A message from Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver
As you may be aware, Dr. Minelle Mahtani is the Senior Advisor to the Provost on Racialized Faculty and supports the VP Academic portfolio. Since undertaking this appointment in July 2018, Dr. Mahtani has been working to develop a range of initiatives, resources and opportunities for dialogue to help create a more welcoming and inclusive community for racialized faculty at UBC.
This role – the first of its particular kind in Canada – was created to support the university's institutional commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in the scholarly and leadership environment for faculty members at UBC. In consultation with a faculty advisory group, the Equity and Inclusion Office and the Faculty of Arts, Dr. Mahtani has developed a number of key initiatives for this year that recognize and embrace the diversity of our faculty community, open up space for dialogue around race and leadership and provide an intentional space for racialized faculty to share their experiences. They include:
- The IGNITE Book Club, which has been designed with and for racialized faculty to allow for the exploration and discussion of memoirs written by renowned racialized authors. The inaugural event takes place on October 3 with award-winning author David Chariandy. For more information, please visit equity.ubc.ca/ignite.
- The Provost’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Race and Leadership will launch in November with Dr. Damon Williams, author of Strategic Diversity Leadership, who will share his insights into equity, diversity and inclusion. Details will be included in the Get Involved section of the UBC Today newsletter in the coming weeks. You can also sign up to learn more at https://equity.ubc.ca/damon-williams-visit/.
For additional resources for racialized faculty, please contact Dr. Mahtani at minelle.mahtani@ubc.ca.