Inclusion for Success - lecture and panel with Jesse Wente

Issues of diversity and inclusion are front and centre in today’s culture. As our population diversifies, it’s important to prepare for culture shifts and to engage empathetically with a diverse group of people. Looking at the hurdles towards inclusion, this talk looks to break down those barriers and encourage inclusion on all levels. This presentation positions inclusion as a benchmark and pathway to success for business, institutions and the broader culture. Jesse Wente offers up key strategies to increasing inclusion and diversity.

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in NH 3407 

Indigenous Discussion Panel (with Jesse Wente)

After the break, join Jesse and members of the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre in a moderated panel discussion on indigenous matters at Waterloo and beyond.   Other panelists include: 

• Amy Smoke  - BA, BSW candidate
• Emma Smith - Student, and Aboriginal Student Association President
• Lori Campbell - Director, Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre

April 5, 2017, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. NH 3407 

About Jesse Wente

Well known as a film critic and broadcaster in Toronto and across Canada, Jesse was the first nationally syndicated Indigenous columnist for the CBC, covering film and pop culture for 20 local CBC Radio programs. He has also been a regular guest on CBC Newsworld’s News Morning and Weekend Edition, as well as Q.

Jesse is Ojibwe, and his family comes from Chicago and the Serpent River First Nation in Ontario. He is an advocate for Aboriginal Arts, most notably on screen. He draws attention to the imagery used by Hollywood in portrayals of indigenous peoples and stresses the need for a culture to have influence on their own depiction. His pieces on The Revenant, Beyonce and sports mascots were among the most shared on CBC.ca

As the Director of Film Programmes at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Jesse oversees New Releases, series and TIFF Cinematheque programming and scheduling. Some of his contributions to TIFF Bell Lightbox in programming include retrospectives on Roman Polanski, Paul Verhoeven, Ousmane Sembène, Oscar Micheaux, Studio Ghibli and Robert Altman. His first major curatorial project at TIFF Bell Lightbox was the landmark film programme First Peoples Cinema: 1500 Nations, One Tradition and its accompanying gallery exhibition, Home on Native Land. In the summer of 2013 he curated TOGA! The Reinvention of American Comedy, which brought cast and crew members of Animal House together for an onstage reunion.

In 2014, Jesse co-organized the Canadian premiere of the immensely popular travelling exhibition Stanley Kubrick. Prior to his appointment as Director of Film Programmes, Jesse served as one of the Canadian features programmers for the Toronto International Film Festival, and also programmed for the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival. Jesse has been featured in documentaries such Reel Injun, Nightmare Factory and Why Horror? Jesse served as president of Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada’s oldest Indigenous Performing Arts Company for a decade.