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SHIFT Centre for Social TransformationOctober 2026 |
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What—and who—is research for? As we attempt to re-imagine the university's role in society, we must think carefully about power and wonder about when research, rooted in curiosity and exploration, is serving and when it is extracting from a community or movement. Better yet, the more accurate question may be why? Why do research in the first place and what role will it play in the fabric of society? In order to encourage the active and meaningful role that researchers are positioned to play in and with society, perhaps research and its processes should better root themselves in the responsibility we have towards each other. Rather than reward fly-in, fly-out research practices, imagine an academic institution that bends towards sustained relationship-building, moving from being community-engaged to community-integrated. This requires a great many things: vulnerability and care, making many mistakes along the way, and that knowledge be generated in concert with community so that it genuinely contributes to our collective flourishing. |
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Research by and for Community: SHIFT Research and Advocacy Program Showcase Wednesday, September 30 2026 @ 5:30 – 7 p.m. As SHIFT Research and Advocacy Program Fellows, six Concordia researchers spent the last year in impact-oriented collaborations with community organizations across the city. These SHIFT Fellows worked alongside partners to design, conduct, and activate research built to inform and enhance organizational strategy. Join us to explore and celebrate how SHIFT Fellows are collaborating with communities to catalyze transformative societal impact. Friday, October 2 2026 @ 3 p.m. The PSSA will be screening Partition by Diana Allan. There will be snacks and you will have the opportunity to participate in discussion with the director of the film, Diana Allan, who will be present for a Q&A session. This is a great opportunity to discover a new film with other students and to discuss with the director herself. Concordia Food Coalition Solidarity Brunch Monday, October 5, 2026 @ 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Build your dream bagel at our DIY bagel bar, layer up a parfait with all the fixings, and learn more about the Concordia Food Coalition, what we do, and how you can get involved in the campus food network. |
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Organizing Communities, Building Political Power A Kinship & Council conversation with Fahd Ahmed of DRUM NYC Tuesday, October 6, 2026 @ 12 – 2 p.m. |
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In this conversation, Fahd Ahmed of DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) will share lessons from more than two decades of organizing with low-wage South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrant communities in New York. We'll also hear about the work of DRUM Beats, DRUM's sibling organization focused on electoral politics, including its instrumental role in Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign, the mayor’s office’s experiments in co-governance, and the complicated relationship between grassroots organizing and electoral power. |
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Storytelling Festival: Oral History & Creative Practice Tuesday, October 6 – Friday, October 9 2026 Bringing together scholars, artists, students, and community practitioners from COHDS and beyond, the festival celebrates two decades of oral history, digital storytelling, and research-creation while looking toward the future of creative practice. Across 26 events and 69 storytellers, the program features film screenings, performances, listening workshops, artist talks, roundtables, sound works, digital stories, installations, and more. Tuesday, October 13, 2026 @ 6 p.m. The Universities Art Association of Canada / l’Association d’art des universités du Canada Conference hosts Canada’s professional conference for visual arts-based research by art historians, professors, artists, curators, and cultural workers. Arts and Social Justice Gathering A day of panels and an Open Mic Night Wednesday, October 21 2026 @ 1 p.m. – 9 p.m. Join us for panels at the SHIFT Centre with artists and researchers working on social justice issues. Concordia University Open House Saturday, October 24 2026 @ 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Concordia University's Open House is all about connecting you with the information you need to make the best decision about your future, whether you are a Cegep or high school student, you’ve been out of school for a while – or you’re considering grad studies. Thursday, October 29 2026 @ 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This workshop will introduce four Moodle modules that explore the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy from an historical and contemporary context. Drawing on the experiences of faculty, we will discuss and reflect on pedagogical strategies to embed sustainability and land-based opportunities in course design through engaging with Rotinonhnsión:ni epistemologies. Topics found in the modules that are available to active Concordia faculty, staff, and students, include but are not limited to: Cosmology and Epistemology of the Rotinonhsión:ni; resistance to colonial policies and practices; food systems; treaties; residential and boarding schools; language resurgence and decolonizing methodologies. |
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Research by and for Community |
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This special edition of the SHIFT Journal invites us to re-imagine the university's role in society. We hear from Concordia faculty member Vijay Kolinjivadi and communications practitioner Yixuan Ma with calls to dissolve the line between academic research and society from either side of it. And in reflections on their year as SHIFT Research and Advocacy Program Fellows, our 2025-2026 cohort paints a vibrant picture of the many ways that research can contribute to community organizing and social movements. In Erykah Kangbeya and Hope Moon’s pieces, we see research that reshaped strategy. Erykah’s work supported DESTA Black Community Network to understand the barriers to postcarceral employment from the perspective of employers while Hope drew Climate Justice Montreal to focus their campaign for free, expanded, and accessible transit on youth in the short-term. Ateş Balsoy's work with Welcome Haven shows how research can support organizers to ground campaigns in lessons from previous organizing efforts. Finally, both Marbella Carlos’ research with the Kapwa Centre and Rebeca Esquivel’s with Growing A.R.C. render visible gaps in current systems to strengthen coalition-building and broader advocacy efforts. |
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Research, Community, and Accountability Reflecting on What Stayed with Me as a Research and Advocacy Fellow for the 12 Months by Sarah Abou-Bakr |
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by Erykah Yasmine Kangbeya |
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Meet Concordia's 2026–2027 SHIFT Research and Advocacy Fellows The graduate student researchers will collaborate with six local community organizations on projects designed to catalyze social change. |
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Let's stay in touch!
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Version française : |
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mercredi, le 30 septembre 2026 @ 17h30 – 19h Projection de film : Partition vendredi, le 2 octobre 2026 @ 15h Brunch de solidarité avec la Coalition alimentaire de Concordia le lundi le 5 octobre 2026 @ 10h – 12h |
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Organiser les communautés, bâtir le pouvoir politique une conversation with Fahd Ahmed of DRUM NYC mardi le 6 octobre 2026 @ 12h – 14h |
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Festival de récit : l'histoire orale et les pratiques créatives mardi le 6 octobre – vendredi le 9 octobre mardi le 13 octobre 2026 @ 18h Arts and Social Justice Gathering A day of panels and an Open Mic Night mercredi le 21 octobre 2026 @ 13h – 21h Portes ouvertes - Université Concordia samedi le 24 octobre @ 10h – 16h jeudi le 29 octobre 2026 @ 11h – 12h30 |
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La recherche par et pour les communautés |
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Cette édition spécial du journal de SHIFT a invité des œuvres explorants qu'est-ce que ça pourrait donné si le développement relationnel, la curiosité, l'enquête collaborative, et le partage du pouvoir étaient mieux récompenser dans nos environnements de recherche et d'apprentissage. |
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Recherche, communauté et responsabilité ce que je retiens de mon stage de 12 mois à titre de boursière du programme de recherche et d'action collective par Sarah Abou-Bakr |
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Faites connaissance avec les boursières et boursiers 2026-2027 du programme de recherche et de promotion des droits du Centre SHIFT de l’Université Concordia Les chercheuses et chercheurs étudiant aux cycles supérieurs collaboreront avec six organismes communautaires dans le cadre de projets se voulant des catalyseurs du changement social |
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Restons en contact !
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