This is where we share reading lists and other resources for working on anti-racism, equity, inclusion, etc.
Weaving Relations & Grounding Anti-Oppression
UBC Applied Science has created two Canvas courses that we highly recommend. The first is Weaving Relations, and focuses on decolonization and Indigeneity. The second is called Grounding Anti-Oppression.
UBC Equity Resources
Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) resources
- Framework and Roadmap: Learn more
- Progress update announcement and report: Learn more
- FAQ: Learn more
- StEAR Enhancement Fund funded projects announcement: Learn more
- StEAR Enhancement Fund (new funding cycle planned for August 2024): Learn more
Additional resources
- Employment equity initiatives and reports: Learn more
- Black Excellence Ecosystem Report: Learn more
- Activating inclusion toolkits: Learn more
- List of Faculty and portfolio equity leads: Learn more
- EDI Action Network: Learn more
- Navigating human rights and expression rights with ethic of care: Learn more
- Human Rights Advising: Learn more
- Indigenous History Month (UBCV): Learn more
Reading lists
Race
FaFa 2020/21 reading list – Marginalized Design Narratives:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CBNvDw2Y9KJhTkOfDiIOuVysIiiMI
c3xuXyNOPNlU4o/edit?usp=sharing
SPACE/RACE reading list:
This reading list was collectively produced by a group of architectural historians, art historians, architects, and urbanists in reaction to the August 2017 events in Charlottesville, and revisited in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. It assembles a series of readings on how race and racism are constructed with spatial means, and on how in turn space can be shaped by racism.
Racialization of/in/through Landscape:
This list is intended as a starting place for landscape architects and designers who are interested in how they can work toward dismantling white supremacy in landscape practice for Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty. This resource also links to other reading lists on similar themes.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SW7F_8Ln9_fwKFZCgPcjLaINnsJW
PjfOQSpIY1G8X2U/mobilebasic?urp=gmail_link
The Architectural League – Resources on Race and Architecture:
Resources for reading and viewing on race and architecture, compiled by Mario Gooden, with Mabel O. Wilson and the Architectural League staff
Aggregate – Black Lives Matter:
Inspired by the scholars, activists, and everyday citizens who spoke out, marched, and protested against police killings of African-Americans, this collection presents a series of short essays that put Black lives at the center of our thinking about architecture and its history.
Decolonization & Indigeneity
For National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, SALA’s EDI Committee offers some suggestions of how you can meaningfully commemorate and recognize the legacy of residential schools. More information is here too: https://beyond.ubc.ca/understanding-of-residential-school-history/
Starting Point:
- Read the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action or on Wednesday September 29 participate in a (zoom) reading of the 94 calls to action by UBC STEM faculties
- Wear an Orange Shirt and read Phyllis Webstad’s story
- Join the Intergenerational STEM March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day @ UBC (in person)
- What is a “territorial acknowledgment”? Here are Khelsilem’s Tips for Acknowledging Territory 1.0
Podcasts / Audio:
- Anishnaababes – a comedic platform for sharing Indigenous women’s worldview on all aspects of their lives (podcast)
- Media Indigena – Roundtable about Indigenous issues and events (podcast)
- 2 Crees in a Pod – a podcast that creates space for Indigenous resurgence with intent to disrupt western colonial systems and honour Indigenous helping practices.
- All My Relations – podcast to explore relationships – to land, to our creatural relatives and to one another.
- Spirit to Soar: Where We Come From on CBC Listen
- Finding Cleo (CBC podcast)
- Warrior Life podcast
- Coffee with My Ma
- Island Crime: Season 1 – Where is Lisa?
- This Land
- Unreserved – CBC podcast
- Secret Life of Canada, esp. episodes on Bay Blanket and The Indian Act
- CBC Ideas – Research Ethics + data sovereignty (good compliment to any of UBC’s Indigenous ethics training) https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/how-indigenous-scientists-are-using-biomedical-research-to-seek-genomic-justice-1.6190855
Film / TV / Video:
- Cry Rock, an award-winning 28-minute 2012 film about Nuxalk oral tradition and the intersection of story, place and culture. Available via the UBC library here. ImaginNATIVE Film Festival: https://festival.imaginenative.org/
- 5 Things You Need to Know About Truth & Reconciliation (~3m) YouTube video by Len Pierre
- What non-Indigenous Canadians need to know (~4m) YouTube video with Eddy Robinson from TVO Docs
- The Mountain of SGaana, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter https://www.nfb.ca/film/mountain_of_sgaana/
- KONELĪNE:our land beautiful, 96 min humanistic documentary and celebration of northwestern BC https://www.canadawildproductions.com/film/koneline/
Essays / Articles / Websites:
- Reconciliation Canada’s Useful Links
- “Where Are My People? Native & Indigenous in Architecture,” Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, accessed March 5, 2021, https://www.acsa-arch.org/resources/data-resources/where-are-my-people-native-indigenous-in-architecture/.
- Christopher Clarke McQueen, “Indigenous Healing,” Race | Space (blog), accessed January 5, 2021, https://blogs.mcgill.ca/race-space/2020/11/18/indigenous-healing-by-chris-clarke-mcqueen/.
- David Fortin, “Reflections on Indigeneity in Architectural Education,” Race | Space (blog), accessed September 28, 2021, https://blogs.mcgill.ca/race-space/2021/01/19/reflections-on-indigeneity-in-architectural-education-by-david-fortin/.
- Glen Coulthard, “Place against Empire: Understanding Indigenous Anti-Colonialism,” Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action, November 23, 2010, https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/affinities/article/view/6141.
- Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor,” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1 (September 8, 2012), https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18630.
- Magdalena Miłosz, “Settler Colonialism, Residential Schools, and Architectural History,” Active History (blog), November 21, 2019, https://activehistory.ca/2019/11/settler-colonialism-residential-schools-and-architectural-history/.
- Samuel Ganton, Amina Lalor, and Paniz Moayeri, “Treaty Lands, Global Stories: Designing an Inclusive Curriculum,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada / Le Journal de La Société Pour l’étude de l’architecture Au Canada 43, no. 2 (2018): 15–25, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.7202/1058036ar.
- Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) et al., “Toward Unsettling: The Swimming Pools of Nunavut,” accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/articles/76155/toward-unsettling.
- Winona LaDuke and Deborah Cowen, “Beyond Wiindigo Infrastructure,” South Atlantic Quarterly 119, no. 2 (April 1, 2020): 243–68, https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-8177747.
Books:
- An Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, ebook from UBC library
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, ebook from UBC library
- Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (also made into a movie), ebook from UBC library
- One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet by Richard Wagamese, ebook from UBC library
- Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada by âpihtawikosisân Chelsea Vowel (a great starting point for those who are new to Canada), ebook from UBC library
- Our Voices: Indigeneity in Architecture + Our Voices: II The DE-Colonial Project edited by Rebecca Kiddle, luugigyoo Patrick Stewart, and Kevin O’Brien (on architecture, design, planning, landscape, etc.), co-authored by UBC alum and SALA Adjunct Professor Patrick Stewart
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples A Reality by Bob Joseph
- First Nations 101 by Lynda Gray http://www.firstnations101.com
Photographs / Maps:
Explore native-land.ca to understand more about the territories and languages of Indigenous people here on Turtle Island and around the world; on the same site you can also explore the history of treaties between settlers and Indigenous groups. The City of Vancouver Archives and the Royal British Columbia Museum’s archives have historical images of Vancouver and British Columbia from the early days of settler colonialism. Consider searching for images of places you know to better understand their history, such as:
- Vanier Park (originally Senakw village)
- Stanley park (originally Xwayxway village)
- Jericho Park (originally Eyalmo)
- Land close to SALA (originally Tsa-atslum)
Gender/Sexuality
FaFa 2019/20 reading list – Contested Spaces:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hmvpN_HmEPCOiq8GEcXJE9WhhbH0wL-i/view?usp=sharing
Sheffield School of Architecture Feminist Library:
The SSoA Feminist Library aims to consolidate the feminist work that has been conducted over the last twenty years in the Sheffield School of Architecture, to make visible the work of students and staff to a wider community, and contribute to its further development.
Organizations beyond SALA
Colloqate
Established in 2017, Colloqate Design is a multidisciplinary Architecture + Design Justice practice focused on expanding community access to, and building power through the design of social, civic, and cultural spaces. Their mission is to intentionally organize, advocate, and design spaces of racial, social and cultural equity.
Website: https://colloqate.org
Instagram: @colloquate
ADPSR
Architects/ Designers/ Planners for Social Responsibility works for peace. environmental protection, ecological building, social justice, and the development of healthy communities.
Website: https://www.adpsr.org
Black Females in Architecture
Black Females in Architecture (BFA) is a network and enterprise founded to increase the visibility of black and black mixed heritage females within the architectural industry and other built environment fields. In so doing, BFA actively addresses issues of inequality and diversity within the industry.
Instagram: @blackfemarc
Black Architects + Interior Designers Association Canada (BAIDA)
A non profit organization made up of 100 students, planners, interior designers, and architects. BAIDA aims to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in the profession of architecture and interior design.
Website: https://www.baida.ca
BlackSpace
This collective brings together planners, architects, artists, and designers as Black urbanists, people who are passionate about the work of public systems and urban infrastructures.
Website: https://www.blackspace.org/
Instagram: @blackspaceorg
Design As Protest
Design as Protest is a coalition of designers mobilizing strategy to dismantle the privilege and power structures that use architecture and design as tools of oppression.
Website: https://www.dapcollective.com
Instagram: @designasprotest
Design Justice Network
The Design Justice Network is an international community of people and organizations who are committed to rethinking design processes so that they center people who are too often marginalized by design.
Website: https://designjustice.org
Instagram: @designjusicenetwork
Common Space Coalition
A newly established non-profit organization whose goal is to combat systematic racism in landscape architectural professional practice. They seek to engage in a professional, positive, and transparent relationship with our professional bodies as an arms-length advocacy group.
Website: https://commonspacecoalition.com
Instagram: @common_space
Female Design Council
FDC is an action-oriented leadership organization dedicated to providing a strong professional community for all womxn irrespective of color, race, gender or sexual identity in the design industry.
Website: http://www.femaledesigncouncil.org/mission
Instagram: @femaledesigncouncil
Reconciliation & Indigeneity
Here we have listed a couple resources brought to us by people in our community of organizations that dedicate themselves to educating others on how to approach reconciliation and decolonization.
Indigenous Canada – University of Alberta MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
This is a free course with 12 modules that, from an Indigenous perspective, “explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.”
Reconciliation Education – Official Distributor of 4 Seasons of Reconciliation
This is a paid service (with a free option) that provides training courses for individuals, organizations, or other establishments where 10% of proceeds go towards the First Nations University of Canada. There are also options for free seats. At the start of every month there are 50 spots open available at first come first serve basis. 4 Seasons of Reconciliation has been offered for free in the past, and is highly recommended by a member of the SALA community who completed the course.
Gallery 1 — Nahanee Creative Inc. (decolonizeeverything.org)
A Squamish-owned social change agency that provides mini-courses as well as full facilitated workshops for a series of different topics on decolonization. It is a paid service however we maintain it as a valuable unlearning resource.
Stop Race Based Hate – https://stopracebasedhate.ca/
Stop Race Based Hate is an anti-racism resource designed to build a more anti-racist community.
What I Learned In Class Today – https://intheclass.arts.ubc.ca/
What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom is a research project that explores difficult discussions of Aboriginal issues that take place in classrooms at the University of British Columbia. Students frequently report troubling and sometimes traumatic discussions of cultural issues in class. The video records of their experiences provides a way to think about developing more functional approaches and environments for discussion
Accounts to Follow
Treaty Lands, Global Stories – @treatylands.globalstories
A student-led initiative at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture
Indigenous Design and Planning Student Association at UM – @um.idpsa
Advocate for Indigenous design principles, representation, Indigenous initiatives and programs at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture
AEDE – @equityindesigneducation
A student collective from University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape dedicated to advancing critical dialogues in design.
Student Equity Alliance – @sea.daniels
Joint Equity Alliance between University of Toronto Architecture+Visual studies student union, Graduate Architecture, Landscape and Design student union, and alumni of Daniels Faculty.
Architects Declare Canada – @architectsdeclare_ca
Canadian architects + allied professionals declare planetary health emergency, and commit to urgent action.
ArchiFeminist – @archi.feminist
Exploring architecture from an intersectional feminist perspective.
Remesha Design Unmuted – @remesha_design_unmuted
A podcast that centers marginalized voices in design, art, and all things creative, hosted by Lys Divine Ndemeye.
Architexx – @_architexx
They are a CROSS-GENERATIONAL group of academics and practitioners, and the organization is dedicated to the advancement of all women-identified, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and allied individuals.
MatriArch – @matri_arch_
A feminist collective + campaign group. We strive for a more accessible architecture profession and challenge educational cultures.
Madam Architect – @madamarchitect
An online magazine celebrating the extraordinary women that shape our world, a magazine designed to break the architect’s mold and show young women entering the industry the myriad choices they have in crafting a dynamic, meaningful, and interesting career.
Dark Matter University – @darkmatter_u
An anti-racist design justice school collectively seeking the radical transformation of education & practice toward a just future.
Black Womxn Flourish – @blackwomxnflourish
A design for wellbeing collective shaping the future of Black womxn’s health + healing
Black Students in Design – @blackstudentsindesign
A community for Black students in all areas of design.
So you want to talk about… – @soyouwanttotalkabout
Dissecting progressive politics and social issues in graphic slideshow form