The Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies

Research and teaching in the areas of equity, anti-racism praxis and alternative knowledges in education.

The Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) was established in the 1996-1997 session, bringing together faculty and students whose research interests and political commitments are in anti-racism. The centre provides a supportive research environment, linking communities of colour, marginalized communities, and the university.

The mandate of CIARS, namely the fostering of interdisciplinary anti-racism studies in education, embraces a broad view of education. In CIARS's view, education is defined as those processes that influence and contribute to how individuals and their communities come to know the world and act within it.

CIARS' faculty and students working in the field of anti-racism are deeply committed to an integrative view: all systems of oppression are interlocked and a study of one such system, racism, necessarily entails a study of class exploitation, sexism, ableism and heterosexism.

Recent research by associated faculty includes work on schooling and education, for example, research on inclusive schooling practices, and drawing from resources of the home, family and community in improving youth educational activities. In addition, CIARS' core faculty interests include research on the judicial system, immigration, unions, community development, community-state relations and globalization and its effects on communities of colour.

Sekoh! Aaniin! Bonjour! Hello! Asaase Yaa!

We will begin with a Land acknowledgement to show our gratitude to the First Peoples who managed these Lands according to their traditional customs. Let us keep this Land acknowledgement in mind as we engage in conversation.

We [I] take this time to recognize that we are currently on the traditional territories shared between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Haudenosaunee peoples. OISE, the University of Toronto, stands on the Land signed as Treaty 13 and is protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum agreement, which is a treaty of overlapping governance between the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River that bind them to share these territories and to protect Land. Wampum belts are sacred physical and symbolic representations that affirm philosophical principles and enshrine political agreements and laws validating relations and treaties, narrating significant events, and recalling oral traditions. The Dish With One Spoon Wampum uses the symbolism of a dish to represent the territories and one spoon, illustrating that we are to share the resources of Land and only take what they need to maintain balance and reciprocal relations. 

Since time immemorial, Turtle Island’s First Peoples have continued to walk gently on Land, offering their assistance to Settlers and sharing their knowledges and ways of knowing. Turtle Island has allowed many peoples, including colonial Settlers/occupiers, to be within this space. Canadians must also acknowledge the presence of Black and Africans in the diasporas. Their complicated histories and disrupted relations shape stories intertwined with ours connected to Land. Stories of ruptured relationships and hope guided by the birds who return to lead us along with a common destiny of liberation.

A Land Acknowledgement is only meaningful if we learn from history and the long journeys and struggles that have brought all of us together. We must learn how to practice reconciliation in our everyday lives within ourselves, our families, communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces.

Nai-wen! Chi Miigwech! Merci d'avance! Thank you! Asante Sana!