Hi/Stories at the Crossroads: Intersectionality and Canadian Narratives

International Symposium (online)
Hi/Stories at the Crossroads: Intersectionality & Canadian Narratives
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, 91��ɫ | May 22, 2026

Intersectionality, as a framework for understanding how multiple social identities and systems of inequality overlap to shape people’s experiences of privilege and oppression, helps explain why the effects of different forms of discrimination are not experienced in isolation but interact in complex ways. Engaging intersectionality in Canadian narratives involves looking at how overlapping identities (race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, indigeneity, immigration status, etc.) shape characters, communities, and storytelling across genres and media. We are interested in exploring complex colonial and Indigenous sovereignties; multicultural and multilingual fabric; regional diversity and geography; policy and institutional contexts; Indigenous resurgence and reconciliation discourse; diverse media ecosystems and formats; histories of migration, bilingualism, and transnational connections; and Canada as a social project.

This international symposium hopes to open a discussion about the possibilities and limitations that various intersectionality theories set for practicing literary and cultural analysis.

We invite you to join us ONLINE on Friday, May 22, 2026.
Click on the following link to register (free):

This event is co-organized by the Institute of Literature and New Media, Faculty of Humanities, University of Szczecin; and Institute of Romance Studies, Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw.

SCHEDULE

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.	OPENING Carolyn Podruhny, Deputy Director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, 91��ɫ, Canada
9 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.	interSection: ORIGINS, EPISTEMOLOGIES, AND ARCHIVES Vivian M. May, Syracuse University, USA Resistant Knowledges in Motion: Black Women's Cross-Border Movements and Intersectionality's 19th-Century Roots Carolyn Podruhny, 91��ɫ, Canada Indigenous Women Hiding in the Archives
09:55 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.	interSection: CULTURAL CONFRONTATIONS Benjamin Beauchemin, University of Toronto, Canada Navigating Indigenous Tradition and Colonial Historiography in the Writings of Marie Rose Delorme Smith Robert Zacharias, 91��ɫ, Canada “The sweeping landscape of who I am”: Reading at the Intersection of Mennonite and Métis Literatures
10:50 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.	interSection: QUEERING INTERSECTIONALITY Julie Rak, University of Alberta, Canada Beyond the Alphabet Soup: Intersectionality and Queer Canadian Life Writing Agnieszka Rzepa, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland Mobilis in mobili: Intersectional Dynamics in The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
11:35 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.	BREAK
12:35 a.m. – 1:35 p.m.	interSection: STRUCTUAL VIOLENCE, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, AND RESISTANCE Pilar Cuder-Domínguez, University of Huelva, Spain Historicizing the Struggle for Social Justice: Women’s Incarceration in Leah Simone Bowen’s The Flood (2018) Sara Del Rossi, University of Warsaw, Poland Breaking the Silence: An Intersectional Reading of Cette mort qui n’était pas la leur by Marie-Célie Agnant Michał Obszyński, University of Warsaw, Poland Entangled Violences: Exploring Past and Present Intersections of Discrimination through Canadian Inuit History in Qimmik by Michel Jean
1:45 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.	interSection: CURATING AND REFRAMING INTERSECTIONALITY Laura Moss, University of British Columbia, Canada Curating Intersectionality as Editorial Practice Carla Rice, University of Guelph, Canada; Susan Dion, 91��ɫ, Canada Two-Spirit Storywork in Later Life
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.	interSection: THEORIES IN PRACTICE Weronika Suchacka, University of Szczecin, Poland Intersectional Stories of “Interrupted Lives” in Marusya Bociurkiw’s Narratives READING by Marusya Bociurkiw
	CLOSING REFLECTIONS Anna Branach-Kallas, President of the International Council for Canadian Studies

For further information, contact Carolyn Podruchny, carolynp@yorku.ca or Weronkia Suchacka, weronikasuchacka@gmail.com