MENU

Scholar Strike and Teach-In


Sept 9 – 10, 2020

The School for the Contemporary Arts supports the Scholar Strike and Teach-In (Scholar Strike Canada.ca) scheduled for September 9-10, 2020. Professors and students want to be part of the national and international uprising against the killing, harassment, and disrespect of Black, Indigenous and racialized people in the US and in Canada. We seek to unlearn white supremacy and to dismantle pernicious hierarchies of race and culture. We hope that the university, and the production of art and culture, can contribute ways of interaction, value-making, and understanding that create the conditions to end systemic racism and the constant devaluation of racialized lives.  

The SCA stands in solidarity with Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and we are committed to listening and examining our own organizational accountability. We have been having many in-depth discussions about the most meaningful actions we can take to help educate ourselves and our students. Facing change and struggle on many fronts, we are in mid air endeavouring to find written/visual/sonic/gestural language to express the interconnectedness of racial justice, decolonization, climate justice, the pandemic, technological expansion, economic inequity, and more.  

Our inspiration is the commitment, care, intelligence, talent and joy our students bring to their work. We want to support their commitment to justice and equity through the opportunity to take part in this historic moment of learning and action.

Instructors are responding to the strike in a variety of ways. Some will be including the public online events at Scholar Strike Canada: Schedule in their teaching. Many are augmenting this with discussions led by BIPOC activists from Vancouver. Many faculty have already made a commitment to foreground discussions of race, Indigeneity, violence, as well as climate injustice into their teaching. Moving beyond performative pronouncements, we take the two-day strike as an opportunity to strengthen our collective resolve to act swiftly and decisively on a number of equity initiatives.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
SMS
Email
Copy