It is exciting to see so much sun in the forecast this week! ☀️ We hope you all have a chance to slow down and enjoy the feeling of a sunny winter day. 

Some folks use January as a time to make resolutions or set goals for themselves in the coming year. If you have questions about potential resources to explore or are looking for support as you brainstorm new projects we encourage you to attend one of our virtual coffee hours or take a look at our consultation page. 

When I was first asked this question, my brain could not even fathom the possibilities and others in the room with me could not either! I was in an anti-racism educators' workshop and the facilitator coyly chuckled and stated, “As a person of colour, it‘s okay to give yourself permission to dream.” In shock and awe, I decided to rescind almost to a childlike state and threw myself into the realms of “imagination dream land.” After much eye squeezing and face scrunching, a vision appeared. 

-Renata Hall

Here we have shared examples of how colonial bias and racism are embedded into AI algorithms, in applications as wide ranging as image generators to our legal system. We round out this post by sharing some interventions Indigenous peoples are creating to resist the embedding of ongoing colonial harm into our technological systems.

What does it mean to design evaluation in ways that center community accountability, build trust, and challenge colonial assumptions? The Indigenous Initiatives Evaluation Series is a three-part interactive workshop series hosted by CTLT Indigenous Initiatives. This series invites UBC faculty, staff, and students to reimagine how we assess success and impact; moving towards more relational, community-centered approaches to evaluation.

Over three interactive sessions, you’ll be guided through deep self-reflection, hands-on activities, and conversations that support the development of your personal decolonial evaluation practices.

If you are unable to participate during the outlined dates or are interested in a future offering, please fill out this form.

Date: February 3, 10, 24 2026
Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall

This session is designed to assist in competency and capacity building around cultures of belongingness, affect in the classroom, and engaging diverse communities through principles of inclusivity and psychological safety in the classroom. This session will be grounded in the foundational principles of anti-racism, to facilitate learning and discussion about the framework of psychological safety. As we move through the session, participants will develop tips, tricks, and tools to identify, assess/measure, and plan for psychological safety proactively and iteratively in your classroom climate. By the end of this session, it is hoped participants will be able to differentiate a psychologically safe learning environment focused on fostering belongingness from learning environments that may unintentionally foster racial harm.  

Date: February 26, 2025
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall

We welcome you to attend one of CTLT Indigenous Initiatives’ monthly Virtual Coffee Hours. They are an informal space to connect with consultants on the team and other colleagues across the university. Some common topics that come up include:  

• Professional development plans for individuals, teams, and departments  
• Engaging with the Indigenous Strategic Plan
• Fostering a respectful classroom and campus climate
• Connecting with a network of people across the university
• Locating relevant resources
• Meaningful land acknowledgements

…and more!

Upcoming Dates: 

• January 20, 2026
• February 25, 2026
• March 26, 2026

This section of the newsletter is a space for intersectional Anti-Racist Teaching and learning (A-RTL) program reflections, community care commemorations, and updates.  

Happy New Year from the A-RTL Team! We hope the beginning of the year is off to a re-invigorating and refreshing start. Hot off the tails of a season of rest, restoration, and celebration, we‘ve been reflecting on the concept of radical joy and self-care. Often, anti-racist work and discourse is synonymized with illuminating and uncovering processes of oppression, racialization, and harm, which are heavy yet necessary conversations to engage with. However, we often forget an important discourse within anti-racism; the conversation of radical joy, strength and resilience, and pathways to self-care. Engaging in critical anti-racist solidarity and work begins with taking care of the self, heart, and spirit! We wish to encourage the community to reflect on ways you can sprinkle joy, self-care, and strength through a reflective blog, centered on the concepts of radical dreaming. Blog Post: What would your world look like if racism and oppression did not exist? 

• Feb 26th, 2026, from 10am-12pm Measuring and Fostering Psychological Safety in the Classroom through the Lens of Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning, a Classroom Climate Collaboration! 
• Fill out this survey for a chance to win a $20.00 gift card to Loafe: Access the A-RTL Survey Here! 

In this discussion, Amanda Strong will share her experience of directing for TV and  Independent stop motion animation as well as building a stop motion studio centered on collective Indigenous storytelling. We will explore the intricacies of the pathways and protocols necessary to tell Indigenous stories in the right way.

Date: January 20, 2026
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Online

Have you ever wondered how comics can bring a community together?

Join award-winning nehiyaw (Cree) comic artist and author Alina Pete as they share how they create comics with communities in a relational way. They‘ll talk about their work with the Homalco First Nation to produce Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories: A Graphic Novel, a project based on recordings of stories shared by Elders, and show how this collaborative style can help people stay connected and support new artists.

Date: January 24, 2026
Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Central Library, 350 West Georgia St.

Roots for Indigenous Partnered Research is a UBC-based research cluster for people involved with or interested in research done in partnership with Indigenous communities, collectives, and organizations. Our goal is to strengthen UBC‘s capacity to build respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous partners in the realm of research. Join us to learn more about this ongoing initiative and how to get involved!

Date: February 12, 2026
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Zoom