Blackademia, November 9 - 10, 2024, is an UnConference — an event that prioritises building connections through facilitated encounters, rather than conventionally structured panels and presentations — is all about vibes. This is an occasion for enjoyment, adornment, and restoration, where we uplift our unique selves and our distinct labour as knowledge seekers and producers. Working in and against the ways settler colonialism, racial capitalism, neoliberalism and multiculturalism manifest through the academy, the BRSO seeks to embolden the alternatives we’ve created and the spaces we crave – attuning to our local contexts to connect us across the ups and downs, the joys and the heartbreaks of doing this work. To feel, move, rest and strategize in good company.

We are looking for facilitators to guide a series of 1-2 hour activities on November 9 (for approximately 20 participants each) through which people within the BRSO network can begin to build relationships across their experiences and their desires. Activities might fall into some of these BRSO priorities: 

1. Building Community
2. Mobilizing Knowledge
3. Archiving Black Canadian Presence
4. Increasing Black Research Opportunities
5. Confronting Anti-Black Racism

Activities might also propose an embodied simultaneous activity as an entry point for community building, such as crafting, music, movement, gardening, and more.

Facilitators will be offered a $200 honorarium. Material costs will be covered by the BRSO up to $100.

We are looking for artists to perform at the UnConference evening event on Saturday November 9.  

Performers will be offered a $300 honorarium.

Please submit the following proposal materials to this form.

1. A written or video description of your proposed session or performance, which speaks to how it resonates with the themes and intentions of the BRSO network. This description should clarify your connection to the region of Southwestern Ontario. Include a brief outline of session activities and a list of suggested materials.

Maximum 1 page or 4 minutes.

2. Budget for materials (if applicable)

3. Your CV/resume

4. Your website and/or social media (optional)