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The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series brings visionary writers working in Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and related genres to Waterloo to engage with students, faculty, and community around diasporic futures, worldbuilding, and resistance narratives.

PAIR Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series
iCal
The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series brings visionary writers working in Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and related genres to Waterloo to engage with students, faculty, and community around diasporic futures, worldbuilding, and resistance narratives.

PAIR Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series
iCal
The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series brings visionary writers working in Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and related genres to Waterloo to engage with students, faculty, and community around diasporic futures, worldbuilding, and resistance narratives.

The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series brings visionary writers working in Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and related genres to Waterloo to engage with students, faculty, and community around diasporic futures, worldbuilding, and resistance narratives.

Please feel free to register for any—or all—of the sessions you’d like to attend.

10:00–11:30 am — Plenary, “Disinformation By Omission: How Joe Rogan and Other Far Right Influencers Distance Themselves From Their Violent Rhetoric”

Speaker: Jaigris Hodson, Canada Research Chair in Digital Misinformation, Polarization & Anti-Social Media, Royal Roads University

10:00–11:30 am — PLENARY, “Methods of Solidarity and Care in Research and Activism”

Speakers:

• Alana Cattapan, Associate Professor, Political Science, Canada Research Chair in the Politics of Reproduction, University of Waterloo
• Kimberly Lopez, Associate Professor, Recreation & Leisure, University of Waterloo
• Trish Van Katwyk, Associate Professor, Director, School of Social Work, Renison University College

Please feel free to register for any—or all—of the sessions you’d like to attend. 

10:00–10:30 am — Opening Reception and Welcome Kick off the event with drinks, introductions, and a warm welcome as we bring together researchers, practitioners, and community members for a few days of collaboration and conversation. Light breakfast provided. Location: LIB 323

The Libraries are excited to introduce a new format for our next installment of Anti-Racism Reads: a six session, in-person book club designed to support deeper conversation and sustained engagement. This term, we'll be reading Safiya Umoja Noble’s book, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, examining how search engines and digital platforms reinforce racism and inequality.

We are wealthier and more technologically advanced than ever, yet loneliness and social fragmentation are rising. This talk by Andrew Welch, author of "The Value Crisis", introduces the Rekhi–Environment Initiative and a new framework for understanding the “value crisis”: the disconnect between numeric success and lived human experience.

Join us for for conversation, music, and joy shared over delicious food, followed by a film screening of the first episodes of the acclaimed series I'm A Virgo--including an introduction to Afrofuturism in celebration of Black History Month.