Notes from the Field

Hey, it’s Shreya! Just your average undergraduate student here at the University of Guelph. I am here to help you find the hidden, and sometimes not so hidden, gems on campus. These places are great for you to relax, maybe take a nap, and get some delicious food to keep you going. Sometimes life can be a bit overwhelming for us students, especially during the pandemic, so it is important for us to take steps to still live and study well. Some of these places may be closed or have restrictions currently but be sure to check them out once they reopen.

I am a public health PhD candidate in the Department of Population Medicine which falls under the Ontario Veterinary College here at the University of Guelph. As such, the majority of researchers in my department differ significantly in focus and methodology from myself, a scholar exploring lived experiences of people with disabilities living in Ontario. When I was preparing for my qualifying exam about a year ago, I set out on a mission to find an examiner who had a similar research focus, someone who could provide content feedback.

Indigenous tradition and culture have been passed down for generations through storytelling and artwork. With this reading, watching, listening list, we seek to bring attention to the unique experiences of Indigenous people that are often overlooked and undervalued. These authors and artists imaginatively engage their readers and viewers with the ways in which colonization, residential schools, and settler policies/practices have influenced their lives, culture, traditions and future. We hope you find something on this list that will inspire and challenge you. Enjoy!

Integrating care in our lives requires us to consider our families, friends, livelihoods and living environments. With this list, we explore the ways in which care can bind individuals and communities together, especially when facing the unknown during times such as these. By telling their experiences, these authors, artists and activists describe what it means to give and receive care, through exploring complex social relationships.

Everyone deserves to live a life free from poverty and a chance to thrive. Billions of people around the world don’t have enough money to pay for food, housing, clean water, access to health care or education. In this reading, watching, and listening list, the authors and creators illustrate the many challenges people face as a result of capitalism, colonialism, inequality and poverty. This list provides many great resources on social movements, recognizing and resisting settler colonialism, homelessness and housing precarities.

A disability lens explores the relationship between bodies and the social environment. With this list, we dive deep into disability culture, exploring the assumptions and exclusions of what how we think about being normal, independent, and healthy. These authors, artists, and activists rethink access and justice by imagining a world that values all bodies. By telling their stories of discrimination and resistance, they explore how their disability experiences are shaped by gender, race, sexuality, and geography. Enjoy!

This summer update your reading, watching, listening lists to include stories of people from the LGBTQ2S+ community. For many LGBTQ2S+ folks, books, movies, tv shows and podcasts may be a resource they turn to for connection, understanding, and entertainment. These resources about the LGBTQ2S+ experience have the power to educateand empower their audiences, making us question what we take for granted in our relationships and social world.

Summer is here. Don’t you love all the green all around us? When was the last time you read a good book? As the COVID-19 outbreak continues and we are not able to travel, we can delve into books to be transported in another time and space. A good book can provide insight, comfort, or an escape from daily challenges. While many of us are also staying home more, reading can offer great entertainment as well.

We have a responsibility to educate ourselves to the realities, obstacles and resistance of Black communities and other marginalized communities.  To help create a new “normal” in which we no longer participate in, and benefit from, the oppression of Black people, it requires us to engage in a process of self-examination, education, and unlearning. This reading, watching and listening list provides many resources to help educate people about the history of racism, how it still persists today, and gives insights to the experiences of many people who experience racism and discrimination.

Minority groups, such as African Americans, Latin Americans, and Indigenous people, have experienced disproportionate rates of incarceration, police brutality, discrimination and more. The Black Lives Matter movement speaks out against the police brutality and systemic racism that leads to the victimization, harm, and often death against Black people all over the world, as seen with George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor currently.