The Faculty of Arts is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam peoples. Unceded means that these lands were never sold, traded, or given up through treaty or other agreement. The University’s location and history requires that we critically reflect on the ongoing effects of settler colonialism and structural racism and question what it means to teach, learn, and conduct research on occupied lands.
The University, like most institutions in Canada, is the product of long histories of colonialism, which continue to impact the Musqueam and other Indigenous peoples in British Columbia, Canada, and around the world. Any efforts to advance justice initiatives socially, culturally, and ecologically demand that we acknowledge these histories and how they have produced and continue to maintain structural inequalities today.
Arts is committed to decolonize our research, teaching, and organizational systems. We aspire to uphold the ethics and principles of social justice, equity, and inclusion at every stage in the work we do. This necessitates listening and learning but also unlearning. Any effort to decolonize the University requires that we acknowledge our role in reinforcing colonialism, racism, and other forms of exclusion.
As a first step to encourage more equitable conditions in the University and beyond, Arts has prioritized initiatives, pedagogies, and programs that center the voices, perspectives, and experiences of Indigenous peoples, Black, and people of colour, as well as other historically marginalized communities.
Unit-specific EDI pages
Social justice, equity, and inclusion are principles that are endorsed across many units in the Faculty of Arts. Some Departments and Schools have their own EDI pages that share discipline and field-specific information about their guiding philosophies and the work they are doing to achieve their goals.
Department of English Language and Literatures
Department of Political Science
School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
UBC-wide resources
The University has placed growing importance on issues of social justice, equity, and inclusion. You can find recent university-wide reports, recommendations, and resources here:
Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force Report
National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism Report
Last updated: December 2, 2022