This is the journey of two racialized graduate students who met in the Spring of 2021 during a student support initiatives meeting. We instantly connected on the topic of intersectionality and our similar identities. With construction hats, tape measures, and a very large toolbox derived from our brilliant minds and creative ideas, we took steps towards BILD-ing a sense of belonging in academia at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).

Steps towards (BILD-ing) a sense of belonging in Academia

In the past few years, I have been on a Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) reclamation journey. Gàidhlig is an endangered Indigenous language in Alba (Scotland). The reclamation journey has not been easy and is marked by contradictions, tensions, and hopes. The causes of Gàidhlig endangerment—such as land dispossession, destructive policies, and classroom violence —have influenced the journey. Embodied memories, trauma, grieving, refusal, and healing have all been associated with the reclamation process (see Lane, 2023, for more on language reclamation as an emancipatory, yet sometimes painful and silencing experience). In this BILD blog post, I will share some of my experiences and what language and reclamation mean for me.

Tìr is teanga (Land and language): Language as sensory energy

Internet access in China can often seem contradictory. While smartphones allow people to scan QR codes in restaurants to order food, unlock shared bicycles and make cashless payments, China’s internet firewall blocks access to foreign websites or sites which might provide dissenting information (Economy, 2018). Social media posts can be removed, censored and monitored, and users can be blocked from posting text with certain keywords. Within this restrictive communicative landscape, however, internet users still find creative ways to express transgressive opinions, thoughts and information.

The Transgressive Potential of Stickers

What is in a recipe?
Few of us dwell over this ubiquitous form of literature, yet recipes are behind almost every meal we have, and forming the foundation of our eating habits.
Those of us fortunate enough to have friends or relatives who know their kitchens like the back of their hands may have had the chance to receive some of their prized recipes. Perhaps great-aunt Flores’ renowned soufflé, whose vague measurements requiring “some eggs” and “flour as needed”, eluded you; just as your friend Minh’s “2.5 g of cinnamon” tested the limits of your kitchen scale. It may well be that trying to reproduce your grandmother’s recipe, you find that your version simply does not taste the same as when she used to make it.

A Recipe for Success: How Women Have Kept Their Heritage Alive Through Cookbooks

J’entretiens un rapport conflictuel avec l’évaluation.
 
J’ai choisi d’offrir à mes enfants un milieu scolaire alternatif, qui propose un mode d’évaluation appréciative, continue et tripartite (parent, enfant, enseignant). En tant que parent, je crois qu’il est avant tout essentiel d’apprendre à reconnaitre ses propres forces et défis et à identifier les stratégies à mettre en œuvre pour favoriser son apprentissage. Cependant, je suis aussi chargée de cours de français langue seconde à l’université, un milieu où l’évaluation occupe une place prépondérante et où la note accordée à une personne étudiante peut avoir des conséquences déterminantes sur son avenir. Mais dans un monde en constante évolution, peut-on toujours considérer que les méthodes conventionnelles d’évaluation répondent aux besoins des personnes apprenantes, ou même des milieux éducatifs ?

Au-delà des notes : une exploration de l’évaluation alternative en enseignement des langues secondes

Come gather around children and hear this true-to-life language-learning fairy tale.
Once upon a time, a person could pack their worldly goods in a small bag and with no more than 20 dollars in their pocket and a spirit of adventure, set out and see the world.
Perhaps, to begin with, one might need more than 20 dollars, as the airfare on a Virgin Atlantic flight to London, England was $100. However, once across the ocean, the entire world was at one’s doorstep.
As we continue this fabulous story, we discover a world that was wide but welcoming at the same time. Everywhere opportunity bloomed.

A True Turkish Fairy Tale

A comment on my teacher evaluation haunted me. While other students praised my patience or provided simple feedback like, “he’s good”, one student wrote that I “did not have enough experience” but “has potential”. I felt like I was a teenager being scolded by well-intentioned parents. The latter comment was particularly devastating because this student noticed that I was not teaching to my full potential. And they were right.
For the past three years, I have taught EFL in universities in Shanghai, China through a company which provides lesson materials and placements for international teachers. Though we are provided with materials, I have always modified them to better suit my students.

Embodied Creative Multimodalities for Practicing EFL Pronunciation

Do you ever get that feeling where you know you’ve done something wrong, but you can’t for the life of you tell what it is or how you’re supposed to know? I’ve felt that way a lot as I move through different places and different communities within them. For instance, I’ve noticed that when I run up against a social norm in Canada, people generally won’t tell me directly like they might back home. Instead, I’ve learned to notice what I call the “Canadian huff”—an almost imperceptible sigh that shows that a boundary has been crossed but is not worth addressing. That’s how I learned not to ride my bike across a crosswalk in Nova Scotia and how I learned not to wear my shoes indoors in Québec.

Avec votre permission

My name is Marlene Hale and I am from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, born in Smithers, BC north.

I am a Chef/ Activist/Filmmaker.

I am speaking today on “The Making of a Matriarch.”

Sometimes pop culture makes us feel like there are only two options for us as women…you’re either a young maiden or an old matron.

My circle of women and I are on a mission to demystify the process of aging gracefully and transforming ourselves into strong feminine archetypes.

We have created a space where we can come together to share our experiences, knowledge and tips gained from initiation and from life.

This is a space for you to feel supported on your individual journey as a woman and a place for you to recharge yourself through connection with other women.

The Making of a Matriarch

I am grateful for Indigenous and diasporic initiatives that de-center European frames of mind, bringing me closer to the land and my peoples. Becoming land-sensitive has been one constant assemblage, where the plants teach me about resilience when rebounding from thirst or disease, the importance of dormancy before a period of flourishing, and the pride of unfurling a new leaf—being 500 million years old, plants are formidable teachers. 
Gathering plant knowledge from various traditions and ecosystems has allowed me and my son to explore the many peoples and plants that we embody, daydreaming about what it means to be connected to a land that naturally produces this kinda heat. These Landguaging lessons are not simply intellectual exercises, they are intentional acts of land-sensitization that intended to outlive me, and provide a path for him and his future generations to write and enact a love letter to the land.

Academia in the Time of Cholera: Raising Generation Symbiocene

Upon stepping into a Japanese tea room (right foot first), I immediately sense the calm that the space brings. My sensei enters wearing a dusty lavender-coloured kimono, her white tabi-clad feet shuffle quietly as she makes her way into the tea room. She is holding a Chawan (茶碗 tea bowl) in one hand and a Natsume (棗 tea container) in the other. As she sits and sets the utensils down, she turns slightly towards me and fixes her kimono. The ceremony begins. We bow together, and I can smell the fresh yet earthy scent of the tatami mat only a few inches from my nose. She pulls a bright red Fukusa (袱紗), a silk cloth used for both physical and spiritual purification, out of her obi, and begins a complex folding pattern

I know Tea, but not my ABCs: Exploring ceremony and ritual in heritage language maintenance

http://bild-lida.ca/blog/
*Belonging, Identity, Language, Diversity Research Group (BILD) 
*Groupe de Recherche Langage, Identité, Diversité, Appartenance (LIDA)

We want to start conversations about local happenings and experiences in and outside of Montreal. We consider and write about the world around us from a critical sociolinguistic perspective. We welcome you to join the conversation and share your own local perspective(s).

Steps towards (BILD-ing) a sense of belonging in Academia

BILD / LIDA

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