Structures of Support: Cultivating Conditions for Community Wellbeing in Universities and Campus Space

Structures of Support: Cultivating Conditions for Community Wellbeing in Universities and Campus Space

Public Lecture hosted by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing.

Please join us for the hybrid public panel on Structures of Support: Cultivating Conditions for Community Wellbeing in Universities and Campus Space with Dr. Eliza Chandler, Jessica Griffiths, Lisa Afriyie, Dennique Lavia and the Office of Social Innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University. hosted by Dr. Karen Soldatic, Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing. With opening remarks from Danielle Landry. This event is free and open to the public.

Abstract: In recent years, there has been a flurry of discussions around student “wellbeing” in post-secondary education that tend to focus on individual tenacity and resilience from students rather than calling for structural changes from and within the university. Scholars from disability and mad studies have critiqued this focus, noting that “resilience is strategically deployed” to encourage students to think positively about their experience of university life (Aubrecht, 2012, p. 67). 

This panel features staff and students associated with TMU’s Office of Social Innovation (OSI). Emphasizing relationship-building, decolonization, and justice, the OSI develops experiential learning, research, and funding opportunities to transform equitable and just access to education. Building on bell hooks’ (2000) notion of moving the margins to the centre, panelists explore how the university and those of us inside of it can create the conditions for all students to experience wellbeing. We begin this discussion from the commonly-held position that every student at TMU must have the opportunity to experience wellbeing, safety, and community in all aspects of student and university life. We then question who has access to wellbeing in universities, which are governed by particular cultural norms, values, priorities, and investments. Given that students come from different social locations and have their own cultural norms, values, priorities, and investments, we note that their capacity to achieve wellbeing under the conditions of the university vary and even fluctuate across their time at the university. We suggest that achieving the conditions for all students to achieve wellbeing requires systemic changes, such as implementing low-barrier or eliminated tuition fees, creating intergenerational or family student housing, building sanctuary campuses that are not accessible to immigration officers, and supporting campus initiatives that adopt a harm-reduction approach to drug consumption including hosting safe consumption sites. Ultimately, we argue, adopting justice-based approaches to community building and community care improves engagement between students, staff, and our neighbours, leading to increased wellbeing and feelings of connectedness.

Accessibility

Live captioning will be provided on Zoom.

For questions and access inquiries please contact Tarndeep Pannu, tarndeep.pannu@torontomu.ca by February 28, 2025.