a manifestation of power... some narratives are heard, some denied or even co-opted to maintain the status quo. Consider yourself... your lived reality, your process of learning and un-learning, and where you fall into this configuration of power. How do you resist or perpetuate epistemic injustice? But it’s also bigger than the individual. We are more than binaries, more than curated algorithms, more than independent realities. Truth embraces complexity, both written and oral histories, and lived experience—all in an effort to bring us to a shared reality. Join us at the SHIFT Centre for a month of truth-telling and knowledge cultivation: a collective project to socially transform society—slowly, but steadily. |
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Rooted Care: Culturally-Sensitive, Comprehensive, and Community-Anchored Resourcing Models |
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Tuesday, November 4 @ 12-2 p.m., LB 145 (SHIFT Centre) What does healthcare look like when we center those most marginalized by the system and its practitioners? Join us as we examine how tailored forms of care and resourcing are driving social transformation in Montreal. We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Catherine Kineweskwêw Richardson (Indigenous Healing Knowledge), France Stohner (Centre Kapwa), and Ghada Mohamed (Amal Centre for Women) for a conversation about community-based mutual aid and resourcing models that prioritize culturally rooted practice and challenge what counts as service. |
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Other events at our space Séance 2 - Droit animalier - Mêmes êtres animaux, différentes lois Wednesday, October 29 @ 6:30 - 8 p.m. Participez à une série de conférences interactives pour mieux comprendre les enjeux complexes à l’intersection du droit animalier et de l’éthique. Discussions, analyses de cas et échanges vous permettront d’explorer les lois qui encadrent différents groupes d’animaux, leurs limites ainsi que les enjeux éthiques qui en découlent. Sunday, November 2 @ 1 - 3 p.m. This Baybayin Script Workshop is a community gathering to reconnect with ourselves, our communities, and our ancestral power. Baybayin is the ancient script used by Filipinos for centuries before Spanish colonization. Learning this beautiful and expressive script is more than just memorizing characters - it's a journey of cultural rediscovery. Undas or all souls day (Nov 1) is a time of remembrance. a Filipino tradition of honouring our ancestors, visiting their resting places, and tending to their memory with candles, flowers, food, and prayer. Not your rescue project: Migrant sex workers fighting for justice Monday, November 3 @ 6 - 7:30 p.m. Join us for a panel on the book Not your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex workers fighting for justice, featuring Niloofar Golkar, Chanelle Gallant and Elene Lam. A landmark abolitionist primer on migration, sex work, policing, and the “anti-trafficking industry”—and a powerful argument about who is really leading the way toward justice: migrant sex workers themselves. Séance 3 - Droit animalier - Science, médecine et éthique Wednesdy, November 5 @ 6:30 - 8 p.m. Sheen wah zree: On the Work of Karen Tam Tuesday, November 11 @ 5 - 7 p.m. This event will include a panel discussion on the recent publication of Karen Tam’s Sheen wah zree (2025), documenting her artwork and accompanied by essays on her work. The panel includes the artist herself, Karen Tam, along with book contributors Alice Ming Wai Jim (Art History, Concordia), Cheryl Sim (PHI Foundation), book designer Kevin Yuen Kit Lo (LOKI, Design and Computation Arts, Concordia). The discussion will be moderated by Balbir K. Singh (Dark Opacities Lab, Art History, Concordia). Youth Engagement in Practice: A Fishbowl Conversation with Press Start Wednesdy, November 12 @ 2:30 - 5 p.m. In this interactive fishbowl conversation, the Press Start Coop youth team, mentors and mentees from the Art and Social Transformation mentorship (formerly PSEI) and coordinators will share their experiences and approaches to youth engagement. Guided by framing questions, the discussion will highlight both the strengths and challenges of different models. Concordia staff, faculty, and students are invited to listen, learn, and enter the conversation to share their own perspectives. Séance 4 - Droit de la faune et de l’environnement Wednesdy, November 12 @ 6:30 - 8 p.m. Friday, November 14 @ 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change is a series of workshops featuring speakers who share their insights on Indigenous environmental leadership, community action, and land-based learning. |
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Beyond publications: Research as a tool for social change Wednesday, November 19 @ 12 - 2 p.m. What does it take for research to influence policy not in theory, but in practice? How can data, storytelling, and planning become tools for organizing and accountability? And how might institutions act not as neutral observers but as active allies in the struggle for housing justice and policy change? This Kinship & Council gathering brings together Sylvia Morse (Pratt Center for Community Development, NYC) and Alessandra Renzi (Concordia University) for a conversation on mobilizing research towards systemic change. Drawing from work in New York and Montreal, this conversation will delve into examples/case studies where research supported community-led strategies and influenced policy change and moments where it fell short. |
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Séance 5 - Implication citoyenne et activisme pour défendre les animaux Wednesdy, November 19 @ 6:30 - 8 p.m. |
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University of the Streets Café Indigenous and Black activism: What are the legacies of Black and Red Power? Thursday, October 30 @ 7 - 9 p.m. This public conversation aims to understand what were the echoes of Red and Black power in Quebec in the 1970’s and what are the legacies of those movements today? What were the connections between the two movements? How did they inform self-determination, identity, political and community organizing, education, and more? |
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Indigenous and Black-led education models: How are they challenging Western institutions? Wednesday, November 12 @ 6 - 8 p.m. Drawing from examples of “for us by us” post-secondary education models, this public conversation aims to explore if and how Indigenous and Black-led initiatives can challenge Western institutions. Can we successfully make space for diverse curriculum, worldviews and people in our schools? Are Indigenous and Black-serving institutions the solution to racism and curriculum representation? |
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Poetry Month at the SHIFT Journal |
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| by Carlos Castaneda |
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Over the last month, we featured poetry and artworks from our wider community in the SHIFT Journal. Discover some of the work of our partners, collaborators, and friends! by christian favreau by Belen Blizzard by Mahta Riazi from the Prisoner Correspondence Project |
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Let's stay in touch!
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Version française : |
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Soins enracinés : Modèles de ressources adaptés à la culture, complets et ancrés dans la communauté |
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mardi le 4 novembre @ 12 - 14h, LB 145 (SHIFT Centre) À quoi ressemble les soins de santé lorsque nous mettons au centre les personnes les plus marginalisées par le système et ses praticiens ? Joignez-vous à nous pour examiner comment des formes de soins et de ressources adaptées favorisent la transformation sociale à Montréal. Nous sommes ravis d'accueillir la Dre Catherine Kineweskwêw Richardson (Indigenous Healing Knowledge), France Stohner (Centre Kapwa) et Ghada Mohamed (Amal Centre for Women) pour une conversation sur les modèles d'entraide et de ressources communautaires qui privilégient les pratiques ancrées dans la culture et remettent en question ce qui est considéré comme un service. |
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Autres événements dans notre espace Séance 2 - Droit animalier - Mêmes êtres animaux, différentes lois mercredi le 29 october @ 18h30 - 20h dimanche le 1 novembre @ 13 - 15 h Pas votre projet de sauvetage : les travailleuses du sexe migrantes luttent pour la justice lundi le 3 novembre @ 18 - 19h30 Séance 3 - Droit animalier - Science, médecine et éthique mercredi le 5 novembre @ 18h30 - 20h Sheen wah zree: sur les oeuvres de Karen Tam mardi le 11 novembre @ 17 -19h L’engagement jeunesse en pratique: une conversation avec Press Start mercredi le 12 novembre @ 14h30 - 17h Séance 4 - Droit de la faune et de l’environnement mercredi le 12 novembre @ 18h30 - 20h vendredi le 14 novembre @ 10h30 - 11h45 |
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Au-delà des publications : la recherche comme outil de changement social mercredi le 19 novembre @ 12 - 14h Que faut-il pour que la recherche influence les politiques non pas en théorie, mais dans la pratique ? Comment les données, la narration et la planification peuvent-elles devenir des outils d'organisation et de responsabilisation ? Et comment les institutions peuvent-elles agir non pas comme des observateurs neutres, mais comme des alliés actifs dans la lutte pour la justice en matière de logement et le changement des politiques ?Cette rencontre Kinship & Council réunit Sylvia Morse (Pratt Center for Community Development, New York) et Alessandra Renzi (Université Concordia) pour une conversation sur la mobilisation de la recherche en faveur d'un changement systémique.S'appuyant sur des travaux menés à New York et à Montréal, cette conversation explorera des exemples/études de cas où la recherche a soutenu des stratégies communautaires et influencé le changement politique, ainsi que des moments où elle a échoué. |
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Séance 5 - Implication citoyenne et activisme pour défendre les animaux mercredi le 19 novembre @ 18h30 - 20h |
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Université autrement: dans les cafés Activisme autochtone et noir : quels héritages du Black et Red Power ? jeudi le 30 octobre @ 19 - 21h mercredi le 12 novembre @ 18 - 20 h |
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Mois de poésie du Journal SHIFT |
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| "Untitled" by Madina Meghani |
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Au cours du mois dernier, nous avons présenté des poèmes et des œuvres d'art provenant de notre communauté élargie dans le SHIFT Journal. Découvrez quelques-unes des réalisations de nos partenaires, collaborateurs et amis ! par christian favreau par Belen Blizzard par Mahta Riazi du Prisoner Correspondence Project |
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Restons en contact !
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