UnCover: Recent Episodes
University College Equity Commission
We seek to highlight equity issues present on the University of Toronto campus – all through the voices of students! Join us as we discuss, dissect, and dismantle problems ranging from unequal treatment of international and domestic students to the presence & purpose of campus police. Have a story or perspective you'd like to be featured? Please reach out to us on Instagram @equity.uclit or through email at equity@uclit.ca
In the first of this two-parter, we spoke to Mike Lawler and our first returning guest, Sean, both grad students and former residence dons. From some truly horrifying tales from the ground to dealing with Kafkaesque bureaucracy, the often under-discussed food insecurity crisis continues to persist across UofT’s residence halls. This might just be the worst of all worlds, but it doesn’t have to be! Check out Part 2, where Sean and I get into solidarity-building between various student activists today.
Check out Sean and Mike’s first food drive at Chestnut and Chelsea.
You can learn about the PEARS Project here.
Read about the Robert Reisz Investigation and the Campus Police incidents.
We at the UnCover Podcast are producing and studying on the lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We live under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, the Williams Treaties, and Treaty 13. As part of these Treaties, we must work “in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect” to be truthful about our positionality as students of the University of Toronto who benefit from the wealth accumulated by Canadian universities through stolen land, artifacts, and culture of Indigenous Peoples. We hope to use our platform to speak and act beyond this acknowledgement to educate ourselves and our audiences on how students around UofT challenge its foundations of colonialism, capitalism, and extraction.
Resources:
- Support an ongoing effort to restore the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee: 1492 Land Back Lane, follow on Instagram @1492landbacklane
- Learn about Residential Schools and support survivors through https://www.irsss.ca/
- Watch and support Indigenous film through https://imaginenative.org/
- Educate yourself and help Indigenous women at Native Women’s Association of Canada (https://www.nwac.ca/)
- Read UofT’s “Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” and help keep the university accountable to its stated goals:...
It’s Part 2: Electric Boogaloo! After saying goodbye to Mike, Sean and Aviral pick up right where he left off for a wide-ranging conversation. Sean is currently an organizer with Students Mobilizing Against Systemic Hardship, so go check them out (he says, self-servingly).
Check out SMASH UofT!
We at the UnCover Podcast are producing and studying on the lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We live under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, the Williams Treaties, and Treaty 13. As part of these Treaties, we must work “in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect” to be truthful about our positionality as students of the University of Toronto who benefit from the wealth accumulated by Canadian universities through stolen land, artifacts, and culture of Indigenous Peoples. We hope to use our platform to speak and act beyond this acknowledgement to educate ourselves and our audiences on how students around UofT challenge its foundations of colonialism, capitalism, and extraction.
Resources:
- Support an ongoing effort to restore the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee: 1492 Land Back Lane, follow on Instagram @1492landbacklane
- Learn about Residential Schools and support survivors through https://www.irsss.ca/
- Watch and support Indigenous film through https://imaginenative.org/
- Educate yourself and help Indigenous women at Native Women’s Association of Canada (https://www.nwac.ca/)
- Read UofT’s “Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” and help keep the university accountable to its stated goals:...
In our first official episode of the season, Lucy and Subhi sit down with Erin Storus, an independent curator and student within the Master’s of Visual Studies and Curatorial Studies at the University of Toronto. Her recent exhibit, “These Walls Hold Our Wounds,'' features three arpilleristas – Soledad Fátima Muñoz, Bélgica Castro Fuentes, and Amaranta Ursula Espinoza Arias. These women use textile works, called arpilleras, as testimonies to their lived experiences during both the brutal regime of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the ongoing destruction of South America as instigated by North American capitalist systems. We hear Erin’s journey as an artist and curator, her positionality as a White Canadian woman, and her thoughts on how we can use art to expose, rather than exploit, under acknowledged injustice.
You can see Erin’s exhibit at the Jackman Humanities Institute Building on the 10th Floor (170 St. George St., Toronto, ON, M5R 2M8) during regular business hours until June 30, 2023. Learn more about arpilleras and these women’s experiences through the documentary, La Parte de Artas de la Arpilleras.
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Follow us on Instagram @equity.uclit
Have a story to share? Email us at uc.uncover@gmail.com
We at the UnCover Podcast are producing and studying on the lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We live under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, the Williams Treaties, and Treaty 13. As part of these Treaties, we must work “in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect” to be truthful about our positionality as students of the University of Toronto who benefit from the wealth accumulated by Canadian universities through stolen land, artifacts, and culture of Indigenous Peoples. We hope to use our platform to speak and act beyond this acknowledgement to educate ourselves and our audiences on how students around UofT challenge its foundations of colonialism, capitalism, and extraction.
Resources:
- Support an ongoing effort to restore the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee: 1492 Land Back Lane, follow on Instagram @1492landbacklane
- Learn about Residential Schools and support survivors through https://www.irsss.ca/
- Watch and support Indigenous film through https://imaginenative.org/
- Educate yourself and help Indigenous women at Native Women’s Association of Canada (https://www.nwac.ca/)
- Read UofT’s “Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” and help keep the university accountable to its stated goals:...
In this interview, we sit down with Teagan – a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation, a multi talented activist, and a recent UofT grad – to gain her perspective on UofT’s action and inaction with respect to supporting Indigenous students, following through on its Calls to Action, encouraging its faculties to incorporate Indigenous history and knowledge into classrooms. What’s Teagan’s best piece of advice on how to be a part of the solution and not perpetuate colonial harm? Start with educating yourself!
Check out Treaty Conversations, a project co-produced by Teagan on the history and meaning of treaty relationships around the Great Lakes. Read about Teagan’s work as a storyteller for First Story Toronto. To read about Borden Dairy’s role in Canada’s Nutrition Experiments on Indigenous children, check out this article.
Follow us on Instagram @equity.uclit
Have a story to share? Email us at uc.uncover@gmail.com
We at the UnCover Podcast are producing and studying on the lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We live under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, the Williams Treaties, and Treaty 13. As part of these Treaties, we must work “in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect” to be truthful about our positionality as students of the University of Toronto who benefit from the wealth accumulated by Canadian universities through stolen land, artifacts, and culture of Indigenous Peoples. We hope to use our platform to speak and act beyond this acknowledgement to educate ourselves and our audiences on how students around UofT challenge its foundations of colonialism, capitalism, and extraction.
Resources:
- Support an ongoing effort to restore the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee: 1492 Land Back Lane, follow on Instagram @1492landbacklane
- Learn about Residential Schools and support survivors through https://www.irsss.ca/
- Watch and support Indigenous film through https://imaginenative.org/
- Educate yourself and help Indigenous women at Native Women’s Association of Canada (https://www.nwac.ca/)
- Read UofT’s “Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” and help keep the university accountable to its stated goals:...
Welcome back to UnCover! We’re so happy to be reunited to introduce our new series all about student stories of campus activism. Listen to Lucy, Subhi, and Aviral as we discuss what we’re looking forward to this season, the problem of “collective amnesia,” and how we were recently given an AWARD for our podcast.
Follow us on Instagram @equity.uclit
Have a story to share? Email us at uc.uncover@gmail.com
We at the UnCover Podcast are producing and studying on the lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We live under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, the Williams Treaties, and Treaty 13. As part of these Treaties, we must work “in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect” to be truthful about our positionality as students of the University of Toronto who benefit from the wealth accumulated by Canadian universities through stolen land, artifacts, and culture of Indigenous Peoples. We hope to use our platform to speak and act beyond this acknowledgement to educate ourselves and our audiences on how students around UofT challenge its foundations of colonialism, capitalism, and extraction.
Resources:
- Support an ongoing effort to restore the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee: 1492 Land Back Lane, follow on Instagram @1492landbacklane
- Learn about Residential Schools and support survivors through https://www.irsss.ca/
- Watch and support Indigenous film through https://imaginenative.org/
- Educate yourself and help Indigenous women at Native Women’s Association of Canada (https://www.nwac.ca/)
- Read UofT’s “Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” and help keep the university accountable to its stated goals:...
Join co-hosts Layla and Aviral as they delve into the struggles of being back on campus and transitioning to in-person classes. This episode includes interviews with Shreya Vohra and Sanskriti Maheshwari, the Co-Presidents of the Indian Student Society of UofT, in which they discuss talk the stress placed on Indian students trying to come back to campus for in-person classes. They also chat with Dr. Bill Ju about the online learning experience from the perspective of teaching staff and faculty and how the pandemic has changed how faculty approach accessibility and flexibility. Lastly, Layla talks to Learning Strategist, Reggie, Oey, about how accessibility needs can change between in-person and online learning.
Join Aynur as she delves into the extensive accounts of sexual assault, racism, and abuse from students, alumni, and faculty within UofT’s Faculty of Music. Featuring an interview with the President of the Faculty of Music’s Undergraduate Association (FMUA), Ness Young, this episode seeks to educate, expose, and reflect on how this specific Faculty and the University at large are addressing cycles of abuse and assault.
So, now that we know what exactly the ‘Campus Safety Special Constable Service’ is, and a little bit more about the role they play in policing us students, let's hear how Campus Safety’s attempts at protection can be a little unsatisfactory. In this second part of our two part series on Campus Safety, join Aynur as she interviews a student and residence don who had a recent experience with Campus Safety that was memorable for all the wrong reasons. We highly encourage you to check out part one before listening in order to gain a greater perspective on the history, changes, intentions, and practices of the Campus Safety Service at UofT. For more information on the university’s available resources, check out https://www.campussafety.utoronto.ca/ https://thevarsity.ca/2021/09/11/markle-lawsuit-campus-police-defund/
We always see them driving about campus, with their cars that say “Special Constable.” But what the heck is a Constable and what makes them Special? Join Aviral & Layla as they delve into the history, changes, and intentions of Campus Safety at UofT. This is part 1 of a 2 part series and we encourage you to tune into part 2 in which Aynur interviews a student who had a recent and memorable experience with Campus Safety.
Note: This episode was originally recorded November 2021 and may contain information that is not up to date. We encourage you to reach out to us if you know of any recent developments. Stay safe and always do your own research!
Sources referenced:
https://thevarsity.ca/2021/08/11/u-of-t-campus-police-rebrands-as-campus-safety-special-constable-service/
https://thestrand.ca/the-name-game
https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/ontario-universities-defund-campus-police_ca_5fa027a7c5b6b6b60e9242c3
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/03/17/investigations/anatomy-campus-mental-health-crisis
https://www.campussafety.utoronto.ca/about
https://www.facebook.com/SIVxUofT/
https://thevarsity.ca/2019/02/03/silence-is-violence-releases-years-long-report-on-sexual-violence-at-u-of-t/
https://www.studentassociation.ca/safewalk/
TW: sexual assault and abuse.
Listen in as our host, Aynur, explains the culture of abuse within the Faculty of Music. Aynur describes open letters written by students and staff exposing sexual assault and racism within the Faculty. She also reviews the Faculty’s response and recent initiatives. In an interview with Ness Wong, the President of the Faculty of Music’s Undergraduate Association (FMUA), Aynur gets answers to questions regarding the process of representing and responding to the allegations. The episode concludes with further implications for the Faculty of Music, and remaining calls for action.
Visit the FMUA’s website to read their open letter and responses: https://www.fmua.ca/
Resources & Support:
TravelSmart (open dusk to dawn, 7 days a week) 416-978-7233
Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre 416-978-2266
UTSU Health & Wellness Bursary (https://www.utsu.ca/financial-assistance/)
Good2Talk Student Helpline (1-866-925-5454)
Assaulted Women’s Helpline (416-863-0511)
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre (416-597-8808)
Join co-hosts Layla and Aviral as they delve into the struggles of being back on campus and transitioning to in-person classes. This episode includes interviews with Shreya Vohra and Sanskriti Maheshwari, the President and Vice-President of the Indian Student Society of UofT, in which they discuss talk the stress placed on Indian students trying to come back to campus for in-person classes. They also chat with Dr. Bill Ju about the online learning experience from the perspective of teaching staff and faculty and how the pandemic has changed how faculty approach accessibility and flexibility. Lastly, Layla talks to Learning Strategist, Reggie, Oey, about how accessibility needs can change between in-person and online learning.
Follow us on social media @equity.uclit and reach out to us about episode ideas, stories you have to share, and feedback through our email equity@uclit.ca.
Indian Students Society's Open Letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GITNqPSDIlRKXVKgsUdZYchjohl7ibN/view
Follow them on Instagram @issuoft!