5 Days of Action 2026 schedule

5 Days of Action Schedule Cover
5 Days of Action's Hub at Petch Fountain with many students leaning in around it.

This year, we are excited to share workshops and events organized by faculties, units and groups across campus. All students, employees and community members are invited to participate throughout the week.

Join our upcoming events including our 5 Days of Action Keynote Panel on Black Flourishing: Exploring the contours of Black flourishing within and beyond the academy on Thursday evening!

If you have any questions, please contact daysofaction@uvic.ca. 

 

How to register for events

Click on the links to learn more about each session. Some events require registration.

Some sessions are noted as reserved for UVic employees or students. Sessions without the note are open to everyone.

 

Daily events: October 26-30

KILLJOYS

KILLJOYS is an annual art exhibition facilitated by the Visual Arts department but curated, installed and promoted by students. KILLJOYS, as a collective, challenges forms of systemic oppression and violence through student artwork.

5 Days Hub

Drop by our hub to learn about the week's events while sipping on coffee and tea. Test your equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) knowledge and start conversations.

Monday, October 26: Listen

Weathering Change: A Collaborative Poetry Workshop 

When you think about wildfires, floods and extreme weather, what has stayed with you, long after the event has passed? In this collaborative workshop, we’ll reflect on our experiences, hear different perspectives and look for the connections between them as we create the group poem "And That Made Me Think". No poetry experience is needed. 

Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity – Information Session

Have a bold idea to address inequity at UVic? Join this information session to learn about the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity, a $100,000 funding opportunity for faculty-led initiatives that address systemic barriers in research and academia. Hear application tips and adjudication insights from Dr. Stephen Ross, a 2024 award recipient and former panelist. 

Celebrating Diversity in Science – with Friends!

Everyone welcome: undergrads, grad students, faculty, and staff. Join the Faculty of Science for a cross departmental social celebrating belonging and connection, with snacks, activities, and conversation hosted by the Schools of Molecular Life Sciences and Earth & Ocean Sciences, and the Departments of Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics & Statistics, and Physics & Astronomy. 

  • 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. 
  • Bob Wright Centre, Lobby 
  • For students, faculty and staff 
  • Organized by Faculty of Science
  • No registration required

Identifying and Challenging Systematic Racism in the Academic Community 

As part of UVic's 5 Days of Action, this panel invites participants to engage in honest and courageous conversations about systemic racism in the academic community. Through reflection, discussion, and shared experiences, panelists will examine institutional barriers, highlight lived realities, and consider how we can collectively advance equity, inclusion, and meaningful institutional change. 

  • 12:30 p.m. - 1:20 pm. 
  • Student Union Building, Upper Lounge
  • Organized by the UVic Faculty Association 
  • No registration required 

Social & Professional Competency Training

Workshop for graduate and senior undergraduate students wanting to build an awareness and understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion and its significance for educational and professional success.   

EdCamp for 5 Days of Action

How can education help us build more equitable communities and cultures? EdCamp is a welcoming, participant-led event that shares food, questions, experiences, and ideas. We will explore education’s role in challenging oppression and building more just and equitable communities. 

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Tuesday, October 27: Reflect

Cultural Intelligence (CQ): as a toolkit towards Neuroinclusion in the workplace

This workshop helps participants better understand neurodiversity and how different ways of thinking and working contribute to inclusive workplaces. Participants will gain practical tools for recognising personal behavioural preferences, strengthening communication, and fostering belonging through Cultural Intelligence (CQ). 

Less Hustle, More Human: Collectively reimagining how we work

Join ACET to explore how ongoing impacts of colonization might show up in how we work, learn and connect at UVic. Through small-group dialogue and individual creative collage, we’ll imagine more equitable, healing and human-centred ways of being, then bring all our ideas and images together into a grassroots zine to share.  

JÁEȽNOṈET - Tracy Underwood's response to Land Acknowledgment 

Through her personal story, W̱SÁNEĆ matriarch Dr. Tracy Underwood helps the University of Victoria community deepen its understanding of the Indigenous land where we live, study and work. Explore our shared responsibility to presence lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) and W̱SÁNEĆ place-based connections and cultural knowledges in everyday pedagogy and practice in ways that honour these peoples’ histories and ongoing ties to place. 

  • 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
  • Student Union Building, Upper Lounge
  • Organized by the UVic Faculty Association
  • No registration required

Sexualized Violence Prevention 101

This workshop helps students develop a deeper understanding of what sexualized violence is, the role they play in preventing it, how to receive a disclosure and what options are available at UVic for survivors or anyone impacted by sexualized violence.  

Clean Energy for Everyone

What could a more equitable energy future look like when communities help shape it? Join ACET to learn how communities are leading clean energy solutions based on their own priorities, knowledge and aspirations. We’ll start with a short video, followed by a tour and presentation, then wrap up with casual conversation, coffee, snacks and ACET swag. 

Community Care Circle - Mindfulness Mandala Drawing

A free bi-weekly, drop-in event that aims to create a space for UVic students to build community.  AVP is using this Care Circle as a way to practice mindfulness and rest. We will be learning about the history of mandalas and how to create them, exploring the benefits of meditative practices in caring for ourselves. Craft supplies will be provided, though feel free to bring your own. 

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Wednesday, October 28: Dialogue 

Reimagining UVic’s Classrooms: Valuing Diverse Ways of Knowing and Learning

Join LTI for a community dialogue about how we can reimagine UVic’s classrooms as spaces where diverse ways of knowing, learning, communicating, and participating are recognized and valued. We invite all UVic community members to join this session to engage in a conversation about reimagining UVic's classrooms and consider whose voices need to be heard and amplified in order to create spaces of belonging and connection alongside learning. 

Threads of Dialogue: Equity in Action 

What does equity in action mean to you? Join the Division of Continuing Studies for a collaborative quilt-making activity where participants can use words, images, and creative expression to share their perspectives on equity, inclusion, and belonging. Each square will become part of a community quilt, bringing our individual voices and stories together into a collective expression of dialogue and action.  

Equity in Action: Navigating Through Resistance

Networking event for faculty, staff and leaders working to advance equity at UVic.

Amplifying Voices

In this annual recital, students from the School of Music perform and share personal insights about compositions by marginalized artists. This event shines a spotlight on the rich diversity within music, while addressing important challenges of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the musical landscape. 

Trifles by Susan Glaspell 

In Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles, two women accompany their husbands in a murder investigation and uncover the hidden story of a woman whose suffering has gone unspoken. As they piece together the truth from the “trifles” the men dismiss, the play invites us to consider how a true jury of the woman’s peers might view the accused’s actions in light of oppression, abuse, and patriarchal disenfranchisement. 

  • 12:45 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. 
  • Phoenix Building, Barbara McIntyre Studio 
  • Organized by Amanda Lisman, MFA Directing Candidate, in collaboration with students of the Department of Theatre
  • No registration required

Accessibility in Action: Building More Inclusive Communities

This interactive workshop invites staff, faculty, students, and community members to explore what meaningful accessibility and disability inclusion can look like across workplaces, classrooms, and communities. Participants will consider anti-ableism, neurodiversity and less visible barriers while gaining practical strategies to support inclusion and identify their own role in creating more accessible environments. The session is hosted by Continuing Studies and CanAssist, whose partnership began in 2025 with the pilot online course Accessibility in the Workplace. 

UVic's Anti-Racism Commitment

We invite all Indigenous, Black, and Racialized folx on campus and affiliated with UVic to provide feedback on UVic’s Anti-Racism Commitment.

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Thursday, October 29: Engage

Clean Energy for Everyone

What could a more equitable energy future look like when communities help shape it? Join ACET to learn how communities are leading clean energy solutions based on their own priorities, knowledge and aspirations. We’ll start with a short video, followed by a tour and presentation, then wrap up with casual conversation, coffee, snacks and ACET swag. 

Foundations of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

This workshop is open to anyone who is seeking foundational knowledge of equity, diversity and inclusion and wishes to embed EDI values in their daily practice.  

Amazing Race Accessibility Edition: Navigating Real-World Leadership Challenges

What does accessible leadership look like when the situation is complex, time and resources are limited, and there isn’t a perfect answer? Working in teams, leaders will navigate realistic scenarios involving accommodation, competing needs, team dynamics, workload pressures, and organizational responsibilities. Come ready to challenge assumptions, explore tensions, have thoughtful conversations, and practice leading for accessibility in a real-world context. 

Trifles by Susan Glaspell 

In Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles, two women accompany their husbands in a murder investigation and uncover the hidden story of a woman whose suffering has gone unspoken. As they piece together the truth from the “trifles” the men dismiss, the play invites us to consider how a true jury of the woman’s peers might view the accused’s actions in light of oppression, abuse, and patriarchal disenfranchisement. 

  • 1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
  • Phoenix Building, Barbara McIntyre Studio 
  • Organized by Amanda Lisman, MFA Directing Candidate, in collaboration with students of the Department of Theatre
  • No registration required

Student Life Grants Showcase: Student-Led Approaches to Equity and Belonging

Curious about the Student Life Grant program? Join us for a virtual showcase featuring recent grant recipients who will share highlights from their student-led projects promoting equity, belonging, wellbeing, community-building, and student engagement on our campus. 

5 Days of Action Keynote Panel on Black Flourishing

Exploring the contours of Black flourishing within and beyond the academy

Robyn Maynard, DJ Orene Askew, and June Francis will share meaningful insight into the cultivation of Black flourishing within and beyond the academy by sharing their lived experiences, knowledges, leadership, and relational practices. Panelists’ contributions will address the sub-themes of Black joy, Black knowledges and epistemologies, Black models of care, Black empowerment, and Black community well-being.

(Be)longing on Campus: Jewish Experiences and Desired Futures in Higher Education

Rising antisemitism is a concern on university campuses around the globe, yet emerging studies of Jewish safety and inclusion remain largely survey-based, quantitative, and are less attentive to individual and localized experiences. Come learn about Dr. Erika Finestone’s research that aims to fill this gap through qualitative, community-engaged research focused on the experience of being Jewish at UVic. 

AVP @Vikes Basketball Game

Catch the Anti-Violence Project at the UVic vs UFV basketball game. Our table will have harm reduction supplies, safer sex supplies, informational pamphlets and resources, swag, and an AVP support member.  

Men's Circle

The Men’s Circle at UVic hosts a weekly drop in men’s circle seeking to help men and masculine identifying folks improve their relationship with themself, their peers, romantic interests and their community. We start our weekly circles with a check-in (sharing a recent win and challenge), then explore whatever’s on people’s minds or a guided topic and wrap up with a check-out reflecting on comments and stories from that week’s circle that felt impactful. 

Halloween Drag Show

Come to the Grad House for a night of thrills, chills, and spills, courtesy of Fierce Brosnan and an iconic line-up of local performers ready to *drag* you to hell: Sylvester Stalletto, Ghost of Judith, Sadturation, GWiz and JJ Rabbit! This event is open to all with no cover – but please bring cash tips if you can! 

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Friday, October 30: Take action

Trifles by Susan Glaspell 

In Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles, two women accompany their husbands in a murder investigation and uncover the hidden story of a woman whose suffering has gone unspoken. As they piece together the truth from the “trifles” the men dismiss, the play invites us to consider how a true jury of the woman’s peers might view the accused’s actions in light of oppression, abuse, and patriarchal disenfranchisement. 

  • 12:45 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. 
  • Phoenix Building, Barbara McIntyre Studio 
  • Organized by Amanda Lisman, MFA Directing Candidate, in collaboration with students of the Department of Theatre
  • No registration required

Beyond the Checkbox: Framing DEI Training That Actually Works  

The way diversity training is framed can make or break its impact — this session showcases framing strategies that build engagement, relevance, and sustained change, and explains why some well-intended approaches fall flat. 

Disability and Neurodiversity Awareness Workshop

Learn and discuss how disability and neurodiversity shape the experiences of students and academic workers, and how we can take practical steps to empower one another. We'll cover topics such as dealing with disability disclosures, how to write accessibility statements, and more!  This workshop is open to all members of the UVic community, and we especially encourage staff and faculty to attend! 

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Outside of the week: 365 Days of Commitment

Black students shaping what's next at UVic

We will be inviting Black students to review and share feedback on a draft of UVic's Black Inclusion Implementation Plan. By the end of the session, attendees will feel more connected to their peers on campus and empowered to contribute to meaningful developments that shape the campus community. Contact blackinclusion@uvic.ca if you have any questions.  

 

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