Popular Education Workshops and more - in Toronto

There's a number of popular education and related events coming up in the next few months. I've already mentioned the Freire conference on May 2nd in a previous post.

You can find a selection of events being offered at the Transformative Learning Centre 2007 Summer Institute. These include popular education events with Christine McKenzie (a past member of the Catalyst Centre): Introduction to Popular Education on June 23rd as well as a course called Popular Education: Power, Dialogue and Social Change that runs from June 16th to June 26th.

Margo Charlton and Tristan Whiston are offering a workshop on Arts and Social Change
on June 16th and June 17th: The workshop will examine the intersection of art-making and social change. Art-making can create waves that ripple out, changing individuals and communities. Participants will share their ideas about arts and social change and creatively examine the tensions that swirl around community arts: questions of process and product; insider and outsider dynamics; aesthetics and ethics; personal and social transformation. On the second day the group will visit community arts sites in Toronto or create an arts intervention in a community setting. (This workshop is organized by the Knowing through the Arts Program of
ISIS-Canada.) Fee: $80. To register: Please email margo.charlton@gmail.com or
tristanwhiston@hotmail.com

Other TLC events include Lang Maria Liu's Capoeira, Circle of Life: Philosophy and Practice of Brazilian Art Form; Chris Fraser's Bowl Full of Stories: Women, Words, and the Transformative Power of Storytelling; and Annahid Dashtgard's Finding Freedom: Breaking Free of Body-Judgment.

On May 3rd the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) and facilitator Zahra Murad are presenting the workshop Anti-Oppression for Organizations Working for Change. It's $25 for OCIC members and $40 for non-members - a deal at either price. There's no website with the event info on it, so here's what i was e-mailed:

Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friends House (60 Lowther Avenue, Toronto)

Join facilitator Zahra Murad in a one-day anti-oppression workshop for individuals and members of organizations working for change. Using popular education and Theatre of the Oppressed methodologies, this workshop will help participants reflect upon and better understand the functions of power and oppression from personal and organizational perspectives. Drawing from personal experience, ideas and research, participants will have opportunities to develop concrete ideas, suggestions and goals to take back to their organizations.

Central themes include:

• Debunking myths of racism and oppression
• Understanding ways in which the structures of power in which we live can govern the relationships we form and the methods with which we struggle against oppression

Participants will come away with a better understanding of:

• Accessible and co-operative event planning
• Programming for and about groups
• Who is being held accountable to whom
• The balance of power in partnership relationships

Who should attend? Individuals and members of organizations working for change
To register: Please return your completed registration form to Stephanie Lemelin at admin@ocic.on.ca or by fax to 416-972-6996 by Monday, April 30^th
Participation fees: OCIC Members $25 / Non-members $40 (includes breaks and lunch)

Please make your cheque payable to OCIC and mail to:

Ontario Council for International Cooperation
344 Bloor Street West, Suite 405
Toronto ON M5S 3A7
or indicate on your form that you will bring payment with you on May 3, 2007