CDSA 2021 Conference and May Newsletter

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CDSA-ACÉH Conference

This year, in solidarity with the Black Canadian Studies Association, the CDSA-ACÉH has decided to withdraw from Congress and host our own conference online.

The themes will coincide with those originally planned for Congress, focusing on anti-Black and Indigenous racism and Northern Relations. All information on how to attend is listed below. 

If you have any additional questions regarding the CDSA-ACÉH’s conference, or our withdrawal from Congress 2021, feel free to email the Communications Officer.

Registration

The CDSA-ACÉH’s conference will be happening virtually through the University of Alberta. Below are the individual registration links for the different events. All times are listed in Mountain Standard Time:

May 31st

  • 9 AM: Keynote and Conversation: Elder Treffrey Deerfoot
  • 5 PM: CDSA/ACÉH Equity Council
    • Equity Officer Lily Kim is convening an Equity Committee meeting for CDSA-ACÉH members on May 31, 2021 (7:00 pm EST/5:00 pm MST). Elder Treffrey Deerfoot will open the discussion on equity, disability, and human rights issues as they relate to engagement within CDSA-ACÉH / Disability Studies and related scholarship. All members and Black, Indigenous &/or scholars of colour are welcome to join CDSA’s Equity meeting to begin to discuss issues that will launch the CDSA-ACEH into a new era.

June 1st

June 2nd

No fee is required for attendance of CDSA-ACÉH Conference events.

In order to vote in any decisions made at the CDSA-ACÉH Annual General Meeting, you must be a registered member. Learn more information about membership options.

Sponsors

We are currently actively seeking sponsors for our 2021 conference. We encourage you to reach out to your networks to let them know about our sponsorship opportunities; anyone may solicit sponsorships on our behalf. A letter template is available. Many thanks to those who have pledged sponsorships already! 

Member Paper Submissions

As a result of our separation from 2021 Congress, the CDSA-ACÉH Executive Board is still processing all of the paper submissions received. If you submitted a paper for Congress 2021, you will still have the opportunity to present at the CDSA-ACÉH’s conference. You should hear from the board in the upcoming weeks. 

As per decision from the CDSA-ACÉH Emergency Meeting on March 29th, all CDSA-ACÉH member presentations will happen asynchronously following the May 31st-June 2nd Keynote Speakers and AGM. More information regarding your submission will be coming soon. 

You will NOT be expected to present your paper during the May 31 – June 2nd conference. 

If you have any questions about your submission, feel free to email the Communications Officer.

Keynote Speakers

The CDSA-ACÉH is fortunate to have three fantastic keynote speakers with us this year for our first solo conference. More information on each speaker will be coming to our Facebook page in the upcoming weeks. To register for their keynotes, click on the links below.

  • May 31st: Keynote and Conversation: Elder Treffrey Deerfoot
    • Treffrey Deerfoot is a well-respected dancer, language keeper, cultural presenter, traditional storyteller and ceremonialist. He has travelled internationally to Italy, China, London, Australia and Washington, D.C. to share the stories and dance of the Blackfoot people. Treffrey is the Artistic Director of the Blackfoot Medicine Speaks Dance Troupe. In 2017, Writing On Stone, a short documentary about Treffrey won numerous awards at international film festivals. That same year, he was honoured with a REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award by the Hnatyshyn Foundation. Treffrey is also the Chair of the Sacred Tobacco Collaboration with Alberta Health Services, Canadian Cancer Society and ASH (Action on Smoking & Health). He is an Elder for the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association (NADA), and regularly speaks at schools sharing his knowledge of our Blackfoot way of life. He also initiated the Traditional Healing Circle for Men for Siksika Health Services. Treffrey is a member of the Siksika Nation and a fluent speaker of the Blackfoot language. His adult Blackfoot name is Aissikotoyomahka (Deerfoot). He was primarily raised by his grandmother who encouraged him to have faith in the Creator and the patience and perseverance to pursue one’s dreams. As a result, he is very proud of his native heritage and spirituality and followed in the footsteps of his father in the piercing Sundance. Treffrey is also a member of the sacred Horn Society and holder of a sacred Beaver Bundle.
  • June 1st: Keynote and Conversation: Dr. Danielle Peers
    • Danielle Peers (they/them), is. Canadian Research Chair (Tier II) in Disability and Movement Cultures, and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. They study how movement cultures (including art, recreation, and sport) can be used to transmit, transmute, and transform a community’s values, politics, and (in)equities. Mobilizing embodied (and sometimes arts-based) disability justice approaches, Peers prioritizes deep, intersectional collaborations in order to co-create knowledges and practices that reduce harm and create more accessible, affirming, and transformative movement cultures.
  • June 2nd: Keynote and Conversation: Leroy Moore
    • Leroy F. Moore Jr. is the founder of the Krip-Hop Nation. Since the 1990s, Moore has been a key member of Poor Magazine, starting with the column “Illin-N- Chillin” and then as a founding member of the magazine’s school, the Homefulness and Decolonize Academy. Moore is one of the founding members of National Black Disability and an activist around police brutality against people with disabilities. Leroy has started and helped start organizations including Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, Sins Invalid, and Krip-Hop Nation. His cultural work includes film documentary Where Is Hope, Police Brutality Against People with Disabilities, spoken-word CDs, poetry books and the children’s book Black Disabled Art History 101 published by Xochitl Justice Press. His graphic novel Krip-Hop Graphic Novel Issue 1: Brown Disabled Young Woman Superhero Brings Disability Justice to Hip- Hop was published in 2019 and 2020 under Poor Press. Moore has traveled internationally networking with other disabled activists and artists.

Student Paper Competition

As a result of our separation from 2021 Congress, the CDSA-ACÉH Executive Board is still processing all of the paper submissions received for the Student Paper Competition. The winners will hear from the board in upcoming weeks.

If you have any questions about your submission, feel free to email the Communications Officer.

Join our Board!

CDSA-ACÉH is extremely grateful for the invaluable service of each of its current and previous Executive Board members.

We have various current vacant board positions and will have more following our AGM. Board positions are voluntary and open to all members of CDSA-ACÉH in a given year, including students, faculty, and community members. Excepting the President and Outgoing Treasurer positions, joining the CDSA-ACÉH Executive Board requires no prior board experience.

Here are the available positions:

  • President
  • President elect
  • Student Rep
  • Congress Coordinator
  • LAC & Assistant LAC
  • Website Coordinator
  • Francophone Rep

Nominations for Executive Board positions can be made electronically, prior to our AGM, by e-mailing cdsa.aceh@gmail.com or during an AGM at Congress, and require only stating that you are interested in a given position as well as providing your name and contact information. However if multiple people nominate themselves for the same position at the AGM (a very rare occurrence), you may be required to speak briefly about why you are interested in, and qualified for, that position.

Along with designated duties specific to a given position, board members are asked to attend approximately one virtual meeting per month, and to vote electronically on various matters as they come up. Please contact us at cdsa.aceh@gmail.com with any questions about being an Executive Board member; to connect with current board members; or to signal your interest in joining the board yourself!

Newsletter Submissions

Want to add something to future newsletters? Email the Communications Officer to ensure your projects, job postings, conferences, and media related content is being seen by all members of the CDSA.