Events and Workshops
Student Life aims to make the campus community a more inclusive and equitable place where every student feels welcome and comfortable being themselves. Student Life runs events and discussion groups where students can share, find community, learn and promote a culture of empathy across the university.
Let’s Talk Equity
Let's Talk Equity is a series focused on encouraging conversations about equity and inclusion. Join the conversation online through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by following @OTStudentLife and at the following open discussion groups.
Session details can be found on the Student Life Portal.
Let’s Talk Equity: Racialized Students’ Discussion Group
The Racialized Students’ Discussion Group seeks to provide racialized students the opportunity to discuss issues impacting racialized communities based on their lived experiences.Let’s Talk Equity: Q Connection
Q Connection is a discussion group that provides queer students the opportunity to discuss issues impacting queer identities based on their lived experiences.Let’s Talk Equity: Equity Talks
Equity Talks is a discussion group for students who support equity with the opportunity to discuss current hot topics on equity-related issues. Topics of discussion vary week-to-week depending on current topics. The Equity Talks space also serves as an open space for participants to hang out and decompress as there will be a wellness component each week.
No registration is needed for any discussion group.
For more information on Let's Talk Equity, contact equity@uoit.ca.
RISE: Respecting Individuals and Supporting Equity
The RISE Program is a suite of workshops that provide training and education on bystander intervention skills in order to prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment.
Participants will receive foundational knowledge on how oppression manifests, and what they can do on an individual level to create a safe and inclusive community at the university. In each workshop, bystander intervention skills will be applied through the use of case studies or role-playing activities.
Session details can be found on the Student Life Portal.
If you have any questions about the RISE Program, contact equity@uoit.ca.
WORKSHOPS
RISE: Let's Talk Equity
Participants will be introduced to bystander intervention skills that they can use to prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment. It is recommended that participants complete this workshop before attending other RISE workshops.
RISE: Anti-Ableism
Participants will identify stereotypes targeting people with disabilities, and discuss known cases of discrimination and harassment that have targeted people with disabilities.
RISE: Anti-Racism
Participants will identify stereotypes targeting racialized people, and discuss known cases of discrimination and harassment that have targeted racialized communities.
RISE: Feminism
Participants will identify stereotypes targeting women and discuss the importance of feminism as a tool of action to challenge sexism.
RISE: First Peoples
Participants will be introduced to the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and engage in interactive activities addressing the negative impact colonization had and continues to have on Indigenous peoples today.
RISE: Gender Identity
Participants will discuss the oppression of the transgender community focusing and the role that gender stereotypes play in the creation and manifestation of misconceptions about gender.
RISE: Religion and Spirituality
Participants will identify stereotypes stemming from religious and spiritual differences, and discuss known cases of discrimination and harassment that have targeted religious and spiritual communities.
RISE: Sexual Orientation
Participants will identify stereotypes based on sexual orientation (ie. lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, etc), and discuss known cases of discrimination and harassment that have targeted these communities.
RISE: Sexual Violence Prevention
Participants will identify ways that they can prevent, intervene and respond to sexual violence, and discuss topics such as rape culture, consent and the spectrum of sexual violence.
RISE Certificate
As an additional benefit of your participation in the RISE workshops, we offer students the opportunity to earn a RISE Certificate confirming attendance and participation in the RISE programming.
In order to earn the certificate, you must complete the following:
- Attend the RISE: Let's Talk Equity workshop;
- Attend four of the other eight workshops; and
- Complete the mandatory online reflections (short answer reflection questions).
Please note, you are responsible for ensuring that you record your attendance with the session facilitator for certificate requirement verification.
To register for the certificate, please email equity@uoit.ca with your full name, university email and sessions/dates attended.
