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The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (AVPEDI), in collaboration with the Tshepo Institue for the Study of Contemporary Africa and Laurier’s Black Faculty and Staff Caucus, is pleased to announce the launch of an annual EDI speaker series named after Associate Professor Lamine Diallo – a distinguished scholar in the Leadership program and founding member of our two partnering groups here at Wilfrid Laurier University. One of our institution’s long time champions promoting notions of equity, diversity, and inclusion across our campuses, this event is in recognition of his tireless efforts to embed these same principles into our collective consciousness.
Every year, the Office of the AVPEDI will invite three featured speakers to participate in this event. Speakers for this series will consist of recognized internal Laurier EDI champions, community activists, administrative and professional practitioners, and academic speakers from across the country.
Consistent with Laurier’s broader EDI institutional strategy, the Lamine Diallo EDI Speaker Series will help to raise awareness, competencies, and understandings about equity, diversity, and inclusion within the context of Canadian universities, while at the same time encouraging and fostering meaningful conversations with all members of the Laurier community. Each event will serve to complement other EDI dialogues taking place across the university about a range of equity issues that exist in our society.
2024/25 Series: Shifting Paradigms for Authentic and Accountable EDI Work
“Shifting Paradigms for Authentic and Accountable EDI Work” is the overarching theme of this year’s speaker series. Invited speakers will discuss how university-led EDI initiatives might truly serve and empower the communities they aim to support,. delving into the complexities of aligning action with stated values and addressing the gap between intention and impact. Through thought-provoking discussions and practical insights, we aim to inspire a shift towards more authentic, transparent, and community-centred EDI practices. This series seeks to catalyze a reimagining of EDI work that places the voices and experiences of marginalized communities at the forefront, fostering a more just and equitable learning, teaching, and research environment.
All events this year will be hosted online via Zoom and are open to all members of the Laurier community and the general public. We hope that you will join us to hear from the researchers featured on this year’s program. Please note that you will need to be logged into your personal Zoom account in order to access the webinar.
Jean Augustine
Member of the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Film Screening of STEADFAST- the Messenger and the Message, in Conversation with Hon. Jean Augustine
- Date: February 28, 2025, 2 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- As part of our celebration of Black History Month, the Office of the Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is pleased to invite you to our first installment of the Lamine Diallo Lecture Series for FW2024-2025, featuring a screening of the documentary film STEADFAST - The Messenger and the Messege and a conversation with the Hon. Dr. Jean Augustine. Dr. Augustine was the first Black Canadian female Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister elected to Canada's House of Commons in 1993, and the subsequent champion of a federal motion to establish February as Black History Month in Canada.
In Conversation with rosalind hampton and Rinaldo Walcott (moderated by Andrea A. Davis)
- Black Studies as a Paradigm for Justice
- Date: April 24, 2025, 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- The Office of the Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AVP: EDI) at Wilfrid Laurier University invites you to Black Studies as a Paradigm for Justice, featuring rosalind hampton and Rinaldo Walcott. rosalind hampton is an Associate Professor of Black Studies in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Rinaldo Walcott is a Professor and Chair of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo.This event will be Moderated by Andrea A. Davis, Associate Vice-President Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Professor in the Department of English & Film Studies.
Past Events
“Mobilizing Research Towards Activism” is the overarching theme of this year’s speaker series. Invited speakers will be sharing how they have mobilized research to advance activism in support of anti-oppression within their communities and institutions. The scholars who share in this series will speak about their research work and its impacts on the community and society.
All events this year will be hosted online via Zoom and are open to all members of the Laurier community and the general public. We hope that you will join us to hear from the researchers featured on this year’s program. Please note that you will need to be logged into your personal Zoom account in order to access the webinar.
Deirdre McCorkindale
Assistant professor, department of History, University of Guelph
- History as a Weapon and a Tool: Chronicling the Black Experience in Southwestern Ontario
Ngozi Iroanyah
Director of Health Equity and Access, Alzheimer Society of Ontario
- Diversity in Dementia in Canada
“Reflections from EDI Champions,” the overarching theme of this year’s event, provides opportunities for invited speakers to share some of their individual and unique experiences, journeys, passions, reflections, and thoughts about the things that have guided and informed their work as it relates to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion in a university environment.
As EDI advocates, we will hear about some of the successes and challenges that have resulted from their work and ideas about how we, as a university community, can continue striving to ensure these principles are firmly rooted in the ethos and culture of Laurier.
All events this year will be hosted online via Zoom and is open to all members of the Laurier community and general public. We hope that you will join us to hear from the EDI champions featured on this year’s program.
Lamine Diallo
Inaugural speaker: Lamine Diallo, associate professor, Leadership program, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Dawn McDermott
Dawn McDermott, senior advisor, Human Rights and Conflict Management, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Clinton Beckford
Clinton Beckford, Acting Vice-President of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, University of Windsor.
- "Beyond Personal: My Story of EDI Leadership in 'This Moment'"
Jeanette Parsons
Jeanette Parsons, director, Accessible Learning, Wilfrid Laurier University.
“Antiracism in Scholarship” was the overarching theme of this year’s speaker series. This theme provides opportunities for invited speakers to share how they have mobilized research to address racism, how they embedded antiracism into their research process, and how they led antiracism efforts within their field or research community. The scholars who share in this series will speak about some of the successes and challenges that resulted from their work.
All events this year will be hosted online via Zoom and are open to all members of the Laurier community and the general public. We hope that you will join us to hear from the EDI champions featured on this year’s program.
Ardavan Eizadirad
Ardavan Eizadirad, assistant professor, Faculty of Education, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of Physics, core faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies, the University of New Hampshire.
- The Disordered Cosmos: In Conversation with Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Maryam Khan
Maryam Khan, assistant professor, Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University
Contact Us:
Andrea Davis, Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion