The University of Winnipeg has a longstanding commitment to being an inclusive community.
UWinnipeg students, faculty, and staff have an opportunity to demonstrate UWinnipeg’s culture of inclusivity and welcome by sharing messages of love and acceptance on the “Share Your Love for Pride” bulletin board. Head down to Riddell Hall Atrium where you’ll find colourful stacks of notecards to share your message.
Share your love for Pride on the Pride board located in the Riddell Atrium.
As we celebrate the return to an in-person UWinnipeg Pride with the raising of the Progress and Two-Spirit flags on May 31 at 11:00 am, we are proud to highlight some of the incredible work our faculty, staff, and students are doing in the University and greater community.
The following examples highlight some of the research and scholarship that has taken place in recent years. If you have taken part in an initiative that contributes to The University of Winnipeg’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, please email communications@uwinnipeg.ca
New report highlights importance of safe, accepting schools for 2SLGBTQ+ youth
New research by Dr. Catherine Taylor, who is being honoured as Professor Emerita at UWinnipeg’s 120th Convocation, reveals that while there have been some important improvements in the last decade, there is still a long way to go in creating safer and accepting schools for 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
While the findings show that both physical and verbal harassment experienced by 2SLGBTQ+ students has decreased in the past decade, 2SLGBTQ+ students are still far more likely to be harassed or bullied than their non-2SLGBTQ+ peers and less likely to feel safe at school.
This research, released in 2021, is a follow up to the Taylor-led First National Climate Study more than a decade ago. The final report, Every Class in Every School, was the first report of its kind to reveal just how prevalent discrimination was for 2SLGBTQ+ students in Canadian secondary schools at the time.
2SLGBTQ+ Scholarship
Every academic year, UWinnipeg supports a student who identifies as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community through the Alumni Association’s 2SLGBTQ+ Student Award.
Created in 2018, the award is given to a second-, third-, or fourth-year undergraduate student who’s active in community service or demonstrates academic promise in research on topics with particular relevance to the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
The award was initially funded by the Alumni Association Past Presidents’ Legacy Fund, which was created in 2010 by the UWinnipeg Alumni Council, as well as by the Mary C. Rowell Prize Fund. Ongoing support for the award includes proceeds from sales of the UWinnipeg Pride t-shirt designed by Graphic Designer Trevor Thomas.
To purchase your UWinnipeg Pride t-shirt, visit our 2SLGBTQ+ Student Award webpage.
Two-Spirit Archives finds home at UWinnipeg
During UWinnipeg’s 2019 Pride celebrations, UWinnipeg Archives, in collaboration with Two-Spirited People of Manitoba, launched the Two-Spirit Archives.
This collection is believed to be the most comprehensive archival collection in Canada. In conjunction with the Two-Spirit Archives Advisory Council, UWinnipeg plans to develop the collection into an internationally renowned research collection that will support scholarship and research while preserving the history and the contributions of Two-Spirit People.
Elder Albert McLeod, Director of Two-Spirited People of Manitoba, accumulated the original material comprising the Two-Spirit Archives and donated it to UWinnipeg Archives in several installments beginning in 2011.
The Two-Spirit Archives consists of newsletters, journals, magazines, reports, newspaper clippings, correspondences, poetry, photographs, posters, art, textiles, books, videocassettes, and other ephemera that document the Indigenous Two-Spirit movement in Manitoba and throughout North America.
Museum Queeries
Museum Queeries is a collaborative research project based at UWinnipeg that prioritizes Indigenous Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer contributions and interventions into museums and museum studies.
The project, co-led by Drs. Angela Failler and Heather Milne, is nested within a broader international partnership called Thinking Through the Museum. Museum Queeries addresses structural exclusions and opens new modes of productive inquiry and activism.
Since Museum Queeries began in 2017, Failler and Milne have mentored 15 student research assistants (RAs) from the undergraduate to PhD level, including an international MITACS intern and two Indigenous Summer Scholars Program participants. The RAs have developed their own research questions by reviewing literature in the field, visiting museums and galleries, conducting oral history interviews, and participating in “curatorial dreaming” workshops.
A Call to Conversation: Two-Spirit and Queer People of Colour Conference
In 2017, UWinnipeg hosted the groundbreaking A Call to Conversation: Two-Spirit and Queer People of Colour Conference.
The three-day day event, which brought together voices from the Two-Spirit and Queer People of Colour communities, featured community members, scholars, activists, artists, students, youth, and traditional knowledge holders to dialogue on the work that needs to be done for a more inclusive society.
The five themes explored were: Origins, History, and Resurgence of Two-Spirit and Queer People of Colour; Families (e.g., families of origin, children in care, chosen families); Education (e.g., Indigenizing the K-12 and post-secondary curriculum, challenging racism in museums); Institutions (e.g., religion, immigration, criminal justice, child welfare, health care); and Creative Practice.
In 2019, the University, in partnership with Two-Spirit People of Manitoba and Queer Trans People of Colour Winnipeg, presented findings from the conference during the Building on the Call to Conversation Conference.
To learn more about UWinnipeg’s 2022 Pride celebrations, visit our Pride website.
