Open events

The Department of Humanities, Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Humanities, and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies present “Teaching Against the Grain: A Gathering in Honor of Leslie Sanders.”

Leslie Sanders is a university professor in the Department of Humanities at York University who has dedicated more than 40 years of her career to teaching, mentoring and developing an international cohort of faculty teaching and researching in African American, Black Canadian and Caribbean Literatures, and Black Studies more broadly. Before the formalization of Black Studies programs in Canada, Leslie was a pioneer in challenging the canonical and disciplinary boundaries of CanLit and became the de facto supervisor of numerous graduate students seeking to do bold, innovative research in the humanities through the work of Black writers, artists and thinkers.

This gathering brings together former students and colleagues who have been touched by Leslie’s generosity to celebrate her legacy and its national and international impact. The gathering will consist of a keynote tribute and five-minute reflections by former students. Invited participants include, among others: Darcy Ballantyne and Sam Tecle (TMU); Sharon Beckford Foster and Rinaldo Walcott (U at Buffalo); David Chariandy (SFU); Andrea Medovarski, Ola Mohammed and Janet Seow (York).

A pre-event reception will take place in the CIBC Lobby, Seymour Schulich Building from 13:30-14:15.

Please note this event will be presented in English. Bilingual titles and descriptions are for reference purposes only.