Training & Education | Diversity and Human Rights (DHR)

The University of Guelph's Office of Diversity & Human Rights (DHR) recognizes that inclusive and equitable campuses where everyone experiences an authentic sense of belonging is an institutional and social imperative. Building respectful learning and working environments is key to establishing innovative research, academic excellence and successful communities.

Intentionally building and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion signals to prospective and current students, faculty, staff, visitors and the broader community that they belong at the University of Guelph. Establishing welcoming university environments begins with a strong understanding of EDI principles and the important role they play in laying a strong foundation for social and academic success.

Our office offers a wide variety of training workshops and resources that explore anti-discrimination, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and anti-bias concepts among others. We also customize workshops based on your team/department/organization's needs. Online training and education resources include:

Principles of Belonging: Anti-Oppression and Anti-Racism - This module provides participants with an introduction to equity and inclusion at post-secondary institutions and explores four broad core anti-oppression principles that are applicable across a range of identity groups. In addition, the module helps participants develop the skills to engage in anti-racism work and enact anti-racist practices. It focuses on introducing key concepts like systemic racism, power, privilege, allyship, microaggressions, and cultural appropriation.
Introduction to Human Rights - This module helps guide participants through the Ontario Human Rights Code and the University of Guelph's Human Rights Policy and Procedures. It explores how relevant laws and university policies define important concepts such as discrimination, harassment, accommodation and undue hardship. It provides participants with the confidence to help strengthen human rights at U of G and access necessary supports. It highlghts our community members' individual responsibilities when it comes to human rights on campus, as well as illustrates how to access support through the University's Human Rights Policies and Procedures.
Positive Space Project - This module aims to increase awareness of LGBTQ2SIA+ issues on campus and transform the University of Guelph into a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ2SIA+ faculty, staff, and students. Participants will explore the importance of inclusive language, pronouns, allyship, and provides additional resources for folks to continue their learning journey.
Building Community: Introduction to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion eHandbook - This free eHandbook provides readers with the skills and tools they need to understand key EDI and anti-oppression concepts and become strong advocates for social justice and systemic change. The eHandbook explores topics like privilege, intersectional oppression, unconscious bias, inclusive language, and allyship, while deepening readers' understanding and knowledge of EDI.
Making Education Accessible - This module helps participants to increase awareness about ways to foster inclusive learning experiences. It highlights the importance and value of inclusion in everyday work practices, distinguishes between accessibility and accommodation, outlines how to apply universal instructional design principles to the design, delivery, and evaluation of courses and identifies and connects participants with resources to support further professional development.
Principles of Equitable Recruitment: Unconscious Bias in the Hiring Process - These modules (one for staff and one for faculty), provides participants with the tools needed to apply an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens to the hiring processes in post-secondary education. They explore unconscious bias in the recruitment and selection process, provides a series of suggested steps and best practices that every hiring committee can undertake, and highlights strategies to minimize bias at every step of the process.

DHR offers virtual (via zoom or teams) and/or in person trainings on topics such as:

Opposing Oppression: Building Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Competencies
Equity Essentials: Call it out? Identifying and Responding to Microaggressions
Inclusive Leadership: Applying Anti-oppressive and Anti-Racism Lenses to Decision-Making
Inclusive Leadership: Addressing difficult conversations about EDI with resistant people
Opposing Oppression: Applying Equity and Inclusion Lenses to Teaching & Learning
Opposing Oppression: Applying Equity and Inclusion Lenses to Research
Equity Essentials: Intersectional Allyship
Human Rights Fundamentals: Anti-Discrimination and Harassment

For more information, please send an email to dhrinfo@uoguelph.ca.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Workshop Wednesdays Training Series

Join us for regular, in-person training workshops that explores such topics as equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-oppression, microaggressions, anti-bias, and more.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 - 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. - UC room 332 - Register Now

Equity Essentials: Call it Out? Identifying and Responding to Microaggressions - This session will identify the systems and attitudes that contribute to microaggressions and discuss strategies for responding effectively.

Gain a broader awareness of how oppression affects the lived experience of equity-deserving groups, and the specific context of EDI on post-secondary campuses.
Understand how dominant groups perpetuate, actively or unconsciously, oppression.
Be able to apply key concepts related to anti-racism, oppression, privilege, and tokenism.
Understand how unconscious bias affects individuals and communities; and
Be able to identify microaggressions and apply appropriate and effective responses to microaggressions.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024 - 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. - VIRTUAL - Register Now

Human Rights & You: Addressing Discrimination and Harassment on Campus - This workshop encourages participants to move beyond the text of Ontario's human rights legislation to understand how legal requirements affect our day-to-day work. How do we identify when behaviour is harassment or discrimination? How do we know when behaviour rises to the level of a human rights violation? What is a reasonable response to a complaint in the circumstances? How do we prevent human rights violations from occurring in the first place? This workshops provides tools and strategies to respond to each of these questions.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 - 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - UC room 332 - Register Now

What does it mean to be Anti-Racist? Explaining Anti-Racism - This session will:

Build knowledge about racism and anti-racism
Unpack the motivations of racism
Identify manifestations of racism
Help grow competencies for anti-racism

Wednesday, March 6, 2024 - 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - UC room 332 - Register Now

Equity Essentials: Intersectional Allyship - In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore how tangible and successful allyship happens on the ground. First, participants will reconnect with baseline knowledge about power, privilege, identity, and intersectionality. Then, participants will explore what allyship means on the ground and how they can become more effective allies. What does it mean to be an ally? When should an ally step in, and when should an ally defer to someone else? We will discuss all these strategies and more.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - UC room 332 - Register Now

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - UC room 332 - Register Now

Opposing Oppression: Building Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Competencies - This interactive session will engage critically with anti-oppression frameworks and suggest ways to apply an equity and inclusion lens to learning and working environments. Anti-oppressive action involves both critical and practical examinations of individual, interpersonal, systemic, and cultural barriers to full participation for equity-deserving groups.