Lean on Me: Flipping the Script on Dynamics of Power and Patterns of Control w. Mael Cheff (Theatre Workshop Series part 1)
Date and time: Wednesday, September 20th @ 5-8pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
A social justice theatre workshop exploring themes of: nonhierarchical futures, collective or circular leadership, social status, discrimination, the unifying power of intention, personal power as a collective asset, authority, and consent.
Mael Cheff (he/they) is an actor, playwright, director and workshop facilitator based in Tio`tia:ke /Mooniyang / Montreal. They have been committed to social justice and to queering the theatre for over a decade, using emotional impact and inspiring stories to foster collective & positive changes. Mael is trained at the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, Dawson College (Professional Acting) and Universite de Montréal in Film studies. Their dedication to continuous learning and personal growth ensures that they remain at the forefront of emerging trends and best practices in the field. Mael creates work that challenges stereotypes, highlights marginalized voices, promotes social justice, and encourages dialogue on important topics. He is a natural collaborator and excels at bringing together diverse teams to work towards a shared goal. His work has been well received by audiences, and won the People’s Choice Award at the latest 2023 Fringe Festival.
Accessibility:
The classes will be done in English but French can be used as well, as needed. Each workshop begins with physical and imaginative exercises before leading into guided group improvisations following certain themes. The workshop can increase in more complicated work depending on the ability of the participants. All instructions are verbal with demonstration. Physical limitations are not a barrier in this workshop. Music might be used for some exploration exercises. Exercises in class may involve light bodily contact, but consent will be routinely asked for. Each class involves preliminary emotional/physical/energy check ins, and cool downs at the end in an effort to use the medium of our emotions responsibly.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/1rxJ6A7EK
We Are Family: Setting the Stage for Communities of Care w. Mael Cheff (Theatre Workshop Series part 2)
Date and time: Thursday, September 21st @ 5-8pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
A social justice theatre workshop exploring themes of: community welfare, reciprocal relationships, kinship, conflict resolution, accountability, relational healing, familial restructuring, mutual dependance and organization, and lineages of interrelationship.
Mael Cheff (he/they) is an actor, playwright, director and workshop facilitator based in Tio`tia:ke /Mooniyang / Montreal. They have been committed to social justice and to queering the theatre for over a decade, using emotional impact and inspiring stories to foster collective & positive changes. Mael is trained at the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, Dawson College (Professional Acting) and Universite de Montréal in Film studies. Their dedication to continuous learning and personal growth ensures that they remain at the forefront of emerging trends and best practices in the field. Mael creates work that challenges stereotypes, highlights marginalized voices, promotes social justice, and encourages dialogue on important topics. He is a natural collaborator and excels at bringing together diverse teams to work towards a shared goal. His work has been well received by audiences, and won the People’s Choice Award at the latest 2023 Fringe Festival.
Accessibility:
The classes will be done in English but French can be used as well, as needed. Each workshop begins with physical and imaginative exercises before leading into guided group improvisations following certain themes. The workshop can increase in more complicated work depending on the ability of the participants. All instructions are verbal with demonstration. Physical limitations are not a barrier in this workshop. Music might be used for some exploration exercises. Exercises in class may involve light bodily contact, but consent will be routinely asked for. Each class involves preliminary emotional/physical/energy check ins, and cool downs at the end in an effort to use the medium of our emotions responsibly.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/4KxHLtE70
Concordia Underground Tours w. SEIZE
Date and time: Thursday, September 21st @ 1-2pm
Location: 1st floor entrance lobby of the Henry Hall (H building) at Concordia, 1550 Blvd. De Maisonneuve Ouest
Event description:
Many new students spend their first year or two simply trying to find things around campus; ways to get involved, cheap food and coffee, where the community event spaces are, the list goes on. By taking one of our free tours, we can make you an expert on all of this in an hour! Do you know how to get to the greenhouse? Do you know where to get a free lunch every day? Did you know the 9th floor Hall building was once occupied by anti-racist protestors? There are 8 tour time slots to choose from, to make it easier to fit in your schedule. Immerse yourself in a radical education with a group of like-minded colleagues, and we’ll even throw in a couple of free prizes along the way!
Upon registering, please note that the tours begin in the 1st floor entrance lobby of the Henry Hall (H building) at Concordia: 1550 Blvd. De Maisonneuve Ouest. Our guide(s) will be visible to greet you.
Solidarity Economy Incubation for Zero Emissions (SEIZE) is a Concordia fee-levy co-operative incubator. They educate, incubate, and organize to support grassroots democracy, through the development of co-operatives and unions, building a movement that can transition us out of capitalism. To find out more, visit their website at solidarityeconomy.ca.
Sign-up link:
https://forms.gle/Huxhh5FeFqpHQXRZ6
Basics of Solidarity Work: Indigenous Solidarity for Settlers and Immigrants w. Camellia Jahanshahi (with food service from the People’s Potato)
Date and time: Saturday, September 23rd @ 2-4pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
This is a 2 hour workshop that explores some of the historical contexts around Indigenous communities in Canada, a brief look at some treaties, and the contemporary effects of those historical contexts. It also includes some practical advice around being a better ally and activist for both individuals and organizations, and a list of amazing organizations and other resources to connect to after the workshop. Food will be served by the People’s Potato.
Camellia Jahanshahi (she/her) is a non-profit worker with a BA and MA in Religions and Cultures from Concordia University, a professional leadership diploma from Cornell University in Diversity and Inclusion, and 10 years of experience working with nonprofits on their anti-oppression mandates and policies. She comes at this work with a joy and solidarity forward approach and loves organizing space and enrichment opportunities for other queer and/or racialized people, and people interested in being allies. In addition to her work in the community sector, she also runs two small businesses and works as a performance artist in the cabaret scene. Balancing several roles is both a challenge and a joy, driven by her anti-oppression and solidarity based values. Her mission is to bring joy, rest, and nuance to the front of the stage.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/1u1qfNiKA
Boundaries Are My Love Language workshop w. Camellia Jahanshahi
Date and time: Tuesday, September 19th @ 1-3pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy, #205
Event description:
Camellia Jahanshahi (she/her) is a non-profit worker with a BA and MA in Religions and Cultures from Concordia University, a professional leadership diploma from Cornell University in Diversity and Inclusion, and 10 years of experience working with nonprofits on their anti-oppression mandates and policies. She comes at this work with a joy and solidarity forward approach and loves organizing space and enrichment opportunities for other queer and/or racialized people, and people interested in being allies. In addition to her work in the community sector, she also runs two small businesses and works as a performance artist in the cabaret scene. Balancing several roles is both a challenge and a joy, driven by her anti-oppression and solidarity based values. Her mission is to bring joy, rest, and nuance to the front of the stage.
Join her in this workshop, Boundaries Are My Love Language, around the importance of grounding into our values as a way to help us set boundaries in the community sector. This workshop will include both practical ideas and reflection spaces meant to help guide you through this work. Together we will explore how we can honour the multitudes we all contain to create the better world we all dream of.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/6jbqZ8I8x
Seeking Queer Penpals workshop w. the Prisoner Correspondence Project
Date and time: Monday, September 18th @ 6-8pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy, #205
Event description:
Ever wanted to write to an LGBTQIA2s+ prisoner, but haven’t known where to start? For 16 years, the PCP has been working to break the isolation of LGBTQIA2s+ communities inside and outside of prison. As word has spread inside our project has grown, with several thousand inside members currently waiting to be matched with a penpal. To celebrate our sweet 16, we’re hosting an event to invite new outside penpals to join the project. We’ll give a brief presentation on our project and advice on writing to an inside penpal. Then, we’ll invite participants to look through a selection of bios of prisoners who are waiting to be matched, and find someone they’d like to write to. Participants will leave with more information about LGBTQIA2s+ struggles in prison, practical advice about being a penpal, and a new friend to write to!
The Prisoner Correspondence Project is a solidarity project for gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgender, gender variant, two-spirit, intersex, bisexual and queer prisoners in Canada and the United States, linking them with people a part of these same communities outside of prison.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/7R7Lln4qZ
Sustainable Process and Project Development workshop w. The Concordia Office of Sustainability and SAF
Date and time: Tuesday, September 19 @ 5-7pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
The Sustainability Action Fund Project Coordinator, Duha Elmardi and the Concordia Office of Sustainability Living Lab Coordinator, Sandra Mouafo, are teaming up to share knowledge and best practices for project proposals, grant writing and implementation. Creating a sustainable process from a social, financial and ecological standpoint can be quite the undertaking for students. Come learn how to navigate bureaucracy within the university, how to turn an idea into a strong proposal, how to build a sustainable budget, and how to reach out and collaborate with relevant stakeholders. Let us guide you from sustainability towards thriveability, one project at a time!
Duha Elmardi is a Sudanese activist with 15 years of experience in the community sector, as an Educator, program and project coordinator, and organizational development consultant in Sudan, Malaysia, USA and now Canada. She is dedicated to anti-oppression, social change and creating positive impacts through community organizing, facilitating and supporting collective work. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Human Systems Intervention at Concordia University, she also holds a BSc in Environmental Studies and Disaster mitigation and a specialization in Non-profit Management from National Ribat University and a GrDip in Community Economic Development from Concordia.
Sandra Mouafo is a writer, EDI consultant, a sociology student and the Sustainability Living Lab Coordinator at the Concordia Office of Sustainability. She is a queer second-generation Cameroonian Canadian who has sat on various committees and implemented a wide range of projects within and outside of academia for a few years.
In her role as Sustainability Living Lab Coordinator and Partnership Manager with Black Mental Health Connections, she has a unique take on sustainable processes within grassroot movements, what to look out for in applications and how to bring a project to term with sustainable processes and equitable leadership.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/1iRawBVrr
Art & Accessibility: An Archipelagic Approach to Art & Community Care w. Andi Vicente
Date and time: Friday, September 22nd @ 1-3pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
For this participatory art workshop, we will be critically exploring traditional binaries of continentalism and islandness as well as reimagining spaces that are decolonial and relational. We will be collectively building a geometric collage and assemblage based on our discussions.
Andi (they/them) is a visual artist whose interdisciplinary practice is humbled and radicalized by their work with different communities. Through installation, image making and collage, they’ve explored intersectional identities, precarious livelihoods and the juxtaposition of movements. Andi aims to broaden an understanding of oppressed experiences and encourage collective empowerment through the answering of the questions “Who is not here with us and how can I be there for you?”.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/4sZGO6VvE
Seriously, we are in the same boat: Community Mobilization 101 w. Sana Poornasiri
Date and time: Wednesday, September 20 @ 1-3pm
Location: QPIRG Concordia, 2100 rue Guy #205
Event description:
Why do we choose to participate in rallies that may not have an immediate impact on our personal lives? More importantly, how can we effectively build movements and campaigns that bring communities that are not directly and immediately impacted together? How do we mobilize them? The workshop will focus on developing campaigns and movements that effectively engage communities and individuals not directly impacted by the issue at hand. We’ll delve into mobilization techniques, highlighting the importance of showcasing the intersectionality of movements and how to leverage it for the collective benefit.
The training sessions will guide participants on building and executing mass community-involved campaigns, explore online and offline tools and discuss the dos and don’ts of mobilizing communities beyond the immediate campaign scope. The workshop aims to cultivate interactive learning through engaging dialogues, meaningful conversations, practical exercises, and dynamic role-playing activities.
Sana Poornasiri has been a labour and community organizer with UNITE HERE Local 40 hospitality workers in BC for over 3 years, working on campaigns such as the 1200 Vancouver Hotel workers’ strike in 2019 and the Unionization campaign of Pan Pacific Hotel. She has also been an organizer, trainer and mentor with the Base Building for Power Justice Summer program in coalition with the Dolores Huerta Foundation both in Vancouver and LA. You might have also spotted her working at the Hive cafe in Downtown or the Loyola campus. But above all, she’s just an Iranian woman trying to navigate life in this individualized capitalist society.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/1tswWKQu0
Seeds to Sovereignty: An Introduction to Food Justice Systems at Concordia w. The People’s Potato
Date and time: Saturday, September 23rd @ 9am-1pm
Location: 1st floor entrance lobby of the Henry Hall (H building) at Concordia, 1550 Blvd. De Maisonneuve Ouest
Event description:
Starting with our garden on Loyola campus, we will introduce participants to the concepts of food sovereignty, food security, and land back as we identify some of the many native medicinal and edible plants that grow in our garden. We will also introduce them to other garden groups based out of Concordia that work at Loyola and discuss the network of community care that these groups have built through resource sharing and mutual aid. After harvesting some goodies to take back to our kitchen, participants will join us in cooking a meal together while discussing the food justice movement on campus. By the end of the workshop, participants will understand what food sovereignty is and will have the foundational skills to build a practice around it. In addition, they will learn about the ongoing food justice movement at Concordia by talking about the history of the People’s Potato and food justice activism on campus, and discover ways to engage with ongoing efforts towards campus food security.
The People’s Potato is a non-hierarchical workers collective at Concordia University – a student initiated project that was founded in 1999 in order to address student poverty and the lack of affordable food options on campus. We offer students, staff and community members quality vegetarian meals and food baskets, as well as community gardening opportunities, aiming to address the increasing issue of food insecurity across the city. With the help of our dedicated volunteers, we serve more than 500 meals daily to students and community members. Additionally, the People’s Potato offers education to its community following the themes of food politics, food preparation and social justice issues. The People’s Potato provides an accessible, anti-oppressive space for workers, volunteers and the broader community. It continues to mobilize for environmental and social justice movements, to support the work of social-justice-oriented community events and projects by participating in them and/or providing them with free meals.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/5YCuWQuvE
The Food Revolution Game Launch: Explore Student Organizing for Food Justice on Campus w. The Concordia Food Coalition
Date and time: Monday, September 18th @ 1-3pm
Location: The Hive Coop Cafe, 1455 Blvd. De Maisonneuve Ouest (H-239)
Event description:
Join us for our Food History Art reveal, free food, and a chance to win our latest campus food game! You can play our game by visiting a selection of checkpoints on the Concordia campus that reference milestones from the Concordia Food Movement. These checkpoints (and art landmarks) serve as guideposts for a self-directed walking food tour, where players will uncover stories, facts, and further readings about the food movement through QR codes linked to this interactive map. Complete 75% for a chance to win free food!
The Concordia Food Coalition brings together students, faculty, staff and community members to co-create campus-community food sovereignty. Through education, incubation and innovation, we collaborate to build sustainable, accessible and democratic local food systems.
Sign-up link: https://fb.me/e/6ysoBes1C
Queer Cabaret Night (co-hosted w. FASA)
Date and time: Friday, September 22nd @ 9pm-2am
Location: Sala Rosa, 4848 St Laurent Blvd