
Under the Tent. Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada.
“Under the Tent is a multimedia storytelling project that explores how individuals experience a sense of belonging or not belonging under the tent of Canadian multiculturalism…The project began in the fall of 2021 with a call to graduate students from across Canada to collaborate with CERC Migration to produce a creative work that investigated multiculturalism…Through a competitive process, a select group of graduate students were invited to receive training support and mentorship to explore their personal experiences with race and diversity in the production of a creative work using a medium of their choice. They were asked to express criticisms and also new thinking on the future possibilities of multiculturalism.”
What is now available online are 17 of the stories presented as short films, sometimes supplemented by photographs and interviews, describing ways in which each of the authors falls “under the tent” of multiculturalism in Canada. These are divided into 3 acts: Act 1: Negotiating barriers, overcoming differences; Act 2: Connections to the past, the journey ahead; and Act 3: Importance of refuge, reconciliation and empowerment. This would be a useful collection to begin a class discussion, and might well serve as inspiration for a class project.