About Us
What is the Knowledge Equity Lab?
Transdisciplinary, Experimental Space
An inclusive, trans-disciplinary, experimental space based at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Department of Global Development Studies
Research & Practise Hub
A research & practise hub housing collaborative projects that investigate & challenge multiple forms of exclusion within the highly unequal structures of knowledge production & exchange
Community of Knowledge Makers
A community of diverse knowledge makers taking collective action to reimagine and re-make knowledge systems that enable different ways of knowing, living, and being,
Our Visions
In early July of 2020, partners and collaborators of the Knowledge Equity Lab engaged in an arts-based collaborative visioning workshop, and further emerged the following themes, aspirations, and practices for knowledge equity:
Cultivating Pluriverse of Knowledges
Challenging monocultures of knowledge and cultivating a pluriverse of knowledge systems where different ways of knowing, living, and being can co-exist.
Learning from Indigenous Knowledge Holders
Decolonising and learning from indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, through non-written forms like stories, ceremonies, land, and more.
Positionality and Representation
Deeply reflecting on positionality and representation, asking ‘whose knowledge, voices, stories, and experiences are being represented; whose knowledge do we consider valid and important, whose knowledge are we learning from?’
Re-embodying Knowledge & Pedagogy
Re-embodying knowledge and pedagogy, away from the disembodied assumption of knowledge and learning being purely a cognitive set of abstract ideas, divorced from living and being, from the full, embodied self.
Cultivating Care
Cultivating care, trust, and safety when it comes to knowledge production and sharing, so the process and not just the outcome of knowledge generation can be healing and transformative for those involved.
Recognising Diverse Ways of Knowing
Recognising art, music, stories, and more as ways of knowing and showing, and appreciating the ways that it can evoke and communicate knowledge in more accessible and engaging ways
Questioning Modes of Knowledge Production
Questioning power, ownership, and control over modes of knowledge production, being cognizant of the visible and invisible gatekeepers that define the standards of knowledge legitimacy and create dependency on these systems.
Linguistic Diversity
Challenging the dominance of the English language, prioritising linguistic diversity, translation, preservation as a means of knowledge accessibility and conservation.
Our Goals
Community Infrastructures
Advance the principles & practices of community-based & community-governed infrastructures
Collaboration & Partnerships
Nurture opportunities for collaboration & partnerships with diverse & under-represented knowledge makers
Cultivate Diverse Knowledges
Center diverse knowledge systems & multiple ways of knowing as a framework for research and practise
Experiential Learning
Provide experiential learning opportunities to students and community partners
Co-Create & Claim Spaces
Co-create inclusive and equitable spaces; claim spaces especially in places of institutionalized power and privilege
“Since getting involved with this project (and the Knowledge Equity Lab as a whole), I have learned that no aspect of the global infrastructure for knowledge production is neutral nor unintentional in its design and impacts. In particular, North-South funding disparities and geographic areas of knowledge-producing cores/peripheries are ongoing legacies of colonization.“
