Lamine Diallo EDI Speaker Series

The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (AVPEDI), in collaboration with the Tshepo Institue for the Study of Contemporary Africa and Laurier’s Black Faculty and Staff Caucus, is pleased to announce the launch of an annual EDI speaker series named after Associate Professor Lamine Diallo – a distinguished scholar in the Leadership program and founding member of our two partnering groups here at Wilfrid Laurier University. One of our institution’s long time champions promoting notions of equity, diversity, and inclusion across our campuses, this event is in recognition of his tireless efforts to embed these same principles into our collective consciousness.

Every year, the Office of the AVPEDI will invite three featured speakers to participate in this event. Speakers for this series will consist of recognized internal Laurier EDI champions, community activists, administrative and professional practitioners, and academic speakers from across the country.

Consistent with Laurier’s broader EDI institutional strategy, the Lamine Diallo EDI Speaker Series will help to raise awareness, competencies, and understandings about equity, diversity, and inclusion within the context of Canadian universities, while at the same time encouraging and fostering meaningful conversations with all members of the Laurier community. Each event will serve to complement other EDI dialogues taking place across the university about a range of equity issues that exist in our society.

2023/24 Series: Mobilizing Research Towards Activism

“Mobilizing Research Towards Activism” is the overarching theme of this year’s speaker series. Invited speakers will be sharing how they have mobilized research to advance activism in support of anti-oppression within their communities and institutions. The scholars who share in this series will speak about their research work and its impacts on the community and society.  

All events this year will be hosted online via Zoom and are open to all members of the Laurier community and the general public. We hope that you will join us to hear from the researchers featured on this year’s program. Please note that you will need to be logged into your personal Zoom account in order to access the webinar. 

Deirdre McCorkindale

Assistant professor, department of History, University of Guelph

• History as a Weapon and a Tool: Chronicling the Black Experience in Southwestern Ontario
• Date: March 12, 2024, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• This lecture will discuss the ways in which the rich Black history of Southwestern Ontario has been weaponized as a means of oppression but also considers the ways in which such history can be used as a powerful tool of resistance and liberation if wielded in the right hands. 
  

Ngozi Iroanyah

Director of Health Equity and Access, Alzheimer Society of Ontario

• Diversity in Dementia in Canada
• Date: April 30, 2024, 1 p.m. - 4: 30 p.m.
• This presentation will discuss the themes of intersectionality, health equity, and political economy and their impact on the lived experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners.

Past Events