“Out there things can happen, and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you.
 And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.
 Just go right along, you'll start happening too!” 

—Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Inspired by Dr. Suess, Yasmine thinks that a graduate study is a road full of ups and downs, questions, uncertainties, and finally figuring outs – not only the subject of our research but ourselves too. To support each other and to share with one another our questions, thoughts and possibly our (epistemological and theoretical) knowledge, we would like to propose a series of volunteer led bi-weekly video/text-gatherings. We suggest to start the first 5 sessions with the following format:

Tentative format of the first few sessions:

For each session one  person would volunteer to bring in a maximum of a 20-minute long video that spoke to him/her about what that person is thinking about, questioning, or considering…  or to present a 10-15 minutes short talk about her/his thinking/ questions/ theories/ methodologies and so on. After listening to the talk or watching the video, we will open up the conversation to the group so that we think together as a collective.

Calendar: (Sept 29th, Oct 13th, Oct 27th, Nov 10th from l - 1-2:30pm - LMX 388)

1. I will be the first presenter. In the past two years, I have been thinking about how wisdom of the past could lead us in our today’s endeavours. In the first session, I will share a video of Munir Fasheh that spoke to me deeply. 

2.  In the second session, Lilia shows us a video of Professor Boaventura Sousa Santos about Portugal - epistemologies of the south.  Lilia finds this video inspiring and a good reference for critical thinking.

3. In the third session, Carol will talk about post-humanism and share a key note address from Donna Haraway and perhaps Ursula K. Lequin."

To volunteer to lead a session, please email us (yasmine.abtahi@uottawa.ca) your choice/topic of interest, with a short video or a short text.

Yasmine Abtahi, Lilia Forte and Carol Lee